Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 163 Mystery
The Steam Machinery Exposition continues until mid-month, and there's so much to see that it can't be done in just a day or two. Levi accompanied Olivia for the first two days, but on the third day they went their separate ways.

Olivia, after all, was the lord of Delicat, and after spending two days with Levi, it was about time she got back to her business. So Levi began to wander around the Steam Machinery Exposition alone, passing the time.

Two days ago, they visited all the exhibition areas of various countries. Today, Li Wei plans to see the creativity of folk inventors. The expo also reserves places for folk inventors from various countries. Of course, those who are qualified to enter the expo are not the group of charlatans outside, but inventors with real skills and genuine talent.

Compared to the conventional national pavilions, these private inventions seem incredibly imaginative, encompassing everything imaginable.

Li Wei also saw some traces of modern civilization here, such as small submersibles that can dive hundreds of meters into the sea, and voice printers that can automatically print text by voice — of course, considering that it takes three seconds for the other party to pronounce a syllable, this thing is just for show for now.

Besides, Li Wei also saw some interesting mechanical dolls. Or rather, robots have been a dream of humankind since ancient times. Of course, unlike modern movies that feature numerous robot invasions and rebellions, scientists and inventors of this era have no concept of robots rebelling against humanity. They design all sorts of robots to replace human jobs.

Of course, the concept of robot research at that time was still very primitive. After looking around, Li Wei found that there really weren't any particularly interesting robots that could pique his interest. Most of the robots on display could only be controlled by mechanisms and gears to perform monotonous, repetitive actions, but they lacked the retrieval and computational capabilities of modern artificial intelligence.

In addition, it's bulky and not lightweight...

So... well, I'm just watching the show.

But in fact, the world has already begun to take the lead in this area. For example, the graphical interface similar to Windows that he saw before was something that scientists were very proud to show everyone.

Li Wei also went closer to take a look, but all he saw was a bunch of very small and intricate gears, as well as levers, pistons, and small cylinders. He didn't understand a word of what the scientists were saying about "increasing rotation speed to improve efficiency," "increasing values ​​through composite calculations," or "wear rate of decimal shafts."

In modern times, everyone knows that the CPU is very important. It has a fast computing speed and can be used to drive a large number of programs.

However, in this era, Li Wei couldn't understand why those mechanical gears and shafts could do things that only CPUs could do. Although he didn't understand the specific principles of CPUs, they should be better than gears and shafts, right? And shouldn't a monitor require a picture tube, wires, and a motherboard?
Forget it, who knows what kind of crazy path science is taking in this world?

Li Wei remarked that this thing looked no different from magic to him, and perhaps it was quite scientific to the people of this world…

"call……………"

After wandering around the exhibits of these private inventors, Levi was already feeling a bit tired. Many of the things there were very interesting, but none of them were particularly useful to him. Perhaps he should go to Iris's exhibit and see if they had any other food-related machines… After all, food is the most important thing in the world.

Moreover, Levi really liked the aerator invented by Ellis, a wonderful gadget that uses carbon dioxide to aerate water, creating bubbles and turning it into sparkling water or carbonated drinks.

I can't believe I'm enjoying carbonated drinks in this day and age!

It's amazing!
Thinking about this, Li Wei felt his mouth watering.

Let's go to the Ellis booth again; maybe they've come up with something good today.

After all, this is all the goals we have in life.

Just as Li Wei made his decision to indulge in a feast at the Ellis exhibit, he witnessed an unexpected scene—a little girl stood bewildered on the street not far away, looking around anxiously. People passed by, but no one glanced at her.

That's rare. Could it be a lost child?

Looking at the little girl, Li Wei reached out and touched his chin. The little girl looked to be about seven or eight years old, dressed in an elegant silk dress, and looked as cute as a porcelain doll. She was clearly from a good family, and it seemed that her parents had brought her to the exhibition.

It has to be said that this is quite rare, since people generally don't bring very young children to these kinds of exhibitions.

Moreover, she didn't have any servants with her?

Judging from the girl's attire, she must be from the upper class. Logically speaking, children of this age should usually be escorted by servants... Well, I'm free anyway, let's go take a look.

So Li Wei walked over to the little girl, looked at her, and said with a smile.

"Hello, lovely lady, how can I help you?"

Hearing Li Wei's voice, the girl turned around. When she saw Li Wei, a look of surprise and astonishment flashed in her eyes. She stared at Li Wei blankly, mouth agape, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Miss? Are you okay?"

Seeing that she didn't react, Li Wei continued to ask. This time, upon hearing Li Wei's question, the girl paused for a moment, then blushed and lowered her head, stammering as she spoke.

