Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 198 The Mysterious Knight
"boom-----!"

Li Wei crouched down, clutching his head. He could only hear the whistling wind in his ears as countless fragments flew overhead. After a moment, everything returned to calm. Then Li Wei stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and looked towards the spot where the skeletal warrior had been.

Now all that remains is a large crater, and above the mangled remains in the center of the crater, a circular object is emitting a faint red glow.

It's much bigger than the previous ones.

Li Wei stepped forward and carefully compared the two. When he saw the Big-Headed Doll and the Ghost Rider, he hadn't been able to clearly see what was inside the red dot, although back then the dot was about the size of a ping-pong ball. This one, however, was much larger than the previous ones, about the size of an apple.

It is round in shape and looks more like a crystal ball used for fortune telling.

"Although I don't know what the battlefield looked like back then..."

Li Wei looked at the crystal ball and silently raised the Punisher in his hand.

"But times have changed, sir."

Then, Li Wei pulled the trigger.

"boom---!"

The bullet mercilessly pierced the crystal ball, and the next moment, as the crystal ball shattered completely, a shrill wail followed. The red light emanating from the crystal ball suddenly solidified into a pained human face, its mouth opening towards Li Wei. Immediately afterward, the ring on Li Wei's right hand emitted a dazzling light once more, completely absorbing the human face.

Ah, just like before.

Li Wei frowned as he looked at the red ring on his right hand. He remembered clearly that when the skeletal warrior attacked him, he had said something like, "Give me back my fragments." If there was anything on Li Wei that was related to the skeletal warrior, it was... this ring.

Moreover, Li Wei remembered very clearly that every time the ring was completely absorbed, the system task settlement would show a "Soul Fragment +1" prompt.

Now it seems those soul fragments must belong to this guy.

But who exactly is he?
When we get back, we should ask the old steward about the progress of MI7's investigation into the underground temple beneath the village.

Thinking of this, Li Wei turned his gaze back to the system.

[Mission "Dead by Daylight 2" Completed]

[Time consumed: s]

Survey efficiency: S

[Impact/Effect: S]

Overall Rating: SSS

[Lifespan +300, additional +150]

Hmm, the lifespan increase from the previous missions isn't much different. Could it be that the difficulty of these missions is roughly the same?

[Special Reward: Skill Attribute +10]

Skill attributes...

Li Wei checked his skills: [Brawling], [Shooting], [Disguise], [Reconnaissance], [Psychology], [Charm], [Library], [Linguistics], [Mysticism]

The [Shooting] and [Charm] skills are already maxed out and can no longer be increased.

He really didn't want to add the skill [Brawling]. It sounded like street thugs fighting, which lacked class.

[Disguise]...I have the [Disguise Transformation] skill that I obtained from Little Red Riding Hood, but we can leave that aside for now.

Ultimately, Li Wei decided to allocate the points to the [Library], as increasing his chances of acquiring skills while reading was more important.

What a wonderful thing it would be to acquire skills while enjoying hot pot, listening to music, and reading books at home!
Special Skills: Swordsmanship/Riding/Melee

Ah, here we go again, another choice between three options for the brute.

Li Wei hadn't forgotten that downstairs at the inn, there was also a choice of one of three "brute force" skills. It seemed this person was indeed skilled in combat, as all the skills offered were combat skills.

Okay then, let's keep adding [Fighting], since [Fighting] is already [LV2], might as well add more.

Li Wei made a comment and then casually swiped his finger.

But to his surprise... the system notification appeared again the next moment.

[Fighting] upgraded to [LV3]

[Special skill connection detected]

The [Fighting (LV3)] skill has been changed to [Whip Technique (LV3)]

???

what's going on?
Before Li Wei could even grasp the situation, a flood of knowledge rushed into his mind. Then, scenes appeared before him, like a tutorial for a first-person action game. He watched himself wielding a long whip, fighting enemies. With a flick of the whip, it coiled around the opponent's weapon like a venomous snake; with a swing, it struck the opponent's wrist to disarm them; and with effortless dexterity, it wrapped around the enemy's neck, pulling them towards him…

Hmm, this skill seems to be somewhat useful.

