Detective Agency of the Bizarre Chapter 684

Calm The fourth piece of news was truly good news.

In the central part of the Main Affinity Continent, the Ghoul plague had been contained back to its point of origin in Sicken Town, where local Exorcists were searching for the source of contamination.

It was expected that the plague would be eradicated soon.

This tangible, touchable strange plague was much easier to deal with than the elusive and mysterious strangeness.

The fifth piece of news had nothing to do with strangeness: The rapid influx of people fleeing to the cities had caused the population of several cities on the Main Affinity Continent to surge past one million.

Investigators urged the public not to gather excessively as it could not only attract the attention of strangeness but also bring about unforeseen disasters, such as plague.

Moreover, compared to strangeness, the shortage of resources like food and water would kill them sooner.

They suggested forming settlements with the population size of villages and towns, with each settlement having 1 to 3 Exorcists to handle simple strangeness and evil spirits.

All eggs should not be put in a few baskets.

This news was also published in ordinary newspapers, with few supporters.

The conformist populace still believed in the illusory safety of the cities, deeming the incident at Arlen Kingdom as a coincidence—

The end of the “Investigators’ Weekly” was a few headline news.

[Contact lost with Lier Fort, Manolock Island, Kande Classical City, Matt Sarylun Port, Weinerlag Fort, and many towns; towns around Tronmans Swamp, towns around Sahi Highlands, Delronas Eid City and many towns under strangeness attacks]

[The Lennon Islands had still not been attacked by strangeness.

After the incident in Arlen Kingdom, it ranked higher than all other capitals, becoming the most desired gathering place for the populace]

[A fleet that set sail from the Vena Ice-Free Port four days ago was attacked by an anomalous vortex; they were lucky to leave the area before the vortex spread]

[The Apocalypse Forecast will merge with the Evil Spirits Broadcast and is expected to be mass-produced in three days]

[Professor Charlie Hitlay Pushkin from the West Xinke Royal Academy approved of the public not gathering and advised moving away from the inland to coastal areas or regions with abundant food]

[The Mist of Strangeness will soon envelop Himfast]

Lu Li put down the newspaper.

Jimmy, who was standing nearby, took it and went to Raimy’s cabin in Aidanvoya, where the sound of sawing wood could be heard, to have it read to him.

Annie’s call also came from the cave, announcing that breakfast was ready.

Bean-potato stew with canned meat; spices and potatoes masked the flavor of the preservatives, with Annie’s cooking skills visibly improving—

“We’ll take some potatoes out in a moment and cut them into pieces,” Lu Li said.

The steam rising from the pot hid Annie’s confusion, and Lu Li continued, “We will be staying here for a long time, food will become scarcer, and we need to plant some crops.”

Potatoes yield the largest harvest and require little farming experience.

Besides, Lu Li had Annie bring a fishing net when she went hunting.

One reason they chose this refuge point in Elm Forest was because of the fish in the sea.

After finishing the meal, Lu Li, holding the chopped potatoes, knocked on the door of the Jimmy Siblings’ cabin.

Annie came out from Aidanvoya’s house and told him her brother had gone to the forest to collect firewood.

Ten minutes later, Jimmy returned to the cliff top holding half a tree trunk and a pile of branches, knowing Lu Li wanted his help with plowing the land.

His Monster Avatar thumped its chest, indicating he was up to the task.

This wouldn’t take long.

Jimmy’s Monster Avatar’s ferocious claws proved more efficient than a plow.

In ten minutes, he had cultivated a 10-square-meter patch of land next to the cave as selected by Lu Li.

He also poked deep holes in the soft soil with his claws following Lu Li’s instructions.

Lu Li dropped the chopped potatoes into the holes, then covered them with soil.

Just as a few were planted, Annie took the potatoes from Lu Li’s hands.

Her invisible hand grabbed them and placed them into the holes to cover them up, quickly finishing the planting.

“Do we need to prepare water?” she asked as she returned to Lu Li’s side.

The Elm Forest was humid, abundant with moisture, as it last rained a week ago, yet the soil remained damp.

Anna, as if struck by a thought, curved her eyes and responded to the gaze from Lu Li, “I imagine you moving a chair to sit amid a patch of sweet potatoes…”

It would be even stranger if you had a newspaper or a book with you.

“Actually, there’s no need,” Lu Li said.

Clearly, the closer to Lu Li, the faster the plants grew.

The further away, the more they tended toward normal growth or fell into dormancy outside the influence of humanity.

The farmland was situated between Anna and the cave, making every seed buried in the soil susceptible to Lu Li’s influence, no matter his location.

However, the one most concerned with the farmland was not Lu Li or Anna, but Raimy.

She would squat down by the farm’s edge, pressing down her skirt as if supervision would hasten the seeds to sprout.

Jimmy was simply passing by when he accidentally stepped on the edge of the farmland and endured a long complaint from Raimy, forcing him to detour around it to avoid further blame from his sister.

Even Amber and the children were shooed away when they tried to come close.

Raimy even suggested building another cabin, for her and her brother to move into, leaving the current one for future residents—

“I think my sister is slipping into a Nightmare…

Could this land be turning into a new strangeness!?”

After a hunting expedition, Jimmy complained softly to Lu Li, who was reading, in front of the cave.

Lu Li lifted his gaze toward the “field,” where Raimy was so anxious that she even wanted to dig it up to see if tender sprouts had emerged.

Rather than her longing to see the crops grow, it seemed more like her desire for the calm akin to the past, unwilling for it to be disrupted.

When Anna returned in the afternoon, besides game, she brought fishing nets and news from the Ghost Prison.

“There are many new footprints on the beach, but it’s strange… The footprints from a few days ago are undergoing… some kind of change,” Anna frowned, searching for the right words.

“They’re becoming curved, forming an arc.”

Besides that, more oak trees had been chopped down along the coastline.

The fishing net Anna retrieved was from a fishing boat at the port.

It was too large for Lu Li, so large that once cast, it could catch enough fish to last several years.

Obviously, fish cannot be preserved for long, and the permanently gloomy skies offered no chance to sun-dry them into fish jerky.

Before official fishing began, the net would have to be reduced in size or abandoned in favor of smaller, commonly used fishing cages.

In the evening, the Mist of Strangeness crept over from the sea, and the residents of Elm Forest took refuge in the cave, engaging in conversations and reading by the oil lamp, before returning to their cabins in the dead of night.

A peaceful night, save for occasional strange noises from within the dense fog.

Faint light from outside penetrated the cave.

Lu Li woke up and tilted his head towards Anna, who seemed to be “spacing out” by the desk.

Shifting his gaze, he saw that the young sprouts in the flowerpot were robustly growing, and the soil in another pot seemed slightly bulged, as if something was brewing to emerge.

Lu Li had grown accustomed to this calm, long-desired life everyone yearned for.

The only fresh diversion atop the cliff occurred every two or three days with the arrival of merchants, and perhaps the new changes along the coastline of the Oak Forest could be included as well.