Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 196 No more acting

"Waaaaaah!!"

The shock of a spider lunging at you is obvious, but the shock of a spider larger than a person is doubled. Perhaps only a twin-tailed fairy as tall as a person can compare. Seeing the spider rushing towards him, the short, fat detective was also quite frightened. He shouted and backed away while instinctively raising his gun and pulling the trigger at the giant spider.

"Bang bang bang bang!!"

A series of gunshots rang out, but the giant human-like spider didn't stop at all. It was unclear whether the short, stout detective's marksmanship was poor or if the spider simply didn't care about such attacks. The spider charged forward without pause, then, with a grotesque laugh, extended its right arm and reached for Li Wei.

Even though its arms and legs are as thin as a spider's, its hands still maintain a human shape, which makes it look even more disgusting. Perhaps this is the so-called uncanny valley effect.

Even though the other party's arm was already in front of him, Li Wei still stood there, looking at the human spider in front of him with boredom, and sighed silently.

"Hey, Mr. Li Wei! Get out of the way!"

The short, stout detective, who had been scrambling backward to escape, saw Li Wei standing there motionless and assumed he was terrified. He shouted loudly and gritted his teeth as he ran back, reaching out to pull Li Wei back.

However, he was too late. He could only watch helplessly as the human spider's hand stabbed towards Li Wei, and then...

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!"

With a scream, the human spider that had been lunging forward quickly retreated. At the same time, the short, fat detective saw the severed arm swirling in the air and falling in front of him, which frightened him so much that he stepped back.

How is this going?

When the short, stout detective looked up in surprise again, his eyes widened in astonishment—Levi was still standing in the same spot, but unlike before, in front of Levi floated a strange figure completely wrapped in a cloak, holding a scythe.

He looks exactly like the legendary Grim Reaper.

"What...what is that?!"

Even Rogers, who had been so smug just moments before, now stared wide-eyed at Levi with a flustered and wavering expression. Only then did Levi raise his head, looking at him with a half-smile.

If this were a movie scene, Li Wei would probably light a cigarette and flash a cool smile. Unfortunately, he neither smokes nor drinks.

Sigh, maybe I should learn from Sherlock Holmes and smoke a pipe? Even if I don't smoke, just pretending wouldn't be bad.

But it doesn't seem right to smoke a pipe if you don't smoke... I'm getting off-topic.

Levi pulled his wandering thoughts back to reality, looked at Rogers again, and smiled.

"I've noticed that many people who have gained magical powers seem to have similar thoughts: that they are chosen ones, that they are uniquely gifted, that they are different from others... But unfortunately, that's not the case."

As Li Wei spoke, he walked slowly forward, while the Death Puppet gripped its scythe tightly and followed beside him.

As Rogers watched Li Wei approach, his face turned pale and ashen. Perhaps Li Wei had just spoken his mind. After all, he had always believed that he was the unique being with mysterious powers, while everyone else was just an ordinary mortal.

However, when he discovered that he was no longer the "only one," the psychological blow and the loss of his sense of superiority immediately plunged Rogers into a state of great turmoil.

"Your so-called immortality probably comes at a price, otherwise why would you stay here and keep performing sacrifices? Look at this pile of bones, you've sacrificed quite a few people. Is it possible that you can only continue to live by doing this, and you'll die as soon as you stop sacrificing? What kind of immortality is that?"

Li Wei stared at Rogers and spoke slowly and deliberately, then he saw Rogers' face grow increasingly pale and ashen.

This is actually easy to understand, because Li Wei's system is a similar case.

However, Li Wei's system is very picky, unlike this altar which is indiscriminate. Look, even now, the system hasn't given any prompts for a mission.

This means that this guy isn't the culprit, which is to be expected. Li Wei still remembers the ghost sleeping on the altar beneath the inn outside the city; if he's not mistaken, there should be a similar one here.

However, this guy should be even more difficult to deal with than the previous one—after all, only a few people died at the hotel.

Well... looking at the overflowing white bones on the altar, Li Wei was too lazy to count them.

"Who...who are you?!"

Rogers stared at Levi, his face pale, and shouted.

"Didn't you already know?"

Li Wei stared at Rogers, smiled, and removed his hat in a gesture of respect.

“My name is Li Wei, and I’m a detective. To be more specific, I specialize in dealing with guys like you.”

"Me, us...?"

"That's right. You don't think you're the only one in the world who wants to cause trouble just because you have a little bit of mysterious power, do you? There are stupid idiots everywhere."

Li Wei sighed silently, looking at Rogers with a speechless expression, as if he were looking at a petty thief locked up in prison.

This gaze successfully ignited Rogers's anger.

"Don't underestimate me, you bastard!!"

He was an immortal being! That great being had told him that as long as he continued to offer sacrifices, he could live on forever until he obtained everything in this world!
"Kill him! I'll make him my slave too!"

With Rogers' command, the human spider roared again and pounced on Levi. Levi merely raised an eyelid, and then the Death Puppet leaped up, scythe in hand, fearlessly charging towards its prey.

Then, a flash of cold light appeared.

"———————!"

The human spider, suspended in mid-air, was cleaved in two, its shattered remains scattering across the ground. Upon witnessing this, the short, stout detective gasped, almost speechless.

He stared blankly at Li Wei and Death's retreating figures, suddenly recalling the rumors about him.

Li Wei was indeed quite famous in the detective world, but he himself was unaware that it wasn't a good reputation. On one hand, Li Wei had close ties with the police; on the other hand, he was always making headlines. This naturally annoyed many detectives. They believed that Li Wei had no real skills and was just good at creating sensationalism.

