Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 335 The Other Side

After leaving the bridge, the group returned to the deck. Li Wei looked up and saw that the airship was still in the air, and not far away, two warships were already in position.

"Henry, signal for reinforcements."

"Yes, Captain."

Although he didn't know why Levi would request reinforcements at this time, Henry still picked up the signal flare and fired it. Soon, two other warships quickly approached and docked with the Aegis. Subsequently, hundreds of fully armed soldiers came to Levi's side.

"Greetings, Sir Levi. You said you needed reinforcements?"

The lead assault captain saluted Li Wei, then looked around at the empty deck with a puzzled expression. It was understandable that he reacted this way; when they saw Li Wei needed reinforcements, they thought something terrible had happened, but now… nothing had actually occurred!
"Yes."

Li Wei nodded, then looked at the other soldiers and spoke.

"Time is running out, so I'll get straight to the point. We're about to face a group of monsters."

"monster?"

The soldiers were somewhat surprised to hear this word, but they maintained their discipline well and did not cause any chaos.

"I must state upfront that these monsters are extremely bizarre in appearance, and it is very possible that some people will suffer a mental breakdown or even psychological trauma simply from seeing them..."

At this point, Li Wei also felt somewhat speechless. It was the same when they fought against those alien monsters. Even though the enemy wasn't invincible, eight out of ten of their casualties were due to mental breakdowns.

We're all grown men, not little girls. Why would we have a mental breakdown just because we see a monster?

"In short, if you think you can't handle this mission, you can quit. I'll give you one minute."

As Li Wei spoke, he glanced at his watch.

The soldiers just stared at each other without saying a word.

A minute passed quickly.

"Okay, let's go."

Seeing that no one was backing out, Li Wei shook his head. Anyway, he had already made his point clear to them beforehand. Whether they didn't take it seriously or thought they were brave enough, the battlefield would prove them right.

"Henry, lead the way."

"Yes, Captain."

Soon, led by Henry, the group passed through the silent cabins and arrived at the lowest level, the engine room. It was just as eerily quiet; even the steam boilers that should have been running weren't lit. The entire engine room was completely empty.

"Sir Levy, what is this...?"

The soldier captain looked around in confusion again, wondering what was going on. But Li Wei gestured for him to be quiet. Then he went to the wall next to him, and the mark on his right palm flashed by. After that, Li Wei placed his palm on the wall.

[Core Endowment — Ghost Ship]

The next moment, under Li Wei's [Soul Vision], a miraculous scene unfolded.

The warship, which had been a vibrant crimson, gradually turned blue. It was as if two armies were locked in battle, with the blue advancing and the red that had enveloped the warship retreating under its pressure. Finally, under Li Wei's watchful gaze, the crimson glow was squeezed to the very edge of the engine room.

Then, it suddenly erupted!
To the others, all they saw was a sudden flash of light, and the next moment, an oval-shaped red halo, taller than a person, appeared out of thin air in front of them!

Everyone was shocked to see the strange red halo!
"What is this!"

The soldier captain looked at Li Wei, seeking his answer, but at that moment, a strange voice, like that of a wild beast, suddenly appeared. Then, everyone saw an unimaginable monster appear in the circle of light!

It looked human, but its entire body was covered in fish-like scales. Its head was also fish-like, and there were even gill-like markings on either side of its neck. This monster stepped out of the halo, its eyes wide as it stared at the group before it, its mouth agape—!
"boom!"

Li Wei pulled the trigger, and with a gunshot, the bullet pierced the monster's head, knocking it back into the light circle and making it disappear completely.

"Okay, let's go!"

As Levi spoke, he was the first to rush into the circle of light, followed closely by Henry and his steam-powered crew. The sailors exchanged glances, their expressions a mixture of surprise and uncertainty—if they hadn't understood Levi's meaning before, they now clearly did.

Finally, the captain gritted his teeth and gripped his rifle tightly.

"Fix bayonets and advance!"

A flash of red light passed by.

When Li Wei stepped onto the deck again, the engine room was no longer the deathly silent place it had been before. The roar of steam, the sound of the wheels turning, the screams of monsters, and the gunshots all mixed together to create an incredibly noisy environment.

At this moment, Li Wei's surroundings were no longer empty, but filled with dozens of equally bizarre and twisted monsters.

As expected...

Looking at the monsters before him and smelling the pungent fishy odor in the air, Li Wei frowned.

Because Li Wei had seen this monster before!
Li Wei had seen this thing in the fishing village of the Great Salt Lake. Later, after reading the Necronomicon in the castle's library, he learned that this monster was called the Deep One, a minion of an extraterrestrial god named Cthulhu. Cthulhu, on the other hand, was an being who descended to this world in the First Age, fought a great battle with the Elders, and was then sealed in the deep sea.

The Deep Ones are the Cthulhu's kin!

But now is not the time to talk about these things, after all, they are in a hurry!
Thinking of this, Li Wei immediately raised the Persuader and Punisher in his hand and aimed at the monsters around him.

Then, the passage of time began to slow down.

[Death Eye] + [Multi-Shot]!
"Bang bang bang bang!"

Gunfire erupted incessantly, and with a series of shots, dozens of Deep Ones around were instantly blown to pieces. In the blink of an eye, all the monsters that had been in the power bay were completely annihilated!

Wow, this [Multi-Shot] is really awesome!
Li Wei lowered his gun, glanced at the Deep One corpses lying all around him, and let out a long sigh. He discovered another benefit of [Multi-Shot]: it reduced the usage time of [Death's Eye]. After all, without [Multi-Shot], if Li Wei wanted to wipe out so many Deep Ones in one go, he would have to fire while in [Death's Eye] mode, reload, and then fire another round.

