Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 246 The World is a Stage
The scene before my eyes was utterly absurd.

As that loud voice rang out, everything around them began to gradually distort.

"The world is a stage, and joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are all part of the script. The audience has entered, and the curtain has been drawn!"

The enormous, silvery-white doll stretched out its arms, its bizarre, starfish-like head shaking incessantly.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen! This play has reached its climax! Alice, and all of you who are chasing after Alice, both actors and audience members, welcome to the opening of this final act!"

A loud voice rang out, and upon hearing these words, Levi's expression immediately darkened, and even Katie showed an uneasy look.

The old man, on the contrary, simply gripped his gun tightly, staring at the statue in front of him, appearing calm and composed.

"This is so troublesome... I hate this development."

Levi stared at the statue before him, gritted his teeth, and muttered in a low voice. Katie, hearing Levi's complaint, was also taken aback.

"Oh? Mr. Li Wei? Is he difficult to deal with?"

In Katie's opinion, Levi does occasionally complain or vent, but it's rare to see him so tense—at least she's never seen him like this before.

"It's hard to say..."

Li Wei stared at the statue. To be honest, the moment he heard the other party speak, he immediately understood everything.

This god—regardless of its true identity—is probably terrifying.

It's not that its personality is scary, but rather that its... power is terrifying.

For it, it was all a drama.

Li Wei could understand that almost every case he investigated could be written into a novel. If this case were used to write a novel, it would be a story about "a noblewoman's unexpected disappearance and a detective's search for the missing girl."

The question then becomes, if this is such a story, who wrote it?
In what form will this story be presented?
Fairy tale? Drama? Novel? Picture book?
Li Wei once read a novel in which there was a story about a traveler who came to a country where there was a book that claimed to "record all the truths of the world." The protagonist found the book and opened it.

This book tells the story of a person with the same name as the protagonist who is terminally ill. Her father creates a device for her that allows her to immerse herself in the world of books, traveling and exploring freely.

Just like the main character.

So, is the protagonist in that book really the protagonist?
Nobody knows.

Does that book tell the truth, or is it simply a story?
No one knows.

But the question now is, when did this "drama" begin?

Is it after Alice disappeared?

Or... back when the church was first discovered?
Or perhaps... it was when the silver mine was discovered there?
What kind of god is this guy?

Li Wei collected his thoughts and stared at the enormous statue before him. Although it wasn't as large as the messenger of disaster in his dream, he could feel an even stronger sense of oppression. It was like the feeling he had when he first met the Goddess of Night!
Perhaps this is the unique sense of oppression that gods possess.

Forget it, I won't worry about it.

Li Wei shook his head, putting aside the random thoughts in his mind. But coincidentally, it was precisely because he remembered the contents of the book he had read before that Li Wei's tense mood gradually relaxed.

After all, the protagonist in that book simply read it and then tossed it aside, without caring whether what the book said was the truth.

Am I just a character in a book? Or am I a real person? Does it matter? Ultimately, I am here, doing what I'm supposed to do, and that's enough.

Thinking this through, Li Wei calmed down and looked at the statue in front of him again, which seemed to be watching them as well.

"So, what will you do next?"

"Is that even a question? Of course, it's about defeating you and taking Alice back."

Alice herself probably doesn't have the ability to travel such a long distance, but if all of this is part of a divine plan, then that's another matter.

It's quite possible that all of this was a drama from the very beginning, starting with the "backstory" and ending with the "actual game."

"Interesting, interesting. You want to defeat me and take back Alice, is that all you're thinking? That's not right."

“…………………?”

"You came here to explore what happened here and uncover the truth! Isn't that right?"

"??"

What exactly is it saying?
Although Li Wei didn't want to waste words with this guy, he was also a little anxious because the system hadn't popped up any task prompts yet, which meant he hadn't found the real problem. Indeed, what exactly had happened in Death Valley was something Li Wei cared about a lot.

But that's all in the past. Compared to that, rescuing the living is definitely more important.

But... this scene feels a bit like something out of a detective anime, where a criminal has kidnapped a hostage and the detective has to investigate the truth of a case from decades ago.

So now the question is, are these conditions proposed by the other party, or are they part of the "script"?

After all, a play needs a script, and the core content of a script will not change... Thinking of this, Li Wei suddenly remembered something, and he raised his head again to look at the statue.

What do you mean by the truth?

