Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 136 Dream World
The cave was pitch black.

With a gas lamp hanging from his waist, a cane in one hand, and a gun in the other, Li Wei descended the stairs, floor by floor.

It was so dark that nothing could be seen except for the light illuminating the ground beneath one's feet. It was as if there was nothing around at all. Li Wei's footsteps didn't even echo in the narrow passage; they seemed to have vanished completely.

"Um……………"

As Li Wei walked, he began to think.

Am I asleep or awake?

The Phantom Assassin's method of using his abilities was crude, but Levi had seen the movies and knew that truly powerful nightmare creators could seamlessly blend reality and dreams. When you think you're still awake, you might actually have already entered a dream.

That's the real nightmare killer. Compared to that, the Phantom Killer is really a bit... LOW.

However, it doesn't seem difficult to know whether you're dreaming or not.

Thinking of this, Li Wei closed his eyes, then slowly opened them again.

The previously gloomy darkness vanished, revealing a dense tropical rainforest before Li Wei. The air was humid and stifling, making it difficult to breathe. The distant sky was dark, as if a thunderstorm was about to break.

Sure enough, I'm dreaming.

I just don't know when this dream started.

Li Wei looked at himself again. He was still wearing the clothes he had worn to bed—the hunter's outfit. The Persuader in his hand felt just as good as ever, and the cane gun looked perfectly fine.

What about the other things?

Li Wei closed his eyes again and began to think—then, a strange, illusory, and distorted object appeared before him. It kept shifting, trying to take shape between liquid and solid. However, finally, with a "snap," the strange thing in front of Li Wei completely exploded, and Li Wei felt a sharp pain in his brain; the fantasy in his mind vanished completely.

"As expected, you can't create things out of thin air in a dream."

Li Wei rubbed his head and sighed.

He had just tried to create an incredibly powerful robot to take him out, but failed. It seems this world doesn't accept things you just imagine; at the very least, things must exist in your heart for them to appear.

Fortunately, this means that I am not entirely helpless in this matter.

Previously, Li Wei might have found these kinds of dreams quite challenging. Fortunately, after increasing his Intelligence, he gained the skill "Photographic Memory," which strengthens his memories. Therefore, Li Wei can now extract the parts he needs and recreate them.

Moreover, Li Wei doesn't need to worry about these things being illogical.

Because—that's how it's portrayed in the movie.

Thinking of this, Li Wei reached out and whistled.

"———————!"

With a whistle, the surrounding bushes began to stir, and a moment later, several two-legged, lizard-like beasts emerged and circled around Li Wei.

"Sure enough."

Looking at the dinosaurs circling around him, Li Wei nodded. These velociraptors were from a movie Li Wei had seen, tamed by the male protagonist and obeying his commands. Later in the movie, they also helped the protagonist quite a bit. In Li Wei's subconscious, these velociraptors were clearly the protagonist's helpers, acting on his orders.

In retrospect, the dream accepted its own logic.

Li Wei reached into his pocket and took out several small mechanisms, which he then attached to the velociraptor's slender neck. He then made a hand gesture.

"go with!"

The next moment, the velociraptors shot into the jungle like arrows, scattering in all directions.

So, where are the others?

While using his [Puppeteer] abilities to switch between the mechanisms to assess his surroundings, Li Wei pondered the situation. Although he still didn't understand what was going on, Li Wei was certain that he was currently in a dream world, and a dream composed of his own memories.

Then the others should be about the same.

If that's the case, where are they all?
Persistence pays off. Soon, Li Wei spotted another member of the expedition team through the mechanism strapped to the neck of one of the dinosaurs.
That was none other than Anne!

However, Anne's current situation is a bit strange—no, it shouldn't be said that it's a bit strange, but rather that it's very strange.

She was lying on a laboratory table on a flat area in the jungle, surrounded by several animals wearing white lab coats.

That's right, animals.

Among them were rabbits, mice, and pigeons. At least their heads and bodies were those of these animals, only they were as tall as humans and wore white coats.

It looks like a scene from a children's cartoon.

However, the animals' behavior was not as heartwarming as in children's cartoons. Li Wei could clearly see that these animals were holding sharp blades and moving them around above Annie's body, while chattering away.

