The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 805: A Stop in Majiao

Beyond the Serma Mountains to the south lay the Serene Plains.

There lay the Kingdom of Allen, destroyed by anomalies, and even further south were the Fallen Leaves Mountains, which bordered the Allen Peninsula.

The railway, however, stretched north, not south, and the Allen Peninsula was not Lu Li's destination.

He had a safer and faster way to return to the Allen Peninsula: by a large ship.

The settlement of Majiao was located in the middle-to-latter section of the ever-expanding railway line. Compared to the cities of the Wastelands, this local town was quieter and more insular; not even the arrival of the rails and the train could dispel its desolation.

The reason, of course, was related to anomalies.

Still, in front of the station, there was a market street where passengers could rest, eat, and shop, giving people a taste of the local flavor—but only on that single street.

Lu Li and his companions did not leave the train. The VIP car was unusually spacious, equipped with enough folding single beds for the entire group to rest.

There was still some time before darkness fell. The mountains, covered in dry forests, were shrouded in twilight, and only the settlement of Majiao glowed in the gloom.

The aroma of maple cakes, a specialty of the Serma Mountains, drifted from the market street, seeping into the car through the cracks in the windows.Neither Lu Li nor the wielders of anomalous power would eat the maple cakes, which clearly did not meet Terminus standards. They had special chefs preparing their food from first-class ingredients according to those same standards.

The first-class food was infinitely close to that of the Old Era, and the price was correspondingly high.

While waiting for dinner, Lu Li recalled the previous evening's reception at the Mayor's Office, where the president of the Terminus Association had exchanged a few brief words with him, expressing his hope that Lu Li would become an ambassador for Terminus standards.

The fee for this representation was high; the monthly payment alone would be enough for an ordinary person to live a carefree life.

But to Lu Li, money was just a set of numbers.

Prusius, being an anomaly himself, didn't hold back. Unable to resist the temptation of trying something new, he asked a steward to bring him a portion.

Soon, a greasy maple cake, wrapped in newspaper, was delivered to the luxurious car.

On the front page of the week-old newspaper, the headlines were still about Lu Li's appearance in Midnight.

Prusius first bit off a corner of the newspaper, pulled it free, then awkwardly folded it, ignoring the oil stains. He tucked it into a pouch hanging around his neck before finally sampling the golden, crispy maple cake. Then he remarked, "Tastes like autumn."

To put it plainly, it was made of minced maple leaves mixed with ground meat and then fried. The flavor of the leaves permeated the meat patty, and one could catch the scent of an autumn forest.

However, Prusius didn't like the meat; it was so tender it felt like he was eating mushrooms.

"What kind of meat is this?" Katerina asked.

"You wouldn't want to know," the Fallen spoke up.

He probably needed negative emotions again.

Katerina snorted coldly in response:

"When I was surviving in the wastelands, there wasn't much I wouldn't eat."

"A fungus called meat carpet," the Fallen said, no longer teasing Katerina as he gave the answer.

Like the Blood Dandelions from the blood fields outside Midnight, it was a fungus contaminated by anomalies. It grew in the dark, damp places of the Serma Mountains, looking like earth that had been skinned, exposing raw flesh and blood.

That was why the maple cakes were a local specialty. Maple leaves were everywhere, but the meat carpet was found only here.

Katerina immediately lost interest in the "taste of autumn." Ten days of living in aristocratic society had made her unable to return to her former life of drinking sewage and eating the flesh of anomalies.

Prusius, however, didn't mind. He was like an explorer, full of curiosity and courage when it came to new things.

It was a pity this was the Age of Anomalies. Years of contamination had already turned him into an anomaly, left to curl up and die in the filthy, stinking Old Sewer.

Their dinner was quickly prepared and delivered to the VIP car. But due to the monotony of the ingredients, the meal wasn't lavish. Besides a ribeye steak with sauce, each person only received a small glass of wine, produced thirty-two years ago at the Victoria winery—once the most famous of its kind, now occupied by the Cult of the Bloody Pond.

Fortunately, there was plenty of ribeye steak, enough for everyone to eat their fill.

Having finished the maple cake, Prusius started on his portion of ribeye steak, jumping down to the floor. Though he had a human face, he ate like a hyena.

After eating quickly, he licked his lips, hopped back onto his seat, and stared for a while at the illuminated street outside the train window.

The light was somewhat dim; the anomalous fog was drawing near.

"Will the anomalies attack the settlement?" The Fallen remained silent, but the Shadow Figure answered:

"Yes."

"Then why don't they leave?" Prusius asked, concerned.

"They have no money."

The train tickets were more expensive than one might expect.

The town's residents could have walked to Vinnelag, but no one did.

Although the wilderness was dangerous and terrifying, the unprotected settlement was like a large can of preserved meat—not much safer than the wild.

"Is something protecting this place?" Lu Li asked.

The Shadow Figure no longer hid the truth from Lu Li, who had already guessed the answer:

"A church."

On the Main Continent, aside from the star cities opposing Midnight and Vinnelag itself, many towns relied on the protection of various churches.

And due to the lack of restrictions, these churches were wilder and bloodier than the Wastelands.

Rather than heretics, the term "cultists" was more fitting for them... and their status.

"You'll have to deal with them sooner or later. Pray your reputation is useful against them, too," the Fallen interjected suddenly.

Knock, knock, knock.

There was a knock on the car door, and a steward entered.

"The anomalous fog is approaching the settlement of Majiao. Please close the curtains."

Lu Li, who was by the window, raised a hand to grab the curtain, but before he could close it, he saw a little boy in dirty burlap standing on the platform outside, staring blankly at the food on the table.

"Give him my steak."

Lu Li told the steward.

Prusius wagged his tail. He really liked it when Lu Li did things like this; it was just a shame his own steak was already gone, so he couldn't give it to the boy.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Yes."

The regretful steward left with the tray. After seeing the boy snatch the steak without a word and run off into the thickening fog, Lu Li drew the curtain.

There were many ancient marks on the curtain as well.

"What a lucky little kid. He has no idea the meal he's about to eat is worth half a month's worth of maple cakes," came the Fallen's mocking voice from nearby.

"It's a small kindness, that's all, I know," Prusius encouraged Lu Li, neutralizing the Fallen's sarcasm.

The boy was just an episode. He didn't reappear or cause any trouble.

Night fell. The curtains in the car were drawn, and the single beds were unfolded. Everyone except the Merchant and the Shadow Figure, who was on watch, fell asleep in the dim light cast by the anomalous fog.

The night passed peacefully, aside from the various eerie sounds and whispers that drifted from the fog.

The next morning, the fog lifted, and the steam train set off.

Nearing noon, the long steam train, with thick smoke billowing from its stack, seemed tiny as it receded toward the distant mountains.

Wooo-wooo.

The train's whistle echoed through the damp, fog-shrouded mountains and forests.

The steam train was approaching the final station on the railway line: Wigtown.

The Hillerwig Mountains were directly ahead.

And in the Hillerwig Mountains, no one could kill a cat.