They did not approach the Shipwreck District; strictly speaking, they didn't even come near. They stopped at a distance where the outlines of the Twisted Shadow and Shipwreck District could be seen through a telescope.

The Twisted Cultists temporarily suspended their cleaning in Old Belfast, following the Twisted Shadow, surrounding the Shipwreck District but leaving a gap toward the direction of Elm Forest—

This was taught by the Mother of the Marsh, ensuring controllable situations whether the Weird Leader and its clan surrendered, got captured, or fled to Silent Hill.

The Twisted Shadow rose with the waves, overlooking the Shipwreck District, spreading its aura. Wet marks wrapped the already damp and cold iron forest, contrasting with the warm and dry areas around under the morning sun.

The telescope is a good medium for observing Alien Gods or Weird Ones; it allows the user to observe situations from a distance without being polluted by the aura.

For unknown reasons, standard equipment for exorcists, watchers, and investigators from the Old Era did not include telescopes.

Perhaps they were worried that their gaze would arouse awareness.

The Twisted Shadow's enchantment of the Shipwreck District takes time, but small anomalies unable to resist its aura have begun converting into Believers, leaving the Shipwreck District.

These anomalies do not usually meet a good end—they are driven towards the bay as they do not match the Twisted Shadow's aesthetic, serving as vanguard cultists to cleanse the bay and occupy it simultaneously.

Lu Li waited here until near noon, then left the guarded building of the Twisted Cultists upon receiving news from Merchant Anthony that the reconstruction of the Detective Agency had finished, heading to the Sailor District.

The silent ruins of disrepair quietly recounted the bygone light and shadow.

Only distant moving figures and the gradually clear sound of conversation would erase this spontaneously arisen loneliness.

Approaching the expectant artisans, Lu Li saw the prominent new Long House.

The exterior walls, polished to remove the jaggedness brought by desiccation and weathering, painted as if new, Lu Li maintained his calm, stepping into the corridor where the pungent paint smell had not dispersed.

Old warped floors were replaced with new ones, washed walls shared the fate of the exterior walls, and even ventilation overnight did not significantly lessen the pungent smell of paint.

The newly installed pristine wooden door isolated the yet-to-be-cleaned neighboring room.

Walking on the crisp sound-emitting floors, Lu Li pushed open the half-closed, exquisite carved wooden door.

The door silently opened, revealing the renewed interior of the Detective Agency.

Empty bookshelves leaned against the wall, and an empty desk leaned against the bookshelves, with a long sofa placed underneath a windowsill holding flower pots growing wild grass, the corner of a bed revealed by the bedroom's unclosed door.

"Do you like it here?" The Mother of the Marsh's low whisper echoed.

"It's too new."

Lu Li replied to Her and the awaiting compliment artisans.

No aging, no fading, no time enrichment... Everything is brand new, like a poor imitation of history. Like a heavily wounded Knight in a theatrical play, his armor gleaming brightly.

"This is an old Long House; when I moved here, its existence was as long as the time from the Old Era to the Dark Era."

In Lu Li's calm words, the artisans realized their mistake.

"Please give us more time, we know what to do now."

Lu Li did not linger, leaving this staged Detective Agency and returning to the Agate Lake Camp.

Clearing the slaughterhouse of significantly less weirdness, managing today's affairs, inquiring about the progress of the Twisted Shadow and Mother of the Marsh, Lu Li did not leave Lake Heart Island the whole afternoon—"Ladies' afternoon tea" had been moved by the Mother of the Marsh to Lake Heart Island. Compared to the other courtyard, She and Elena preferred it here—because of the lawn covering the entire Lake Heart Island.

After Lu Li made the lawn grow around the cabin and Annie, he no longer wasted humanity, but as time passed… or as Annie consumed all humanity, growing from a sapling to a big tree, wild grass started growing from every piece of soil on Lake Heart Island, only the two paths leading from the cabin to Annie and the wooden bridge remained unchanged.

Perhaps thanks to Lu Li's residence, perhaps because Annie nurtured them.

Everything became smooth after dealing with the Land of Vortex.

The Mother of the Marsh communicated with the Ashes District, the Twisted Shadow enchanted the Shipwreck District, the Twisted Cultists slowly advanced in Old Belfast. It seemed they were fearful and uneasy due to the annihilation of the Land of Vortex, and even Silent Hill did not dare attack the Twisted Cultists in the city ruins.

At night, before sleeping, Merchant Anthony brought back good news: the Industrial District had been cleared.

Lu Li left the camp, accompanied by the Mother of the Marsh, heading to the Industrial District north of Old Belfast.

Under the night sky, the factory chimneys resembled jagged monstrous shadows; most remained intact, but only superficially intact, as machines covered in rust and corrosion were nearly unusable.

It would require extensive preparations to get these rusty machines moving.

Lu Li prioritized visits to the canning factory, salt factory, and power plant in the Industrial District.

The salt factory was in the best condition, aided by its resistance to corrosion due to seawater used in salt production; the canning factory could potentially operate after removing rust and scattered bones, dried feces; only the power plant had no possibility of renovation, its motors, copper wires already rusted and aged, with unknown weirdness previously nesting there, causing feces to mound nearly half a meter higher than the outside ground.

A complete facility replacement was necessary to make power bloom again in the Land of Hope.

Merchant Anthony took the list of needs compiled by Lu Li to Vena Underground City, while Lu Li returned to Lake Heart Island, spending a dreamless night.

...

[The "Land of Light Tour Guide" is selling well underground]

[Letters from the Land of Light - "Land of Light Tour Guide"]

[Sir Ross Donates Cherished Industrial Equipment to the Land of Light]

The renamed "Vena Non-frozen Port Morning News" recorded yesterday's news.

The camp fortunately received a complete power generation set for free from Sir Ross; additional values like "honor," "prestige," "favor," were not included.

And the "Land of Light Tour Guide" sent to the underground a month ago only recently caused a stir, circulated as a single page in the newspaper and delivered to Lu Li's desk.

Lu Li processed today's affairs early, then visited the Sailor District upon a second invitation from the artisans.

The old, faded walls contrasted with the adjacent decay, windows layered with dust. Floor paint peeled off significantly, stained dark by oil and dirt.

The corridor carried a sense of oldness. Lu Li held an oil lamp, stepping on creaky wooden boards.

Creak—

The wooden door slowly pushed open, teeth-gratingly.

Bookshelves filled with books and neatly organized alarm clocks and notebooks on the desk appeared before him.

The drawn curtains blocked the outside sunlight.

"Please allow me some quiet time."

The Mother of the Marsh sensed the emotion in the words, quietly descended, and left the room.

Outside shadows gradually receded, offering the Detective Agency and Lu Li enough silence.

Bam.

Lu Li shut the door, took off his coat, hanging it on the rack revealed behind the door, bypassing the desk to sit in the wooden chair.

Dazed, he heard coughing, crying, and cooking sounds from the corridor, saw beautiful white skirts tending to potted plants on the sofa.

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