Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 159 Speed ​​of Life and Death

"Whoosh—!"

The steam whistle sounded.

The train sped through the forest, which had now become a swamp. The trees, submerged by the surging floodwaters, flailing wildly in the howling wind like the claws of monsters.

If it were an ordinary train, it would be helpless in this situation and would only face certain death.

Fortunately, this was not an ordinary train.

At least not now.

A chilling aura, mixed with thick water vapor, spread outwards, covering the trees in its path with a thin layer of white frost. The train sped through the water, its headlights as cold as moonlight. Incredibly, from the outside, the train didn't seem to be running on tracks at all, but rather like a boat floating on the water.

The enormous locomotive, like the bow of a ship, cleaved through the water and moved forward.

Fortunately, no one would be bored enough to look outside the train at this time.

At this moment, the inside of the train was filled with panic.

"Go and gather all the passengers from the second and third class carriages into the salon carriage!"

Li Wei loudly and quickly issued orders to the train conductor and staff, who hurriedly went to carry them out. The passengers in the first-class carriage were also quite uneasy, wondering what had happened.

"What happened?"

"Flash flood".

"Flash flood?"

Of course, Li Wei couldn't tell them that there was something wrong with the forest. Fortunately, it was late at night and no one could see outside, so he began to use his skills inherited from "Approaching Science" to deceive them.

"Due to continuous rainfall, landslides have occurred in the nearby mountains, and mudslides are currently flowing down the slope and rushing towards us. We must leave this place as quickly as possible, otherwise we will be completely buried!"

"What!?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback, and Mrs. Bedric even screamed.

"Then hurry up and run!"

"The train has already increased to its maximum speed, and if all goes well, we should be able to leave the danger zone in about half an hour."

Li Wei glanced at Mrs. Bedric.

"Until then, I want you all to go back to your rooms! Wait patiently! Don't cause trouble! Understand?"

"…………………"

Faced with Li Wei's order, the group exchanged glances, unsure of what to say, but Li Wei paid no heed to their thoughts. He simply straightened his expression and addressed them once more.

"Go back to your room immediately, gather your personal belongings, and then hold onto the railing to secure yourselves in case of a sudden fall and injury. Any other questions?"

This time, everyone obediently followed Li Wei's orders, returned to their rooms, and began packing their things.

"This is really troublesome. We really need to find something for them to do."

After watching the first-class passengers return to their respective rooms, Li Wei sighed, but his expression remained serious.

After transforming the train into a "ghost ship," Li Wei could observe his surroundings through the train itself. Although he couldn't see from the outside, the situation was actually quite dire. The tracks beneath the train were completely entangled and destroyed by vines; it was safe to say that if the train were currently traveling on the tracks, it would be completely immobilized.

The reason the train is still able to run is because of the massive flood caused by the torrential rain. It can be said that this flood prevented the forest from fully displaying its power. Most of the vines and other vegetation were swept away by the raging torrents before they could even take effect.

However, this only fueled the other party's anger. Although Li Wei still didn't know what kind of thing he was facing, he was certain that it clearly didn't intend to let him escape safely.

Alas, it's just a train. If it were a ship—well, it wouldn't matter if it didn't have weapons.

Fortunately, the ghost ship's fog seemed to have the effect of interfering with perception and concealment, so the opponent's attacks missed several times. However, it was clear that this guy hadn't given up. Li Wei had already "seen" outside the car that countless vines, like water snakes, were swimming in the floodwaters, rushing towards the train!
Sure enough, it still doesn't work.

Seeing this, Li Wei's expression turned serious. The reason he had instructed the train conductor to move the passengers from the back carriages to the front was precisely for this purpose. The train was simply too long, with too many carriages, making it vulnerable to attack. Furthermore, the excessive number of carriages also limited the train's speed.

Although Li Wei has now used the core of the ghost ship to transform the train into the form of a ghost train, it still has to abide by the basic laws of physics.

Soon, the train attendants also brought over the passengers in the back carriages. Unlike the people in the first-class carriages, most of the passengers in the back carriages were listless and looked like sheep that had just been woken up from their sleep and hadn't figured out what was going on.

