Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 315 Waves of the Times

After determining the role and application of anthropology in judicial investigations, Professor Henry quickly realized that the police needed the endorsement and assistance of renowned scholars, while the scholars needed the police to provide bodies for research purposes. The two sides hit it off immediately and quickly reached a cooperation agreement.

Of course, this cooperation was also announced. After all, that's how the Empire is. If you want to push forward a plan, there's room for modification if you don't announce it widely. But once it's announced, you have to see it through to the end.

This announcement was, of course, technically sophisticated. It didn't simply tell the public that the police would send the homeless man's body to scientists for autopsy, as that would be too provocative and might provoke protests from sympathetic individuals or conspiracy theorists.

How should I put it?

That's all.

"...According to a notice issued by the Ministry of the Interior, in order to reform judicial investigations in a more scientific and reasonable manner, the Chongqing Police Department has reached a cooperation agreement with the Department of Anthropology at the Royal Academy of Sciences. Renowned scholars in the field of anthropology will be invited to assist the police in conducting more scientific and detailed investigations into a series of cases..."

As for how the "scientific and meticulous" "investigation and research" was conducted, there's no need to elaborate in the announcement, and the public doesn't need to know the process.

This is not just talk; in fact, the police have indeed required experts and professors in anthropology to produce investigation results. Not to mention the extreme requirement of identifying every single body, they must at least clearly record the physical condition, cause of death, age, height, etc. of each body.

That way, if the media or higher authorities ask, they can provide an answer. They can't just say that you cut up the body and that's it, that there's nothing there. That won't do.

The experts and professors in the field of anthropology did not take this seriously. They explained that the purpose of dissecting human bodies was to collect data and publish papers. The police's request was simply to provide them with more research data, which was not a big deal and would only waste some paper.

For the public media, this news wasn't very interesting, so it just passed by quietly.

So you see, that's the charm of journalism.

In addition, this also signifies another matter: Livy, as the Knight of the Thistles and the Earl, has begun to formally influence the country's internal affairs.

However, most people don't really care about this.

Because judicial and police affairs are not really the focus of politicians' attention.

In the eyes of many nobles and politicians, the judicial and police fields are a prime example of low pay and high workload. Not only is there little to gain, but if anything goes wrong, one is easily targeted and becomes a scapegoat. It's a purely professional field that even the sons of wealthy families wouldn't choose for a prestigious career. Few advantages, many disadvantages.

Just like the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, many people who travel back to ancient times would rather go to the frontier than serve as the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

After all, the final fate of the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture was to be exiled to Ningguta and enslaved by the armored men, so it would be better to go directly to the frontier.

Li Wei knew this too, so he always kept running away as a backup plan, in case he was exiled... You agree, right?

Besides, Li Wei was willing to contribute to the empire's judicial reform. Coming from the modern era, he naturally knew how serious the harm caused by quacks and drugs was. Moreover, the judiciary primarily addresses the livelihood of ordinary people; in any case, ensuring a good life for ordinary people is always the right thing to do.

Li Wei has been working in this direction with both the previous special crackdowns and the current judicial reforms. As for those complex political cases, Li Wei is too lazy to touch them and doesn't want to get involved; he's not the kind of upright official who can't tolerate any wrongdoing.

Like earlier on the Orient Express, Levi suspected that Antony was acting on orders to kill, so he called him over to get to the bottom of it. If it really was a royal order for assassination, Levi would just be wasting his time investigating. He wasn't stupid enough to get hung up on that.

For the Empire, judicial reform is merely a minor ripple; its primary concern right now is the threat to peace on the continent.

The Kingdom of Francis has sent envoys to the Empire three times, seeking a strategic alliance, and the Empire's initial scorn has gradually turned serious. Clearly, the threat of war facing the Kingdom of Francis forces it to bow to the Empire time and again.

War is imminent.

Everyone is well aware of this: all nations—except for the currently embroiled Western Empire in Europe—have begun to prepare for this inevitable war. The question now is not whether this war will break out, but rather, once it does, who will be their enemy and who will be their ally.

For the Kingdom of Francis, the greatest danger would be the annexation of its territory, thereby ending its division and becoming the powerful Kingdom of Krant.

Not to mention, the Kingdom of Krant has also formed an alliance with the Sasha Alliance, which possesses the third largest territory on the continent. The Western European Empire, which is an ally of Francis, is currently embroiled in internal strife and unable to take care of itself. If the Kingdom of Francis cannot secure the Empire's backing, it will undoubtedly lose this war.

Li Wei had attended several council meetings to hear discussions on this matter, as it concerned world peace. Most council members still believed that an alliance with the Kingdom of Francis was inappropriate, and the empire shouldn't be dragged into their personal feud with the Kingdom of Krant.

However, some members of parliament voiced their opposition, arguing that the Kingdom of Francis was in decline and posed no real threat to the Empire. In contrast, the Kingdom of Krant, after annexing Francis's territory and unifying the empire, was thriving. Furthermore, Krant's steam machinery was developing rapidly, and it had even begun to seize market share from the Empire in some areas.

