Chapter 100: 98. Liuhua Twelve Streets (Two-in-one)

98. Liuhua Twelve Streets (Two-in-one)

Drake would very much like to dig through the tunnel walls to see the secrets hidden within, yet this was not something a small F-level Mysterious Investigator like him could act on arbitrarily; even an A-level Mysterious Investigator would not have the authority to act before reporting in a situation that was not a confirmed emergency.

After all, this tunnel could at least be considered a piece of urban cultural heritage.

Even so, Drake did not intend to give up on finding the missing teenager.

The recent frequent disappearances in Liuhua Port were almost all related to that group of "Sea Monsters," and the secrets of the Sea Monsters might be hidden beneath the tunnel; the teenager's disappearance likely had a high probability of being inseparable from this tunnel. Connecting these few points, solving the Mysterious Disappearance Case in Liuhua Port might just lead to finding the missing teenager.

Before leaving, Drake glanced at the teenager's parents, who were casting expectant gazes at him. He did not speak, nor did he make any indication, simply withdrawing his gaze calmly and quickly, walking away from them with a steady pace.

It was not that he was too heartless, but that he could not give this couple any guarantees.

Drake ate something casually, during which he asked his mission contact to look up a piece of information—local historical information related to Sea Monsters.

When he finished breakfast, the mission contact had just sent the message, and he immediately hailed a passing taxi.

"Sir, where to?" The taxi driver looked at Drake through the rearview mirror, appearing slightly surprised after seeing the other party's mixed-race appearance.

"Liuhua Twelve Streets." Drake glanced at his phone and replied, then immediately put the phone away, leaning back against the car seat to close his eyes and rest.

He hadn't slept all night and had been exposed to a large amount of knowledge in a short time that nearly shattered his worldview. In order to keep his thinking clear enough to solve the case, he had to get some good rest.

"Alrighty." The taxi driver started the car immediately. He glanced at the seemingly sleeping Drake and shook his head, seemingly regretting that he couldn't have a good chat with an out-of-town passenger who could speak Chinese.

The Liuhua Twelve Streets that Drake mentioned were located in the East District of Liuhua Port City, nearly an hour's drive from where he was.

Although this one-hour drive was long, it was still a bit too short for the sleep-deprived Drake; when he woke up in the car, he did not enjoy the satisfaction of sleep.

Carrying a trace of unpleasant morning grumpiness, he got out of the car and walked into the "scroll" of Liuhua Twelve Streets, which was full of modern historical charm.

According to the reply sent by the mission contact, the history of the city of Liuhua Port had an unbreakable bond with "Sea Monsters."

This city was born because of the ocean, yet its prosperity had an inseparable relationship with "Sea Monsters."

On the land of Liuhua Port, there once existed a mysterious organization that worshipped "Sea Monsters." The organization worshipped the Sea Monsters and often held Sacrificial Rituals for them, as if worshipping the Sea Monsters as gods, and the Sea Monsters seemed to know the humans' intentions, actually rewarding the humans on shore; these Sea Monsters would give the gold, silver, and jewelry salvaged from the bottom of the sea to the humans who worshipped them.

Because Sea Monsters that injured people and broke ships frequently appeared in Liuhua Port back then, a large amount of treasure was sunk beneath the nearby sea. It was just that humans at the time were constrained by their fragile physiques and crude tools, and they were unable to go into the deep sea to salvage this wealth. When they discovered that Sea Monsters could bring them value and benefits, almost no one could resist the temptation and began to worship the Sea Monsters, and thus the members of this mysterious organization grew more and more numerous.

If you can get something for nothing and eat for free, then you can believe in Sea Monsters a little bit.

After obtaining the wealth of the Sea Monsters, this city gradually grew stronger, once becoming one of the most prosperous cities of that era.

However, all things have their ups and downs; this mysterious organization that once brought huge wealth to the city gradually fell silent and eventually seemed to disappear into the long river of history.

Nowadays, there is a museum within these Liuhua Twelve Streets that still preserves information about that mysterious organization.

Drake came here to look for information about that mysterious organization; if he could find clues related to the disappearance case and the Jiaoren Disease from it, that would undoubtedly be a great thing.

And soon, Drake flipped through a copy of an Ancient Book on the second floor of the museum and found records about the mysterious organization, finally learning the true name of the mysterious organization—the Anhai Divine Society.