"Hello, sir..."

"Hello, miss."

Li Wei took off his hat, squatted down, and looked the girl in the eye.

"You seem a bit troubled here. Would you mind if I asked you what happened?"

“I…I…”

The girl's Imperial language wasn't very good, not fluent, but her pronunciation was clear enough. This suggests she wasn't from the Empire. Given the educational background of that era, a seven or eight-year-old girl learning a foreign language implies her parents were likely high-ranking officials or nobles from some country.

"I...can't find...my mom and dad..."

"You got separated from your parents?"

"Um………"

The girl nodded shyly.

"This place... is very interesting. As I was looking around... I turned around... and my parents were gone..."

really weird.

Upon hearing the girl's story, Li Wei frowned.

Where is the person who took care of you?

"I...I don't know...she was right next to me..."

"Um……………"

Li Wei felt he might be involved in some troublesome matters. It was normal for the adults to be busy with business and not have the energy to pay attention to the children. However, the servants specifically responsible for taking care of the children had all disappeared, which meant that this was likely not as simple as just getting lost. Oh well, he was a detective after all, helping a lost child... wasn't really a problem.

"Shall I take you to the reception area, miss?"

Li Wei made a decision quickly. "I think your parents must be very worried too; they might go to the reception desk to look for you."

The important thing is that the reception office can find out the girl's identity, and once they know her identity, it will be easy to find her parents.

"My name is Li Wei, and I'm a detective. What about you, lovely lady?"

“I, my name is… Anna… I, I am a… lovely young lady.”

The girl didn't know many words, and she obviously wanted to learn from Li Wei and give herself an identity, but after thinking for a long time, she only added this one.

"It's an honor to meet you, Miss Anna."

Li Wei reached out his hand to the girl.

"Then, please allow me to escort you on your way."

"Um………"

The little girl answered in a sweet, childlike voice. She was indeed quite cute, with a touch of baby fat on her face, and her smile was as adorable as a porcelain doll. Then, like a little adult, she placed her tiny hand in Li Wei's.

Then, Li Wei stood up and led the girl toward the reception area.

It was already noon, and the number of people in the expo was decreasing. After all, lunchtime is also a time for business discussions, especially for the groups attending the expo. It's quite normal for them to have lunch with their clients and discuss a big deal.

Li Wei led Anna along at a leisurely pace, then he stopped.

"Miss Anna."

"Yes, what is it?"

Do you recognize those people in front of you?

Li Wei raised his chin and looked ahead. Not far in front of them, several men in blue uniforms were walking towards them.

Or rather, there's someone behind you too.

Li Wei didn't turn around, but in fact, he had already discovered through the puppet bird that someone had been following them.

Moreover, Li Wei knew that these people had just arrived at the expo venue, and that they had headed straight for him as soon as they entered.

really interesting.

"I...I don't know..."

Anna stared wide-eyed at the people in front of her, shaking her head uneasily.

As they were talking, the group of people had already arrived in front of Li Wei, blocking his way and surrounding him and the girl.

They looked like soldiers, imposing and serious. Anna watched them uneasily and hid behind Levi.

"Hello, gentlemen, how may I help you?"

Li Wei paid no attention to the people blocking his way, and simply smiled as he asked.

"Hand over that girl."

The leading man stared at Li Wei without changing his expression. His Imperial English was also very broken, clearly from a foreigner.

"Oh why?"

But Li Wei obviously wouldn't just hand it over like that. If you tell me to hand it over, I'll just do it. Wouldn't that make me lose face?

"What is your relationship with this child?"

"This is none of your business, Imperial."

The man was clearly displeased with Li Wei's question. He obviously mistook Li Wei for a weak and helpless pretty boy, so he didn't bother to say anything more to him. He simply waved his hand, and soon, several other people around him walked over to Li Wei.

Then they stopped.

Because Li Wei pulled out a gun.

"As an imperial citizen, I have the right to do whatever I want on imperial lands."

Li Wei gripped the persuader's hand tightly, staring intently at the man before him.

"If you don't mind talking to me..."

"boom!"

Gunfire rang out.

Li Wei didn't move an inch, while behind him, a man who had tried to pounce on him while he was speaking screamed and fell to the ground. At the same time, Li Wei slightly turned his right hand, pointing the gun at the persuader forward again.

"Negotiations failed?"

The man did not answer; instead, they all pulled out their weapons from their pockets.

Well, it seems the negotiations have indeed failed.

Li Wei sighed silently to himself.

But that's alright, there's obviously more than one way to persuade them.

(End of this chapter)