Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 244 A Twisted Fairy Tale

"Hiss—!"

The sudden light startled the basilisk, but it also noticed Katie lunging at it. The basilisk extended its tail and lashed out, aiming for Katie. But just as its tail lashed out, a gunshot rang out, and a burst of bright red blood erupted from the basilisk's tail.

The ensuing excruciating pain caused the basilisk to scream in agony, instinctively retracting its tail and trying to curl into a ball. Just then, Katie appeared before the basilisk and leaped into the air!

"Hey ya—!"

Katie yelled and raised her hands high, clenched them together, and slammed them down hard on the basilisk's raised head.

"Thump—!"

With a muffled, earthquake-like roar, the basilisk's head, which had been held high, crashed to the ground like a falling meteor. Moments later, the convulsing giant basilisk vanished, and the pigeons that had been cooing nearby disappeared as well.

"…………………"

Well, this MT is really too strong.

Li Wei walked forward with a sigh and picked up the drawing paper on the ground.

As before, he was drawing a picture. On the front, he drew a pigeon incubating its eggs in a bird's nest, with the words "The pigeon incubating its eggs met Alice and protected its eggs" written next to it.

On the back is a black snake with its jaws wide open, and the words "[Will the snake that wants to eat pigeon eggs target Alice?]" are written on it.

"What the hell is this?"

Katie looked at the drawing on the paper with a puzzled expression, while Levi pondered for a moment and looked at the old man.

"Snakes, pigeons, and rabbits... Are there any of these animals around here?"

"Well, there is."

The old man nodded.

"I see, I think I know what happened."

Li Wei nodded.

"what happened?"

“Yes, didn’t Mr. Roger say before that he saw Miss Dunn carrying a sketchbook up the mountain? So I’ve been thinking about something.”

"Ok?"

"What do you think you want to do after running away from home?"

"Huh? I ran away from home?"

When asked by Li Wei, Katie paused for a moment, then frowned and began to think.

"Run away from home, hmm... I want to go to a deserted island! And then live a leisurely and lazy life in a big house! Never again will I have to practice any of that etiquette, grammar, or dance..."

"You wish! There are more important things to do before that, aren't there?"

"Something more important?"

"Money, oh money."

Looking at Katie's innocent and naive appearance, Levi felt an urge to knock her on the head.

"You've left home and you're broke. Don't you want to find a way to work and earn money? Otherwise, where will you get a big house to live in? A deserted island, huh! You're dreaming! You can't even afford a boat ticket, do you want to swim there?"

"ah……………"

Katie seemed to only realize what was happening at that moment, opening her mouth in a daze, while the old man beside her chuckled as he watched her.

"Ugh... But what does that have to do with the present?"

Katie also came to her senses and realized that she had misunderstood. Her face turned red, and she protested to Levi with embarrassment.

“Look, why did Miss Dunn go up the mountain to sketch? Isn’t that a question? Now it seems that from these few sheets of paper, we can see that she went up the mountain to sketch in order to create her own picture book. Didn’t Mr. East say that his sister has always dreamed of becoming a picture book author? Now that she has left home and has no source of income, creating picture books, if successful, can provide her with a living. I think that’s why Miss Dunn chose to go up the mountain to sketch.”

As he spoke, Li Wei pointed to the drawing paper in his hand.

"And that is the result of her work."

"this?"

"Well, judging from the two drawings we've collected so far, she seems to be planning to create a story with a protagonist named Alice, who will encounter all sorts of strange...animals in the story. However, she has only created the concept and hasn't drawn the whole story yet."

"Huh? Alice? Wait, Mr. Levi, you're not suggesting that... the child she gave birth to is actually a character from a story she created, are you?"

To be honest, Katie was quite surprised to hear Levi's answer.

"Who knows? Maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe there's another reason. After all, we haven't received Alice's design drafts yet."

Li Wei looked at the drawing paper again and put it away. He also wondered what Alice really was, and why Miss Dunn had given birth to her. If she wasn't human, then what was she? Was she simply some kind of illusion?
"Anyway, let's keep going. We don't know what we'll encounter next, so everyone be careful."

As they talked, the three continued walking forward.