However, with [Multi-Shot], Li Wei's two guns are treated as four, doubling his firepower. This means he no longer needs to waste his lifespan reloading bullets under the effect of [Death's Eye].

After all, professional skills don't cost you life, but special skills do.

Oh, I see. So that's how it can be used—using professional skills to reduce the consumption of special skills? That's a direction for upgrading. I can consider that when I upgrade in the future.

As Li Wei pondered this, he opened the magazine, letting the spent cartridges clatter and fall to the ground. Then he reached down and reloaded the bullets using a makeshift loader.

Henry and the other soldiers rushed over through the red circle of light and were shocked to see the monster corpses scattered all over the ground.

"Captain, this is..." "We'll talk about that later, Henry. Is there any communication link to the bridge here?"

"Yes, it's here!"

As Henry spoke, he quickly went to a corner of the engine room and turned on the microphone hanging on the wall.

"This is the engine room, calling the bridge! Calling the bridge!"

Soon, a sound came from the bridge.

"This is the bridge! What's the situation in the engine room?"

“I am Earl Livy.”

Li Wei took the microphone and began to speak.

"I've led the Steam Engine Regiment to reinforce you. Report the current situation to me immediately!"

"Huh? Reinforcements...? Yes, we're currently surrounded by these monsters! The situation is critical..."

"What's the status of Torchlight?"

"The Torchlight has also been attacked, and we are approaching it, but the propulsion system is not activated..."

"We will activate the power system immediately and take immediate action."

"Yes!"

"Ring ring, ring ring..."

Soon, the power indicator next to him started ringing, and at the same time, Levi turned to Henry.

"Leave a few soldiers here to control the power system, the rest of you follow me!"

"Yes!"

"hurry up!"

Li Wei waved the gun in his hand.

"let's go!"

Breaking out of the engine room again was no easy feat. The passageways inside the warship were extremely narrow, and littered with the corpses of Deepseas and crew members. The group stumbled along, and it took them a great deal of effort to finally reach the deck again.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck, Henry's eyes lit up and he pointed to something not far away.

"Captain, Torchlight!"

Li Wei also spotted the passenger ship not far away. It was currently floating on the water, and groups of Deepdivers were climbing up its hull like toads. On the ship, several soldiers could be seen armed and fighting back against the Deepdivers.

I have to say, these Deep Ones are really... weak.

Seeing this, Li Wei's expression was somewhat complicated.

Generally, in online novels or game settings, the more ancient the setting, the more powerful the character. For example, the primordial era is all about creating the world.

But this thing is really something else. Cthulhu, as an extraterrestrial invader who fought against the Elders in the First Age, has such a weak and helpless retinue.
Although they were physically stronger than average and could swim in the sea, they weren't that impressive; they were still easy targets, easily killed with a single shot. In fact, if these deep-sea divers hadn't used sheer numbers and charged forward recklessly, these well-trained soldiers could have easily routed them.

But these guys aren't afraid to die, which is a problem, and that's why the Aegis is currently being destroyed.

Just like fighting zombies, zombies are not afraid of death, so no matter how many bullets you have, it's useless.

This thing is almost like a zombie.

Li Wei muttered a curse to himself before turning his gaze away.

"Henry, send a team to the bridge for cover, the rest of you prepare to board!"

The Aegis is still some distance from Torchlight. Moreover, Levi also saw that the sea between the two was teeming with those damned Deep Ones, which were now poking their heads out of the water and bobbing with the waves, emitting piercing and unpleasant screams.

Damn, this is a real, physical sea of ​​people!
Seeing so many Deep One monsters, Li Wei gasped. If there had been such a large group at the Great Salt Lake, even bringing in mortars wouldn't have been enough!
Li Wei was now certain that the problem lay with the Torchlight; the Aegis was merely collateral damage due to its proximity. His [Soul Vision] clearly showed a dazzling red light flashing within the Torchlight, illuminating the entire world!

Considering the bizarre scene on the Aegis, if Levi wasn't mistaken, something strange on the Torchlight had pulled them into this world. Because the Aegis was farther away, although the people on board were affected, the ship remained in the real world and didn't disappear like the Torchlight.

Just now, Li Wei used the core of his [Ghost Ship] to expel the strange power that was affecting the Holy Shield. The latter, driven away by the former, would naturally return to the source of the power, which is why the passage between the two worlds was opened, allowing Li Wei to enter smoothly.

However, the Aegis was merely collateral damage; the real core issue lay with the Torchlight!

We must get to the Torchlight and find out what happened in order to find a solution!

Just as Li Wei was thinking about this, the system's task notification sound appeared in his mind again.

Activate the quest "Shadow of Truth"

Mission Objective: Destroy this world and return to reality.

Sure enough, the system didn't take Princess Louise seriously at all, not even giving her a mission to rescue her... After all, isn't rescuing a princess the most classic storyline quest?

Li Wei silently rolled his eyes.

But what about destroying the world?

Is this time the difficulty... a bit too high?

In short, let's get to Torchlight first!
The Aegis had already begun to turn, accelerating towards the Torchlight. The massive steel structure cleaved through the waves, pushing away all the Deep Ones in the water. Soon, the two ships were getting closer and closer, and Levi could even see the soldiers fighting the Deep Ones on the opposite deck!

Unlike ordinary sailors, these soldiers wore crimson uniforms and were likely members of the Royal Guard.

I wonder how Princess Louise is doing now...

Li Wei stared at the opposite side until the two ships finally came together side by side!
"let's go!"

As Li Wei spoke, he leaped across with Katie, heading towards the deck of the Torchlight on the opposite side!

(End of this chapter)