Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 144 The Ancient Curse (The temperature suddenly dropped to 24 degrees Celsius)
"Creed?"

Both Joe and Miss Godney were quite surprised to see their companion suddenly appear here.

"How will you be here?"

Why shouldn't I be here?

When asked by his companion, Creed smiled and opened his arms.

"Whose dream do you think this is?"

"Wait, what do you mean? Isn't this the teacher's dream? This happened during the teacher's archaeological excavations, it has nothing to do with you!"

Joe frowned and glared at Creed with displeasure, while the latter smiled and remained silent.

Just then, Li Wei spoke up.

"Although I think it's impossible...you're not that kid, are you?"

"Hey?"

"It's that local guide and his child."

Li Wei explained to Annie and the others.

“When I saw him just now, I felt that he looked a bit like someone, and if this is not the professor’s dream, then it can only be someone else’s dream. Right now, there are only three people in the professor’s dream: the professor himself, the local guide and his child, plus Mr. Johnson appearing here. I think that’s the only explanation.”

"…………………"

Hearing Li Wei's guess, everyone was stunned, and at this moment, Creed looked at Li Wei again.

"As expected of a detective, even the teacher didn't recognize me. But that's to be expected, since he abandoned us and left the temple alone back then. I think he wanted to completely forget about the temple."

"Did your teacher abandon you?"

"Yes."

Creed nodded.

"Let me show you what really happened back then."

As Creed spoke, everything around them quickly began to change. The previously enclosed underground space transformed into an old fishing village. A group of villagers were kneeling on the ground, kowtowing and praying, while in front of them stood a little boy on a wooden crate.

At the same time, Creed's voice rang out again.

“From a young age, I possessed the ability to see into dreams. I could foresee the future through dreams, knowing whether the weather would be good or bad tomorrow, and whether it was safe to go out to sea. Because of this, the villagers regarded me as the child of the oracle, but only I knew that this was not my power. In every dream, I would see a temple that was calling to me and guiding me there. Unfortunately, at that time I was just a child and had no way to go to such a place. Until… an archaeological team appeared.”

Soon, the scene changed, and a boat docked at the pier by the fishing village. Then a group of archaeologists disembarked, led by the old professor from his younger days. He was carrying a bag and looked very spirited.

“They came here to explore the ruins, and I knew my chance had come. So I told the explorers that I knew of a place with a temple, and they were indeed interested. My teacher negotiated with my father. At first, my father was very reluctant to let me leave, but my teacher gave him enough money to persuade him to go with me to find the temple.”

At this point, Creed gave a soft hum.

“My father is a devout Christian, and I never dare to tell him about my dreams, especially about that temple. It would make him think I’m being bewitched by evil, and he might even kill me. But I believe that once I find that temple, all problems will be solved.”

Soon, the scene changed again. This time, everyone saw the young Creed leading the archaeological team to a nearby mountain, passing through a crevice, and then entering the underground. Next, they saw the temple that Livy and the others had seen.

"The archaeological team entered the temple, but they awakened its guardians..."

As Creed spoke, the previously closed temple doors were blasted open by explosives, and the group rushed in, setting up camp in the inner hall. They were completely unaware that above them, the Night Demons, awakened by the deafening explosion, were silently preparing their attack.

"Then came a merciless massacre..."

The Night Demons swarmed down and began attacking the archaeologists. The archaeologists had no way to escape because there were too many Night Demons and they had blocked the entrance. Therefore, the archaeologists could only run inside.

Upon seeing this, Anne, Joe, and Miss Goldie all glanced at Levi in ​​surprise—the situation was almost exactly as Levi had predicted.

Of course, Li Wei was unaware of the existence of those monsters.

“I followed them inside, but unlike those people who were like headless flies, after entering the temple I heard the voice that had been calling me in my dream, so I followed the sound. Although I didn’t know what it was, I could feel that my fate was closely related to that voice.”

Creed paused for a moment at this point.

"I don't know if it was luck, but we didn't encounter any more attacks from the Night Demons along the way. However, just as my father and I were about to reach the location of the voice, we met up with my teacher and several other members of the archaeological team—I don't know what happened to them, but it was clear that they had survived the Night Demons. Then, the others, my father, and I walked together into the deepest part of the area, and eventually, we arrived at that place."

The scene shifts again, from the narrow tunnel to a tomb chamber, where a sarcophagus almost identical to that of the Baskerville ancestors is located.

However, unlike the Baskerville ancestors' coffin, which was cleaned year-round, this sarcophagus looked quite dilapidated. More importantly, it was tightly bound by countless heavy chains, making it impossible to open.