Except for the degree of wear and tear, the copy was almost a one-to-one restoration of the original Ancient Book. The cover was the same as the Ancient Book, both painted with a strange symbol—a pattern resembling an eye, only the pupil was a fish.

The Sea Monsters worshipped by the Anhai Divine Society were not the Sea Monster species, but the leaders of the Sea Monsters, their commanders, and also the King of Sea Monsters, respectfully called the God of Anhai.

"Is that the big fish?" Drake thought of the Super Giant Merman he had seen in his dream.

The reason the Anhai Divine Society was established was only because the God of Anhai defeated the sea monsters that always attacked tourists and local fishermen; as for how it continued and grew, it was as mentioned before: the God of Anhai and its kin would bring wealth to the humans who believed in them.

And when Drake wanted to know why the Anhai Divine Society suddenly declined, Drake discovered that the pages after the copy were blank.

Drake's act of carefully reading the copy seemed to attract the attention of a guide in the museum. She came to Drake with a professional smile, "Sir, is there anything I can help you with?" As she spoke, her smiling eyes suddenly jumped, and her smile immediately became somewhat strangely ambiguous.

Drake took in the guide's eerie change in expression, but he remained calm.

In fact, it wasn't just the guide who was a bit strange; ever since he entered this street and walked along, whenever he passed by and approached the merchants and residents living here, he could always feel the strange gazes of those "locals."

It was not a kind of unwelcoming or vigilance, but rather a kind of enthusiasm and curiosity like villagers seeing a wanderer who had been away for many years returning home.

However, this enthusiasm was mixed with an unsettling "fanaticism" and "worship." Drake could only feel a sense of discomfort from the bottom of his heart. He suppressed his nausea and resistance and responded to the guide's question: "Why is there nothing after this point?"

The guide smiled and said: "Because the original in the display case only goes up to here, and the copy can only be transcribed up to this point."

"I see." Drake nodded.

He didn't believe it.

"If you want to know what happened later, Sir, I happen to know some of it and can answer for you." The guide noticed a trace of displeasure in Drake, and her smile suddenly faded, a trace of panic flashing in her eyes.

Drake frowned slightly. He felt very puzzled by this inexplicable respect, and the doubts in his heart became as messy as a ball of wool. "I want to know about the subsequent development of the Anhai Divine Society organization."

"The Anhai Divine Society fell silent because of a later disturbance, and that disturbance was a Blessing brought by the God of Anhai." The guide answered immediately. When she said this, a trace of indignation appeared on her face, "Humans rejected the Blessing of eternal life brought by the God of Anhai and regarded the Blessing as a Curse. Those evolved people who received the Blessing were ruthlessly suppressed, and many people died. The Anhai Divine Society withered because of this... This is truly a tragedy."

Listening to the guide's words, Drake was actually unable to distinguish what this lady was indignant about, or which event she was calling a tragedy.

"What is the Blessing?" Drake did not want to listen to the other party beating around the bush; he wanted to hear the answer, even though he had already guessed it.

"Becoming a Servant of the God of Anhai and obtaining the opportunity for eternal life." The guide answered, and as she spoke, she bowed respectfully.

So that's how it is...

The so-called Blessing of the God of Anhai is the Jiaoren Disease!

Drake's heartbeat began to accelerate, and the masseter muscles on his cheeks were trembling. He noticed the guide's bowing posture toward him and soon discovered the enthusiastic gazes of other museum staff around him. A bold and chilling conjecture formed in his heart.

The staff in this museum... no, even the original residents of this entire street, they were all remnants of the Anhai Divine Society. They were waiting for the return of the God of Anhai, and they were longing for that "Blessing."

And because he appeared here with his bloodline bathed in the "Blessing," to them, it was as if they had seen an envoy sent by the God of Anhai, here to lead them to realize their great ideal.

Thinking this way, Drake finally knew why these people had such strangely reverent attitudes toward him, even though he didn't know how these people confirmed that he was suffering from "Jiaoren Disease."

With such doubts, Drake went to the restroom with a pounding heart. It was only then that he discovered his eyes were beginning to show strange colors—that was definitely not the white and pupil of a human; the whites of his eyes were yellowish and shiny, while his pupils were dilated and scattered.

"Cough, cough." Drake suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart and lungs, followed by a cough. A fishy smell surged in his throat, and a mouthful of sour water mixed with blood was spat out, covering the entire sink.

Drake opened his mouth in disbelief, only to discover in horror that his teeth were beginning to show abnormal serration, as if they were about to turn into the teeth and mouth of a shark.

