Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 194 Open the door

Now it's clear that George Rogers is definitely up to something. He's obviously using this so-called party as a pretext to lure people here, then plotting to kill them all tonight.

As for the reasons... Li Wei was too lazy to care, they were all the same anyway.

"Now, what should we do now?"

Carrying a gas lamp, the short, stout detective's voice was filled with unease. Even as detectives, they had never encountered anything so bizarre.

"Hmm, I do have a solution that can solve our current problem."

Li Wei looked around and then spoke.

"any solution?"

Is it still raining outside?

"It's still raining, and it looks like the rain isn't light."

Listening to the "pitter-patter" of rain outside, the short, stout detective spoke up.

"Alright then, everyone get ready quickly, then we'll leave this place, and then..."

"then?"

"Let's just burn this house down."

Li Wei calmly proposed a plan that made everyone gasp in shock.

"Burned, burned?"

“That’s right, it burned down. When the police ask, just say that the house was set on fire by accident, and only a few of us escaped while Mr. George, his wife, and the lawyer perished in the flames. How about that? Simple, right?”

"this……………"

Upon hearing Li Wei's suggestion, the two detectives' expressions were somewhat complicated. They had always been the ones revealing the truth, but now they were being asked to cover it up, which left them both somewhat bewildered.

"But, but if we burn the house down... what if those monsters come rushing over?"

"If that's the case, then it's actually easier to deal with."

Li Wei shrugged.

"As you can all see, this house occupies three-quarters of the island's area. Once it's completely ablaze, those monsters will have nowhere to escape and will have no choice but to reveal themselves to us. At that time..."

"When?"

"Just take them down."

Li Wei silently waved the "Persuader" in his hand.

"I... I don't think it's necessary to be so extreme..."

The short, stout detective swallowed hard and chuckled awkwardly as he spoke. "No matter what, burning down someone else's house is a clear crime. Although this young man seems to be quite adept at it, for detectives... picking locks and such is one thing, but arson is a bit too much."

"Moreover, there is only this one house on this island. If we burn it down, we will have nowhere to go."

"What's your opinion?"

"We should continue investigating that door."

The short, stout detective offered his advice.

"The marks from earlier show that the lawyer was definitely dragged into that door by the murderer. My guess was right; there must be a switch nearby. We just need to find the switch, turn it on, and then we can find the secret passage and go inside. Then we'll be able to discover the hidden room inside..."

"And those monsters."

The tall, thin detective rubbed his buttocks as he gave a reminder.

"Don't forget, that monster almost killed me, and that lawyer lady has also turned into a monster."

"Well……………"

"Do you think we can deal with that kind of monster on our own?"

"If it's just a monster, then there's no problem."

However, it was not the short, stout detective who answered him, but Levi.

"Hey?"

Everyone looked at Li Wei in surprise, only to see him smiling calmly at them.

“Alright, that’s one way to do it, so let’s give it a try. But I have a condition: everyone must stay together and no one is allowed to leave. If anyone needs to go to the bathroom, they must be accompanied by me or Miss Katie. How does that sound? Any problems?”

“I’m fine with it, but…”

The short, stout detective looked at Katie, who was standing next to Levi.

"Wouldn't this put this young lady in great danger?"

Even if there were no horror movies in the world, everyone knows that acting alone in such situations is extremely dangerous.

"Don't worry, Miss Katie is very capable in this area."

"That's right!"

Katie raised her little fist, which was covered in a silver glove, and waved it vigorously, looking at everyone with a grin.

"Leave it to me, there won't be any problems!"

Li Wei and the short, stout detective reached a consensus, and the others had nothing else to say. Soon, everyone returned to the lounge, made some preparations, and then headed towards the west building.

Levi walked at the front, Katie at the back, and the others between them. Two maids carried torches, while the old butler had a gas lamp hanging from his waist and a hunting rifle in his hand—which he had found in the warehouse. The tall, thin detective and the short, stout detective stood on either side, guns in hand, vigilantly watching the shadows around them.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work; with everyone gathered together, the unease and fear lessened considerably. The group walked through the west wing's corridor and returned to the lobby.

Everything remained the same as before.

"right here."

Looking at the ground, the short, stout detective muttered something.

"I think the switch should be nearby. Everyone, take a look around here and see if there's anything strange!"

A thorough search of the entire house would take a very long time. However, searching just one room wouldn't take much time. So soon, everyone scattered and began searching the round, empty room.

Li Wei leaned against the wall of the stairs, idly surveying his surroundings. Although he appeared to be slacking off, the black cat and bird puppets were actually already lurking above the stairs. If that monster dared to try the trick of reaching out from above to grab people again, Li Wei wouldn't hesitate to give it a taste of its own medicine.

Katie stood at the doorway, cautiously watching it. This wasn't a large double-leaf door like those in the lounge, but considering the opponent's strength—even if this small door were locked, it would probably be difficult to stop the monster's intrusion.

Li Wei scanned his surroundings while awaiting the results of the search. From a trace evidence perspective, he agreed with the short, stout detective's reasoning, because the drag marks did indeed disappear in the middle, which meant either the other party went underground, or there was a secret door here.

Dragging someone along doesn't allow you to find a puzzle piece here, turn the clock around there, or inlay a gem on a sculpture, like in a puzzle game. Li Wei has always thought this design is stupid and unreasonable, because the main purpose of secret rooms and passageways is to keep secrets and serve as escape routes.

