Detective Agency of the Bizarre

Old Belfast no longer has any forbidden zones.

However, there are still strange creatures scattered among the city ruins, yet to be cleared. Most are weak, but there are also groups or leaders of strange creatures present. Therefore, the decree prohibiting random departures from the camp remains in effect.

But in any case, the day when residents can stroll the streets and gaze at the harbor will not be far away.

As allies, Count Dracula's Bat Monsters have joined the camp, revealing the benefits of controlling the air: when clearing unknown districts, the Twisted Cultists are aware of where the strange creatures exist and where they escape to.

The number of strange creatures transported to the slaughterhouse thus greatly increased. Most of the harvested bodies were used as fertilizer by the Mother of the Marsh, while a small portion was given to the Bat Monsters. Their appetite is quite large, and they are unable to fly for three or four hours after eating - the lineup seen before Silent Hill is almost their entire count: sixteen adult Bat Monsters and one youngling.

In the evening, at the banquet held at the Mother of the Marsh's courtyard, all allies gathered around the round table.

"Your Highness the Princess, time has never erased your beauty." Aware of the Mother of the Marsh's identity, Count Dracula from the painting elegantly greeted Her, then started discussing how he beguiled Silent Hill: "They aren't very clever. I just tricked them into believing I was the ancestor of vampires, they were vampires and they believed it, not even questioning why they couldn't suck blood."

"How did you end up there?" Lu Li asked.

"You mean after I was sold by you? That's a long story… please wait a moment, I need a glass of red wine."

The maid holding the wine bottle filled the glass and pushed it towards Count Dracula's painting.

"Not like that."

Count Dracula gestured, disappearing to the edge of the painting frame, followed by the sound of a cork popping and the gurgle of flowing wine.

Returning to the painting with a swaying glass of wine, Dracula began to narrate slowly.

He was undoubtedly more skilled at storytelling than Lu Li, his experiences were magnificent, but it was simply a mundane story of being bought as a painting, stored in a base, then stolen after the base was burglarized, and finally ending up in Silent Hill.

"What kind of person would break into the investigator's base to steal?" asked the Mother of the Marsh.

"I don't know either, I was locked in a box, covered with a veil. But at that time, it was the last period of what you call the Old Era, so chaos was nothing unusual."

As for being sold by Lu Li, Dracula seemed to hold no resentment.

However, the topic reminded Lu Li to have the Twisted Cultists clean out the investigator base and the Night Watchers Organization tomorrow.

There should still be some useful information items left there.

As the banquet was about to end, they discussed the arrangement for Count Dracula. As an ally, Dracula would be given a mansion in the camp, or he could return to Silent Hill. But he had no desire to return to that cold, damp place.

"Have you seen where I've faded? That place is too damaging to oil paintings!" Dracula complained about the harshness of Silent Hill: "You could hang me on the stairwell in the hall."

"I don't want to be misunderstood by Lu Li." The Mother of the Marsh declined him.

Count Dracula looked bewilderedly between Lu Li and the Mother of the Marsh, then raised a toast to Lu Li in admiration.

In the end, he was allocated a standalone mansion adjacent to the church, since Count Dracula was just a painting, and even moving required others' help. Two maids were assigned to care for Count Dracula and clean the house.

Lu Li left the courtyard, walking under the starry sky towards Agate Lake, reflecting the twinkling starlight.

In the distance, a brightly lit square hosted another banquet. The residents were reveling freely with roasted meat and ale, with the smoke, aroma, and laughter wafting far and wide.

"Do you think Dracula is trustworthy?" The Mother of the Marsh's voice echoed in his mind.

"I don't know."

Count Dracula indeed never attacked the camp, and that accident was proven to be a misunderstanding.

But seeing an old acquaintance always brings joy.

Lu Li would feel that way, and Dracula probably did too.

The first night of Agate Lake Camp transforming into the Land of Hope passed amidst the revelry.

A gentle breeze blew through the small house as the curtains were drawn open.

Lu Li gradually awoke.

Pulling back the curtains, the not-yet-dazzling sunlight slanted into the cabin, falling on the desk.

In the square afar, shadows moved as residents cleaned up the mess left from the night before.

Warmed by the sun, the Crown of Thorns stretched its branches like a lazy stretch, climbing up over Lu Li's head. Not long after, the Mother of the Marsh appeared across the lake shore.

Accompanied by the Mother of the Marsh, Lu Li left Lake Heart Island, first visiting Dracula's mansion—a standalone home that sounded like a castle, but Dracula liked it here.

When they arrived, Dracula was instructing the maids to hang him on the wall facing the stairs.

The dusty photo frame placed nearby indicated it was previously hung there.

"A bit crooked, lift the left side… lift higher… now the right side… there you go, perfect!" Count Dracula noticed Lu Li and the Mother of the Marsh returning to the living room from the painting frame's perspective: "How does it look now?"

"Very fitting."

Count Dracula shooed the two maids to clean the room, saying: "I like it here, though it's a bit rundown. But it's too empty, I need some residents to talk to me."

The maids bowed to Lu Li and the Mother of the Marsh, picked up a feather duster and broom, and began sweeping the living room.

"Sure."

Agreeing with Count Dracula, Lu Li left the dusty mansion to inform the former Knight Squad about Dracula's situation at the lakefront mansion.

"Do you want us to live there?" Michael's wet voice inquired: "But we don't know how to interact with that Count Dracula."

They were residents Lu Li selected for Count Dracula. He was a strange being and could taint sanity, thus human residents couldn't have too much contact.

"He talks a lot."

Dracula needed to chatter away twenty years of loneliness; he spent the past few days doing just that.

Michael accepted the arrangement, and he and his team headed to Dracula's mansion.

On his way to the slaughterhouse to reap humanity, Lu Li encountered a Bat Monster dropping from the sky with a dying strange creature. They weren't as majestic and sharp as eagles soaring the sky: their grotesque heads were hideously ugly like gargoyles.

The Mother of the Marsh remarked they were not as good as Her former servant, the Night Devil, but did possess a notable advantage - their size.

The Bat Monster's body was large enough to support two humans riding on top, and maybe one day in the future, there would be Bat Knights riding them.

Leaving the slaughterhouse, Lu Li and the Mother of the Marsh walked through the newly cultivated farmland.

Annie's ghostly figure stretched behind, as sprouts emerged from the soil around them.

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

The Mother of the Marsh sensed something.

"I have a pact with the Devil's Daughter; before I head to hell for our appointment, I must find Anna's whereabouts." Lu Li said.

For a long time to come, the Land of Hope would maintain the status quo and gradually change: residents would gather at Agate Lake Camp, the harbor, and the industrial zone, with Old Belfast gradually transforming into a garden until the day of true control came.

It no longer needed him here.