The initial symptoms of Jiaoren Disease finally began to manifest in him, and the reaction was so violent.

Drake said to himself in the mirror: "I am... I am Drake Wu, an Investigator..."

He had to repeatedly confirm that his voice was still normal, that his vocal cords had not been completely Alienated by the Jiaoren Disease, and that his brain was still clear.

After confirming that his mind was still clear, Drake decided that from now on he would speak less to avoid other normal people noticing his strangeness.

He didn't know why his mutation symptoms had suddenly accelerated; perhaps the Alienation speed of Jiaoren Disease was just that rapid. In the end, Drake ran out of the museum as if fleeing, escaping from Liuhua Twelve Streets where these lunatics and fanatics gathered.

He hurriedly hailed a taxi and got in. After the car started, he heard the driver ask in a familiar voice: "Finished looking around so soon? Don't you plan to look a little longer?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Drake's mind jolted; he stiffly raised his head to look, never expecting that this taxi driver was actually the same one who had brought him here, as if the other party had been waiting for him to walk out of this street just so he could pick him up at the first possible moment.

It was also at this moment that Drake finally noticed the pendant on the taxi driver's chest was exactly the emblem of the Anhai Divine Society!

"Who are you!?" Drake could no longer restrain his impulses and began to interrogate the taxi driver.

"You really are very similar to her." The driver revealed a trace of a sentimental smile at this and said, "My name is Ma Hong, respected messenger."

"Tell me, what exactly do you all know, what have you hidden, and is the recent Mysterious Disappearance Case in Liuhua Port related to you!?" Drake questioned the man before him in a deep voice.

The driver Ma Hong replied respectfully and truthfully: "We will certainly tell you everything we know without reservation. As for the question about the disappearance case you want to ask now, I can tell you, yes, it indeed has an inseparable connection to us."

Ma Hong's eyes revealed fervor, bloodshot veins filled his eye sockets, and he grinned in a hideous and sinister manner, spitting out every word through two rows of ghastly, aged yellow teeth: "The stars are about to align, my God will awaken from her slumber, and when that time comes, the messengers of God will lead her believers to respectfully welcome her return; God's Child will use twin spirits and blood, soul and flesh, to construct an Avatar for her to walk the human world, after which her Avatar will lead us to spread the Gospel to the world..."

"Lunatic!" Drake cursed angrily, "That is not a god at all!"

What descends from the sky is not necessarily a deity; demons can also come from beyond the heavens.

Ma Hong smiled; he did not argue with Drake, but simply continued to speak to himself: "When the time of the stars aligning arrives, on the day my God awakens, you will believe everything I have said."

As he spoke, Ma Hong happened to stop the car at an intersection waiting for a traffic light.

Drake forcibly opened the car door and jumped out of the vehicle; he looked at the driver inside the taxi with suspicion and fear, only to see Ma Hong still watching him with a beaming smile, the other party not even having tried to stop his departure.

Startled by Ma Hong's eerie expression, Drake seemed to experience hallucinations; he stumbled as he ran along the road, and when he accidentally bumped into passersby, he would always hallucinate that those passersby also wore that same eerie and dangerous smile as Ma Hong.

He fell to the ground, watching the group of passersby who had surrounded him all facing him with a uniform, terrifying smile; Drake felt a massive amount of pain suddenly surge into his brain, and all at once, his body lost its strength, and he collapsed onto the ground.

"Hah... dah... h-cough..." Drake felt a thick, bloody taste churning in his mouth, muttering to himself, as his vision gradually turned pitch black...

"Li Nuowei, you have many absence records for your classes recently, and you haven't been returning to the dormitory at night; can you tell me why?" In the office of the School of Economics and Management at Liuhua Port Comprehensive University, a young counselor was patiently communicating with a troubled student.

Li Nuowei looked at the counselor and said with a smile: "Please don't worry, I don't have any problems."

"Then what is going on with the absences? I have to remind you that if you continue like this, you might fail your courses this semester." The counselor reminded him with earnest, well-meaning advice.

"Oh, rest assured, I won't fail." Li Nuowei shook his head, then his eyeballs turned stiffly to look at the mobile phone the counselor had placed on the desk, and a moment later, the phone lit up.

The counselor heard the ringtone, glanced at the caller ID, and frowned deeply; just as he was about to habitually press decline, he heard the student in front of him say: "I suggest you listen to what it is; otherwise, you might regret it, for instance, missing the last chance to see your control-freak mother or something..."