Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1524 - 68: The Eternal Dreamer’s Prophecy

Lu Li overlooked the swamp below.

The elliptical, deep yellow world buried in the black earth was like an embryo, as if nurturing life.

Exploring along the eggshell-like edge of the swamp, it enveloped the Midnight City above and the Midnight City Main Station below. Gazing at the swamp, it seemed possible to glimpse the trapped beings within the dim eggshell.

What do these trapped lives represent, the nutrients within the embryo?

Regardless, those who once refused to ally must now face the swamp.

The thin membrane outside the swamp obstructs communication and prevents escape; Lu Li didn’t check if entering was still possible, because he couldn’t do it yet.

The power left outside is greater than recklessly rushing in.

"Only the strange can fight the strange."

The whispering of the Eternal Dreamer sitting by the window echoed in his ears.

"Go to Dark Star City; you will find the answer there."

A subterranean city built by the bizarre and connected to the old sewer mainline.

Lu Li once passed by there when it was still under trimming. And for the bizarre, a few months were enough to dig out a vast underground world.

Compared to this realization, Lu Li noticed the frequency of the Eternal Dreamer’s prophecies seemed to have increased.

Was it because developments departed from his foresight, or proceeded toward the destined future?

That’s not a bad ending...

The black eyes reflecting the elliptical world below, Lu Li recalled his inquiry back then: "What can you tell me about the future you’ve foreseen?"

Rather than being like a tool that thinks only of completing goals, Lu Li was more accustomed to thinking.

"When you arrive at the old sewer, a smudge will guide you to enter the inn; the trap-weaving spider lifts her skirt, seductive and corrosive poison makes you lose yourself, and when you awaken from the prison, you’ll meet the last lineage trapped here. Protect it, escort it to Dark Star City..."

"So specific?"

"Because in the unasked future, you will happen to meet it."

As Lu Li asked about the future, knowing the future, the ball of clues inevitably got tangled, and Lu Li could only actively approach it.

—But the future exposed after revealing the truth was also part of the Eternal Dreamer’s foresight.

"Will the swamp be resolved because of this?"

"Yes..." The Eternal Dreamer lifted those deep, wise, and indifferent-to-everything eyes, "The swamp will vanish from the earth... this is the final conclusion."

But given the foresight of the Eternal Dreamer’s prophecy... the resolution of the swamp might not be Dark Star City. Rather, it could be countless possibilities extended from this.

Such as Lu Li’s remaining final method—simulating the gaze of the vast deep space.

The swamp is no more mysterious than Prada. Under the gaze of that star-converging eye, a ghoul is no different from an ancient deity.

Just possibly solving the hidden danger, bringing about greater trouble.

The owner of that eye is undoubtedly more likely to destroy this fragile world than the swamp.

Unless all is irretrievable, Lu Li would avoid simulating the gaze.

"Come back quickly."

On the eve of departure, the merchant brought the Twisted Shadow’s urging and concern.

"It won’t be long."

...

Like the villagers in parables who sneered at the child crying "wolf," when the wolf really appeared, they were frantic and chaotic.

Lu Li walked in the chaotic mainline sewer. Around, the strange beings were plundering, migrating, screaming. In some ways, this was no different from when Belfast People crowded at the port, wanting to flee.

But there were many, like Lu Li, who bucked the trend among the strange beings.

Strange beings were scattered—yet threats would teach them to unite.

Disguised in a black robe, mingling in the mainline, a bit later, Lu Li encountered the smudge prophesied by the Eternal Dreamer, guiding Lu Li into a crude cave inn—

Spiders crawled densely in the shadowy corners covered in cobwebs, ranging from soybeans to fists in size, thousands of venomous compound eyes fixed on the unexpected intruder.

Lu Li suddenly stopped, allowing a group of bean-like spiders to scuttle by first.

The prophecy described by the Eternal Dreamer seemed somewhat exotic, lifting skirts and intoxicatingly corrosive. But it was just the toxic miasma in the air that caused Lu Li to lose consciousness. Upon awakening, he found himself in a dungeon, seeing the "existence" prophesied by the Eternal Dreamer needing protection.

A timid, frail, alien being with spider-like limbs and compound eyes.

It reminded Lu Li of Ida—the spider girl who had briefly accompanied him in the Midnight City Illusion.

"Do you know how to leave here?"

The Eternal Dreamer hadn’t told Lu Li what to do, Lu Li spoke at his own pace: "Staying here will get you killed."

"I can’t get out."

The spider boy curled his limbs, hugging his frail body.

"Tell me how to get out, and I’ll take you away."

Lu Li observed his form, pondering what the "last lineage" foretold by the Eternal Dreamer represented.

"I don’t know..."

The frail spider boy knew nothing. Lu Li wasted no more time, spreading the dream landscape, directly taking the startled spider boy from the dungeon, emerging in a corner of the mainline.

The spider boy was startled by Lu Li’s power, then was fearful of suddenly entering an unfamiliar environment—he had stayed in the dungeon longer than imagined.

This emotion made him instinctively draw close to the one who brought him out, the only familiar presence, Lu Li.

Feeling a tug on his sleeve, Lu Li slightly turned his head, then carefully moved away from this "last lineage."

He detected a familiar obscure aura from a dark line in front.

With the reluctant-to-let-go spider boy, Lu Li approached the dark line, his hand brushing over the mud-caked rock wall.

As the mud melted and collapsed, a vast cavern of houses appeared before them.

Lu Li recognized this underground city that had intersected with him—Margaret had been trapped here, waiting for a long time until he rescued her again.

Did this underground city migrate here from between the giant tree and the swamp?

Or was their encounter not a coincidence?

Lu Li’s intrusion was noticed by the "villagers." They gathered around and recognized Lu Li.

With no time for much explanation, Lu Li summoned the merchant, saying before departure: "The merchant will come to tell you what happened above."

...

A sea of colorful flowers and clusters of shrubs surrounded them.

Lu Li stood among the flower clusters.

Dreamwalker, lighthouse, Speaker of the Trees...

These cursed titles contributed little when facing the swamp.

The flowers made the spider boy standing beside Lu Li recognize him: "Are you... human? Are you..."

Sadly, something seemed to affect its mind, making it difficult to maintain coherent thoughts, sinking into chaotic babble: "Are you my knight?"

"Why say that?"

The spider boy’s demeanor changed, becoming youthfully noble: "In human stories, knights appear to rescue the distressed princess."

"Close enough."

Lu Li neither affirmed nor denied because that was indeed what he was doing.

"I will take you back to Dark Star City."