Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 176 Under the Darkness
The bottom of the pit was far darker than I had imagined.

Even the blinding searchlights above couldn't penetrate this darkness. Looking around, Li Wei could only see hazy, shadowy figures all around him.

Fortunately, Li Wei was prepared. He reached out and turned on the gas lamp at his waist. Soon, the dim light illuminated the darkness around him. Whether it was his imagination or not, the moment the light came on, Li Wei felt as if the darkness in front of him seemed to recede backward, spreading out like ripples.

"…………………"

Illusion?
Forget it, let's just consider it an illusion.

What else could we do? Draw our guns and shoot?

Li Wei composed himself and carefully observed his surroundings.

Compared to the previous scene strewn with corpses, this place was much cleaner. Apart from the zombies that had fallen from above, there were no other bodies around. This was understandable, given that this was the earliest source of infection, and the sick people had undoubtedly gone back to rest. The only things around were excavated earth and some equipment used for digging and transporting.

Well... it looks pretty ordinary.

To be honest, standing at the bottom, looking at the piles of earth, the shovels and other tools piled up beside it, and the machinery not far away, it just felt like an ordinary construction site with nothing strange about it.

But the thought that this 3,000-meter-deep pit was dug out by tens of thousands of people over decades...

This is a real-life version of the story of Yu Gong moving mountains.

Although he wasn't born and raised in the empire, Li Wei had to admit that the empire was truly formidable!

A pit three thousand meters deep! If this were a mountain, it would have been completely flattened!
No wonder the people of the empire look down on others. Other countries can't do this, but they can, that's awesome!
No wonder other countries look at the Empire like it's a dragon. If the Empire is capable of such things, what would they do if they encountered them? They don't even dare to imagine! If they don't destroy the Empire as soon as possible, they're finished!
Of course, while he understood, Li Wei had no intention of pitying them. In his original world, Li Wei was also a citizen of a great nation, and those smaller countries around him were constantly jumping around like clowns. They wished Li Wei's country would just disintegrate and explode in the sky, otherwise they would have no way to survive.

Do you really think we should lower ourselves to please them just to make them happy?
How is that possible?

Of course, we should beat them to a pulp and show them that your grandpa will always be your grandpa!
Small country with few people, not worth mentioning.
From this perspective, Li Wei actually felt that the Empire suited his temperament quite well, and he was currently doing quite well there—rich, famous, and powerful. Aside from occasionally doing some 007-like work for the Empire, he was living a very comfortable life. Furthermore, the Empire was now experiencing a resurgence and was at its zenith, and the Queen seemed quite wise. Staying here was better than going anywhere else, wasn't it?
The question now is, where does this problem originate?
As Li Wei pondered the current state of the empire, he began to pace around. He could sense that something was watching him intently from the surrounding darkness and shadows.

If we use a horror movie analogy, it's like the monster's first-person perspective, hiding behind obstacles and staring at the protagonist.

However, as long as the other party doesn't show up, Li Wei doesn't care. He believes that the other party will eventually be unable to resist running out.

So Li Wei stared at his surroundings and began to slowly search for clues.

The supplies needed for the work wouldn't be stored too far away, since they were for the construction site; they couldn't just be stuffed into a warehouse and retrieved when needed. So Li Wei went to the edge of the construction site, and soon he saw several wooden crates on one side of the passageway. Several of the crates were already open, and crowbars and other tools were scattered around them.

If I'm not mistaken, this should be it.

Li Wei walked to the wooden box, examined it carefully, and then took out the notebook in his pocket to compare the numbers on it.

Yes, these are the boxes.

Judging from the location of these boxes, they must have been opened and used immediately after being transported to the bottom floor.

The question is... what exactly is in the box?
Li Wei carefully examined the wooden crate. Inside were large, oval-shaped containers that looked like some kind of gas cylinder. Some were open, while others remained sealed. Li Wei wasn't involved in engineering, so he naturally didn't know what these things were for, but he had no way to contact Elizabeth right now…

It wasn't that there were no cameras in this era, but they weren't the small kind; they were basically heavy, bulky, and heavy, which Li Wei wouldn't have taken around.

But this thing is so big, and Li Wei has to drag it all the way back—his strength is only at the level of an ordinary person right now, the elevator is broken, and this thing is bigger than a gas cylinder. Wouldn't he be exhausted if he dragged it back?

And if this thing is the culprit, wouldn't taking it back be equivalent to spreading the virus along the way?

In the end, Li Wei decided... to draw it.

He couldn't possibly take anything back here; after all, who knew if it contained any contagious substances? Li Wei himself wasn't afraid, but others might collapse as soon as they got close. So, all Li Wei could do was draw a diagram of the situation and give it to Elizabeth to assess and see if they could find any useful information.

Li Wei could still draw; although he wasn't a master, he could still paint realistically. He casually placed the gas lamp aside, then took out his previous notebook from his pocket, flipped to a blank page, and began to draw the jar in front of him.