Seeing that he could use the whip to entangle buildings and scale walls, Li Wei nodded silently. This reminded him of an adventurer who wore a cowboy hat, carried a whip, and traveled the world digging graves... Actually, he quite liked that character.

However, just as Li Wei was immersed in his memories, the scene that appeared in his mind changed again.

A woman was seen hanging from a rope. Then, accompanied by the sound of a whip, the woman, her face flushed, stared excitedly at herself and let out a fierce scream.

"Oh! That's it! Again! Harder!"

"Snap—!"

"Keep going! Don't stop!"

"Slap slap—!!"

At the same time, some tips for using a whip also came to mind, including how to make the opponent feel pain without leaving a mark, and how to swing a long whip without injuring the opponent while still causing them pain...

"Why the hell do you have to engrave everything into your DNA?!"

Li Wei decisively shut down the system, but it was too late. The filthy, evil, and dark knowledge was already imprinted in his brain, not to mention that because of Li Wei's [Library] and [Photographic Memory] ability, he couldn't forget it even if he wanted to.

I'm dirty... I'm dirty...

Li Wei looked up at the sky and silently shed tears.

My lifelong innocence has been ruined in an instant!
You know, he has absolutely no interest in that area; he doesn't even watch adult films much!

Sigh... I was careless, I was careless again.

Li Wei silently shook his head.

Incidentally, the system eventually gave the information of "[Soul Fragment +1]", but Li Wei was no longer interested in reading it. He couldn't very well take out the soul fragment and beat it up, so what could he do?
"Forget it, I'll go home and get some sleep." Although Li Wei really wanted to go home and cry his heart out, unfortunately, he still had a lot to do. The next day, Li Wei and his group met the fisherman again and returned to their homeland. Of course, this matter couldn't end there. Li Wei didn't report it to the police, but instead reported it directly to MI7, leaving it to them to handle.

As before, MI7 immediately sealed off the island and launched a full investigation. Fortunately, this time Rogers kept a low profile and didn't make a big fuss, so there was no disturbance among the public.

As for the others, Li Wei had already explained the situation to the tall, thin detective and the short, stout detective, indicating that they could come to him for help if they encountered similar cases in the future. After all, these two renowned detectives were more likely to encounter similar situations than ordinary people. They readily agreed to Li Wei's request; they weren't stupid and knew it wasn't appropriate to reveal this to others.

Moreover, even if someone were to tell, probably no one would believe them, and they might even be locked up in a mental hospital.

If I were to have a frontal lobe removed later, it wouldn't be worth it.

On the contrary, dealing with the three servants was a bit troublesome. After all, they were different from ordinary people who were easy to fool; they had already seen the monster with their own eyes... However, the old steward did give Li Wei a reminder.

“You can hire them to work for you. In that case, we can, in principle, consider them your subordinates and be able to reimburse a portion of their salaries and expenses.”

"That's okay too."

Li Wei knew why the old steward had given him this suggestion. As things stood, his investiture at the New Year's banquet was a done deal, and hiring more servants in advance was indeed necessary. Since the old steward had hinted at it so subtly, Li Wei, of course, wasn't stupid and readily agreed.

Anyway, it's the imperial bureaucracy, so redundant staff is normal. It's better than building a hospital with fifty administrative staff but not a single doctor or nurse.

Moreover, Eileen is increasingly developing into Levi's personal puppeteer, so having her in charge of household chores, reception, and purchasing materials is indeed a bit of a waste.

After all, everyone's time is limited, and Li Wei would prefer that Eileen focus her attention on making the dolls.

Moreover, these individuals already knew of the monster's existence and Li Wei's identity, making them easier to trust compared to others. Furthermore, MI7 had conducted background checks on them, confirming they were all Imperial citizens with clean political records and reliability. Therefore, Li Wei didn't need to waste time searching for them himself.

Their employer is dead anyway, isn't he?

Li Wei also spoke with the three men about it, and they were more than happy to accept his suggestion. In fact, they were also troubled by this matter. After all, they were introduced by an agency, and this employment would naturally be recorded on their resumes. But their employer died—you don't need to tell me how, he's dead.

