The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 994: Return to the Intermediate Level

"I saw Margaret."

Lu Li felt it was necessary to inform the Holy Light Squad of his discovery.

Although it was as a ghost.

Kiruet asked instinctively:

"The dungeon? How did you get in there?"

"The trial for course advancement," Fudot answered for Lu Li.

"He failed his trial, but then he passed the one for course advancement."

Kiruet was still reeling from the news Lu Li had brought.

"What do you mean, you saw Margaret... what was it like?"

Lu Li recounted the events of his advancement trial, telling them about his encounter with Margaret's spirit form in the In-Between."She's alive... she didn't die..."

Kiruet murmured, her eyes filling with crystalline tears in the firelight.

"Did she speak to you?"

Lu Li shook his head, and Yeger immediately poured cold water on her hopes.

"Then it wasn't necessarily Margaret."

If it really was her, there would be no reason for her to stay silent.

"Maybe she couldn't speak? She definitely recognized Lu Li, otherwise why would she have thrown him the treasure?"

Nasi disagreed, or rather, he was inclined to believe that Margaret was still alive.

In any case, Kiruet wanted to see the truth for herself.

"Lu Li, Yeger, Nasi, Fudot, I want to explore the dungeon... to find Margaret."

The others didn't respond, waiting for Lu Li to make the choice.

"It's your squad," Lu Li said.

Preserving Margaret's soul wasn't as simple as it seemed—not only was she one of the people in the dungeon who had been turned into a shell, but in the In-Between, all the inhabitants were nightmarish Distorted Figures. Only Margaret was beautiful and pure, her soul separated from her body.

Had the dungeon's lord intentionally preserved Margaret's soul?

Before returning to the dungeon, Lu Li restocked his Sequence Potions. He opened the treasure pot, which contained several vials of ninety-series Sequence Potions and an analogue Tarot deck.

The analogue Tarot deck was just what they needed. Fudot, who knew how to use them, took the cards to divine their upcoming encounter.

Fudot asked Kiruet to draw a card, but Kiruet hesitated and refused, leaving the choice to Lu Li.

Lu Li selected a card from the overturned deck, and Fudot revealed it.

On the yellowed card was the image of the Pope, wearing a crown adorned with precious stones.

"The Pope, a card of hope. We are helping a certain being, which symbolizes that the outcome will be shrouded in hope, or that what we are about to do will receive a positive response," Fudot explained. Just then, the Pope card in her hand suddenly burned away like tissue paper, leaving no ash behind.

This meant their journey would be blessed by the Pope card.

And this analogue Tarot deck had now permanently lost a card.

"Luminous Tarot cards... we're lucky," said Fudot.

Luminous Tarot cards amplified the chosen card for the one who drew it. The smaller the event and the shorter the time frame, the better the effect. For example, if the drawer chose the Empress card based on an immediate goal, the Empress would grant them the joy of a harvest. But if the drawer chose the Empress card for the distant future, the harvest granted by the Empress would be diluted over the long passage of time.

This was why the treasure pot contained only a few cheap Sequence Potions; most of its value had been replaced by the Luminous Tarot cards.

"What about the mission to return the treasure?" Nasi remembered.

Yeger said indifferently:

"Forget about that narcissist. We'll just report the mission as a failure. Lu Li already passed his trial anyway."

Give up a Luminous Tarot deck for eight academic points, eight squad points, and some guy's friendship? Standing next to Lu Li, Yeger sneered.

The merchant Antoni brought the Sequence Potions, but unfortunately, there was no Sequence Potion No. 19. Once restocked, the Holy Light Squad wasted no time and set off for the Gloom's Intermediate Level.

"Without a Shadow Potion, how will we enter the dungeon to contact Margaret?"

The Holy Light Squad was discussing the details of the operation.

Kiruet looked at Lu Li; he was the only one who had been inside the dungeon.

"First, we'll try to make contact with the dungeon."

Aside from Margaret's fall, the dungeon hadn't shown any obvious hostility.

For example, when Lu Li emerged from the In-Between, the dungeon's lord had allowed the uninvited guest to leave without doing anything, and had even released Lu Li from its influence.

This either meant it was capable of reason, or that there was something behind Lu Li that it feared more.

In any case, it didn't preclude an attempt at contact.

A little over ten minutes later, they arrived at the dungeon entrance. It was just as Lu Li had left it, simply filled in with dirt.

The dungeon's lord had done nothing about this fissure leading into its territory—

This confirmed Lu Li's suspicion.

Just in case, they all took a protection potion and a revealing potion. Fudot released her black beetles, placing one on each person's shoulder.

Besides observation and tracking, the black beetles possessed an ability similar to the revealing potion.

"I'll go first."

Kiruet gripped her shield tightly and was the first to pass through the fissure into the dungeon, followed by Lu Li, Yeger, Nasi, and Fudot.

Lu Li approached the edge, and the dungeon village he had seen from above was now, at some unknown point, filled with inhabitants. Like ink, they merged together to form words.

"We have been awaiting your return."

"Who are you?"

His companions were startled, but Lu Li asked calmly, his question echoing throughout the dungeon.

"Hyutemis. They call us the lord of the garden."

The catatonic inhabitants shifted their positions, forming new words.

"Why are you waiting for me?"

"We need help. You are also from the Giant Tree. You can help us."

"You know of the Giant Tree?"

"The guardians of the Giant Tree left a treasure here, turning my territory into a hunting ground. You are different. No killing. We can cooperate."

Kiruet and the others showed strange expressions, but Lu Li remained calm; cooperating with an anomaly was neither the first nor the last time for him.

"How do you propose we cooperate?"

"The territory needs life force. We need a mind to restore the connection to the Old Sewer."

"We are looking for someone."

"Is it her?"

A section of the words vanished, and Margaret's shell stepped forward.

Kiruet barely held back her tears, gripping her shield tightly.

"Yes."

"As a reward, she will return to you."

The "Margaret" shell left the village alone, numbly walking toward the Holy Light Squad.

"And her soul," Lu Li added.

The words formed by the inhabitants suddenly began to change constantly—

"She is our beloved."

"She is our lord."

"She is our mind."

"She is our hope."

"She is our treasure."

"Where is she?"

Lu Li interrupted the shifting words.

After a brief pause, the inhabitants retreated, revealing a dirt path leading to the core of the dungeon.

Lu Li stepped forward.

"Lu Li..."

Kiruet wanted to say something but held her tongue, clutching her shield tightly as she followed him. The others did the same.

Through the effects of the revealing potion, Margaret's soul, glowing with a soft fluorescence, sat on a stone platform. She looked in their direction and gave Lu Li a slight nod.

"Margaret!"

Kiruet couldn't help but cry out.

"Kiruet..."

There was no sound, but they could read her lips. Aside from her name, they couldn't make out another word.

"The dungeon wants to keep you. Do you agree?" Lu Li asked.

Everyone read the answer on Margaret's lips.

"I do not agree."

Lu Li turned to the inhabitants following them.

"She will not stay."

The catatonic inhabitants rustled, bunching together. The Holy Light Squad thought a battle was inevitable, but Margaret's shell stepped forward, approaching the stone platform.

The dungeon had agreed to their "unreasonable" demand.

A look of surprise appeared on Margaret's emotionless face. She raised her hand to touch the shell—and passed right through it.

Her body had rejected her.