Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 169: Breakthrough
The speed of Cerberus far exceeded expectations. When it started moving, Li Weizhi, who was sitting on its back, felt a blur before his eyes. The next moment, he found that he and the others had left their original spot and arrived at the entrance of the central data tower.

Even more incredibly, despite the incredible speed and the oncoming airflow, Li Wei remained perfectly still on the Cerberus, showing no signs of being thrown off or swaying.

Where did the inertia go?
Well… ask magic about that.

"What it is!?"

Just as Li Wei was mourning the laws of physics in this world, the thugs at the gate also saw the three-headed hellhound charging straight at them, and immediately screamed in terror.

"Monster! Monster!"

"Shut up! Stop it!"

To ordinary people, Cerberus is indeed a strange creature, or even a monster.

But that's just how it is; the public is "ignorant." A dog with three heads, and a bit too big, isn't that strange, right?

However, this is not the case for Luddites.

They were very familiar with those ancient and mysterious legends, and that's why, when the three-headed hound transformed into black lightning and charged towards them, those mythical tales immediately flashed into their minds: the three-headed, jet-black hellhound roaring as it emerged from the shadows, dragging its prey into the eternally burning fires of hell…

"What are you all standing there for! Stop it!!"

At the thug's command, two massive engineering mechs swiftly turned, attempting to block Cerberus's path. These engineering mechs, a towering wall against humans, were like two cardboard boxes to Cerberus. Facing the mechs blocking its way, Cerberus simply extended its front paw and swung it forward!
The sturdy steel mech, strong enough to withstand bullets, was torn apart by the Cerberus's claws. The thick steel plates emitted a piercing wail as they were easily folded, torn apart, and in the blink of an eye, they became scattered debris that flew backward.

It then landed heavily.

"Boom!!"

The wreckage of the mecha, which was two or three meters tall, spun and crashed to the ground, causing the surrounding thugs to tremble. Just imagining what would happen if such a thing hit them was enough to make most people's legs go weak.

Unfortunately, most of the people here are ordinary people.

"Roar------"

Easily clearing the way at the entrance, Cerberus strode confidently through the gate. The thugs were now practically paralyzed with fear, trembling on the ground. Li Wei glanced at them and noticed they were all wearing blue uniforms, similar to those of janitors. Clearly, this was their guise for entering the central data tower.

I just don't know whether they snuck in or were already working here.

After all, the caveman had said that there were far more of their companions in this city than they had expected…

"Da da da da da!"

Almost at the same time, accompanied by hurried footsteps, the police rushed in.

"Arrest all of these guys!"

At the command of the lead officer, the other police officers quickly moved forward and apprehended all the rioters who were paralyzed with fear or had not yet had a chance to resist.

These officers did a good job.

Seeing this, Li Wei was somewhat surprised. He had originally thought that even if these policemen dared to come in, they would only do so after he and the others had left. He hadn't expected them to be so fearless. Although the policemen carefully avoided the three-headed dog, they didn't seem to be afraid of it at all.

Completely different from those guys who were so scared they collapsed to the ground, trembling like sieves.

Are these the ordinary people of this era?
Li Wei glanced at the police officers, somewhat surprised. It seemed that the people in this world were indeed different from those in his own.

Perhaps this is a cultural difference?
But no matter what, this is a good thing.

"Alright, so... which way should we go next?"

Li Wei stared dumbfounded at the network of passageways before him. Most buildings have two or three passageways, either left or right, or left, center, and right, but this place had a whopping six, like a clock face.

"Left, the third one from the left..."

Just then, Qi Ya's voice came from beside Li Wei. She seemed to have just come back to her senses from riding the terrifying three-headed dog, and spoke with a pale face.

"I... I've been here a few times before, responsible for adjusting the data transmission in the central data tower... I know this place fairly well..."

"Then your trip wasn't in vain. Let's go."

"Little Black, the third one from the left!"

Olivia gave the order, and then the hellhound howled and charged into the third passage on the left.

but………

"Well, it's really spectacular."

"Yes."

As they walked into the passage and looked at both sides, Levi and Olivia couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

The so-called passage is actually more than just a passage; it's more like a long bridge. On both sides of the bridge, you can see thick, huge metal poles standing there. On these poles, countless metal gears are layered on top of each other. The initial gears are only of ordinary size, but they get bigger as you go further in. Moreover, each gear is engraved with numbers from 0 to 9.

Walking through the passageway, looking to both sides, all I could see were countless gears, slowly turning incessantly, and numbers bouncing and spinning on them.

So magnificent, so glorious, it is simply a crystallization of human wisdom and human power.

As if sensing its master's feelings, the three-headed dog slowed its pace, allowing the two to immerse themselves in this unparalleled world of gears.

But the shock only lasted for a moment; the next instant, the three-headed dog continued its galloping forward.

"left!"

"The second one from the right!"

"middle!"

The internal passages of the entire central data tower were like a maze. Whether it was to prevent intruders or for some other reason, without Qi Ya's guidance, Levi and Olivia wouldn't have been able to tell which way was which. Anyway, they just followed Qi Ya's instructions, adjusting their direction again and again, and then... when they passed through the passages once more, what appeared before the three of them was a huge room that had been occupied by thugs.

Unlike the other rooms, this room was very empty, with only something resembling a mechanical device standing in the middle, and several thugs guarding the surrounding area.

"This is the First Computing Room!"

"Olivia!"

"Little black!"

"Wang!"

The three-headed dog charged in, lunging straight at the thugs. The thugs were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the three-headed dog. However, unlike the men at the entrance, the thugs inside seemed to have some courage; they raised their weapons and attempted to attack the three-headed dog.