If others try to hire them in the future and see that their resumes show a deceased employer, they will definitely feel it's bad luck, and it will be much harder for them to find a job.

Now things are much better. Li Wei knows their situation, and they know Li Wei's situation, and Li Wei is very generous. The butler's annual salary is 60 pounds, and the mother and daughter maids, the mother, Madame Bremen, is the head chef with an annual salary of 40 pounds, while the daughter, Freckled Maid, is a general maid with an annual salary of 20 pounds.

By the way, Levi had already raised Eileen's salary a long time ago. Although she is now nominally a senior maid, Levi actually pays her 50 pounds as a housekeeper.

After all, strictly speaking, Eileen isn't a maid, but rather a craftswoman?
"correct."

After signing several documents and successfully extracting more benefits from the imperial bureaucracy, Li Wei also recalled his own questions.

"Have you gotten any results from the previous investigation into Ruins No. 1?"

Ruins No. 1 is the underground temple beneath the hotel. Of course, for reasons of secrecy, or perhaps because no one knows what to call it, we'll just call it that.

"Oh, there has been some progress."

The old butler put Li Wei's file back in the drawer, then took out another file from the filing cabinet.

"Based on the current investigation, Ruins No. 1 is very likely related to the Twelve Knights."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei immediately perked up.

"Is it related to the Twelve Knights?"

"That's right, do you know Lance, one of the Twelve Knights?"

"I remember he was a villain."

Li Wei thought for a moment and then pulled out the story of King Arthur and the Twelve Knights from his memory library.

"He always believed he was worthy to be king and wanted to prove it. Although he was incredibly brave and invincible on the battlefield, he was a violent and lecherous fellow in his personal life. Later, in order to prove that he was stronger than King Arthur, he started a rebellion, which was then suppressed by King Arthur, and Lance was subsequently executed, right?"

"That's pretty much it."

The old butler nodded.

"As the most valiant of the Twelve Knights, Lance had no chivalry whatsoever. He was bloodthirsty, greedy, and lustful, and the other knights had a lot of complaints about him... Incidentally, when he was defeated and fled from King Arthur, it was Baskerville, who was also one of the Twelve Knights, who found him."

"Oh...that's really interesting."

"So, Ruins No. 1 is Lance's tomb?"

"It's not that simple."

The old butler shook his head and sighed.

"According to the records in the temple, King Arthur believed that Lance's soul was corrupted and beyond redemption, and that there was no possibility of him returning to the world. Therefore, he executed Lance and tore his soul into pieces, sealing them away."

"Uh...why do that?"

“I don’t know either. The temple records say it was to prevent Lance from being resurrected… Of course, if it were before, I would have just considered it a superstitious legend… Moreover, according to the temple records, Fog City used to be Lance’s territory, which means that his soul fragments should be sealed in this area.”

That's really troublesome.

"Yes, it's really troublesome."

The old butler sighed.

“I also read your report about the prison… and then we found the original documents. According to the records, the prison was abandoned because of a large-scale plague outbreak. Therefore, to avoid infection, the authorities agreed to allow the prison to self-isolate.”

"No one's investigating?"

"They've all reported a plague inside. Who would dare go? If they did, they wouldn't come back. Besides, the people inside are all death row inmates. They probably think that death is just death, nothing to worry about."

"About Jim Rogers..."

“We investigated this as well, and it’s strange, everything about Jim Rogers is documented, and he used to be a well-known actor. The investigation into him has never stopped, but we couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”

"I see."

They're actors, so that makes sense. After all, there are no movies or television in this world, so it's impossible to preserve the performances of famous artists. Once the performance is over, that's it. Unlike painters and writers, whose works can be passed down to future generations.

"Later, he suddenly announced his retirement, which surprised many people."

"It was probably around that time that Jim Rogers' identity was replaced. After all, he can't act, and he would be exposed if he performed. So he simply announced that he was retiring, which is quite reasonable. Then he would find an opportunity to continue sending people to the altar... He really has quite the perseverance."

Li Wei made a comment, shook his head, and didn't say anything more.

At least now he knows whose soul fragment is in his ring.

(End of this chapter)