Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 114 Difficult Journey

"It's simply unbelievable..."

In the captain's cabin, after listening to Li Wei's story, the captain looked on incredulously.

To be fair, he thought Li Wei's words sounded more like the ramblings of a drunkard, but reality didn't support his idea—although the passenger ship managed to avoid the iceberg, it still left a long, narrow gash on its lower port side. Fortunately, the workers plugged it as quickly as possible, preventing a major accident.

Following this, the captain ordered a complete overhaul of the entire passenger ship. After all, a rudder that wouldn't turn and a propulsion system that was out of control were extremely dangerous. It was crucial to pinpoint the source of the problem. However, the entire inspection concluded that the propulsion system was essentially functioning correctly. Even if some minor issues were occasionally discovered, they wouldn't have caused the entire ship to become uncontrollable.

Moreover, considering that the ship's control was indeed restored after the message came from the mail compartment, the only option was to believe Levi's nonsense... after all, the second mate was there to testify.

No matter how you look at it, it still seems incredibly absurd.

"Detective, do you mean that the other side is targeting our ship?"

The second mate sat beside him, looking quite surprised, while Li Wei fiddled with the wreckage of the ship model in his hand and nodded.

“That’s right, that seems to be the case, because the bottle contains a model of the North Star, and as you can see, the model is quite detailed, it doesn’t look like a prank.”

As he spoke, Li Weiyi fiddled with the model ship in front of everyone. Although it had been shot to pieces by Li Weiyi, the remaining parts still revealed its ingenuity. Not only were each cabins modeled, but even the furniture inside was almost identical, which was practically a miniature sculpture.

It's not that this technology doesn't exist in this era, but using it solely for gift-giving is clearly not quite right, is it?
What is the current status of the Arctic Star?

Li Wei snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the captain, whose expression was grave.

"In any case, the gap has finally been patched up, but to be on the safe side, we probably can't advance at full speed anymore. I've ordered them to advance at three-quarters speed. And we've arranged for people to patrol and guard the damaged section 24 hours a day to prevent further damage."

At this point, the captain looked at Li Wei again and asked seriously.

"Detective, may I ask... that something similar won't happen again after this, right?"

When asked by the captain, Li Wei remained silent for a moment.

"All I can guarantee is that I will take responsibility for handling these problems."

"That's not bad."

Hearing Li Wei's answer, the captain breathed a sigh of relief.

"It looks like our arrival in Hong Kong will be delayed?"

"It will probably be delayed by about three days, there's nothing we can do about it."

The captain was also helpless about this. Regardless of the truth, it was indeed quite frustrating for him that such a thing happened during his last voyage.

However, he quickly rallied. In any case, as captain, his primary mission was to safely bring everyone on board to their destination.

"Then, I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Li Wei."

"This is what I should do."

Li Wei stood up and nodded to the captain.

"May I use the telegraph room to send a telegram?"

"Of course, from now on, you have second only to me on the ship, and I will pass this order on. Whatever you want to do, the crew will cooperate unconditionally."

Now the captain could only rely on Levi; after all, Levi had helped him survive a near-death experience. However, the captain also knew that the high seas were fraught with danger, and escaping this time did not guarantee future safety.

It now seems that he can only reach his destination safely by relying on this mysterious and unpredictable detective.

After bidding farewell to the captain, Li Wei went to the telegraph room and sent a telegram to the secret liaison point of MI7—mail must have a sender and a recipient, so Li Wei attached the tracking number, hoping that MI7 could investigate carefully to see who had sent this thing onto the ship.

In Levi's view, Lady Porto's suicide was an accident. Based on the captain's description, Levi was now certain that the other party's purpose in sending this thing aboard was to subtly control and manipulate the ship, and then sink it—to create a genuine ghost ship.

As for why he chose the North Star, Li Wei could guess with his toes.

Because it's famous!
Before the Arctic Star set sail, reports of it being "an unsinkable passenger ship," "humanity's declaration to nature," and "the world's largest passenger ship" were everywhere, making it known to everyone. Under such circumstances, if the Arctic Star were to sink, the sensation and rumors that would follow would be unimaginably powerful.

Just look at the ship in your own world, "How Are You, My Wife?", and you'll know. It's been sunk for almost a hundred years, yet it's still remembered. With such legendary power, combined with this ship in a bottle as a medium, it's probably not long before a ghost ship monster even more terrifying than the anthropomorphic Imperial Bridge will be fully born.

As for who is behind this, there are many possibilities. Luddites could be one, the Franciscan Republic could be another, and the Catholic Church has also done similar tricks.

After all, the Empire has too many enemies, and the North Star is the culmination of the Empire's steam industry. If it were to sink on its maiden voyage, everyone except the Empire would applaud and cheer.

Oh, considering the Melesia region I'm about to visit, which is rife with separatist tendencies, there might even be people within the Empire cheering for it.

…Looking at it this way, there are quite a few forces with the motive and the idea to do this.

Her Majesty the Queen has it really tough.

Li Wei also sighed, noting that although the empire was currently thriving, the road ahead was indeed difficult. After all, it had declined and then risen again. For the surrounding countries, what they most wanted to see was the empire's demise, and what they most feared was its resurgence.

It's worth noting that when the empire was in decline, these countries certainly took advantage of its misfortune. And the empire kept a good record of all of this.

