Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 133 Meeting Again
A colossal steel warship emerged from the clouds, its dark shadow completely enveloping the city hall before them. The appearance of this behemoth shocked everyone, and Adams and Hancock were particularly ashen-faced.

"How...how could this be...why..."

Hancock stared at the warships in the sky, unable to utter a complete sentence. The Continental Congress had chosen to hold its meeting in the remote city of Fayhart to prevent a surprise attack by the Imperial army and their annihilation. But they hadn't expected the Empire to deploy airships!

Hancock knew about the existence of airships, but Melicia was relatively remote, so to them, airships were like the so-called aerospace forces in the modern world—they sounded impressive, but they didn't seem to have anything to do with them.

However, now... they realize that they seem to have made a mistake from the very beginning.

"Whoosh—!"

Immediately afterwards, several steel cables shot down from the airship and slammed heavily into the ground in front of the city hall. The militiamen turned around in a panic, gripping their rifles, looking completely bewildered and at a loss for what to do.

It's like Earthlings facing aliens in a science fiction movie.

Perhaps for the people of Melicia, the difference between the two is not that significant.

Then, one after another, rhomboid, airdrop-like objects slid rapidly down ropes and landed heavily on the ground. The heavy hatches slammed shut, and then, one after another, burly metal warriors emerged from them.

That's right, Metal Warrior.

They wore full armor similar to that worn by medieval knights, and carried launchers that resembled heavy machine guns. A small steam-powered device was also located on their backs. On the chests of these warriors were engraved patterns of crossed swords and a soaring eagle.

"Whoa!"

Seeing these suddenly appearing metal warriors, the militiamen screamed in terror and retreated hastily. This was understandable; although the number of these metal warriors was small, each one was tall and imposing, exuding an immense sense of menace. Combined with their strange, terrifying helmets and clearly menacing weapons, they felt like demons had descended.

If such soldiers appeared on the battlefield, they would be enough to paralyze the enemy, let alone these militiamen who are even worse than regular soldiers.

"Seal off the surrounding area; no one is allowed to enter or leave!"

The lead warrior shouted the order, then turned and walked towards Levi. Looking at the terrifying appearance of this metal warrior, Adams and Hancock instinctively took a few steps back—Levi was clearly much more approachable than these seemingly bloodless metal monsters.

However, the metal warrior didn't even glance at them. He walked up to Li Wei, lifted his mask, and revealed a face that was very familiar.

"Hey, Li Wei, long time no see."

"You too, Mr. Henry, I didn't expect to see you here."

Looking at the burly man before him, Li Wei smiled slightly. The last time he worked with Henry was during the Imperial Bridge case; this was the first time he'd seen him doing his job.

He does look somewhat like an Imperial soldier.

"You already know the details?"

"Yes."

Henry nodded, then glanced at Adams and Hancock with disdain.

"These are the two traitors?"

"Yes."

"take away!"

Without a word, Henry waved his hand, and two metal warriors quickly stepped forward and took the two despairing men away.

I doubt they'll ever come back.

"Are all the others in here?"

"I think that's probably the case, but you'd be better off asking someone else."

"That's not how it works, boss."

Just then, the city hall doors opened again, and a young man dressed like a lowly errand boy approached with a sly grin.

"You made such a cool entrance and did everything you were supposed to do, what else do I need to do!"

Anthony looked at Li Wei with a grin and made a gesture.

"Boss, you're amazing. I spent so much time and effort to finally get a chance to infiltrate the Mainland Conference, and you just barged in and caused a scene right in front of everyone. You truly deserve to be called the boss. I'm impressed."

As he spoke, Anthony gave Levi a thumbs-up.

"It was just an accident; I didn't expect you to be here too."

Li Wei looked at Anthony and shrugged. Just as Li Wei said, it was just an accident. He only realized that this guy dressed like a lowly errand boy was Anthony after entering the venue.

"Oh dear, I also have my own tasks to complete. That's how it is when different departments don't communicate with each other; there are always some strange mistakes and troubles that happen."

Anthony helplessly spread his hands. Just as he said, Levi was sent by MI7, Henry was clearly on a Marine Corps mission, and Anthony guessed he was also sent by some department to infiltrate and investigate the Continental Congress. The three of them hadn't communicated with each other, yet they ended up running into each other at the scene.

"But I have also achieved results!"

Anthony quickly straightened his back and raised his head.

