Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 279 Conspiracy or Overt Strategy?

After obtaining the sacred stone disc, Li Wei returned to meet up with Katie and the others. Katie was just about to demolish the academy and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Li Wei emerge.

Seeing Katie throw away the five-meter-thick stone pillar, Levi and Sophia breathed a sigh of relief.

That girl is really daring to tear things down!

The three of them then returned to the church to rest for the night, and at the same time, they saw the other half of the sacred stone disc that Levi had obtained.

"It doesn't seem like anything special."

Curious, Katie took the sacred stone discs and pieced them together. The two discs quickly formed an eye, but the middle part was still missing.

That was the last part they were going to take.

"It will probably only be useful once it's been inlaid."

Levi shrugged, while Harold, who had been in the church the whole time, nodded.

“That’s right. Although it’s called the sacred stone disc, it’s just a key, a key to unlock the seal. And now, we’re just missing the last part.”

"Next up is the church in the inner city?"

Li Wei stared at the strange man, who nodded.

“That’s right, the final relic is right there. Now it’s up to you. Once the seal is broken, the darkness that shrouds this city will disappear, and you can leave this city.”

"…………………"

Looking at the strange man, Li Wei's expression remained unchanged on the surface, but his heart was filled with doubt.

He was almost certain that the events in the fishing village and the academy were all orchestrated by Deans, and Deans' purpose was to ensure that the people there guarded the sacred stone disc. In other words, they absolutely could not let the strange man get his hands on it. Levi deliberately brought the stone disc back to test the waters and see if the strange man would do anything in secret.

For example, while they were resting, they could slip away with the stone tablet and Sophia, or take the opportunity to do something sabotage.

Therefore, Li Wei deliberately returned to the chapel, pretending to rest, but actually having his puppet cat and puppet bird keep an eye on him.

To Levi's surprise, the guy did nothing, not even whispering anything to Sophia, as if he really was just trying to break the seal!
This made things complicated.

Either this guy has some other scheme, or he has no scheme at all and is just overthinking things, or he's using an open strategy, meaning he's not afraid that we won't help him break the seal.

After all, the most important thing for Li Wei and the others is to leave this place, and to leave this place, they may have no choice but to break the seal as this guy said.

So this guy didn't need to do anything, because he knew he would definitely break the seal.

Hmm... this is going to be troublesome.

Fortunately, Li Wei wasn't without a backup plan.

After resting for a night, Li Wei took Katie and Sophia into the inner city.

The situation in the inner city is much more dangerous than that in the outer city.

In the outer city, there were mostly groups of madmen carrying knives and forks.

But in the inner city, there are still madmen, but those madmen are completely different now!
They transformed into enormous monsters, their exact appearance... somewhat like the legendary Yeti, standing two or three meters tall, with a robust, muscular, and hairy body.

In ancient times, even a massive army would have dared to venture there.

But now... eat my Namo Great Compassionate Gatling Gun Bodhisattva!
Li Wei didn't even take a detour, but walked directly along the main road. He hummed a song leisurely along the way, his hands behind his back, with two unmanned turrets circling around him, spitting out bullets that shattered all the monsters that rushed towards him into pieces.

"So pitiful..."

Following behind Li Wei, watching the monsters that rushed towards him only to be easily shattered into pieces, Sophia felt a mix of emotions.

"Pitiful?"

Katie blinked curiously.

"Where is the pitiful part?"

"Because of them... well, I think they're quite pitiful..."

Sophia didn't know how to explain it. Perhaps it was pity for the weak. Seeing these monsters charging forward without retreating in the face of such ferocious attacks made her feel a deep sense of despair. Even though these monsters were enormous and had menacing appearances, for some reason, she felt that they were the weaker party.

It's like seeing a pitiful stray cat. Even if it's huddled in a corner, hissing and baring its teeth at you, you won't feel scared; you'll only feel sorry for it.

Hmm... how should I put it...

"The weapons these days are so amazing..."

Seeing the unmanned artillery turrets spitting fire beside Li Wei, Sophia's eyes lit up. She had previously been just an ordinary person, doing mundane clerical work. She had never seen weapons of this era before. It was only now, following Li Wei, that she had truly witnessed them.

In fact, if Henry and other soldiers had seen the unmanned artillery turrets and drones in Levi's hands, they would probably have been astonished.

You should know that even the military doesn't have something like this!

In fact, because Sofia knew nothing about military affairs before, she thought this was quite normal.

Just like those modern military ignoramuses, they only think that this plane is cool, that tank is cool, and that our country now has such powerful weapons, which is great.

That's all my thoughts, nothing else.

But true military enthusiasts don't think that way.

