Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 116 Deep Sea Mystery
Unlike the turbulent surface of the sea, the waters below were calm. However, this was of little use to Li Wei, as his puppet bird had no light source, so without using [Soul Vision], the visible distance in the sea was probably less than ten meters... and it was pitch black below.

It perfectly meets all the conditions for the appearance of deep-sea monsters.

Li Wei's control range was only two hundred meters, so he couldn't control the puppet bird to swim too far. Fortunately, the other party didn't seem to have any intention of getting closer.

Unfortunately, the other side did not move away either; instead, it simply kept a distance and followed the North Star.

It's like a hunter sizing up his prey.

This is so troublesome...

Li Wei sighed silently.

That's all we can do for now. As for the iceberg, let's ignore it. Compared to the iceberg, this thing that's been following the passenger ship is the biggest threat.

After making a decision, Li Wei left the engine room with the designer and the second mate, who had finished inspecting the gaps. Then he went to find the captain again.

"A weapon... is that it?"

"That's right, what weapons does the Arctic Star have?"

"this……………"

It must be said that Li Wei's question surprised the captain quite a bit. He frowned and began to think.

"To be honest, the North Star does have some weapons, but they are just ordinary guns, mainly used to maintain order and for emergencies."

"So, what about dealing with pirate attacks?"

Pirates weren't entirely absent from this world. Although Li Wei had never seen one, he had read reports of pirate raids in the newspapers.

"Mr. Li Wei, you can rest assured about this."

The captain chuckled.

"You haven't seen pirates yet, have you? In fact, pirates of this era almost all only have small steamboats. They are small, stealthy, and fast, but they can only operate in coastal waters and rarely appear on ocean routes. Moreover, even if you encounter them, they are helpless against this sea fortress."

"Um………"

That's not entirely wrong.

"Is there any problem?"

"I feel like something is following us."

Li Wei decided to tell the captain part of the truth, since he would need his help later. Sure enough, upon hearing Li Wei's words, the captain's expression immediately turned serious.

"Is it a warship?"

"No... I should say it might be some kind of creature..."

"You're not talking about a sea monster or something, are you?"

"If I said yes, do you think I'm drunk?"

"So, have you had too much to drink?"

"I'm very sorry, I don't drink alcohol."

"………………………"

The captain looked at Li Wei, and Li Wei looked at the captain. After a moment, the captain sighed.

"Speaking of weapons, the warehouse also has harpoon launching devices for whaling. We prepared these in anticipation of encountering whale pods at sea, so that our guests could enjoy the thrill of the hunt."

In those days, there was no wildlife protection law, so killing any animal was not illegal, even whales.

Hunting whales at sea is like encountering a lion while traveling in Africa; having the chance to shoot one back is naturally the best outcome.

"You didn't mention this before."

"Because it was my first trip, I thought it best to avoid bloodshed."

"I hope so too."

Li Wei and the captain exchanged a few more words, but neither of them had any answers regarding how to deal with the monster that was following them.

In the end, everyone could only play it by ear and see how things went.

When Li Wei returned after his errand, it was almost afternoon tea time. Feeling bored alone in his room, he went to the coffee shop again. There he found Annie, Mr. Howard, and Mrs. Molly having tea together. Moreover, Annie, contrary to her usual diligent reading, seemed to be talking to Mr. Howard and Mrs. Molly.

"Ah, Mr. Li Wei."

Upon seeing Li Wei, Mr. Howard waved to him with a smile.

“You’ve come at just the right time. Miss Branson is about to tell us something interesting.”

"Interesting knowledge?"

"That's right, we're talking about interesting stories about sea monsters."

Upon hearing Mr. Howard's reply, Li Wei's lips twitched slightly, but he still sat down in the chair next to him with a smile.

"Oh? A sea monster?"

"Yes, Miss Branson is very convinced that sea monsters cannot exist in the ocean."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because scientific data does not support such a record."

Anne was unusually excited, a stark contrast to her usual expressionless demeanor when reading.

"As we all know, the pressure in seawater is extremely high, and the pressure is even greater the deeper the sea. So far, human footprints have covered most of the shallow sea areas, but no trace of sea monsters has been found."

"So, doesn't this prove that sea monsters lurk in the deep sea, Miss Branson?" "I don't deny the existence of animals in the deep sea that we don't yet know about, but the legendary sea monsters hundreds or even thousands of meters long, even the size of a small island, are basically impossible. Because the larger their size, the greater the pressure they would have to withstand. In fact, the largest whale humans have encountered so far is only about twenty meters long. Even among the ancient fossils I've excavated, none of the fish exceeded thirty meters. From a natural perspective, this is a very reasonable judgment..."

Anne's statement wasn't new to Levi; after all, modern science has largely proven this, and sea monster stories are often exaggerated and embellished. Even movies are filmed using CG and models.

"Moreover, if such a colossal creature truly exists in the deep sea, it would take it a very long time just to balance the air pressure and float to the surface. Furthermore, the sheer size of such a creature, even when it is swimming in the sea, would inevitably cause considerable ripples on the surface. It would not appear suddenly without leaving a trace, as is described in many sea monster legends."

Next, Annie refuted the rumors about the sea monster, dismissing many stories as nonsense. Li Wei didn't object, after all… at this moment, the last thing he wanted to do was prove just how powerful the sea monster was.

