The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 884: The Secret Cult of Dagon

"That might not be your real reason for being here, but either way, remember my advice: stay away from the sea. The farther, the better. The farther, the better."

With the old man's final warning echoing in his mind, Lu Li opened the door and stepped out of the inn. He made his way toward the north side of town, weaving through the damp streets under the hostile, wary stares of the locals.

But the strangeness of Innsmouth didn't end there. Lu Li hadn't seen a single cat, dog, or any other animal—not even a rat. Every local he encountered with the "Innsmouth look," beyond their unpleasant stares, gave him the feeling of being constantly watched. The only temporary relief was to duck into a dark, empty alley.

As Lu Li headed toward his destination, he was forced to take several detours to shake the relentless eyes of the locals.

A short while later, feigning the aimless wandering of a tourist, Lu Li turned into the slums. This area was even more dilapidated, a collection of smoking chimneys and patched roofs barely better than the abandoned structures on the town's edge. From time to time, strange, unidentifiable cries echoed through the alleys.

After walking a short distance, Lu Li spotted a fire station, its red paint peeling from the walls.

There, Lu Li saw Zadok Allen sprawled on a bench by the road, which overlooked the northern breakwater. Just as the innkeeper had said, he was easy to spot—or rather, any resident without the Innsmouth look was.

Glancing toward the coast, he noticed fishermen on the breakwater whispering among themselves, their eyes fixed in this direction.

It wouldn't do for the locals to see him approaching someone who didn't share their distinctive features.

Lu Li didn't approach Zadok Allen directly. Instead, he walked over to a bench about twenty feet away, his hands behind his back, one of them holding a bottle of wine. He tapped his fingers lightly against the glass, just enough to ensure Zadok Allen woke up and noticed the bottle.Before Zadok Allen could speak, Lu Li turned and walked away. He slipped into an alley under the watchful eyes of the fishermen, tipped the brim of his hat slightly, and vanished between the buildings.

...

Lu Li waited silently at the street corner, pressed against the cold brick of a wall.

Zadok Allen was still on the bench, but now he pushed himself into a sitting position, as if tired of lying down and deciding to take a walk. It seemed years of heavy drinking hadn't entirely robbed him of his wits.

As he listened to the shuffling footsteps draw nearer, a series of muffled thumps—boom-boom—suddenly echoed from the wall of the house behind him.

Lu Li stepped away from the house. Its doors and windows were boarded shut, and even the chimney had been sealed with stones. There was no way in or out.

Just then, Zadok Allen rounded the corner, drawing Lu Li's attention. The old man didn't seem to notice him and continued staggering northward.

Lu Li's gaze lingered for a moment on the house where the thumping had come from. Then, feigning the casual air of a passerby, he began to follow Zadok Allen, maintaining a careful distance so as not to draw the attention of the other townspeople.

Fortunately, Zadok was just an old man, and his slow pace was perfectly natural. Lu Li followed, and together they navigated the web of local stares, passed down Water Street, and rounded a crumbling brick wall. They emerged in an open area facing the sea, where the wall and the ruins of a warehouse to the north shielded them from any prying eyes.

It was a good place to speak of secrets.

"I don't care what you're after, just give me the drink!"

Zadok Allen made no effort to hide his craving. He lunged toward Lu Li like an addict, his body trembling. He must have been fighting the urge the entire walk.

Without a word, Lu Li handed the bottle to Zadok Allen.

Zadok snatched the bottle, clutching it to his chest. He fumbled with the cap, his thin, claw-like fingers unable to get a grip.

"Open it! Quickly!"

Zadok thrust the bottle back at Lu Li, his eyes wild and bloodshot.

The moment Lu Li opened it, Zadok grabbed the bottle, threw his head back, and poured the contents down his throat like a parched traveler discovering an oasis. But this was potent moonshine, and Lu Li wondered if the man would poison himself.

Beyond that, Zadok's drinking was a spectacle in itself—he gulped it down in great swallows without spilling a single drop, as precise as someone devouring a salad without a single leaf falling from the plate.

The innkeeper had planned it perfectly—or perhaps it was just a coincidence—but the single bottle of spirits was just enough to get Zadok drunk without rendering him completely incoherent.

"Young man, thanks for the wine... hic."

After draining the last drop, Zadok casually tossed the bottle aside. It clattered down the moss-covered stones and out of sight.

"I'm looking for someone. Her name is Katerina. That cult brought her here a few days ago."

"I don't know the woman you're talking about, but... hic... I do know about the Secret Cult of Dagon."

Zadok Allen spoke the name, but nothing happened. He just looked like a common drunk.

"Tell me about it."

"Not so fast, boy. The night is long," Zadok Allen slurred, slumping against the damp, cold stone wall. He hiccuped.

"I'll tell you everything... about the beginning, this cursed, evil place, the source of the deep waters... the Gates of Hell..."

Zadok Allen's words were rambling and disjointed as he began to recount the history of Innsmouth.

Lu Li had to sift through the drunkard's long-winded tale to find the useful kernels of information.

Information, for instance, about the Secret Cult of Dagon.

The Secret Cult of Dagon had appeared in Innsmouth long, long ago, even before the Ancient Era.

They quickly supplanted the town's traditional religions, urging all residents to worship the cult's father-god and mother-goddess: Dagon and Mother Hydra.

Once every resident, whether willingly or by force, had embraced the new faith, the Secret Cult of Dagon revealed its true nature: they were beings from the deepest abyss of the ocean.

The townspeople who followed the Secret Cult of Dagon began to change, gradually transforming into creatures with the features of fish and frogs, capable of living in the sea and possessing... a near-eternal life.

The residents who became Deep Ones could still interbreed with humans. Their hybrid offspring would change as they aged, taking on the appearance of their sires. Those who didn't change at birth would almost always fully transform into Deep Ones by their youth or middle age, at which point they would descend into the deep sea to join their tribe.

They possessed intelligence—they were even smarter than humans—and they dwelt on the ocean floor. Innsmouth was merely one of their breeding grounds.

All the Deep Ones, while revering their leader Dagon, also worshiped the Lord of the Depths—

For Dagon was not the Lord of the Depths.

The father-god Dagon and the mother-goddess Mother Hydra, worshiped by the Deep Ones, were merely servants of that supreme Lord of the Depths.

These were secrets one could only learn by becoming one with the town, by truly becoming a part of it.

The reason Zadok Allen knew all this was a source of great pain and despair for him. Without the wine, nothing could have compelled him to speak of it.

He was a "silent descendant."

Zadok Allen's ancestors were Deep Ones. His grandfather and grandmother were Deep Ones. His father and mother were Deep Ones. Even his wife and children had become Deep Ones.

But he was not. Webbed feet, gills, scales—none of it ever appeared on his body.