Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 280 I want them all!

As the man in black robes launched his attack, a pleasant system notification sounded in Li Wei's ears.

[The quest "The Best of Both Worlds" is now activated]

[Mission Objective: Break the seal and destroy the extraterrestrial demons]

Just as I thought!
After glancing at the system task, Li Wei looked away. In fact, this was the only way to ensure that he and his companions could leave this place without endangering others.

But right now, we still need to grab the last sacred relic!
"Katie, let's go!"

At that moment, all the tentacles beneath the black-robed figure rose up and lunged towards Li Wei and the others. Facing the attack of these tentacles, Li Wei stepped forward and gave an order to Katie. At the same time, he casually flicked his wrist forward, and soon, a metal knight over two meters tall appeared in front of Li Wei.

This is the doll that Levi and Irene created together!

After Li Wei's [Puppeteer] skill was upgraded to LV4, he was able to control an increasing number of puppets. He then began to explore ways to utilize the puppets in combat, rather than simply as support. The most important aspect of this was their size.

After all, Li Wei had experienced so many battles, so he naturally knew that the enemies he would be fighting varied in size. There were those like socialite assassins, about the size of a human, those like vampires, larger than humans, and those like the statue in the Alice case, tens of meters tall.

To deal with different enemies, you naturally need to use puppets of different sizes.

The dolls that Li Wei is currently making are the ones he came up with after his investigation of King Solomon. These dolls are two meters tall and look very similar to the armored guards that many noble families would place in the corridors as decorations.

In fact, this was also Li Wei's idea; it was specifically designed to deal with human enemies. He was slightly larger than an ordinary person, wielded a two-handed sword, and was fully armored.

As for its power—you'll find out once you try it!

"on!"

Li Wei slightly bent his finger, and with his command, the knight in silver armor gripped his greatsword and charged forward!

Although it seems a bit despicable, the opponent has more than a dozen tentacles, so it's not certain who is more despicable!

Tentacles extending from beneath the black robe resembled giant pythons, lunging forward. At the same time, the silver-armored knight, wielding a massive blade, charged forward to meet them. Undeterred by the oncoming tentacles, he raised his sword and swung it down!

"Whoosh—!"

A flash of cold light, like moonlight, instantly severed the leading tentacle. However, the next moment, the severed tentacles rapidly wriggled, sprouting new tendrils that continued their attack on the silver-armored knight!

The silver-armored knight's attack only blocked the tentacles for a moment, but that moment was enough!
"Hey ya—!"

With a loud shout, Katie lifted a heavy chair, more than three meters long, that was placed in the church hall and slammed it down on the man in black!
These chairs, though made of wood, were quite heavy. Yet, in Katie's hands, they felt lighter than a feather. However, the whistling, tearing sound when Katie threw the chairs confirmed that they were definitely not light. Being hit by one would mean certain death or serious injury!
"Humph!"

Even such an attack was ignored by the man in black robes. He simply snorted and lashed out with another tentacle, slamming it heavily into the chair flying towards him and sending it flying. At the same time, three other tentacles split into three groups, attacking Levi, Katie, and Sophia respectively!

Facing this attack, Levi stepped in front of Sophia and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a black cat descended from the sky, its front paws raised high, from which gleaming blades shot out. Then, the black cat slashed down with its paw, severing the tentacles that were lunging at Levi and Sophia in the middle.

Katie was a step too late; her arm was grabbed by the opponent's tentacles.

"Miss Katie!?"

Upon seeing this, Sophia screamed in alarm, but Levi merely glanced at her, completely unmoved.

At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind.

That old guy is really asking for it.

Got it!
At this moment, the man in black robes also confirmed that he had captured one of his targets, and he quickly manipulated his tentacles to entangle Katie.

Let's start with this little girl!
Thinking of this, the man in black robes pulled hard, about to grab Katie and throw her—hmm?

However, instead of pulling on his prey as expected, the man in black robes felt as if he had grabbed a mountain! The force of the pull almost knocked him to the ground!
How could this be...?

Before the man in black could figure it out, Katie grabbed the tentacle that was wrapped around her arm and pulled it towards her with force!
But what happened next was completely unexpected.

"boom-----!"

As Katie pulled, the entire church hall floor suddenly began to shake violently. Then, the previously smooth, stone-paved ground rose high into the air. The black-robed man's body was pulled directly into the air by Katie! Immediately afterward, the robes covering the black-robed man ripped apart, revealing his true face to everyone.

"Good guy!"

Even Li Wei was taken aback when he saw this.

There is only one reason—the black-robed man's body is longer than imagined!