“Listen carefully, according to my investigation, the reason why the Continental Parliament chose to confront the Empire is actually related to the Francis Republic…” “I know.”

"Hey?"

“When I came here by train before, I met a Francis spy, and I found a letter on him. It contained an agreement between Francis, the Foreign Minister, and the Continental Congress regarding a loan to purchase arms.”

"...Where is that spy?"

"I killed him in the duel."

"Boss, you're a detective, why would you duel with a secret agent? No, never mind, that doesn't matter. Can I see that letter? Just one glance! Just one glance!"

Li Wei didn't care. He took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to Anthony. Anthony took out a notebook from his pocket, circled and marked the contents of the letter, and then nodded vigorously.

"That's right, that way we've caught those traitors red-handed! By the way, boss, what exactly happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing really..."

Li Wei simply told Anthony about his encounter with the spy on the train, how the spy challenged him to a duel, and how he killed him.

After hearing this, Anthony looked utterly desperate.

"I spent half a month in this godforsaken place for this mission, even changing my Imperial accent, and finally managed to infiltrate the council as a messenger. But you, boss, earned more from just one trip than I did..."

"It was just good luck."

"If I could, I'd want that kind of luck too. To complete the mission just by eating, drinking, and sleeping—where else can you find such a good thing..."

"Hmm...that's true."

Strictly speaking, Li Wei really did take down the Phantom Assassin while eating, drinking, and sleeping. Thinking about it carefully, it really was incredibly easy.

"May I take this letter with me?"

"I intend to bring it back to MI7."

"Uh... okay."

Hearing Levi's reply, Anthony, though reluctant, still handed the secret letter back. Henry, however, couldn't wait any longer and went up to Anthony, patting him on the shoulder.

"Alright, we'll talk about the rest later. Take us to arrest them!"

"Go easy! You could kill me with one punch in that armor you're wearing right now!"

"Captain, do you want to come along?"

"I still need to investigate some final matters, we'll talk about it later."

Li Wei waved his hand. On the way out, he had already asked Adams and Hancock about the Phantom Assassin and knew where the Phantom Assassin lived. Originally, Li Wei planned to investigate later, but now that the Imperial Army had taken action, he might as well do what he had to do.

"Alright, please be careful. Our current orders are to seal off the entire city. But don't worry, if you need to go out, just tell the guards and I will notify them."

"sorry to bother you."

"Don't mention it... Alright, let's go, Anthony, I'm just waiting for you to point me in the right place!"

"Don't use so much force, what's the rush for a big guy like you? They can't escape..."

Watching the two walk into the city hall, Li Wei shook his head, then turned and walked to the other side of the street.

The streets were now in chaos. Just moments before, there were crowds of people coming and going, children selling newspapers, and food vendors.

Now, the entire street is quiet, with only empty stalls and newspapers falling to the ground, a stark contrast to the bustling scene before.

Clearly, the Imperial Army's direct presence in Fehart and its complete blockade were devastating news for the local population.

However, in Li Wei's opinion, the mainland parliament can only be considered to have brought this upon itself.

This is the consequence of a lack of political sensitivity.

In Li Wei's opinion, if the Continental Parliament were truly intelligent, they should have been sensible enough to obediently submit, then plead poverty and misery with the Queen, begging for some aid. As long as they didn't give the Queen any ammunition, she couldn't really do anything to Melicia. After all, it's impossible for her to kill all the people of Melicia, right?
In doing so, while Melesia lost its political independence, it was able to leech off the empire.

As for Melicia, they only saw the current empire's revival and felt that if they didn't hurry up and become independent, they would miss their chance.

But they never expected that the empire, now that it has recovered, would allow them to become independent? When the empire was on its last legs, they weren't allowed to become independent. Now that the empire has recovered and returned to its former glory, would it tolerate Melicia dancing in its minefield?
This is no longer the decadent empire of a century ago, unable to even govern its own backyard; it is an empire that has been revived by the industrial revolution of the steam revolution.

The current empire is like a protagonist in an online novel who has obtained a cheat system and is rapidly leveling up. If you don't kneel down and beg for a leg, fine, but do you have to offer yourself up to be humiliated and slapped in the face?

Well, that's it, they've all been wiped out.

Whether the Queen decides to braise or steam the chicken is her own question; Levi doesn't care.

The most urgent thing is to go and see that little cabin outside Fayhat.

(End of this chapter)