Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 332 Lost Contact
Li Wei never imagined that one day he would see a prisoner kneeling down and weeping in repentance in real life—he thought such scenes only appeared in cartoons.

The old commander was also surprised by Corent's reaction, and it was clear that he was in a difficult position. In the end, the old commander made a decision.

This production of "Moonlight Flower" can be adapted from the original novel "Persona," with Corenter playing both roles. However, after the performance, Corenter must turn himself in to the police.

In Li Wei's opinion, the real punishment for Corenter should be to stop him from acting, arrest him, and make him regret it for the rest of his life.

If we arrest him after he's finished performing, is he going to jail or on vacation?
But he's a detective, not a policeman, and as for Corente... well, you might as well say Mobis is just too annoying, so much so that Levi can't be bothered with him. Anyway, Mobis only has a simple fracture and will be fine after lying in bed for a while, which is a good opportunity for him to reflect on his actions.

Of course, if someone gets killed, that's a different story. No matter what your reasons are, you'd better go back to the police station.

Incidentally, Li Wei also obtained a new set of clothes provided by the system by solving this case.

A trench coat and sunglasses make him look cool.

It's a pity that this is just a simple outfit without bullet time added, otherwise it would be even cooler.

For Li Wei, this was simply a way to pass the time. After returning home, he received a message from Eileen, informing him that the new mecha doll was finished and requesting his inspection.

Upon hearing this, Li Wei immediately perked up and excitedly drove the Phantom to the doll workshop where Eileen was. There, Li Wei saw the brand-new mecha dolls.

Upon first seeing the new mecha doll, Levi's reaction was...

Good heavens, where did this tin can come from?
It's no wonder Levi had this thought. The puppet mecha that Eileen made for him before was like the armor models displayed on both sides of the corridors in those noble castles. At least in terms of body proportions and height, it was almost like a puppet.

However, the mecha doll in front of him was even taller than Li Wei. Not only that, its armor looked extremely thick at first glance. Li Wei compared the thickness of the steel plates on the mecha's arms to that of the steel plates—it was at least measured in centimeters.

"How did this happen?"

Li Wei looked curiously at the mecha dolls standing in the doll workshop and asked a question, while Eileen hurriedly began to explain.

"I designed it according to your requirements, sir. You mentioned before that the previous mecha doll was somewhat fragile..."

"Yes, that's right."

It's fine against ordinary people, but it's definitely too fragile against the giant tentacle monster in the Great Salt Lake and the true form of a vampire.

It's not that it's as brittle as paper, but it should at least be kraft paper.

"Therefore, I increased the thickness of the armor, but this meant increasing its size and making it very heavy..."

"How heavy?"

"More than 300 kilograms..."

"…………………"

Goodness, that's really heavy.

If it weren't for Li Wei's [Puppeteer] skill, this thing would just be a big lump of iron to him.

"Where's the equipment inside?"

"As before, the head has been replaced with a gun, and a fuel tank has been placed inside the body, with the nozzle here."

Eileen walked up to the mecha and demonstrated it to Levi. In the center of the mecha's palm was a small hole—impossible for a human, but not for a mecha. "If anyone dares to come up again," she said, "just reach out and shoot flames from it…hehehehe…"

Just imagining that scene made Li Wei chuckle to himself.

"…………………"

Looking at Li Wei's eerie smile, Eileen was speechless. Her master was good in every way, except for his somewhat perverse sense of humor. Especially this kind of modification; just listening to his ideas gave her a strong feeling of something inhuman.

What's worse, there's more than one type...

"By the way, where are the other dolls I ordered?"

"Of course, it has already been completed."

At this point, Eileen pursed her lips, finally sighed, and then led Li Wei to the workbench next to her. On it was a metal object about the size of a robot vacuum cleaner, with eight legs, resembling a spider.

"Here is the mechanical spider you requested."

"Has an experiment been conducted?"

"The experiment has been conducted, and the power is almost the same as what you requested. If it is still not enough, please make up for it with quantity."

"That's one way to do it."

Looking at the mechanical spider before him, Levi nodded. Ever since the battle of Caesarblanca, Levi had been eager to enhance his firepower, and the most important, and perhaps most romantic, element was, of course, explosions. Levi couldn't always have his mecha dolls charge in and self-destruct, so he asked Irene to design some dolls specifically for self-destruction.

After all, there are similar self-destructing robots in modern battlefields and games. They are not difficult to build. It's just that controlling them is a problem... If Li Wei didn't have the [Puppeteer] skill, there would be no point in building them.

Of course, since it's for self-destruction, it can't be too expensive or too complicated, otherwise it will be difficult to handle.

