The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 726: Mantistown

"Remember what I told you? Don't trust the sky."

Katerina's voice came from beside him.

"Do you see it?"

Lu Li gazed intently at the crimson ring of fire forged by the lava, and then up at the cavern's ceiling.

"It looks like something underground," Katerina answered. "Maybe it's the sky of your subconscious?"

"Is this vision born from imagination?"

"Yes, almost like a dream," Katerina said, admiring the "sky."

"Does everyone see the same sky?"

"Yes, everyone sees the same thing. So perhaps what we're seeing is your subconscious." Katerina explained that the sky changed from time to time, never revealing its true face. "The visions seem to spring from people's subconscious ideas about the cosmos—or more accurately, from their fears."

This subterranean grotto, a blend of fluorescent stones and lava, did indeed resemble something dredged up from Lu Li's own subconscious."Is it an Anomaly?" Lu Li asked.

"Who knows... Other than slowly draining your Mind Level, it can't actually hurt us." Katerina gestured for Lu Li, who had been lost in thought while gazing at the sky, to keep moving.

Lu Li tore his gaze away and headed towards the city visible in the distance, illuminated by the crimson ring of lava.

Every city had its own rule, one established by its church, and the rules varied wildly from one place to the next. Some were extreme: you couldn't eat plants; you were forbidden from knowing the time. Others were just strange: you had to enter the city on your left foot and leave on your right; no one could wear a hat. And then there were the ones you could safely ignore, like attending a weekly service or addressing the local deity with a specific turn of phrase.

The penalties for breaking these rules were just as varied. Moderate churches might issue a simple punishment, neutral ones would banish you from the city forever, while the radical ones might just sacrifice the offender.

"The rule in Mantistown is not to inflict injuries on yourself—not to do anything that might cause you harm."

"What if self-injury is necessary for survival?" Lu Li asked calmly.

"What?"

"Like performing surgery on oneself."

"I don't know..." Katerina searched her memory, trying to recall if such a thing had ever happened in the city, but drew a blank. "Are all exorcists so meticulous?"

"One must understand what one is dealing with," Lu Li answered.

It wasn't an exorcist's code, but an investigator's.

Katerina disagreed; knowledge had long since become a curse. But out of respect for the legendary exorcist, she held her tongue.

Mantistown was now just ahead. Before they entered, Katerina warned Lu Li, "Don't trust anyone, and don't tell the truth. Lying is a necessity here. If you don't want your body turning up in a gutter tomorrow morning, hide who you are."

The laws in the city were weak, and the hunters who lived on the knife's edge between darkness and death didn't care who they killed—an Anomaly or a human—especially if killing a human was easier and more profitable.

Killings were a daily occurrence.

However, Katerina had her own agenda—she was trying to intimidate Lu Li.

Anyone who learned Lu Li's identity wouldn't dare kill him. His value lay in being alive. A dead Pureblood was no different from a despised mutant.

Katerina was simply warning Lu Li about the dark rules of this new era; she didn't want his identity exposed.

Guards stood at the city entrance, though their presence was more symbolic than practical—a gesture meant to assert the city's authority.

Katerina left Lu Li waiting and approached the guards. "I'm a hunter—Katerina, 'The Sting.' I have new information for the mayor."

The guards exchanged a look of open contempt and ridicule. "Don't you know the rules, newbie? Go to the church."

Katerina seemed used to such treatment. Muttering under her breath, "Idiots, you'll regret turning me away," she returned to Lu Li and led him into the city.

The streets were made of packed earth. People scurried about, yet the atmosphere was colder and more silent than the wasteland outside. What little conversation broke the quiet came from residents in homespun clothes, a stark contrast to the solitary, cold-eyed hunters clad in leather armor.

Yet both hunters and residents alike often bore mutations caused by contamination—the hunters, especially so.

"Is it the same?" Katerina asked quietly.

Lu Li knew what she meant. He shook his head slightly. "A world of difference."

Even in the worst of times back then, cities weren't this apathetic.

"But at least it's safe here," said Katerina. "I've been to Midnight. I imagine it's still like the old days there."

Lu Li said nothing.

Katerina led Lu Li to the western part of the city, toward a fenced-in religious building with an empty garden.

The church's arched gates were shut tight, as if they'd been sealed.

Katerina followed a path to the gate and knocked softly on a small wicket door set within it.

A few seconds later, a small viewing slot slid open. Heavy breathing drifted from the darkness beyond the door—someone was there.

Lu Li sensed a dark aura emanating from beyond the door.

Her expression shifted to one of reverence, a deference she hadn't even shown the city guards. "Holy Father, I'm a hunter, Katerina 'The Sting.' I've found a Pureblood."

"A Pureblood?" the attendant whispered.

Katerina stepped aside to give the attendant a clear view of Lu Li. "He's from the time before the Anomalies. I found him in a Shelter."

It was a clever bit of phrasing, implying Lu Li was a resident of the Shelter.

After a brief pause, the viewing slot slid shut. "Mantistown has no need of him," the attendant's voice came from behind the door. "A single Pureblood can't change anything."

"Wait!" Katerina called out hastily. "You took in those people from the Shelter a few years ago... Why refuse now?!"

"Midnight took them," the attendant replied.

"Midnight? But..."

Katerina started to protest, but the sound of the viewing slot slamming shut cut her off.

Lu Li observed in silence, finding the attendant's indifference strange.

Katerina returned, her disappointment clear. Lu Li asked, "To the mayor, then?"

"The mayor? No..." Katerina shook her head. "Let's go to a tavern first. We can gather some information there."

Despite the attendant's refusal, she wasn't worried.

Gold can always be sold.

"The Wanderer's Tavern."

The tavern's name was painted on a wooden sign.

As they drew closer, they were met with a mixed stench of alcohol and garbage from a nearby dark alley.

Katerina and Lu Li pushed the door open and stepped inside. In stark contrast to the quiet streets, the tavern was loud, crowded, and hot.

"The Wanderer's Tavern is ours—a hunter's tavern," Katerina explained as she led the way to an empty table in the corner.

Lu Li scanned the patrons, most of them clad in leather armor, and followed Katerina to the table.

The moment he sat down, the smell of alcohol and cooking food made his stomach rumble loud enough for Katerina to hear.

He hadn't eaten in almost twenty-four years.