Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 389 The Falling Dominoes

For this continent, these were truly magical 24 hours.

On the surface, there was no indication that a major war was about to break out. President Francis had just concluded his visit to the Western European Empire and was on his way home. Meanwhile, Emperor Nicholas II of the Western European Empire was leisurely cruising with his family on a yacht, and even William II of the Kingdom of Crontes had gone on vacation after issuing a harsh warning to the envoy of the Sascha Alliance.

After all, it's summer now, the perfect season for people to go on vacation, cool off, hunt, and have parties.

Moreover, according to news reports, the Principality of Seth did not fly into a rage when faced with the ten treaties proposed by the Sasha Alliance, which were almost "humiliating and detrimental to the nation's sovereignty." On the contrary, the Principality of Seth swallowed its anger and agreed to most of the other party's conditions. Only the fifth condition was deemed to violate the constitution, so the Principality of Seth wanted to try to amend it.

This reassured the media who had been following the matter, since the Principality of Seth was willing to agree to such humiliating conditions, which clearly meant they did not intend to have a direct conflict with the Sasha Alliance. In that case, a war should not break out.

Since that's the case, let's all continue drinking and dancing as if nothing happened.

After all, a month had passed, and nobody cared about the news of Archduke Fernando's assassination anymore.

As for the Empire's silence, most people didn't care. After all, in their view, this matter had little to do with the Empire, and it seemed reasonable that the Queen wasn't interested in it.

But in reality, Levi knew that wasn't the case. Katie had already complained to Levi that she was forbidden from leaving the Fog City again, but thankfully, she could still play with the little mermaids in the tower.

Li Wei wasn't surprised by this. Besides, this wasn't some kind of puzzle game; what's so interesting about fighting?

Not to mention... from Li Wei's perspective, there's even less to see.

On the pitch-black ground, countless points of light converged, resembling lakes scattered all around. Li Wei stared at the observation scope before him, then casually drew a line on the map beside him, shook his head, and handed the map to Lieutenant Horn.

"Alright, send this to the Cyclops, and my job is done."

"Yes, sir."

Lieutenant Horn saluted Li Wei, then jogged away, while Li Wei looked up at the dark night sky and yawned.

The Sky Eye is currently positioned above the Sun Fortress of the Principality of Tiris, a crucial point of entry for the Kingdom of Krant's invasion.

Of course, the Kingdom of Krant has not yet declared war or invaded, so in principle, the Imperial army should not be allowed to enter the Duchy of Tiris.

But—as long as it's not discovered, then there's no problem.

Located at an altitude of 8,000 meters, the Eye in the Sky is completely invisible to people on the ground unless they have a telescope.

Besides, who has nothing better to do than look up at the sky all the time?
Li Wei's task was singular: to pinpoint the location of everyone on the battlefield and transmit this information via radio waves to the Cyclops, an airship at the rear. The Cyclops's difference engine would then receive the radio waves from the Eye in the Sky, re-encode them, and print them out.

That's right, Li Wei is basically an emotionless human satellite whose only job is to transmit the situation on the ground back to the command center in real time.

Unless absolutely necessary, Li Wei would not join the battle, nor did he want to. After all, the Eye of the Sky was originally created to deal with demons and monsters; a war between humans—Li Wei simply didn't believe that the Empire, with its own human satellite, could possibly lose.
I've shown you the whole map, it would be unreasonable for you to lose if you still lost.

Thinking of this, Li Wei yawned and stood up.

"I'm going to sleep. Call me if you need anything."

"Yes, sir."

While Li Wei was taking a nap in the captain's cabin, General Howe on the Cyclops was not having such a pleasant time.

"Good heavens..."

Looking at the map before him, which showed the locations of all the personnel, General Hao's hands trembled with excitement. This map contained the entire military personnel deployment of the Sunburst Fortress. Even sending scouts would take several days to obtain it, yet the Eye of the Sky had completely figured out the personnel arrangement of the entire Sunburst Fortress in just two hours?

How on earth did he do it?
General Hao knew that the personnel deployment of a military facility was a top secret, and it would never be easily seen by others. In fact, only the highest commander of the facility might know all the information.

But now, the entire personnel deployment of the Sunfire Fortress has been completely exposed to the Eye of the Sky.
Although the map sent by Li Wei didn't specify the enemy's numbers, only using circles of varying sizes to indicate areas with larger and smaller populations, the experienced General Hao could roughly guess the enemy's troop deployment locations and numbers just by looking at this rough map.

Although there was no exact number, General Hao felt this was normal. After all, Li Wei was just observing from above using the Eye of the Sky. Perhaps he had some unique means to determine the soldiers' positions, but overall it was still acceptable.

It would be truly unbelievable if Li Wei could count the exact number of people in the entire fortress.

In fact, Li Wei could count them one by one, but he was too lazy to do it... Staring at so many glowing little figures and counting them one by one was too mentally taxing. He wasn't really an emotionless AI, so he decided to skip the headcount.

In any case, if he were the commander of the Kingdom of Krant, General Hao would be confident that he could take down the entire Sun Fortress with just this map!

That's the value of this picture!
Thinking of this, General Hao's expression turned solemn as he looked at the guards beside him.

"From this moment forward, all intelligence from the Eye of the Sky will be classified as Top Secret. The Differential Printing Room will be placed at the highest level of security, and no one may view its contents without permission!"

"Yes, sir!"

After issuing the order, General Hao looked out at the endless night with a solemn expression.

The final moment is almost here.

What will the final outcome be?

For many, it was a sleepless night, while others hoped to wake up to good news.