"As for what you want, it's all here..." Eileen carefully reached out and pointed to the side of the mechanical spider. On a tray, there were small, black dolls resembling flies, cockroaches, and moths.

In fact, these dolls weren't made by Eileen, but by technicians from other doll workshops. The advantage of acquiring doll workshops is that most of the technicians are men. For Eileen, creating a cockroach might be a terrifying prospect. But for these doll technicians, as long as the money is right, they can create whatever you want!
Cockroaches and flies? Are they even a problem?
Besides, this thing isn't really complicated. It's not like it's supposed to run on its own, so it doesn't need a power system. The only problem is that the miniaturized parts are a bit complicated to carve, but like I said before, as long as the money is there, it's not a problem! Anyway, that's what they do!
"It seems the workshop technicians you acquired are quite capable."

Li Weiyi was overjoyed after looking at the dolls in front of him. Setting up a mass production factory was indeed much faster than doing it by hand. Now he would never have to worry about the dolls getting damaged again!
Go ahead and make it as big as you can!
"But sir, is this really alright?"

Watching Li Wei turn these dolls into origami and stuff them into his pocket, Eileen asked in a low voice.

"Huh? What's the problem?"

"Actually, quite a few people have asked me what you wanted them to make these dolls for... How should I answer them?"

In response to Eileen's question, Li Wei raised an eyebrow.

"Hobby."

"……………Hobby?"

"That's right, I really like all kinds of dolls. Can't I collect them?"

Modern enthusiasts usually have a whole wall of figurines piled up, so what's so special about my little hobby?
“Go tell them that if they can make any interesting dolls, they can bring them to me to see. If I like them, then I can make them myself.”

Now that the puppet factory has been acquired, Li Wei thought it best to brainstorm ideas. After all, three heads are worse than one, and with so many puppeteers, perhaps one of them would come up with a great idea that he hadn't thought of.

For this era, mechanical dolls were actually quite impractical. They weren't very useful, unlike later robots which possessed artificial intelligence and power systems. They could only function like wind-up toys, operating according to predetermined actions. Therefore, in this era, mechanical dolls had no other purpose than being used as toys and works of art.

But Li Wei doesn't need to worry. His [Puppeteer] skill allows him to completely ignore these two major weaknesses. Simply put, as long as the puppeteers can create decent puppets, he can completely control them. It's just that artificial skin doesn't exist in this world yet, otherwise Li Wei could easily create a few maid puppets to play with…

Now, let's forget about it. It's not that there aren't human puppets in this era, but their eyes and mouths are like those of puppets in a puppet show—they open and close, which is kind of creepy. They completely lack the cute girl charm of anime characters; instead, they look more like something from a horror movie that might lunge out from under your bed with a kitchen knife…

Sigh, I wonder when this world will evolve to the point where there are beautiful maid robots like those in anime... Even just creating the appearance would be nice...

"Ring ring ring... Ring ring ring...!"

Just as Li Wei was happily examining the doll, the communicator next to him suddenly started shouting at breakneck speed. Eileen walked into the office and picked up the receiver.

"Hello... Yes, please hold."

With that, Eileen put down the microphone and came to Li Wei's side.

"grown ups."

"Ok?"

"It's Mr. Kane, the butler, calling to say that the editorial department has an urgent matter to discuss with you."

"The editorial department? Oh, I see."

MI7 wants to speak with me? Could it be that something's gone wrong somewhere again?
Li Wei went to his office, picked up the communicator, and dialed MI7's number. Not long after, the old butler's voice came through the other end.

Sir Levi?

"What's wrong? Is it urgent?"

Hearing the old steward's serious tone, Li Wei narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, it's an emergency. Just a short while ago, we lost contact with a passenger ship sailing on a stormy sea!"

"...This doesn't seem to be our responsibility, does it?"

"Her Highness is on that ship."

"...This is a huge problem."

Li Wei knew that the Queen had a daughter; he had only met her once at the banquet when she was awarded the medal. However, the two had no interaction. Li Wei's impression of the princess was that of a younger version of the Queen, quite serious and earnest.

"So you suspect that the ship's disappearance was a mysterious incident?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm sending you to investigate."

"Okay, okay..."

Li Wei understood the old steward's meaning. Regardless of whether it was the work of some mysterious monster, the missing person was an imperial princess, and every department would inevitably have to take action. Just because it wasn't a mysterious creature didn't mean it was none of MI7's business.

"I see……………"

"Get to the drop zone immediately. I remember you were able to find the target on the airship, so the task of finding the princess at sea is now yours!"

"Okay, I'll go right now..."

Li Wei reluctantly put down the microphone and sighed.

He really didn't want to go because... he had thalassophobia!
(End of this chapter)