At that moment, Levi and Olivia jumped off the three-headed dog, one on each side, and launched an attack on the thugs. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Li Wei raised the Persuader in his hand and launched a merciless attack on the thugs in front of him. As the gunshot rang out, the heads of several thugs surrounding the machine exploded. On the other side, Olivia also raised her right hand the moment she landed. The thugs who rushed over suddenly stiffened as she moved and then fell to the ground.

And in their necks were small, gleaming silver knives.

Compared to Levi and Olivia, the three-headed dog's attack was less brutal. It simply roared, stretched out its claws to knock away the thugs blocking its way, and then roared again, instantly scaring away the thugs surrounding it.

This was also the result of Levi and Olivia's discussion. Although Cerberus was strong enough to devour all these thugs without much effort, they were, after all, just mortals. It would be one thing if they encountered a werewolf monster like Dericat, but there was no need for Cerberus to go all out against mere mortals.

Of course, there are political considerations involved. Li Wei can shoot someone's head off without hesitation, and Olivia can turn thugs into corpses with a knife, but if Cerberus tears these thugs apart and eats them, it gives a completely different impression.

While Her Majesty the Queen may not mind revealing a part of the mystery, it's not good if the mystery is always associated with dismembered bodies or internal organs, right?

Olivia agreed, as she didn't want Little Black to be seen as a man-eating monster.

The final result was that Cerberus acted as the tank to draw aggro, while Levi and Olivia took the opportunity to deal damage.

As for Qi Ya... just don't get in the way.

As it turned out, Li Wei's plan was very successful.

Clearly, it's difficult for someone to remain calm when they see a gigantic, three-headed monster lurking in front of them, let alone care about other dangers. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Levi and Olivia quickly cleared out the surrounding thugs and then took the trembling Kia from the three-headed dog's back.

"Knot, is it over?"

Stepping off the three-headed dog, Qi Ya looked around at the fallen thugs with fear and trepidation. She was, after all, just a child, and had hardly ever participated in combat. The constant gunfire and shouts she had just heard had terrified her so much that her legs went weak.

"Not yet, but please hurry, we don't know how to use this thing."

Li Wei stood in front of the mechanical calculator, looking at the instrument with a helpless expression. The thing did indeed resemble the shoulder of a computer, with numbers and letters, and the black punch card was indeed inserted into the card reader next to it, being read with a "click-click" sound. The levers and gears around it were also turning, driving the entire machine to perform calculations upwards.

The thought that such a small thing could ultimately drive a shaft and gears as large as a tower is truly ingenious.

"What should we do now? Just pull this thing out?"

Please, please don't do that!

Once she entered her area of ​​expertise, Qi Ya, who had been feeling dizzy, immediately snapped out of it and rushed to the control panel.

"Although these punch cards are intended to disrupt calculations, their programs still follow a certain logical order. If you forcibly disrupt them and input incomplete programs, things may become even more uncontrollable!"

At this moment, Qi Ya was completely different from her previous timid self. She stared at the control panel with her eyes wide open, and her two little hands reached out to the keyboard, pressing the keys rapidly.

"Get out of the way!"

"………………………"

Li Wei shrugged and took two steps back, at which point Olivia curiously walked over.

"This young lady seems a little different from before?"

"Perhaps all experts are like this; they seem like completely different people when they enter their own field of expertise."

"This... young lady, are you really capable?"

"Is all we can do is pray she'll make it? Or should you do it?"

"I don't understand this either."

Olivia shook her head, looking at Kia who was engrossed in her work.

"It seems that doing all this in the Delicat region is really troublesome and requires a lot of talent..."

"That's right, talent is the most important thing no matter where you are. But be careful, character is also very important. Like the mess we're in now, it was caused by a researcher from a national research institute."

"It's unimaginable that one person could cause such destruction to the Steel City... I used to only see dragons in fairy tales destroying villages and turning cities into a sea of ​​fire..."

Olivia looked at Kia, who was busy with her back to her and seemingly oblivious to their conversation, with surprise, and couldn't help but sigh.

"It is indeed quite unimaginable."

Li Wei nodded. In their time, hackers could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to a multinational corporation or disrupt the operation of a city with just one person. In short, the more information-driven the era, the more unavoidable this becomes.

Although Levi doesn't remember when the first hacker and computer virus of his time appeared in public, at least through this attack, the Empire should understand the importance of data security.

As for how they'll solve it... this thing doesn't look like it can install a firewall, who knows?
"Okay!"

Just then, a joyful cheer suddenly came from ahead. Hearing this, Levi and Olivia perked up and hurriedly looked ahead…

"Click, click, click."

The gears are still turning, and they seem unchanged.

The only difference was that the punch card, which had been swallowed, was now being slowly ejected. Kia carefully retrieved the punch card, then excitedly turned around and approached Levi and Olivia.

"Mr. Li Wei! I did it!"

"Indeed, how did you do that?"

"Hey hey hey."

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, Qi Ya stuck out her tongue with a grin.

“When I analyzed the card we obtained earlier, I discovered that it was input in chronological order. Of course, all current difference machine programs operate this way; the time must be read and allocated to allow for sequential calculations. Therefore, I reversed this process, restoring the time to before the previous storage node… This forces the entire calculation process to reverse…”

As she spoke, Qi Ya also showed a hint of sadness.

"Of course, this will also damage the difference engine..."

"In any case, now that the problem can be solved, that's enough."

Whether the Steel City's difference engine needed repair was completely outside of Levi's concern, and Olivia cared even less.

Li Wei reached out and patted Qi Ya's head.

"Let's continue!"

(End of this chapter)