Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 139 Whose Dream?
"In short, please calm down first."

Standing in the dilapidated wedding hall, Li Wei looked at Lavinia and Joe in front of him and reached out to comfort them with a headache.

He certainly couldn't let Lavinia stab Joe to death, so when Lavinia took out the knife, Levi shot her away and then came over to deal with the problem at hand.

"So, Mr. Li Wei, what are we supposed to do now?"

Seeing Joe sobbing behind Levi and Lavinia glaring at him, Anne asked.

"In short, we need to figure out whose nightmare this is."

Li Wei glanced at the two of them and sighed silently. The guests remained standing there, as if everything was normal. It was as if what stood before them wasn't a dilapidated building with its walls breached by warships, but a real church where a wedding was taking place.

"Wasn't it Mr. Qiao's? He was almost killed; that must have been a nightmare."

"That depends on your perspective."

Li Wei explained to Annie.

"That might be true from Joe's perspective, but from Miss Godney's perspective, it's a nightmare in itself for the groom to want to run away during the wedding ceremony."

"Perhaps so, but one cannot kill people without authorization just because of this."

"This is a dream, little girl."

The Cheshire Cat chuckled.

"In dreams, you can do whatever you want; law, logic, and common sense cannot bind you."

"That's it."

Li Wei discovered that Annie's materialistic logic was so NPC-like that he now suspected she might not be a real person, but a character he had imagined in his dreams.

“In dreams, you can do whatever you want. Don’t even mention taking out a knife, she could pull out a mecha and yell that she’s going to kill Joe, no problem.”

“…………………?”

"Okay, I was just kidding."

Seeing Annie's puzzled look, Levi decided not to dwell on the matter any longer and looked at the two of them again.

He now feels like he's encountered Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque in Journey to the West, and no one can say for sure who is the real one.

Then we can only inquire about the situation first.

Li Wei then first went to Joe and asked him about the situation.

"You ask me what happened? Actually, I'm not quite sure either. At first, I was in a room, and then someone came in and said I was getting married. I was still a bit dazed, thinking I was a bachelor, so why was I getting married? Then I went out and saw that Miss Godenzi was actually my wife, and I..."

"do you like her?"

"To be honest, I do like her quite a bit. After all, Miss Godney is cheerful and enthusiastic, gets along well with everyone, and everyone likes her. I've even thought about finding a wife like her."

"Um……………"

Hearing Joe's answer, Levi recalled that he and Annie didn't know much about the people in the archaeological team, but Levi's impression of Miss Godney was similar to Joe's. Perhaps due to her years of mountaineering, Miss Godney had indeed been very cheerful and enthusiastic throughout the journey, and she had also been very caring towards Annie, who had just joined the team.

"Then I thought, it wouldn't be bad to marry Miss Godeney."

"Then what did you yell for help when you saw me?"

Li Wei looked at Qiao with suspicion. Judging from his words, he seemed quite satisfied with the marriage.

"Because after we vowed to love each other deeply, she stared at me and made a bunch of demands that I never even thought of!"

At this point, Joe's face turned deathly pale.

"She said that from now on I would be the head of the household, earning money to support the family, and I couldn't go to bars anymore, nor could I go to the gym. Moreover, archaeology had no future, so I had to find a job with a minimum annual salary of £20, handing over my wages every week, and I couldn't smile at other girls or talk to other girls anymore..."

"Well……………"

"I was so scared I almost peed my pants, you know?"

"I can understand."

This is indeed a nightmare for men.

Or rather, compared to that, being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex is nothing.

"I didn't know what to say at the time, I wanted to refuse! But then you guys just happened to... barge in."

As Joe spoke, he glanced at the warship.

"Please, please take me away! I absolutely do not want to get married!"

"Even if the other person is Miss Goldi? Don't you like her quite a bit?"

"I do like her, but how was I supposed to know she was this kind of person? She's clearly cheerful and generous, and doesn't seem like the type to be stingy with money or anything like that. Why do I feel like she's trying to use me like a mule, tethering me to a bridle?"

"Hmm... love and life are different after all..."

