Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 381 Covert Operation
Soon, Li Wei ascended to the Eye of the Sky, where Lieutenant Horn was already waiting for him.

"Sir."

Upon seeing Li Wei, Lieutenant Horn quickly saluted him, and Li Wei nodded.

"Okay, I'll go to the captain's cabin to make a call. You can raise the Sky Eye to the scheduled cruising altitude."

"Yes."

Lieutenant Horn quickly went to the bridge to issue orders, while Levi went to his captain's cabin, which was quite luxurious for a warship, almost like a hotel room. Levi went to the desk, picked up the microphone, and turned on the communication channel. A moment later, he was back in touch with the old butler.

"I think you've already guessed it. This mission is to secretly infiltrate the Sasha Alliance and bring Princess Anna Sofia out. We've received intelligence that multiple forces are currently trying to harm her. Princess Sofia is currently staying at Greenwood Castle outside Kolo City. The exact coordinates will be sent later."

"clear."

Li Wei's answer was also very straightforward.

"What's the reaction from the Emperor of the Sasha Alliance?"

"The old emperor did not react."

"no response?"

"That's right, it's also a tacit approval, so we absolutely cannot let them succeed."

"receive."

Li Wei nodded, then hung up the communication. A moment later, he heard the typing sound of a keyboard clicking, and a piece of paper with coordinates written on it emerged. Li Wei picked up the paper, glanced at it, and then left the captain's cabin for the bridge.

At that moment, Lieutenant Horn was giving orders when he saw Li Wei arrive, and immediately put his feet together.

"The captain has arrived at the bridge."

"Ah."

Li Wei nodded to everyone and then handed the coordinates to Lieutenant Horn.

"The destination has been decided, let's go."

"Yes, sir."

Lieutenant Horn took the coordinates and went to issue orders, while Levi plopped down in a chair and began to think about the current situation.

Li Wei had some knowledge of the Sasha Alliance. The reason it was called the Sasha Alliance was because it was a union of two countries, each with its own parliamentary government, but both obeyed only the emperor's orders.

The current emperor, Joseph I, is also a romantic. The Sasha League's vast territory was not built through conquest, but through marriage alliances. However, Joseph I rejected his mother's arranged marriage, fell in love with another princess, and married her against his mother's wishes.

Think about it, this is practically a realistic female-oriented drama script: an unloved princess, disliked by others, but the male lead loves her wholeheartedly, even defying his own mother for her, and in the end, the two lovers become a couple. If there were a few third parties trying to break them up along the way, wouldn't it be a quintessential female-oriented true love story?

However, true love stories in real life rarely have happy endings. This princess was extremely extravagant and wasteful after her marriage, and she loved to travel. She and Joseph I had a son and a daughter. Their daughter died while the princess was traveling, and their son died because the princess was often away on her travels, his father was busy with state affairs, and his tutor was a mentally unstable person who liked to shoot him near the head to wake him up. Unable to endure the torment, the boy eventually committed suicide.

Princess Joseph I was assassinated by a madman during his travels. Thus, Joseph I, the emperor who chose love over the throne, ended up losing his daughter in his youth, his son in middle age, and his wife in his old age, a truly tragic end.

Therefore, he had no choice but to select his nephew, Grand Duke Fernando, as his successor.

To the old emperor's surprise, Grand Duke Fernando also followed his example, fell in love with a lady-in-waiting in the country—his maid!

This is outrageous! This is outrageous beyond belief!
So the old emperor went to Grand Duke Fernando and reasoned with him, saying, "You are the crown prince, how can you marry a maid? Where do you put our family's reputation?"
As a result, the other person said, "Uncle, you got married through free choice back then," which almost made the old emperor so angry that he died.

To be honest, when Li Wei saw this, he was reminded of his own family, Li Shimin and his son Li Ye. Li Shimin had taken his sister-in-law as his concubine, and Li Ye followed suit by taking Wu Zetian as his concubine. After that, Li Longji followed suit and took his daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan as his concubine.

At the time, Li Longji was worried that it might be inappropriate for him to take Yang Yuhuan as his concubine. Then Gao Lishi advised him, "In the past, Emperor Taizong took Consort Yang, Emperor Gaozong took Consort Wu, and Your Majesty is now taking Yang Yuhuan. This is precisely the family tradition being passed down..."

If Grand Duke Fernando had a eunuch by his side, wouldn't he also say that Joseph I and the Grand Duke both had free love, both for true love, and that this was a family tradition...?

In short, Joseph I was very unhappy, but there was nothing he could do. Grand Duke Fernando was determined to marry her, so he had no choice but to reluctantly agree. However, it was impossible for him to truly accept it, so Joseph I also gave conditions: you can marry her, but you cannot publicly declare her as an empress; you can only say that she is a royal maid!

