Locou.
The Andrea moored by the reefs. In the distance, beneath giant bonfires, the faint outline of a town was visible.
Unquestionably, any town with an entrance to the Old Sewer had reached a certain 'middle age,' one where they had co to terms with the approach and integration of anomalies.
The advantage was that Prusius, Ofelia, and the followers of the Church of Shadows could accompany Lu Li into the Old Sewer. The disadvantage was that the town would be filled with other anomalies.
Still, reaching the Midnight City district via the Old Sewer from Locou was far better than traveling overland—at least both the town and the Old Sewer had rules that passed for order.
On the surface, at least.
The tentacle cultists remained on the shore, setting up camp to await Lu Li's return and guard the Andrea.
The followers of the Church of Shadows surrounded Lu Li and headed toward the source of the red haze—the town of Locou.
About a kiloter from the town, where its outline was already visible, they were stopped by a local cult and questioned about their purpose.
Bishop John stepped forward and answered for Lu Li:
"We wish to enter the Old Sewer."
"The cetery at the end of the street."
The cultist pointed the way, reminding the heretics:
"The Lord is watching you."
Escorted by the local cult, Lu Li and his companions entered Locou.
The massive bonfires burning in the square radiated a sun-like heat, bathing everything in the town in sharp, unsettling shades of red.
The streets were teeming with Inhumans, outsiders, and other anomalies. Like ordinary people, they shopped in stores and conversed with one another.
A semblance of harmony.
"I like... it here," Ofelia whispered.
" too. I feel more comfortable here than in Vinnelag or Midnight City!" Prusius, walking beside Lu Li, chid in.
Lu Li observed the town in silence.
This place was different from the other towns he had seen, which were dominated by humans. Here, among the visible townsfolk and visitors, anomalies made up nearly half the population.
This was not a good sign.
Whether the humans had been suppressed or killed, their numbers were clearly dwindling. In their place, the chaotic and disorderly anomalies were gradually reshaping the town.
Soon, Locou would either beco the domain of an evil god or be torn apart by anomalies and turned into a nest.
Lu Li's gaze fell on their cultist escorts. So of them bead at the praise, while others remained silent, as if offended.
The situation in Locou was clearly dire.
As for where the anomalies ca from, Lu Li found his answer as they neared the cetery: on the steps that seed to lead up from a tomb, Inhumans milled about.
The Old Sewer had brought them all.
The Inhumans, murmuring quietly amongst themselves, cast strange glances their way and retreated in fear. Heretics were, at any ti, a group best left alone.
The local cultists stopped at the "tomb," watching as the band of heretics lit their torches and stepped onto the damp stairs.
Prusius looked up, staring at a half-buried skeleton embedded in the earthen wall, until the tightly packed followers blocked his view. As they descended deeper, the earth gave way to clay and gravel.
Two minutes later, they found themselves in a damp, dark branch of the Old Sewer.
Unlike what was shown on the map of the Old Sewer, Locou was no longer a terminus.
A new branch stretched out before them, sloping steeply downward toward the sea. From the dark southern passage plunging into the depths, one could almost sll the saltwater.
Averting his gaze, Lu Li approached a would-be "guide" loitering near the entrance.
Three Inhumans tried to flee in terror but were blocked by the mbers of the Church of Shadows, who had circled around behind them.
"I need a guide."
Lu Li's eyes scanned their forms.
"What's the fastest way to get to the Midnight City station from here?"
Locou was dozens of kiloters from Midnight City; traveling on foot would take a week or more.
Two of the Inhumans cowered, not daring to speak. Only the spider-person—a half-human, half-spider creature with a human torso supported by terrifying arachnid legs—mustered the courage to answer awkwardly:
"You can take a wormhole and a minecart... If you're familiar with the beings of the Void Dinsion, you could ask them to transport you..."
"Will you be our guide?" Lu Li asked it.
"I..."
The spider-person Inhuman glanced fearfully at the robed heretics, its legs trembling as it lowered its body.
"It would be my honor."
Even though it sensed Lu Li was human, it didn't dare refuse. Surrounded by heretics, Lu Li must be a human favored by an evil god.
The other two Inhumans fled in relief. The advance paynt pleased the spider-person, who now felt it wouldn't be "purified" by these heretics.
On the way to the nearest wormhole, Prusius asked his forr colleague:
"Are you an Inhuman too?"
"I am an anomaly..."
The guide, with its terrifying lower body and delicate female torso, answered respectfully.
The female torso was a lure. When hunting, it would bury its main body, leaving the decoy exposed to attract prey.
But as the creatures it attracted grew more dangerous and its kin were killed by their own "prey," hunting beca too risky. It and its kind retreated into the Old Sewer, but over ti, their tribe dwindled. They lost control of their tunnels and were secretly captured and eaten by other anomalies. In the end, it was the only one left, forced to beco a guide.
Most guides in the Old Sewer were weak anomalies, unable to compete with others of their kind.
"What is the Void Dinsion?" Lu Li asked.
"Anomalies... from a layer of the In-Between," the spider-person guide replied, choosing its words carefully.
The Void Dinsion, like many layers of the In-Between, appeared in the surface world after the dawn of the Age of Anomalies. Since the Void Dinsion is much smaller than the surface world, its inhabitants charge an entrance fee, allowing others to pass through for rapid travel.
"The In-Between..."
Lu Li grew pensive.
Humans, undoubtedly, knew very little about the In-Between. Their understanding of it was no different from their knowledge of the unexplored depths of the ocean.
Bishop John, sensing Lu Li's interest, quietly shared everything he knew about it.
First and foremost, one must understand that all layers of the In-Between are projections of the surface world. They differ from one another due to their varying connections to the surface, like shadows cast by different lights.
The rchant's world, for example.
It is worth noting that Hell is the layer of the In-Between most familiar to humanity. It is also the most closely connected—or, one might say, the earliest to have invaded.
As for the layer of the In-Between tied to evil spirits, it was known to exorcists as the flip side of the visible world.
Being a projection, the Void Dinsion is many tis smaller than the surface world. A distance of fifty kiloters on the surface equates to less than one kiloter in the Void Dinsion, making travel feel as fast as teleportation.
Unfortunately, all layers of the In-Between emanated an aura of contamination, which was clearly unsuitable for Lu Li.
"And the minecarts?"
"Those are... the minecarts around Dark Star City," the spider-person guide answered, struggling to find the right words.
Dark Star City belonged to the anomalies. It was an underground city of anomalies, much like the human city of Midnight.
The spider-person guide spoke of Dark Star City with the sa anthropomorphic reverence that humans used when speaking of Midnight City or Vinnelag.
Lu Li unfolded his map of the Old Sewer. Dark Star City, which the spider-person guide pointed to, was located in the center of the Wastelands.
The first wormhole soon ca into view. The guide then led them onward, using the wormholes as stepping stones to get closer to Midnight City.
And they drew ever closer to the city of anomalies, to Dark Star City.
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