In short, things are not looking good!

【Teleportation】!
With a thought from Li Wei, the mechanism strapped to the velociraptor's neck activated and it fell to the ground. He then swiftly switched places with the mechanism that had fallen to the ground. Li Wei then silently slipped into the grass and cautiously approached the animals.

As the two sides drew closer, Li Wei also heard the animals talking.

"Remember, we are about to perform a human dissection. First, we need to cut open the outer layer of skin on the human body, which is this layer of clothing..."

The lead rabbit spoke like a teacher, while brandishing the blade in its hand.

"Then we look at the skin and bones. Next, we need to observe the movement principles of the internal organs. So, first, please, this student..." Goodness, this is definitely not a heartwarming children's animation; it's an adult film!
It's the kind with strong flavors!

Hearing this, Li Wei no longer hesitated. He crawled out of the bushes, raised his gun, aimed at the animals, and pulled the trigger!

"Bang bang bang bang!"

As the gunshots rang out, most of the animals surrounding Annie were killed, except for the rabbit teacher, who leaped up like a rabbit (in fact, it was a rabbit), dodging Levi's attack, and then pounced on Levi with a strange cry!
"Gahh ...

Just then, a velociraptor suddenly leaped out of the bushes on the other side, opened its mouth, and bit down hard on Teacher Rabbit's neck. Immediately afterward, the other velociraptors followed suit, surrounding Teacher Rabbit in the middle. They took turns biting and sucking, and in the blink of an eye, the rabbit, as big as an adult, became a victim of the dinosaurs' jaws.

"Wow, this is a true classic replica."

Watching the velociraptors feasting around the rabbit carcass, Levi shook his head and then went to Annie's side.

"Are you alright, Miss Branson?"

"...Mr. Li Wei?"

When Annie, who was lying on the lab table, saw Li Wei appear, she blinked.

"What are you doing here? Are you going to dissect me too?"

"Dissection?"

"That's right, I should be being dissected by animals as a human experiment."

"Well………………"

Hearing Annie's unfazed reply, Levi was speechless.

"We're just dreaming."

"dream?"

"That's right, this is just a dream of yours, not reality. And you won't be dissected; I've killed all the animals that wanted to dissect you."

"………………………"

Anne didn't speak, but stared intently at Li Wei. After a moment, she seemed to understand the situation and sat up from the lab table.

"So, this was all a dream?"

"That's right, you don't remember?"

"All I remember is that I woke up here, and then the Mr. Rabbit said he needed me as material for his dissection experiments."

"Your dream is quite strange."

Li Wei made a comment.

"You're not really planning to let those animals tear you to pieces, are you?"

“We have dissected animals many times for our experiments, so I think it’s a very reasonable request for animals to want to dissect humans.”

"I don't see how this makes any sense at all..."

Hearing Annie's calm reply, Levi broke out in a cold sweat. This young lady did seem a bit off; at least her thought process was rather problematic.

"…………………I see."

At this moment, Anne stared at Levi, and then, as if she had solved the problem, nodded.

"What have you understood now?"

“I understand, I like Mr. Li Wei.”

"…………………Um?"

It has to be said that this sudden confession really left Li Wei somewhat bewildered.

"you like me?"

"Yes, that's a reasonable inference."

"Where is it reasonable?"

"If this were a nightmare, I should have been torn to pieces by those animals. But in fact, Mr. Li Wei, you appeared in time to save me in the nick of time. This fits the Prince Charming complex in teenage psychology. When faced with danger, a girl instinctively hopes that the person she likes and relies on will save her. I think I must like Mr. Li Wei, which is why I unconsciously longed for your appearance and rescue in my dream."

"…Okay, that does sound pretty reasonable."

Li Wei was too lazy to even comment anymore. He found that this Miss Annie, who was usually quiet, was surprisingly eloquent when she finally spoke…

"In short, let's go find the others; they should also be trapped somewhere in this dream."

"So they also expect Mr. Levy to save them? Do they like Mr. Levy too?"

"...I think you'd better not ask me that question."

Li Wei has completely surrendered.

(End of this chapter)