Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 134 Heading North

It didn't take Li Wei long to arrive at the strange wooden house.

The place was deathly silent; not even a corpse remained. To be honest, if the system hadn't confirmed that the Phantom Assassin was dead, Li Wei would have thought he had escaped just by looking at the scene before him.

Could it be that guy really died in a nightmare? That's such a pathetic way to die.

Forget it, there's no point in thinking about it now.

Li Wei gathered his thoughts and began searching through the wooden house.

The wooden cabin was very empty, showing no signs of human habitation. There was only a bed, a table and chair, and a wooden chest. The table was covered with all sorts of strange potions that immediately reminded one of witchcraft, and some of the contents resembled dried animal carcasses.

Li Wei didn't know what the Phantom Assassin wanted with this, and he didn't want to know.

However, it wasn't entirely fruitless; in the drawer of the table, Li Wei found a notebook.

What language is written on it? — Li Wei couldn't understand it at all.

However, there was one part of the notebook that he could understand: a piece of paper tucked in the middle of the notebook, a fragment of a map.

On this tattered page, someone drew a circle in red pen and then drew an all-seeing eye mark next to it.

"…………………"

Could this thing also be related to the All-Seeing Eye?

Speaking of which, this all-seeing eye really is omnipresent, although for a creator god, it's not entirely unreasonable... um...

Li Wei compared the two maps and, if he remembered correctly, the circled area on the map should be the Orens Mountains in northern Melesia.

I remember the governor saying that there seemed to be some kind of primitive tribe here... It seems I have no choice but to make a trip.

After that, Li Wei carefully inspected the cabin again, but found nothing except an altar.

The symbol of the all-seeing eye is also carved on this altar, but the only difference is that this symbol is not simply carved, but smeared with blood.

At first glance, it looks like some kind of mark of an evil god.

Li Wei thought that if the priests of the Holy Bishop saw this altar, they would probably faint on the spot.

As for what that Phantom Assassin was going to do with this altar... you can probably guess by looking at the bloodstains next to it.

"Hmm...it seems I still have to go and take a look."

Li Wei flipped through the notebook. Although he couldn't understand what was written inside, the fact that the task had been completed so easily still made him a little uneasy. Anyway, now that the Imperial Army had arrived, the rebels were no longer a threat, and he no longer needed to worry about being ambushed and shot at by the enemy as before.

Since I'm just idling around anyway, I might as well investigate thoroughly. Otherwise, if I leave and the Imperial Army runs into trouble here, wouldn't that be a slap in my face?

After making his decision, Li Wei returned to the city of Fahart. He planned to see if anyone knew the language in which the inscription was written so he could translate it for him and see what it was all about.

When Li Wei returned to Ferhat, it was already afternoon. The entire city of Ferhat was under lockdown, and Imperial soldiers could be seen everywhere standing guard. Of course, these soldiers had no say in Li Wei's affairs; he simply flashed his identification, and the soldiers let him in.

However, as Li Wei entered the city of Fehart, he witnessed an unexpected scene—a group of people were arguing with soldiers on a street not far away. Li Wei initially didn't pay much attention to this, as similar incidents occurred in every city. Moreover, the Imperial army's arrival and forcible takeover of the entire city of Fehart was bound to cause discontent among some.

However, when Li Wei saw one of the figures, he became curious, walked over, and patted the person on the shoulder.

"Miss Branson, what are you doing here?"

"...?"

Annie turned around, saw Li Wei, and was slightly taken aback.

"Mr. Li Wei?"

"Yes, the entire city of Fehart is now under martial law, didn't you know?"

"…………………"

Anne nodded silently.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"actually……………"

Anne explained the current situation to Levi in ​​a very concise manner.

She arrived in Fehart with Levi today, but after arriving, Levi went to the city government to cause trouble for the Continental Congress. Anne, on the other hand, went to Miskatonic University to register and met her advisor. Coincidentally, her advisor was planning to depart today for an archaeological mission.

After asking Anne a few questions, the mentor waved his hand and added Anne to the archaeological team.

Just as the archaeological team was about to leave the city, the Imperial Army descended from the sky and placed the entire city of Fehart under martial law.

The poor group had finished packing and were ready to set off, only to find themselves stranded here, helpless and desperate. The instructor, seemingly hot-tempered, promptly started causing trouble for the soldiers, demanding they let them leave. The Imperial soldiers, of course, refused to comply, resulting in a stalemate.

"Where are you going?"

"I heard it's a place called the Oren Mountains."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei raised an eyebrow.

Isn't this a coincidence?
"Wait, let me think of something."

As Li Wei spoke, he patted Annie on the shoulder and then walked to the front of the line. At that moment, the old man was hurling insults at a soldier, spitting all over him. Luckily, the soldier was disciplined; otherwise, he would have been smashed over with his rifle butt.

"This old gentleman."

Taking advantage of the moment when the other party was hoarse from cursing, Li Wei hurriedly interjected.

"May I say a few words?"

"and who are you?"

"Someone who could very well help you solve this problem."

Li Wei chuckled, carefully examining the old man before him. The man appeared to be quite old, with white hair and beard, but he was remarkably robust and had a loud voice. Judging from the tan lines on his skin, he must have spent many years working outdoors.

"I heard you're going on an archaeological mission?"

"That's right, we were planning to go to the Oren Mountains for an expedition, but these lobsters are blocking our way. It's outrageous!"

As he spoke, the old man glared fiercely at the soldier, as if he wanted to devour him alive.

