Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 366 Return to the city
The exploration of the dungeon is a busy and lengthy process, and Li Wei certainly couldn't be here to oversee it the entire time. In fact, Her Majesty the Queen had already ordered the Eye of the Sky and the Royal Fleet to return to Mist City together, so that everyone could witness the dragon's magnificence.

As for how to transport the dragon back, preparations were already in place. The Royal Fleet's specialized airships would lift the dragon's body and tail and fly it directly back. This was currently the only time-saving and labor-saving method, and the Sky Eye would appear before everyone as a vanguard, a hero in the fight against the dragon.

Hmm... Li Wei once said that no ceremony was needed, but the Queen surprised him by pulling a big one.

Incidentally, after Levi returned to the Eye of the Sky, Lieutenant Horn apologized to Levi on behalf of the others. After all, obeying orders was their job, but due to certain reasons, the mission could not be completed. Therefore, Lieutenant Horn also requested that Levi punish him.

However, Li Wei certainly wouldn't listen to him. After all, Li Wei knew how powerful Long Wei was. If someone on the airship could block Long Wei, he would suspect that the other party was cheating.

Although Lieutenant Horn insisted, Levi ultimately refused his request. After all, Levi was the captain, and he wouldn't change his mind just because of the first mate's words. Whether it was good or bad, it was up to Levi to decide. He would punish if he wanted to, and he wouldn't punish if he wanted to. It was that simple. He wouldn't just listen to the first mate presenting facts and rules.

Moreover, the mood of everyone in the Eye of the Sky was not good at the time, which was obviously still a lingering effect of the Dragon's Might. Fortunately, Li Wei had a solution. He had prepared a violin on the Eye of the Sky in advance. After activating the [Old Seal Blessing], Li Wei played a few light and cheerful tunes, which finally dispelled the fear and anxiety in the hearts of the airship crew caused by the lingering Dragon's Might.

After all that commotion, Li Wei received orders from Her Majesty the Queen. Although he didn't really want to go back so ostentatiously, well... there was no other way.

Just as Li Wei was sitting in his chair, drinking tea and lost in thought, Lieutenant Mariana's voice rang out.

"The Royal Fleet just sent word that everything is ready, the dragon's carcass has been bound, and we can depart immediately."

"Well, let's go then."

Li Wei sighed silently and gave the order.

The real trouble is yet to come.

Just as Li Wei had predicted, the foggy city was packed with people that day. People, contrary to their usual behavior, came out of their houses and onto the streets or rooftops, gazing curiously at the sky.

The news of Li Wei slaying the dragon spread like wildfire through the streets and alleys of the entire Fog City early the next morning via radio and newspapers. At first, most people were quite astonished, thinking they had misheard. But soon, the dragon depicted in the front-page photograph in the newspapers quickly ignited public enthusiasm.

Not to mention the roar Li Wei heard during his battle with the dragon, a roar that echoed throughout the Death Forest. So much so that the people nearby lived in constant fear that it might be a harbinger of some calamity, like an earthquake.

Furthermore, the Royal Fleet's emergency departure after that, along with the sighting of several airships flying back and forth over the Death Forest, further confirmed the news.

But this was certainly not the end. In the two days that followed, newspapers published more news about the underground city. Through the photos, people saw mountains of gold coins and the vast, ancient underground city. This immediately ignited the latent fantasies deep within people's hearts.

After all this groundwork, people's initial doubts about the existence of dragons have gradually faded, after all, there is so much evidence, but none of it compares to today—because Her Majesty the Queen personally announced that today, the Royal Fleet will bring the dragon's carcass back to Fog City and place it in the Imperial Royal Park (after all, there really is nowhere else to put such a large dragon), and will invite renowned biologists from all over the world to study it and unravel the mystery of this most mysterious monster in legend!
In fact, renowned biologists from all over the world have arrived in the capital in the past two days, and have been received by the Royal Biological Society.

After all, this is a giant dragon! No one would think that the Queen was deliberately playing tricks on these biologists, nor would she have any reason to.

Since the royal family has extended an invitation, it means this is definitely not a joke.

Maroni stood in the Royal Park, looking up at the sky. The weather was fine today, a rare clear day in the foggy city. Not a single cloud graced the azure sky, allowing him to see the entire expanse clearly. As a member of the Royal Biological Society, he was filled with both excitement and unease.

"Alright, Maroni, my friend, don't be so nervous."

Tom, who had a small mustache, patted Marloni on the shoulder.

"Once that dragon arrives, we'll have plenty of time to observe and study it."

“I know, but…”

Maroni shook her head and looked at her friend.

"Do you really believe all of this? The Empire discovered a dragon and killed it?"

"Do you have any questions? Do you have any doubts about the Queen's statement?"

