Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 396 First Aerial Combat
Li Wei had his own reasons for making the decision to intercept the Leviathan here.

First of all, this thing's soul radiance is white. According to Li Wei's experience, white is the soul light of normal living beings. So, regardless of whether this thing makes sense or not, it at least makes sense in terms of physics.

This raises the question: how does something so big fly in the sky?

Li Wei had previously thought that this thing was very similar to his Eye of the Sky, and now that he thinks about it carefully, perhaps it really is similar to the Eye of the Sky?

This thing is so big, is it all made of hydrogen? Its little wings don't seem to have the same power as a dragon's wings, so what makes it fly must be a gas lighter than air.

Li Wei could also see people walking around below it, meaning this thing really was similar to an airship. After all, if you weren't light enough, you couldn't lift so much weight. Even if this whale was exceptionally light, a human's weight wouldn't be affected.

Not to mention, this thing isn't even a fully-fledged living being; it has a lot of metal components on its body. Even without a difference engine or howitzer like Levi's Eye of the Sky, it's still heavy enough.

Logically, if we just blow this thing up, we can easily take it down.

Of course, this is just a hypothetical scenario. What if this thing has a hard outer shell that can withstand artillery shells? Although theoretically this is unlikely, what if it is?
Li Wei had made up his mind: run!

The Eye in the Sky can ascend to a height of 18,000 meters, a height no living being can reach. This is where machines are superior to living things. Any living thing needs to breathe, needs oxygen, and needs warmth.

Of course, magical creatures might be different, but this one isn't a magical creature...

Moreover, Li Wei had a final trump card: before departure, the Sky Eye had been modified, with two missiles suspended beneath it. These were the latest products researched and manufactured at the military factory, larger than ordinary artillery shells, and already quite similar in shape to missiles Li Wei had seen before.

As for its power, Li Wei originally planned to set off after conducting the experiment, but military orders were paramount, so he set off before he could conduct the experiment.

Perfect, let's go straight to practical application.

"Number one is loaded with high-explosive armor-piercing rounds, and numbers two and three are loaded with incendiary rounds."

Li Wei gave the order. Fortunately, the Eye of the Sky was a very special airship. Ordinary people would not think of installing howitzers and anti-aircraft guns on an airship. Fortunately, the airship was originally built to deal with all kinds of monsters—well, so they were assigned to deal with this flying whale, which was a good fit for their profession.

After all, this can be considered a monster.

The Eye of the Sky slowly descended, positioned behind the Leviathan's flank. Levi didn't know how this thing would sense enemies around it, but in any case, caution was paramount.

However, lowering the altitude was necessary. After all, even for a behemoth, the accuracy of shooting in the air needed to be considered. Levi signaled that the Eye of the Sky should maintain a range of 800 meters from the Leviathan.

After all, hitting moving ground targets is different from hitting moving air targets.

Although this goal is quite ambitious.

Time ticked by, and the Eye of the Sky, like a hunter in the jungle, carefully adjusted its course while concealing itself below, its rifle aimed at its prey. The prey, however, seemed oblivious, continuing with its own activities.

The lights inside the Sky Eye's cabin were now off, replaced by a dim red glow. Levi stared at the colossal machine below, listening to the others' reports.

"We have reached the designated location."

"Wind speed is level 3, which will have a slight impact."

"Adjustments complete, ready to launch at any time."

Hearing the report, Li Wei nodded, feeling quite calm. Indeed, compared to dragons, sea monsters, messengers of disaster, idols… a flying whale didn't seem like anything to be nervous about.

"Remember, guns number two and three, aim at the birds and fire in a wide area; gun number one, fire at the body."

Li Wei gave a reminder, then asked again.

"Have you taken the photos?"

"The lighting wasn't great, but we've already taken the picture, sir."

Lieutenant Horn replied, but there was nothing he could do; after all, Levi couldn't possibly shove his camera right up to the whale's face.

but……………

"Lieutenant Horn, can our camera take continuous shots?"

"Continuous shooting?"

"It's like taking photos non-stop."

"Of course you can... but what's the point?"

"It would be great for taking notes... I guess, anyway, I'll give it a try."

"But this will waste a lot of film..."

“Money is not a problem. In short, we need to keep him filming from the moment the battle begins until the battle ends. This is the first battle, and we have to produce some results.”