These lawmakers argued that Francis was an old, toothless lion and no longer a threat. Instead, the Empire should seize this opportunity to unite with Francis and completely crush the arrogance of the Kingdom of Krant, thus upholding the Empire's prestige.

Otherwise, what if the Kingdom of Krant kills Francis and then becomes the second Francis?
Both sides held their own views, and Li Wei merely observed the situation, as he had no right to interfere in diplomatic and military decisions. However, Li Wei also admitted that both sides had valid points, and ultimately it would depend on the Queen's decision.

However, as far as Levi was concerned, he suspected that Francis's visit to the Empire was more about playing the victim. After all, Levi remembered the shady dealings the Francis Kingdom had done in the Mist City. They clearly understood the patterns and methods of using the rumors earlier than Levi, or even the Luddites, and had even been able to imbue others with vampire traits. The Francis Kingdom's steam machinery technology had always been underdeveloped, which could be attributed to the kingdom's current inefficiency, but perhaps… they were also planning to find another way to overtake them?

Those "angels" that appeared in the Church of the Fog City before would be devastating weapons on the battlefield!
Is the Franciscan Kingdom now seeking help from the Empire a feigned show of weakness, while secretly plotting something malicious?
The cases Li Wei experienced in the year after his transmigration—from the socialite assassin, the vampire, the Red Moon Hotel, the Imperial Bridge, the independence of Melisia…—all these events were ultimately linked to the Kingdom of Francis, and their aim was undoubtedly to cause enormous damage and overthrow the empire.

In fact, Livy also suspected that the Luddites of the Empire were carrying out terrorist activities, and that the Kingdom of Francis was supporting them behind the scenes, but he didn't have much evidence.

Although that's how politics is... it's clear that Livy won't develop any goodwill towards the Kingdom of Francis because of this.

In conclusion, peaceful days are numbered, and Li Wei thinks we should cherish every moment.

Fortunately, the final nationwide investigation into this operation was led by the Ministry of the Interior, which formed a judicial team. MI7 also sent a few people in, mainly to see if there were any mysterious events in these gang cases. If not, the Ministry of the Interior would handle it—after all, the Ministry of the Interior also has a judicial system, and they wouldn't be happy if Li Wei took all the credit.

Li Wei had no objection to this. Besides, he didn't like going out anyway. Li Wei stayed at home now, playing with his dog, the little mermaid, and Alice, and occasionally going out for a walk... Li Wei had already taken enough credit for himself, so it was really not appropriate for him to compete with the people in the Internal Affairs Department for food. Giving some to them wouldn't hurt.

After all, everyone should help each other out; what's truly good is when everyone is happy.

Oh, speaking of which, the whole thing blew up because Levi and Alice found a can of brains while taking their dog for a walk.

As for the alien creature that disguised itself as a human customer to buy the can of brains, Levi never found it in the end, and he couldn't help but sigh that the thing was really a coward.

This was the first time Li Wei had ever seen such a cowardly alien creature. It completely lacked the arrogant, domineering aura often seen in science fiction movies; it ran faster than anyone else when it realized things were going wrong…

Li Wei wanted to see how long this thing could remain cowardly. It was capable of never causing trouble its entire life, but if it did, it would fall into Li Wei's hands.

Of course, not everyone will be satisfied.

For example, Eileen.

For Eileen, being a maid by Levi's side wasn't bad at all. She would encounter many interesting things and magical beings, like the Narcissus Fairy, which she had never imagined she would meet. Moreover, Levi supported her continuing her parents' work and was willing to spend money on it.

But...but...

"My lord, are you really not going to reconsider?"

Sitting at her desk, Eileen looked pained.

"What do you think of butterflies? Or dragonflies would be fine too? Why does it have to be a cockroach?"

Actually, when Li Wei first approached Eileen and asked her to make some miniature puppets, Eileen was quite happy. After all, making miniature puppets requires a lot of skill. If Eileen had a system now, her [Puppet Making] skill attribute value would be at least 80, reaching the expert level.

But when Eileen learned that Levi wanted her to be the fly and the cockroach, she was immediately disgusted.

"Wouldn't it be easy for people to notice something was wrong? That's why I chose this option."

Li Wei certainly wasn't intentionally trying to disgust Eileen. The truth is, flies and cockroaches are the most common things, the least likely to arouse suspicion no matter where they appear. Butterflies, on the other hand, sound romantic, but if someone saw a butterfly flying around in the dead of winter, they'd definitely question their existence.

But cockroaches are creatures that can crawl anywhere, and they can even fly up and attack your face if necessary...

"I don't mean for you to look exactly like a cockroach."

Seeing Eileen's desperate expression, Li Wei offered a word of comfort.

"You just need to make yourself as big as a cockroach, with six legs and antennae, and be able to fly."

"That's just a cockroach..."

"Uh... Anyway, thank you for your help."

"yes……………"

What could Eileen say? She could only agree.

(End of this chapter)