Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 195 The Dark Abyss
The stairs were deeper than I had imagined.

Li Wei walked down the stairs, staring ahead. The short, stout detective followed behind him, panting heavily. Clearly, he was also very nervous, and given the detective's size—well, if a bear were to escape, he would obviously be at a significant disadvantage.

"I should have gone on a diet."

The short, stout detective muttered something, wiping the sweat from his brow. By then, the two had reached the bottom floor. It was pitch black here, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face—that was what he originally intended to say, but the faint light coming from a nearby passageway almost instantly drew their attention.

This is not surprising, after all, the previous drag marks have already confirmed that this is not a deserted place, so it seems reasonable that someone would light a lamp here.

The two gripped their weapons and walked forward.

As detectives, they were skilled at sneaking in, picking locks, and stealing chickens and dogs. At this moment, the two of them, like burglars breaking into a house, quietly entered the passage. Torches were tied to both sides of the passage, and they were burning listlessly at this moment.

"This doesn't look like it was built by human hands."

The short, stout detective glanced to his left and right and spoke in a low voice, to which Levi nodded. Although torches were lit around them, the walls here didn't look man-made at all; rather, they resembled natural caves.

The feeling this secret room is getting stranger and stranger.

The exit was right in front of them, but Li Wei suddenly stopped and halted.

"what happened?"

The short, stout detective looked at Li Wei and asked a question, but Li Wei shook his head.

"Be careful, things might get tricky ahead."

"Ah."

The short, stout detective agreed with Levi's assessment. He gripped his weapon tightly and cautiously followed Levi, and the two of them walked out of the passage.

"———————!"

The next moment, the scene before them made both of them stare in astonishment.

Before them lay a typical cave, its floor and ceiling covered with countless stalactites and stalagmites, resembling spears pointing either straight upwards or directly at the ground. They gave the impression of the gaping maw of some terrifying monster, filled with countless teeth.

That was scary enough, but there's something even scarier.

There were several corpses strung together on those stalactite pillars on the ground.

No one knows how they got strung up there, but the corpses were clearly very old, mostly skeletons, with only faint fragments of their clothes remaining.

"It's truly unbelievable..."

The short, stout detective gasped. The place gave him a terrifying sense of oppression, as if the monster's "mouth" would slam down at any moment and pierce them like the victims.

There was only one path inside the entire cave—a path whose origin, whether natural or man-made, was unclear—stretching out from beside Li Wei and his companions. It felt as if a monster's tongue had slipped out of its throat, spread out, and stretched out there.

At the end of this road is an altar.

Several huge stone chairs were placed around the altar.

Li Wei could guess without counting that there should be twelve.

This scene immediately reminded Li Wei of another place.

It also contains underground cavities, altars, and stone chairs.

besides…………

But I'm not afraid of that thing anymore!

Li Wei gripped the persuader's hand tightly and cautiously continued walking forward.

Torches were lit on both sides of the passage, and in their light, the white bones piercing the stone pillars stood out starkly. Even the dark eye sockets seemed to hold something watching the two passersby.

"Hey, Li Wei, look at this outfit."

The short, stout detective curiously approached the skeleton, carefully examining the fragments of clothing on it. Then he reached out and patted Levi.

"what happened?"

"Here, this should be an epaulette..."

The short, stout detective pointed to the piece of metal covered in dust. Although its detailed appearance was no longer discernible, its general shape was still discernible.

"If I remember correctly, it should be for the police."

"You mean all these people here are police officers?"

Li Wei withdrew his gaze and looked at the skeletons beside him.

"They must be prison guards."

"The prison guards?"

"Very likely, after all, we still don't know why this prison was abandoned in the first place."

As Li Wei spoke, he continued walking forward.

The further they walked, the more solemn their expressions became, for they could now see that beneath the altar, countless bones were piled up everywhere. The bones seemed to have overflowed from the altar, tumbling onto the ground as if there was no room to hold them all.

It's like a horror scene that a third-rate horror game designer tried to create without any creativity.

At this moment, a voice sounded.

"I never expected that you would actually find this place."

At the sound, Levi and the short, stout detective looked up and saw a man in a long robe emerge from the top of the altar steps. He wore his usual warm smile, looked at the two of them, and held a gun in his hand. It was George Rogers.

