Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 284 Changes in the Times

Such things often happen in horror movies.

The protagonist and his companions arrived at a remote, ancient ruin, broke the seal, and released a terrifying monster. They were then chased by the monster, but eventually escaped.

In many cases, it's not that the monsters are very powerful, it's simply that... the protagonists and others are too weak.

Some protagonists are only carrying luggage for mountaineering and archaeology, and don't even have a gun. Let alone monsters, even if you encounter a bear or wolf, you will still be chased and run away screaming.

This is what is meant by fear stemming from insufficient firepower.

This applies to most biological monsters.

Li Wei stopped and looked at the residential area in front of him, which had been reduced to ruins.

And there was that charred, motionless monster corpse, and the guy next to it.

"Why...why...my lord..."

The bandaged monster was now unrecognizable. His lower body had been completely blown apart, and his upper body was charred black. With his last bit of strength, the monster desperately crawled toward the monster.

"Because it's not that powerful."

Li Wei's voice rang out, and the strange man stopped what he was doing, turned around and looked at Li Wei with a look of confusion in his eyes.

"Why………"

"Like I said, times change."

Li Wei looked at the charred remains in front of him and shrugged.

"In the past, humans may indeed have had no way to deal with such monsters. They only had muskets, bows and arrows, and cannons, which were completely ineffective against monsters high in the sky. Moreover, this creature seems to possess mental abilities as well. Indeed, humans in the past might have worshipped and treated it as some kind of deity."

"before……………"

"That's right, before."

Li Wei withdrew his gaze.

"But now, humans also have huge aerial fortresses, airships, and all kinds of weapons, so to humans now, these are not gods, but monsters."

"………………………"

The strange man stared blankly at Li Wei, then burst into maniacal laughter.

"Hahahaha, a monster...a monster...a monster? Hahaha..."

"That's it."

Livy raised the Persuader, aimed it at the strange man's head, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

The laughter abruptly stopped, and the strange man's corpse fell to the ground, turning into charred ash moments later and disappearing without a trace.

"…………………"

Li Wei remained silent as he watched the strange man's corpse gradually dissipate.

It must be said that after learning the truth about this world from the Necronomicon, Li Wei began to ponder a question.

If the gods eventually return, what will become of humanity?

Even now, Li Wei is still unsure whether the gods decided to return because the flames had reignited.

So, what will happen after the gods return?
Will they take the flame?

If the gods took away the fire, what would become of humanity's future?

The Necronomicon doesn't explain what fire is or what its effects are. However, Li Wei has a theory: humanity's steam industrial revolution only occurred in the last few decades. The return and growing influence of mysterious forces also stem from these recent years.

Therefore, Li Wei speculated that the rise of the mysterious power was likely due to the advent of the steam industrial revolution. If the gods returned and seized fire, what would become of humanity?

Previously, the flame was taken away, plunging humanity into darkness, and the mysterious power gradually declined.

And what about this time? If the flame is taken away again, will humanity's technological power also decline?
Hmm... is that possible?
To be honest, Li Wei wasn't entirely sure. After all, in his view, technology and magic were different. Magic and celestial arts primarily came from magical power and spiritual energy, so once they were gone, they were gone. But the Empire's steam technology mainly focused on boiling water; the only problem was what to use to boil it.

In fact, it seems that burning coal is the most efficient method, but if you don't have coal, burning wood is also an option.

You can't expect the gods to stop you from boiling water after they return, right? Why won't the water boil?

Hmm... who can say for sure?
Li Wei remembered playing a board game in his previous world that clearly explained why that world didn't develop technology. Simply put, it was because the laws were controlled by the gods, so if you wanted to do the same thing with a mechanical device, the machine would break down or explode.

Therefore, machinery could not develop in that world, and thus, technological civilization could not be created.

Hmm... never mind, let's put it aside for now.

There are currently no gods in this world. Li Wei has only seen a divine incarnation once. Although the latter's power was somewhat extraordinary, it was not beyond Li Wei's current comprehension.

There is currently no evidence for these speculations, so we can only put them aside for now.

After that, Li Wei contacted MI7, and after hearing Li Wei's brief description of the situation, the old steward immediately became excited.

"You mean, that city, although abandoned, is still usable?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I have some things to take care of. Perfect timing, I'll talk to you in person when I get there."

So Li Wei had no choice but to return to that city.

MI7 acted swiftly; just one day later, Li Wei saw an airship appear above him—well, his Sky Eye wasn't finished yet, and he wondered how long he would have to wait.

"Is this the monster?"

Looking at the charred corpse of the monster before him, the old butler's expression turned serious. After all, strictly speaking, aside from sea monsters, this was only the second time he had seen a monster of such a large size, and according to Li Wei…

"You mean, it came from outer space?"

"Based on the historical records and documents of the Krant family, it should be correct."

"I never thought this would happen."

