Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 272 Overcoming Fear
Sophia was somewhat uneasy about Levi's invitation, but when Levi assured her that they would protect her, she immediately put the danger aside and readily agreed to his request. She didn't even notice the subtle hints Harold was giving her.

Yeah, sometimes die-hard fans can be quite useful.

Although logically it was already late and he should have rested for the night and set off the next day, Li Wei didn't care. Since it was always dark here no matter when he woke up, he disregarded the time and decisively chose to set off.

Now that they had a clear goal, Li Wei naturally wouldn't wander around aimlessly like a headless fly anymore. He decisively sent the puppet bird to clear the way, and then proceeded along a route free of madmen. Soon, the three of them arrived at the east side of the town in a short time.

Gradually, the surrounding scenery began to change. The exquisite Gothic buildings disappeared, replaced by low walls and dilapidated houses. The tattered fishing nets hanging around also revealed the true nature of this place.

"This is the fishing village."

Katie looked curiously at the distorted and chaotic houses that resembled a slum not far below, and the lake in the distance that was as calm as a stagnant pool, and couldn't help but sigh. Sophia nodded and spoke up.

“I heard from Mr. Harold that this place used to mainly catch fish from the lake to supply the town, so the income, while not huge, was quite stable. However, my grandfather suddenly came here and led them to do some terrible things. After that, the fishermen here not only caught fish, but also all kinds of gold, jewels, and jewelry…”

"Hey? Why?"

Upon hearing this, Katie immediately became interested; indeed, no woman dislikes jewelry and ornaments.

"I do not know either."

Sofia shook her head.

“But Mr. Harold said that those people also paid a price for it…”

"The price you're talking about, do you mean becoming a human being?"

Just then, Li Wei, who was observing the fishing village below with binoculars, spoke up and handed the binoculars over. Sophia took the binoculars with a puzzled look and looked down—then her eyes widened in surprise.

Along the lakeshore, strange figures moved about, their appearance resembling fish-like frogs, or frog-like fish. Their heads were fish-like, but their limbs were frog-like. Even more terrifying, however, they were dressed in human clothing.

This was far more terrifying than the madmen in the city, who could be described as mentally deranged individuals with violent tendencies. But these creatures weren't even human; Li Wei felt that calling them fish-men would be a gross disgrace to the term.

After all, there is a difference between having a fish upper body and a human lower body, or having a human upper body and a fish lower body.

"Alas…………!"

But for Sofia, the sight was clearly too stimulating. She only glanced at it before her body froze, and then the binoculars she was holding fell to the ground—luckily, Katie caught them in time.

"Whoa, that's dangerous! What if it breaks? What's wrong? Let me see what it is?"

Katie excitedly raised her binoculars and looked towards the fishing village.

"Huh? What is this thing? Hahaha, a fish with human legs? What a strange thing."

"It is indeed strange, and he is not very good-looking either."

"That's true, it's not pretty at all."

Seeing Levi and Katie chatting leisurely, Sophia, who had been frozen in place with her mind in a mess, finally came to her senses. She looked at Levi, then at Katie.

"Excuse me... you two, weren't you afraid when you saw that kind of thing?"

“This is what we do every day. We’ve seen all sorts of weird monsters.”

Li Wei took back the binoculars and then glanced at Sophia.

"But speaking of which, why are you afraid of that thing?"

"Because, because it's a monster! I've never seen such a terrifying monster before..."

"Terrible? What's so scary about it?"

"Uh…………"

To be honest, Sophia was genuinely taken aback by Li Wei's further questioning. She frowned and racked her brains to think it over.

"This...is it terrifying?"

"It's true that it looks disgusting, but it's not necessarily that it's terrifying."

"is it?"

"Yes."

As Li Wei spoke, he walked down the slope. Katie hummed a song and followed him down, while Sophia, though unsure of their intentions, hurried behind them. The three of them descended the slope and arrived at the fishing village square.

In the plaza stood a statue, not the mark of the All-Seeing Eye, but a bizarre stone statue. It resembled a human, with an octopus-like head, its body covered in fish-like scales, and enormous claws on its limbs. Behind it, a pair of bat-like, twisted wings spread out.

The stone statue was incredibly bloated, squatting on its pedestal, coldly staring ahead. Below this eerie statue, nearly a hundred monsters—whether merfolk or fish-men—prostrated themselves on the ground, muttering prayers in hushed tones.

