The halo faded, revealing the exterior wall of the old and dilapidated Long House once more.

Lu Li, holding a lantern, stepped into the darkened hallway devoid of light.

The shadows devoured his outline.

Walking through the uneven hallway with missing room doors, treading on murky dirt formed by debris, dust, rain, and mud weathered and solidified, Lu Li entered the doorless Detective Agency. The survivors had long removed the wooden boards from the desks, bookcases, and beds for firewood, leaving behind an empty room where only outlines remained, making it difficult to recall any memories.

"It wasn't like this before, was it?" whispered the Mother of the Marsh.

"No," he replied.

"You can restore it to its original state."

"It's unnecessary."

"It is necessary..." the Mother of the Marsh disagreed, "The Land of Light belongs to both of us, Detective Agency will be visited and remembered by future residents."

Lu Li's gaze fell to the broken flowerpot below the windowsill and he no longer refused.

The Mother of the Marsh's decree appeared in the camp instantly. Then craftsmen left the schoolhouse and rushed to the Sailor District, escorted by Twisted Cultists.

Nothing excited them more than restoring the "legendary Detective Agency," and they were already running breathlessly from the camp before Lu Li even left the Sailor District.

Lu Li stayed temporarily, informing the enthusiastic craftsmen of the shape, placement, and color of the furniture.

They began cleaning the filth from the floors, measuring furniture, window frames, and door frames, and even the Mother of the Marsh participated, helping convey information back to the camp for production on the other side, even Vena Underground City was busy due to Detective Agency's reconstruction, looking for matching furniture paint.

Buckets of black sludge were sent out of the Long House and poured into the sewer. Those unable to squeeze into the Detective Agency had to clean the hallways, other rooms, or outer walls.

The bustling renovation seemed to bring back the past.

The Twisted Shadow arrived soon after, but unrelated to the renovation of the Detective Agency, He passed by, inviting Lu Li to the Shipwreck District.

The Bat Monsters from Silent Hill still circled the sky, albeit fewer than previous days, and ignored the Twisted Cult below.

However, the Twisted Shadow told Lu Li they had stolen many creatures originally belonging to the camp.

Twenty minutes later, Lu Li stood on the third-floor terrace of a restaurant overlooking the Shipwreck District.

The old ships fallen into the district formed a steel forest, reminiscent of the Old Era's stargazing faction. The grotesque inhabitants disliked the light and hid within the shipwrecks and houses to rest, only emerging to hunt when dusk fell.

"There are many Weird Leaders in the Shipwreck District," Twisted Shadow relayed the news detected by the Believers over the past two days.

"Difficult to handle?"

"Not difficult, just troublesome... I... I once ordered Believers to probe; they have a clear understanding of external events. Perhaps they once had many conflicts, but they have united due to the devastation of the Land of Vortex."

Alien Gods are powerful in pollution and growth ability; Weird Leaders represent individual strength. Usually, the Evil God is stronger than Weird Leaders, but it's hard to compare their true power—some Alien Gods have power similar to "Speaker of the Trees," and some Weird Leaders have power like "Dreamwalker."

"Do they come from the deep sea?" Lu Li asked.

"Yes... but I cannot yet make them tremble under my power."

Twisted Shadow, bestowed by the God of the Deep Sea, is on His way to becoming the "new God of the Deep Sea," but He remains a newborn Alien God, unable to control marine grotesques.

"How about adding this?"

Lu Li took out a Doomsday Apocalypse piece from his pocket and handed it to the Twisted figure.

"Is this the power-boosting treasure you mentioned?"

"Yes."

"If I take it, what will you do..."

"Only temporarily, it won't be a problem."

Losing the Doomsday Apocalypse brings humanity back down to a value of 0.5, but it lasts only a few minutes or even less, so it's not a big issue.

The Twisted Shadow took the Doomsday Apocalypse, then enveloped in obscure aura, sea water formed beneath Him, lifting Him up to drift towards Shipwreck District, lingering at the edge, freely releasing aura, declaring sovereignty, fleetingly transforming into a towering silhouette.

On the other side, Lu Li's situation was worse than he imagined.

All along, being under the amplification of the Doomsday Apocalypse passively increased Lu Li's threshold. When the amplification disappears, the threshold returns to its original state.

The ability to instinctively withstand minus twenty degrees cold under the Doomsday Apocalypse amplification becomes minus forty degrees, but when losing the Doomsday Apocalypse, minus twenty degrees becomes unbearable for Lu Li.

For instance, at this moment, besides physical weakness and no longer abundant spirit, the absence of humanity brings a sudden despair and isolation, overwhelming Lu Li's mind, wrapping him, dragging him into a deep swamp-like abyss...

If not for the Mother of the Marsh calling the Twisted Shadow back to return the Doomsday Apocalypse, Lu Li would have fallen into low Sanity Value syndrome.

Physical and mental strength resurged, delirium receded like tide, Lu Li's back regained its uprightness.

"How's the result?"

Lu Li, still trembling slightly from the lingering fear, asked.

"Perhaps some grotesques can be persuaded to join the Twisted Cult," Twisted Shadow replied.

After that, things became much simpler: let Lu Li's basic humanity be restored to a value of 1, then the Twisted Shadow could allure the grotesques of the Shipwreck District with the Doomsday Apocalypse.

To save time, the Twisted figure ordered Twisted Cultists to spread out and search, preparing to personally hunt a Weird Leader to restore Lu Li.

Gazing toward the northern Elm Forest, seemingly seeing the depths of Silent Hill. Lu Li turned away from the terrace.

"Have you communicated with the consciousness of Ashes District?"

On the way back, gradually recovering Lu Li asked the Mother of the Marsh.

"It's rejecting Me, resisting the outside world, perhaps giving it some time might make it more open."

"I'll ensure Twisted Cultists stay away from Ashes District."

Without detouring through Sailor District, Lu Li directly returned to the camp.

A box of Exorcist Badges brought back by Merchant Anthony lay on the desk.

Lu Li opened the wooden box, revealing the stacked badges inside.

The badges meticulously replicated by the Underground City resembled complex and exquisite artworks: silver-gray circular badge edges, intersecting hollow lines like a web, gathering in the center to form the outline of an eye.

The bronze color of the eye signifies the badge level as Exorcist.

Lu Li took the wooden box and walked out.

"Are you planning to give them the badges now?" the Mother of the Marsh asked curiously.

"Yes."

"The giving of badges should become a ritual; it is an honor for them..."

The Mother of the Marsh stopped Lu Li's direct action, choosing the badge awarding date as the day the Land of Light was reclaimed.

In the evening, the Twisted Shadow and His Believers returned, bringing back a dying Weird Leader.

Together with other grotesques from the slaughterhouse, they restored Lu Li's basic humanity to nearly three values, then the Twisted figure took away the Doomsday Apocalypse.

Early the next morning, Lu Li headed to the Shipwreck District, passing through the Sailor District under construction, the Long House no longer as worn as yesterday, revealing some of its old shadows.

Maybe one day in the future, he and Anna could live here.

Just like before.

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