The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 877: Lu Li's Followers

"The foggy tide and the Eternal Night are expected to last for another three days or so... Utter nonsense."

The young investigator set the newspaper aside with a rustle and remarked contemptuously:

"My cousin in the navy told me they've all pulled back to the port to defend it, and the shells stacked on the docks are practically high enough to flood the place. It's the same story with the monsters in the fog; Fint just got back from there and said the port cannons are still firing. This Calamity will last at least another week. These monsters aren't going to miss a golden opportunity like this."

"The papers never tell the truth," his colleague chimed in, leaning back in his wooden chair and propping his feet up on another.

"That's not quite it..." the young investigator began, coming to the defense of the papers, and even the higher-ups.

"It must be an order from the Mayor's Office. If the citizens knew the Severe Winter would drag on this long, they wouldn't be able to hold back from going out to forage for food. Chaos would break out, people would get infected, turn into anomalies, get duped by heretics, and then—boom!"

Just as the young investigator made the explosive gesture, spreading his hands wide, a sharp bang echoed through the room.

Bang!

The iron door burst open.

The young investigator and his colleague scrambled to their feet."Captain!"

Valentin, who had stormed into the room, ignored their disheveled clothes and the overturned wooden chair. Suppressing his ragged breathing from the rush, he demanded:

"Where are the prisoners from the Church of Shadows?"

"They're still locked in their cells. Nothing's happened!" the young investigator declared, straightening up and puffing out his chest.

"Have you learned anything new?"

"Er... not yet."

Although the last interrogation report had been sent just a short while ago, the young investigator knew that no superior wanted to hear excuses:

"Those filthy heretics have been unyielding... We've been torturing them all day. If we keep this up, they're going to die."

"We're out of time. We have to make them talk immediately."

Captain Valentin glanced at the desk clock.

"What's happened?" the other investigator couldn't help but ask.

Valentin didn't hide anything, watching the expressions on his two subordinates' faces.

"The mayor is here. Someone tipped him off that we caught heretics from the Church of Shadows... The boss has stalled them for the moment, but we have twenty minutes, tops."

Horror and panic gripped both investigators at once—they knew, of course, what the consequences would be if the Mayor's Office discovered their secret operation.

"We have a mole?!" the young investigator gritted out.

"I don't know... It doesn't matter right now." Valentin's scrutinizing gaze shifted away.

"What matters is that we've been exposed. We have to get the information before they arrive."

"But..."

Valentin cut his subordinate off.

"We'll have to use special methods."

"A special interrogation? But we have to file a request with the armory—"

Valentin interrupted again, heading toward a heavy iron door etched with an ancient mark.

"Not that kind."

"Protective gear..."

His subordinate pointed to the protective suit hanging on the wall.

"We won't need it."

The iron door swung open slowly, revealing the cold, damp depths of the cell, where a silhouette hung from an iron frame.

Instruments of torture, enough to make the bravest strongman tremble and beg for mercy, were arranged along the edges of the cell. Heavy shackles bound the figure in layers. The cloak of the silhouette, whose chest still rose and fell with faint breaths, had long been torn to shreds, his body covered in ugly, horrific scars.

Most of those wounds had not been inflicted by them.

They were the result of the self-mortifying faith practiced by the cultists of the Church of Shadows.

"A bunch of lunatics..." Valentin muttered under his breath at the sight.

Heretics.

They were always the most difficult and the easiest of opponents.

They rejected raw, primitive, innate power, instead wielding a defiled strength born from their faith.

When the entities they worshipped were alive and sufficiently powerful, every heretic was a walking font of defilement. Even the most highly trained warriors of the Inquisition, once exposed, would fall into the abyss, driven mad by sinister whispers. Faith made them fanatical to the last breath.

That was why everyone preferred dealing with corpse-eaters or Rhenish maggots—anomalies that could be destroyed with cannons and steam armor.

Fortunately, the Church of Shadows was one of many insignificant, minor cults, and the "Shadow Maiden" they worshipped had long since vanished. The Inquisition had dealt with plenty of heretics and knew how to make them talk.

But this time, they were short on time, and Valentin had to resort to an illegal method.

A method more illicit than even harsh torture and special techniques.

Valentin turned toward the dungeon exit, his back to the bowed head of the Church of Shadows cultist, and said to his puzzled subordinate outside the cell door:

"Please ask Mr. Lu Li to wait. We'll give him an update after the interrogation."

He turned back and saw the silhouette on the iron frame slowly raise its head.

Valentin, not bothering to hide his contempt for the heretic, called out:

"The great exorcist has already entered the dungeon. How much longer are you going to resist?"

The brief echo died away, and Valentin continued:

"Silence is useless. Mr. Lu Li already knows you're the ones who attacked him."

As soon as he finished speaking, a hoarse, faint whisper slowly echoed through the cell.

"It wasn't... us... We... would not harm... Mr. Lu Li..."

A serious expression slowly formed deep in Valentin's eyes, but he continued to press with sarcasm:

"You think we'll believe that? That Mr. Lu Li will believe it?"

"We... are His people... and... his people..."

"His? You mean Lu Li?" Valentin asked, almost unconsciously.

But the Church of Shadows cultist lapsed into a long silence. Valentin questioned him several more times but got no response.

He couldn't resist stepping closer, only to find that the bloody, mangled chest was no longer rising and falling.

Valentin wasn't sure if the man was dead, but having gotten the information he needed, he left the cell. He ordered his subordinates to get someone to provide medical aid, then headed for the cell holding the other heretic.

This time, he changed his tone.

"You bunch of fools, you should have just told us sooner."

Valentin stared mockingly at the conscious figure on the iron frame.

"If we'd known about the relationship between Lu Li and the Church of Shadows sooner, you wouldn't have had to suffer like this."

"Mr. Lu Li...?"

This cultist's condition was better, and he was more talkative.

"If it weren't for Mr. Lu Li, do you think I'd bother coming down here to see you stinking creatures?" Valentin continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"The master has learned the truth...?"

A note of surprise was hidden in the heretic's tone.

"That's right."

Valentin's low whisper echoed in the cell.

"After all, who would have thought an evil spirit would be connected to an exorcist?"

The human cultists were, of course, ready to sacrifice their lives for their faith. But if they were all comrades, what was the point of a senseless sacrifice?

"Then I can leave this place...?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, and very soon. You won't have to wait long at all..."

Valentin smiled and gestured with his hand, ordering his subordinates to close the cell.

The slowly closing iron door gradually obscured a pair of haggard eyes that had found a flicker of hope.

"Is all that true?" the young subordinate asked, his throat suddenly dry.

"'The evidence always follows the killer,' right?"

Valentin recited the proverb all investigators knew.

"A great exorcist worshipped by heretics... The boss is going to love this."