The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 830: Return to the Investigators' Base

The destruction of the shortcut did little to trouble them.

Even Lu Li would have struggled to climb the hundred meters back up to Sea Gaze Cliff; it was never meant to be their escape route.

Deep within the reef, a towering lighthouse cut an enormous silhouette through the fog. After stashing the frayed hemp rope behind some rocks, they set off toward the coastal street.

Inhuman tracks marred the brown sand. The sea wind was already smoothing them over, but most were fresh. Perhaps they belonged to creatures from the fog, or maybe wandering anomalies from the ruins of Belfast.

Using the cover of the lingering morning fog, they followed the coastline inland, eventually reaching the end of a thick wall that bordered the coastal street.

It wasn't time to enter the city yet. They had to follow the wall along the edge of the beach, heading south until they were below the Andreis brothers' repair shop. The fog and the wall would conceal them.

Numerous tracks littered the ground before one deep sewer entrance, suggesting an anomaly resided there. After quickly and silently passing several more, Lu Li suddenly stopped before one marked with faded graffiti.

This one also had tracks, obscured by rain-washed mud.

Katerina and Prusius, who had already walked past, turned back to wait. Katerina remained silent, but her gaze was a question aimed at Lu Li.

— Children once lived here.Lu Li whispered, once they had put some distance between themselves and the sewer.

— It couldn't have been them, Katerina said. Sea Gaze Cliff is safer than the city.

Prusius had coaxed Lu Li into telling him about the inhabitants of Sea Gaze Cliff last night, including the unfortunate children.

Before the fog could dissipate, they neared the bridge that led to Port Roadster. For twenty-four years, the sea wind had battered it, yet the sturdy, unmaintained wooden bridge still stood. It was heavily dilapidated, however, riddled with holes and gaps as if eaten by worms.

As they reached the space beneath the bridge, just before passing under, they heard shuffling sounds from the deck above.

With the Fallen gone, they had lost their ability to sense anomalies. All they could do was remain silent and watch the bridge above.

Vague silhouettes shuffled across the bridge, creeping toward Port Roadster. Their shapes were vaguely human, shrouded in black, veil-like cloaks, and their steps made the wooden planks creak.

A host of unknown creatures was approaching Port Roadster.

Whether the colossal beast's spine Prusius had seen the day before was connected to them was anyone's guess.

Lu Li and the others held their breath, waiting for them to cross the bridge.

If Lu Li still possessed that "humanity," their presence under the bridge would have surely been discovered...

Gurgle...

One of the silhouettes stopped, let out a low, unintelligible sound, and tilted its cowled head down.

Its silhouette sank lower as it silently dropped to the deck. Through a crack between the wooden planks, a bloodshot eyeball peered out from beneath the veiled cloak.

Beneath the bridge, there was nothing but scattered tracks.

...

Several dozen meters from the wooden bridge, Lu Li and the others proceeded calmly.

The sound of the waves and the soft sand muffled their footsteps, while the thin fog concealed the silhouettes on the bridge—and them as well.

— They almost spotted us...

Prusius let out a long breath. It was a good thing Elder Sister was with them.

His perception was duller than the Fallen's, but sharper than that of Lu Li and the other humans.

Once past the wooden bridge, they weren't far from their destination.

Before the fog vanished completely, they climbed onto the street and quickly hurried into the signless shell of the Andreis brothers' repair shop.

The interior was dark, damp, and dilapidated. Collapsed, empty display cases obstructed the path. The curtains in the back of the shop were long gone, revealing a cloaked figure, face hidden in the shadows, with a black hawk perched on one arm. They stood like a sinister statue in the gloom, as if awaiting uninvited guests.

Prusius, at least, was terrified.

— This is what you call an investigators' base?

Katerina frowned.

Scritch-scratch!

A kerosene lamp flickered to life, casting dappled, distorted shadows.

— It's underground, Lu Li said, stepping over the collapsed shelves and heading toward the back of the store.

— This isn't what I expected either...

Katerina lifted Prusius by the scruff of his neck.

— I know. The investigators are a secretive lot. They don't like being in the public eye, said Prusius, dangling from Katerina's grip.

After navigating the wooden shelves—which were like high walls to Prusius—they approached a heavily faded mural, and Katerina set him down.

— What now?

She asked Lu Li, who was standing before the mural.

Lu Li handed the kerosene lamp to Katerina, crouched in front of the mural, and lifted a blanket.

As the shadow retreated, it revealed a badge beneath the blanket: a three-eyed black crow. Its empty sockets stared silently at the intruders.

— What is it? Katerina asked.

Lu Li picked it up and inserted it into the beak of the black crow on the mural.

Click!

The sound of grinding gears echoed from behind the mural.

— A spare key, for emergencies.

Lu Li watched as a seam appeared in the mural, widening slowly and laboriously.

— Why was it hidden under a blanket?

— A peculiar sense of humor.

Much like hiding the investigators' base beneath a shop, no one would ever think to look for the key under a blanket.

The grinding of gears abruptly ceased, and the opening in the mural stopped widening.

The mechanism had failed.

Not even the investigators' base was immune to the corrosion of a coastal climate.

The gap was barely wide enough to squeeze through sideways. Lu Li took back the kerosene lamp and extended it into the darkness behind the mural.

The elevator platform below hadn't risen either; a rough-spun rope disappeared into the depths.

After retrieving the eyeless crow badge, Lu Li clenched the lamp's handle between his teeth. Katerina had Prusius grab onto her ankles, and together, she and Lu Li rappelled down the rope, landing on the roof of the elevator cage.

— Elder Sister.

— It's clear, Elder Sister replied.

Lu Li lifted the hatch on the roof of the elevator cage and jumped inside.

Thud!

The loud noise echoed throughout the empty investigators' base, and a cloud of disturbed dust billowed up, shrouding them like a fog.

Katerina followed, stifling a cough, and emerged with Lu Li from the dust cloud.

— I'd rather have stayed outside...

The kerosene lamp illuminated only a small circle around them. The rest of the vast space was wrapped in a ghostly darkness, still echoing with the thud of their landing.

The entire underground base would now know they were here.

Leaving the elevator shaft, they entered what was once the main hall. A layer of stagnant water covered the floor, seeping in from grated openings in the walls that were disguised as roadside drains.

Faint, cold light filtered in from the street, giving Lu Li and the others a small measure of comfort in the oppressive dark.

Relying on memory, Lu Li led them across the hall toward the secret passage to the True Library.

At the entrance to the passage, just at the edge of the lamp's glow, a black shape materialized.

It turned its head to stare at the intruders. Grisly shreds of flesh clung to its beak.

— Caw!

The black crow gave a hoarse cry, then ignored them and went back to tearing at the meat clutched in its talons. It then carried a piece over to a lump of twisted, rotting flesh that lay before the door.

As if sensing their presence, the lump of rotting flesh suddenly stirred. From deep within it, a badge bearing a half-open eye slowly emerged.

It was a badge of the Night's Watch.

Katerina and Prusius were confused, but a flicker of understanding crossed Lu Li's mind.

— I am Senior Investigator Lu Li, he said.

The rotting flesh did not respond.

Lu Li produced the black crow badge again. The rotting flesh, which had grown still, suddenly began to writhe violently. Its movements seemed to prelude an attack, and Katerina gave Lu Li a sharp warning.

The rotting flesh writhed faster, boiling and bubbling furiously. Within seconds, it melted into a puddle of foul water and evaporated into nothing.

Slap!

A notebook slapped down onto the spot where the flesh had vanished.