Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 308 Nightfall
The guards stood on the city wall, staring at the pitch-black forest and road outside, and couldn't help but shrink back.

Although it's almost summer, it's still very cold at night, but they still have to stand guard here.

The thought of people eating and drinking inside made the guard feel annoyed. But what could he do? That was his job… Thinking this, the guard turned his head and subconsciously glanced at the brightly lit opera house not far away—but just then, he saw a man in a guard uniform walking towards him.

"What's up, buddy? Time to change shifts?"

Looking at the other person, the guard asked curiously, but the other person also looked up and grinned at the guard. Seeing the guard's expression, the guard was taken aback.

"Wait, who are you...?"

Before the guard could finish speaking, he suddenly raised his hand and plunged a dagger into the guard's throat. The guard's eyes widened in shock, and before he could react, the guard reached out, placed his hand on the guard's shoulder, and slowly laid him to the ground. Then, he pulled out the dagger and tossed it to the side.

Then several more guards came forward.

"Reporting to you, sir, the city gates are now completely under control."

"very good."

The guard nodded, then took off his hat, revealing Anthony's face with a cynical smile.

"Secret passages are definitely more convenient. I wish we had secret passages for every mission we went on in the future."

As Anthony spoke, the other spies beside him chuckled in agreement. They all knew it was just a joke; after all, there was no such thing as a free lunch…

"But sir, is it necessary to kill all these guards?"

Soon, another spy asked, puzzled.

"They're all members of the guard... Is this alright?"

"It's hard to say normally, but it's definitely fine today."

Anthony, holding the dagger, patted the other man on the shoulder.

"Think about it, if Her Majesty the Queen were to hold an event in the Fog City, wouldn't the guards responsible for protecting the palace be well-investigated and trusted?"

"That's...indeed true."

"Similarly, these gangs are holding a big meeting here, so they must have trusted people guarding the door. Otherwise, if someone is dissatisfied with these gangs and deliberately sabotages things, wouldn't they all be finished? So since these guys are trusted by the gangs so much, they must not be good people. Just kill them."

"Yes."

After saying a few casual words, Anthony glanced around again.

"The city gates are under control. Let's prepare for the next step. We need to act quickly, or we'll be in trouble if those patrolling guys spot us."

"Yes!"

Soon, a spy arrived at the city wall, picked up a round lamp, and turned it on and off several times.

A moment later, the same light flickered in the dark forest outside, and then disappeared.

"Reporting, sir, everything is ready!"

"Very good, open the door!"

"Yes!"

“Rumble rumble rumble…”

At Anthony's command, the previously closed gate slowly rose, and at the same time, a large flock of birds suddenly darted out from the dark and seemingly quiet forest outside, screeching as they circled in the air.

Then the lights came on.

Hundreds of Hound-class and Knight-class mechs strode out of the forest, followed by soldiers already lined up in neat rows. They swiftly transformed into an unstoppable torrent of steel, rushing into the opened city gates with lightning speed.

"Phew... Alright, we've finished our work."

Watching the mechs storm into Caesarblanca, Anthony breathed a sigh of relief. The operation was divided into three groups: Anthony was responsible for infiltration and controlling the city gates, Henry led the steam-powered soldiers to strike at the heart of the city, and the old butler was in charge of directing the main force's actions.

Now that Anthony's job is done, it's up to the others, and he can relax here and enjoy the breeze.

but……………………

Thinking of this, Anthony glanced at the night sky above with a complicated expression.

No matter how leisurely you are, you can't compare to the carefree life of that person in heaven.

Meanwhile, the opera house was also bustling with activity.

"The next item up for auction is brought by the Black Panther Gang from Trek City..."

Standing in the VIP section above the opera house, watching the auction below, the heads of the three families felt an immense sense of exhilaration.

It's simply because this scene was so exhilarating.

The people in this opera house are all big shots who are famous in their respective places, and in their own contexts, they can be said to have the ability to control everything.

Hmm, a little, but not much.

After all, no other place has an environment like Caisablanca, and the gangsters are having a tough time. In the eyes of the gangsters, being able to collude with the police is already the limit. But they didn't expect that Caisablanca would do something even more ruthless!
What's the point of settling accounts? The entire city of Caesarblanca is ruled by the mafia!
It has to be said that this scene was indeed something these underground gang leaders longed for. Although they knew that the situation in Caesarblanca was special, they thought... maybe they were the special ones too?

So that night, the leaders of the three families all felt a great deal of emotional value. The other gang leaders were mostly envious and jealous of this place, while some expressed longing for it, and some even thought that Caesarblanca could be regarded as a holy land of the underworld.

The three of them couldn't stop laughing all night.

Of course, they were all secretly pleased. As a gangster boss, it was basic to remain calm and composed even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of you. Even if you were drooling with laughter inside, on the surface you would still have a cold and indifferent look like you would kill his whole family after you finished eating.

"It's a pity that we still couldn't find that thing in the end."

Although the auction went smoothly, there were still some regrets. The main item was missing, and they had to find another one to replace it. In addition, the detective disappeared too quickly. The three of them had sent people to the hotel to intercept him, but they learned that he had already left, but no one knew how he left.

"Perhaps that detective is still in Cairo." "What could he be doing here all by himself?"

The burly man scoffed at this.

“We’ve already sent people to keep an eye on the post office, but he hasn’t shown up to contact anyone. What use is a mere detective hiding in Cairoblanca?”

"But not finding the person is still a problem."