The deep mine tunnel seemed to have no end, but that was just an illusion. The three of them could only follow the tiny footprints on the ground, moving forward step by step while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

In fact, Li Wei said there was no need for this.

"Waaaaahh ...

Soon, a mournful cry was heard, causing the three to stop in their tracks.

"Who's crying?" "Let's go over and see."

Li Wei, holding the gas lamp, continued walking toward the source of the crying.

After walking for a while, the group saw an animal not far in front of them, sitting on the ground with its back to them, crying incessantly and looking very sad.

"………………………"

Li Wei instinctively wanted to switch guns and attack.

"Wait, Mr. Li Wei, what are you doing?"

Seeing Levi reach for the gun, Katie quickly whispered a question, and only then did Levi realize what was happening.

"Sorry, it was just an instinctive reaction."

"Instinctive reaction?"

"Hmm... In my experience, people who cry with their backs to you are usually tough characters."

"What a formidable character! I think this child is quite pitiful..."

Haha, that's what happens when you haven't been tortured by horror games and movies.

Li Wei chuckled and stood still.

"Then go and talk to this guy."

"Me? Okay... fine."

Although she didn't know what Levi was going to do, Katie nodded, then walked behind him and asked in a low voice.

"Excuse me, why are you crying?"

"Waaaaah... Because, because nobody wants me..."

"Don't want me?"

"Yes, they said my color is different from everyone else's, and that I'm ugly and unattractive..."

Following the light, I saw that the animal had pure white fur and a perky tail, so it looked like a duck. However, this duck was much bigger than Katie, and sitting there it looked like a giant Buddha statue, which was really speechless.

"Well……………"

"Do you also think I'm ugly, big sister?"

"That's not what I meant."

Katie quickly waved her hand in reply.

"Look at your tail, and your feathers are so beautiful, so white and lovely, how could you be ugly?"

Even after hearing Katie's reply, the duck's voice was still filled with pain and distress as it sobbed and whispered.

"But, but I'm still not as pretty as you, sister. Beautiful skin, beautiful eyes, beautiful hair—it's all so enviable..."

"Oh? Is that so? Thank you for the compliment..."

"I'm so envious, so..."

"so?"

"Give me everything you have, ahhhhh!!"

In an instant, the animal, which had been facing away from the three people, suddenly turned its head 180 degrees. It looked similar to a duck, with its long beak open, revealing bloody teeth and feathers, as well as bones and broken limbs.

"That's not enough! I want more, more, more!"

As it spoke, the duck opened its large mouth with sharp teeth and bit down hard on Katie.

"Boom!"

Gunshots rang out, and the duck monster that had been poised to bite immediately retreated with a wail, while Levi gripped the Persuader tightly, looking speechless.

"See, I told you, it's dangerous to cry in front of others. Speaking of which, what kind of horror tale and fairy tale fusion is this? What kind of story is that young lady trying to create? This is just too abnormal. Can't she tell a heartwarming and positive story? Why does she have to make it so dark and cruel?"

While it's true that fairy tales weren't as peaceful as modern children's stories, this is way too extreme! It's practically a fairy tale version of an urban legend: the little duck eats its companion, becomes beautiful, and then eats other beautiful animals to become even more beautiful...

Just thinking about it makes my heart tremble. Is this thing really okay?

In those urban legends, there's a woman wearing a mask who asks people, "Am I pretty?" If they answer yes, she says, "Then you're just like me!" and tears their mouth apart. If they answer no, she angrily kills them. But those are ghost stories! There's a difference between fairy tales and ghost stories, okay...? Hmm? No, maybe they're not that different?

Forget it, there's no point in thinking about it now, is there?
"Let me eat you all!! You're all mine!"

The duck-like monster twisted and deformed once more, its body becoming increasingly fluffy, resembling a round and adorable pet duck from Levi's world. However, precisely because of this, its shark-like teeth protruded from its mouth, and the bloodstains around its mouth made it even more terrifying.

Does anyone even watch this?
No, there might be quite a few people.

After all, even Black Mermaid had box office success, right?

Li Wei silently drew the Punisher and raised his twin pistols.

They aimed at the roaring monster.

This can't be used to make roast duck anymore, let's just eat it.

(End of this chapter)