Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 202 New Year Banquet
The New Year's banquet is held at the Imperial Palace. At this time, the Bridge Street is closed in advance, and only guests who have received an invitation are allowed to enter.

so……………

"I never imagined I'd experience a traffic jam in this world."

Li Wei gripped the steering wheel, speechless as he stared at the long line of cars ahead. Of course, this was to be expected; after all, it was an annual event, so thorough checks were naturally conducted. But… being stuck in traffic was truly unpleasant.

Feeling bored, Li Wei began to observe the traffic in front of him.

To Li Wei's delight, most of these were steam-powered vehicles produced by his own company, indicating that Uncle Hank had successfully established connections. As the saying goes, what the superiors do, the inferiors will follow; since these vehicles were becoming popular in Chongqing, other places would naturally follow suit. Now it was up to Uncle Hank to seize this opportunity and expand his business.

The reason I say "mostly" is because Li Wei also spotted several carriages among them, which is quite intriguing. Her Majesty the Queen had issued a decree calling for a complete and thorough mechanization reform, aiming to eliminate carriages from the Fog City. Yet, under these circumstances, some people still dared to arrive at the New Year's banquet in carriages…

Yes, he should be a conservative among the nobles, and his status should be quite high, at least not inferior to the Queen.

Li Wei withdrew his gaze and yawned listlessly.

For some reason, looking at the traffic in front of him, he was reminded of the period dramas he used to watch on TV. In those days, ministers would travel in sedan chairs to court, passing through the city gates before dawn to report for duty…

So, while idly following the flow of traffic and daydreaming, Li Wei's car finally arrived in front of the guards after who knows how long.

The guard was clearly surprised to see the Phantom in front of him, but he still hurriedly stepped forward and saluted Li Wei.

"Hello, please show me your invitation."

"Oh."

Li Wei rolled down the car window and handed over the invitation. The latter took it, opened it, looked at it carefully, and then looked at Li Wei again.

"You must be Mr. Li Wei."

"Yes."

"Okay, confirmed. You may proceed."

The guard returned the invitation to Li Wei and bowed again, to which Li Wei nodded, before driving forward.

The Phantom sailed into Bridge Street and then into the palace gates, where guards were also stationed. Many people were taken aback when they saw Li Wei's car; even the attendant directing the parking hesitated for a moment before finally gesturing for Li Wei to park in a corner of the palace square.

Then, Li Wei opened the car door and got out.

At that moment, he also saw that many nobles who got off the car were looking at his Phantom with surprise and curiosity. This was not surprising, since most nobles rode in luxurious and comfortable steam cars, but in terms of visual impact, Li Wei's Phantom was definitely much stronger.

Mmm, that felt great.

Feeling the gazes of everyone around him, Li Wei's lips curled up slightly. Then he put on his top hat and walked forward.

Sure enough, to show off, you have to drive a sports car.

Although the Queen promoted the development of steam mechanization in the empire, the Imperial Palace still retains a medieval appearance. This is not surprising, as the Forbidden City and other palaces have also remained largely unchanged. The palace features spacious halls, soaring domes, floors so clean they could be used as mirrors, and paintings hanging on the walls.

Just walking on the carpet, looking at the spacious hall and the delicious food on the long tables on both sides of the banquet hall, one can see the grandeur of the empire.

Of course, in Li Wei's experience, even delicious food usually doesn't taste very good in such situations.

Upon entering the hall, Li Wei glanced around and quickly noticed that the crowd was divided into three categories.

One group consisted of very old men, dressed formally, clearly genuine imperial nobles. They huddled together, engaging in loud conversations, their every gesture exuding an air of dominance.

There were also some people who, although dressed neatly, did not look particularly luxurious and appeared quite uneasy in the situation. They seemed to be those who had been awarded medals by civilians—after all, many people were awarded medals at the New Year's banquet, including some outstanding scholars from the general public.

Finally, there were some young people around his age, some in evening gowns and others in military uniforms, chatting in small groups. Occasionally, someone would glance at him; clearly, these were the rising stars of the empire's military and political circles.

Li Wei wasn't interested in going over to greet them; he just stood to the side, watching the spectacle with curiosity.

But if he doesn't go to others, others will come to him.

"Ah, Mr. Li Wei, I've finally found you."

The person standing in front of Li Wei was none other than Olivia. This young lady had also dressed up carefully today, wearing a white evening gown and looking very energetic. She walked over and greeted Li Wei.

"Ah, Miss Olivia, you've come too. This dress suits you perfectly."

Li Wei nodded to Olivia and greeted her, to which she smiled slightly in return.

"You are no different, Mr. Li Wei. I'm afraid you are one of the most eye-catching people here."

"I'd rather not attract so much attention."

Li Wei glanced around and then looked away. In fact, just as Olivia had said, many people were staring at him, including many elegantly dressed noble ladies.

"And speaking of attracting attention... how's it going on your end? Aren't you surrounded by enthusiastic fans?"

After the Steel City incident, Olivia's Cerberus had finally made its full appearance before everyone, and Levi had read quite a few reports about it since. Therefore, he was curious whether Olivia had been surrounded by people.

"Fortunately, everyone on Delicat's side is already familiar with Blackie."

As she spoke, Olivia stretched out her right hand, which was held in front of her chest. Then Levi saw the little puppy peek out from Olivia's arms and bark at him.

"It's amazing the guards dared to let you bring it in."

Even if it's not a Cerberus, most pets wouldn't qualify for a New Year's banquet.

"Her Majesty has given permission."

Olivia was quite pleased with herself; it seemed that Li Wei wasn't the only one who wanted to show off. Li Wei also noticed that some nobles nearby seemed to have seen the commotion and curiously peeked over. When they saw the little puppy nestled in Olivia's arms, they were quite surprised and looked astonished.

