The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 738: The Emerald Dream

Lu Li hadn't yet mastered the power of the Beacon.

The only thing he could use was the power of the Atonement, embedded in the back of his left hand, but that required close combat, and the consequences were unknown.

The chaos in the caravan continued. There were no enemies, only people who had lost control to the illusions.

In the gloomy wasteland, malevolent gazes flickered, and something watched greedily from the darkness.

The creatures of the wasteland had discovered the disordered caravan.

"We have to find a way to get away from the caravan," Katerina said, her eyes on the chaos. "The anomalies from the wasteland will be here soon, and then we'll be in serious trouble."

"You said not even you could be trusted," Lu Li's voice remained calm.

Katerina froze for a moment, her face indistinct in the twilight. Only her voice carried through: "But you can tell what's good for you and what isn't."

"Yes," Lu Li replied, raising his left hand and, to Katerina's confusion, grabbing her forearm.

Katerina suddenly fell silent. She watched him wordlessly for a few seconds, then abruptly dissipated like mist, enveloping Lu Li.Lu Li held his breath, passing through the mist and waiting for it to disperse. When it did, the real scene appeared before his eyes.

The chaos in the caravan was unchanged. The real Katerina was talking to an empty illusion.

"No, if we go out into the wasteland, we'll just run into anomalies... Come back! It's more dangerous out there!" Katerina exclaimed, rushing forward as if trying to hold back the illusory Lu Li.

Lu Li suddenly reached out and grabbed Katerina by the ankle, again with his left hand.

Katerina was pulled down by Lu Li, falling headfirst to the ground. But the shock broke her out of the Emerald Dream. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the dissipating mist that only she could see.

"You saved me again."

Lu Li released her. Realizing what had happened, Katerina backed away toward him, taking his left hand and placing it on her own wrist. "Your power... it seems to be able to stop the Emerald Dream. So don't let go of me. We have two options now."

"First, we wait for help. Livitown might send a search and rescue team. We could hold out for a while."

"Tell me the second one."

The first option was out of the question. There was no telling when help might arrive, but the anomalies of the wasteland wouldn't wait long.

Katerina also favored the second option. "The Dust Cover. A precious Anomaly that only the caravan leader has. It can conceal our scent. But we'll have to make our way to the very front of the caravan."

Following Katerina's gesture, Lu Li looked ahead. The chaos was gradually subsiding.

"Let's go, then."

Lu Li got to his feet, glanced back at the chaos behind them, and started toward the front, still holding Katerina with his left hand.

They were in the middle of the caravan. On a large wagon, Numa was thrashing its massive body. The anomalous aura it emanated made people want to flee, but it struggled to break free from its iron cage.

After running past the struggling Numa, the lead wagon came into view.

A cold glint of steel suddenly burst from a canvas-covered truck, slicing toward Lu Li's neck.

"Watch out!"

Before Katerina could even shout a warning, Lu Li ducked low, avoiding the sharp blade that grazed past his neck, close enough to have easily slit his throat.

The canvas ripped open, and a caravan worker leaped out, roaring as he charged forward. The Emerald Dream had made him see Lu Li as an enemy.

Lu Li dodged the beast-like worker, let go of Katerina, and grabbed the man's knife-wielding wrist with his left hand.

But for some reason, the power of the Atonement didn't work. The worker didn't come to his senses and fell, still thrashing.

"Hurry, I can hear voices in the dark!"

Katerina urged from the side.

Lu Li drew a dagger and, without hesitation, pinned the worker to the ground with it.

"We need to go. Now."

Katerina grabbed Lu Li's left hand herself and ran toward the front of the caravan.

The worker, not yet dead, continued to roar. But after they had run a dozen meters, he suddenly fell silent.

"Here it is!"

Reaching the very front of the caravan, Katerina gave a small cry and climbed into a wagon with an open door.

Lu Li followed. Before climbing in, he turned his head to look back the way they had come.

Scattered screams echoed over the caravan.

A crimson fire had broken out at the rear of the caravan. It seemed an overturned oil lamp had set a cargo load ablaze, and the flames were clearly visible from miles away.

This caravan was like a long table laden with a rich feast.

Thud!

Lu Li climbed into the wagon and shut the door, cutting off the noise from the wasteland.

The caravan leader's wagon was furnished like a room. The floor was covered with animal hides, fluorite stones lay in the fireplace like burning logs, and several oil lamps hung about, making the wagon bright.

The leader's wagon was quite large, and even with several crates of goods stacked in a corner, it didn't feel cramped or cluttered.

Katerina, like a bandit, rummaged through crates and cabinets. She even sliced open the sofa with her short knife and pulled out the stuffing, searching for the Dust Cover.

She found nothing, so her gaze shifted to the pile of goods, and she walked over to move them.

The wooden crates were heavier than expected. Katerina managed to slide the top one to the edge but couldn't pull it off—she couldn't lift it. If she hadn't held on, it might have even smashed through the wagon floor.

"Help me move these goods," Katerina said to Lu Li, who was standing behind her. "I can't lift them on my own."

Lu Li walked over to Katerina and asked, "Why are there so many goods in the caravan leader's wagon?"

"Remember, the caravan was supposed to deliver a shipment to the Count of the City of Phantoms? This might be his stuff. Since it's so valuable, the caravan leader is probably guarding it personally," Katerina mused.

Lu Li examined the wooden crates and found that they looked no different from the pile of crates in the wagon he had been riding in...

Lu Li's gaze suddenly dropped. He said calmly, "I remember you saying that no one can escape the Emerald Dream."

"What's wrong?" Katerina asked, confused.

"When I touched the worker, he didn't break out of the Emerald Dream."

"Maybe he'd already been driven mad by fear," Katerina suggested.

"An Anomaly as important as the Dust Cover should be kept somewhere hidden but easily accessible, not buried under a pile of goods."

Katerina said nothing more.

"I remember being pinned by goods when the wagon overturned."

Lu Li looked at the stacked wooden crates.

"They look very similar."

Katerina still had her hands on the wooden crate, her back to Lu Li, only her face was turned toward him. The other half of her face, unlit by the oil lamp, was hidden in shadow.

"When I was attacked, I let go of you for a moment."

Lu Li finally said, looking at Katerina, "You also answered my questions very patiently."

Silence fell in the wagon. In an instant, the corners of Katerina's lips curled up, stretching to her ears. Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, and her eyes melted like hot wax—

Katerina dissolved into a dissipating mist, instantly enveloping Lu Li.

Lu Li closed his eyes and held his breath, waiting for it to disperse.

His senses suddenly sharpened, as if he had just broken the surface of water. His ears filled with the howl of wind sweeping across the jagged wasteland and the crackle of burning flames. He could smell the acrid smoke and the undeniable scent of blood carried on the wind.

Lu Li opened his eyes.

He was lying at the edge of a wagon, his lower body buried and pinned beneath a pile of collapsed goods. A meter away, a piece of fluorite cast a faint glow on his surroundings.