For example, rumors about him being a socialite killer, a vampire, a sea monster, etc., are all like this. Many of his colleagues believe that Li Wei simply chose to investigate cases that were particularly famous in the eyes of the public, which is to say, he was just chasing fame and fortune. Therefore, many people look down on him.

How much of this is due to jealousy of not being in the newspapers is unknown.

But now, looking at Li Wei's calm back and the thing that looked like the Grim Reaper floating beside him, the short, fat detective suddenly had a new idea.

Why does Li Wei always solve those seemingly bizarre cases?

And what he just said...that means...

Those who can truly become detectives are all quite intelligent. With just a few words, the short, stout detective had already guessed that the actual situation of the cases that Li Wei had solved before might be completely different from what was reported in the newspapers.

This means... "Bang!"

The gunshot interrupted the short, stout detective's thoughts. He looked ahead again and saw Rogers holding a gun, staring at Levi with a grim face.

"You, you stay right there! Stop right there!"

"What are you afraid of?"

Levi stared at Rogers and slowly walked forward.

"Aren't you immortal? Then what is there to be afraid of?"

"No, no, don't come any closer, don't come any closer...!"

Rogers shook his head and desperately backed away, then slipped and landed hard on his backside.

However, what happened next was completely unexpected.

Rogers, who was sitting on the ground, tried to stand up, but at that moment, the bones under his buttocks suddenly began to surge like seawater. Then they burst forth instantly, and Rogers, unable to dodge, was swallowed up by the bones!

"Rumble rumble rumble..."

Then, the pile of bones on the altar began to rise, and Li Wei stopped and stared warily at the altar.

The white bones began to rise and solidify, eventually transforming into an incredibly tall giant!

really!

Seeing this, Li Wei felt much more at ease; he had already guessed what the creature below was. After all, he had seen something similar before in the underground cemetery of a suburban hotel. However, back then, it was just a simple ghost, using a little girl as its possession core.

But now it seems this guy has gone a step further; at the very least, he can make armor out of bones!

Fortunately, I've upgraded my equipment!
Li Wei drew the Punisher from the other side of his waist, gripped the two guns, and raised them high!
And then—[Death Eyes]!
Then, fire!
Time began to slow, and high-explosive bullets flew from the gun barrels. Compared to when he faced the Ghost Rider, this time Levi was completely fearless. After all, when facing the Ghost Rider, the little girl was at the core of his body, and Levi had to be careful not to hurt the child while fighting.

But this time it's different, who cares whether Rogers lives or dies!
Nobody would care if it were smashed to pieces, okay?
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

The alternating gunshots of the two revolvers were like a never-ending duet, which is why Li Wei liked revolvers. They didn't jam, and the feeling of firing one shot at a time was just fantastic!
Then, time resumed the investigation.

"Boom boom boom!!"

With a piercing explosion, the skeleton knight's (to distinguish it from the previous ghost knight) white bone armor shattered instantly. However, beneath the broken white bone armor was not a transparent, glass-like body like the previous ghost knight; instead, it was a human face.

Rogers' face.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much..."

The skeleton knight's armor and the flesh on his chest were blown apart, and beneath the broken ribs, Rogers' head could be seen shaking, like a constantly beating heart.

However, the skeletal knight paid no attention to this. He simply raised his head, and beneath the helmet formed of solidified bones, a pair of scarlet eyes gleamed with a cold light, staring intently at Li Wei.

"Give it back to me..."

He roared in a low voice, the sound echoing like thunder in the hollow.

"Give me back my fragments!"

The skeletal knight roared and raised his right hand. A greatsword emerged from the pile of bones. The skeletal knight gripped the greatsword and charged toward Li Wei like an angry bull!

Facing the skeletal knight charging towards him, Li Wei calmly gripped his dual pistols, opened the magazines, and as spent cartridges slid down, he pressed down with both hands. Soon, the bullets stored in the makeshift loader on either side of his belt were loaded into the magazines. Li Wei then raised his dual pistols again and pulled the trigger.

"boom!!"

Another violent explosion rang out, and the short, stout detective instinctively backed away. His mind was a complete blank; he had no idea how to react to the situation. Just as he was swaying, unsure of what to do, a hand reached out and pressed down on his shoulder, startling him.

When he turned his head, he realized that Li Wei had appeared beside him at some point.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Li Wei, how about you?"

"I'm fine too."

Li Wei stared ahead, his expression unchanged, while the system's mission notification sounded in his ear again.

Sure enough, once the main character appeared, the mission was revealed.

"You leave here first, I'll take care of things here!"

"Oh, are you alright?"

"If you stay here, I'll have a problem. Now go!"

"it is good."

The short, stout detective knew that staying there would only get in his way, so he nodded and turned to rush back the way he came.

After watching the short, stout detective leave, Li Wei finally had a moment to glance at the mission.

[Mission: Dead by Daylight 2 activated]

[Mission Objective: Escape the underground temple before dawn, or eliminate the enemy]

[Task Reward: Unknown]

I remember having the same quest in the inn's underground cemetery before. Is the system really that lazy? They didn't even bother changing the quest name, just adding a "2" and calling it a day?

But it's good, at least we know this is a series of missions!
Li Wei muttered a curse to himself, then looked up again and saw the Skeleton Knight striding towards him once more.

Unlike before, this time the skeletons that were originally strung on the stalactite pillars all around jumped down one by one, like warriors under the Skeleton Knight's command, and followed the Skeleton Knight forward.

Indeed, the more people who die, the greater the power.

But I'm not fighting alone!

Li Wei gripped his twin pistols tightly, and then the Death Puppet reappeared quietly.

It's still early before dawn, there's still a long fight ahead!
(End of this chapter)