"Has everyone been moved here?"

Li Wei looked at the train conductor, who nodded.

"I'm sure everyone has been moved here!"

"Please make sure no one is missed, and that no children are missing."

In movies like this, when every second counts, the most common plot point is discovering that a child is missing, forcing the protagonist to go back and find the child, and then being forced to escape with the child.

Perhaps the director knows that this kind of plot is annoying, which is why he usually sets the lost character to be a child in such situations. After all, children are young and it's normal that they can't understand human speech, so the audience is more tolerant.

If you were to replace this with an adult, the audience's reaction would probably be "who cares if he dies."

Li Wei felt the same way. What he hated most was when everything was ready, and then a child had to ruin it. There was no plot more disgusting than that.

"Please rest assured, Mr. Li Wei, we have checked everyone's tickets! Nothing has been missed!"

"Alright, get ready. Start cutting off all the luggage cars, beginning with the regular baggage cars!"

"Wait, wait a minute, what are you doing?"

The passengers nearby were also taken aback when they heard Li Wei and the train conductor talking, and they hurriedly shouted.

Our luggage is still in the car!

"It's too late now, we must leave immediately! To speed up the train, we need to cut the carriages apart to reduce its load."

"No, no!"

Upon hearing Li Wei's words, many passengers immediately erupted in anger.

"Are we going to abandon our luggage?"

"My inventions are inside! How do you plan to compensate us?"

"Are you kidding me! Why do we have to abandon our luggage?!"

"That's right, that's right...!"

In an instant, the carriage surged with people, who pushed and shoved towards Li Wei and the train conductor. The train staff, seeing the angry passengers, were also extremely nervous and didn't know what to do.

Faced with the crowd's protests, Li Wei remained silent; he simply raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

"boom----!"

The gunshot rang out, instantly silencing all the arguing. Everyone stared at the gun held high in Li Wei's hand, their mouths agape, but no sound came out.

"If you don't want to give up, you can go and stay with your luggage."

Li Wei put down his gun, looked at the crowd, and spoke.

"After all, the fewer people there are, the lighter the weight, and the faster the speed."

"…………………"

Faced with Li Wei's blatant threat, everyone swallowed hard, and no one dared to say anything more. Although they still didn't know what was happening outside, judging from the current situation, everyone instinctively felt that danger seemed to be approaching...

"Bang—!"

Suddenly, the train jolted violently, as if pulled back by something. Those standing in the carriages had no time to react and tumbled to the floor. "Whoa!"

"Ouch---!"

"what's up?"

Damn it, it still caught me!

Li Wei gripped the railing beside him, gritting his teeth. He could see that the vines had now seized the last third-class carriage of the train and were stretching forward! Although the train had accelerated to its limit, it still couldn't shake off the vines' entanglement!
Hey, you're really getting too big for your britches, aren't you!
Li Wei was also furious at this moment. Of course, if he wanted to get rid of the vines, he could use the [Ghost Ship LV2] spirit transformation skill, but this skill itself is not suitable for frequent use. More importantly, even if he got rid of them once, it didn't mean they wouldn't come back a second time.

Since this guy is so eager to catch me...

"Train conductor!"

"Detective?"

"Is there anything on the train that could easily catch fire or explode?"

Li Wei was also furious and determined to teach the other party a lesson. Of course, his gun alone wouldn't be enough, but if he were even stronger…

"Fire? Explosion? Detective, we don't have anything that dangerous on our train..."

"I have!"

However, just as the train conductor was answering Li Wei's question, a passenger stepped forward. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and looked thin and frail.

"My invention of an ignition device can ignite a house in just a few seconds!"

???

"What's a house on fire!"

At this moment, another inventor got up from the crowd that had fallen flat on its face.

"My invention of a super explosive device can level a building!"

"And me! Combustion is all about duration! My flame burner can keep a flame burning for hours!"

Soon, another fat man got up, panting, and shouted loudly. But soon, yet another person jumped out.

"What's the use of a candle that can only last a few hours! My super fuel can maintain temperatures above 800 degrees Celsius!"

