Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 115 Strange Sounds
When Li Wei returned to the captain's cabin, he was completely speechless.

"What happened now? Has someone died again?"

"I'm so sorry to bother you, Mr. Li Wei."

The captain could only respond with a wry smile to Li Wei's complaints. He didn't want his ship to sink either, but the problem was... it seemed that now it wasn't a matter of whether he wanted it or not.

Fortunately, this shouldn't be too serious...

"You said before that if we encounter anything strange again..."

"Ah, I did mention it, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. So, what happened this time?"

Li Wei now feels like a doctor. Finishing the surgery isn't the end of it; he also has to monitor the patient's recovery. What's worse, there isn't even a nurse here, meaning he has to do everything himself… Sigh, oh well, this is his life of toil. He has to fight for his own life.

Otherwise, in this vast ocean, if the ship really sinks, you'll have nowhere to cry.

"It's really nothing serious..."

The captain spoke cautiously.

"Didn't we collide with an iceberg before, causing flooding in the first and second compartments? So I ordered the boilers there to stop working and repaired the cracks, and also ordered the sailors to conduct 24-hour patrols to prevent any accidents."

"Well, I know that."

It must be said that the sailors on this ship were quite skilled. Of course, this matter was also closely related to them—if the ship really sank, their chances of survival were significantly lower than others.

"Then, because I said that any abnormalities should be reported, the sailors reported a strange thing."

The captain's face tightened as he spoke.

"They said... they heard strange noises."

"Strange noise?"

"Yes, just as they were inspecting the cracks, someone said they heard what sounded like something making a noise outside the ship..."

"…………………"

Please don't mess with me, really.

Li Wei remained silent, letting out a deep sigh in his heart.

"I read in the newspaper that this route is newly opened... Captain, do you know anything about this route itself?"

"I don't know much about it, but I heard that this route was originally planned by Platinum Company a long time ago, but it was never opened until the North Star was launched. They chose to go to Melesia via this route."

"So, no one has ever traveled this route before?"

"I asked the company, and they said they obtained information about this route from a group of adventurers and had sent people to survey it."

As a seasoned captain, he was very concerned about this voyage and had investigated the route before setting sail.

"but……………"

"but?"

“I felt something was wrong. After all, I had investigated this area before, and according to the results, there had been no signs of icebergs in this area for decades since records began.”

Li Wei understood the captain's meaning perfectly. He had investigated the area before setting sail, but the appearance of the iceberg proved that the captain's previous intelligence was useless. Regardless of what the documents said, the fact remained that the Arctic Star had nearly collided with the iceberg. Under these circumstances, the situation in this area was even more difficult to assess.

For the captain, it was no different from navigating through the fog of war; nobody knew what was in there.

"Although I think it could just be the sound of waves, or some kind of mechanical malfunction... well... if you could investigate, Detective, I think everyone would feel much more at ease."

The captain is the captain, after all. Especially after the iceberg incident, he now spends almost 24 hours a day on the bridge, and has even given up his previous habit of dining in the mess hall with VIPs. This is so that in the event of any special situation, he, as the captain, can react immediately.

“Designer Andrews will also go, since he should be able to handle any structural issues that may arise.”

"Well, that's good."

This information was somewhat reassuring for Li Wei.

"Alright, I'll go check out what's going on down there."

After exchanging a few words with the captain, Levi and the second mate left the captain's cabin and went to the staff elevator, where they met Andrews, who was waiting there.

"Mr. Andrews, you look terrible."

Looking at Andrews before him, Levi observed him with some curiosity. He had only had lunch with him in the restaurant on the day of departure, and Andrews had been quite energetic then. But now, his eyes were dark-rimmed, and he looked listless, as if he had been staying up all night for several days in a row.

“Ah, Mr. Li Wei…”

Looking at Li Wei, Andrews greeted him in a weak voice. To be honest, seeing his half-dead state, Li Wei even wondered if he would just collapse to the ground and faint.

