The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 831: Records of the Destruction of Belfast

"Do you recognize him?" Katerina asked, turning to Lu Li, who reached out a hand.

"He was a member of the Night's Watch."

Lu Li picked up the fallen notebook with his left hand.

It seemed the anomaly, which had once been a member of the Night's Watch, had taken its own life after Lu Li's arrival.

The notebook held the answers.

The Black Crow, stepping over the scraps of flesh, tilted its head, its dark eyes reflecting Lu Li as he opened the notebook.

[August 13, Investigator Zoharkin checked out two books: "History of the Fast Organ" and "Maritime Curiosities".]

[August 13, Alliance staff member Winterdo checked out one book: "Chronicles of the Main Continent".]

[August 13...]

The notebook appeared to contain only records of books being checked out from the library. Lu Li quickly flipped through the pages, stopping about a third of the way in.The handwriting had become sloppy, and the content had changed.

[I am Matthew, a Night's Watch member from Belfast. The activity logs have been lost. I will use this notebook to continue the records.]

[When the catastrophe struck, our squad was ordered to protect the Investigators' base. I lost contact with them, and I was the only one who made it here.]

[The sounds of burning, screaming, and horrifying shrieks are everywhere outside. Captain Plis and the others probably aren't coming... I should go look for them, but protecting the Investigators' base is our mission.]

[There's no one here. I'm all alone in this huge Investigators' base... Where did all the Investigators go? And the people from the Alliance?]

[The ground is shaking. What on earth is happening outside?]

[The radio says Belfast is under attack by an anomaly, just like Port Zenster... Is the city going to be destroyed? But... how is that possible...]

[No one has returned, and not a single civilian has fled here. The radio just keeps repeating the same thing... Maybe it's true... What should I do?]

[I found a supply storeroom. It should be enough to last me a while.]

[Dawn has broken... The burning hasn't stopped, and there's thick smoke everywhere. What happened outside? Did fire engulf all of Belfast?]

[The mission required our squad to guard the Investigators' base. I never saw the others... I will wait. The Investigators' base cannot be abandoned.]

[The situation might be worse than I thought. From now on, I will record the daily changes in this city. It will be useful, whether I pass it on or you find it...]

[On the second day, at noon, the entire city was silent. The smoke from the fires made the sky dim, as if it were dusk. I could see silhouettes passing by the window, but I couldn't tell if they were survivors or... them.]

[On the third day, the radio broke. I found a passage; it seems very long, and I don't know where it leads. I hope some of our people come through it... But if help never comes, I'll start exploring. In times like these, following the Night's Watch rules is pointless, right?]

[On the fourth day, the thick smoke over the city cleared. There really were survivors, but that was in the early days. Now I rarely see figures passing on the street outside the window, only the silhouettes that appear after the strange fog envelops the city. I know they aren't human...]

[On the fifth day, the radio fixed itself. I heard voices again, other than my own. Just as I thought, Belfast has been destroyed... Anomalies invaded en masse, hundreds of thousands of people have died, and only a few escaped. The radio keeps repeating that survivors should head to the Sentry Post on the mountainside.]

[It seems there was a rescue attempt, but it failed, and they haven't sent any more help.]

[On the sixth day, have they abandoned this place? The mechanism at the entrance hasn't been touched. No one has come.]

[On the seventh day... I should be grateful that there are many books in the library. I won't go mad from boredom, but these books are poison. Reading too much will lower my Mind Level... I hope there aren't too many books of knowledge, and more stories.]

[The seventh day was the same as yesterday.]

[On the eighth day, nothing happened. Or rather, everything that was going to happen already happened in the first three days.]

[On the ninth day, it's confirmed that no help is coming. "Night's Watch Rule Thirty-Four: If a mission exceeds one week or a member independently determines that an incident has occurred, the member may freely investigate or retreat." I have to go out and see.]

[A fishing vessel has crashed into the next street. What happened? Why is a hundred-ton fishing vessel in the city? Who lifted it? I thought the destruction was just...]

[I'm back. I can't leave... They're everywhere outside. I was almost discovered, and the moment I got back to the surface, my Mind Level counter started buzzing.]

[This passage leads to the True Library. I know this place, but I've never been there... To my disappointment, there are no survivors in the True Library either, and anomalies have taken over the area outside it. I can't get out that way.]

[I've counted the remaining food. There are more canned goods than I thought, enough for half a year or even longer. But there isn't much kerosene; I need to find some firewood.]

[On the tenth day, perhaps I should increase the frequency of my diary entries. Every day is the same as the last. No anomalies have come here. Nothing has happened.]

[On the eleventh day, the Mind Level counter has been buzzing constantly, without stopping...]

[There are only three possibilities: something is wrong with me, something is wrong with this base, or something is wrong with the counter.]

[On the fourteenth day, anomalies have taken over this city, these ruins. There's no other way to explain the constant contamination...]

[On the seventeenth day, I have less than five pounds of kerosene left. I must conserve it.]

[I dismantled cabinets and chairs to build a fire. It's much brighter than the kerosene lamp, and even the counter seemed to buzz more slowly.]

[On the twentieth day, I felt unwell. Not because of the filth—although I am a woman, for a member of the Night's Watch, filth is not an unbearable problem.]

[Thirty-fifth... or whatever day it is, I haven't written in a long time... Something bad is happening to me. My body is changing...]

[Fiftieth day? Another piece of meat, these lump-like growths, they get bigger every day...]

[Sixtieth day... My thoughts... are slowing... I'm afraid to look in the mirror... Ugly growths hang from my body...]

[I'm turning into a monster...]

[The food is almost gone...]

[The messenger came... no letter... hunger... brought food... it saved... gratitude...]

[Help...]

[...take care of... messenger... comrade... home... safety... wait... leave... records...]

The sloppy handwriting repeated the same content over and over, filling the subsequent pages.

An indescribable, subtle change could be felt on every page: the letters gradually grew thick and wet, like sticky tentacles from the deepest trenches of the sea, gently brushing against Lu Li's eyes.

Lu Li struggled to piece together some of the meaning from the tainted, repetitive words: the Night's Watch member named Matthew had hoped that whoever came after her would take care of the Black Crow.

Snap.

Gently closing the notebook, Lu Li said to the Black Crow:

"Wait for us on the cliffs of the Elm Forest."

"Caw!" The Black Crow's hoarse cry echoed like a reply.

It flew back the way they had come, and the sound of its beating wings faded at the end of the passage.