The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 91: Hallucinations

The basement was dark and damp. Reflections from a gas lamp danced on the moist walls. Groans and screams hung in the air.

Rows of cots lined the walls behind an iron grate. Dozens of figures were strapped to them: some screamed themselves hoarse, others muttered under their breath, and a few giggled foolishly. Most of the patients were in police uniforms, though a few medics could be seen among them.

The police officers watching over them had stuffed their ears with cotton to block out the crazed screams. In the chaos, it was nearly impossible to make out what a single patient was trying to say.

"How did they end up like this?" Lu Li asked.

Among the patients, he spotted a familiar face—Officer Vincent. Just the other night, Vincent had been complaining to Lu Li about how things in the city were getting worse.

"They found something at the psychiatric hospital. Everyone who saw or touched it went mad," Joel pointed to one of the cots, where a man was thrashing in convulsions, as if having a seizure. "That's Sheriff Erics. The poor bastard only glanced at it."

"So that's why Deputy Sheriff Valentine was the one to meet us."

"What did they see?" Valentine whispered, hardly daring to breathe.

"I already told you: everyone who touched it is lying right here. Unless you can find a way to restore their sanity so they can speak," Joel said, shooting him a sideways glance.

"Will they recover?""Their minds are shattered. In other words, their Mind Level has been zeroed out, or it's ceased to function. There's almost no chance of recovery."

Lu Li remained silent. He had suspected this world was dangerous, but he had still underestimated it. To go mad from a single glance... that was something almost impossible to guard against.

"Don't worry, most of them won't last long," Joel, assuming Lu Li's silence stemmed from sympathy for the patients, shook his head with the air of a seasoned veteran. "They don't eat, and they grow weaker by the day. The ones who scream will die first, then the ones who convulse, and finally, the ones who are silent."

"Where is the thing?"

"It's gone. That's why I'm stuck here dealing with this mess while the others went after Richard," Joel's expression darkened.

"Richard did this?"

"Who else would want it?" Joel looked at Lu Li. "Any thoughts?"

"I have more questions. For instance, why didn't Richard go mad when he touched it?"

"Maybe he's immune to the madness? I don't know."

"When did they start to lose their minds? Was it immediately after contact, or did it take some time?"

Several days had already passed since the incident at the psychiatric hospital.

"Let Valentine tell you," Joel waved a hand dismissively, as if unwilling to explain, and turned with Lu Li to look at Valentine.

"Uh..." Deputy Sheriff Valentine froze, opening his mouth several times but failing to say a word.

There was a reason Sheriff Erics was strapped to a cot and Valentine wasn't. The deputy's cowardice had saved his life.

Having escaped his colleagues' fate, Valentine naturally had no desire to set foot in this hell again. If Joel from the Night's Watch hadn't shown up, he wouldn't have even come down here to check on his own men.

Joel seemed to sense this but said nothing. Instead, he gestured to one of the officers tending to the patients.

Perhaps he considered Valentine a smart man—the kind most likely to survive.

The officers had already noticed the deputy sheriff and the two men with him. At Joel's signal, one of them set down a wooden bowl of food, opened the unlocked grate, and came to stand before them.

"My Contamination Detector isn't showing any anomalies. Take the cotton out of your ears," Joel pointed to his own ears.

The officer couldn't hear Joel's words but understood the gesture. He hesitantly pulled the cotton from his ears, wincing in pain at the piercing screams.

"Maybe we should talk somewhere else?" Joel looked at Lu Li questioningly.

"It's fine here. The surroundings don't affect my thinking."

Joel nodded and, pointing at Lu Li, shouted over the noise, "This gentleman wants to know how they lost their minds."

The officer nodded and began to loudly recount what had happened that night.

At first, nothing happened to Vincent and the others who had touched the artifact. That was why Sheriff Erics had ended up here as well—they didn't yet know the danger of coming into contact with the object.

This ominous calm didn't last long. Soon, Vincent and the others began to show strange signs. First, they heard whispers, each one different. One heard two people arguing, then more and more voices joined the quarrel. Another heard prayers, which were soon joined by a growing chorus of voices. Another heard someone speaking to him, and the number of speakers kept increasing.

Without exception, everyone's condition worsened over time.

A day later, the hallucinations began. One saw something descending from dark clouds. Another saw strange black shadows all around him. And another saw an endless staircase leading deep underground.

By this point, both the officers themselves and those around them realized something was terribly wrong.

Sheriff Erics was the last one to touch the artifact. That delay allowed him to remain lucid while the others were already starting to lose their minds.

Erics understood the cause. In his last moments of sanity, he forbade anyone else from touching the artifact and locked everyone who was hallucinating—including himself—in the basement. He entrusted Deputy Sheriff Valentine with command of the station.

Lu Li already knew the rest: Deputy Valentine had contacted the Night's Watch, and Richard had stolen the artifact.

Having finished his story, the officer plugged his ears again and returned to his duties.

Joel watched the pensive Lu Li, waiting for him to speak.

"You should look into the recent disappearances of local residents," Lu Li said.

"You think Richard will strike again?" Joel mused.

"He's a madman with an unconventional way of thinking. Since he was bold enough to break into the station and steal the artifact, he's not going to hide like an ordinary criminal. He'll continue..." Lu Li paused for a moment. "May I see your files on the missing persons cases?"

"Deputy, get him a copy of our files," Joel said, turning his head.

"I'll get it right away!" Valentine said hastily, already regretting that he had come down here, and hurried to leave the basement.

Valentine felt a wave of relief as he escaped the dark, oppressive basement. He called over one of his subordinates.

"Bring me the list of missing persons related to the psychiatric hospital case."