"I'm sorry, I've been reviewing and inspecting the entire ship's structure to prevent a recurrence of the previous mechanical failure, but I haven't found the cause yet..."

"ah……………"

Upon hearing this, Levi suddenly understood. He had only told the captain that the ship was being manipulated by a ghost ship's curse. And the captain, clearly for secrecy, hadn't told anyone else. As a result, Andrews was unlucky; although he ultimately escaped the iceberg safely, the sudden mechanical failure clearly kept the chief designer up at night.

Judging from the oil stains all over Andrews' luxurious suit, he must have been inspecting the ship all this time, trying to find the problem.

Well... unfortunately, the problem has already been solved by Levi, and Andrews is simply doing useless work now.

"Well, Mr. Andrews, I don't think this is your problem."

Li Wei reached out and gently patted his shoulder, not daring to use too much force, for fear of knocking Andrews to the ground and causing trouble.

"It's probably just an accident, don't take it too seriously."

"But if all systems malfunction at the same time, that's no accident. I've already asked the chief engineer, and he said the valves at the time simply couldn't release pressure..."

"Such situations happen occasionally, right? I heard this is the first time a completely new system has been designed?"

To divert attention, Li Wei casually brought up a new topic, and at this point, Andrews immediately became excited.

"That's right. To propel this giant ship, we didn't use the usual twin propellers, but instead opted for a triple propeller system. This provides stronger thrust and is the most efficient and ideal propulsion method. Moreover, in theory, each of the three propellers has its own independently connected engine, so even if one malfunctions, it shouldn't affect the other two..."

Andrews stepped into the elevator, muttering about the giant ship's propulsion system, while Levi listened half-heartedly. The three of them then took the elevator to the power compartment located at the bottom of the giant ship.

Water still lingered on the floor of the first power compartment, and the boilers that should have been running had been completely shut down. Only a group of workers were inspecting the bulkhead. In the middle section of the bulkhead, several steel plates could be seen patched up, presumably welded on.

According to the captain, after discovering the leak, the workers immediately shut off the steam boiler, then used steel plates for repairs to desperately plug the gap and weld it in place. They then used water pumps to drain the water from the engine room, finally completing the repair.

"Well, it seems there's no problem here now."

Reaching the crack, Andrews took a magnifying glass and carefully inspected the steel plate around its perimeter, then nodded with a sigh of relief.

"But just to be on the safe side, let me hear it."

As he spoke, Andrews opened his briefcase and took out a…

stethoscope?
Looking at the stethoscope Andrews had taken out, Levi looked puzzled. Noticing Levi's gaze, Andrews smiled sheepishly.

"This is just a personal habit of mine. I listen to the cabin with a stethoscope. I can hear the sounds of the bulkheads and the water flow. If some sounds are not quite right, I can tell... Hahaha, of course, it's not 100% accurate, but it's for peace of mind."

As he spoke, Andrews put on his stethoscope, placed it on the steel plate, and listened with his eyes closed.

"Oh, is that even possible?" Looking at Andrews's expression, Levi shrugged and then turned to look at the second mate beside him.

"Take me to the worker who reported the strange noise."

"Yes, Detective."

The second mate left for a while, then returned with a burly worker. The latter was all muscle, looked quite strong, was bald, had a somewhat fierce-looking face, and had obvious scars on his face.

"This is Ryan, the captain of the third repair team, and he is in charge of the current maintenance work here."

"Hello, Mr. Ryan."

Li Wei extended his hand and shook hands with the bald, burly man.

"I heard you heard strange noises? Could you give us a detailed description of what happened?"

"of course."

The bald, burly man nodded.

"Actually, it wasn't a big deal. After the engine room was repaired, we received orders to conduct inspections here in shifts around the clock. Then... well... about five hours ago, during our inspection, we heard strange noises coming from outside the ship's hull."

"A strange sound?"

"Hmm, it sounds like... the cry of some kind of animal."

Could it be a whale?

