Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 135 Entrance
Henry kept his word, and before dawn the next day, a reconnaissance boat took Levi and the archaeological team to the Oren Mountains.

"This is all I can bring you here, sir."

The driver said to Li Wei.

"The terrain of the Oren Mountains is complex and the climate is not very good. I'm afraid you'll have to walk the rest of the way on your own."

"That's enough, thank you for your help."

Li Wei gave the driver an encouraging smile.

"Is the next inspection in three days?"

"Yes, sir, Commander Henry said he would bring you all back later."

“Very good, I remember. As we agreed, after you get here, fire three blank shots. If I light a campfire or fire a signal flare, then find a place to land. If I don’t respond, go back and report to Henry immediately, understand?”

"Yes, sir."

The driver, of course, had no idea why Li Wei had come here, but he also knew that some things were better left unasked. So he nodded, and Li Wei chuckled and slipped a gold coin into the driver's hand.

"Sir, this..."

"This is just a small token of my appreciation, please accept it."

Li Wei patted the driver on the shoulder, then stepped out of the cockpit and into the passenger cabin at the back, looking at the group of people before him. They were all members of the archaeological team, or more precisely—they were mostly university students.

Besides the professor leading the team, the archaeological team consisted of four people: two men and two women.

Needless to say, Anne was someone I'd known for a long time.

The other woman, Lavinia Godney, was also a freshman at Miskatonic University, majoring in ancient ruins architecture. Unlike the always expressionless Anne, Lavinia was a rather cheerful and lively blonde woman. According to her self-introduction, her hobby was mountain climbing, and she also had some wilderness survival skills.

The robust man, who looked like a standard bodybuilder, was named Joe. He was a third-year archaeology student at Miskatonic University. Judging from his physique, it was clear that there was a reason the old professor had recruited him as a draft soldier. Contrary to his size, he specialized in the study of ancient languages ​​and scripts—it must be said, appearances can be deceiving.

The other blond man of average build was Creed Johnson, a second-year archaeology student. Compared to Joe, he was of average build for a young man, with an average appearance, wearing glasses and looking somewhat scholarly. He specialized in ancient folklore and legends.

"Okay, everyone."

Li Wei looked around at everyone, then glanced at the old professor.

“We’ve arrived. I need to remind you again that this operation is likely to be dangerous, so if you want to back out, now is the time. Don’t be ashamed; it’s much better to go back alive than to die in these mountains.”

"Hey, don't underestimate us."

Joe raised his arm, which was thicker than Li Wei's waist, and he didn't know if it was from working out at the gym.

"This isn't our first time conducting archaeological research. We've seen all sorts of dangers. Don't even mention wolves, wild dogs, or bandits; we're not afraid of them!"

"OK then."

Li Wei didn't say anything more. He had already mentioned the danger of this mission before boarding the reconnaissance boat. Now that they had asked again, since they insisted on going, Li Wei didn't mind—of course, from Li Wei's perspective, he still hoped someone could help him.

After all, putting everything else aside, Li Wei really couldn't understand these scribbles-like characters.

Soon, the reconnaissance boat landed in an open area in the center of the Oren Mountains. It was just dawn, and as everyone stepped off the boat, a cold wind rushed towards them, making them shiver involuntarily.

"Okay, let's go."

Li Wei was the last to disembark from the reconnaissance boat. After confirming the location, he spoke.

The old professor and his group had originally come to the Oren Mountains in search of legendary ruins, without a specific destination in mind. Therefore, after discussing it with Levi, they both decided to first check out the location marked in the notebook. Levi had already pinpointed that location from the air.

However, hidden by the dense forest, nothing could be seen below—the only certainty was that no one was inside.

After all, Li Wei's [Soul Vision] is not just for show.

Hiking deep in the mountains and forests is no easy task, let alone carrying a lot of luggage. Besides essential supplies like tents and food, archaeologists also need to carry a lot of equipment. This is why the old professor chose Joe, this big guy, to be his workhorse.

