Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Setting of Chapter 243?

"on!"

Seeing the rabbit's ferocious expression, Li Wei shoved Katie, then quickly retreated, as practiced as a hunter who would feign death after using Misdirection to engage the main tank.

"Hey?"

Katie, ruthlessly pushed forward by Levi, looked confused, but not afraid. Perhaps what was more difficult for Katie now was figuring out how to deal with this strange rabbit.

However, at that moment, the rabbit pounced on Katie and slashed down at her with its claws.

The rabbit had grown to the size of a small car. Even an ordinary rabbit that big would be frightening enough, let alone this one, which was twisted and ugly. Although it was clearly a rabbit, its hideous and grotesque face made people feel even more uneasy.

"Hey!"

Facing the rabbit's slashing claws, Katie let out a shout and threw a punch with her right hand, colliding with the rabbit's claws. Then, accompanied by a crisp cracking sound, the rabbit's slashing claws instantly burst like a water-filled balloon, spurting out dark red blood, and the rabbit let out a painful howl.

At the same time, the old man seized the opportunity, raised his shotgun, and pulled the trigger.

"Boom!"

Two gunshots rang out, the bullets seemingly hitting the rabbit, but they seemed to have no effect on its filthy fur.

"Katie, kick it away!"

At the same time, Li Wei quickly changed his bullets and then gave the order.

"Yes!"

Katie was retracting her fist when she heard Levi's command and hurriedly responded. At the same time, she ducked to avoid the rabbit's angry claws and rushed forward into the rabbit's arms, then delivered a heavy roundhouse kick to the rabbit's chest.

"Hey!"

Katie's right foot struck the rabbit in the chest, her leg almost burying itself deep inside, as if the rabbit's belly was covered by a thick layer of fur almost as high as her knees.

But the next moment...

"Boom!"

With a cracking sound, Li Wei clearly saw the thick fur spread out in all directions as if it had been hit by a bomb. Then the rabbit's huge body trembled violently and then flew backward.

At the same time, Li Wei had already locked onto his target and pulled the trigger.

"boom!!"

The bullet spun out of the muzzle and struck the flying rabbit, followed by a burst of sparks that instantly ignited the rabbit's thick fur.

"Wow ah ah ah ah!"

As expected, those with lots of hair are weak against fire.

Watching the rabbit writhing and screaming on the ground, Li Wei chuckled inwardly. After all, they had dealt with similar monsters many times before, and they already knew how to handle the thick-skinned ones like this… Hmm?

However, to Levi's surprise, the rabbit did not die. Instead, after rolling around on the ground a few times, it suddenly pushed off the ground with its hind legs, leaped up, and pounced on Katie with its blood-red mouth wide open!

Damn, so even a rabbit will bite when cornered?
But it was all for naught; it was of no use.

"Boom!"

The shots fired simultaneously from Levi and the old hunter. Without its thick fur, the rabbit seemed to have completely lost its bulletproof armor. The shotgun bullet struck its chest, while Levi's explosive round blew a large hole in its head, blowing off the upper half of its head.

The headless rabbit landed on the ground and slid slowly for a distance before coming to a stop.

Then, a few moments later, its body gradually disappeared.

Not only that, but the surrounding grass and greenery also disappeared, and a moment later everyone was back in that dark mine.

"Huh? It's gone?"

Katie was somewhat surprised to see the giant rabbit carcass disappear, and even Levi was a little astonished. In fact, he had just suspected that this might be some kind of dream world, but since Levi couldn't summon dinosaurs again, this should be reality.

That rabbit monster looked so realistic just now, was it just an illusion? Is this boss really that powerful? Even an illusion can become a real thing? That's really troublesome... Hmm?

Just then, Li Wei seemed to notice something. He walked to the spot where the rabbit carcass had been, reached out, and picked up a piece of paper from the ground.

"What's wrong, Mr. Levi? What have you discovered?"

At this moment, Katie also curiously came over and looked at the paper in Levi's hand. It looked like a piece of drawing paper, on which was drawn a slightly cartoonish rabbit walking on green grass, and there was also a sun drawn on it. Next to it were a few lines of writing.

[The rabbit Alice saw, rushing to the Queen's banquet]

Li Wei turned the paper over and looked at the back. There was still a rabbit drawn on it, but this time, the rabbit looked terrifying, just like the monster that had appeared in front of Li Wei and the others earlier.

There was still a line of text written next to it.

If it is stopped, it will become extremely angry and tear the person in the opposite direction to pieces.

"It looks quite like a picture book."

Katie commented curiously at this moment.

“Picture books…”

Li Wei stared at the paper, and soon remembered that the rider had said his sister's dream was to become a picture book author.