“I don’t doubt Her Majesty the Queen, but she doesn’t understand biology, so she could easily be fooled, right? And wasn’t it Sir Levi who killed that dragon again? Don’t you think that’s too much of a coincidence? Maybe he just killed a large lizard and reported it to the Queen as a dragon…”

As he spoke, Maroni frowned. He knew what kind of people the imperial bureaucrats were; they had none of the rigor of scholars.

A dragon? How can you be sure it's a dragon? How are they classified? How are they confirmed? How are they identified?

They can't even tell the difference between dolphins and whales! Do you think they can tell the difference between monitor lizards and dragons?
"Didn't you look at the photos?"

"The photos in the newspaper are simply not suitable for conducting a thorough investigation."

Maroni shook his head. The photos in the newspaper were black and white, and because they were printed, there were bound to be some errors. For a biologist, that was fatal.

But none of that matters. What matters is...

"Her Majesty the Queen has invited prominent figures from the biological community around the world this time."

Maroni glanced around and spoke in a low voice.

"I don't want the Empire to become a laughing stock for them in the future. Besides, it's outrageous that Her Majesty the Queen appointed that little girl as the Empire's representative for the investigation!"

Tom knew, of course, who Maroni was referring to. He turned and looked towards the other side of the crowd, where a white-haired, red-eyed girl stood quietly, writing something in her notebook. Tom knew who she was: Anne Branson, a biologist who had recently risen to fame in the Empire, specializing in paleontology. She first gained recognition last year for her research paper on sea monsters, and subsequently published reports on Golden Age architecture and the classification of nightmares.

Her detailed and clear descriptions and research have indeed won praise from many people in the fields of biology and archaeology. However, as the saying goes, the taller the tree, the more the wind blows. It is inevitable that a teenage girl like her, who has achieved what many people in this field cannot achieve in their entire lives, will attract jealousy.

In fact, Tom had heard rumors of an ambiguous relationship between Miss Branson and Sir Levi, and that the dissections of the sea monster and the Nightmare were all conducted by Anne Branson with Levi's support. This made many people feel it was unfair; frankly, they were jealous of Anne, believing she only got so many opportunities because of her beauty. They thought that if they could win Sir Levi's favor, they could do the same.

For this reason, some people in the biological community are quite unhappy with Ms. Branson, especially since Her Majesty the Queen specifically appointed Anne Branson to lead the Imperial Investigation Team, which surprised many people.

However, Sir Henry, the president of the Royal Society of Biology, strongly supported the decision, and since no one dared to defy the Queen, there was nothing anyone could do.

Even so, they can still express their stance. For example, Anne Branson is standing to the side with only a few of her companions, while everyone else subconsciously keeps their distance from her.

The young woman seemed completely unconcerned, silently flipping through her notebook as if taking notes.

Just then, a commotion broke out in the crowd, and Tom heard Maronny shouting.

"Come on, come on!"

Tom looked up and saw several black dots slowly appearing on the other side of the sky. They flew very low and gradually approached the foggy city.

Tom could see that the leading vessel was a strangely designed airship. He had already read about it in the newspaper; it was called the Sky Eye and was Sir Levi's flagship. He had thought it looked quite odd when he saw the picture in the newspaper, and now, upon closer inspection, he could see that it was indeed quite different from ordinary airships.

But it's very beautiful.

"—————————!"

In the distance, faint shouts could be heard, startling everyone.

"what happened?"

"I don't know, it sounds like they're shouting something outside," Tom answered his friend's question. Then he listened intently and heard that the atmosphere outside seemed very lively, but he still didn't know what was going on.

But Tom soon found out.

As the airship slowly moved forward and arrived at the central square of the Royal Park, Tom and Maronny saw the enormous entity suspended below the airship.

It was a colossal creature, its body estimated to be about sixty meters long, with a tail hanging down on one side, roughly twenty meters long. The newspaper reported that this was because the dragon's tail had been cut off.

The monster was covered in wounds of all sizes, clearly caused by an explosion. Its head was bound and suspended, one eye was blind, and the other stared straight ahead. The enormous, terrifying head filled with unsettling dread; just seeing the monster's head made Tom feel weak in the knees, as if he were about to collapse to the ground.

Is this the dragon?

If Maroni and Tom had harbored any doubts before, now, after witnessing such a terrifying creature firsthand, even the faint lingering doubts in their hearts had completely vanished. At least in terms of its physical form, this monster was not some mutated giant lizard, but rather closely resembled the legendary descriptions of a dragon.

Of course, the dragon couldn't be placed in an open space. In fact, a room in the park to house the dragon had already been prepared. It was a huge glass greenhouse, originally intended to house plants from other places. But now, with the Queen's order, it was naturally requisitioned. The glass roof above had been opened, and then the dragon's corpse, suspended by the airship, slowly fell down and was placed into the glass greenhouse.