This does Li Wei no good at all.

On the contrary, it would be much more convenient if the sea monster were just some undiscovered deep-sea creature, as Miss Anne suggests.

With this mindset in mind, Li Wei chatted with everyone in the coffee shop for a long time, then had dinner, and then went back to his room to rest.

Of course, before resting, Li Wei didn't forget to use the puppet bird to confirm the monster's location again.

"Ok?"

However, when Li Wei looked at the monster again, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Why does it feel like that monster is smaller than when I first saw it?
Surprisingly, Li Wei slept very well that night.

Although he was prepared for a possible attack by a sea monster, nothing happened that night. When Levi opened his eyes again, he was still lying on his soft bed, not floating in the icy water. The only problem was that the storm was still raging and showed no signs of abating.

He looked at the monster's location again, and it had hardly changed—this guy was such a good swimmer! If it really was a living being, didn't it need to rest?
It can't possibly be a submarine like in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," can it?

For Li Wei, this was another peaceful day. If it weren't for that monster still hanging behind the ship, he might have been in a better mood. However, the fact that the monster did nothing but follow behind the ship was unsettling—it was like knowing there was an exam in June, but not knowing the exact date.

Li Wei even considered simply sending the thing over so everyone could have a good, satisfying fight and be done with it…

Unfortunately, he didn't have the upper hand.

And what's even more unfortunate is that he most likely won't win.

After all, the ocean is not Li Wei's main battlefield.

However, he wasn't entirely without options. If all else failed, Li Wei could try using the Ghost Ship core to attach to the North Star. Perhaps, maybe, he could use the Ghost Ship's power to evade the sea monster's attack... Hmm, if the enemy got any closer, he would consider giving it a try.

As long as the captain doesn't panic, everything will be fine.

That day, Levi continued to ask Annie about sea monsters. With the current visibility, it was impossible for Levi to figure out what they were. Under [Soul Vision], he could only make out a rough outline, like an infrared scan, seeing a moving mass of light, but whether it was a whale, a shark, an octopus, or something else remained a mystery.

Although Anne wasn't a specialist in sea monsters, she was a biology major, so she must know more than Levi, right?

If the sea monster is as Annie described, at least there will be a way to deal with it...

Soon, another day had passed.

Li Wei silently climbed into bed and looked at the sea monster again.

It seems... the other party's size has shrunk a bit?
Wait, is it because it's farther away? Or has it gotten smaller?
Li Wei, on the other hand, hoped that the former would be better.

With hopeful thoughts in mind, Li Wei closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Under the cover of night, everything on the North Star appeared unchanged. The ship, battered by the storm, continued its journey, cutting through the waves. Waves strong enough to capsize small fishing boats were powerless against the giant vessel; even deep within its hull, all was calm and nothing unusual occurred.

Most of the workers have returned to the rest room to rest, with only a very few workers changing shifts. Even so, the events that have occurred on the ship in the past few days have left them exhausted, especially the rescue operation after colliding with the iceberg, which has left the workers utterly weary.

Because of this, the workers who were dozing off did not notice that a figure was silently walking through the corridor. It avoided the workers and came to a corner of the running steam engine. Looking at the huge bearing that was constantly turning in front of it, it reached out, grabbed the long handle next to it, and pulled down hard!
"—————————!"

Li Wei suddenly opened his eyes.

He could feel the cruise ship tilting, and for a moment the surroundings began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck. The tea sets and other items on the tables slid off the surfaces and crashed to the floor with a crisp sound.

Immediately afterwards, the giant ship shuddered violently and then came to a stop!

What happened!

Li Wei leaped out of bed, dressed, and quickly went to the bridge.

"Captain, what's wrong? What happened?!"

"One of the engines suddenly failed, and there was a problem with the turbine!"

The captain frowned as he answered Li Wei's question.

"We must immediately shut down all engines and then restart them again! To avoid imbalance!"

"Now?"

Hearing the captain's reply, Levi frowned. It wasn't because of the sudden mechanical failure, but because—at this moment, Levi had sensed from the puppet bird that, because the ship had stopped, the monster that had been closely following it suddenly accelerated and was rushing towards the giant ship, as if it had also realized that its prey was in trouble!
"Watch out, that guy's charging at us!"

The monster was incredibly fast. By the time Levi reacted, it was hurtling straight toward the ship. Without hesitation, Levi manipulated his puppet bird to face it head-on. He wanted to see just what this deep-sea monster was!
However, in just a moment, the only thing the puppet bird that Li Wei was controlling felt was that the surrounding seawater suddenly became chaotic, and then it disappeared into the darkness.

It was swallowed whole by that monster!

Time is running out!

Li Wei gritted his teeth and looked at the captain again.

"The ship is yours now, I'll handle the rest!"

After saying this, Li Wei turned and left the bridge, returning to his cabin.

His only goal was the wooden crate he had brought up earlier!

"I originally thought I wouldn't need it, but I didn't expect I'd still have to use it... I never thought I'd have to use it to deal with sea monsters."

Looking at the wooden crate in front of him, Li Wei sighed, then reached out and slapped it hard.

Then, the wooden crate suddenly opened!

(End of this chapter)