Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 121 Provocation
After leaving the Governor's House, Li Wei first went to the post office and then made a phone call to MI7.

This is also a way of letting people know I'm safe.

Of course, most people don't think this way, after all—transoceanic calls are very expensive.

But Li Wei didn't care. He had money, he could do whatever he wanted, and more importantly, he'd get reimbursed.

The old butler was quite surprised after learning about everything Li Wei had gone through.

"I've already read about Ms. Porto's case in the newspaper, but what about the sea monster... what's the current situation with that sea monster?"

"Miss Branson plans to make a specimen of the sea monster and take it back to the Master's School."

"Please be sure to bring it back."

The old butler's tone was quite serious.

"Her Majesty the Queen is already aware of this matter, and she also hopes to see what the legendary sea monster looks like."

"You might be disappointed when you actually see it. It's not as exaggerated as the legends say, but people would probably still see it if it were in a museum."

Li Wei casually brushed off the topic, since there wasn't much to say about sea monsters.

"What results did your investigation into the previous emails yield?"

"no result."

The old butler sighed.

“We sent people to investigate the mail order you provided, and found that the address was fake, and there is no such person in the area. We are now investigating through the post office to see if we can find any clues about the person who originally sent the mail.”

"Let's give it a try, although I don't think the chances are very high."

Li Wei wasn't too surprised. This kind of thing was inherently troublesome, and the fact that the other party had done this meant that they must have been prepared in advance.

The two sides then discussed the North Star for a while, and then the topic quickly turned to Melicia.

"I looked at the local newspapers, and Phantom Assassin occupied a lot of pages recently. It can be said that most newspapers were cheering for Phantom Assassin, claiming that he was the spokesperson for freedom and was specifically targeting those lackeys who served the Empire."

"it's complicated?"

"It's rather tricky."

The Phantom Assassin's situation reminded Li Wei of the socialite assassin in Chongqing, except that the media coverage of the socialite assassin was more neutral, and people felt more fear towards her. The Phantom Assassin, on the other hand, was treated like a celebrity, receiving fervent adoration.

From this point of view alone, eliminating the Phantom Assassin is probably much more troublesome than eliminating the Socialite Assassin.

However, Li Wei wasn't entirely without options—after all, when it comes to verbal sparring, those modern people who engage in magical online battles are far superior to the trendy young people of this era.

After exchanging information with the old butler, Li Wei left the post office and returned to the hotel. However, as soon as he stepped through the hotel entrance, he saw a group of people surrounding him.

"Hello, Mr. Li Wei."

The man at the head stared at Li Wei and respectfully introduced himself.

"I'm a reporter from the New Continent Post. May I interview you?"

What do you want to interview about?

Li Wei looked at the reporter in front of him and raised an eyebrow.

"I would like to ask, Mr. Levi, as a renowned detective, are you here in Melicia for tourism or to solve a case?"

"I guess you could say it's solved."

Li Wei smiled when he heard the other party bring up this topic.

"To be honest, I'm actually here to investigate the Phantom Killer case."

"——————————"

As soon as Li Wei finished speaking, the previously bustling crowd fell silent. Everyone stared at Li Wei in surprise, and even the reporter who had spoken earlier was at a loss for words.

"Phantom Assassin? But..."

“I know what you’re trying to say, but I’ve seen similar cases in Chongqing before.”

Li Wei interrupted the reporter.

"No matter how mythical it is, it is ultimately just artistic embellishment. Those murderers are just using these legends and strange tales to cover themselves up. In the end, these are all crimes committed by humans, and since they are human, they will inevitably be caught."

“I think you may not understand the situation of the Phantom Killer, Mr. Levi.”

The reporter who asked the question shook his head vigorously.

"We have investigated and reported on several cases involving the Phantom Killer, and we can say with certainty that these crimes are beyond the capabilities of a human. Some were even murdered in enclosed rooms, leaving no trace of anyone else at the scene. This demonstrates that the Phantom Killer is indeed an incredibly sinister entity..."

"But he is still human."

Li Wei's answer was very decisive and without any hesitation, which instead aroused the reporter's anger.

"What evidence do you have, Detective? You haven't even been to the scene, have you?"

"I know this even though I've never been there."

Li Wei looked at the reporter in front of him and chuckled.

"You're all journalists, so let me ask you: when did the Phantom Killer first start committing his crimes?"

"March 25th of last year."

Among those present were reporters who had investigated the case, and one of them quickly spoke up to answer.

"Who was the victim?" "The governor's advisor, Philstone, had his throat slit in his own bathroom."

"After that, it seems that those who were killed were all people who supported the Parliament and the Empire?"

"This proves the tyranny and dictatorship of the empire!"

The reporters became excited again when this topic was brought up.

"The Phantom Assassin specializes in killing the unjust and wicked! It is the embodiment of justice! The imperial lackeys it has killed prove this!"

"Alright, gentlemen."

Li Wei reached out and pressed down in the air, signaling them to shut up.

“I am a detective, not a politician or a governor. I don’t care what grudges you have with the Empire. But if you’re going to say that the Phantom Assassin is indeed some kind of supernatural being, I don’t believe it.”

"Why!?"

"It's very simple, you guys said it yourselves."

Li Wei looked at the reporters in front of him as if they were a bunch of idiots.

