Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 299 An unexpected gain
It's important to clarify here that the zoo Li Wei discovered is not the same as the open-air zoos that people usually imagine.

Modern zoos have very high environmental requirements for animals, including space and food. However, in this era, there is no concept of animal protection. Hunting rare wild animals is not only not illegal, but is also part of popular leisure and entertainment culture.

Apart from biologists who need to study animal habits, no one else cares whether these animals live or die.

Therefore, although it is called a zoo, in Li Wei's opinion, it is more like a police station prison.

The only difference is that the prisons don't hold people, but animals.

But this zoo… well, Li Wei felt it had a slightly perverse sense of humor about it.

He had initially been curious to see what kind of animals a zoo run by a gang would have. But once he actually entered the zoo and saw the animals inside, Levi's curiosity quickly vanished.

Basically, there weren't any good animals inside.

A bear, a few wolves, and a few dogs—it's obvious this isn't a legitimate business.

These animals are less exhibits and more alarm clocks; anyone trying to get in would be caught off guard—except for Levi.

After all, Li Wei's [unconscious control] operates on the brain. Whether animals rely on their eyes or their sense of smell, it all ultimately feeds back to the brain. Li Wei's ability directly controls consciousness at the brain's source, so these animals naturally ignore his existence.

This is why Li Wei can now stroll confidently through the zoo's corridors without disturbing the surrounding animals in the slightest.

However, Li Wei's visit here was clearly not just for the purpose of seeing animals.

Meanwhile, inside the gatehouse, several gangsters were sitting at a table, playing cards idly and yawning from time to time.

Keeping watch at night is the most tedious job, but you can't skip it. In those days, there was no television, and radios weren't common in every household. You couldn't drink alcohol while on night duty, so you could only play cards and smoke to perk yourself up.

Of course, it's normal to find topics to talk about along the way.

"Hey, do you guys think that detective has any chance of survival?"

Henchman A threw down a card, simultaneously starting a conversation. Henchman B, however, scoffed at the topic and chuckled.

"The two sisters have both come out, and they even brought Big Black with them. Unless that detective can fly, he's doomed."

"That's not what I said."

The thug C drew a card and shook his head.

"That guy is the Empire's famous detective, after all. Sigh, I'm a little worried..."

"Alright, stop talking. If they really don't succeed, those two will be in a terrible mood when they come back, and then they'll hear what you're saying..."

"I'm the one who talks too much, I'm the one who talks too much."

Thug C hurriedly raised his hands in surrender. He knew how formidable the two women were; despite their young age, they were the family's top assassins. They were ruthless and vicious, and if you provoked them, you might not even be able to save your own life.

However, despite their opinions, they all believed that the detective was doomed this time. After all, not only had the family's top assassins been dispatched, but they had also taken Big Black with them—just thinking about that monster sent chills down their spines. They had heard the rumors about the family, but no one knew whether they were true or false.

Even so, they were unwilling to risk their lives to test the truth.

"Alright, alright, be careful, those two should be back soon. We'll be responsible for getting Dahei back then..."

As thug A spoke, he then frowned.

"Did you hear anything?"

Hearing what thug A said, the other two also put down their cards and listened intently. Then they heard a series of wild animal howls coming from outside the door.

"What's going on? These guys usually sleep at night, why are they suddenly making a fuss?"

"Has someone entered?"

"impossible."

Thug C glanced out the window; the zoo gates were tightly shut, and there seemed to be no movement at all.

“If someone came in, we would definitely have seen it.”

"That makes sense. Anyway, let's go take a look."

The three thugs discussed it briefly, then took their weapons and lamps and left the gatehouse, heading towards the area where the animals were kept.

The dimly lit corridor was lit only by a few dim yellow lights. The thugs walked out of the gatehouse, crossed the corridor, and came to the corner. Then, thug A, who was at the front, raised a lamp, walked out of the corner, and looked up to see what was going on with the cages on this side.

However…wait, why is it black?
Seeing that everything was pitch black, thug A didn't react at first. Then he suddenly smelled a stench coming from above him. Thug A looked up in surprise and saw... a gaping maw hanging above his head.

Holy crap! A bear!

Thug A was stunned, completely frozen in place, utterly at a loss for what to do. The most terrifying creature kept in the zoo's cages was this black bear, not only because of its enormous size, but also because it had devoured many people. In fact, the Passman family's punishment for traitors and other useless individuals was to throw them into cages to feed these animals.