The scene was bizarre and twisted, sending chills down Sophia's spine just by looking at it. Listening to the deep prayers and looking at the crudely carved yet eerie stone statue in front of her, she felt as if she were sinking into a bottomless swamp. The eerie prayers seemed to have materialized into countless arms, gripping her as she slowly sank.

"———————!"

Just as Sophia was about to lose consciousness, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out, instantly waking her from her drowsy and eerie state. She opened her eyes wide and saw Levi raise his hand and wave at the monsters in the square.

"Hey! You little bastard!"

Katie and Sophia couldn't understand what Levi was shouting, but it was clear that his shouts had quickly attracted the attention of the monsters. They all turned their heads, their wide, dead-fish-like eyes staring at him without moving. Then, the monsters gripped their weapons and slowly walked towards the three of them.

Just seeing these monsters covered in slime and with their bizarre, twisted appearance was enough to make Sophia tremble. The sight of these monsters surging towards her in layers was even more terrifying, making her weak and almost collapse to the ground.

At this moment, Sophia even began to doubt her own sanity; perhaps she shouldn't have come here? Although Mr. Levi was powerful, so many monsters…

"Miss Krant."

Just as Sophia was lost in thought, Levi's voice reached her ears, clearing her vision, which had been blurred and distorted by fear. She looked at Levi's back as he stood before her, listening to his words.

"Let me teach you a way to overcome your fear."

"What method? What method?"

Sophia didn't speak, but Katie did ask a question.

"In my hometown, there's a saying that goes..."

As Li Wei spoke, he put his left hand into his pocket and then took out two pieces of origami.

"All fear stems from insufficient firepower."

With that, Li Wei waved his hand and threw out two origami pieces—they gradually rose and grew larger in the air, and when they landed, they had transformed into two unmanned artillery emplacements equipped with Gatling guns.

"Cover your ears!"

Sofia instinctively covered her ears, and the next moment, she saw a scene she could hardly believe.

"Buzz—Boom boom boom—!!"

The machine guns on the unmanned turret began to spin, spewing forth a torrent of sparks, bullets whistling forward. The monsters that surrounded Li Wei and his group were utterly powerless against this attack. They fell like harvested wheat, one after another. These monsters, which had previously made Sophia's limbs weak and were unimaginable to look at, were now so easily turned into piles of bloody, mangled pieces.

"…………………"

The machine guns stopped spinning. The square was now empty; even the eerie stone statue that had once commanded the monsters' adoration was shattered into pieces, its original form unrecognizable. The entire square was filled with filthy, putrid blood and entrails, and a pungent fishy stench, smelling like a fish market where fish were being butchered.

But this is not over yet.

"Boom!"

Beside the square, the church doors, which had been nailed shut, suddenly burst open, and a gigantic merman strode out. Atop his head stood a smaller merman, which, like the larger one, held reins and swayed its body as it walked out of the church. In the gigantic merman's hand, a similarly sharp and massive battle axe, lay a weapon.

It stared intently at Li Wei, then the little fishman above let out a piercing scream, followed by the giant fishman wielding a battle axe, charging towards Li Wei like an enraged bull.

At the same time, gunshots rang out.

"Boom!"

With two gunshots, the little fishman's body exploded, and the giant fishman's head also exploded. The body, which had lost its power, instinctively took a step forward, then collapsed to the ground, convulsing and motionless.

Li Wei put down the persuader in his hand and looked at Sophia, who was standing there in a daze.

"How are you, Miss Krant? Are you still scared?"

"I…………………"

Faced with Levi's question, Sophia was momentarily at a loss for words. She stared blankly at the mutilated corpses on the ground, her emotions a complex mix. Just moments ago, she had been terrified of these inhuman beings, but now, she felt…

"so poor."

"???"

Li Wei looked at her with a puzzled expression, while Sophia noticed Li Wei's questioning gaze and blushed slightly as she explained.

"Ah, I was just watching these monsters... they were killed so easily, I felt a little sorry for them..."

"...Are you still afraid of them?"

"...I don't seem so scared anymore."

"That's good."

Li Wei nodded, looked away, and decided not to concern himself with the young lady's peculiar perspective. Then, he looked at Katie.

Where is that sacred relic?

"...They say it's under the altar in the church!"

"Then let's go take a look."

"Okay!"

Katie ran excitedly toward the church, with Levi close behind. Sophia glanced at the corpses lying on the ground with a complicated look before following the two toward the church.

(End of this chapter)