Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 241 Firepower is Justice
"Waaah... Oh..."

One by one, the mangled dolls raised their heads, reached out their hands, and rose to their feet, staring intently at the three. The eyeholes, which should have been formed of inorganic matter, flickered with an eerie red light. Seeing this, Katie clenched her fists, her face tense.

"Whoa... what's with these dolls?"

Katie stared at the doll and said in a low voice, though she seemed a little nervous, but not scared at all.

Previously, when faced with the disaster messenger who was as tall as a monster, she was eager to rush up to it. It seems that as long as the other party has a physical existence, she is not afraid at all.

If Katie had been there when they faced the sea monster, she might have happily jumped into the sea to fight it.

Well, how should I put it? Li Wei could understand Katie's thinking. He felt the same way; as long as something had a physical form, regardless of its quantity or size, it was something he could handle.

Conversely, if there is no physical entity, just finding the opponent's weakness would be a huge headache.

Fortunately, Li Wei hasn't encountered any terrifying quest chains like those in games, where you have to first get A, then seal B, then liberate C, and finally kill D.

"I'm not sure either, but just be careful."

Li Wei noticed something amiss with these puppets for two reasons. First, as the old man had said, this was a silver mine smelting plant, not a puppet factory, so the appearance of such things was completely inexplicable. Second, after activating [Soul Vision], Li Wei discovered that these puppets weren't soulless; on the contrary, their souls shimmered with a red glow.

This immediately alerted Li Wei.

In typical horror movies or games, even if the protagonist enters the scene and sees these strange things, they won't immediately take action, resulting in their escape route being blocked. Li Wei, however, clearly didn't intend to be on the defensive, so he decisively decided to make the first move. If the opponents continued to play dead, he could take them down one by one; if they stopped playing dead… well, that would be perfect.

but……………

"There are quite a lot of them."

As the puppets slowly surrounded him from all directions, Li Wei remained calm, while the old man was the least composed of the three.

"Hey, this is bad! We'd better get out of here quickly!"

Although the old man was shocked to see these bizarre puppets, perhaps because of his age or because he was prepared, he did not panic at the sight of these beings that defied common sense. However, he knew that the situation was very bad.

"Don't worry, I was prepared for this."

As Li Wei spoke, he stepped forward, then stretched out his left hand and flicked it forward—with his movement, three things that looked like origami toys were flung out of Li Wei's hand, and then kept growing larger. When they landed, they had transformed into three huge steel creations.

These steel constructs are about the size of a round dining table, have three pairs of legs, and look like steel crabs. A heavy machine gun is placed on top of them, and magazines full of bullets are placed next to them.

That's right, this is the alternative that Li Wei created by referencing the unmanned combat equipment from his own world!
In fact, with the technology of this world, it is possible to create equipment similar to drones. The only problem is the lack of a miniaturized autonomous combat core system like a CPU. However, Li Wei's [Puppeteer] ability can make up for this deficiency. To put it bluntly, under Li Wei's control, these things, which were originally almost like scrap metal because they lacked CPUs, have truly become unmanned combat equipment that can be controlled by humans.

Now is the time for them to show their true power!

"Whoa? What is this, Mr. Levi?"

"He's kind of my bodyguard, someone who specializes in dealing with these kinds of situations. After all, it's really unpleasant to always be outnumbered."

While answering Katie's question, Levi's right hand twitched slightly, and three large machines quickly dispersed, their dark gun barrels aimed forward, and then...

Kouguyue, consume the power of my Namo Great Compassionate Gatling Bodhisattva!

"Buzz—Boom boom boom—!!!"

The gun barrel began to spin rapidly, and whistling bullets shot out from the barrel, turning into a terrifying barrage that swept forward!

"Gaaaaaaah!!"

Faced with this sudden attack, the puppets did not stop at all. They screamed loudly and swarmed in from all directions, charging through a hail of bullets!

“Da da da da da!!”

Although the puppets looked like they were made of metal, they were no different from parchment in the face of the powerful bullets. One puppet after another was mercilessly shattered into pieces, and the three drone cannons spewed bullets wildly, forming a wall of destruction in front of us.

However, not all dolls are stupid.

Soon, some of the puppets attempted to change direction, leaping over the attack from the air or walls to rush towards Li Wei and the others who were positioned at the rear.

Unfortunately, Li Wei and the others weren't just there to watch the show.

"Humph."

