Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 262 Experiment
"So idle..."

Li Wei leaned back on the sofa, yawning with a bored expression.

That said, this was self-inflicted. Since the crackdown on organized crime, the crime rate in Chongqing has dropped drastically. Not to mention mysterious incidents, even ordinary cases have decreased significantly.

Although this was part of the original purpose of the special operation, Li Wei found himself with nothing to do.

To avoid retaliation from the gang survivors, he hasn't even gone to the club these past few days, and he's been doing nothing at home but playing with Alice.

However, it's true that there are so few children's books available in this era. Levi noticed that Adele was reading to Alice mostly adult books, and some were even unsuitable for children. Alice naturally had no interest in such things, but as part of her reading and grammar learning, she obediently did as she was told.

Kids these days have it tough; there's nothing fun to do for entertainment. It reminded Li Wei of the summer homework he had as a child, forced to write book reports on classic literature. Although he loved reading back then, he couldn't stand reading classics all the time. Journey to the West was somewhat interesting, but Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dream of the Red Chamber were just too boring.

If there were a comic book version… that’s right, a comic book version!

Thinking of this, Li Wei immediately perked up and began to ponder.

Comics are what kids love most! And I actually did dream of becoming a comic artist back in the day. Alice's been bored and can't find any books to read, so why not draw a comic for her? Who knows, it might even get a nationwide release, giving all the kids in the Empire a complete childhood?

Besides, don't I already have the "Actor Appearance" ability? If I draw a comic book, create a character, and then link that character with "Actor Appearance," wouldn't that be very useful?
Considering that a nursery rhyme can bring the Imperial Bridge to life, then I can be considered to be able to create my own helper!

Hmm, that's a good idea!

Li Wei opened his eyes, stood up from the sofa, began pacing back and forth, and then started to think.

So, what kind of comics should we draw? Since they're for children, anything unsuitable for children is definitely out of the question.

Superheroes?

No, that won't do. This thing is too uncontrollable, and if it were actually created, it would be difficult to explain.

As for angels, fallen angels, demons, and other popular settings in the comic book world, that's even worse. This isn't an atheistic society. If you dare to use that as a theme to draw a creation god that's a super machine, the church will burn you at the stake.

People with superpowers, those with special abilities, and magicians are all essentially promoting heretical doctrines. Perhaps it will be acceptable when culture becomes more open, but it's absolutely unacceptable now.

If you dare to make a vampire the protagonist, you'll definitely end up in the Inquisition, not to mention that Li Wei's identity is quite sensitive.

Therefore, the human protagonist can be abandoned directly.

So what's left are... animals!
Stories featuring animals as protagonists are the most popular; for example, a mouse, a cat, a duck, or a dog can become global stars. Animal subjects are also relatively safe to draw, as they are easier to manage even if things get out of control. Of course, the premise is that it can't be made too exaggerated. The seemingly invincible cats and mice in cartoons might look cute, but in reality, they would be very troublesome if things got out of control.

"Okay, let's do it this way."

In the end, Li Wei made his decision.

He plans to draw a comic book with dogs as its theme.

The reason for using dogs is that they are familiar and relatively cute animals. For example, the dogs in works such as "Hachiko" and "Eight Below" are all fluffy, intelligent, humane, and adorable. They are also easy to leave a deep impression on people and are relatively safe as they are not dangerous.

As for the content, for safety's sake, I'll just draw a dog's daily life.

After all, in Li Wei's memory, slice-of-life anime was quite popular.

Although the protagonist of an everyday life story doesn't have any particularly powerful abilities, Levi's current attempt is just a test to see if it will succeed, not a real attempt to create a dog capable of destroying the world, so this is fine.

As for the protagonist, Li Wei, he had already decided. He didn't own a dog in this world. However, in his previous life, his family had a mixed-breed dog when he was a child, which practically grew up with him and gave him many happy memories. He decided to use that dog as the protagonist and then draw it into a comic.

It's also a way of reminiscing about the past.

