The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 718: Reaching the Surface

The glowing Beacon lit up a stone hall that appeared to be unfinished.

Steam rose from the chasm that led to the subterranean world. The air was still unsafe; the rising vapor heated the stone hall.

The Beacon's light intensified, flooding every corner of the space.

The hall contained only pillars with intricate carvings, as if its construction had never been completed, or perhaps all that remained were ruins. Like the city below, the hall felt immense.

He was still deep underground.

Lu Li had no time to ponder the hall's history. The Beacon's light illuminated the edge of the chamber, revealing an opening in the stone wall. Though the human-sized passage seemed jarringly out of scale with the rest of the hall, it appeared to be the only way out.

The steam billowed forward. Clutching the Beacon, its light now slightly dimmed, Lu Li made for the opening to escape the suffocating heat.

Lu Li stepped into the opening, only to find a dead end just a few feet ahead.

Fallen rock and earth blocked the passage. Leaning against the rubble was a human skeleton clad in gray overalls, a picture of despair. A broken pickaxe lay beside its left hand, and next to its fractured right hand was a long-extinguished oil lamp.

Finding the remains of another person here was a strangely welcome sight, even if it was only a skeleton.It meant that after journeying through unknown depths, Lu Li was finally drawing closer to the familiar world of human society.

Moreover, the well-preserved state of the skeleton meant...

The steam from outside continued to advance, not yet reaching his position, but it was only a matter of time. Lu Li picked up the broken pickaxe and suddenly noticed a small, fist-sized mound of earth nearby.

It sat beside the skeleton, like a miniature grave.

As if by coincidence, four fingers of the left hand were curled, with only the index finger extended, pointing faintly toward the earthen mound.

Lu Li's gaze fell upon it, and he flattened the mound with the pickaxe.

A notebook emerged from the dirt.

Had the skeleton's owner buried it before dying?

Lu Li had no time to retrieve the notebook, as the steam drew closer. He gripped the pickaxe by its handle and began to break through the cave-in.

The heat in the passage was becoming intense, but it was still bearable. An exit appeared sooner than he'd expected. After another strike with the pickaxe, a cool, refreshing breeze carrying the scent of soil drifted from the crack he'd made.

Lu Li widened the crack, and the influx of cool air lowered the temperature in the passage, making the heat more tolerable.

After a few more minutes of work, an opening large enough to crawl through had formed in the rubble.

Lu Li glanced back at the skeleton—it had been only a single step away from rescue.

Hope, separated by only a thin wall, felt even more tragic. Fortunately, he had never known.

Remembering the notebook, Lu Li pulled it from the shallow hole.

"If your last wish is in here, I'll do my best to fulfill it."

Lu Li filled the hole with dirt. The bones of the skeleton's hand crumbled, ceasing to point at the spot, as if a long-held obsession had finally been released.

Slipping the notebook into his pocket, Lu Li passed through the opening with the Beacon in hand, leaving the steam completely behind, and made his way up the winding tunnel.

After only a few meters, the tunnel widened into a cave, and the pickaxe marks on the walls told him that this path hadn't been carved by the skeleton's owner.

That meant many people had been here.

After walking a little further, Lu Li suddenly stopped. The light of the Beacon in his hand began to dim until darkness swallowed it completely.

A few seconds later, Lu Li lit the Beacon again.

Ignoring the anxiety caused by the darkness itself, Lu Li sensed no otherworldly presence within it.

He was still deep in a place untouched by anomalies.

Lu Li hoped the skeleton's owner hadn't wound up here by accident, the same way he had.

Lu Li pulled the dust-covered notebook from his pocket and opened it.

The first few pages had been torn out, and on the first remaining page, a single word was written over and over in a shaky hand.

[Terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible]

The contents of the first page seemed to reflect the emotional state of its owner.

Lu Li turned the page. The handwriting was still shaky, but instead of disconnected exclamations, there were now actual entries.

[Why the sudden tremors? The way back is caved in, and my right arm is broken. Dammit dammit dammit dammit.]

[Can't do a thing with one hand, and it had to be my left. I nearly dislocated my wrist swinging the pickaxe.]

[Shouldn't have come alone... Hope the others come. There's enough oil in the lamp for another five hours, but the anomalies can't get this far down, so it's fine if the light goes out. The main thing is to handle the fear and not let my true Mind Level drop.]

The author of the diary was clearly no ordinary person—most people didn't know what the Mind Level was, let alone the true Mind Level.

On the next page, the entries became even more illegible, and the reason was written right there.

[I can't do it anymore, my hand won't obey me. Why my right hand, why, why, why, why.]

[Another tremor. I can't just sit here and wait for help. What's out there?]

[Incredible... What am I seeing? The temple of the ancients and their city!]

Ancients?

Lu Li wondered.

Did he mean a previous generation of humans, or the intelligent, humanoid beings known as "the ancients"?

[This is the very deepest level. Those miners almost got to them.]

[A magnificent structure. They were more skillful than us. At this depth, anomalies would never find them. But why are there no signs of their presence? Because of the lava?]

[Oh... those unsettling tremors again. Why didn't I feel them on the upper levels? I hope it's not what I'm thinking.]

[The carvings on the pillar are very interesting. I recommend you take a look too, when you get here.]

[The third tremor! Weaker this time, but it's not stopping... It's so loud. I have to go see.]

[Incredible, the water is rising, flowing toward the lava. It must be a spectacular sight. Wait... water and lava?]

[I'm dying. Whoever finds this, I am Naslam Alaya. Give this diary to my daughter, Moni Alaya, and tell her all my possessions are hidden under the floor by the fireplace in our old house. Also, tell her that I love her. Remember, I love her, not you.]

A stranger, a father trapped in the hall by a freak accident. He had experienced the same thing as Lu Li, and in the end, he had despaired and died in the tunnel.

Lu Li closed the notebook. Its contents offered a lot of information but also raised many questions.

Tucking it away, Lu Li proceeded up the mine-like tunnel, lamp in hand.

After about a hundred meters, he saw wooden supports bracing the ceiling of the shaft. A faded wooden plaque hung on the wall.

[Kolayen Mine No. 13]

[Lower Level]