Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 334 Ghost Ship

"Direction 056! Something's up!"

At Li Wei's command, the drowsy crew inside the airship jolted awake and quickly became alert. Simultaneously, the airship's searchlights shifted direction, shining in the direction Li Wei had indicated. Beams of white light pierced the darkness, illuminating the sea.

Soon, a ship was seen quietly drifting on the sea, and on the deck, a thick and huge naval cannon could be clearly seen.

"It's the Holy Shield!"

The old butler also became excited at this moment.

"Contact them immediately!"

"Yes!"

Soon, a communications officer initiated a call.

"Aegis, this is the Eagle reconnaissance ship, please respond!"

"………………………"

"Aegis, this is the Eagle reconnaissance ship, please respond!"

"………………………"

There was complete silence on the other end; not a sound could be heard.

"really weird."

Katie was also resting her hand on her forehead, gazing at the Holy Shield on the sea.

Why doesn't it turn on the lights?

"In short, this is not a good thing."

Li Wei sighed silently. In the [Soul Vision], he could clearly see that the entire Holy Shield was completely covered in crimson. Although he was unsure of the current situation on board, it certainly didn't look like a good thing.

In fact, for Li Wei, the best solution would have been to simply bomb the ship from a distance and sink it.

But it's useless; of course, that's impossible.

"Send a signal immediately to have the Tianxing and Lijian rendezvous here and investigate this ship!"

"I'll go take a look first."

Upon hearing the old butler's command, Li Wei raised his hand and spoke. The old butler, startled by Li Wei's words, looked at him.

"This ship looks like it's uninhabited, don't you find that strange?"

"you mean……………"

The old butler understood what Li Wei meant. From the outside, the Aegis was intact, showing no signs of attack, yet it also seemed like a completely deserted ship, which was clearly abnormal. The old butler immediately thought of some mysterious legends about the sea.

"Ghost ship?"

"………………!?"

Upon hearing this term, a murmur rippled through the crowd. The legend of ghost ships was well-known. Frequent sailors often told stories of ships emerging from a thick fog while setting sail. They appeared unmanned, simply drifting with the current. Some, daring enough to board, discovered everything seemed normal. Even the galley held steaming cups of coffee. Mysteriously, however, the entire ship was deserted. It was as if they had been on board just minutes before, only to vanish without a trace.

Later, the captain mustered up the courage to try to pull the ship back to port. However, halfway there, a sudden storm broke out with towering waves. When the captain finally escaped the storm, he discovered that the ghost ship that had been trailing behind had completely disappeared.

Many people have heard this story, but they never expected to encounter it themselves!

Do ghost ships really exist? No, this is a warship. How could a warship become a ghost ship?
This isn't one of those mysterious ghost ships from stories where no one knows where they came from. The Aegis has been in service with the Imperial Navy for five years! It has proper documentation!

"In short, we'll only know what happened if we go and see for ourselves."

Li Wei stated that he has the most experience in dealing with mysterious events here, so it would be more convenient for him to investigate on his own.

"By the way, if those two ships arrive, please have them be prepared to attack the Holy Shield as soon as I give the signal."

Of course, he did not forget the importance of firepower advantage.

If all else fails, just blow it up to solve all your problems.

Shouldn't we find Torchlight first?

The old butler stared at Li Wei and asked, "The Aegis is an escort ship. Since the Aegis is here, the Torchlight should be nearby as well."

“I haven’t seen the Torchlight in the vicinity, but you can have other airships search the surrounding area from here.”

Li Wei shook his head. When he discovered the Aegis, he had already scanned the surrounding area, but he hadn't seen any other soul lights, neither red nor white. So, at least within this area, Li Wei wasn't sure if he could find the Torchlight.

However, through the encounter of the Aegis, perhaps Levi can learn what exactly happened here and thus find a better solution.

Of course, if other airships can find the Torchlight... then Levi wouldn't care.

"Ok."

The old butler was silent for a moment, then nodded and gave the order.

"Descend altitude! Prepare for landing!" The airship, previously high in the sky, quickly began its descent. Fortunately, the sea was calm. Unlike many game levels where invading cargo ships involves storms and towering waves, the airship was now steadily hovering beside the Aegis's foredeck. Then, the hatch opened.