"Range, range is the most important thing! My convergence compression explosive device can limit the explosion range, so even if you stand right behind it, you won't be hurt at all!"

Listening to the cacophony of their arguments, Li Wei felt completely numb. He stared at the group of inventors before him and quietly asked a question.

Where are all your inventions?

"Of course it's in the luggage car!"

"………………………"

Li Wei glanced silently at the train conductor, whose face had turned pale.

This is more dangerous than an armory!
It seems that trains really need to undergo more thorough security checks in the future.

Li Wei had no idea that he had been traveling with an armory for so many days.

"The one who invented fuel, come with me."

Li Wei waved, and the latter chuckled, tilted his head back at the others with a smug look, and then quickly followed Li Wei and the others through the dining car and back to the luggage car.

Where is your fuel?

The baggage car was still in a state of disrepair, with all sorts of luggage scattered everywhere. To be honest, before this, Li Wei hadn't paid any attention to this luggage, but now he knew it wasn't ordinary luggage, but rather various bombs… incendiary bombs… landmines…

Why do so many people like making explosive devices? Is explosion really the romance of men?
"There it is! Detective!"

The inventor pointed to a corner of the luggage compartment, and Li Wei looked in the direction he was pointing. He saw a wooden barrel leaning against the corner of the luggage compartment. From the outside, it looked similar to a wine barrel.

How do you light it?

"Its ignition point is very low, so please rest assured, Detective!"

The inventor was quite proud.

"It will ignite instantly with just the slightest spark! And it contains a specially formulated liquid that I painstakingly crafted, with immense power!"

"………………………"

I am so glad that I was able to survive these past few days safely, it is truly thanks to God's blessing.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Just as Li Wei was internally complaining, suddenly dents appeared in the walls of the carriage, as if something was squeezing the carriage from the outside.

"What? What happened?"

"Oh no, conductor, separate the carriages immediately!"

"Ah, yes, Detective!"

The train conductor realized what was happening and quickly reached out to open the connecting and securing device in the corridor. Soon, the baggage car shook and then quickly separated from the dining car where Li Wei was.

However, just as the baggage car separated from the dining car, Li Wei saw several vines extending along the car like the roots of an old tree, stretching straight towards his car!

"Whoa, what the hell is that?!"

The train conductor and the inventor were dumbfounded as they stared at the thick vines coiled around the carriages, while Levi gritted his teeth and then…

The passage of time began to slow down.

Li Wei loaded an incendiary bomb into the magazine, then raised the Persuader and pointed it at the baggage car that was gradually separating in front of him. He completely ignored the vines that were flying towards him like the long hair of a resentful woman, aimed at the wooden barrel in the corner of the baggage car, and then pulled the trigger.

"Bang-----!"

Then, the passage of time returned to normal.

The bullet whistled through the carriage and hit the unremarkable wooden barrel.

The next moment, something unimaginable happened.

"boom-----!"

Fire shot into the sky.

The dazzling flames transformed into a massive pillar of fire, even tearing through the thick dark clouds and torrential rain, illuminating the surroundings with a bright and dazzling light. The white flames spread in all directions, igniting everything in their path, and the vines that had been tightly coiled around the carriage like pythons were directly burned to ashes in this unparalleled explosion of fire.

Even the mist that clung to the ghost train was dispelled by the intense blast of air, and the entire train began to tremble and shake uncontrollably.

Moreover, under the headlights, the driver could already see the track blocked by the mudslide!
"We're going to crash!"

The driver yelled to close his eyes, instinctively trying to resist the impending impact.

But to everyone's surprise, the train continued to move forward smoothly, without even the slightest sign of hitting anything. When the driver opened his eyes again and cautiously looked ahead, he discovered that the mudslide that had covered the tracks was gone, replaced by a smooth track.

"call……………"

Only then did Li Wei, who was leaning against the wall of the carriage, catch his breath. He then lowered his right hand, retrieved the core of the ghost ship, and looked up again at the rear—where a mushroom cloud of thick smoke rose into the sky and lingered for a long time.

Well... these inventors are inhuman...

(End of this chapter)