Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 359 Death Forest
Soon, Li Wei met the survivors, five in total, all men, and all more or less injured. Upon seeing Li Wei, the survivors were terrified and unsure what to say.

However, Li Wei was used to this. He glanced at the crowd and pointed to the man standing in front.

"come here."

Upon hearing Li Wei's order, the five men exchanged glances, and then the man walked up to Li Wei.

"Name, age, gender, occupation."

“Victor, 42 years old, male, patrol officer.”

The latter is clearly quite used to routine police questioning, well, that's to be expected.

"Those people aren't with you, are they?"

Li Wei glanced at the four people standing behind Victor. Victor's clothes were still recognizable as police uniforms, but the others looked more like mountaineers or explorers.

"Why……………"

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, Officer Victor sighed helplessly.

"They've come looking for their missing companion."

"………………I remember this place should have been completely sealed off, right?"

"That's why I'm here."

As he spoke, Officer Victor recounted the situation to Levi. As the old butler had mentioned, the forest had been temporarily sealed off after two groups of people went missing. However, the families of the missing railway workers and search team members were naturally not going to give up so easily, so the local police station had specially assigned people to patrol the entrance to prevent anyone from entering the forest.

Officer Victor was also a member of the patrol team. However, not long ago, while he was on night patrol, he encountered a group of people who were friends and relatives of the missing railway and search team members. In their opinion, since the authorities were unwilling to send people to search and rescue, they would go on their own!

Officer Victor was determined to stop them, but the group was well-prepared. They broke through the blockade in two steam cars and sped into the forest along the railway. Officer Victor and his partner gave chase in their police car.

The two chased each other for an unknown distance, and then...

"Unexpectedly, a huge pothole suddenly appeared ahead. It was dark and the road was slippery, and they accidentally tumbled into it along with their vehicle. It's really strange, where did the pothole on the railway track come from?"

"Well…………………"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei's lips twitched slightly, but he remained silent.

He roughly knew where the pit came from.

"Anyway, my partner and I finally managed to get these people out of the pit. We were planning to drive them straight to the hospital, but... our car is gone too!"

Hmm, Li Wei could probably guess what happened. It's highly likely that while the two police officers were rescuing the people, the vines stealthily dragged the car away like thieves. Those things even go after train carriages, so wouldn't it be even easier for a small, beat-up car like this?

According to Officer Victor, they also felt something was wrong, but what could they do? They still had to bring the people back. Many of those people were injured when they fell and needed to go to the hospital for treatment.

Even so, these people still refused to give up. They were convinced that there was something wrong with the forest and were determined to find the missing people no matter what.

The two patrol officers were at a loss with these explorers. Some were persuaded to stay, but others stubbornly decided to go find someone on their own.

Victor was at a loss, so he discussed with his partner the possibility of sending these people out first.

However, they didn't expect that it would be easy to get in but difficult to get out. They thought that they could get out by following the railway tracks, but they couldn't get out no matter how they walked. Some people even did an experiment: they put a broken bottle next to the tracks and continued to walk forward.

Unexpectedly, after walking for several hours, they found themselves back next to the track with the broken bottle!

Everyone was stunned, even Victor, the patrolman, didn't know what to do.

But that's not all that's scary!
Just as everyone was at a loss, several people suddenly emerged from the nearby woods. At first, Officer Victor thought they were the people who had escaped earlier, trapped here like them. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that there was strength in numbers and that it might be safer for everyone to be together.

But after seeing what those people looked like, Officer Victor and his team were shocked. Those who emerged from the forest were indeed the same people they had separated from earlier. However, their appearance was now terrifying. Their skin resembled tree bark, and twig-like things were protruding from their ears, mouths, and nostrils—they looked like monsters!
Everyone was stunned by what they saw, including Officer Victor and his partner. However, being police officers, they quickly recovered and drew their guns to fire.

But bullets are completely useless against these monsters!

