The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 898: Explosion

"Ophelia."

Lu Li inclined his head, giving a silent command.

Ophelia opened the wooden box, revealing the ghostly blue frost crystals creeping across its surface, a stark contrast to the dark red lava of the Lava Hall.

It captured the gaze of everyone present. A sound like flowing water, or perhaps drool, seemed to fill the air, along with the dull thunder of heartbeats and the crackle of crumbling rock.

"Such an irresistible offer... I was almost tempted..."

The black-haired woman licked her red lips, her seductive black eyes glancing away.

"Are there any other guests interested in the Eye of the Ancient God?"

The guests couldn't understand why she remained indifferent to the Anomaly Currency, but this gave them an opportunity: buy the Eye of the Ancient God, then trade it for the currency Lu Li possessed.

"The anomaly nest you conquered," a skeletal silhouette whispered.

"My apologies, but I have no need for territory.""A quarter of the territory of Midnight's 101st level," the anomaly spoke again.

The smile faded from the black-haired woman's eyes.

"I believe I've already made it clear that I have no need for territory."

"The faith of the Secret Cult of the Hills."

"I have no intention of becoming an Evil God."

"The complete corpse of a town god."

"If I needed such a thing, I wouldn't be selling the Eye of the Ancient God, now would I?"

Lu Li calmly watched as the black-haired woman rejected the offers from the guests.

From the moment the inverted pentagram began to burn, events had taken a strange turn.

"Two Anomaly Currencies."

The new offer snapped Lu Li from his thoughts. A gasp of astonishment, sounding almost human, rippled through the Lava Hall, followed by a wave of thick, loathsome malice.

"It seems I can no longer refuse... unless, of course, someone offers more..." The black-haired woman paused, her dark eyes shifting away from Lu Li.

"Then the Eye of the Ancient God can only go to..."

"Do the auction rules allow the seller to drive up the price?"

Lu Li's words suddenly echoed through the hall.

The ancient treeman, who had disappeared after announcing the start of the auction, silently appeared at the edge of the central platform.

"It is forbidden."

Receiving a definitive answer, Lu Li turned his gaze to the two-horned lizardman who had offered two Anomaly Currencies.

"Both the seller and the guest who offered two currencies are from Hell."

"Is it so strange for guests to come from the same place?"

The black-haired woman replied, her curious gaze scrutinizing him.

Perhaps it was her overconfidence.

"Their auras are from the same source, and she doesn't possess two Anomaly Currencies," Lu Li stated plainly.

The old treeman's face twisted and writhed, contorting with rage.

"You have broken the rules... be gone."

The Lava Hall shuddered, and fragments of rock rained down from the translucent, crystal ceiling.

"Forgive my audacity. As a devil, I ask that you believe in my devotion to order. As compensation, allow me to add a temporary lot as an apology."

The black-haired woman, calling herself a devil, couldn't understand why the auctioneer was expelling her over a single word. She could only humbly try to salvage the situation. Or, perhaps... it was all part of the conspiracy.

The trembling in the Lava Hall subsided, a sign that the old treeman had given her a chance. A smile reappeared on the black-haired woman's crimson lips. She beckoned to the two-horned lizardman, and three-sevenths of an Anomaly Currency dropped into her pale palm.

The black-haired woman swept her gaze over all the greedy eyes and slowly announced:

"These three-sevenths of an Anomaly Currency, the Eye of the Ancient God, and the right to the spoils, in exchange for..."

Her pale, long fingers pointed at Lu Li.

"Capture him for me."

There was no light in the dilapidated hut, only the yellowish glow of the street penetrating through cracks in the walls as silhouettes flickered past the window.

"The target isn't hiding his location."

Whispered the squire, back from his scouting mission.

Or rather, Lu Li was making no effort to hide.

The investigation required little effort. The squire had easily learned about the exorcist, who was already infamous at the Central Station of Midnight.

"He went to the eighth level for an auction. Only that Vengeful Spirit and the heretic bishop are with him."

"Is the information confirmed?"

"Yes. He has incurred the wrath of many local anomalies... Perhaps he doesn't intend to stay in Midnight's Old Sewer."

"Let's return to our mission, squire," Captain Hoggart reminded him.

"Yes, Captain," the squire stamped his foot and straightened up.

"Knight Vino, put on the divine armor," Captain Hoggart said to the silhouette at the table.

"Understood."

Knight Vino lowered the badge he was rubbing and headed into a dark corner.

Scrape—

Lighting an oil lamp, Knight Vino tossed aside the match, picked up the blood-stained, book-shaped badge he had set aside earlier, and pinned it next to the captain's badge on his chest.

Thud—

The dilapidated hut trembled as heavy steel boots slammed down.

Captain Hoggart and the squire threw black cloaks over their divine armor, gathered their gear, and shattered the doorframe as they exited the hut.

...

The old treeman's silhouette vanished, giving his silent approval to this redemptive auction.

His Cursed Title offered no advantage here. Lu Li met the smiling devil's gaze, took the wooden box from Ophelia, and told her to put it away.

"I'm holding an auction of my own. The reward is this Anomaly Currency."

"The task: protect me and bring me the Eye of the Ancient God."

The gazes of malice fixed on Lu Li split; half of them turned back to the devil.

The black-haired woman gracefully removed her white lace gloves and said unhurriedly:

"He is merely human. And, as it happens, the most famous exorcist."

As if responding to the devil's temptation, one silhouette detached itself from a stone pillar and approached the one where Lu Li stood.

"An exorcist, here?"

Lu Li said nothing, his eyes fixed on a silhouette of blood-red vapor that seemed to drip with blood.

"Hand it over."

Lu Li replied calmly:

"Bring me the Eye of the Ancient God, and I'll give you the currency."

"Taking it from you is easier."

"But then you'll also have to face the wrath of the one who needs it." Lu Li's eyes met the silhouette's through the blood-red vapor.

"This Eye is completely useless..."

A sudden shout came from nearby. The black-haired woman, having removed her gloves and undone her ponytail, leaned against a stone pillar, cupped her hands to her mouth, and casually called out in their direction:

"None of the great powers would want it..."

"Where do I find you?"

The vaporous silhouette spoke just then, its voice low.

Lu Li took out the wooden box containing the Eye and tossed it into the blood-red vapor.

"Take the Eye of the Ancient God. Open the box, and summon the Merchant to make the exchange."

"Vengeful Spirit, get him out of here."

The vaporous silhouette moved along the edge of a stone pillar, positioning itself between most of the others and the black-haired woman, its back to Lu Li.

"Keep your eyes open, kid. Watch the hideous shriek of a dying anomaly..."

Scorching, raging, mind-searing anger erupted in an instant, like a volcano.

The ground shuddered and collapsed, revealing a bottomless abyss. Lava flooded downward, consuming everything in sight.

A sea of air-distorting lava filled the hall. Following the shuddering earth, the falling Giant, and the tilting cavern, it surged like a tide, cresting in massive waves.

Lu Li alone stood in the midst of it all, surrounded by cracked stone pillars as if on an island. A rocky corridor led away from the Lava Hall, its edges now lined with a curtain of lava.