Fortunately, although Henry couldn't provide Levi with manpower, he did provide him with some equipment support—including a "Groundwalker" mech.

This thing, though called a mecha, is more like a modern robotic dog. It's about the size of a mule, has four legs, and is steam-powered. It was mainly used by the military to transport supplies in deep mountains and forests. Levi himself certainly didn't want to carry a bunch of luggage up a mountain, so Henry approved a Ground Walker for Levi to carry supplies—after all, that's what it was originally designed for.

Of course, unlike modern electronic dogs that can automatically recognize and sense sensors, the Earthwalker mech still needs to be controlled by a person, but basically controlling it is no different from controlling a real mule.

Just tie a rope around it.

"It's good to have something like this."

Looking at the Earthwalker beside him, Joe was filled with envy. Although he was happy to be taken out for archaeological work by his mentor, he didn't like being a workhorse all the time. After all, carrying things up a mountain was extremely tiring.

"Professor, could we buy one too? It would be so much more convenient to go anywhere with one of these."

"We don't have that much funding."

The old professor, leaning on his trekking pole, walked steadily through the mountains and forests. Although his tone was calm, he still revealed a heartbreaking truth.

poor.

Being in the archaeology department... it's only natural that we're poor.

Hiking through the mountains and forests was extremely arduous; the paths were difficult and physically demanding, and even an elderly professor couldn't endure it for long. The group walked and stopped intermittently until the afternoon before finally reaching their destination.

Considering they set off before sunrise, it has to be admitted that it took quite a bit of time.

"right here?"

"It should be around here."

Li Wei stopped to wipe his sweat, glancing at Annie not far away. Everyone else was flushed and panting. Only Annie remained expressionless and calm, showing no signs of fatigue except for a few faint blushes on her fair skin.

Sigh, I feel like I'm the one with the worst stamina in this group... Well, it's not just a feeling.

However, I don't actually do physical labor.

Li Wei took out his kettle and drank some hot tea—the advantage of steam machinery is that there's always a heating element for brewing tea and keeping it warm. Or, for the Imperials, having a device for brewing tea and keeping it warm on steam machinery is a matter of course.

The hot tea soothed his tired body and mind. Li Wei picked up his binoculars and pretended to look around, while he directed the puppet bird to search the dense forest.

soon……………

"Found it, it's just ahead."

Following the directions given by Li Wei, the group walked for nearly half an hour before finally arriving at their destination.

"Wow, this thing is really amazing."

Looking at the scene before them, Qiao couldn't help but sigh, and the others nodded in agreement. Before them stood a massive stone gate, three or four meters high, flanked by equally tall stone pillars carved with strange patterns. Above the gate was a huge, all-seeing eye, its lifelike form silently staring at the ground, as if observing and scrutinizing the visitors.

"That's right, this is it! This is the architecture of Mokhand!"

Unlike the others, the old professor was thrilled to see the door, while his other student, Lavinia, picked up her camera and started snapping pictures of it.

"Look at this stone pillar. The patterns carved on it seem random at first glance, but they are actually a symbol of the civilization of the Mokhand Kingdom. They worship the nightmare goddess Mokhand, and the country is named after her. In the eyes of the Mokhand people, nightmares are illogical and chaotic. Therefore, when praising the nightmare goddess, they also take a drug called 'divine-inducing herb' and fall into a state of confusion. When they regain their senses, they leave behind messy marks, which they worship as oracles from the nightmare goddess..."

So you're saying you paint after taking drugs? That's quite abstract.

Li Wei silently complained to himself before asking the question.

"Then why would the Mokhand people, who worship the Nightmare Goddess, also carve the All-Seeing Eye on it? The All-Seeing Eye is the symbol of the Creator God, it has nothing to do with the Nightmare Goddess."

“These rural beliefs are different from the ideas of the holy bishop.”

The old professor shook his head.

"The Holy Bishop's claim is that the Creator God defeated and destroyed the other gods, thus creating this new world, right?"

"That's right."

After all, that's the official statement.

