Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Is Chapter 146 still not finished?
Three days later, Li Wei and his team once again boarded a reconnaissance boat and left the Oren Mountains.

When they went there, there were five of them; when they returned, there were four of them and—a corpse.

Well, Creed is dead, as expected.

Incidentally, when Levi woke up the next morning, he found the massive stone gate had completely collapsed, and Creed was dead in his tent. According to the investigation, Creed likely died from a sudden illness.

Incidentally, everyone except Li Wei has forgotten about that dream.

Finally, by the way, they had actually slept for a day and a night and almost starved to death when they woke up.

Of course, although the others had forgotten those dreams, they still seemed to retain some impressions. Regarding Creed's death, no one seemed particularly panicked, though they were somewhat saddened, after all, he was their comrade. However, as an archaeological team, unexpected events always occurred on their expeditions; being able to return with a complete body was considered quite good for the team.

Of course, Li Wei's expression remained unchanged upon hearing the old professor's lament, but inwardly he was thinking, "What kind of godforsaken places do you guys go to all the time? It's one thing for people to die, but they can't even leave behind a complete corpse..."

Are you really a legitimate archaeological team?

When we get back, I'll talk to Annie and suggest she go somewhere else.

Although these people gained nothing from this trip, Li Wei gained quite a lot.

First, at the last moment, the system still gave Li Wei a mission, which he then completed by killing Creed. As a result, he gained 50 + 50 = 100 days of lifespan.

Well, judging from the reward amount, this task isn't very difficult. In fact, it really isn't that difficult, considering the Goddess of Night gave herself a buff. If this were a game, it would practically be a scripted death.

As the saying goes, only a storm can topple a tree.

Conversely, another reward was quite good: Li Wei received another reward to upgrade his skill level. So he didn't hesitate to upgrade the level of [Puppeteer] again, raising it from LV3 to LV4. Then Li Wei gained the second special ability of [Puppeteer].

Mimicry control!
This ability is actually quite simple. Previously, when Li Wei used the ability of the [Puppeteer] to manipulate other puppets, those puppets would only move when Li Wei was manipulating them; they would not move when he was not manipulating them.

To give an example, Levi most often uses it as a puppet bird for unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. If Levi doesn't operate it, it will just stand blankly on a branch or somewhere, like a dead object.

In fact, it is indeed an inanimate object.

However, with [Mimicry Control], things are different. Even if Li Wei doesn't control the puppet bird, it can hop around on the branches on its own, making movements similar to those of a living bird. Li Wei can even give it some simple commands.

For example, Li Wei could send a puppet bird to scout out a person, and if it found the person, it would notify him. The puppet bird would then take off and automatically head to the search area, and if it found the target, it would immediately notify Li Wei.

In this sense, [Mimicry Control] is equivalent to giving the puppets abilities similar to artificial intelligence, except that they do not think for themselves and still act according to Li Wei's commands.

Besides that, Li Wei's last gain was the Persuader, whose skin had been changed by the Goddess of Night.

As for what this skin is for... Li Wei looked at it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. The system didn't explain either. In short, it does look pretty good, and there doesn't seem to be any difference in other aspects.

Moreover, Li Wei's trip to Mount Oren was quite fruitful.

Although the Goddess of Night hadn't told him many things, Li Wei was certain that, at least for now, there was more than one god acting in this world. Moreover, the Goddess of Night didn't seem to harbor much malice towards humanity. Despite her harsh words at the end, Li Wei felt they were more likely born of anger at him.

After all, when the Goddess of Night appeared before, she seemed to be trying to make him her believer or subordinate. But unexpectedly, Li Wei turned out to be such a lazy person, which left the Goddess of Night speechless. She could only leave after saying something harsh.

However, her behavior had already given Li Wei some reason to speculate.

That is to say, the gods may indeed return, but judging from the attitude of the Goddess of Night, whatever these gods want to do, they are at least not entirely hostile to humanity. At least when the Goddess of Night spoke to Li Wei, she did so in a consultative manner, and even carried a certain divine majesty.

If Li Wei were a person from this era, he might actually have been fooled into bowing down and worshipping her.

Unfortunately, Li Wei was a transmigrator from another world. Even if gods existed, he was mostly curious about them and didn't worship them much.

Not to mention, the Goddess of Night only acted like she was having a casual chat with him in the end, so Li Wei naturally wouldn't be too overly respectful.

After all, judging from the fact that the Goddess of Night changed the skin of her persuader, she must have needed his help. Therefore, Li Wei should strive to take the initiative instead of handing it over to someone else.

As for what the Goddess of Night really wants to do... Li Wei believes she will tell him later.

