Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 167 Danger Arrives
The warehouse was quiet.

Li Wei stepped forward and untied the old doctor, nodding at the girl slumped on the ground beside him. The girl stared at him in disbelief, unsure of what to say.

"How do you know..."

“I guess you want to know why I’m here. The reason is simple, and I have my own methods. When I asked Anthony to call the police, I knew that someone on the other side would definitely tip me off. All I had to do was find that person and then follow him.”

Li Wei glanced around at the ground; the attackers were now lying on the ground, their bodies reduced to corpses.

"Furthermore, I also know that the research on that punch card actually has nothing to do with Dr. Tester, but was handled by you, Miss Qiya. If I were to make a bold guess, the card isn't actually on Dr. Tester, but on you, right?"

"How did you know?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Ya stared at him in disbelief, as shocked as a squirrel who had discovered that its food supplies had been stolen.

"It's very simple, you told me yourself."

"Me? I never said that..."

"you said so."

Li Wei waved his finger.

“When I asked you before, you complained that the card had damaged your differential, remember? You also said that it would take a lot of time to reset it.”

"ah…………………"

"Furthermore, you seem far too familiar with this card. If it were Dr. Tester who was researching it, you shouldn't know so much detail, and it shouldn't be your difference engine that was damaged... Am I right, Dr. Tester?"

After untying the last rope, Li Wei smiled and looked at the old man, asking him a question. The old man also gave a wry smile.

"Truly worthy of being called a famous detective."

“It’s just a very ordinary deduction, but we can’t stay here any longer. To be honest, Miss Qiya, I’m really curious how you managed to get this thing here…”

Li Wei looked at the steam-powered mech not far away with a complicated expression. He had to admit that Qi Ya's appearance was indeed a surprise to him. He never expected that this little girl would have such abilities.

"I... I used the supply transport route..."

Qi Ya explained somewhat embarrassedly, after all, she had acted impulsively and driven that thing away from home; she didn't know what she was thinking...

"Alright, let's go back and discuss the details."

As he spoke, Li Wei urged the two to return to the mecha immediately. Although it was just an ordinary engineering mecha, it was modified from the Hound-class and could comfortably carry two or three people. Soon, the three of them returned to the mecha. Li Wei and the old man each found a seat and fastened their seatbelts.

"If possible, Miss Qiya, please take me to the Central Data Tower first. According to the information I just gathered, those thugs will be attacking the Central Data Tower soon."

"what?"

Qi Ya, who had just sat in the driver's seat, almost jumped up before she even got comfortable in the seat.

"Are they going to attack the central data tower?"

“That’s absolutely right. Their leader just told me that himself.”

The old doctor nodded solemnly.

"Moreover, because of our attack, they might launch their attack earlier after they realize they can't make contact. We must get to the central data tower as quickly as possible to warn them to prepare for defense."

"But, but they don't have this card, do they?"

“I heard there are four cards in total, three of which have already been delivered, and the one we have is the last one.”

[Unconscious Control] This ability is really useful. Li Wei was just wandering around the warehouse when he overheard a bunch of useful information.

"Indeed, there are four large differential machines in the central data tower that integrate data from the Subaru region..."

With nimble hands and feet, Qi Ya maneuvered the mecha. The massive steel behemoth quickly turned around, sped away from the warehouse, and raced forward along the road.

"That explains the data interface on the punch card, but an incomplete program can't function properly, right? Based on my previous analysis, the punch card we have is the key. Without it, even if they insert the other three, the damage would be quite limited..."

“They are Luddites, Miss Qiya.”

Li Wei interrupted Qi Ya.

"What scientific principles can you expect from those guys who dream of pumpkin carriages and white horses all day long? All they need to know is that inserting a black card into a card reader can destroy the entire Steel City."

"But, but..."

Faced with Li Wei's answer, Qi Ya was speechless for a moment.

"But at least they should find someone who knows what they're doing, right? This kind of plan couldn't have come up with by Luddites."

"There was indeed someone knowledgeable, but unfortunately he's dead."

"died?"

"That's right, he was killed by a robber."

Li Wei was speechless at this point. He now understood that the reason that guy insisted on carrying the last card with him was to prevent the other party from going back on their word later. And the programming of the difference machine punch card was something that those Luddites who counted less than a hundred would definitely not understand. This meant that before the plan succeeded, that guy should have been safe... well, that's what he should have been.

But now... the experts are all dead, and the remaining group is like headless flies, but we can't just cancel the plan because of that, can we?
What else can we do? We'll just have to bite the bullet and go for it.

As for why the other party didn't send him a bodyguard... who knows? Maybe they thought first class would be safe enough?

Indeed, first class is generally very safe. This isn't some lawless place like Melicia; it's impossible for someone to rob a train halfway through its journey.

Who would have thought a train conductor would rob and murder someone? Hahaha, right? It's not like a detective novel, hahaha...

Anyway, it's not me who's going to be cursing.

Li Wei was certain that when the contact here learned that the unfortunate fellow had died, he had probably already cursed him to the skies.

"...I never expected such a thing to happen..."

At this moment, Qi Ya also piloted her mecha onto the cargo platform heading to the upper data tower platform. Levi, bored, told them this story as a joke. After listening to Levi's story, the old doctor and Qi Ya were speechless. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen... However, for those Luddites, it was not as simple as a joke.

"Anything strange and wonderful can happen in this world, at least to me..."

Li Wei shrugged, wanting to say something more, but at that moment, there was a loud "bang," and the cargo platform that was rising suddenly stopped.

“…What happened?”

The old doctor looked around, and Qi Ya also looked surprised.

"The elevator is malfunctioning? At this time...?"