"However, many folk beliefs do not see it that way. They believe that the creator god was actually those gods who could not bear to see humanity suffer and ultimately chose to merge into one, becoming the creator god. And they have their own reasons—because the problems that humanity faces still exist today. If the creator god destroyed the other gods and became the only god, then humanity should not be affected by the other gods at all."

"I see."

Hearing this, Li Wei nodded. This was actually similar to the struggle for discourse power between the royal family and the holy bishop. Primitive beliefs and holy bishops were also vying for discourse power.

Primitive beliefs held that the creator god was created through the fusion of all the gods, therefore each god was equal. Holy Catholics, however, proclaimed that the creator god defeated the other gods and unified the world, therefore the creator god is the true god, and the others are merely defeated and dead.

"The teacher is here again."

Listening to the old professor's enthusiastic explanation, his three students were speechless.

"Teacher, you can't let the priest hear you say that. Have you forgotten how the Holy Bishop Father blocked our school gate for three days and three nights last time?"

"Hmph, what's wrong?"

Listening to his students' complaints, the old professor twitched his beard and glared angrily.

"Scholarship requires inclusiveness and cooperation. We're not those charlatans! The creator god's true nature can only be proven through evidence! The Holy Bishop and his ilk are just making claims, but they can't produce any evidence, can they? What? We're supposed to be criticized by a bunch of charlatans for our scholarship? That's outrageous!"

"Let's leave the academic discussion for later."

Li Wei had no interest in this either; whether the bishop was right or the original faith was right, it had nothing to do with him at the moment.

The relevant thing is...

How do we open this door now?

This stone door looks over four meters tall, thick and sturdy. If it weren't for the small gap in the middle that allows you to feel the wind inside, you might even think it's a fake door carved into the stone.

But the problem is, how do you open it?

"I brought explosives, should we just blow it up?"

Joe raised his hand, but was quickly glared at by the old professor.

"Idiot! Look at this structure. It's clearly an underground building. If you're not careful and blow this place up, what the hell are we supposed to investigate?"

"Let's talk about it tomorrow then."

Li Wei glanced at the sky. This mountain climbing was such a waste of time; they had been climbing for almost a whole day, and it was getting dark.

"Let's set up camp here first and then figure out a solution tomorrow morning."

No one objected to Li Wei's suggestion. After climbing the mountain all day, everyone was sore and tired. They set up tents on the flat ground next to the stone gate, made a fire, had dinner, and then went to rest.

"Phew... This is really tiring..."

Back in his tent, Li Wei yawned, then closed his eyes, crawled into his sleeping bag, and fell into a deep sleep.

However, after an unknown amount of time...

"call-----!"

A sudden gust of cold wind blew by, making Li Wei shiver. He opened his eyes and looked around.

It was late at night, and there was no sound outside, but for some reason, Li Wei felt that the sleeping bag was ice cold, as if it had been soaked in water.

What the heck is this?!
Li Wei frowned, glanced at his pocket watch, and realized it was almost time for his shift to end. So he stood up and walked out of the tent.

But what happened next stunned Li Wei.

The entire camp was deathly silent.

"Snap, snap, snap..."

The campfire burned softly, but apart from that, the entire camp was utterly silent. Li Wei squinted and quickly scanned his surroundings, then was astonished to find—the entire camp was deserted except for himself!
At the very least, it lacks the brilliance of a soul!

what happened?

Li Wei quickly checked the surrounding tents, only to find that the other tents were also empty and deserted.

There were no living people, nor were there any dead people.

at the same time………

"call-----"

Another gust of bone-chilling wind swept by, causing Li Wei to shiver involuntarily. He then turned his head and looked in the direction of the wind... only to see a dark, gaping entrance.

That's right, the cave entrance that was originally sealed by the stone gate has now opened for some unknown reason, and the inside is pitch black.

It looks like a terrifying monster opening its blood-red maw.

"This is really troublesome."

Seeing the scene before him, Li Wei sighed silently. Then he reached out, drew the Persuader from his waist, and carefully walked towards the entrance.

(End of this chapter)