The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 723: What Happened on the Surface

Twenty-four years later, the meaning of the word "exorcist" hadn't changed, but it had gained even greater weight.

"Really?"

Katerina wasn't the type to trust people easily, and she had no friends. In the Wastelands, a lie was as dangerous as an anomaly, and getting her to believe someone was harder than earning a thousand shillings.

And yet, she found it hard to resist the tempting thought that Lu Li was a pureblood human.

"You'd better not be lying to me."

"An ordinary person wouldn't listen to all this so calmly," Lu Li replied.

Katerina hesitated, but for her, that was enough. If not for Lu Li's help, his supposed status, and... that aura of trust he exuded, she would have tied him up first and then decided whether to believe him.

"They say exorcists destroy anomalies for free, help those in need, and protect ordinary people at the cost of their own lives. Is that true?" Katerina asked.

"In most cases," Lu Li answered. "Are there still exorcists now?"

"I haven't seen any. Maybe some are left in the cities." Katerina seemed lost in thought, pushing the Anomaly into her toe.The nearly ten-centimeter Anomaly sank completely into her big toe, but strangely, it didn't emerge from the other side.

"When I was little, you could still find exorcists, but they never lasted long. And most of them weren't like you describe... They were no different from me: they took money for their work just to survive."

"Does the Exorcist Association still exist?"

"Never heard of it."

Perhaps it was due to a lack of information, or perhaps the Association had vanished in the tide of anomalies.

Besides "Project Fire," they had left nothing behind.

Lu Li wanted to ask why cities still existed on the surface, but he suddenly realized he had too many questions—new ones were popping into his head every second. Katerina could answer some, but not others.

So, Lu Li asked Katerina to tell him everything she knew about the world on the surface.

"Then get ready," Katerina said.

This world fell apart a long time ago.

Shortly after the Third Calamity, the Fourth arrived.

The Lennon Archipelago, once known as the "Blessed Waters," was transformed overnight by an unimaginable force. It shattered into countless islands, scattered about like pieces of a puzzle.

Anomalies began to invade human settlements en masse, and the population plummeted. If you imagine the lights in the windows of houses as people, then the anomalies were the encroaching night. As time went on, people "fell asleep," extinguishing their lights.

During that period, many things happened on the Main Continent and the shattered Lennon Archipelago, but Katerina neither knew nor cared about them. It seemed she had endured a great deal of sorrow back then and didn't want to talk about it.

The new changes in the Wastelands that Katerina knew about occurred around twenty years ago.

In the Wastelands, a small town called Midnight emerged. It was founded by the followers of the Midnight Lady cult.

It miraculously survived amidst the wandering anomalies and was never attacked by them.

People hiding nearby like rats began to flock to the town and learned the truth of its safety: the church worshipped its own "deity," which protected the town with its power.

After all, only other anomalies can stand against anomalies.

This was the first city Katerina learned of, but perhaps not the first in this world or on the continent.

Over time, other cities began to appear in the grim wastelands, and Midnight grew into a major city.

The most distant city Katerina knew of was on the other side of the strait, on the Main Continent—Vinnelag.

Lu Li knew that place as well.

Although it was relatively safe within the cities, that didn't mean people had found a way to fight the anomalies: they had simply dug in their heels.

Contrary to expectations, the believers usually didn't force people into their faith.

In other words, the barrier to entry for most churches was very high—they didn't allow people with evil intentions into their ranks, trying to keep the power of their "deity" pure.

However, some churches couldn't be bothered with that, and their "deities" became akin to evil gods—bloodthirsty and chaotic. This led to the destruction of some cities and plunged others into chaos.

Although the churches controlled the cities, they didn't hold all the power: politics and religion were separate. Just like the relationship between exorcists and the state in the old days—interdependent and mutually independent.

The church ensured the city's safety and increased the number of its followers, strengthening its god. The politicians built the city and maintained order.

Since the areas outside the cities were exceptionally dangerous zones teeming with anomalies, most churches could only struggle to defend their settlements. Therefore, the cities scattered across the continent were like islands, each belonging to different owners. They had different laws, customs, and sometimes they were hostile to one another.

There were also unknown islands.

"Unknown" for various reasons. For example, everyone who knew about them had died, or those who knew couldn't transmit the information to the outside world. For survivors, unknown cities were just as dangerous as the Wastelands.

Some islands were covered in dense vegetation, others abounded with food, a third teemed with ferocious beasts, and some were flooded at high tide.

It all meant only one thing: not all cities were friendly and safe.

And the people in this post-apocalyptic world had found their own way to survive: adaptation.

Adaptation to the ever-present contamination.

They clung to the cities, farming, working, fishing, hunting, and clearing territories of anomalies to earn shillings and food, slowing the spread of infection and prolonging their lives. If they were lucky, they managed to gain resident status before turning into a mutant.

Becoming a resident was a great honor to which everyone aspired: it meant getting your own home in the city.

But that required considerable expense or a great contribution to the city's life.

Most of those who worked hard for the good of the city turned into mutants or anomalies long before they became full-fledged residents—contact with anomalies led to much faster contamination than tainted food or water.

"If I became a resident, I wouldn't have to risk my life on missions to clear anomalies from the city's outskirts," Katerina sighed, inserting the Anomaly into her eye.

She didn't seem upset, perhaps thanks to Lu Li's appearance.

If Lu Li was truly a pureblood human, her contribution to the city would be enough to grant her resident status.

"Where is the nearest city?"

"Thirteen miles from here. It's called Mantistown."

"Is the name connected to mantises in some way?"

"I think it's just a coincidence," Katerina shrugged. "Although the church does often issue missions to exterminate mantises. Maybe there is a connection?"

"Are the mantises mutants?" Lu Li asked.

"I don't know... But I've never heard of anyone turning into a mantis. And those creatures rarely contaminate people... You either get away from them, or they kill you."

Before Lu Li could ask, Katerina explained the mantises' abilities on her own: "Next time you see them, keep your distance and don't move. They can't see stationary objects."

"They chased me because I got too close. You too. They're not completely blind, after all."