Not only that, these people are incredibly strong and fast. If you were to race them on the railway tracks, you would definitely lose.

Officer Victor had no choice but to lead the other survivors into the forest. Although they knew the forest was dangerous, after seeing the monsters tearing their companions apart alive, they decided to survive by getting themselves eaten first.
So they ran into the forest to escape the monsters' pursuit. Just as they were fleeing for their lives, a sudden explosion rang out. Only then did everyone notice the airship in the sky. Officer Victor quickly took out a mirror and used the light signals he had learned to signal to the other side.

"...That's the gist of it."

"Um………………"

After listening to Officer Victor's report, Levi fell into thought. He knew about the monster Officer Victor mentioned. Back on the Orient Express, the train attendant who committed murder and the corpse he killed had turned into that monster.

Of course, Levi wouldn't use a water gun like the police to deal with them, but now that Officer Victor said this... tsk tsk tsk, Levi could only say that he was lucky he ran fast back then. If he had been any slower, he would have been trapped in the forest and died without anyone to help him.

"Besides that, have you discovered anything else?"

“Scream…”

"Scream?"

"Yes, maybe it's just my imagination..."

As he spoke, Officer Victor pointed to the mountains in the northeast.

“When we were running away earlier, I thought I heard shouts coming from that side… but I’m not sure, it could just be my imagination.”

"Um……………"

In any case, after confirming that these people were indeed just unfortunate victims, Levi picked them up and put them in the cargo hold. Although he did not see any signs of infection on the [Soul Vision], just in case, Levi still asked Henry to find a few steam engine soldiers to guard them.

Then he went to the bridge again.

"Sir."

Upon seeing Li Wei return, Lieutenant Horn quickly stepped forward and saluted.

"Excuse my rudeness, but what exactly is it...?"

Upon hearing Lieutenant Horn's question, Li Wei looked around and realized that not only Lieutenant Horn, but also the other officers in charge of operating the airship were staring at him. Clearly, what they had just witnessed had completely shattered their worldview.

But this is also a good opportunity to confront them.

"I think you've all seen it."

Li Wei spoke first.

"These are our enemies. Our enemies are not just invaders, or rather, not just human invaders. After all, there are many armies that deal with humans, but we are different. We exist primarily to deal with monsters."

"A monster...?"

"That's right, the legendary, the rumored, the known, and the unknown. Like sea monsters, like extraterrestrial creatures, that's why I need you. After all, a few people can't deal with some flying, powerful, and enormous monsters. That's one of the reasons I requested the construction of the Sky Eye, and that's also your job."

As he spoke, Li Wei glanced at everyone.

"Now, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"It's okay if you don't understand. You'll understand soon enough, because we'll have targets to deal with next."

"What is it, please tell me?"

“This is it.” Li Wei pointed to the forest beneath his feet.

“There’s a problem with this forest, and what we need to do is eliminate that problem.”

"Sir."

At that moment, armorer Taylor Bieber raised his hand.

"Do we need to burn the entire forest down?"

"This is a last resort. If we really can't find the root cause, we can try it. But before that, we still need to see if we can find the core of the problem."

"How do I find it?"

"That's my job."

Li Wei pointed to his head.

"You just need to cooperate with me and obey my orders, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Hearing Li Wei's answer, everyone seemed relieved, though they were clearly uneasy themselves. After all, what they were facing was something they had never encountered in books or in practice, so it's no wonder they reacted this way.

"Now, let's head to the mountains in the northeast first and see what's going on there."

"Yes, sir."

Lieutenant Horn nodded, then turned and issued the order.

"Turn, bearing 045!"

Soon, the Sky Eye changed direction again and continued forward.

The mountain range to the northeast is located in the very center of the Death Forest. It is not noticeable on the ground, but when viewed from the sky, it appears as if the entire forest extends from this mountain range.

As for Li Wei...

"found it."