Of course, whether it's good news or not depends on the person. At least for many, this morning's news was like a bolt from the blue.

After final negotiations, the Principality of Seth still failed to get the Sasha Alliance to back down. The Sasha Alliance then declared war on the Principality of Seth at 8:00 AM on the 28th, because the Principality of Seth had plotted the assassination of Grand Duke Fernando and was unwilling to fully accept its demands.
This message was quickly transmitted around the world via radio waves!
The public was in an uproar!
Although many people believe that the Sasha Alliance is very likely to attack the Principality of Seth, they all hope that the two sides will not go to war.

Unfortunately, the expectations of outsiders obviously failed to become a driving force for the negotiations. For the Sasha Alliance, which was determined to deal with the Principality of Seth, they would never let this opportunity slip by!
For a time, high-ranking officials from various countries were worried and uneasy about the impending situation.

However, people in different countries had completely different reactions.

In Francis's City of Lights, people flooded the streets, shouting and cheering with excitement. To the Franciscans, this was the perfect opportunity for revenge. Years ago, the Kingdom of Crant had defeated Francis, even holding a coronation ceremony in their capital palace and annexing vast swathes of Francisn territory. This humiliating history had always been a source of deep resentment for the Franciscans, and now, the time for revenge had finally arrived! They chanted slogans like "Occupy Delin (the capital of the Kingdom of Crant)," vowing to wipe away their shame! To reclaim everything the Kingdom of Crant had taken from them! And to repay the humiliation they had inflicted a hundredfold!
This scene also occurred in Seth, the Sasha Alliance, and the Kingdom of Krant.

As the Sasha Alliance's army crossed the border between the Sasha Alliance and the Principality of Seth with overwhelming force, the flames of war were finally ignited.

At 10:7 AM on July 28, the Sasha Alliance launched an artillery bombardment of Gren, the capital of the Principality of Seth.

The first domino fell.

On the same day, the Kingdom of Krant warned the Western European Empire that if the Western European Empire helped the Duchy of Seth, Krant's army would not stand idly by.

"We cannot simply stand still and be intimidated by the Kingdom of Krant, Your Majesty!"

The Foreign Minister of the Western European Empire looked at Nicholas II with a serious and earnest expression.

"We must make a strong enough show of force to deter the Sasha Alliance's barbaric invasion!"

So what's your opinion?

Staring at his Foreign Minister, Nicholas II asked in a low voice. The Foreign Minister remained silent for a moment in response to Nicholas II's question.

"I suggest you immediately order a full-scale war mobilization."

"boom!"

Before he could finish speaking, Nicholas II slammed his hand heavily on the table. The loud sound echoed through the luxurious and quiet study, like the roar of a cannonball being fired.

"Are you kidding me? Are you suggesting I declare war?"

Nicholas II glared fiercely at the Foreign Minister. He knew that declaring war mobilization was tantamount to entering a state of war. However, the Western Empire was far from stable. Rebellions were breaking out in various places, though not very strong, they were still causing Nicholas II considerable worry. Under these circumstances, he was unsure whether ordering war mobilization was a wise decision.

"Your Majesty, please make a decision as soon as possible; time waits for no one."

Faced with Nicholas II's questioning, the Foreign Minister uttered only this sentence.

“……………………………”

Staring intently at his Foreign Minister, Nicholas II hesitated on the matter of sending troops. On one hand, the current internal situation of the Western European Empire was indeed unsettling him. On the other hand, the Western European Empire had also signed a defensive alliance with the Duchy of Seth, and now that the Duchy of Seth had been invaded, if the Western European Empire did not react, then…

A deathly silence fell over the study. Nicholas II tapped his fingers incessantly on the table, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty. Then… suddenly, the study door opened, and a man in a priest's robe with a long beard entered.

"Master Rasputin?"

Seeing the man enter, Nicholas II was somewhat surprised. If it were anyone else, entering his study without permission would have enraged him. But this was a living saint, and moreover, the savior of his beloved son…

“I saw it…”

However, the latter completely ignored Nicholas II's question, instead spreading his arms wide and staring blankly into the distance.

"In the distant West, the flames of war are about to rage! And our great nation will rise from the ashes in this fire, forged in iron and blood!"

After saying this, Rasputin turned around, looked at the bewildered Nicholas II and the Foreign Minister, then lowered his head and turned to leave.

"………………………"

Looking at the door closing again, Nicholas II remained silent for a moment before making a decision.

"Pass down the order: mobilize the entire nation for war!"

Although he didn't know what Master Rasputin meant, he was certain that this was an opportunity for the Western Empire of Europe! Since it was said by this master who had the ability to predict the future, it couldn't be wrong!

When the Western Empire of Europe issued a nationwide war mobilization order, the military general staff of the Kingdom of Krant was completely dumbfounded.

Dude, are you serious?
With things having come to this point, William II, the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Krant, had no choice but to make a decision. If the Western European Empire were to launch a preemptive strike, then the "Double-Headed Eagle Plan" strategy of attacking Francis first and then the Western European Empire would completely collapse!
Therefore, the Kingdom of Krant also issued an ultimatum to the Western European Empire, demanding that the Western European Empire withdraw its war mobilization order within twelve hours, otherwise the Kingdom of Krant would also mobilize for war within twelve hours!
However, the Western Empire of Europe chose to ignore the Kingdom of Cront's ultimatum.

Finally, twelve hours later, the Kingdom of Krant declared war on the Western Empire of Europe.

The dominoes of war fell one by one across this continent.

The smoke of battle has already risen.

(End of this chapter)