Bizarre Detective Agency

   Chapter 612 One hundred and eighty-nine. Falling ashes

   Strictly speaking, the entire city of Flarend is an infection zone.

The    safe zone is maintained only at the city hall and a block around it. And it's hard for them to devote their energy to clearing more safe areas, because the dandelions float and move, they don't have the resources to keep the fire in the safe area all the time, and they don't have as many people.

  The only thing the city hall can do is to warn all residents not to go out through the broadcast, lock the doors and windows, hide in closed environments such as bedrooms, cabinets, and basements, and wait for possible rescues to arrive.

   A bonfire rises at the door of each building in the safety zone to disperse the dandelions that have broken through the outer protection and drifted into the safety zone.

   In front of some fires, there were figures dressed in solid clothes and even their heads wrapped. Personnel wearing beak masks are urging them to approach the fire and take off their coats one by one.

   "They are the people who were rescued by the scavengers from the infected area. After the flames are disinfected, they will be arranged into the house." The assistant to the city owner explained.

   Luckily the buildings around the town hall are mostly facilities like shops or banking companies...there's plenty of room for survivors.

   "The two of you can move freely in the safe area and the infected area. If you need supplies, go to the square in front of the city hall to get them."

   "Do you have a separate wooden house?" Anna's question came from under the black robe.

   "I'm sorry...what do you mean?" The assistant to the city lord didn't understand what Anna meant.

   "Keep a distance from other buildings, and at the same time, a wooden house that is easy to burn." Lu Li said, he guessed what Anna wanted to do.

  The assistant of the city master thought for a moment and told them: "Anteria gallery and library, all made of wood, keep a distance from the surrounding streets, the gallery is a little farther from the library outside the safe area. The two want to..."

  The assistant of the city lord suddenly realized something, and added in surprise: "With all due respect, igniting them can only empty the surrounding dandelions, and there are many precious works of art and books inside—"

   "Another way, maybe to clear the dandelions in the neighborhood," interrupted Anna.

   Clean up a few blocks... The assistant of the city owner is a little moved: "I have to ask the city owner..."

   He hurriedly ran back to the city hall in the distance, and soon came back to Lu Li out of breath: "Lord City Lord has given permission, ask the two of you if you need any help."

  Assistant to the city lord admired the courage of the temporary city lord. The works of art in the Antria Gallery could buy almost half of the Lund, but he didn't have time to move the treasures to allow it to be burned.

   "Bring enough kerosene to cover the building and take us there." Lu Li said.

  Lu Li and Anna followed the assistant of the city lord back to the square in front of the city hall. They were the only figures in the square without protection. Lu Li was protected by Anna, and the assistant of the city lord learned from Valentine—he thinks that a city lord who does not wear protective clothing can make the people feel at ease and not panic.

  Assistant to the city lord asked for a team of scavengers and a full 100 pounds of kerosene from the personnel who allocated resources. He wanted to ask for more, but the kerosene was being consumed much faster than the scavengers brought back, and they had to keep enough kerosene for the safe area.

   After finishing everything, the assistant to the city lord picked up a protective suit and said to Lu Li, "Please wait for me again."

   "No, we will protect you." Anna said.

  The assistant of the city master paused for a while. He heard the story about Lu Li and Anna walking down the long street, and the dandelions were dreadfully surrounding them, so he put down his protective clothing and returned to Lu Li to lead the way.

  The flames around the safe zone are like an invisible wall, isolating the blood-colored haze floating in the outside world. The assistant of the city master who was about to enter the infected zone stopped for a moment, and subconsciously slowed down.

  Anna opened the flame-like invisible protection to isolate the dandelion that was shrouded in, and dispelled the retreat of the assistant of the city lord.

   Walking through an infected block, the Antria Gallery behind the blood-colored veil emerges completely. Manor house-like galleries are bigger and easier to… burn than imagined.

   opened the door, and the scavengers who followed behind followed Lu Li and others into the gallery.

  The dark gallery was also shrouded in a blood-colored haze, with a few shriveled silhouettes lying on the carpet of the promenade.

  The shriveled corpses in front of the statues and paintings make the scene full of irony.

   "Sprinkle half of the kerosene around, and half on the outside wall." Lu Li said, and the scavengers with oil barrels scattered to work.

  The assistants of the mayor looked at the paintings of artworks hanging on the walls, as if they were looking at themselves, with mockery or sadness.

   "Are we really going to burn it...?" The assistant to the city lord felt a little reluctant, but talking about it and seeing it with his own eyes are two completely different feelings.

   "Survival needs are greater than self-needs." Lu Li answered simply.

   Compared with these oil painting sculptures that are only of interest to the middle class and the aristocracy, the meaning of the books in the library next door is more important.

   Compared with the assistants of the city lord, the scavengers who hardly come to the art gallery are in awe, and awe sometimes means they don’t care——

   They are doing random acts that make any noble or artist mourn when they see it. The assistant of the city owner is distressed to see a pair of his favorite oil paintings being splashed with kerosene, and the people in the painting seem to be complaining that they have not stopped them. He could have brought a painting, and no one would say anything about him, except himself.

  The scavengers in the gallery have emptied their barrels of kerosene and walked out into the street. The scavengers outside have also completed their tasks and gather to wait for the next scene.

   Lu Li struck a match and ignited a pair of oil paintings drenched in kerosene. Witnessing it curling up and burning, he exited the gallery with Assistant City Master Anna.

  The fire spread quickly, the windows were visibly lit, and smoke began to rise from the gallery.

   It only took less than two minutes, and the burning flames ignited the gallery. The rising flames were several meters high, and the licking heat wave made them keep retreating.

  Wait until it burns completely—

  The wind that had been silent for a long time quietly appeared on this land.

  A wisp of swirling wind appeared around the gallery. It seemed to be the leader, guiding and converging the aimless heat wave, making a circle around the giant bonfire.

  The fire was pulled into the wind, and gradually there was a trajectory to follow. The flames originating from the gallery were pulled by the hurricane formed, rising higher and higher, tens of meters, hundreds of meters, and then at a certain moment touched the dandelion group that enveloped the city, and it spread out with a bang——

   The blood-colored dandelions next to each other were ignited by the flames and spread quickly, forming a magnificent fantasy, spreading the flames of the small half of the city.

  People in the Town Hall Square looked up at this spectacular scene.

   The flames that filled the sky like shooting stars only lasted for a moment, and the sky darkened again. Black snowflakes fell in the city of Vlarende, which was darkened by the dissipation of the flames.

   (end of this chapter)