If we have to spend several hours every day opening doors like we're deciphering secrets, then when something really happens, it won't be enough time to run away.

Therefore, generally speaking, the mechanisms to open secret passages and secret rooms are always within easy reach.

The game's design was utterly idiotic.

The reason Li Wei agreed to the short, stout detective's suggestion was simple: he could indeed burn the entire house down. However, this would completely ruin his mission. After all, the mission hadn't even been activated yet, meaning he hadn't found any real clues.

Li Wei was considering things from the perspective of the living; human lives were definitely more important than completing the mission. He wasn't like those characters in movies who would sacrifice countless lives to complete a so-called mission, only to be wiped out in the end. Besides, the mission hadn't even been activated yet, so there was no possibility of failure, which made Li Wei even less concerned.

However, Li Wei didn't care. It seemed that the two detectives didn't think so at all, so he let them be. If the two of them could find the switch, he would go and see what was going on. If they couldn't find it... he would burn the house down according to the plan. These ordinary people might have to worry about how to explain it to the police, but as long as Li Wei took on this case, he could easily turn it into an accidental case and close it.

But then again…

Li Wei scanned the surrounding walls, lost in deep thought.

Upon closer examination, the problems in this place actually go far beyond this.

Why did Jim Rogers buy this prison as his mansion, and why did he barely make any changes to it?

This is certainly a problem.

But there is another problem.

That is—why was this prison abandoned?
Even the locals didn't know this; the fisherman only said it used to be a prison. But what happened to that prison afterward that led Jim Rogers to buy it?
A prison specifically for death row inmates, located on a small, isolated island…

There are also secret rooms...

Li Wei stared at the ground, but unfortunately his [Soul Vision] could only see whether there was a soul or not; it did not have the ability to see through things.

If the secret room really exists, then who built it?

Was it a prison guard? Unlikely. Earthmoving is hard work, and with so many prisoners here, there's no need for guards to do it. Besides, those held here are all death row inmates; executions are carried out here. If anyone wouldn't leak information, it would be someone who's already dead.

This is different from the escape rooms in games. The idea of ​​a police station having an escape room only exists in games. In real life, how could construction workers be completely unaware of this? This isn't like building an ancient imperial tomb where people are simply buried alive with the deceased.

Conversely, assuming the prisoner dug the secret room, how did they do it?

Or rather, why did they dig?
This place is full of mysteries, with no answers, only questions.

"found it!"

Just then, the tall, thin detective called out, interrupting Li Wei's thoughts. He looked up and saw the tall, thin detective standing by a wall. The others also straightened up and looked at him. Then the tall, thin detective reached out and gently pressed on it.

"Click."

As the tall, thin detective moved, a brick beside him silently sank into the wall, and then the ground began to tremble. It then gradually sank downwards, starting from the center.

At this moment, the others also moved away from the sinking center, leaned against the wall, and watched the scene before them in astonishment.

A moment later, the tremors stopped, and the stone bricks that had served as the floor were now transformed into spiral staircases that descended into the dark depths of the earth.

"Oh my, I never expected that such a mechanism actually exists."

The short, stout detective stared wide-eyed at the secret passage before him with curiosity, and then spoke.

"Oh dear, if I make it back alive this time, I'm definitely going to have a good talk about this thing, tsk tsk tsk..."

Not right.

At this moment, Li Wei tensed up and gripped his weapon tightly.

He had initially thought that the so-called secret passage was just an ordinary secret door, the kind where you open a cover and there's a ladder inside. But this place, judging from the level of construction alone, didn't seem like something an ordinary prisoner could dig and build. It was probably beyond the capabilities of even a typical construction team.

Li Wei had suspected there was something wrong with this place before, and now it seems that not only is there a problem, but the problem is quite serious.

"What should we do now?"

Looking at the secret passage leading underground, the tall, thin detective frowned. He probably sensed an unsettling aura emanating from it.

"I'll go down and take a look."

Li Wei made a decision.

“You all stay up there, Katie. They’re in your hands. If that monster attacks again, you know what to do.”

“Yes, I understand, Mr. Levi.”

Although Katie seemed eager to go down and take a look, she knew the priorities. After all, apart from herself and Levi, no one else was capable of dealing with those monsters. Leaving them here would only mean certain death.

"I'll go with you."

The short, stout detective couldn't help but speak up at this moment.

"It's too dangerous for you to be alone. It'll be better if we can look after each other."

"I'm not going."

The tall, thin detective shook his head, rubbing his buttocks—he might have broken his tailbone from that fall.

"In my condition, going down would only be a burden. I and the others will stay here and wait for you to come out."

"fair enough."

Li Wei didn't object. Having one less person on their side would reduce the defensive pressure on Katie. After all, although the two detectives had guns, they probably wouldn't be very useful against a monster.

Thinking of this, Li Wei looked at the cave in front of him again, which seemed bottomless.

At the same time, the sentence from before came to mind.

He who opens the gate to the dark abyss will gain everything.

Now that the gates to the dark abyss have been opened, what will be gained?

Or rather, what exactly is hidden in the dark abyss?
Li Wei composed himself, then picked up the gas lamp to illuminate the way ahead, while gripping the Persuader's hand tightly and walking down the stairs.

(End of this chapter)