The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 953: The Hunt for Humanity

"Alchemy trials?"

Soon, Merchant Anthony returned with a reply from Professor Kris: "The Hunt in the Swamps."

Lu Li hadn't made any arrangements with her, and the message sounded as if Professor Kris had sent it to the wrong person.

Lu Li closed the book he had just opened to the title page, threw on his cloak, and left the room.

After passing through the Mixed Zone and the still-open library, Lu Li was stopped by a lean gatekeeper guarding the stairs.

"A good student shouldn't be leaving so late."

Lu Li showed him the badge Professor Kris had given him and, seemingly under the gatekeeper's reluctant gaze, ascended the stairs.

The Trunk Level.

It was his second time visiting the alchemy office. Lu Li paused for a moment in the corridor, sensing the possible presence of eyes on him, and then pushed the door open.

The bubbling cauldron on its tripod was nowhere to be seen; Professor Kris was sitting by the fire. She was dressed in a nightgown, her long, curly hair cascading over her shoulders, and her smooth, jade-like legs seemed to emit a faint glow. She held a thick, ancient tome that perfectly suited her, and a pair of magnifying glasses in a silver frame rested on her high-bridged, witch-like nose."What does 'The Hunt in the Swamps' mean?"

Lu Li ignored the somewhat intimate atmosphere pervading the office.

"Do you remember your 'servants,' my dear?" Professor Kris closed the ancient tome, set it aside, and removed her glasses.

"They've brought offerings and are hoping to receive a gift in return."

The other holders of Cursed Titles.

"Wait for me a moment, dear," Professor Kris said as she stood up. The folds of her nightgown smoothed out, but they still couldn't conceal her voluptuous figure.

Professor Kris walked over to a wardrobe, her nightgown beginning to slip. At that moment, Lu Li stepped out of the office to wait outside.

Soon, Professor Kris emerged, having changed into a loose robe that concealed her body and tied up her long hair. She led Lu Li toward the Forbidden Zone.

"I heard you participated in the mysticism trials," Professor Kris remarked, seemingly forgetting Lu Li's earlier indifference as she complained coquettishly.

"Why not alchemy?"

"Studying how to release a title's power requires a higher level of mysticism."

Professor Kris, like a small giant, made Lu Li look like a child standing next to her.

"Try the alchemy trials, and you'll become completely absorbed... The wondrous and magnificent fusion of knowledge is like the tender body of a young maiden, or the voluptuous curves of a beautiful lady, or even the anomaly you so desire..."

"What did Sterling leave in his notes?" The whisper in his ear did not sway Lu Li's resolve.

"The manufacturing technique for the spirit pistol and his views on the theory of humanity," Professor Kris replied, not the least bit upset by her failure to entice him.

"They're on the bookshelf. The knowledge contamination isn't too severe; Sterling's Mind Level was just too low. We all overlooked it because of his relatively normal behavior..."

The price of that negligence, perhaps, was the last scientist disappearing into the long night.

With a sigh, Professor Kris and Lu Li stepped onto the elevator, which began its steady descent.

"You can review and add to those notes, but don't take them. The gatekeepers don't allow them on the Crown Level, which is like a cradle."

This was somewhat inconvenient: Lu Li would have to come to the Trunk Level to supplement the theory of humanity.

The wooden tunnel at the surface came into view, and the descending elevator passed it slowly, heading for the deeper, gloom-shrouded layers.

Professor Kris handed Lu Li two vials of potions. Besides the one he had drunk last time before stepping onto the surface, there was another vial with a fluorescent glow on its surface.

"What's this?"

A faint fluorite glow appeared at the edge of the wooden tunnel, and in the dim light, Lu Li saw buildings carved into the rock formations surrounding the elevator.

Figures moved within, their rooms separated by iron bars.

Unlike the Lower Academy, this place resembled a prison—a bottomless prison.

"A repellent potion. The Swamps have many annoying insects. Drink it, and they won't crawl on you or leave with you."

Lu Li drank the repellent potion. This time, it tasted like rotten oranges.

The elevator had already passed the Lower Academy, plunging into the long, endless depths of the rock.

Just as Lu Li thought they were approaching the Old Sewer, a sudden bright light appeared, accompanied by Professor Kris's voice.

"We've arrived."

An endless subterranean world unfolded before them.

With no visible borders, it was vaster than any underground rock formation Lu Li had seen before. Grotesque, murky swamps stretched into the distance, everything magnified in scale. The stalactite columns connecting to the vaulted ceiling were magnificent and grand.

Gnarled, thick tree roots were exposed on the vaulted rock walls, simultaneously reinforcing them.

This made the rock walls deeper in the Swamps, unreinforced by tree roots, unstable. Occasionally, fragments would break off from the ceiling and fall into the dark, sparsely wooded swamps below. After a long wait, a gray mist would rise, and after an even longer wait, a faint sound would echo.

From his high vantage point in this underground world, Lu Li gazed into the distance, where a dim yellow fog churned on the horizon.

To this subterranean world, the elevator descending along a hanging root and the black dots upon it were as insignificant as dust.

"Are the Rotten Sewer and the Mysterious Forest here too?" Lu Li asked.

"They are in other places."

Clearly, Lu Li had misjudged the scale of the Forbidden Zone.

"Are they also this vast?"

"Of a different kind. The Rotten Sewer is like a labyrinth, and the Mysterious Forest has a visible end, but it's impossible to reach."

A few minutes later, the elevator reached the bottom of the Swamps.

Packed mud around the landing area made it higher than the surrounding swamp.

Kane, who was waiting there, bowed his skeletal frame.

"Master, please follow me."

Kane led them to the left edge of the landing zone.

A row of cages containing dying anomalies was stored here, covered with a special cloth to isolate the contamination, waiting for Lu Li to deal with them personally.

This experience, akin to a feeding, reminded Lu Li of something, and his gaze lowered slightly.

Lu Li didn't use the Series 2 potion. Without the protection of humanity, using the spirit pistol, which consumed one's Mind Level, would be unwise.

Professor Kris lent Lu Li a vial of potion that was to be sprinkled evenly on the anomalies inside the cages.

Following her instructions, Lu Li sprinkled the potion through slits in the special cloth into the cages. It inflicted only minor damage, but for the dying anomalies, which couldn't even manage a cry, it was enough.

The only proof they were still alive was the slight trembling of the cages.

His humanity began to rise steadily.

The power of the captured anomalies was limited—at least not as great as the vengeful spirit in the birdcage Professor Kris had brought—but it wasn't meager either.

The sixteen "prey" in total increased Lu Li's humanity by 2.5 units, which was quite a fruitful harvest.

However, one of the "prey" had already died from severe injuries sustained during its long confinement and yielded no humanity for Lu Li.

"Master, in a week, they and the other controllers from afar will arrive with more prey. We will need your help then."

After Lu Li replenished Kane's missing humanity, the skeletal figure whispered respectfully.

There was also good news for Lu Li: the other controllers were not as reverent as Kane.

Because they had not yet touched the darkness of despair.

As for the growth of Lu Li's humanity, Professor Kris, inhaling his scent, described the change as going "from cold bread to warm, soft bread."