They clearly couldn't believe that anyone would dare bring their own pet to a New Year's banquet.

Her Majesty wouldn't have it transform and perform a show in front of everyone, would she? Otherwise, what would be the point of having it here?
"Hello, Mr. Li Wei."

Just as Li Wei was inwardly grumbling, a cold and indifferent voice sounded from behind him. He turned around and saw a girl with white hair and red eyes, wearing a red evening dress, staring at him.

"Miss Anne? You're here too?"

“Yes.” Anne nodded to Levi.

"Because the research and anatomical records of the sea monster were included in the Imperial Encyclopedia, I was invited to the New Year's banquet."

"Oh, I see..."

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense.

"Mr. Li Wei, who is this young lady?"

Just then, Olivia also stared at Anne and asked a question.

"Ah, this is Miss Anne Branson, currently studying at Miskatonic University."

Levi introduced Olivia to Anne.

"This is Miss Olivia Baskerville, the lord of the Delicat region... By the way, Anne, you actually came back from Melisia?"

"Because the situation in Melicia is currently unstable, the professor has decided to conduct the research locally for the time being."

Anne calmly answered Levi's question, but at the same time, her bright red eyes were fixed steadily on Olivia. Meanwhile, Olivia, cradling a puppy, looked down at Anne.

For some reason, Li Wei felt that the atmosphere between the two was a bit tense…

If it were a comic panel, there might be an electric shock between their eyes.

Just as Li Wei was about to say something, he suddenly felt someone tug at his sleeve. Li Wei turned around and saw a blonde girl in a blue evening dress standing behind him, her emerald green eyes looking at him uneasily.

"Ah, well... Mr. Li Wei, hello, it's been a long time..."

"Who are you……………"

"I, I am Qi Ya..."

"Ah, Miss Qiya."

Although it was somewhat rude, Li Wei's impression of Qi Ya had always been based on her wearing somewhat dirty work clothes, and he never expected that she would also change her skin.

"Are you here too?"

"I... I came with my grandfather."

At this point, Qi Ya suddenly became excited.

"Because of what you mentioned, that technology called firewall has been completed, thanks to you..."

"Ah, that's it."

Levi understood why the Queen had invited them. Although the terrorist attack on Steel City had failed, the damage to the Differential Engines caused by the data virus had served as a wake-up call for the entire Empire. Before leaving Steel City, Levi had read in the newspapers that the Empire was gathering Differential Engines scholars to begin research on the matter in order to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

It seems that there have been some results.

"However, that's not my achievement, Miss Qiya. I only put forward a concept, but it was your wisdom that made it a reality."

Li Wei certainly didn't understand virus firewall technology, and even if he did, it wouldn't have mattered. Difference engines and computer programming are two completely different things... He simply explained the characteristics of firewalls to Qi Ya and Dr. Sters according to his own ideas. As for how they researched it... that was naturally their own ability.

However, regardless of the circumstances, this is extremely important for the Empire's information and data security. The Queen's eagerness to invite Dr. Tester over is likely because she wants to announce here that the Empire has a solution to the data virus, in order to reassure the people.

"But, but that's really not easy, because it requires secondary calculations, and then we also have to install a verification storage device... I studied the values ​​in those black punch cards and found that they actually contain some kind of pattern. As long as we take countermeasures against it, we can intercept it before it is completely input into the analyzer..."

"Well……………"

The young lady was still the same as always; once she started talking about programming, she began to pour out her hypnotic voice to Li Wei. To Li Wei, it was even more hypnotic than advanced mathematics. He glanced around and soon saw Dr. Tester's signature beard not far away. The latter noticed Li Wei's gaze, glanced in this direction, then gave Li Wei a thumbs up with a grin before turning around to chat with someone else.

"………………………"

So you want me to babysit your child?
Li Wei sighed silently, withdrew his gaze, and then looked at the three of them with a bored expression, comparing them.

Of the three, Olivia naturally has the best figure. You can tell that the little puppy is practically invisible in her arms, which shows how broad-minded and tolerant she is.

In comparison, Anne seems quite pitiful. Although she's not without advantages, compared to Olivia, she's like the moon compared to the earth.

As for Qi Ya... there's basically no difference, you can't tell at all, which is normal, after all, she's a child and hasn't developed yet... so it's a bit awkward for her to wear this evening dress.

Thankfully Katie didn't come, otherwise who knows what would have happened.

Li Wei had actually seen Katie in a formal dress before. Judging from her appearance then, the young lady's figure was just right—not as strong as Olivia, nor as weak as Anne. But then again, he really didn't expect to see so many familiar faces at this New Year's banquet. Had he actually traveled quite a bit this year?
Well, thinking about it carefully, I have indeed traveled to quite a few places. All I can say is that opportunities between people are truly wondrous.

Just as Li Wei was passing the time with random thoughts, suddenly, the previously closed door at the back of the banquet hall opened abruptly, and the people who had been chatting in twos and threes quickly stopped and turned to look.

Royal guards in red uniforms, carrying steam machine guns, emerged from the crowd on either side. They parted the crowd, and the guests quickly stepped back and stood in their positions.

The royal guards walked all the way to the throne at the front of the hall and stopped. Then, another captain of the guard, holding a scepter, walked in. He walked to the foot of the throne and turned to look at the crowd.

Then he gripped the scepter tightly and slammed it hard against the ground.

"Boom."

With that soft sound, the royal guards all stood with their legs spread apart.

"Boom."

The guards placed their guns at their sides and clasped their hands together in front of them.

At the same time, everyone stood at attention.

Then, a figure walked out of the door.

That was Her Majesty the Queen, who ruled the entire empire.

(End of this chapter)