Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 306 Dusty History

After actually reading the records, Li Wei discovered that the origin of this pot-head was indeed somewhat legendary.

This all started more than a hundred years ago with the Romanov dynasty.

The Romanov dynasty at that time was a greedy and decadent dynasty. Romanov VIII was lustful and greedy. He had six wives and hundreds of mistresses. However, perhaps because he had too many women, he suffered from kidney deficiency and had few children. Although he often went to other people's beds, he only had three children, and they were all girls.

This is a vicious cycle: the more Romanov VIII wanted children, the fewer children he had. So, despite marrying six wives and practically sleeping with every noblewoman in Caesarblanca, he still only had three children.

Alright, that's enough about the king for now. The main character of this story is Princess Sonnar, the third child of Romanov VIII.

The princess was frail and sickly from a young age, frequently falling ill and teetering on the brink of death several times. Although Romanov VIII was known for his womanizing, he still loved his children dearly. Once, the princess contracted a severe lung disease and was nearly killed. The court physicians were helpless to cure Princess Sonnar's illness, so Romanov VIII offered a reward, declaring that whoever could cure her would be granted a noble title.

Then a man named Edward Draco appeared before Romanov VIII, claiming to be an alchemist who could cure Princess Sonnar using alchemy. Although the man seemed suspicious, Romanov VIII allowed him to treat Princess Sonnar, and then a miracle occurred.

Princess Sonar, who was originally on the verge of death, was actually cured by this alchemist!
This pleased Romanov VIII greatly. Moreover, Princess Sonnar seemed to have fallen in love with the man who had healed her, so Romanov VIII betrothed her to the alchemist and gave them a royal castle as a wedding gift.

At first, everyone approved of the marriage and thought it was a good thing.

But gradually, many people noticed that the situation was somewhat strange.

For example, Princess Sonnar used to love running around, but now she only goes out for walks on cloudy days and stays in her room the rest of the time. The alchemist claimed that this was because Princess Sonnar was weak and could not be exposed to too much sunlight to avoid getting sick.

Besides that, both of them seemed to eat very little. Whether it was the alchemist or Princess Sonar, they barely touched ordinary food and didn't eat much for their three meals a day.

If these were just minor issues, then the rumors that followed were rather alarming.

Some servants privately revealed that they had seen Princess Sonnar sneak away from the castle at night, wandering through the woods like a ghost. Some even claimed to have seen Princess Sonnar once grab a cat, bite it to death, and drink its blood.

Of course, in those days, slander against the royal family was not something to be taken lightly; if discovered, it could result in execution. Soon, those gossiping servants disappeared. Although the alchemist claimed that he had simply thrown them out, everyone felt that wasn't the case.

Later, more and more strange things happened. Many servants saw terrifying ghosts, screams, and wails in the castle. The servants were terrified and lived in constant fear. Not only that, but there were also frequent reports of people disappearing in the vicinity of the castle.

As time went by, people began to whisper among themselves that the alchemist didn't seem like a good person, and that Princess Sonar was like a different person after she recovered. Could it be that the alchemist was a devil who didn't cure Princess Sonar at all, but turned her into something else?
You know what, even though those country folk aren't very educated and are often superstitious, their intuition is sometimes right.

All of this erupted after the death of Romanov VIII—incidentally, his death was also quite dramatic; he went to a widow's bed in the middle of the night and immediately died of a stroke on it.

With the death of King Romanov VIII, Princess Sonnar lost her patron, and soon rumors began to circulate that the couple had been abducting people for sacrifices and performing evil rituals. Upon learning of this, the heir at the time sent people to the castle to investigate.

Upon entering the castle, they discovered that Princess Sonnar and Edward Draco had vanished without a trace. In the castle's basement, hundreds of corpses and skeletons were found, with rumors suggesting the blood had reached almost to the calves.

In the underground chamber, they discovered incredibly terrifying statues and magic circles. The horror and cruelty of the scene were so intense that even the guards who came to investigate couldn't bear it, and some of them even fainted.

When the news reached the successor, he was greatly surprised and ordered the entire castle to be completely sealed off, while also issuing arrest warrants for the two men.

However, because they were never found, the incident was gradually forgotten, leaving only some dubious records and rumors.