“My family is in the whaling business. It’s true that whales make strange calls, but that sound was even stranger… I can’t describe it, it was like it was coming from the depths of the ocean…”

"…………………"

At this moment, images of 101 deep-sea monster movies were already flashing through Li Wei's mind.

He even came up with the lines for his short videos.

"Hello everyone, this man's name is Xiao Shuai..."

I don't want to be on short videos! I definitely don't want to be the main character!
From one perspective, sea monsters are more troublesome than ghost ships!

How long did that sound last?

"About a few minutes... Although I thought it might be due to the storm or something else, everyone was very tense and uneasy, so I reported it to the higher-ups."

"At least for now, there's nothing wrong with the hull itself, right?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

After a brief inquiry, Li Wei nodded to the bald, burly man and then walked aside.

Then... he reluctantly activated the puppet bird hidden above the deck and steered it into the turbulent sea.

"Pfft."

An ordinary bird would surely drown, but the puppet bird is ultimately just an inorganic creature; as long as it can flap its wings, it can naturally swim in the water. At the same time, Li Wei fixed his gaze above the puppet bird, scanning the surroundings.

The sea was turbulent on the surface, but it calmed down considerably once they entered the water. Levi maneuvered the puppet bird, first circling the Arctic Star to examine the cracks—well, fortunately, although there were scrapes, the cracks weren't large. And so far, there seemed to be no sign of them widening further.

So what follows is...

Li Wei shifted his gaze to the unfathomable depths of the sea beneath the Arctic Star.

I have thalassophobia!!

Li Wei stared at the sea below, outwardly calm, but inwardly screaming. Humanity's fear of the ocean is not unfounded. Think about it: you're in the ocean, surrounded by water, unable to see anything clearly. You have no idea what might be around you trying to attack you…

Thinking about this, Li Wei even felt the urge to go to the toilet.

Even from a third-person perspective, exploring the deep sea is far too unfriendly to humans.

Li Wei remembered a type of horror video on a video website where there seemed to be nothing in the sea, but then, a monster larger than a cruise ship would open its mouth, swim up from the bottom, and swallow the entire cruise ship whole…

Or perhaps a diver is filming a whale underwater, and as they film, an eye as big as the whale's quietly emerges from the water…

"…………………"

Maybe I should go to the restroom first.

Li Wei silently pulled himself together and then found the second mate.

"Excuse me, where is the restroom?"

Li Wei felt that when it came to matters of life and death, being a little cowardly might not be so bad.

After everything was ready, Li Wei turned his attention back to the puppet bird, which was still following the ship of the North Star.

Alright, let's begin.

Li Wei silently took a deep breath.

Actually, detecting whether a sea monster is following the North Star is very simple; just activate [Soul Vision].

Li Wei's manipulation range over puppets is only two hundred meters, but his Soul Vision can extend indefinitely as long as there are no obstacles.

But therein lies the problem.

If there is no sea monster, then everyone will be happy.

What if I see something...?

Li Wei felt he probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight.

Well, whether I live or die, it's up to fate.

Li Wei made up his mind and then activated—[Soul Vision]!
The world before my eyes changed in an instant.

First, he looked down at the ship—well, thankfully, there wasn't the scene Levi had feared, a landscape filled with the color of souls. Of course, he could see some shimmering soul light swimming around, but judging from their size, they were about the same size as ordinary fish, certainly not sea monsters.

Then look around. Left side: nothing. Right side: nothing. Front: nothing.

later……………

Li Wei looked back, and then... he froze.

Behind the passenger ship, a dazzling white light, a massive radiance of soul energy, was quietly lurking in the seawater.

Considering the principle that things appear larger when they are closer and smaller when they are farther away, this thing is still very far from the North Star, but its size is almost the same as the North Star!

If it gets close...

After a moment's thought, Li Wei gritted his teeth and manipulated the puppet bird to fly towards the other party.

Even if I die, I want to die knowing why!

(End of this chapter)