The strange fog dissipated at dawn, just as it always did, unveiling a hideous, desolate landscape. The incessant roar of the surf broke the dead silence.
Anna's ghostly silhouette appeared at the mouth of the cave. She first glanced up at the top of the cliff. Enni was safe, and the cabin belonging to Remi and the others was also unhard—it seed the wails that had echoed through half the night had been nothing but an illusion.
Anna picked up the binoculars but realized she could make out the aftermath of the night even without them.
Where the oak forest had been, there now gaped an incredibly distorted, elongated funnel—an anomaly. It was the kind of sight that made you feel as if your very gaze would be sucked into its center.
It stretched from the middle of the oak forest’s slope all the way to the summit, encompassing most of the surrounding district. Everything within had spiraled inward, distorted into the shape of a funnel.
This wasn't like a child drawing circles in the sand or a mischievous imp ruining a pattern. It was more like soone had poured paint evenly across a canvas and then drawn circles through it with a clean brush. The motley colors blended, rged, and warped, creating an indescribably repulsive sensation.
The paint hadn't vanished—it had rely rged and warped.
The sa had happened to the houses and trees. They hadn't been destroyed—they had simply beco part of the gigantic funnel.
And they looked even more unsettling than the murky paint. As if... if you stared at them for too long, you yourself would begin to spiral.
Fortunately, this was probably an illusion—Anna didn't feel any ntal contamination.
But just in case, it was best not to show this to Lu Li.
Anna returned to the cave and told its sleepless inhabitants about the events in the distance. Jimmy, his sister, and Adamfiya went to inspect the top of the cliff, while she stayed behind to describe the funnel to Lu Li.
She smoothed the blanket with her palm, pressed her finger down, and began to twist it. The fabric around her finger wrinkled and warped. "Sothing like that," she explained, "but without the folds."
"I get the general idea. Anything else?" Lu Li wanted to know if the heretics and their master had been destroyed.
"I can go take a look," Anna replied.
"No, this isn't the right ti," Lu Li shook his head. "Whatever is happening over there is sure to attract anomalies, as will the shape of the funnel itself."
"The Trader might have an answer already."
The Trader didn't keep them waiting long. Jimmy ca running with the news, his heavy footsteps echoing through the cave.
"The Trader is here! And so are the stones! It's incredible... I just turned my back for a second, and now there's a mountain of Deep Sea Stone on the slope!"
"Jimmy! Help carry the things!" Remi's voice called from outside. Jimmy rushed off again, and the Trader entered the cave.
In addition to the 100 cubic ters of cut Deep Sea Stone he had delivered, the fifty million investigator points already credited to Lu Li's account, and another 500 cubic ters of stone being held in storage, the Trader also brought news about the Heartwood.
Unfortunately, it was bad news.
"It refused," the Trader said.
A coldness flickered in Anna's eyes, but Lu Li remained calm. "Was there a reason?"
"It believes the price would be too high. Instead of helping only you, it could help many exorcists."
It was hard to imagine an Evil Spirit reasoning like the leadership of the exorcists. Lu Li regretfully realized he wouldn't be able to learn the origin of the "door," but arguing with an Evil Spirit was pointless. "Please keep
inford of any other opportunities."
"Any other business?"
Lu Li nodded and turned to Anna. "Bring Adamfiya."
There was no need to call for her. The Trader's appearance on the cliff had unsettled Adamfiya, and she had been eavesdropping at the entrance. Hearing herself ntioned, she nearly lost her composure as she entered the shelter.
"Now, let's take care of your business," Anna said to Adamfiya before looking at the Trader. "Can you contact the Shelter?"
"No."
Adamfiya's face grew even paler.
"Send a letter? Or receive a reply?"
"No."
"The location of the Shelter."
"Unknown."
"Not even you can find out?" Lu Li asked.
He understood full well how deeply the Traders were intertwined with the exorcists: the three major organizations, including the oldest Exorcist Association, trusted them completely and worked closely with them.
"We cannot," the Trader replied impassively.
With each question and answer, Adamfiya's breathing grew ragged and uncontrolled. Anna's aura enveloped her, helping her to calm down. Remi, who had just co in, gently put an arm around her shoulders, but it couldn't stop Adamfiya's sorrow.
Lu Li tapped his fingers on the arm of his wooden chair, lost in thought.
The Shelter had clearly tried to "disappear," and it had nearly succeeded.
Those who hadn't made it inside knew only its na and nothing more.
The intentions of the three organizations were in line with the aning of "Fire." A spark was taken from the bonfire and hidden away, its location unknown to anyone.
You could even say the residents of the Shelter had been separated from this world. They no longer belonged to the present, but to the future—a new world, after the anomalies were gone.
Unless the anomalies found them first.
But how would they know when that new world had arrived?
Prophecy? Or could they know what was happening outside?
"How do they learn about the outside world?" Lu Li continued.
"Newspapers."
"Which ones? Or what kind?"
"The Shelter's own newspaper."
"What do they publish in it?"
"Regular news and the Investigator Weekly, combined."
"How often does it co out?" Lu Li asked.
The questions were detailed. And while the Trader answered each one, he never offered more information than what was asked, even if he understood what Lu Li was getting at.
"Daily."
"Events of what scale make it into the paper?"
"Like what happened in Belfast last night."
"How much space does it take up?"
"Half a page."
"How many sheets in the paper? Printed on one side or both?"
"One sheet, double-sided."
One-eighth of the paper, then.
"If I wanted to buy half a page with investigator points, how much would it cost?"
"...Seven thousand," the Trader replied after a pause.
"Less than I expected," Lu Li said, looking at the silent Adamfiya. "We don't know what's happening in the Shelter, but the Shelter knows about us. If you don't mind not getting a reply, you could write him a letter every day—through the newspaper."
Everyone understood that seven thousand points was no small sum. Few exorcists saved up that many or had such an amount. Even now, seven thousand points could buy more than five hundred crates of canned goods from the Trader.
But Lu Li was exceedingly wealthy. Even without the windfall from the ghost prison, the Deep Sea Stone used for the shelter's walls gave Lu Li a fortune worth tens of billions of points—he just couldn't sell that much at once.
"Really... I can?" Adamfiya snapped her head up, a new light kindling in her dim eyes.
"Yes, as long as you don't mind the other residents of the Shelter seeing your letters to Tesla." After a mont's thought, Lu Li added, "Just in case the Shelter refuses or raises the price, I'd advise you to only take up a small portion of a page from now on."
Adamfiya hastily tried to thank Lu Li, but Remi gave her a gentle push, smiling. "Go write your letter. And don't forget to add 'Until tomorrow' at the end."
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