And her children, of course, have no right to inherit. Well, theoretically speaking.

But to Li Wei, who has handled several cases arising from inheritance disputes, what does theory matter? As long as all the other heirs are dead, won't I be the heir?
Even if Joseph I doesn't acknowledge it, Princess Sofia does indeed have half royal blood in her body. Let's see if you'll acknowledge it after all the heirs of your Sasha royal family are dead.
As for why Her Majesty the Queen ordered Li Wei to bring Princess Sophia back, Li Wei could guess with his own eyes: Her Majesty had always been preoccupied with reviving the Empire, ideally restoring its original territory. And now, most of the countries on the continent had either split from or become independent from the Empire, including the Sasha Alliance.

Now that Grand Duke Fernando and his wife have been assassinated, no matter how much the old emperor dislikes this heir, he will certainly not let the Duchy of Seth off the hook.

Given the current tense situation on the mainland, if the Sasha Alliance attacks the Principality of Seth, the Kingdom of Krant might also target Francis, making a major war inevitable.

If things really turn out like that, then it's hard to say who will emerge victorious!

It's important to understand that while the Duchy of Seth may sound weak, it has gradually expanded its power over the years by annexing surrounding states, aiming to restore the glory of its ancestors and establish a new Great Seth Dynasty. Therefore, for the Sasha Alliance to attack the Duchy of Seth is not as simple as crushing an ant.

What if the Sasha Alliance suffers a setback? Wouldn't the Empire be able to take advantage of the situation and reap the benefits?

If it really comes to that, then Princess Sofia, who has the bloodline of the Sasha royal family, will be a very important pawn.

However, this shows that marriages between people of different social classes in reality rarely end well. The idea that Cinderella and the prince can live happily ever after is ultimately just a fairy tale.

Li Wei offered no comment on the Queen's thoughts. There's no such thing as "invading another country is a crime" in this world; in fact, almost every country has considered or has invaded other countries. For example, the military exercises inspected by Grand Duke Fernando were part of the Sasha Alliance's preparations for invading the Duchy of Seth.

While the Principality of Seth outwardly appears as a wronged and oppressed rebel, it has in fact expanded and annexed other countries in order to further its own Grand Seth Kingdom plan…

We're all the same, nobody's clean, that's just how it is.

Ultimately, the world is a dog-eat-dog world, where only the strong are entitled to peace, not to mention that we don't even have weapons of mass destruction like the atomic bomb here.

However, Joseph I's reaction is quite ambiguous. Perhaps he has also considered this point. Although he does not recognize Princess Sofia's right to succession, she is indeed the biological daughter of Grand Duke Fernando, a fact that everyone knows and cannot be hidden.

The old emperor is getting on in years, and now his word is law in the country; whatever he says goes.

But what happens after he dies?

Princess Sofia is only a few years old, how old is the old emperor?

If the only way to hope that Princess Sofia dies before the old emperor is through some means, then there is only one.

The simplest way is to use someone else to do the dirty work; if that doesn't work, you can do it yourself!
From the old emperor's perspective, Princess Sofia absolutely could not be allowed to live!

Keeping him around is a potential problem! Once he dies, everything he says will be nothing but bullshit!

Clearly, other countries are now thinking about this too!

Li Wei was certain that there were definitely more than just his own group heading there, but whether they intended to kill Princess Sophia or take her hostage was uncertain.

In short, there are definitely many people like me.

Thinking of this, Li Wei looked at the sky outside. At this moment, the Eye of the Sky had risen to an altitude of ten thousand meters and was heading towards the territory of the Sasha Alliance. This world did not have radar. Airspace certainly existed, but it was just a convention. As long as one was not detected, one could come and go freely.

At this moment, in the darkness of night, a full moon casts its cool light, and the white clouds below rise and fall like ocean waves, creating a scene of tranquility and peace.

But Li Wei knew that this night was destined to be anything but peaceful.

With all these forces gathering at Green Shade Fortress, it's absolutely impossible for them not to fight to the death.

Whether his own Sky Eye can emerge victorious depends on his own fate.

Thinking of this, Li Wei also became excited.

After all, ever since he joined MI7, Li Wei had always thought that he would do a job similar to 007. Now, he's finally got his wish!
As for Princess Sofia's fate... well...

Thinking of that adorable little girl from a year ago, Li Wei sighed inwardly. Being born into an imperial family certainly meant a lot of trouble. This was just her fate, really. In any case, being with the Queen was at least safer than staying in Sasha.

(End of this chapter)