As Li Wei was drawing, he realized... something was wrong with this jar.

That's how sketching works. When you look at an apple normally, it seems like just an ordinary apple, nothing special. But when you use it to sketch, you'll notice things like a dent here, or that it's not quite red there...

Right now, Li Wei is painting this jar. At first, he just felt that the surface of the jar was not smooth enough. But as he painted, Li Wei suddenly realized that the jar was not just not smooth enough. There seemed to be some kind of pattern or mark on its surface.

That's getting interesting.

Li Wei put down his notebook and stared at the jar in front of him again, and then he noticed a problem.

This jar does have a pattern on it, and it's actually pieced together!
Simply put, each of the three jars has a partial pattern on it, which is not visible unless viewed together. At first, Li Wei didn't see it either; he just thought the jars looked a little strange. But after scanning them, he realized… this pattern… looks like the all-seeing eye!

Yes, it seems so, but it's not exactly the same!
As is well known, the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye is an eye enclosed in a triangle. This design is similar, but the difference lies in the fact that the eye of the All-Seeing Eye is not a human eye, but rather resembles the eye of some kind of animal. It is a wide-open vertical pupil, with distorted lines radiating outwards from it, similar to rays of sunlight.

What is this?

Li Wei immediately became serious. He knew the status and importance of the All-Seeing Eye in this world. In the past, drawing the All-Seeing Eye incorrectly could result in being burned at the stake as a heretic. Although it wasn't as extreme now, intentionally distorting or disfiguring the image of the All-Seeing Eye would still land someone in jail. Could someone really be openly doing something like this?

Could this also be related to the current plague?

"call-----!"

Just as Li Wei's thoughts were turning, suddenly, the surrounding darkness began to surge, and at the same time, Li Wei felt the wind direction change!

It's like a whale swimming; even if it just flicks its tail, it can create a wave!
The situation is not good...

The gas lamp began to flicker and sway, and the darkness, like surging waves, relentlessly pressed closer to Li Wei.

At that moment, Li Wei made a decision.

run!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The entire Rune Mine shook violently.

Looking down from the sky, the dark shadows below resembled roaring waves, constantly churning, spinning, and howling.

"Damn, thank goodness I was quick..."

Standing on the edge of the cliff, Li Wei stared at the thick, dark fog below and gasped. Although he had been using [Soul Vision] to monitor his surroundings, he hadn't actually seen anything. He had simply relied on his instincts, honed through years of experience, to sense something was wrong, and thus, he decisively followed his instincts—chicken!
Fortunately, Li Wei had already placed several eye sockets before falling. Sensing something was wrong, he quickly used [Shadow Shift] and instantly escaped from the dark bottom of the pit. Looking at the swaying shadows below, Li Wei was secretly surprised. He was glad he'd chickened out quickly, otherwise he might have died down there!
Although I don't know what's lurking in the shadows, it's definitely not an ordinary thing.

No matter what, I would never fight this thing one-on-one!

With the enemy situation unclear and not even knowing what the other side is, Li Wei wouldn't be foolish enough to do something so stupid.

If all else fails... just blow it up.

Of course, that's something Li Wei will worry about later. What he needs to do now is get back as quickly as possible to avoid being reported dead by Elizabeth, which would be truly speechless.

Going up was much easier than coming down. Li Wei had already planted eyes along the way, and after putting away the puppet, he used [Paranormal Activity] to return to the first ten floors in no time. Those on the other side breathed a sigh of relief upon learning of Li Wei's return, and soon Li Wei saw Elizabeth again.

"Thank goodness you're alright, Mr. Li Wei."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Li Wei had returned unharmed.

"I lost contact en route, which made me very worried... What happened?"

"I was attacked, my communication lines were cut, and I couldn't report it."

"You came back after that?"

"No, I still went down there, and I did find some clues."

As he spoke, Li Wei took out the notebook and records he had hidden in his pocket and explained his reasoning to Elizabeth.

After hearing Li Wei's reasoning, Elizabeth's expression became even more serious.

"You mean, someone is deliberately spreading a plague here?"

“That’s right, I found this thing in the underground mine…”

Li Wei showed Elizabeth his drawing of a diagram of a jar, which she took and looked at.

"This is a pressure hose, used to replace the steam pressure when construction machinery runs out..."

However, as she spoke, Elizabeth's gaze fell upon the pattern drawn on the paper next to her.

Where did you find this pattern?

"It's on the jar, and it's hidden very well. You can't see it on the surface. You have to look at three jars together to see it. Do you recognize this pattern?"

"of course."

Elizabeth nodded vigorously in response to Li Wei's question.

"This is the mark of the god of disaster."

Then she spoke.

　The first update is a little late today, but it's true that it can be late sometimes. Anyway, there will still be two updates.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)