Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 174: Unparalleled

The elevators in the Rune mine are different from those elsewhere.

Instead of a single elevator shaft leading directly to the bottom, they are arranged sequentially. This is because the Rune Mine deepens as you dig, and it's impractical to connect elevators while digging. Therefore, each elevator shaft typically handles several dozen floors, and then a track connects to another elevator shaft.
Of course, elevators aren't for everyone. Unlike freight trains, elevators have very limited load-bearing capacity, so they are only allowed to be used by the actual controllers on each floor. This means that the location of the elevator is the safest place on each floor.

Conversely, if the area where the elevator is located is destroyed, then this floor will basically be... well, the outcome is predictable.

"Clang, clang, clang."

Standing in the narrow elevator, Li Wei stared at the bottomless mine below. Even with searchlights illuminating the surroundings as bright as day, the bottom of the mine still felt pitch black. It was as if a thick shadow blocked the top of the mine, and no matter how bright the light, it could not penetrate that darkness.

In the mine tunnels on both sides, Li Wei saw many people, mostly miners. They stood there blankly, like the living dead. Some were hugging each other and crying, while others reached out to Li Wei in despair, as if yearning for something.

It was like hell on earth.

But this is still considered good, since there are still living people here no matter what.

But as you go further down the path, the situation changes completely.

There wasn't a single person in sight, only the sound of the elevator echoing in the deathly silent mine. Then, attracted by the sound of the elevator, the zombies, just like in movies and games, let out low, beast-like howls, and then continued to pound on the noisy elevator, launching an attack.

They were like wild beasts that had completely lost their senses, rushing towards the elevator from which the sound came. Li Wei even saw many zombies climb over the railing and then tumble down, quickly turning into small dots and disappearing into the darkness.

This thing is way too deep!
Li Wei glanced at his watch silently. Including the transfer orbit, they had been descending for more than half an hour, but it felt like they weren't even halfway there yet.
Bored, let's do some math problems. Given that the elevator's speed is 35 meters per minute, and considering the Rune Mine is 3,000 meters deep, how much would that be...?

"………………………"

Is this the power of a depth of three thousand meters?

After all, 3,000 meters is actually incredibly deep!

Are you kidding me? This is the first time I've ever been in an elevator for so long... Of course, unlike modern elevators, the elevators in this era are very slow, which is also one of the reasons. Not to mention that they automatically switch to the adjacent elevator shaft track after a while, instead of going straight down.

"………………………"

Li Wei looked around.

If I can't help relieving myself here later, no one should see me, right?

"Oh oh oh—!"

Suddenly, a roar came from above. Li Wei looked up and saw several zombies waving their arms and legs as they fell down from the elevator shaft, crashing directly towards him!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

In the blink of an eye, the zombies slammed heavily onto the top of the elevator like stones. The elevator was overwhelmed and emitted a piercing groan before breaking free of its shackles and cables and sliding down the elevator shaft.

Then it simply vanished into the dark abyss.

"Bang---"

After a long while, a heavy impact sound came from the bottom of the pit.

"Phew... Luckily I was quick enough."

Li Wei peeked out, looked down, and then pulled his head back in. Just as the zombies were falling, Li Wei realized something was wrong, so he quickly used [Teleportation] to switch places with the puppet bird that had been scouting nearby, teleporting himself to the elevator entrance on this floor.

As for the puppet bird, it can simply fly back through the gap in the elevator on its own.

Li Wei straightened his clothes and then walked to the elevator entrance. There was blood everywhere, but no bodies could be seen.

Only the gates sealing the elevator entrance show large and small bloody handprints. How to put it... even without seeing the corpses, these marks alone are enough to imagine the despair and helplessness of the residents on this floor when they were driven to their limit by the zombies and instinctively tried to leave through the elevator entrance.

Li Wei withdrew his gaze from the bloody handprints, then reached out and picked up the microphone from the communicator next to him. Soon, Elizabeth's voice came from the other end.

"Mr. Li Wei? Are you alright? I just heard that the elevator malfunctioned?"

"Thank goodness? A group of undead fell down and damaged the elevator, but I escaped before it crashed."

"That's good. Which floor are you on now?"

"Sixty-five floors."

Li Wei glanced at the numbers engraved next to him and answered casually.

Are there any survivors?

"It has completely fallen."

"Is that so...?"

Elizabeth's voice sounded somewhat dejected upon hearing Li Wei's reply.

"It seems the losses are more severe than we imagined... What are your plans now? Do you want to get them back?"

"Do not."

Li Wei shook his head.

"I will keep going. I've come all this way, I can't let it be for nothing."

"Please be sure to stay in touch with me and report any news immediately."

"OK, all right."

As Li Wei spoke, he casually hung up the phone and turned to look ahead again. At the same time, from the depths of the dark passage before him, a series of "woof woof woof" cries echoed once more. Simultaneously, figures swaying from side to side appeared in the light. So they heard the commotion and came running after us?