Therefore, these animals in the zoo often eat people!
Before thug A could react, the black bear roared and pounced on him, knocking him to the ground!
"Aaaaaaahh ...

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Hitman B's series of shots hit the black bear, but failed to kill it. On the contrary, the bear, now bloodied and wounded, became even more ferocious. Hitman B ran out of bullets and, before he could reload, saw the black bear roar again and pounce on him.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!"

A scream came from behind. Hearing this, thug C ran for his life. When the black bear attacked thug A earlier, thug C had immediately turned and run. He wasn't as stupid as thug B, who actually tried to shoot the black bear with a pistol. Could you kill a black bear with a pistol?
Run! Get out of there!

At this moment, thug C ran even faster. He could already hear the footsteps of the black bear coming from behind, and in front of him, the gate was already close at hand!
Charge out!
Thug C used almost all his strength to ram his head into the door, then slammed into the door panel and was bounced back.

???

what happened?

Thug C was dumbfounded. Then, peeking through the crack in the door, he discovered that the outside doorknob had been locked shut with a thick chain!
How can this be?

Seeing this, thug C was completely baffled. He knew, of course, that the gate was locked with chains, but the chains were clearly in the gatehouse, so how could they be locked?
However, he will never get the answer to this question.

At that moment, a thick, huge bear paw had already gripped his shoulder.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

"what sound!"

The gunshots outside naturally alerted the Pasman family members inside. They didn't know what had happened, and unlike the three thugs guarding the door, they didn't rush out blindly. Instead, they grabbed their weapons and then rushed out of the room.

Then—they saw vicious dogs and wolves charging at them.

"Aaaaah, those damned beasts!"

"Fire! Fire! Fire!"

"Whoosh—"

Hearing the gunshots and shouts outside, Li Wei stretched and then walked straight inside.

He could have simply charged in and wreaked havoc like some RoboCop, but Li Wei ultimately dismissed the idea, after all, he was alone. Besides, Li Wei's bullets were meant for monsters; it would be too wasteful to use them carelessly on ordinary people.

So Li Wei activated [Unconscious Control], then sneaked into the gatehouse. While the three thugs were playing cards, he took the key and chain of the cage. He first locked the door with the chain, and then opened the cage while eating hot pot and singing songs—after all, the animals inside were too dangerous, and Li Wei couldn't just release them into the street to hurt people.

However, using them to deal with these gangsters is just right.

It's all just dogs fighting each other anyway, a lot of fighting, let's see how it goes.

Hearing the shouts, roars, barking dogs, and gunshots behind him, Li Wei comfortably walked through the door that these people had pushed open.

The group clearly hadn't expected anyone to sneak in, so they didn't close the door at all. Li Wei was spared the trouble of prying open the door and using the lock (after all, he hadn't learned how to do that yet), and simply walked all the way to the innermost part.

"This should be the place."

Looking ahead, Li Wei's expression was somewhat solemn. The reason he came here was because when he used [Soul Vision] to investigate the entire zoo, he saw a radiant soul deep within the zoo.

blue.

So he changed his strategy, after all, he needed to figure out what exactly this radiant soul located deep within the zoo was.

And right now, this is the location of that radiant soul.

but………

"That was somewhat unexpected."

Looking at the scene before him, Li Wei was at a loss for words. He had initially assumed that some kind of powerful monster was placed here; after all, since the soul radiance was blue and this was a zoo, it must be some kind of ferocious, legendary creature.

However, to Li Wei's surprise, the entire room contained only a rectangular iron can, from which the sound of water could be heard intermittently. Li Wei could also see that the radiant soul was taking on a snake-like form, constantly moving within it.

Go and have a look.

Li Wei stared at the jar, hesitated for a moment, then walked to it. There was a ladder next to it; he climbed up, holding the Persuader in one hand, and cautiously peered inside. At that moment, the radiant soul seemed to sense Li Wei's presence and gradually swam towards him.

Then, the water surface parted.

Under the lamplight, a young girl with long, emerald-green hair timidly peeked out, cautiously watching Li Wei. Li Wei looked back at the girl, then his gaze drifted downwards. Under the water, he could see the girl's slender waist, so delicate it could be encircled by a single hand, and below that, a tail covered in fish scales…

Okay, it really is a legendary creature.

(End of this chapter)