The bespectacled man reached out and pushed up his glasses.

"And for some reason, I always have a bad feeling..."

"Don't say anything discouraging. What's not good?"

The burly man glared fiercely at the man with glasses.

"The entire city of Caesarblanca belongs to us. What trouble could a mere detective possibly cause? The entire opera house is guarded by our people. He can't possibly fly down from the sky..."

"and many more!"

Suddenly, the bespectacled man interrupted the burly man, and then his ears twitched.

"There's a sound, a lot of people, armed! They're coming this way!"

"Warned?"

Upon hearing this, the man in the suit and the burly man immediately became serious. While some of their men were armed, they didn't carry heavy weapons. After all, they were all involved in the underworld and were afraid of being double-crossed by the three major families. Therefore, although the three families had assigned guards, they hadn't brought rifles or anything like that; otherwise, people wouldn't even want to come in.

"These bastards, are they trying to cause trouble? I'll go see what's going on..."

The burly man turned around as he spoke, intending to leave the VIP box to check the situation.

However, things can change in the blink of an eye.

Before the auctioneer could even bring down the gavel, the opera house ceiling suddenly collapsed, and then a massive knight mech descended from the sky, landing heavily in the center of the stage!
"boom!"

At that very moment, all the windows around the theater shattered, and fully armed steam-powered soldiers leaped in via ziplines, their weapons aimed at the audience below the opera house!

"Everyone, freeze! Hands up! Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"

A loud sound emanated from the Knight Mech's speakers, echoing throughout the opera house's stage hall. As expected of an opera house, the echo effect was excellent.

The gang leaders sitting in the audience and VIP seats were dumbfounded by what they saw, and for a moment they even thought they were asleep and having a nightmare.

If it wasn't a nightmare, why would it be so exaggerated?

Of course, some people didn't believe in the superstition and turned around to rush towards the door. At the same time, the knight mech standing on the stage lowered its gun barrel slightly.

"Dong-dong-dong-dong!"

With a series of gunshots, the flying bullets instantly turned the fleeing guys into a bloody mess, and seeing this, the other guys who were itching to make a move immediately stopped in their tracks.

"Damn it! What on earth happened? Why did it turn out like this?!"

The leaders of the three major families, witnessing this scene, also had grim expressions and gritted their teeth. They truly hadn't expected the empire to actually make a move, and with such overwhelming force that it hadn't given them any time to react!
"go!"

The man in the suit made a decision immediately. There was no point in resisting here now. What they needed to do was leave as soon as possible, and then... well, we'll see!
It's too late to regret it now, but as long as they escape, they will have the chance to make a comeback and start over!
With a command from the man in the suit, the three of them turned around and rushed out of the VIP room. Just then, they saw several fully armed steam engine soldiers rushing over from the other end of the corridor. Upon seeing the three of them, they quickly raised their guns and fired!

"Da da da da da!"

The steam machine gun was incredibly powerful, almost as powerful as a heavy machine gun, enough to turn an ordinary person into pieces. But just then, the burly man at the back roared, and his suit instantly ripped apart, transforming him into a giant bat that blocked the corridor.

The next moment, bullets with the power of a heavy machine gun struck the burly man with a clanging sound and then bounced off!
"Hehehe—!"

The burly man stared at the steam engine soldier in front of him and sneered.

"You guys go first, I'll deal with these bastards!"

The burly man roared, then spread his arms and swung them violently, and his entire body—a bat—flew up, charging directly towards the steam engine soldiers!
The steam-powered soldiers were clearly taken aback by the burly man charging towards them; after all, they hadn't expected any monster to be able to withstand bullets, let alone machine guns…

They hurriedly tried to retreat, but the strong man was faster and pounced on the steam engine soldiers in the blink of an eye!

"Whoosh—!"

Just then, a flash of cold light suddenly shot out from behind, aiming straight for the burly man's heart! The latter's expression darkened upon seeing the sword, and he hurriedly raised his hand to block in front of his chest. With a clang, a knight clad entirely in silver armor, wielding a greatsword, stepped out. The burly man was sent flying backward by the sword; although he blocked the fatal blow, his hands were still slashed open.

"Hey, this is interesting..."

The burly man looked at the wound on the back of his hand, then at the silver-armored knight opposite him.

"Come on, let me see what you're capable of!"

As he spoke, the burly man roared again, raised his hands, and charged towards the silver-armored knight! The silver-armored knight swung his greatsword and slashed down at the burly man once more!

The greatsword slashed down, and the burly man once again stretched out his hands to meet the greatsword. However, unlike before, this time the burly man's hands were suddenly covered with a layer of hard scales. Then he stretched out his hands and gripped the greatsword tightly!

The sword blade, which was originally strong enough to cut through the strong man's body, was completely ineffective this time!
"snort!"

The burly man grunted, pulled the silver-armored knight directly in front of him with both hands, stared at the enemy in front of him, and then burst into laughter.

"Is that all you've got? Hahahaha..."

However, before the burly man's laughter had even subsided, the visor on the silver-armored knight's helmet suddenly opened, revealing not a human face, but rather—a dark, menacing gun muzzle!
"boom!"

A high-explosive incendiary bomb flew from the muzzle, entered the burly man's mouth, and exploded, shattering his head into pieces.

The headless, burly man swayed slightly before collapsing to the ground.

The silver-armored knight removed his mask, gripped his greatsword tightly, and continued to gallop forward.

(End of this chapter)