Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1482 - 26: Incitement

If you stand atop the withering World Tree and overlook the veiled Midnight City, you will see:

Three towering Obsidian Towers, silent as shadows;

At the base of the wounded World Tree, covered with craters, broken roots, and building remnants.

The blood plague slowly spreading along the streets;

An Obsidian Tower that glows and shifts with time;

The Dark Park devouring all light;

The adjoining lake swirling continuously day and night;

The hatred cast by an indescribable being;

A Flesh Nest, like a low mountain, engulfing several blocks;

The Spire reaching skyward, leaning precariously;

The lost Midnight City becoming a bizarre promised land. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

And a place where souls find no peace.

...

Like a mycelium blot, foul plague silently spread as a few Ghoul Warriors passed by, staining walls, rooftops, streets.

In just a few days, with another round of patrols, the area will transform into a ghoul plague lair, just like those distant blood-wrapped buildings.

The Blood Plague Tribe spreads its nests in this manner.

The Ghoul Warriors spread the plague along the street, unaware that a rat in the shadows follows them on all fours.

Upon reaching the boundary, when the ghouls prepared to return, twisted roots suddenly burst from the roadside. The surging roots tore doorframes, cracked walls, and entangled the unsuspecting ghoul squad.

Sharp claws and teeth were useless against hundreds of roots; they were overwhelmed in an instant, with only the lagging ghoul escaping.

The Ghoul Leader, surrounded by a wilting aura, soon arrived at the scene of the attack. Only broken walls and pools of foul blood remained.

The Blood Spirit approached the blood pool, lowered its body like a crawl, dipped its claws in the sticky blood, and licked it.

"The taste of numbness... it’s the Moon Tree..." The Blood Spirit rose like an old man gripping a Bone Staff, "It shouldn’t be here."

"But it hides here, it tore apart three of our warriors!"

The low roar trembled the air, and the wilting aura beneath the Ghoul Leader’s feet exuded a decaying scent.

The street-side buildings seemed corroded by time, gradually decaying.

"Don’t let anger cloud your judgment, Blood Hammer."

The Blood Spirit raised the Bone Staff and struck the slab, dissolving the wilting aura around.

"This was just a mishap, it’s already gone."

"...I hope you’re right, Blood Spirit."

Failing to catch the culprit, the Ghoul Leader returned to the outpost with anger.

But soon after, another ghoul patrol encountered misfortune, leaving no survivors, their scattered limbs found by another patrol team.

The Ghoul Leader and Blood Spirit revisited the scene.

"Blood Spirit, what do you propose?"

Holding an entire lamp post, the Ghoul Leader growled.

"It’s Shadow Creatures this time... they wouldn’t align with the Moon Tree..."

The Blood Spirit slowly explained, "Before departure, the Great Sorcerer informed me... the Blood Plague Tribe wasn’t attacked, only us."

"Perhaps you’re right... they’re trying to weaken us, to sever our retreat..."

The mention of the Great Sorcerer humbled the Ghoul Leader, yet his emotions remained unreleased: "What do you plan to do!"

"Summon back the ghouls spreading the bed."

"No... way..." The Ghoul Leader leaned close to the Blood Spirit, his scarlet eyes glaring larger than the old sorcerer’s head, "It’s our duty to build the nest for the tribe."

"Then we’ll have to conduct a sacrifice, petition the King for protection."

Hiss—

The stench from the Ghoul Leader’s nostrils gusted, making his cloak flutter.

"Do you want us to be labeled cowards?"

"This is the only way." Ignoring the Ghoul Leader’s threat, the Blood Spirit said, "Unless we track every patrol, they’ll weaken us like a wolf pack, devour us."

"I choose neither." The Ghoul Leader turned away, his voice echoing in the air.

"Consult the tribe. Ask them what to do."

The Blood Spirit soon left, the other sorcerers and warriors quickly returning.

Away from controversy, in the dark sewers dripping unknown liquids, a shadow quietly departed.

"They paired Ghost Sorcerers and warriors for patrols, cough, with something to warn, cough..."

In the castle, after regrouping, Lu Li briefed with a cough.

"Are you sick?" Ophelia asked concernedly.

"...The plague."

Unmasked as a ghoul, Lu Li couldn’t fully resist the plague they spread, at least not entirely.

"You’ve done enough, you can rest for a while..."

"Not enough yet."

Lu Li shook his head.

In the northern Ghoul Clans and the confronting monsters still needed provocation, though it could conveniently address the plague issue.

Lu Li consumed a Mutant Potion, transforming back into a Ghoul Sorcerer, relieving the discomfort from the plague.

Picking a skull from the Mycelium Monster’s collection, and taking several Mutant Potions, Lu Li ventured beyond the south of Midnight City for the first time.

Though mostly psychological, the new environment indeed brought an unspeakable sense of crisis. Yet, due to monsters’ disinterest in plague, filth, stench, and frail Ghoul Sorcerers, it wasn’t substantial.

This situation dissipated as Lu Li approached Blood Plague Tribe’s territory.

The scenario was less favorable for ghouls than Blood Spirit described... it was a clan of Rotten Monsters immune to plague and capable of spreading it, seemingly obeying some entity, using ghouls as food.

Still, it wasn’t dire enough to warrant departure. When Lu Li arrived, the Blood Plague Tribe was negotiating under the King of Ghouls’ acquiescence with the Rotten Monsters.

No war, thus no death. Lu Li seemed to be able to safely return to the farm, waiting for the True Vision Orb to arrive, slowly searching for the ghost.

But what changed Lu Li’s mind was realizing, through interaction, that the Rotten Monsters were also controlled by some entity.

If two Evil Gods cooperated... they might turn and target Midnight City.

Before the True Vision Orb arrived, he had to become Midnight City’s invisible Guardian.

Lu Li began using the tool known as Cursed Title to incite Ghouls and Rotten Monsters’ fury: disguising as a Ghoul Sorcerer when encountering monsters, and as a monster when meeting ghouls.

The beacon sufficed to arouse substantial interest in Lu Li from both.

The originally thawing relationship between the two factions gradually reignited, returning to hunt one another.

And before the wrath of the King of Ghouls and the unknown entity’s hate descended, the instigator, Lu Li, quietly slipped back to the southern Ghoul’s Lair.

Giving up the sacrifice to the King of Ghouls, he devoted all the Blood Food into the blood pool to nurture the Ghoul Warriors.

His efforts paid off, as continuous disturbances against the Blood Plague Tribe and the Rotten Monsters finally bore the expected message:

"War! War is about to break out!"