Holy crap! How come the country is already mass-producing this thing?

Holy crap! Is this really modern technology? Or did you dig some alien technology out of somewhere?
Holy crap! How did I go from a military enthusiast to a military illiterate?

Sophia was completely ignorant about military matters at the moment. If Levi used magic or summoned monsters, she might find it strange. But these unmanned artillery emplacements were clearly man-made, so Sophia didn't see anything wrong with them. She just thought that the Empire was so powerful now that it could even build such weapons.

only……………

Wow, that's amazing! I wish I had such a powerful weapon.

Staring at the unmanned artillery emplacement before her, Sofia's eyes shone. During her trip to the Great Salt Lake, she had witnessed quite a lot. She had come to understand that with powerful enough weapons, even monsters were nothing to fear! At this moment, Sofia seemed to have finally found her future!
What is she going to do?
When Sophia arrived at the Great Salt Lake, she was clueless. At the time, she was simply driven by an instinctive desire to escape her monotonous world and change her fate. Perhaps coming to the Great Salt Lake and becoming its lord would change her destiny?
However, after entering the city and encountering so many things, Sofia has changed her mind.

She wants to be a weapons dealer in the future!
She wanted to create weapons! Powerful weapons! Weapons that could protect her from monsters!
Sophia had never even considered such a thing before. As an ordinary person, she didn't think that things like guns and cannons could have anything to do with her.

But now it's different. She suddenly felt that she had found what she wanted to do with her life!

She felt sorry for the monsters, but at the same time, the firepower unleashed by the unmanned turrets fascinated Sofia.

The flames spewing from the constantly spinning gun barrel were so beautiful to Sofia, even more beautiful than the fireworks she had seen during previous festivals.

She became so engrossed in it that she heard Li Wei's voice in her ear.

"Miss Krant?"

"Hey?"

"Here is the place."

"what?"

Sophia looked up and realized that she had reached the end of the main road, and in front of them stood a huge, towering church.

Compared to the chapel in the college, this church is much larger because it is located behind the Crunt family castle. In other words, this church is not only a church, but also a front-line fortress defending the Crunt family castle. Just look at the thick walls on both sides and the separate paths, and you'll know that this church is not just there for show, blocking the way.

"Katie, open the door."

Looking at the tightly closed door, Li Wei raised his chin. The door was huge and heavy, several meters high; it would take him considerable effort to push it open. Since Katie was the automatic lock-picker, why bother doing it himself?
"Alright, watch me!" Katie skipped over and easily pushed open the door.

Yes, she really has to do this kind of physically demanding work.

Li Wei walked into the church with his hands behind his back.

This church was naturally much more imposing than other places, with its huge, spacious hall and the enormous, all-knowing eye on the wall that looked like it was inlaid with gold.

"That should be it."

This time, Li Wei found what he was looking for at a glance, because it was embedded in the very center of the all-knowing eye.

Looks like we won't need to search for treasure chests or solve puzzles this time.

But it's not entirely without problems.

Because before that, they were finally going to fight the BOSS.

The giant fishman and spider monster from before couldn't really be considered bosses; in the game, they would be more like roadblock bosses.

It's different from the level boss.

Now they are facing the final boss.

He was completely shrouded in a long robe, beneath which countless root-like tentacles could be seen spreading out in all directions, clinging tightly to the ground. As Li Wei and the others entered, the robed figure slowly raised his head and stared at them.

“No…Harold…”

The man in black robes slowly rose to his feet.

"Who...are you...?"

"We've only come to ask for one thing."

Li Wei pointed to the golden sphere facing forward on the All-Knowing Eye on the wall.

"To put it bluntly, we just wandered into this place by mistake and wanted to leave. Then that person told us that as long as we obtained the three sacred artifacts and broke the seal, we would be able to leave this place."

Li Wei clearly stated his purpose in one breath. He didn't want to be taken for a fool, so he preemptively stated his intentions and then saw what the other party's reaction was.

As expected, the man in black robes paused for a moment upon hearing Li Wei's words.

"I see... I see... You wanted to break the seal... and leave this place... But unfortunately... you can no longer leave."

"What's the reason? If you don't mind, could you tell us why?"

Li Wei didn't care. If the other party had just agreed, why would he be standing here waiting?
So he sat down on the chair next to him and stared at the man in black.

"I felt there was something wrong with that bandaged monster, so I wanted to ask you, Harold said that Deans turned this place into this state in order to find a secret... Is that true?"

“Harold…”

Upon hearing Li Wei mention the name again, the man in black robes trembled.