The whole process was similar to what Benjamin had described, only more detailed. And with the information he obtained from the canned head, Levi could roughly guess what had happened.

It's obvious that Edward must have turned Princess Sonnar into a vampire to cure her illness. He does indeed claim to enjoy studying alchemy and magic. As for their disappearances, Levi already knows Edward's fate. As for Princess Sonnar, she probably realized something was wrong after Edward's disappearance and went into hiding.

After all, people wouldn't open every coffin to see everything.

"So, you mean Princess Sonnar is still alive?"

After listening to Li Wei's story, the old butler's expression turned serious.

"It's just a guess, after all, I don't know what Princess Sonnar looks like."

Li Wei shrugged.

"Of course, all of this speculation is based on the premise that the person in the can is indeed Edward Draco and his wife; if not, then it's a different story."

Right now, Li Wei, the old butler, and Henry are discussing their course of action while looking at a map of Caesarblanca.

“In the past, it wouldn’t have been easy to attack a city like this.”

Henry sighed as he looked at the markings on the map.

"Just thinking about how to break through those tall city walls is a problem; they're as tall as five stories."

“But now that we have an airship, these problems are no longer problems. Speaking of which, when will my airship be finished?” Li Wei couldn’t help but urge the old steward, after all, he had been longing for his own airship for a long time.

"By the end of the year, we should have verified a number of new solutions to meet the requirements you put forward, which is not an easy task."

"Alright then, I'll wait."

Li Wei withdrew his gaze and looked at the map. Although the underground auction was called underground, according to the information Li Wei had obtained, the auction venue was actually a theater in Caesarblanca.

Well, so it's actually a kind of auction held on the ground.

"I suggest we split into two groups."

The old butler stretched out his hand and pointed to the map.

“I remember this opera house; it used to have a secret passage leading to the royal palace…”

"Back then, even the king had to go through a secret passage to see an opera? That's so miserable!"

Henry made a curious comment, while the old butler looked up at him.

"The rulers of that time were easy targets for assassination, especially in places like opera houses where all sorts of people mingle."

Yes, just from this sentence, you can see that the security situation in the old capital was indeed not very good at that time.

"The palace must have been rebuilt by now."

Li Wei, however, was more concerned with another issue.

“Well, the old capital’s palace has now been converted into a royal art museum. I think we can send a group of people in through a secret passage outside the city. Then, we can gather at the palace through the passage and storm into the auction hall after it starts, capturing everyone inside.”

As the old butler spoke, he gestured towards the opera house.

"At the same time, the airships will provide air support... to capture as many people as possible at the auction."

"What if they resist?"

Henry asked.

"Kill without mercy!"

The old butler's tone turned cold, filled with murderous intent, while Li Wei raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

The old butler's plan was simple: first, annihilate the auction house. After all, the heads of the three major families would inevitably be present at such a significant auction, and arresting or eliminating them would be enough to paralyze the city's defenses. Then, they could coordinate an inside attack to open a passage and let the army in.

To put it bluntly, it's a decapitation tactic: first eliminate the enemy, then use the opera house as a base to resist the counterattacks of the three major families, while simultaneously sending a large army to the border, coordinating from within and without, and taking over the entire city of Caesarblanca in one fell swoop.

There are enough airdrops this time, but there is no artillery cover, so don't expect to have the air support of warships like in Melicia. It's all about fighting urban warfare by manpower.

It's best to get things done with the other party in the shortest possible time.

"Then I'll take care of the opera house."

Henry quickly volunteered, and Levi did not object, only nodding in agreement.

"I'll stay on the airship and see what happens."

He wasn't worried about the three major families or any gang leaders; Li Wei was more worried about that love-struck vampire. So he decided to stay in the back and see how things went before deciding on his next move.

"Then it's decided. By the way, you said you found an interesting little guy? It's not like Alice again, is it?"

After finalizing the action plan, the old butler finally had a moment to look at Li Wei again and ask him questions.

Upon hearing the old butler's question, Li Wei immediately revealed a smug smile.

"Hehe, I guarantee it will open your eyes."

When a fisherman catches a fish, he always wants to show it off.

(End of this chapter)