Could this piece of paper be the character design for her picture book?
So why did it become a reality?

What exactly is the god that exists in this place?

And Alice...

Li Wei turned the paper over and looked at the words on it.

[The rabbit that Alice saw rushing to the Queen's banquet] In other words, Alice is very likely a character in a fairy tale picture book created by the Rider Sister?
But why was she born in reality?

And she was even born through the sister of a delivery rider?
It's often said that the characters in a work are the author's children, but that's just a metaphor.

You're actually playing for real now?
Or is it that all of this was orchestrated by that god?

If that's the case, then which deity does the all-knowing eye in this cave represent?
"Mr. Li Wei? Have you thought of anything?"

Katie's voice rang out, and Levi snapped out of his reverie, looking at Katie and the old man standing beside him.

"Yes, the situation is indeed a bit troublesome... Let's be careful."

Li Wei folded the drawing paper and put it back in his pocket, then the three of them continued forward. On the dusty road, the small footprints were clearly visible. But now, Li Wei was increasingly suspicious of Alice's existence. At least he was certain that Alice was definitely not an ordinary girl, and might not even be human at all.

But why did she come here?

Does her return here have anything to do with these drawings?
"Boom!"

After walking for a while, a stone suddenly fell and hit Li Wei's feet. Li Wei stopped and looked up at the place where the stone had been thrown. He then saw a pigeon perched in its nest at the top of the cave, with a torch stuck next to it, as if the nest were a very luxurious building.

"Hey, you guys, don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

The pigeon cooed and shouted at Levi and the others, while Katie stared at the pigeon with wide, curious eyes—perhaps it was the first time she had ever encountered a pigeon that could talk.

The old man gripped his hunting rifle, intending to aim at the other man, but this time Li Wei stopped him.

Because Li Wei suddenly had an idea, he looked up at the pigeons and asked them a question.

Why won't you let us through?

"Because you want to eat my eggs!"

The pigeon began to complain.

“I just moved here. There are no trees, just a big hole, but I thought I could escape those snakes. But they still won't leave me alone! Now I have to incubate my eggs every day and keep an eye on that snake! And now you're going to eat my eggs too!”

“We’re not here to eat your eggs, Ms. Pigeon.”

Katie finally came to her senses and hurriedly spoke up, but the pigeon just glared at her fiercely.

"Liar, liar! You're all liars, and your excuses won't work! You dare tell me you've never eaten an egg?"

"Well……………"

Katie was speechless.

Of course she's eaten it.

"Anything that eats eggs is a snake! They all want to eat my eggs, and you are no exception!"

The pigeon flapped its wings vigorously, making a threatening gesture.

Incidentally, like the rabbit before, although this thing is a pigeon, it is also enormous, even larger than an ostrich. When it spreads its wings, it is naturally even more frighteningly large. And its pigeon eggs are almost the size of a rugby ball.

"I'm looking for a girl."

Li Wei wasn't going to let this guy get him all tangled up. He sighed and then spoke.

"Her name is Alice, do you know where she went?"

"Oh, Alice, Alice, the girl who lies! Oh, she didn't lie."

The pigeons cooed and shook their heads.

"She told me she ate a lot of eggs, it was terrifying! She was also a snake, with a long neck, yes, a long neck. If she wanted to eat eggs, then she was a snake!"

At this point, the pigeon suddenly sensed something and quickly curled up into a ball.

"Oh no, that snake is back again! Get away, get away, get away!"

Hiss—

Accompanied by the cooing of pigeons, Li Wei and the others heard a strange sound coming from the depths of the cave. Then, two eyes, as large as lanterns, emerged from the darkness. At the same time, a stench emanated from the depths of the cave, growing stronger and stronger.

“…Oh my god, could that be a snake?”

"Pretty much. It seems that Miss Alice's adventure is going to be quite difficult."

Li Wei silently took a bullet out of his pocket, inserted it into the Punisher's magazine, and then suddenly spun it around.

"Katie, cooperate with me and follow my orders, understand?"

"Ok."

Katie clenched her fists and nodded with a tense expression, then Levi suddenly raised the muzzle of his gun.

"Close your eyes!"

As he shouted, Li Wei pulled the trigger.

"Bang-----!"

A dazzling burst of light from the flare instantly illuminated the entire dark passageway. Under this blazing light, a massive black snake, as thick as a bus, could be clearly seen coiled up, its forked tongue flicking out as it stared at the pigeon coop not far away.

The sudden light startled the black snake, causing it to scream and instinctively shrink back.

"Now's the time, Katie, let's go!"

With a command from Li Wei, Katie, who was already ready, suddenly accelerated and pounced on the giant serpent monster in front of her!
(End of this chapter)