Li Wei stated that problems that can be solved with money are not problems. "Okay, I understand."

Lieutenant Horn nodded, then issued the order through the ship's intercom system, before reporting back to Levi.

"Sir, all ready."

"very good."

Li Wei nodded, then reached out and opened a glass cover on the armrest of his chair, revealing a button underneath. This was a recently installed button for the missile launcher; currently, only Li Wei had the authority to launch missiles.

"Countdown three, two, one..."

Levi stared at the Leviathan and gave the order.

"Fire."

At that moment, the hunter, having aimed at his prey, finally pulled the trigger.

The cannons roared.

The Eye of the Sky trembled slightly, and at the same time, high-explosive shells were fired from their muzzles, spinning as they blasted towards the enormous whale below. Meanwhile, anti-aircraft guns positioned at the head and tail, already prepared, opened fire on the flocks of birds circling the whale.

Just for a moment.

The high-explosive shell struck the giant whale's body, bursting into a dazzling flash of fire, while the flock of birds, shocked, tried to scatter—but at the same time, the anti-aircraft gun fire quickly created a series of explosions among the birds.

It was like fireworks that were constantly being lit.

Looking down, Li Wei recalled the fireworks he had seen during New Year's Eve. They exploded one after another in the sky, rising and falling like flocks of birds. Brilliant flashes of light constantly appeared among them, then triggered a chain reaction. It was as if these birds themselves were made of gasoline or something, and could be ignited by the slightest spark.

It looks just like a series of explosions in a Hollywood blockbuster.

Of course, this was a good thing for Li Wei. At least this way, the flock of birds shouldn't be able to cause him any trouble.

Then he pressed the button.

A missile, spewing flames and trailing white smoke, broke free of its control tower and hurtled rapidly toward the monster. At the same time, Li Wei's finger twitched slightly.

The next moment, his field of vision quickly changed to that of the missile, just like controlling a puppet.

Li Wei once did this in a game: after a drone launched a missile, the player could control the missile's viewpoint to adjust its direction within a certain range, and then crash directly into the target.

That's exactly what Li Wei is doing now.

Using his [Puppeteer] abilities, he controlled the missile to fly forward. The missile was launched and then descended in the air before making a turn and aiming at the pod beneath the giant whale.

Levi quickly locked onto the bridge ahead and then accelerated again—his field of vision expanded dramatically with the missile, and he could even see the horrified and astonished expressions of the Krant officers on the bridge through the windows.

They turned around, their eyes wide, staring at the thing flying towards them, perhaps not yet knowing what it was.

But they would find out soon enough, but unfortunately, they wouldn't have the chance to tell anyone what they had seen. Their lives were likely already on a countdown.

"boom-----!"

The missile struck the bridge precisely, followed by a violent explosion. Like a scene from a movie, the pods beneath the giant whale began exploding from the bridge, flames erupting one after another, the continuous explosions transforming the pods into a massive, raging furnace.

The giant whale opened its mouth and let out a wail mixed with pain, looking quite pitiful.

But the Sky Eye clearly had no intention of stopping there. It continued to bombard the giant whale relentlessly, shells striking its back and sending sparks flying. Even so, the whale struggled desperately, trying to escape the sudden attack.

Unfortunately, this was the whale's last struggle, because at that moment, Levi launched another missile.

It was like a bullet that pierced the whale's body, and then... it exploded.

The Leviathan exploded completely.

Through the porthole, Levi saw the Leviathan's body suddenly begin to flash wildly with light. Then, the entire whale's body exploded, and the flames that spewed out mercilessly devoured everything around it, including the birds that couldn't escape in time.

The giant whale, completely engulfed in flames, had clearly lost its ability to fly. It turned and plummeted downwards, disappearing into the dark, lightless ground in the blink of an eye.

Fortunately, there was a forest below, not a city, and the Sky Eye hadn't received any signals from the Leviathan, meaning its raid was quite successful. The troops on the Krant front were completely unaware that the Leviathan, on which they relied, was utterly destroyed.

Li Wei watched as the soul radiance in [Soul Vision] gradually disappeared, like starlight being swallowed by darkness. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, withdraw his gaze, and look at Lieutenant Horn.

"Notify the Cyclops that the Leviathan has been destroyed and operations can begin."

(End of this chapter)