The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 756: The Only Choice

The tunnel walls throbbed, propelling them deeper into the passage.

A clear mucus secreted by the worm's body soaked into their clothes, shielding them from its corrosive digestive juices.

The nauseatingly writhing walls enveloped them, a living current sweeping them ever deeper.

"It hurts! I'm being digested!" Elder Sister's sudden shriek cut through the squelching sounds.

Tucked away beside Lu Li, she hadn't eaten the protective fruit and was now being tormented by the worm's digestive juices.

Lu Li held out the plant to Elder Sister, but she shook her head in agony.

"I can't eat!"

Lu Li quickly scooped up Elder Sister, wrapped her in a fold of his own slime-coated clothing, and rolled her over a few times to cover her in the protective mucus.

Just then, the tunnel shuddered, and a low moan reverberated through the passage.

Lu Li glanced back. Several dozen meters behind them, a monstrous visage had appeared. Its razor-sharp forelimbs were tearing and shredding the tunnel's fleshy walls as it closed in.Fortunately, the worm was long enough that its body, yet to register the damage at its rear, continued its peristaltic contractions, pushing Lu Li, Katerina, and Prusius onward.

They were moving faster than the giant Model, and soon its roars and its silhouette were swallowed by the thick, fleshy walls behind them.

But it was only a temporary respite. The creature wouldn't give up the chase.

Not until one of them was dead.

"Why does it hate us so much..." Prusius mumbled, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Maybe because we killed its child."

Katerina grabbed Prusius by the scruff of his neck. "Isn't there anything in these damn sewers that can stop it?!"

"There is... of course there is, but after those things are done with it, they'll come for us!"

"You're the one who chose this path!"

Prusius's ears drooped dejectedly as he whimpered, "I didn't know the Model would get this furious... or that another one, a giant one, would show up..."

Lu Li interrupted their bickering. "Are there any side passages it can't fit into?"

"Yes, but they're very far!"

"Are there other tunnel-worms near the exit?" Lu Li pressed.

"A few passages away from here..."

"Show us the way when we get out."

The worm was buying them precious time. A few more trips like this, and they might just make it to Midnight before the giant Model caught up to them.

Or perhaps it would get stuck in a side passage, lured into a confrontation with something even stronger.

A few minutes later, the worm's tail contracted, expelling the three travelers outside.

Lu Li and Katerina barely kept their footing, but Prusius tumbled across the ground several times, becoming so caked in dust and grime that his hyena-like features were almost unrecognizable.

Prusius scrambled to his feet, shook the slime from his fur, took a few steps, and glanced back. "This way!"

Lu Li and Katerina took off after him. Lu Li pulled Elder Sister out from under his cloak and gently shook her awake.

"Mmm... Huh? Did I fall asleep...?"

Elder Sister sleepily started to clamber onto Lu Li's shoulder, but she struggled to get a grip on the slippery mucus until Lu Li gave her a little boost.

"Don't go anywhere. We need to find the next tunnel," Lu Li told Elder Sister, who was already preparing to hop down.

"Why?! This slime is absolutely disgusting!" Elder Sister shrieked, protesting loudly.

"Is the giant Model still after us?" Lu Li countered.

Now fully awake, Elder Sister reverted to her usual cantankerous tone. "A thick, bloody shroud envelops you. Only death will wash it away!"

"That's why we need to find another tunnel."

Elder Sister had no choice but to remain on Lu Li's shoulder, clinging tightly to his hood to keep from falling off.

But the constant bouncing as he ran was jarring, and she nearly lost her grip several times.

"Slow down!" Elder Sister demanded, drumming on Lu Li's hair with her tiny, cloth-covered fist.

"Prusius could carry you," Lu Li offered. Prusius's back was just the right size for Elder Sister to ride him like a pony.

Prusius, who was running ahead, glanced back over his shoulder. "Elder Sister, I can carry you."

"Absolutely not! He smells awful!" Elder Sister shrieked, still clinging to the hood and swaying precariously.

Prusius pretended not to hear, turning his head forward and furtively sniffing at his own fur.

"You can hide in the hood."

Taking Lu Li's advice, Elder Sister hopped off his shoulder and plopped right into his hood, which was a perfect fit.

Peeking her eerily masked face out from the opening, she demanded loudly, "Faster!"

Elder Sister's presence did help them avoid some trouble, as several creatures that might have otherwise blocked their path shied away.

"How much further do we have to run?"

A fork in the passage appeared up ahead, just as a chilling, hate-filled roar echoed from far behind them.

The giant Model was closer than they thought. It was gaining on them.

"It should be... somewhere around here. I don't remember the exact spot, I'll have to ask someone..."

With the giant Model rapidly closing in, they were forced to wait as Prusius frantically tried to ask for directions.

Most of the sewer's denizens either ignored Prusius or actively avoided him. Lu Li and Katerina, cloaked in black like a pair of heretics, and the tiny being that reeked of an evil god, inspired a healthy amount of fear—even if their clothes were smeared with slime.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where to find a tunnel-worm?!"

With the crashing sounds from behind them growing louder, one of the sewer dwellers finally agreed to answer, pointing Prusius toward a side passage and giving him directions.

"Thank you for your help! Have a wonderful..."

Prusius didn't get to finish his well-wishes before Katerina bolted into the indicated passage.

Prusius cut himself off and, along with Lu Li, hurried after her.

The racket from the giant Model grew louder. Having escaped the hut, it was steadily regaining its strength.

Suddenly, Elder Sister, still nestled in his hood, smacked Lu Li on the neck with all her might.

"I see it!"

In the passage they had just left, the giant Model appeared, smashing everything in its path.

"Hyena, did you find the tunnel?!" Katerina demanded through clenched teeth.

"It's right up ahead!" Prusius yelled.

They ran for another twenty or thirty seconds and reached the end of the passage. Ahead, the path forked into two new tunnels.

There was no tunnel-worm in sight.

"But... they told me it was here..." Prusius mumbled.

"It's simple. We were lied to," Katerina said, her voice ice-cold.

The ground began to tremble, and pebbles danced under their feet. Sensing the imminent danger, the other inhabitants of the sewer scattered in every direction.

But the fugitives were running out of strength.

Katerina turned to Lu Li. "Any ideas?"

"Let's split up."

Lu Li looked back at the giant Model. Its wounds had nearly closed, and its hideous face—the kind that could haunt your nightmares—was twisted with pure hatred. It was closing in.

"No!"

Katerina had pinned all her hopes on Lu Li. She had gambled everything on him, and the thought of losing him now was unbearable.

Lu Li tore his gaze away and scanned the edge of the passage, spotting a hidden, narrow opening that led downward.

"Then we go deeper."

Lu Li strode toward the opening.

Katerina stared at the gaping maw with disgust, but knowing they had no other choice, she and Prusius followed Lu Li.

"If we don't get a decent reward for this..." Katerina muttered under her breath.

The rumbling behind them intensified. Shortly after they slipped into the opening, the entrance collapsed with a deafening crash, and an avalanche of rocks cascaded past their feet.

"We can wait it out here," Katerina said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "We don't have to go deeper... just wait for it to leave."

"It won't give up." Lu Li shook his head. "The rocks won't hold it for long, and all this noise will attract whatever lives down here."

And then they'd have nowhere left to run.