Li Wei, having some experience, naturally understood Qiao's thoughts. The romance and passion before marriage are completely different from the mundane realities of married life. Of course, if Qiao and his partner had a passionate early relationship, things might be easier. But he was abruptly dragged into the wedding hall without any prior indication, with no emotional foundation between them, just listening to Miss Godenzi's ramblings…

This is just like when a woman asks for a house, a car, and a dowry right after a blind date; it's no wonder the man would turn around and leave.

In short, Li Wei has understood Joe's idea.

Next up is Miss Godeney.

"When I opened my eyes and found myself standing in the hall, wearing a wedding dress, I was very happy," Lavinia said, her expression still calm.

"I knew I was getting married, but I didn't know who the groom was. I thought it might be someone I knew, but can you imagine the surprise and fear I felt when the door opened and I saw a bear in a suit standing in front of me?"

Yes, I can understand.

For a girl, her dream wedding must be romantic and perfect, and her groom must be a handsome and dashing man, at least one-thousandth as good-looking as Li Wei.

Instead of a burly, ugly man with an orc-like physique.

From Miss Goddini's perspective, this was indeed a nightmare.

"And then? What did you do?"

"I think...actually, it's not that I can't accept it..."

Miss Goddney paused for a moment, then continued speaking through gritted teeth.

"Although Joe wasn't exactly my ideal prince charming, and he was a bit too big for me, he was still a very warm and brave person. I remember him helping me out several times when men tried to be rude to me, so I did have some feelings for him."

"oh……………"

That's true. As Joe mentioned before, they've gone on archaeological expeditions more than once, and naturally, they've encountered many dangers along the way. Miss Godney is also a lively and cheerful beauty; any man who isn't blind would be attracted to her.

Joe's large size would obviously help Goldie solve these problems.

"So I don't think it's unacceptable, but... marriage is a very serious matter."

At this point, Miss Godney's expression also turned serious.

“Look, to start a family, we also need our own house. Actually, I’ve already decided that after graduating from university, I will become a full-time housewife.”

"Oh?"

"After all, it's hard to find a job if you're an archaeology major..."

Miss Godney sighed silently.

"Then why did you choose this major in the first place?"

"Because of internal adjustments."

That's very realistic.

"Of course, from an academic point of view, archaeology is quite interesting. But making it a job is exhausting, and there's no stable income. Many people do it their whole lives and don't achieve anything. I'm still young now, and I can travel around with my professor, but what about later? So I thought, I'm going to get married anyway, and Joe seems like a very honest man, so I won't worry too much..."

"So you made some demands of him?"

“I admit, it might have been a little excessive, but he can negotiate with me.”

Miss Goddini blushed at this moment.

"He looked like he'd seen a ghost. What did that mean? Even if I was a little too much, I still think I'm pretty. We're going to marry each other. Can't I even make slightly unreasonable requests? The more I thought about it, the angrier I got... and then I wanted to pull out a knife and stab him to death."

Yes, that makes perfect sense and is logically sound.

After listening to their story, Li Wei called Annie aside.

"What do you think?"

"I think Miss Goddini's request is very reasonable."

Anne gave a very calm answer.

“In nature, males must pay a price to win the favor of females. For example, when choosing a mate, the male bird will look at whether it can build an exquisite, beautiful and aesthetically pleasing nest. This is a very natural instinctual need that should be met.”

"If that's the case, then lions don't need to hunt or build nests. They only need to pay attention to the threat of external attacks, and the rest is left to the lionesses."

Li Wei immediately retorted, "If men in another world still had to worry about housing, they couldn't live like that."

"………………………"

Anne didn't speak, she just stared at Levi.

"……………what?"

“I once conducted an experiment at school.”

"Ok?"

"We conducted an experiment with chickens to investigate whether animals possess social behaviors similar to humans. We later discovered that a rooster with beautiful plumage and a prominent comb was attacked and killed by several other roosters. At the time, food and water were plentiful in the chicken coop, and there was no survival pressure. Therefore, we believe that even among animals, there are social emotions and hierarchical conflicts. The murdered rooster was clearly killed because it made the other roosters feel threatened."

"...Why are you telling me this?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to illustrate that animals also possess social characteristics."

"That only shows that animals are not social enough."

Li Wei muttered a complaint under his breath, then promptly changed the subject.

Li Wei knew very well that discussing gender issues with women would be fruitless.

"None of that matters. The question now is, Mr. Joe and Miss Goddney, who is the true owner of this dream?"

(End of this chapter)