Li Wei stared at the zombie in front of him and raised an eyebrow.

Normally, he would have run away immediately, since firing a gun in a mine like this would only attract more monsters.

But now... well, who told me to draw something good?

Li Wei stretched out his right hand and grabbed at the void.

The next moment, a pitch-black coffin appeared out of thin air and landed heavily on the ground.

Then, the coffin lid creaked open, and a beautiful doll stepped out.

It looks like a beautiful young girl with long black hair and eyes, wearing a gorgeous black lace cloak.

However, as the cloak was lifted, one could see the ball joints flashing between the black cuffs and the obvious gaps between the fingers—yes, it was a doll.

The puppet, resembling a dark grim reaper, slowly emerged from the coffin and reached out—drawing a gleaming, sharp scythe from its cloak.

"Come, let me see..."

At the same time, Li Wei leaned against the wall next to him and shook his hands.

"WASD: Up, Down, Left, Right; Space: Jump, Dodge; Left-click: Light Attack; Right-click: Heavy Attack; SHIFT: Speed ​​Up; CTRL: Crouch; QER: Skills... Alright, let's go!"

With Li Wei's command, the Death Puppet, scythe in hand, raised its head and stared at the approaching zombies.

Then, it leaped into the air, a flash of cold light in its eyes, and sped forward!

That's right, this is the golden equipment Li Wei obtained from opening the treasure chest: a real humanoid doll!

Oh dear, Li Wei has always wanted one, but he just didn't have anywhere to put it, and unlike the dog doll and bird doll, it can't be transformed and carried around. Now it's great, this thing is like his own clothes, stored directly in the system, and he can take it out when he needs it.

As for whether this thing works well or not, you'll find out once you try it!

"Suffer to death!"

It turns out that this is indeed very fun... no, very useful.

Li Wei is now completely immersed in a game called "Mine Warriors," manipulating his puppets to wield scythes and use various skills to kill the enemies that pounce on him. The zombies, on the other hand, are like soldiers in a Dynasty Warriors game, mercilessly harvested by the Death Puppet's scythe like wheat, swept away in droves.

"Light + Light + Light + Heavy... Light + Light + Light + Heavy..."

Leaning against the wall, Li Wei was completely absorbed in the game, almost unable to tear himself away. After all, judging from the system interface, it really did resemble a game. Moreover, Li Wei hadn't played games in a long time since arriving in this world, and he was itching to play. Right now, he could play anything, even Tetris, for a whole day, let alone Dynasty Warriors!
Unfortunately, this isn't a game, which means that zombies that are killed won't drop health packs, weapons, or experience points...

But who cares, as long as I have fun!

The next step is much simpler.

Li Wei manipulated the Death Puppet, fighting his way through the zombies. Upon reaching the entrance to the next level, he used his [Teleportation] ability to swap places with whatever the puppet threw out, then repeated the process on the next level. In short, with the Death Puppet around, Li Wei wasn't afraid of being stopped by the zombies.

It's definitely slower than taking an elevator, but at least you can have fun, right?
By the way, the situation gets worse the further down you go. On the upper floors, you can still see some corpses that have been eaten, but the further down you go, the more zombies there are... But for Li Wei, it doesn't matter.

Aside from the sheer number, they are just ordinary zombies, which the Imperial army could easily wipe out if they were willing to put in the effort.

The problem is that there's no way to resist infectious viruses... From this perspective, it's actually a good thing that the doll doesn't have to worry about this.

And so Li Wei played and played, and then…

"This is it."

Looking at the tracks before him, Li Wei's expression turned serious. What appeared before Li Wei this time was a wrecked train that looked like it had been destroyed. Several claw marks remained on the carriages, and on the ground were the remains of several bodies torn to pieces. Judging from their clothing, they should be the reconnaissance team that had been sent here before.

Unfortunately, they are now completely wiped out.

Eighty-first floor...

Li Wei checked the location, then looked again at the enormous claw marks on the train carriage and squinted.

This is not something an ordinary wild animal would do.

Could it be some kind of mutant monster?

Li Wei manipulated the Death Puppet with one hand and gripped the Persuader tightly with the other, looking around.

The underground mine tunnels were larger than expected, almost large enough for three people to walk side by side. There were signs of reinforcement everywhere. Right now, there was nothing to see except blood and dismembered bodies.

But just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

The Death Puppet gripped its scythe, slowly walked forward, and entered the tunnel.

"Click, click, click..."

The sound of joint movement wasn't loud, but it was incredibly clear in the deathly silent tunnel.

Just as the Grim Reaper doll was about to reach the corner of the intersection, at that very moment...

"boom!"

A giant claw pierced through the ceiling and grabbed at the Grim Reaper doll!

(End of this chapter)