Watching the puppet, gripping the railing and leaping nimbly through the air like a monkey in the jungle, Li Wei snorted coldly. Then, he gripped his cane tightly, slammed it against the ground, and swung it forward.

With a soft "crack," the cane instantly split open, transforming into sharp whip blades that lashed out like venomous snakes, striking the leaping puppets mercilessly and sending them flying. "Hey!"

On the other side, Katie raised her little fist, facing the doll climbing up the wall without fear. The doll used its hands and feet to move along the wall like a gecko, then leaped up, opened its mouth, and let out a strange laugh as it pounced on Katie.

Faced with such a bizarre scene, most people would probably be terrified and lose their composure. However, Katie simply clenched her fist, turned her head slightly, and dodged the puppet's outstretched hand. Then, she threw a punch without mercy, hitting the puppet in the chest. Instantly, the puppet flew backward like a cannonball, knocking away several puppets that were rushing towards her from behind.

"Hey?"

However, Katie was not happy after her successful strike; instead, she was stunned for a moment.

"Mr. Li Wei, these dolls seem to be..."

“I know, but they are the enemy now.”

Li Wei, of course, understood what Katie was talking about. In fact, he had already realized it when he started cutting. Whether it was the feel of the blades or anything else, these puppets were not simply puppets made of silver. In fact, a closer look at the puppet remains would reveal what appeared to be rotting flesh and bone beneath the armor torn apart by bullets and blades…

Well, considering this is a smelting plant, the answer to where those corpses went is quite clear.

Even the old man didn't stop, gripping his shotgun and attacking the puppets. Although he wasn't as strong as Levi and Katie, he managed to withstand the puppets' onslaught.

As the last doll was torn to shreds by a bullet, the whistling gunfire ceased. Li Wei put away his cane and surveyed his surroundings.

Looking around, there were fragments of dolls everywhere, and you could even see flesh and bones exposed from them... Well, how should I put it, it was completely unexpected.

"call……………"

At this moment, the old man also put down his weapon. He turned around and looked at Levi and Katie with a surprised expression.

"Who...who are you people?"

"A person specifically responsible for handling these kinds of incidents."

Li Wei simply gave a brief reply and continued walking forward.

"Alright, the troublesome thing is resolved, let's move on."

After that, Li Wei went to the factory office and began looking for information about the factory records. Fortunately, just as Li Wei had expected, the workers there were still keeping records.

Soon, Li Wei found the casting records for a certain idol.

[Month X, Day X]

The priest's demands are getting increasingly outrageous. He wants us to cast large idols? This is absolutely not something a believer should do. Has this guy gone mad? We all know that the Holy Bishop has a commandment against making idols, but how dare this guy do this? If the Holy Bishop finds out, won't we all be burned at the stake as heretics?

Oh, that makes sense. In my father's time, this kind of thing was even more taboo than it is now. Back then, it would indeed have been considered heresy and burned at the stake.

[Month X, Day X]

The foreman went to inquire about the priest's situation, but when he returned, he seemed like a completely different person. He demanded that everyone complete the work to a high standard and quantity, even saying it was a blessing from God. He's clearly not a devout believer, but now he acts like a pious follower… What did the priest do to him?

[Month X, Day X]

An accident occurred; a worker slipped into the furnace, and we wanted to immediately stop work. However, the foreman prevented us, even claiming that the worker had voluntarily sacrificed himself for the idol… What was he saying? Later, the shift supervisor secretly told me that the worker didn't fall accidentally at all, but was pushed by the foreman… Is that really true?

[Month X, Day X]

Three people have died already, and everyone is uneasy. I'm certain the foreman did it; he's even punishing those who refuse to work for him. Bart wanted to leave and submitted his resignation to the foreman, but instead, the foreman tied him up and pushed him into the furnace in front of everyone! Holy Lord, what am I seeing?

[Month X, Day X]

[Am I going crazy? The divine body forged is so perfect and flawless, is this a god? Is this the Holy Lord who created everything? No, no, this is definitely wrong, this is not the Holy Lord at all! The Holy Lord wouldn't kill people for no reason! This thing must be some kind of curse, I must find a way...]

[Month X, Day X]

We can't take it anymore; we must unite. The priest and the foreman are in cahoots. We have no choice but to find a way to solve these problems ourselves!

Finally, there was a line of blank paper. Li Wei reached out and gently touched it, feeling a line of marks.

That's what it says above.

[……………Defective structure detected…………]

(End of this chapter)