As everyone knows, a sapling that appears small when exposed to the elements may seem insignificant, but its roots buried in the soil are actually quite deep and long. If you were to forcibly pull a sapling up from the ground, you would inevitably uproot the surrounding soil as well! And that's exactly what happened to the man in the black robe right now!
Although he is only about the height of a person on the ground, his "roots" have extended to every corner of the entire church hall!
The black-robed figure before them resembled a tree with a human body! Except that the tree itself, along with its roots, was entirely composed of tentacles and flesh!

"Wow..."

It has to be said that Li Wei couldn't help but sigh upon seeing this scene. Through [Soul Vision], he could see that the soul beneath the black-robed man flowed like a river, covering most of the church. However, at the time, Li Wei didn't know what this was, since [Soul Vision] could only see the radiance of souls, not see through them.

Unexpectedly... it actually turned into a tree?

No wonder he stood there motionless; he couldn't move a single tree!

However, thanks to Katie "pulling out" his true form, Li Wei's [Soul Vision] quickly captured the core of this black-robed man—a shining point of light located beneath the ground, surrounded by layers of roots!

However, this time the light spots are dark green! Not red!

Once we find the core issue, things will be much easier!

"Katie, hold on to him!"

At that moment, Li Wei's mind raced, and he quickly devised a battle plan. Thankfully, Katie had pulled this guy's true form out of the ground; otherwise, it would have been incredibly frustrating if they had been fooled by this puppet on the surface. But thankfully… apparently, the opponent hadn't anticipated Katie's immense strength!
"Yes, Mr. Li Wei!"

At this moment, Katie reached out and grabbed the tentacle tightly, answering loudly. The black-robed man was clearly panicked now; he quickly extended several more tentacles, trying to grab Katie. But Katie used the same trick again, grabbing him instead!
Damn, how is this possible?

At this moment, the man in black robes was also completely blank, unable to comprehend the situation at all. He simply couldn't understand how that little girl, who looked so small, could have such great strength, and how he couldn't even lift her at all!

Just as the man in black was distracted, Li Wei made his move!
Death Eyes!
At this moment, the passage of time began to slow down, and Li Wei raised his hands. With his movement, the silver-armored knight in front of him suddenly accelerated and rushed towards the core below the black-robed man!

If it were a bullet, it would slow down considerably after Levi fired it, but the puppets are different. Because Levi controls the puppets using the spirit threads of the [Puppeteer], they can still move normally even when the [Death Eye] is activated.

Li Wei had experimented with this before, but this was the first time he had used it in actual combat!

The man in black robes was naturally oblivious to all that. At that moment, he was completely focused on the tug-of-war with Katie. However, just then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower body. He looked down and saw that the silver-armored knight had somehow appeared in front of him, gripping his giant blade and forcefully slashing down at the core of his body!
"No-----!"

At this moment, the man in black robes was shocked. He hurriedly tried to stop him, but it was too late. The silver-armored knight had already swung his sword down, completely severing the roots below. Then, a huge chunk of flesh resembling a heart emerged from it. The silver-armored knight then gripped his greatsword and thrust it out, completely piercing through the huge chunk of flesh that was beating like a heart!

"puff-----!"

In that instant, the tentacles on the black-robed man's body melted away, turning into a pool of blood that spilled onto the ground. In an instant, the entire church was filled with a disgusting stench, and thick blood was everywhere.

This taste is really...

Li Wei frowned, but he held back. Holding the persuader in his hand, he slowly walked forward.

With the core destroyed, the huge roots that originally supported the black-robed man also disappeared. Now, in a pool of filthy blood, there was only a silhouette that looked neither human nor ghost.

Hearing footsteps, the man in black robes raised his head and stared at Li Wei.

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

"My name is Li Wei, and I'm a detective who specializes in handling these rather strange cases."

Li Wei looked at the pile of mangled flesh on the ground, which was now only human-shaped, and spoke.

“Detective…it seems…I can no longer stop you…”

“I did not intend to destroy this world. In fact, I also wanted to completely destroy that extraterrestrial demon.”

"Hehe... That's impossible. That extraterrestrial demon is extremely powerful. Even though I've transformed into this form, I'm still no match for it..."

"………………………"

That's amazing? Really?
"But...if you really can do it..."

The man in black robes raised his head and looked at Li Wei.

“As I mentioned before… Lord Deans… unearthed a book underground… that book… might contain knowledge about extraterrestrial demons… but… be careful… anyone who reads that book… will be cursed…”

At this point, the light in the black-robed man's eyes gradually dimmed, and then he completely turned into a pile of rotten flesh, never to move again.

"...Ha, this seems like it's going to be troublesome..."

To be honest, Li Wei didn't want to read that book, but since it might contain records about extraterrestrial demons, it seemed he had no choice but to take a look.

(End of this chapter)