In Li Wei's view, things had already come to an end. The strange ruins had been destroyed, the Phantom Assassin had been eliminated, and his mission in Melisia was complete. Now, all he had to do was return, rendezvous with the Imperial army, and everyone would return to the Fog City together.

However……………

"What's going on? It's not over yet?"

Back on the airship, Levi stared blankly at Henry after learning about the current battle situation.

"Are the Melicians really that tenacious?"

To be honest, when Li Wei heard this news, he felt like he must have misheard. What kind of international joke was this? With the Imperial army's thunderous attack and their absolute crushing of Melisia, they should at least have secured victory in three days, if not wiped out the entire rebel army.

And you're telling me it's still at a stalemate? "Did they summon some kind of monster?"

"That's not it... If it were that simple, it would be much simpler..."

At this point, Henry sighed, and then Anthony spoke up.

"Actually, it was the commander's order."

"commander?"

"Yes, at the beginning, our imperial army was indeed unstoppable, quickly defeating and capturing several rebel cities. However, the southern cities, led by Noyok, the second largest city, resisted fiercely. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, Commander General Howe decided to negotiate with the rebel leaders and ask them to surrender voluntarily."

"…………………"

The saying goes, "It's not the formidable opponent you should fear, but the incompetent teammate." Li Wei now understood why these two looked so dejected. If it were simply a matter of being outmatched, that would be one thing, but if their commander wouldn't allow them to fight, that was a different story.

"Furthermore, General Howe proposed to the rebel leaders that if they chose to surrender, the Empire might recognize the political status of the Continental Parliament."

"No, isn't he crazy?"

Li Wei was utterly dumbfounded. The Continental Parliament was now considered a rebel organization by the Empire, and you're telling me that the Empire would recognize the political status of these rebels simply because they surrendered?
Indeed, Li Wei admitted that dealing with rebellions required a process of fighting one group and then winning them back. It was impossible to simply wipe out all the Melistians; while such a statement might feel satisfying, it wouldn't benefit the empire.

The problem is, you need to accurately identify your targets for united front work!
Melesia is not without royalists aligned with the empire. Why not use readily available supporters and instead offer benefits to the enemy?

Crazy!

"How could the cabinet send such an idiot?"

"It's not that General Hao is stupid."

Anthony snorted coldly.

"Actually, a few years ago, Noyok City built a monument for General Howe's brother who died in the battle of Melicia, so General Howe still had some goodwill towards Noyok City."

"Not only that, there are also military issues."

Henry was clearly unwilling to get involved in these complicated political matters and quickly changed the subject.

"The problem now is that the main force of the rebels has hidden themselves in the Blaise Mountains outside Noyok. They are numerous and hidden in the dense forests of the Blaise Mountains. Even with reconnaissance boats, we have no way of knowing exactly how many troops are in the Blaise Mountains or where they are hiding. Therefore, the general cannot act rashly."

At this point, Anthony immediately chimed in.

"Of course, I admit that's one reason. After all, the Imperial army is seen as invincible and unbreakable by the Melesians. If a battle were to break out in the Blaise Mountains and the Imperial army suffered heavy losses as a result, even if they were to win in the end, it would be a net loss."

"Hmm, that reason is more plausible."

Li Wei nodded. Indeed, the most important thing for the Empire now was not to win, but to win decisively. However, guerrilla warfare in the dense mountains had largely neutralized the Empire's military advantage. No matter what airships or heavily armed soldiers the Empire possessed, they had few effective countermeasures against the dense forests and rugged terrain.

If the Imperial army suffers heavy losses here, the Melesians will surely become restless. If the entire Melesian rebel force were to flee into the forest and wage guerrilla warfare, the Imperial army would be completely helpless.

From a military perspective, Li Wei understood why General Howe made this decision. If there was no way to deal with the rebels stationed in the Blaise Mountains, then the Empire would either risk being bitten by them and go into the mountains, or choose to force them to agree at the negotiating table.

No wonder General Hao was able to propose such outrageous peace terms.

"So the rebels agreed?"

"Of course they won't agree."

That's true. The rebels aren't stupid. Even if General Howe says the Empire will recognize the Continental Congress, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll let them go. They could easily find a pretext to arrest them and execute them all. The rebels also know that their deterrent power lies in the army in the Blaise Mountains. If they choose to surrender and withdraw that army, then the Empire will be able to run rampant throughout Melisia.

"So, as long as we find and eliminate the army hiding in the Blaise Mountains, the rebels will be completely finished?"

Levi quickly came to a conclusion, and Henry nodded in agreement.

"That's right."

"OK then."

Li Wei thought about it for a moment and then made a decision.

"Give me a reconnaissance boat, and I'll go scout out the Blaise Mountains."

Then, he spoke.

(End of this chapter)