The old butler looked up at the azure sky. While this world's current level of civilization wasn't advanced enough to launch satellites, it wasn't foolish enough to burn someone at the stake for claiming "the Earth revolves around the sun." The people of this world did have some understanding of astronomy; they possessed basic astronomical knowledge.

"So, does that mean that at any time, monsters from outer space will also descend from the sky and pose a threat to us?"

"That's about right..." Although there were some in large groups, Li Wei didn't intend to say it out loud. There was no benefit in saying it now, and the old butler might not believe it anyway. In fact, apart from the origin of this monster, the information Li Wei obtained from the Necronomicon didn't mention a single word about the creations of the Ancients, the Ancient Dragons, the Golden Clan, or the Fire Seed.

After all, without evidence, there's no point in saying anything.

"Um……………"

"But there's no need to worry too much. Just like a shooting star, if you pay attention in advance, there shouldn't be any problems."

"Yes, according to your report, this monster also came down with a meteor."

"That's right, but that was hundreds of years ago."

"That's alright..."

The old butler breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense expression relaxed a little.

"So, that means funding for the observatory will also increase? Sigh..."

"Is the budget an issue?"

“The redevelopment and reconstruction of Melicia will cost a lot of money.”

"oh……………"

However, I'm not the ruler, so budget issues have nothing to do with me.

"By the way, are you interested in this city?"

"Yes."

The old butler nodded, gazing at the city before him.

"In fact, the royal family has been considering forming a special team to protect the royal family recently."

"Oh, the mysterious aspect?"

"Yes."

That's true. It's one thing that we didn't discover it before, but now that there are more and more mysterious events, the royal family will naturally worry about the other side launching an attack from this angle.

"Also, hasn't MI7 already formed a team of people with special abilities? We're worried that other countries might do something similar."

"Ah, that's true."

Although Li Wei considered these abilities somewhat unorthodox and lacking in combat prowess, mysterious abilities are incredibly diverse, and who knows if some of them could be used for warfare or assassination?

"Therefore, the royal family believes that a special army of mysterious forces should be trained, with the goal of handling mysterious incidents within the country and resisting the invasion of mysterious forces from abroad."

"So you're planning to use this place as a training base?"

Li Wei finally understood what the old steward meant.

“That’s right. The city is currently largely intact and is located in the wilderness, with no one around, which can prevent it from being scouted and infiltrated. There is also a water source nearby. With some modifications, it can be put into use immediately.”

"That's true, but who knows if there are any monsters lurking here."

Although the eldest son—no, the giant moth—was killed by Levi, it doesn't mean all the monsters are dead. Deans went too far before, essentially using the city to breed more monsters, and only by fighting fire with fire did he prevent that strange man from seizing the sacred artifact.

However, the price to pay is that the place is full of monsters, and Li Wei only killed some of them; there are still many that he didn't kill at all.

"We will use the castle as the center to carry out a comprehensive purification of the entire city, which will also be a test and trial for this newly formed team."

"What did Miss Krant say?"

This is not unclaimed land; after all, Sophia is indeed a descendant of the lord of this territory and has the right to inherit it. Now that MI7 wants this city, they naturally have to negotiate with her.

“I have already spoken with her, and she has agreed to let us acquire this territory, but her requirements are a bit strange.”

"strangeness?"

Li Wei looked at the old butler, who also shook his head.

"She said she hoped to run a weapons manufacturing plant..."

"Hmm? That's pretty strange... and then?"

“There are indeed quite a few weapons manufacturing plants belonging to the royal family, and we even plan to reduce the number because there are too many. Since she wants it, we will find one for her. Of course, we will also coordinate the specific procedures.”

"To get something for nothing."

Li Wei chuckled and didn't say much. In fact, Sophia had essentially gotten something for nothing, since she hadn't built the city herself.

"Oh, by the way, there's one more thing."

"what's up."

The old steward looked at Li Wei with a serious expression.

"Have you finished drawing the rest of your picture?"

"Do I look like I have time to draw?"

Li Wei stared at the old butler speechlessly. "I've been running around day and night, busy fighting alien monsters. Where would I find the time to draw comics?"

"What can I do? The readers' response has been overwhelming, and even the subscriptions to the 'Exploration Newspaper' have increased by a third! Your interesting illustration has really attracted everyone's attention. Now, on the streets of Chongqing, adults and children alike are all talking about that dog's story, and many families have even bought dogs because of it, leading to a shortage of pet dogs in the market!"

"………………………"

Although he knew it would become popular, Li Wei really didn't expect it to be this popular.

"The printing plant has already produced the picture book. They initially printed 5,000 copies, but they sold out in just one day! Now they're working overtime to finish printing more."

Oh, speaking of which, Li Wei did indeed tell the printing press that if it was popular, they would publish the painting directly.

"Hurry up and draw the rest of the chapters! After the first three issues were published, the editorial office was flooded with reader letters!"

"At least let me go back and rest for a few days before we talk about it..."

At this moment, Li Wei finally felt the fear that cartoonists experience when they are pressured to submit their work.

I just wanted to draw for fun...

(End of this chapter)