The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 758: Central Station of Midnight

Three figures tumbled out of the wormhole.

Katerina staggered as she landed, nearly toppling over like Prusius.

"No more disgusting worms!" the Elder Sister shrieked, scrambling out from under Lu Li's clothes and crawling back into his hood.

Several journeys through the wormholes had left them looking like slugs—their slime-soaked black cloaks clung to their bodies. Even the Elder Sister's tattered ragdoll form was coated in a nasty, sticky substance.

But the advantage was clear: they could travel faster and more easily, and they had shaken off the giant Model.

Lu Li no longer felt its malice enveloping them. Perhaps the giant Model had given up, or maybe they were simply too far apart.

Katerina and Prusius rushed over to a water merchant to replenish their fluids.

The water in the Old Sewer was far filthier than on the surface, but Katerina had no choice. Fortunately, Lu Li showed no signs of dehydration, so she didn't have to worry about his well-being.

After gulping down as much of the contaminated water as she could from a wooden bucket, Katerina returned to Lu Li, water trickling down her cheeks.

"How are you?" she asked.Prusius couldn't reach the bucket, so the merchant poured some water into a stone bowl and set it on the ground for him.

"I'm fine," Lu Li replied. His lips were cracked, but he was holding on.

"How much further?" Katerina called out to Prusius. If it weren't for the giant Model on their tail, she would never have willingly crawled into another one of those moisture-sucking worms.

Standing on his hind legs and holding the stone bowl in his forepaws, Prusius drank the last drop, licked his lips, and replied, "We're close now, maybe just around the next corner!"

Her thirst quenched, Katerina paid the merchant.

"Two shillings? Why so expensive?!" Katerina glared at the merchant. Water by the other wormholes had only cost one shilling, and this stuff didn't look any cleaner.

"Because up ahead is the Central Station," the fur-covered inhuman replied. "The rent is higher here."

Rent—a word that implied order.

Prusius's ears perked up, and he lifted his head.

"Master Lu Li, Mistress Katerina, did you hear? We're almost at the Central Station of Midnight!"

"We heard," Katerina sighed and, after a moment's hesitation, took out the money.

But as the two shillings vanished into the merchant's pocket, a thought struck Katerina. Maybe the price was two shillings precisely because everyone who made it to the Central Station of Midnight was just so relieved to be here?

They left the side tunnel with the wormhole and emerged onto a wide road that stretched straight ahead. In the distance, they could see the smooth stone pavers characteristic of a main thoroughfare.

They were approaching Midnight.

"Finally..." Katerina breathed a sigh of relief and, alongside Lu Li, headed toward the end of their long journey.

Smooth stone slabs paved the road and formed vaulted walls. Shops lined both sides of the wide street, and the passersby were mostly human, with only the occasional inhuman or other creature mixed in.

The main street of the Central Station of Midnight was like a street in any ordinary surface city—perhaps even livelier than some of the smaller towns.

As they passed one of the shops, Lu Li saw a sign in the window: "Night Wanderer Alchemical Supplies."

The display was filled with strange and bizarre items: a lump of pulsating sludge, a clockwork figurine staring motionlessly out at the street, a severed finger, grass growing from a flower, and dust swirling inside a glass bottle.

All of it was for sale.

"Alchemy?" Lu Li turned to Katerina.

"I think that's what they call people who can create incredible things," Katerina replied. It was all she knew; she had never actually met an alchemist.

Lu Li pulled back his hood. Posing as a heretic on the main street of Midnight would be too conspicuous. He didn't need to worry about drawing attention—their flight and the wormhole slime had left them so disheveled they were unrecognizable.

Prusius was thrilled by the place, his head swiveling constantly to take in the shops and passersby, yet at the same time, he seemed uncomfortable and lost.

But this was still the Old Sewer. Even under Midnight's protection, darkness thrived here.

Two inhumans darted out of an alley, not even bothering to wipe the blood from their faces.

Lu Li glanced down the dark alley they had come from. A girl lay against a wall, half-submerged in sewage. Her mutilated body was covered in bite marks, her chest cavity torn open and concave—her organs had been ripped out and devoured.

Lu Li paused and walked toward the alley.

The heavy smell of blood mingled with the stench of sewage. The girl lay against the wall, her eyes vacant.

"Is she dead?" Katerina asked, her brow furrowed.

Just as she spoke, Lu Li saw the girl's eyelashes flutter.

"She will be soon," he replied.

Very soon. Or perhaps the girl simply possessed an incredibly strong will to live.

Lu Li lowered his gaze. There was nothing he could do for her.

"Could alchemy save her?"

"No... Alchemy can't bring back the dead." Katerina knew what he was thinking and said sadly, "Forget it. This isn't that kind of era anymore."

Prusius looked up in surprise.

"'Not that kind of era?' What does that mean... Is Master Lu Li from the past?"

"He knows who you are," Katerina said, narrowing her eyes, but her voice lacked its usual chill. They were almost in Midnight now.

"I didn't hear anything," Prusius muttered, his ears drooping hastily.

Neither Katerina nor Prusius felt any particular emotion for the cooling body against the wall.

In silence, Lu Li took off his cloak and draped it over the girl's mutilated body.

"Let's go," he said, turning to leave the alley.

Back on the bustling main street, it felt as if they had left the gloom of the alley behind.

Merchants and hunters bustled about, along with three nuns in strange robes and a professor leading a group of students.

Half an hour later, they reached the edge of the Central Station of Midnight. From here, one could ascend to Midnight City itself. Beyond this point lay Midnight's territory, and from there, getting to the surface unofficially would be far more difficult.

Hunched, rat-like inhumans scurried about, whispering to one another. They were offering their services for illegally crossing the border into Midnight.

But Lu Li and Katerina had no need for their services. They were human and could enter Midnight freely.

Prusius had completed his task.

In front of the main road leading to the surface, he stood up on his hind legs like a person, pressed his forepaws to his chest, and gave a clumsy but earnest bow.

"Prusius reporting, mission complete!"

"Thank you," Lu Li said with a slight nod.

Prusius's tail wagged happily. He had gotten what he wanted.

But soon, his tail drooped, his ears fell, and a look of sorrow crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" Katerina asked. Their escape together had changed her attitude toward Prusius.

"Daisy and Mac-Mac are dead... Now I'm all alone..." Prusius mumbled, his head hanging low. "I can't go back, I have nowhere to go, I don't know what to do..."

Lu Li looked toward the road leading to the surface.

"You can stay with us."