Now look what's happened! You didn't expect that, did you? I, Hu Hansan, am back! Those who took from me must return them, those who ate from me must spit them out! And those who owe me debts, I'll settle them one by one!

The empire, rising with the momentum of the steam revolution, coupled with the current iron-blooded queen, seems determined to avenge its past humiliations and regain its former glory. For other countries and forces, wouldn't that mean their unfortunate days are coming?

"Why……………"

Li Wei sighed silently. The shadow of war seemed to be drawing near. Right now, both sides were fighting offstage, but there would always be a day when the tables would be turned.

Could it be that the Franciscan Republic and the Holy Lord Church intend to use mysterious forces to counter the Empire's mechanical steel? After all, the Empire would certainly not share its best mechanical knowledge with its enemies, so to counter the Empire's current steam revolution, they would inevitably need to use entirely new forces.

Mysterious power? Oh well, what can I do now that things are like this?

Back in his room, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He sat on the sofa, looking at the sea view outside, and reached out to activate the system.

[Ghost Walk Completed]

[Time consumed: s]

Survey efficiency: S

[Impact/Effect: S]

[Lifespan +150, additional +50]

Is it at the same reward level as the Empire Bridge? In other words, is it also a case of being nipped in the bud, just like the Empire Bridge?
Indeed, given the size of the North Star, if it were to become a ghost ship, the difficulty would likely increase dramatically.

[Obtain the Soul Core - Ghost Ship]

Ghost Ship (LV1) (Core)

[Abilities: Mist, Water Movement]

This was the only reward Li Wei received from this mission; it offered no skills or attribute points, only the Ghost Ship Core. However, for Li Wei, its value was no less than, and perhaps even greater than, skills and attributes.

In simple terms, this is more like a non-physical "object" that Levi can choose to attach to a vehicle, granting it the abilities of a ghost ship. Like Levi's "Phantom," if Levi were to imbue the Phantom with the core of a ghost ship, the Phantom could sail on water like a ship and create fog to conceal itself.

Moreover, this core can be upgraded. Although Li Wei doesn't know how to upgrade it yet, he's certain that the upgraded Ghost Ship core will be even stronger.

It's obvious that the mastermind behind sending it here intended to use the Arctic Star to incubate it, but Li Wei intercepted the plan.

Well... I can only say he was unlucky.

However, early on the third day, Li Wei discovered that his and his companions' luck wasn't much better.

He had almost forgotten that the reason Eileen hadn't bought the airship ticket was because the weather had been bad lately and the airships were grounded.

And now… Li Wei has finally remembered this.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Looking out at the raging wind and rain, Li Wei was speechless. The fierce winds and giant waves outside were a real headache, and it was only thanks to the ship's strong hull that it was able to withstand such storms. Even so, Li Wei was still very worried—after all, the ship had just narrowly missed an iceberg and was therefore somewhat damaged.

In such weather, Li Wei couldn't possibly send his puppet bird out to scout.

What if the waves bring an iceberg crashing down... um...

Then all I can do is run for my life, what else can I do?

Most of the first-class passengers remained calm, even showing great curiosity about the scene before them. After all, they had never encountered a storm so closely in a safe environment before, and many were enjoying their coffee while watching the spectacle from the cafe.

“When I was young, if we encountered such a storm, all we could do was close our eyes and pray for God’s protection.”

Mr. Howard sipped his champagne with great interest and remarked.

"But now, we can sit here in a coffee shop, calmly and serenely appreciating the wrath of the gods—frankly, I think it's even a bit blasphemous."

"What you're saying sounds like the rhetoric of a biographer."

Anne looked up from her heavy book, turned to Mr. Howard, and began to speak.

Incidentally, her aunt is currently fast asleep in her room due to seasickness.

"Hehehe, don't misunderstand, Miss Branson. I was just expressing my feelings. Besides, if we're talking about blasphemy, those bio-theorists who arbitrarily alter God's creation are even more blasphemous."

Mr. Howard chuckled.

"I don't really understand cells or genes, but I believe that every living thing, from the moment it is born, has been given a duty and a place by the gods. To create new species by modifying genes and cells is utterly disrespectful to the gods..."

"I have no opinion on reverence for God, but I agree with Mr. Howard's opinion. Bio-engineering is a very dangerous and uncontrollable thing."

Li Wei nodded.

As mentioned before, everything in this world is flourishing and developing freely, even to the point of madness.

Beyond steel, biological development is also involved. In fact, there has always been a faction within the Empire known as the Bio-theorists, whose ideal is also to revitalize the Empire. However, their goal is not technological evolution, but rather the modification of organisms. That is, to modify the genes and cells of existing organisms to make them helpful assistants in human life and work.

To be honest, when Li Wei first saw these bio-theorists' claims in the newspaper, at least a hundred Resident Evil movies flashed through his mind.

Thankfully, compared to the steam industry, the claims of these bio-theorists remain only at the theoretical stage.

Li Wei sincerely hoped that they would never translate theory into practice.

It's best if it never happens.

As the three were drinking tea, chatting, and watching the storm, Levi saw the second mate approaching him. He first nodded and greeted Mr. Howard and Miss Anne, then looked at Levi.

"Detective, we need your help."

"……………………"

If I had known, I really shouldn't have gotten on this ship.

(End of this chapter)