"I don't think so... Be careful and grab the outer wall!"

No sooner said than done, before Li Wei could finish speaking, the cargo platform beneath the mecha suddenly plummeted downwards. Fortunately, almost at the same moment, Qi Ya maneuvered the mecha and leaped off the cargo platform, her two steel claws gripping the wall tightly, thus avoiding the fate of falling with the platform.

The latter slid down the track, and a dull thud was heard moments later.

Without even looking, you can tell it's been smashed into eight pieces.

"What exactly happened? An accident?" "Perhaps it's more than just an accident."

Li Wei peered through the observation hole and heard faint, muffled impacts in the distance, perhaps even screams…

"Anyway, let's get up there as soon as possible!"

This time, without Li Wei's prompting, Qi Ya knew what to do. She carefully operated the mecha, using its four large claws to climb the wall, skillfully and quickly climbing upwards.

This was clearly not an easy task. It took Li Wei and his team quite a while to finally climb to the top unloading platform. By this time, the mech had become extremely fragile. After all, it was only meant for moving cargo, not designed for climbing walls. It was like a person trying to operate an excavator with four arms to climb a wall.

I can climb it, but what would it be like at the top...?

"clang!"

As the mech climbed onto the unloading platform, another arm, unable to withstand the strain, detached and fell to the ground. At that moment, several police officers quickly rushed up, raised their weapons, and surrounded the mech.

"Everyone inside, get out immediately! Don't make any rash moves!"

"We are not enemies."

Li Wei opened the hatch, stood up, nodded to the crowd, and then jumped down.

"I'm Detective Levi. What happened here?"

"The central data tower has been attacked!"

At that moment, a familiar voice came from the crowd. Li Wei turned his head and saw Anthony panting as he squeezed out from among the police and waved to the others next to him.

"Put down your weapons!"

Upon hearing Anthony's words, the police hesitated for a moment before putting down their weapons. Levi glanced at Dr. Tester and Qiya, who were carefully disembarking from their mechs not far away, then turned his gaze back to Anthony's side.

"What's going on? Didn't you go and warn the governor?"

After discovering Dr. Tester's disappearance, Levi and Anthony split up: Levi went to find Dr. Tester, while Anthony was tasked with warning the governor of the potential threat.

"I'm going."

"and then?"

"The governor didn't believe it at first."

Anthony looked around and shrugged helplessly.

The subtext is clear: he has no choice but to believe it now.

"what's the situation?"

"I persuaded the governor to send men to strengthen the defenses of the central data tower, but before we even entered, the workers inside rioted."

"riot?"

"Yes, they've sealed off the gates and even brought out weapons. Right now, only the security personnel inside the central data tower are putting up a resistance, but with little success..."

Have you contacted reinforcements?

"Communications are in complete disarray. My call to the governor was redirected directly to the restaurant... and it seems there are also problems with transportation..."

"Yeah, the cargo platform we just came up on fell down. It seems this thing is more powerful than we thought."

Li Wei turned his head and looked around. He could see that the entire Steel City was filled with flames and thick smoke. Clearly, it wasn't just the elevator platform that was out of control; there might also be problems with things like the subway that were connected to the differential machine.

"Didn't you find that card?"

"The card wasn't lost, but there was more than one."

Li Wei told Anthony about the results of his investigation in the warehouse, and the latter's expression changed.

"So, that thing has four copies in total?"

"Yes, Miss Qiya said that our card is the core card. Although the other three cards can also have some impact on the Central Data Tower, it shouldn't be significant."

"You call this small?"

Anthony stared wide-eyed at the scene in the distance that looked like the end of the world.

"What would be considered 'big'? Like blowing the entire city into the sky?"

"There's no use in telling me this. The most important thing now is to get into the central data tower and deal with those cards before they become fully effective."

Li Wei's only consolation was that the calculation method of the difference engine in this era was very "physical." That is to say, the transfer of each number would physically rotate the gear representing that number to a designated position before the operation and calculation of the next number would begin. This meant that they still had enough time to deal with these troubles.

If this were the electronic age, we would be doomed.

"This is not easy. Those rioters can also operate mechs. They have taken control of several internal maintenance mechs and blocked the main roads. With the weapons we have, we can't do anything to them."

As he spoke, Anthony pointed ahead. Li Wei looked and saw a group of police officers who had set up cover with vehicles and wooden crates in front of the central data tower and were firing at the gate. Inside the gate, several mechs were trying to stop the police from advancing. They were unarmed, but their huge mechanical claws were powerful enough.

"This is indeed a problem..."

Faced with this enormous mech, Li Wei had no good solutions, and just then, another familiar voice came from behind him.

"It seems you need help, Mr. Levi?"

"Miss Olivia? What are you doing here?"

Levi was somewhat surprised to see Olivia appear, while the latter smiled slightly.

"I was planning to come here to settle my final financial accounts, but I didn't expect to run into these little troubles..."

Her eyes darted to the front door.

"If you need help, I think I can help."

"you sure?"

Li Wei glanced at the little puppy peeking out from Olivia's arms and knew exactly what she was up to.

"Is this alright?"

"Of course, Her Majesty the Queen has given permission and hopes that my family and I will contribute our strength when the Empire is threatened."

As she spoke, Olivia patted the puppy's head.

"Moreover, if things go smoothly, I might be able to do Governor Bisparu a favor. After all, building connections is very important to me."

"That's true."

Levi wasn't surprised. Olivia was now the lord of Delicat, and she definitely needed to build her own network of connections. Offering a favor to the governor of Bisparu wouldn't hurt her.

"Then I'll have to trouble you for a favor."

(End of this chapter)