"The truth... is the truth. Why did that tragedy happen back then? Why did that devout priest choose to turn his knife against his believers? What exactly happened? As a detective, don't you intend to pursue the truth?"

Ah, that’s it.

At that moment, Li Wei understood completely.

So he stared at the statue and gave his answer.

"not going to."

"………………………Why?"

Perhaps Li Wei's answer was too calm, so much so that even the statue was stunned for a moment.

"I have no interest in knowing what happened back then, because no matter what happened, in the end, it's the script you want to see."

Indeed, in that instant, Li Wei understood what the other party meant. Indeed, just as this deity said, what exactly happened in Silver Valley back then, why that priest went from a devout believer to a ruthless executioner, and why those workers obeyed the priest's orders—these were all unanswered questions.

But for Li Wei... that's not important.

Whatever happened back then is in the past. More importantly, he is now certain that the guy in front of him is the culprit behind all of this!

Perhaps people of this era can't understand, but in Li Wei's time, he knew these kinds of guys existed. Game developers often say things like, "Our game is so touching, former enemies finally let go of their hatred and reconcile—don't you guys appreciate such a great storyline?" Then players reply, "No, I just want to smash that bastard's head with a baseball bat! Who wants to appreciate your idiotic plot! You moron, do you even know how to make games?"

The same thing is happening now; it wants Li Wei to experience the "game storyline" from back then, but for Li Wei...

I'm just a heartless gamer. I skip all the backstory. All I care about is where I'm going, who I'm going to kill, and how many.

For Li Wei now, the main objective of this mission is to [reclaim Alice]. As for the side quests... I don't want to do them!

What's the point of doing it? Game storylines are fixed. If the developers want to annoy players, the only option for players is, of course, not to play!

You make an ugly woman the female lead, and expect players to experience DEI?

You create a disgusting storyline and expect players to be tolerant?
I'd rather not spend money on your game than suffer this injustice.
"Therefore, I will not do as you wish!"

As Li Wei spoke, he inserted a strangely shaped bullet into the magazine, then raised the Persuader, aimed at the idol, and pulled the trigger!
"boom!"

The bullet fired from the muzzle, aiming for the statue's head. Of course, against such a colossal statue, Li Wei's tiny bullet had virtually no effect.

However, Li Wei had no intention of using the bullet to damage the statue. After the bullet was fired, he immediately activated another skill.

【Shape Change】

"—————————!"

The next moment, the "bullet" flying towards the statue switched directions with "something".

A huge black shadow suddenly appeared in front of the statue, clenched its fist, and punched the statue!
"Whoa!"

Upon seeing this, Katie and the old hunter both cried out in surprise, as the enormous creature that appeared before them was truly astonishing!

It has a humanoid shape, with arms and legs, and looks very similar to a large steam-powered mech. However, unlike a steam-powered mech, this enormous robot does not have a steam tank; instead, its body and limbs are made entirely of heavy mechanical steel!

This is the compressed doll that Li Wei had placed outside the mine!
The reason Li Wei didn't carry it with him was because the [Compression and Storage] ability works differently depending on the size of the object; the larger it is, the smaller it is compressed, but the longer it takes to decompress. Compressing this robot, which looked almost as tall as an Empire mech, into a pocket-sized origami form naturally took a considerable amount of time.

Similarly, decompression also takes a lot of time.

Just like decompressing a 1GB compressed file into a 5GB file, it would take at least half an hour to fully expand it.

Therefore, before entering the mine, Li Wei began to decompress the robot just in case. If he encountered an enemy, he could simply use [Teleport] to move the robot that was outside the mine directly in front of him!
Of course, this robot was made by the mechanical manufacturing plant at Uncle Hank's place, which Levi had arranged. Industrial mechs weren't particularly difficult for Uncle Hank and his team to make; the main problem was the power system that drove the mechs. However, Levi's puppet was entirely controlled by himself and didn't require a power system, making it much simpler and more convenient.

Incidentally, Li Wei originally wanted to create a scenario where he could be inside a robot's body and move around with it, like in an animation, but he gave up after trying it out.

The distance was too close, so I couldn't see what was happening on the other side at all, and it was incredibly bumpy without any shock absorption.

He should just quietly play as a third-person player.

"I'm not interested in your script."

Li Wei maneuvered the mecha puppet, staring intently at the statue before him.

"I just want to kill you! Find Alice, and we'll deal with the rest later!"

As Li Wei finished speaking, the next instant, a pleasant system notification sounded in his ear.

(End of this chapter)