The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 972: Midnight

[Midnight City — Outer City — Dioscorea District]

[Lannar, a resident of the outer city, went missing on the night of the third day of the New Year. At midnight, neighbors heard screams coming from his apartment. As Lannar lived alone, his neighbors informed the landlord the next day. After receiving no answer to his knocking, the landlord reported the incident to the local police precinct. When the police arrived and opened the door, Lannar's room was empty, with no traces of blood.]

[Task: Investigate the mystery of Lannar's disappearance/death]

[Advanced: Fully resolve this case]

[Hint: Contact Inspector Victor at the police precinct for details on the case]

[Base Reward: 1 academic credit; 1 team point]

The assignment letter was passed around before returning to Kiruet's hands. She put the letter away and began handing out tree-shaped badges.

They symbolized their status as students of the Academy of Giant Trees, and wearing them granted certain conveniences and privileges when entering Midnight City.

Lu Li took the tree-shaped badge and, pinning it to his chest, once again felt a light envelop his body.

The elevator descended into a transition zone.The Holy Light Squad exited the elevator and walked forward across an alchemical slab inscribed with the words: "Midnight City →".

"Nasi, are you going to visit your family after we complete the mission?" Kiruet asked.

"Of course."

Nasi had last returned home two months ago.

Opportunities for students to leave the Academy of Giant Trees were limited; junior students couldn't even leave the Crown Level. Only starting with the intermediate courses could they briefly venture outside during missions.

Figures of intermediate and senior students, and even some from the Lower Academy, hurried through the dark, vast corridor. Some of them noticed Lu Li, slowed their pace, and even stopped to follow him.

"Lu Li..." Yeger reminded him quietly.

Taking the hint, Lu Li threw on his cloak and pulled up the hood, concealing his black hair and black eyes.

The Academy of Giant Trees forbade fighting, and the students weren't overly fanatical. But if they arrived in Midnight City... Lu Li was far too recognizable; almost none of the residents would fail to know who he was.

Lu Li's appearance in Midnight City could trigger a catastrophe.

Lu Li's actions deterred the approaching figures, and the Holy Light Squad safely reached the elevator leading to the outer city of Midnight, which then began to slowly descend.

Gliding past rough, jagged cliffs, the elevator emerged from the rock formations and suddenly opened into a vast, subterranean city.

The buildings stretching into the distance below were a mix of the orderly and the chaotic, surrounding an inner city that rose like a cliff, filled with elegant and tall structures. The elevation difference of several dozen meters between the outer and inner cities created an insurmountable gap.

The inner city was surrounded by an even taller central city, where majestic, fantastical, tower-like buildings rose from the very heart of Midnight, overlooking everything.

Midnight City resembled a perfectly formed three-tiered cake.

Roots passing through the rock formations, hanging down or piercing the city like stone pillars, made Midnight resemble a hollow in the World Tree. And this was close to the truth—Midnight City was located in the central region of the World Tree's subterranean roots.

Below it lay the Swamps forbidden zone, and even further down was the core of the Old Sewer, the Central Station of Midnight.

Lu Li turned to look toward the city's outskirts, and on the jagged cliff face at the edge of his vision, he could see the silhouettes of machines engaged in expansion work.

A few minutes later, the elevator descended into the Academy of Giant Trees' outpost.

Kiruet received a map from the gatekeeper and returned to her comrades.

"The Dioscorea District is a few dozen minutes' walk away. Lu Li, you haven't been to Midnight City before, right? Shall we go on foot?"

"Yes."

The last time he had set foot in Midnight City was only three months ago. But the world had already turned upside down; humanity had entered a new Dark Era, abandoning the surface to hide underground.

Walking along an uneven stone road between dilapidated huts and buildings, Lu Li silently observed the people who stared at him.

The faces of these residents, living and toiling in the lower levels of Midnight City, seemed relatively normal. Though their canvas clothes were patched, no one went without. Though many were tired and thin, no one was emaciated. Residents bustled through the streets, and there were customers in the storefronts.

After all, they weren't the true dregs of society. The truly destitute were those who struggled for sustenance in the slums, the Old Sewer, or the divine towns on the outskirts.

However, by observing quietly, Lu Li vaguely noticed changes in the people... some residents had scales growing on their skin, like fish scales or lichen; some had hair that was thick and knotted like dreadlocks; and the limbs of others were becoming either flat and long or thin and short.

Due to the prolonged consumption of contaminated food, people were exhibiting morbid deformities...

Although these were only the incipient stages, noticeable only upon close inspection, this prosperous yet horrifying landscape was both familiar and alien to Lu Li.

The other members of the Holy Light Squad paid it no mind. They had been born into this world, and what lay before their eyes was its true face. The Ancient Era, by contrast, was a distant and illusory beautiful fantasy.

"This is the real world, no longer an illusion. And it's the world we want to change. Remember the purpose of the Academy of Giant Trees, remember the meaning of your existence... Do not go gentle into that good night."

Professor Kris's speech from the New Year's banquet echoed in his ears.

The badge of the Academy of Giant Trees helped the Holy Light Squad avoid trouble with pickpockets and thugs, and after forty minutes, they approached the Dioscorea District.

First, they found Inspector Victor at the police precinct.

"The elite of the Academy of Giant Trees?" Inspector Victor, who had been lazily reading the morning paper with his feet propped up on his desk, lowered the paper with a rustle, sat up straight, and gestured for them to take the seats opposite him.

"Please, have a seat! You're here about the Lannar disappearance, right?"

Kiruet glanced at the still-damp footprints on the desk and said calmly,

"We need more information about Lannar's disappearance."

"All the files are right here!" Inspector Victor produced a stack of paper documents.

"If you need, I can accompany you to the scene to investigate."

Kiruet quickly scanned them, passed the file to Lu Li, and then nodded to Inspector Victor:

"Take us there."

Following Inspector Victor, they arrived at a row of connected, dilapidated huts in a dark alley. It was much quieter here, as the local residents had temporarily relocated or been evacuated.

"Find any clues?" Kiruet asked Lu Li, who had just reached the last page of the file.

"A note. Lannar was illiterate, but there was a note on the table."

"That's right, Lannar couldn't read. You truly are worthy of being students from the Academy of Giant Trees!" Inspector Victor praised them with a touch of flattery.

"Does that mean we've already identified the source?" Kiruet asked, slightly surprised.

"Not for certain. Lannar could have been cursed or controlled by an anomaly," Yeger replied. He took the keys from Inspector Victor and walked toward the tightly shut wooden door.

Kiruet raised her diamond-shaped shield, covering Yeger as he approached the door.

"Stop."

Lu Li stopped them. Opening his pouch, he took out two bottles of a protective potion and handed one to Inspector Victor.

The rest of the team took the hint, retrieved protective potions from their own pouches, and drank them.

After drinking the potion, Inspector Victor smacked his lips and stared thoughtfully at the empty bottle. Meanwhile, Yeger unlocked the door.

Kiruet took his place, bracing her diamond-shaped shield in front of her, and pushed open the rickety wooden door.

THUMP—

The lingering silence was shattered, and clouds of dust scattered in the dim light.