Staring at the mountains below, Li Wei said in a low voice. Through his [Soul Vision], he could clearly see a bright red soul radiance flashing within the mountains. Countless red lines, like streams, extended outwards in all directions, reaching every corner of the forest.

In this light, perhaps my previous guess was wrong. It wasn't that monsters controlled this forest, but rather that monsters created it.

Incidentally, Li Wei also saw a huge crater on the ground, a massive, explosive-looking hole nearly a hundred meters in diameter... Well, he had to admit, he was really lucky to have survived the Eastern.

"This is quite unexpected. I didn't expect to find traces of an explosion here, sir. That's..."

"It's nothing, just a little accident."

"An accident? Okay."

Hearing Li Wei's answer, Horn glanced at him in surprise, clearly realizing that Li Wei knew what the pit was all about. However, since Li Wei was unwilling to talk about it, he didn't press the matter.

"Arrived at the designated location, please provide instructions."

"Um……………"

Staring at the radiant soul below, Li Wei was also racking his brains. If he could, he really wanted to just launch a high-altitude bombardment and be done with it. But unfortunately, judging from [Soul Vision], this thing was underground. And the Sky Eye wasn't exactly a dedicated bomber, and besides, there were no bunker-buster bombs in this era.

Moreover, even if it existed, Li Wei wasn't sure he could destroy it.

If the explosion collapses and buries the enemy inside without destroying them, it would backfire.

However, there is also a problem.

This thing is too big.

Even from the air, this thing is definitely not small; a simple calculation shows it's probably tens of meters long.

Biological beings? Surely they're not some kind of idol like those from Alice's time.

However, if it really is a statue from that time, Li Wei is no longer afraid.

I'm not afraid anymore, not afraid anymore, not afraid anymore, not afraid anymore...

While suppressing the urge to sing out loud, Li Wei reached out and drew several circles on the map in front of him.

"First, launch a bombing raid on these areas."

Li Wei pinpointed the locations of the red nodes flowing from the core of the soul. It would be better if he could force them out, but even if he couldn't, it would at least deplete the enemy's strength, preventing him from facing an entire forest when a real battle broke out, which would be truly troublesome.

"Yes."

Lieutenant Horn took the map and issued another order. Immediately afterward, shells were fired, bursting into bursts of fire in the forest. Under Li Wei's [Soul Vision], the red that had spread throughout the forest appeared much dimmer.

However, the vine tentacles that appeared before did not reappear, nor did they disappear. Was it because the other party realized that it could not attack the airship in the air, so it decided to play dead?

If that's the case, then Li Wei really has no way to deal with it.

After all, even if we send more airships and bomb this place upside down, it won't make a difference.

With that in mind, Li Wei made a decision.

"Prepare the landing module, I'm going down."

"Excuse my bluntness, sir."

Upon hearing Li Wei's order, Lieutenant Horn hurriedly spoke up.

"As captain, you shouldn't always put yourself in danger..."

“I understand what you mean, Lieutenant Horn.”

Li Wei nodded.

"But I must tell you, my approach is not like that. In fact, this Eye of the Sky was built to support my operations. Your job is to assist me in battle, because I have far more experience dealing with these monsters than you do. Moreover, this is not an exception; on the contrary, I hope you can consider it a normal occurrence. That is to say, in the future, I may very well call for your support when I am losing a battle against a monster, and what you need to do is cooperate with me to eliminate those monsters."

"………………………"

Upon hearing Li Wei's answer, Lieutenant Horn looked surprised, while Li Wei chuckled.

"Otherwise, why do you think I was knighted? It's not like I was just doing it for fun."

"I understand, sir."

Lieutenant Horn lowered his head and said nothing more, while Li Wei nodded.

"Okay, remember, this is our first time working together, so stay in touch."

As he spoke, Li Wei gestured to Katie, who was already looking like a husky ready to destroy the house.

"Katie, let's go!"

(End of this chapter)