With a goal in mind, Li Wei quickly began painting.

Needless to say, his drawing skills are excellent; having the artistic talent is more than enough.

Storyboarding is a bit tricky, but Li Wei had once considered becoming a cartoonist and had studied storyboarding. In addition, he had read a lot of comics, so copying his work shouldn't be a problem.

Besides, there are no comics in this world yet, so no one would say that Li Wei is unprofessional or anything like that.

As for the content, it is naturally the story of Li Wei and the puppy. Thanks to his "photographic memory", Li Wei can now clearly recall even those memories from his childhood that were originally blurry, including how he met the puppy, how he brought the puppy home, and how he played with the puppy on weekdays.

When drawing, Levi used a little trick: only the dog's entire body was shown in the storyboard, while other humans were only shown in their legs or torsos, but never their heads. On one hand, this was to prevent any particular character from being too unforgettable for children and having a negative impact. On the other hand, it was also a clever move by Levi, since the comic itself is about seeing the world from a dog's perspective.

The historical setting was naturally changed by Li Wei to a village in that era.

And so, Li Wei spent the rest of his time drawing this comic. Of course, he mainly did it when Alice was studying and he had nothing else to do.

That being said, the reason Li Wei draws comics when he's bored is simply to pass the time.

After all, drawing comics won't increase your lifespan.

But drawing comics is really tiring.

Li Wei had only noticed when he read comics that artists always complained about rushing to meet deadlines like they were dead, but when he actually tried it, he found that drawing comics was indeed a life-threatening job. It took him almost a whole month to finish about three chapters.

"Hmm, that should be about right."

Li Wei looked at the paintings in his hand and nodded. Of course, he still planned to take them to the club to have professionals evaluate them.

Now that so much time has passed, nothing should be wrong anymore.

When Li Wei arrived at the Golden Mead Club again, he ran into the group of four who were playing cards there. When they saw Li Wei, they quickly greeted him.

"Hello, Sir Levi."

"Hello, you guys, playing cards again?"

Li Wei raised his hand and waved to them. At that moment, a sharp-eyed rider noticed the sketchbook in Li Wei's hand and asked curiously.

"Sir Levi, why are you carrying a sketchbook? Are you here to paint?"

"Oh, actually I drew something and wanted to show it to you."

"Sir Levy's painting?"

Upon hearing this, the four immediately stood up and curiously gathered around. Then, the rider looked at the silent Borent Beth beside him.

"Then let our great painter give his critique."

Li Wei didn't seem to mind and handed over the sketchbook. Bolent took the sketchbook and opened it, and then the others gathered around. When they saw the paintings inside, they were all stunned.

"This is... a sketch? It doesn't look like one?"

The rider frowned, looking at the painting in front of him with a puzzled expression.

On the drawing paper, there was a puppy lying in a basket. In the next shot, the basket was placed on the ground, and the puppy curiously peeked out. At the same time, a line of text appeared in the dialogue box next to it: "John, this is my birthday present for you."

In the next frame, two hands that look like children reach out to the puppy, and at the same time, a line of text appears in the dialogue box next to them.

"Wow, thank you, Grandpa!"

"……………This is?"

"I...I feel...this seems to be a story?"

At this moment, Matilda, one of the four, spoke up timidly. After all, she was a writer and had a natural sensitivity to plot. "That's right."

Li Wei nodded.

"This is a story I drew."

"Ah, it's like a picture book, isn't it?"

The rider clapped his hands, looking as if he had just realized something.

In fact, comics did exist in this era, but they weren't like the kind Li Wei read. Instead, they were picture books where individual drawings were bound together. Each page contained only one drawing, and the next page had another drawing, followed by the description of that drawing below.

For example, if the previous picture shows a man kneeling on the ground offering a gift, the text below would read: "XXX offered their gift to XXX."

The next picture shows the man suddenly leaping up, wielding a dagger and stabbing at his target. Below the picture, it says, "XXX suddenly leaped up, picked up the dagger hidden in the gift, and stabbed XXX."