The sea breeze of the night rushed towards him. Li Wei gripped his cane, looked at the warship in front of him, remained silent for a moment, and then leaped out, landing steadily on the deck.

Katie followed, followed by Henry and the steamship crew. After they landed, the airship took off again, maintaining a certain distance from the warship once more.

This was also Li Wei's request. After all, movies are full of those unfortunate plots where the vehicles meant to take the protagonist away are inexplicably blown to bits, leaving the protagonist with nowhere to go. He didn't want to find his airship reduced to scrap metal like those unfortunate helicopters in the movies when he tried to escape.

That wouldn't be fun.

"Henry, you said you know a lot about this warship?"

Levi withdrew his gaze from the airship and then turned to Henry, who was standing beside him.

"Yes, Captain, I served on a warship of the same class before, so I have some understanding of the layout of the Aegis."

"Then, leave five soldiers to guard the landing area. Let's go to the bridge first. There should be the navigator's log there."

"Yes, the captain must record everything that happens during the voyage; that's the rule."

"Then let's go, take us to the bridge."

"Okay, please follow me, this way."

Henry raised his gun and led Levi and the others quickly toward the bridge.

The entire Aegis was deathly silent, except for the blinding white light of the airship's searchlights illuminating the warship. The only sounds were the occasional crashing of the waves and the echoes of footsteps on the deck. Apart from that, the ship was completely silent, as if it had been utterly abandoned long ago.

Li Wei walked behind the group, using his [Soul Vision] to survey his surroundings, fearing that the ship might change after they boarded.

But the truth is that the ship has not changed at all. If it weren't for the blood-red soul radiance under the [Soul Vision], then this ship would just be an ordinary ship.

So, what exactly is the problem?
"Captain, we've reached the bridge!"

Hearing Henry's voice, Levi deactivated [Soul Vision] and glanced around again. They had now reached the bridge, which was also deserted, but there was no blood or any sign of battle.

Where is the ship's log?

"it's here."

Henry quickly took a notebook tied with a rope from the wall next to him. Levi opened it and quickly flipped to the last page. Sure enough, it recorded the departure of the Holy Shield.

[We have already set sail. The sea is calm, and everyone is relaxed. This mission should proceed without major problems, but caution is still necessary. After all, we are protecting Her Highness the Princess. In any case, everyone must remain extremely vigilant until we return to port.]

This is the captain's record at the start of the voyage, but what follows is a bit strange.

We've lost our way! What happened? How could we make such a mistake! It's so stupid! I've ordered everyone to check our current course coordinates. It's strange, we've been on this voyage for years and have never had a problem like this before... Just to be safe, I've decided to write it down first.

Lost?"

Seeing this, Levi frowned, then looked at Henry.

"Are we now off course?"

"No, Captain."

Henry glanced at the compass and gave a confident answer.

"The Aegis is still on its course."

"But it's clear that its captain doesn't think so, and neither do the others."

Li Wei handed the nautical log to Henry, who looked at the entries and was also puzzled.

"That's strange... Logically speaking, such a basic mistake as getting lost shouldn't happen at all..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Henry suddenly cried out in surprise.

"Captain, there's a new entry in the diary!"

"Oh?"

Li Wei hurriedly went to Henry's side, took the nautical logbook, and saw that the originally blank parts were now rapidly displaying words, as if some invisible person was writing on the nautical logbook in front of them.

[We are under attack! The Torchlight is under attack too! The attackers are not human, but strange, half-human, half-fish creatures! We are approaching the Torchlight! We must rescue His Highness at all costs! We cannot send a distress signal, and we have no idea where we are. The enemy has breached the engine room. If anyone finds this logbook, please deliver it to the Imperial Navy. I am John Jon, captain of the Imperial Navy's Fifth Fleet, the Aegis, currently on escort duty for the Torchlight…]

Is this happening?
Li Wei looked around again, but everything remained calm. The other side claimed to have been attacked, but the ship hadn't been spotted at all…

and many more!

Maybe they're not even on this ship!

Thinking of this, Li Wei's eyes flashed.

"Everyone, prepare your weapons, proceed to the power bay!"

(End of this chapter)