"The Phantom Assassin's crimes began a year and a half ago, and you say that the Phantom Assassin only kills the unjust and unjust. I don't want to discuss whether the Empire is just, but I just want to say, was Melisia a paradise where everyone was equal and everything was fair a year and a half ago? Not to mention the distant past, everyone knows about the Clyburn case a few years ago, right? In my opinion, that can hardly be called fair and just, but why didn't the Phantom Assassin appear then?"

"this……………"

Faced with Li Wei's question, the reporters present were speechless for a moment.

As mentioned before, Melesia was originally used as a penal colony for criminals, and later became a gathering place for fugitives and political prisoners. Certainly, some were wrongly convicted, but that's definitely less than one percent. In other words, the rest were all criminals. Is it possible to expect them to become good people simply by changing their environment?

Of course not!
The history of Melesia is a bloody one; criminals formed gangs, fought each other, and killings were commonplace.

The Clyburn case that Li Wei mentioned is one of the most famous cases. It is said that a few years ago, Clyburn, a local tycoon in Melesia, was found to be using his gang to carry out human trafficking activities. They would look for targets in the imperial territory and then lure them to Melesia to seek their fortune.

After luring them there, they robbed them of their property and enslaved them. The women were captured and abused by Clyburn, and when they died, they were simply buried.

When the truth came out, hundreds of corpses were unearthed just behind Clyburn Manor, sparking outrage within the Empire and calls for Clyburn's execution. However, Melisia evaded the issue, and Clyburn was eventually released on bail, and the matter was dropped.

He's still a member of the mainland parliament!

This case further deepened the hatred between the imperial subjects and the Melesians. In the eyes of the Melesians, those imperial people deserved to die; who told them to be so foolish as to be tricked into coming to Melesia?

From the Empire's perspective, this further confirmed that Melisia was a haven for criminals, and that such a place should simply be wiped out!
There's no point in keeping criminals around anyway!

As journalists, they naturally knew about the case and that no matter what the people of Melisia said, the punishment was indeed unreasonable... It was just that those imperial citizens who were tricked into coming had no power or influence, and the empire was too lazy to get into a political dispute with Melisia over these ordinary people, so it just expressed a lukewarm protest and that was it.

But you're saying that Clyburn did the right thing, that he should have lured the Imperials to Melisia and played them to death... that's not quite right, is it?
"If the Phantom Assassin is truly a champion of justice as you all say, then why doesn't he kill Clyburn? I didn't know the Phantom Assassin had political stances. Could it be that this Phantom Assassin even has a seat in the Continental Parliament?"

Li Wei didn't hold back in mocking them, and the reporters were speechless in the face of his sarcasm.

This was precisely Li Wei's strategy against the Phantom Assassin. He had long realized that Melisia was clearly trying to emphasize the legitimacy of opposing the Empire, and therefore portrayed the Phantom Assassin as an embodiment of fairness and justice.

That would be perfect.

The Empire is unfair to Melicia, but is it fair within Melicia itself?
Has no one within Melicia been treated unfairly?

That's impossible!
So Li Wei focused directly on this point and went all out.

If you're truly a champion of justice, then by all means, kill all evil.

How can you eliminate evil while also showing regional discrimination?

For those within Melicia who have suffered unfair treatment, seeing this statement will inevitably breed resentment towards the Phantom Killer.

Exactly, if you're truly the embodiment of justice, why don't you come and help us get revenge?

You help the Continental Parliament fight against the Empire, but not us?

What kind of embodiment of justice is that?
For most people, the conflict between the Empire and Melesia is a distant prospect, and will not affect them unless war breaks out.

But those conflicts and hatreds all happened around us.

It has to be said that Li Wei's reaction left the reporters speechless.

They originally sought out Levi to hear his opinion, and in their view, Levi would probably just do what the governor and others did: condemn the Phantom Assassins and declare that the Empire had done nothing wrong.

Unexpectedly, Li Wei did the opposite.
This tactic is actually quite common on the modern internet. Li Wei also knows that you can't explain this kind of thing clearly to others. When people ask you, they already have a preconceived notion, so no matter how you explain, it's useless. You might as well just step on the gas and go all out.

Weren't we supposed to eliminate evil? Then let's just kill them all without discrimination.

How can we only kill the Imperials and not the Melistians? You agree, right?
You say the Phantom Assassin represents justice, but in my opinion, it's not just justice!
Loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal!
Justice is not absolute, which means it is absolutely unjust!
Moreover, Li Wei didn't just talk about it casually; he actually gave a direct target—Clyburn!
The other party is currently a member of the mainland parliament, so this is tantamount to sending a Phantom Assassin to kill the mainland parliament.

The meaning is quite clear: if you truly represent fairness and justice, then why don't you kill that bastard Clyburn? Why don't you kill the Continental Council, who are in cahoots with Clyburn?

If you don't go and kill them, then what kind of representative of fairness and justice are you? Aren't you just a dog of the Mainland Parliament?
Regardless of whether the Phantom Assassin kills him or not, Li Wei is now invincible.

If you kill, it means the Continental Parliament isn't a good person either, and Melisia's legitimacy to resist the Empire will cease to exist.

If you don't kill, then you are not the embodiment of justice, and your public perception will immediately decrease.

Alright, QED, proof complete.

After that, the reporters realized that Li Wei was indeed not someone to be trifled with, and they all left. Li Wei watched them go and gave a cold laugh.

He originally wanted to find a way to lure out the Phantom Assassin.

This is great; it's like Li Wei has issued a challenge to the Phantom Assassin. Let's see if the other side has the guts to accept it.

So, what will the Phantom Killer do next?

(End of this chapter)