This is the current form of picture books in this era.

However, this is the first time we've seen a descriptive style like Li Wei's, which uses a storyboard format and is presented in a black and white sketchbook, without any coloring, like a drawing.

The group turned the pages one by one without saying a word, and Li Wei didn't mind. He knew his story wouldn't have anything particularly exciting or thrilling. After all, it was just the daily life of a puppy and a child—plain, with a few humorous moments, and that would be fine.

Are we going to let the puppy die, and then let the child turn evil in a fit of rage?
Li Wei didn't paint many paintings to begin with, and everyone finished looking at them quickly. However, everyone had slightly different opinions.

"It's a very interesting story."

Joan Lista clasped her hands together, gazing at the sketchbook before her.

"I want to get a cute puppy too."

"But...the story seems...it doesn't seem very appealing..."

Matilda timidly offered her evaluation.

"Yes, it's somewhat interesting, but too bland..."

"I actually think this picture book format is quite novel."

The rider scratched his head.

"This is much more interesting than any of the picture books I've seen before."

"His skills are so-so."

As always, Bolent gave a bland evaluation.

"But this... panel-based drawing method is very interesting and has inspired me."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Li Wei didn't care. He was definitely not as good as a professional like Bolent in terms of painting skills. His own art skill was only 60, while if Bolent had a stat, it would probably be at least 70 or higher.

"I was just drawing for fun, mainly for children."

"ah……………"

Hearing Li Wei say that, Matilda seemed to snap out of her daze.

"No wonder, I said this story seemed... seemed... a bit... childish..."

As she spoke, Matilda glanced at Levi again, blushed, and lowered her head, not daring to say another word.

But judging from her expression, it was definitely not something nice to say.

"I actually think this story is quite interesting."

Whether actress Joan was covering for Matilda or genuinely believed it, she spoke up at this moment.

"To be honest, the story wasn't particularly intense, but watching a puppy play with a child brought me a sense of peace, especially since the puppy was so cute. After reading it, I even wanted to get a puppy and play with it."

"That's enough. After all, I just want the children to be happy. It's better for children's world to be simple."

"So, Sir Levy, are you planning to publish a picture book?"

"I do intend to print some and publish them, since they are for children. I hope the children like them."

"Aren't you going to color it?"

Borent was somewhat surprised by Livy's answer. In this era, colored paintings were considered finished products, and black and white paintings like Livy's were basically unfinished products.

"I plan to draw a color page for the cover, and the rest will be drawn in black and white."

As someone who has been deeply influenced by black and white comics, Li Wei still feels that black and white comics have the most appeal and the strongest emotional impact, while full-color comics often lack the space for imagination.

Or rather, the colors are too abundant, which distracts from the original storytelling characteristic of comics.

Everyone's attention was focused on the colors, instinctively ignoring the story.

"Ah, if that's how it is..."

Joan clapped her hands and looked at Li Wei with a smile.

"Sir Levy came to see us not simply to ask for our opinions, was he?"

"Indeed, I'm not very familiar with cultural publishing. I'd like to ask if you have any similar channels."

Li Wei didn't hide this from them; it was the very reason he came to find them in the first place.

“In that case, I think I can be of help, Sir Levi.”

Actress Joan spoke up.

"you?"

"Yes, the theater I work at has a good working relationship with a printing factory, and I am also quite familiar with the owner of that printing factory. If Sir Levi doesn't mind, how about I take you to meet him?"

"Oh?"

Hearing Joan's answer, Levi was somewhat surprised, as he had indeed come with similar thoughts. However, Levi had assumed that the painter Borrent or the writer Matilda would help him, since their professions were closest to publishing.

I never expected it to be Qiong, this stage actress…

However, printing posters for theaters is indeed a viable business opportunity for printing companies these days.

"Then trouble you."

Thinking of this, Li Wei looked at Qiong and spoke.

(End of this chapter)