"In that case... I'd like to make a deal with you."

Li Wei looked at the old man in front of him and said, "A deal?"

“That’s right, I have a notebook I want you to see. If you can translate what’s written on it, then I’ll find a way to get you out of here.”

"Oh?"

Hearing Li Wei's words, the old man's brows furrowed, and he stared at Li Wei with suspicion. After all, in his eyes, Li Wei was far too young and didn't seem like an official at all. However, he also knew that he had been arguing here for so long without making any progress. If this incredibly handsome young man really had a solution, that would be good too.

"What notebook? Let me see it."

Li Wei took out a notebook from his pocket and handed it over. The old man took the notebook, opened it, and began to carefully look through it.

"Hmm? This script... is a bit strange. It's somewhat similar to the script of the Golden Age. No, this should be from the second century... Hmm... Right, this is Mokhand script."

"what is that?"

"This is a nation vanished from history. You've probably heard the story of Emperor Arthur, right? He conquered the south and north, unifying the continent. One of the nations was called Mokhand, and they didn't worship the All-Seeing Eye, but rather the ancient god of the Golden Age—the Nightmare Goddess Mokhand. According to historical records, this nation was destroyed by Emperor Arthur, and its people fled to the northern border of Melesia. Interestingly, I originally planned to go to the Oren Mountains to search for traces of the Mokhand civilization, but I never expected that someone would actually write in Mokhand? Who wrote this? I want to see him!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible; he's already dead."

"Dead? What happened?"

“This is outside the scope of our deal, sir.”

Looking at the old man staring at him with wide eyes, as if he wanted to grab him up, Li Wei smiled slightly.

"Then, could you translate the contents of this notebook?"

"Hmm, let me see..."

The old man took out a magnifying glass, placed it in front of his notebook, and carefully flipped through the pages.

"Hmm... Most of the sentences are incomplete; it seems to be some kind of ritual record."

"Sacrificial records?"

"That's right, it's something like what was used during a sacrifice, but most of the content here is... on X year X month X day, the sinful soul was sacrificed to the goddess... it's all records like that."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei's eyes flashed.

"Is that basically all of them?"

"The repeated parts are like this, but I don't quite understand the other parts. I need to think about it carefully. Who wrote this? Is there still a belief in the Goddess of Nightmare on this land? It's unbelievable... If those charlatans, the Holy Bishop, knew about this, they would definitely want to burn the whole of Melicia to ashes."

Nightmare Goddess.

Upon hearing this word, Li Wei fell into deep thought. The Phantom Assassin used nightmares to kill people, so could this be related to the Nightmare Goddess?
Sure enough, just to be on the safe side, we still had to go and check out the place described on the map.

"Thank you for your answer."

Li Wei collected his thoughts, smiled and nodded at the old man, and at the same time, while the old man wasn't paying attention, he subtly took back the notebook.

"Hey, can we leave now?"

"I'll go and ask, please be patient."

After saying this, Li Wei nodded to everyone and turned to leave. Unsurprisingly, the old man's angry roar echoed behind him once more.

"Kid, don't try to fool me! Otherwise, you'll be sorry!"

Li Wei, of course, did not take the old man's threat seriously. He grabbed a soldier, asked him for Henry's location, and then went to the town hall.

The conference hall here is basically the same as when Li Wei was there before.

While it's called basic, just look at the bullet holes in the walls and chairs, and you'll see there's a difference.

At least Li Wei's weapon did not have that much destructive power.

"Hey, Captain, you're back. What did you find?"

Henry, who was looking at a map at the table in the hall, saw Levi enter and raised his hand to greet him. Anthony, who was sitting in a chair next to him, also shook the wine bottle in his hand.

"Want a drink, boss? The Continental Parliament originally planned to use it to celebrate the successful conclusion of this meeting. I think we can use it to celebrate now too."

"Opening champagne at halftime is not a good habit."

Li Wei glanced at the bottle of wine, then went to the table.

"I did find something, so I plan to go to the Oren Mountains next."

"The Oren Mountains?"

Upon hearing Levi's answer, Henry searched the map again and again before finally finding the place on the edge of the map.

"This place is very remote."

“I know, but the case I’m investigating is somewhat related to this place, so just to be on the safe side, I want to go and take a look, hoping nothing goes wrong.”

"If you want to go, of course I won't refuse. It's just that this time I'm afraid I won't be able to send too many soldiers to help you, Captain."

Henry sighed.

"We are currently planning a full-scale offensive against several cities south of Melesia. Anthony has already found some evidence that these guys colluded with mercenaries, attacked Imperial convoys and fleets, and even stole a lot of Imperial military equipment for use in the event of a rebellion. Although their leaders have been captured, it is still uncertain whether they will rise up in resistance. This is a total war, and we must demonstrate the power of the Empire to Melesia in order to completely crush their foolish delusions."

“I don’t need your soldiers either. In fact, I just found an archaeological team that’s heading to the Oren Mountains, but I need transportation. Can you help me with that?”

Li Wei didn't know what the old man originally planned to do when he went to the Oren Mountains, but he clearly didn't want to spend most of his time on the road.

"Um……………"

Henry thought for a moment.

“I can send a reconnaissance boat to take you there. According to the plan, it will go to the area near the Oren Mountains tomorrow for a reconnaissance mission. I can have it take you to the Oren Mountains, but the rest is up to you.”

"no problem."

Li Wei nodded.

"Then it's settled."

(End of this chapter)