The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 913: The Shift Between Illusion and Reality

The girl's body stiffened at the summons. A flicker of confusion appeared in her abyssal black eyes; she struggled, and for a moment they cleared, revealing human pupils.

"...Lu Li...? I'm sorry! I... I couldn't protect Aunt Mary," she apologized, tears welling in her eyes as a memory surfaced. Before she could wipe them away, she added:

"Quickly..."

The pupils, a brief sign of her awakening, were once again swallowed by darkness. She reverted to the vacant, impassive maid, ready to serve.

"Jojo... Anna... Oliver... Aunt Mary..."

His next few calls failed to rouse her again.

Lu Li decided against washing. Leaving Jojo in the room, he stepped into the corridor, locked the door behind him, and began knocking on the others' doors.

There was no answer.

"Where is everyone else?"

Lu Li asked a servant who was prostrated on the floor, clad in bizarre human attire."The divine envoys have already proceeded to the hall," the servant replied.

With a slight frown, Lu Li walked the length of the long, red-carpeted corridor and found everyone gathered around a long table in the main hall.

"Mr. Lu Li, you certainly took your time getting ready," Prusius quipped. He sat on a carved wooden chair with a red bow tie fastened at his chest, his tail swaying beneath his tailcoat.

"Well... Lu Li is... an adult, after all." Ophelia's charred, coal-like body was draped in a dusty rose evening gown. Long lace gloves concealed her grotesque skin, and a long, flaxen wig sat on her head, a stark contrast that somehow underscored her usual state of undress.

Ophelia let out a shrill laugh, like the caw of a crow. It was the first time he had ever heard her laugh.

"How much time has passed?"

"Counting the time we waited for you, Mr. Lu Li, almost an hour." Even the freckles on Prusius's freshly scrubbed face seemed to sparkle.

The timeline was off.

Lu Li thought back to what had happened since they parted ways. The corridor had been seamless; any memory loss must have occurred inside the room.

Perhaps the flow of time was different in the rooms.

Just then, the giant frog crawled slowly into the hall, its posture reverent, like one of the prostrated anomalies.

To the frog, whether it was the Deep God or his messenger companions, they were all beings of a far higher station, their actual power irrelevant.

"I have a question," Lu Li said to it.

"Please... complete the ritual first..." a muffled voice rose from its face, which was still buried in the carpet.

"I ask the divine envoy to take a seat at the table."

"I've lost some—"

"I said: sit."

Like ripples spreading from a croak across the water, an indescribable, hazy power shoved Lu Li forward, forcing him into a seat and stifling his thoughts.

"Mr. Lu Li, he'll get angry if you keep prying into his private affairs..." Prusius whispered from the adjacent seat, his words echoing a memory that was not Lu Li's own.

Lu Li scanned the others seated around the long table. The Deep God, at its head, was impassive. Ophelia looked disappointed that Lu Li had sat down opposite her.

Neither the vengeful spirit nor the god had noticed anything amiss. Was the problem with him?

Ophelia's and Prusius's outfits fit them perfectly, as if custom-made. Jojo, who after twenty-four years still looked exactly like the girl from his memories, had first mentioned Aunt Mary. Ophelia had recognized every painting and sculpture as a famous masterpiece. Prusius was wearing the exact clothes he had dreamed of... and they all still fanatically believed in the Deep God, unshakable in their devotion.

And Jojo's alarming, unfinished message.

"Would you like to start with the main course or the appetizers?" the giant frog asked the Deep God, its tone still seemingly reverent.

"The main course," the Deep God murmured majestically. "I must reclaim my sundered body as soon as possible."

"Then... very well."

Its voice trembling, the giant frog slowly lifted its head, revealing a face that was neither ugly nor repulsive. It was a human face, consumed by fanaticism and excitement.

The next moment, the Deep God was no longer in his chair but lying flat on the table. The giant frog had squeezed itself into the seat of honor, comically tucking a napkin into its collar and brandishing a knife and fork.

"I will savor you slowly, with reverence and respect."

The Deep God was the upcoming main course.

Ophelia was about to act when she was suddenly restrained by the same hazy power. She looked to Lu Li in a panic.

"Lu—"

Lu Li, who had been in his seat, was gone.

...

Shhh... shhh...

The distant sound of waves lapped against the shore.

Lu Li slowly regained consciousness.

A damp, cold sea breeze swept across the deck. Lu Li looked around. Prusius, Ophelia, the Deep God, and all the cultists were asleep on the deck. Only the Merchant stood awake, his tattered backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Have we landed on the island?"

Lu Li turned to look at the island. The fog was gone, revealing the rocky mountain in all its grotesque, naked detail, pockmarked with dark openings.

Why would the dream-power of his sworn enemy, the Lord of the Depths, be present at the very location of the Deep God's sundered body?

"No. Everyone fell asleep as we approached the island."

"Andrea too?"

"Her too."

Jojo wasn't saying "run faster."

She was saying "wake up quickly."

Lu Li shook Prusius, called out names that might stir him, even inflicted pain, but nothing worked.

A power capable of lulling a god to sleep could not be broken by simple external means. Lu Li's own awakening was thanks to his Cursed Titles, "Beacon" and "Dreamwalker," which stemmed from the same source as the dream power itself.

The Deep God's power was slowly draining away; he was being devoured in his sleep.

"Take the Deep God and Ophelia to the wooden boat, far from the island. If they wake up, tell them to find me."

Lu Li single-handedly lowered a wooden boat from the ship's side. As it hit the water, he grabbed a rope, gave his final instructions to the Merchant, and jumped in, rowing toward the coarse, brown-sand beach.

A set of tracks, not yet erased by the tide, led toward the distant town: two pairs of human footprints, the prints of a small, hooved animal, and another set of tracks that looked as if they had been blurred by seawater.

They were their tracks.

Reality and dream were now tightly interwoven.

PLANKARN TOWN: Facing the Wastelands, you're no longer alone! Backed by a rocky mountain, just like a little Belfast! Beautiful scenery, enjoy our unique golden beach! Cave shelter available, no more fear of tsunamis and storms! Your neighbors... aristocrats, professors... scholars...

Lu Li saw that billboard, the same as in reality.

Dreams also follow facts—some facts.

At the very least, when Lu Li raised his oil lamp and gripped his Spirit Gun, entering the cave and stepping once more onto the red carpet that resembled the mansion corridor, no anomalies barred his way.

The corridor wasn't as vibrant as it had been in the dream, but it was still exquisite. Paintings hung on the walls, statues lined the hall, and through a window looking out onto a subterranean garden, he could see a patch of dusty, artificial flowers.

He passed one of the rooms and pushed the door open, but unfortunately, Jojo was not inside. Following the path from his memory, he reached the end of the long corridor and flung open the tightly shut doors to the main hall.

The long dining table was covered in a thick layer of dust, the chairs were empty, and the head of the table in the distance was shrouded in darkness.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Suddenly, from the edge of the impenetrable darkness, a pair of hands emerged and began to clap softly.

"You are late... my fortunate kin, the one who escaped the dream."

The owner of the hands, seated in the place of honor at the long table, leaned forward, revealing a face and body identical to the human face of the giant frog.

The answer he received was a deafening gunshot.