“That despicable bastard…! Since you want to know, then I'll tell you… My name is Durant, and I'm Lord Deans' butler…”

Then, the man in black told Li Wei another story.

According to the man in black, Deans was indeed a spoiled brat who enjoyed a life of luxury. However, one day, a man named Harold suddenly came to his door and told Deans some strange things. He said that the Deans family actually possessed some kind of magical power, even the ability to live forever. Deans, who had grown tired of ordinary pleasures, was quite curious about these mysterious things Harold spoke of.

Then, it's unclear what Harold showed Deans, but Deans believed Harold's lies and began digging beneath the Crant family castle.

The black-robed butler tried to dissuade Deans, but Deans seemed to be gradually falling for him. He became obsessed with Harold, obeying his every word and nearly squandering all his wealth. However, at that time, Deans also obtained a book from the ruins he had unearthed underground.

After that, Deans became increasingly eccentric, and the castle became increasingly strange, with servants disappearing from time to time, and even rumors of encountering ghosts and monsters.

As the butler, the man in black was extremely loyal to Deans. He could tell that Deans himself was in great pain, and at times the butler even felt that Deans was being manipulated by Harold. Although Harold claimed that everything was Deans's own decision, the butler had watched Deans grow up and knew that although he was a spoiled brat who enjoyed life, he wasn't a particularly evil person, and he certainly wouldn't kill or rob at will.

Then one day, Deans found the butler and told him something.

He said he obtained a book, and because of that book, he learned some things. These things caused him great pain and madness, and he said he was beyond redemption. But he wouldn't let Harold succeed!
"...Lord Deans knows that Harold is manipulating him to uncover the secrets hidden beneath the Krant family. He is now under Harold's control and cannot be stopped. However, it's not that he has no way out..."

"Actually, there's a legend in the Krant family, a story known only to the head of the family: the evil being underground will one day break free from its seal, and at that time, as descendants of the Krant family, they must follow the same path as their ancestors and seal that evil thing again! Although the lord is a lazy person, he doesn't want that extraterrestrial demon to wreak havoc on the world again!"

"Therefore, the master used his own methods to guard the two sacred sites, and then sent me to guard this place. He knew that Harold had linked his power with Harold's in order to control him, so as long as the young master didn't die, Harold's power could not be restored! So... on that day, the day they unearthed the location of the extraterrestrial demon, the young master used the bloodline of the Krant family to break the seal, sealing the entire city in this darkness, which will forever bind that extraterrestrial demon! Preventing it from ever leaving!"

"………………………"

"Therefore, you cannot break the seal!"

The man in black robes raised his head, and as he did so, the tentacles beneath his robes began to tumble and throb.

"Once the seal is broken, the extraterrestrial demons will leave this place and wreak havoc on the entire world!"

"I see……………"

Hearing this, Li Wei sighed and stood up.

Just as I suspected, this was an open conspiracy.

Deans broke the seal, trapping the extraterrestrial demon that was about to break free, and dragging the entire city into this boundless darkness and curse.

Meanwhile, he used his own methods to corrupt the two guards, turning them into bizarre demons. This made it much harder for Harold to succeed.

It's obvious that the villagers in the fishing village who turned into fish-men, and the guys in the academy who turned into spiders, all worship different evil gods, while Harold's is probably an extraterrestrial demon.

The three parties are all under different leaders, so it's impossible for them to agree on anything. I have to say... Deans's tactic of fighting poison with poison is really brilliant.

However, the methods used... well... although it was indeed for saving the world and sealing away demons... well... anyway, they were quite impressive.

That's all Li Wei could say.

However, this puts them in a very awkward position. Deans has trapped the extraterrestrial demons, and he has also trapped them. If they want to leave, they must break the seal. Once the seal is broken, they can leave, and the extraterrestrial demons can also leave.

Of course, considering the fighting power of the extraterrestrial demons, it's not impossible that Li Wei and his companions might end up being killed by them, and then these extraterrestrial demons would wreak havoc on the entire world.

No wonder that bandaged man was so fearless; he clearly knew that even if Li Wei and the others knew the truth, they would have no other choice.

In fact, Li Wei really had no other choice.

"I understand what you mean."

Li Wei took out the Persuader, loaded the bullets, then turned the magazine and closed it.

"Unfortunately, we don't intend to die here, so..."

As he spoke, Li Wei raised the muzzle of his gun and aimed it at the man in black.

“There is only one answer.”

"Fool!"

The man in black robes' voice grew louder and louder, echoing like thunder throughout the vast church hall.

"In that case, you only have one path left: death!"

With a roar from the man in black robes, several tentacles shot out from beneath the robes and pounced on Li Wei and the others!

(End of this chapter)