Just then, the Sky Eye slowly descended to the open ground, and Tom saw a richly dressed young man walk out from it.

He knew who it was, of course; it was none other than Earl Levy, the most renowned man in the empire. It must be said, however, that the Earl was indeed young and handsome. Tom had once thought, when he saw his picture in the newspaper, that if he had even a tenth of the Earl's looks, he might have been able to successfully ask that beautiful lady out at the ball last time.

Unfortunately, this is just wishful thinking.

Tom saw Earl Levi walk up to Anne Branson, greet her with a smile, and Miss Branson nodded in response, as always. It seemed the rumors were true; the two had a good relationship. However, in Tom's opinion, there didn't seem to be any particular affection between them.

The two exchanged a few words and then turned to walk towards the glass greenhouse. However, at that moment, a bearded man suddenly stepped out from the crowd and blocked Levi and Annie's way.

"Ah, it's that guy!"

"Dr. Jean Dorest, he has indeed come."

Seeing the bearded man, Tom and Maronny immediately tensed up. This doctor was a very famous figure in the field of biology. On the one hand, he did have considerable ability and talent, but that wasn't important. After all, those who made it to the top in the field of biology were all capable.

However, Dr. Dorest is famous not for his academic achievements, but for his temper. To put it nicely, he is outspoken; to put it bluntly, he is rude. He never considers other people's feelings when he does things, saying whatever he wants, which has embarrassed many people on numerous occasions. He even uses his status to force others to bow down. Many people dislike him.

If he weren't so old, someone would have already put him in a sack.

He actually came... but it's not surprising.

Just as the thought crossed Tom's mind, the bearded man appeared in front of Levi, staring at him.

Why did you kill this dragon?!

“I don’t understand what you mean, sir.”

Li Wei looked at the bearded man with a calm expression.

"This is very likely the only remaining dragon in the world. Do you know how important it is? Forget it, I imagine you're a soldier, you wouldn't understand how important this dragon is! You simply can't comprehend its significance to the biological community! A little girl like this is completely unsuitable to be a representative. You should let a more respected and experienced scholar take charge..."

Dr. Dorrest spoke eloquently, and the others watched them. Levi stood there, observing Dr. Dorrest, and after he finished his rambling, he tilted his head and asked Annie a question.

"Who is this Mr. Brainless?"

"This is Dr. Jean Dorest, a member of the Royal Society of Biology."

"Oh, is he on the list too?"

"Yes, Sir Levi."

"OK then."

Levi exchanged a few words with Anne, then snapped his fingers.

"Someone, take this gentleman out."

Upon hearing Levi's order, the crowd erupted in uproar. They never expected that Dr. Dorest, a titan in the Imperial biological community, would be dragged out like this!
Soon, two soldiers came over, bowed respectfully to Li Wei, and then grabbed Dr. Dorest, preparing to take him away.

"Wait, wait a minute, kid, what do you mean by this?! You actually dared to kick me out?!"

Dr. Dorest stared wide-eyed at Levi, seemingly unable to comprehend how the man could dare to do such a thing. Given his standing in the Imperial biological community, no one had ever dared to treat him like this before!
But Li Wei clearly ignored him, after all, Li Wei wasn't in the biosphere.

He simply glanced at Dr. Dorest and then spoke.

"It's simple, because I believe you're not qualified to participate in this research."

"Am I not qualified?"

Upon hearing Levi's reply, Dr. Dorrest was so angry that he laughed.

"I have worked in the field of biology in the Empire for decades, published countless papers, and discovered enough new species to fill an encyclopedia. How dare you say I am not qualified?!"

"This proves nothing."

Levi looked at Dr. Dorest with a calm expression.

“I’m not talking about your knowledge, but your values… You seem to think that I shouldn’t kill this monster that has killed countless people? Just because it might be the only surviving dragon? But unfortunately, I don’t think so.”

Levi gripped his cane, raised his head, and stared at Dr. Dorest.

"In my opinion, nothing is more important than humanity itself. For example, if there were only one wolf left in the world, and it was attacking a baby, would you kill the wolf to save the baby, or let it eat the baby simply because it is the only remaining species?"

"this…………………"

Faced with Levi's question, not only was Dr. Dorrest speechless for a moment, but the others were also more or less unable to say anything. Levi narrowed his eyes and scanned the crowd around him.

"That's not a problem at all. No matter how precious those things are, they are not as precious as humans themselves. If you start to seriously consider feeding your babies to wild animals because of their rarity, then that's the real problem in my opinion."

Levi sneered and looked at Dr. Dorest.

"Since you're so eager to capture a live dragon, you can try it yourself next time you encounter one. Good luck."

As he spoke, Li Wei made a hand gesture.

"Take this gentleman away."

(End of this chapter)