Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1476 - 20: Outpost

It’s hard to imagine Lu Li not being skilled in combat.

Or in fighting.

The last time Lu Li fought was in a ridiculous showdown with Richard in the dreamscape of the slumbering Ancients.

So, having the same physique as a Ghoul Warrior, there’s no reason Lu Li could defeat it or go down together with it.

Unless he uses the Cursed Title.

Then how about using mimetic ability to ascend from a Ghoul Commoner to a Ghoul Warrior?

There’s no need to become an upper-tier Ghoul Leader. Ghoul Warriors range from 1.7 meters to 2.5 meters; this Ghoul Warrior was slightly stronger than a commoner but only under 1.8 meters, seemingly malnourished. Lu Li would just need to become taller, stronger than it.

But doing so requires giving the Ghoul Sorcerer a reasonable explanation: why a Ghoul Commoner can quickly ascend to a Ghoul Warrior and then enhance further.

Using the Cursed Title to defeat the opponent would be much easier, but Lu Li worried about that blood-red giant claw seen in the dreamscape.

The King of Ghouls isn’t an Ancient, nor is it like the Mother of the Marsh or Twisted Shadow, these ordinary Alien Gods.

The Cursed Title might be discovered by it or exempted by it.

Lu Li once again dived into the dreamscape of the Ghouls, disturbing the chaotic subconscious, understanding how to provoke them.

Exiting the dreamscape, Lu Li didn’t awaken the Ghouls. It would only think it lazed off to sleep, having a bizarre, unforgettable dream.

Lu Li climbed through the memory into a vertical shaft—in the Ghouls’ dreamscape, this was a pit filled with scattered bones it couldn’t gnaw.

Before Lu Li entered the shaft holding the oil lamp, the chime echoed into the mine, resonating as it faded.

It’s now break time.

Lu Li withdrew from the shaft, returning to the mine’s entrance. Ghouls gathered as the chime signified, munching meat-stripped bone sticks.

There were ready bones here; Lu Li didn’t have to climb into the shaft anymore.

Lu Li’s arrival caused the Ghouls to retreat like tides, with the Ghoul handing out food lifting the only meat limb with rancid skin to offer to Lu Li.

With claws, Lu Li grabbed the meat limb, stripped the flesh, tore it into meat strips, and tossed them to the dozen Ghouls squatting around.

This cost him nothing but was a blessing to the Ghoul Commoners.

The Ghouls scrambled to pick up the meat strips, with one crawling at Lu Li’s feet, wanting to become his servant.

Lu Li just needed a Ghoul to run errands for him.

Picking up a short bone, gnawed thoroughly by the Ghouls with teeth marks, no meat strands sticking, marrow sucked clean, Lu Li had it delivered to the Ghoul Warrior causing trouble.

The Ghoul retreated fearfully, but Lu Li grabbed it, dragged it to the pile of bone sticks in the wooden box, and shoved a leg bone with meat fibers to the Ghoul.

"I, Master Magician, protect you. It won’t kill you."

Lu Li’s assurance made the Ghoul agree in fear, along with the subsequent threat: "Don’t go, I’ll eat you."

The generous Ghoul Warrior lord allowed it to finish eating before doing the task.

"Last meal" didn’t affect the Ghoul’s mood; it gnawed the bone stick like other commoners, then took the symbolic humiliating bone to find the Ghoul Warrior.

Lu Li waited at the mine entrance. The enraged Ghoul Warrior might rush into the mine or kill the Ghoul—either way gave Lu Li a chance to make trouble for it.

Regardless of the outcome, it wouldn’t affect Lu Li’s plan.

Minutes passed, and just when Lu Li wondered if it had run away, two silhouettes blocked the light from the mine entrance.

The Ghoul Warrior arrived, its claws piercing the commoner’s chest, lifting it, letting filthy, foul-smelling blood spill all the way.

Now, a reasonable explanation existed.

The reason "A Ghoul Warrior’s subordinate killed by an enemy, angered, enhances again" should suffice to persuade the Sorcerer.

If not... Lu Li just needed to obtain what he wanted from the dreamscape before it arrived. Even if the Sorcerer summoned the King of Ghouls, leaving the Ghoul’s Lair before then would avoid trouble.

Boom—

The Ghoul Warrior threw away the lifeless commoner, as Ghouls Hard Labor fled in panic, roaring and charging at Lu Li.

Though Lu Li truly couldn’t fight, he knew how to fight. The Ghouls’ claws and teeth were the only threats. As it pounced, Lu Li clutched its right claw with his left and its left claw with his right, leaned back, then rammed into the Ghoul Warrior’s snout.

However, Lu Li made a mistake; Ghoul’s teeth were harder than its skull. The Ghoul Warrior’s sharp teeth remained intact, though Lu Li’s skull cracked a piece, quickly regenerating unbeknownst. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

This street-fighting style "rush hug" looked clumsy but was effective; the Ghoul Warrior, controlled by similar strength, was forced into a grapple.

Ghouls peeked their heads from the mine depths, watching the two Ghoul Warriors rolling and fighting at the dim entrance, where mine lamps were strewn everywhere.

Amidst the chaos, they saw a Ghoul once dead crawling towards them, crawling into the Ghoul crowd.

"Call, Master."

Hard laborers remembered to notify their master and ran out of the mine, bypassing the grappling warriors.

Meanwhile, Lu Li’s pressure gradually put the Ghoul Warrior at a disadvantage.

"Hum hum urghhhhhhhhhhhhhh——"

It roared like a wounded beast, trying to escape Lu Li’s hold, but to its horror, it realized it couldn’t beat this newly ascended "shorty."

"Submit."

Lu Li gazed down at the Ghoul Warrior, claws pressed against its chest. Membrane and rib couldn’t withstand the sharp blood claws, slowly piercing the flesh.

The now unresisting Ghoul wailed like a canine pleading for mercy.

No one expected the Legendary Exorcist to be beaten badly by a Ghoul, but fortunately, Lu Li won.

This time, he should learn some fighting techniques from Claire.

Lu Li released the Ghoul Warrior and appeared to faint along with it as if sapped of strength.

The surrounding Ghoul Commoners dared not approach, unbeknownst that Lu Li had already seen what he wanted in the elusive dreamscape:

Ghoul Warrior surrounded the Ghoul Sorcerer approaching the blood tide.

The warriors were left outside the blood tide; compared to the tall, strong warriors inside, they looked like a bunch of old farmers.

Regardless, Lu Li managed to overhear the conversation between the blood tide and the lair:

The Blood Plague Tribe in the eastern Midnight City was invaded by aberrations.

The blood tide indicated the Blood Plague Tribe’s retreat: they would set up an outpost in the south, preparing for the tribe’s withdrawal from the east.

The Ghoul leader demanded the Sorcerer lead the lair to join them, but surprisingly, the Sorcerer refused—the cost was the leader raising the bone whip, leaving a lash mark, sending it back to prepare for "bloody carnage."

Lu Li withdrew from the dreamscape, rising amid the fright of the mine Ghouls.

Not the best scenario, but not the worst outcome.

A question loomed before Lu Li: should he stop the Blood Plague Tribe from retreating south, or help the invading aberrations deal with the Ghouls?