Just by looking at it, you can tell that what's inside this coffin must be something very shameful.

Upon seeing the coffin, Creed's father trembled with fear and knelt on the ground. The old professor, however, had gleaming eyes. He stepped forward and carefully examined the stone coffin, seemingly wanting to conduct some kind of research. Soon, the old professor swiftly took out tools from his backpack and forcefully broke the chains binding the coffin. The others also began to help, intending to dismantle the stone coffin.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

A heavy knocking sound rang out, and Li Wei crossed his arms, watching the scene before him. Although he didn't know what was inside the coffin, he was certain that, based on all the tomb raiding movies he had ever seen, this couldn't be anything good.

"Wow."

Finally, the rusty iron chains binding the sarcophagus were broken and thrown aside. Then, several archaeologists stepped forward and forcefully pushed the sarcophagus open. Afterward… the ground began to tremble.

With a piercing scream, the screen suddenly went black, and then it lit up again after an unknown amount of time.

The scene before them was utterly astonishing.

From within the stone coffin, several bizarre tentacles, seemingly formed from solidified black sludge, emerged and tightly bound the archaeologists, Creed's father, and the old professor. The archaeologists screamed and cried out in agony. Then, Levi and the others saw the bodies of the archaeologists bound by the tentacles, as well as Creed's father, gradually wither and shrivel.

It was like a popsicle that had been sucked dry, turning into a shriveled corpse.

Only the child remained standing there, silent, with a strange smile on his face, watching the scene before him.

"Everything went smoothly at the time!"

Creed's voice rang out again.

"I know it is about to fully awaken, and I will gain the power I deserve... but...!"

"go to hell!"

Suddenly, a furious shout rang out. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the old professor reach into his backpack and pull out a bundle of explosives. He stared at the stone coffin whose lid had been lifted, lit the fuse with the pipe he was holding, and then threw the explosives directly into the coffin!

"boom--!!!"

The next moment, the entire stone coffin suddenly exploded. At the same time, the earth began to tremble violently, deafeningly loud, and a mournful wail seemed to rise from the ground. Tentacles flung the old professor to the ground, and then the old professor jumped up at a speed that was unimaginable to ordinary people, and then quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

"Boom, boom, boom!!"

The rumbling of the earth grew louder and louder, as if venting the anger of some being. Creed, who had been standing on the ground, lost his balance and slipped, falling to the ground and being completely swallowed by the cracks in the earth. He disappeared into the darkness before he could even scream.

Then, the surrounding scenery disappeared, and everything returned to normal.

"Later, when I woke up, I was lying on the beach. My village and the villagers who lived there had been completely wiped out by the tsunami triggered by the earthquake."

"So... that earthquake wasn't caused by nature, but by the teacher?"

Miss Godney looked incredulous, while Joe frowned deeply.

"So that's why you want to find your teacher and avenge your family?"

“Revenge? Yes, I want revenge, but it has nothing to do with my family.”

Creed shook his head.

“After that, I had nightmares every night, screaming, struggling, and wailing. I could feel the rage and pain of that being; it penetrated my soul and permeated my body, and its only goal was revenge!”

As he spoke, Creed glared menacingly at the professor, who was bound by chains and suspended high in the air.

"And now, I have finally found this opportunity! I know this place, this is the world of dreams, and here, I am the master of this dream, and I will use this power to make him suffer the retribution he deserves!"

"Stop! You can't do this!"

Joe tried to step forward to stop them, but soon, several more Night Demons descended from the sky and blocked his way.

"Of course I can."

Creed stood before the coffin, staring at the crowd with a cold smile on his face.

"In fact, it is very thirsty and weak now. It needs more strength, more emotion, more soul... So, you should all stay here too."

"———————!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed drastically. Joe and Goddaughter raised their guns, and Annie silently drew her own weapon as well.

Li Wei, on the other hand, remained calm.

"You mean you're not going to let us leave?"

"Of course, this is my world. Here, I can create anything I want. You can't compete with me."

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, Creed once again revealed a smug smile, but Li Wei simply shrugged.

"Since you put it that way... then there's nothing I can do."

"Hey?"

"roar-----!"

Before Creed could figure out what Levi meant, a roar suddenly rang in his ears. Creed instinctively turned his head and saw a terrifying monster with an enormous body pounce out of the darkness with its blood-red maw open. It bit the Night Demon that Creed had created and tore it to pieces.

"…………"

Creed was stunned by what he saw, and Levi's voice rang in his ears again.

"I forgot to mention, creating things in dreams isn't your privilege."

(End of this chapter)