"Mr. Rogers."

Seeing George appear, Levi wasn't too surprised, or rather, this was a fairly famous scene.
"I knew it was you a long time ago, well, of course, there's no point in saying that now, is there?"

"That's right, as expected of a famous detective. To be honest, I'm actually a little worried about what if you guys are dumber than I thought."

George chuckled.

"But thankfully, you've finally made it here."

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

Li Wei recited the sentence again, then looked around.

"But here, it seems I don't see 'everything'."

"Of course, because I've already received it."

George stared at the two of them with a smile.

"I have obtained a power that even the Queen in this world has never possessed: eternal life!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, the short, stout detective was taken aback, while Levi raised an eyebrow.

"If I'm not mistaken, you must also be Mr. Jim Rogers?"

"Yes."

George—or Mr. Rogers—nodded with satisfaction.

"So you were originally Mr. Jim Rogers?"

"You can just call me Rogers; at least, that is my name."

Rogers glanced at Levi, then at the short, stout detective.

"If you don't mind, could you tell us what exactly happened?"

Li Wei stared at Rogers and asked, while showing a rather frustrated expression.

"To be honest, I still don't know what happened. I suspect you're behind it all, but why would you do this? Why would you want to kill us all?!"

"Hahaha!"

Seeing the anger, resentment, and frustration on Levi's face, Rogers burst into laughter. He felt an immense sense of satisfaction looking at Levi's expression. These detectives, hailed as the smartest people in the world, were ultimately manipulated by him?
"It's understandable that you don't know. After all, this is the power left behind by the former Emperor Arthur!"

"Emperor Arthur?"

"That's right!"

Rogers was quite pleased with himself at this moment, and began to explain to the two of them with a smug look on his face.

“Initially, I was an architect working for the government. At that time, the government planned to build a prison for death row inmates. Considering the need to prevent prisoners from escaping and security issues, they ultimately chose this location. And that's where I came to finalize the construction plan.”

As he spoke, Rogers became lost in his memories.

"At that time, there was nothing on this deserted island except for a strange altar. I was going to turn it into a prison, so of course I couldn't leave such a strange thing behind. So I studied it, and accidentally, I opened a secret passage hidden inside. Then I went down the altar and came here."

At this point, Rogers' expression became fervent.

"Then I saw... the existence of great heroic spirits! I could hardly believe my eyes! But in the end, I confirmed that great power—it said that as long as I was willing to sacrifice myself for it, I could live forever!"

"………………………"

"Of course I wouldn't let this opportunity pass, so I found a way to hide the secrets about this altar and restore it to its original state. Then I started building a prison on it. I knew that this prison was used to imprison and execute death row inmates, and for that great being, what it needed was the souls and blood of sinners, so there was no more suitable place than this! I completed the construction of the prison and became its warden."

"And then you execute those prisoners as sacrifices?"

At this moment, Li Wei had figured everything out.

"That's right, that's exactly it. The power of this great being is about to be fully unleashed, and at that time, everything in this world will belong to me!"

Rogers stared at Levi with bloodshot eyes.

"You can't even imagine how much power I received from that great being! Let me show you what truly boundless power beyond human capabilities is!"

"Tsk, is this going too far?"

Seeing Rogers's fervent expression, Levi silently clicked his tongue. He had originally hoped to use his charm to lure the man into revealing everything, thus saving himself the trouble of racking his brains. But he hadn't expected the guy to get so carried away, now completely hyped up!

"Splash splash ...

At the same time, the surrounding piles of bones began to churn, and then a terrifying monster crawled out. It looked like a humanoid spider, with long, thin limbs and a small body, only its face retained a human appearance—it was George's "wife"!
"I can modify humans at will, turning them into whatever I want them to be, and I can even become anyone!"

As he spoke, George stared at Levi and licked his lips.

"Originally, I planned to become that lawyer, but now I've changed my mind. This handsome face is the perfect fit for me! Go!"

At this point, George suddenly whistled.

"Peel his face off!"

With a whistle, the humanoid spider lunged forward, heading straight for Levi and the short, stout detective!
(End of this chapter)