Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 404 Tracking the Prey
"I am so sorry, Your Majesty!"

Before the Queen, Lord Klopp was pale and drenched in sweat.

"I... I actually uttered such blasphemous words, it's an unforgivable sin..."

“This is not your fault, Sir Klopp. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

The Queen looked at Lord Klopp and shook her head.

"It is because our royal family failed to consider things carefully that you have been treated this way..."

As she spoke, the Queen looked at Li Wei beside her.

"Sir Levy, is this the root of all evil?"

"It may not be the culprit, but it's certainly the thing that turned Sir Klopp into this state."

Li Wei fiddled with the bottle in his hand, which contained the completely dead worm.

"But, but, I have absolutely no recollection of this worm..."

"Perhaps when you saw it, it wasn't a bug."

Levi chuckled and looked at Lord Klopp.

"Could you please recount your previous experience before His Majesty?"

"Ah, yes, of course."

Lord Klopp nodded, and then spoke.

“I investigated this matter on His Majesty’s orders. I found a friend who was originally a royalist nobleman. I heard that he had changed his mind, so I went to him. He said a lot of treasonous things to me and told me that he would take me to a party so that I could understand what this country really needs.”

"and then?"

"Then I agreed to go to that party with him, but where exactly was it...?"

Lord Klopp shook his head as he spoke.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I didn’t know. My eyes were covered the whole time; he said it was to prevent any leaks…”

"Quite professional."

Li Wei made a sarcastic remark.

"However, I am certain that the place is underground."

"Oh?"

"Because after I arrived there, I kept going down the stairs, and I thought it shouldn't be in the city of fog, because I couldn't hear the familiar sound of steam engines."

"and then?"

The Queen listened quietly to him and then asked a question.

"When the blindfold was removed, I found myself in a banquet hall filled with people, all wearing masks. I couldn't recognize anyone else... Sorry. Then, a masked man walked to the front and began a long speech. He said the same old things those rebels had said before, but for some reason, I felt that what he said made a lot of sense..."

Lord Klopp looked puzzled.

"After that, he pointed at me and said that I had joined them, and everyone was applauding to welcome me into their ranks. I... Looking back now, I was really strange at the time. I should have rebuked them and denounced their damn betrayal, but I felt very proud, as if... I was really honored to be one of them. Then... they gave me a mask, and after the banquet, I was blindfolded and sent back to where I was."

Lord Klopp paused to think at this point.

“I originally planned to come to the palace the next day to report what happened to Your Majesty, but… after that, I felt like I was sleeping the whole time… until Sir Levi arrived… then it felt like I finally woke up.”

"You have sacrificed a great deal for the Empire, Sir Klopp."

After listening to Lord Klopp's report, the Queen smiled slightly at him.

“The Empire and I will not forget what you have done. You don’t need to worry. You and your family will not be held accountable for this.”

"Your Majesty, I am deeply humbled."

Upon hearing this, Lord Klopp finally showed a relieved expression. He bowed respectfully to the Queen and then turned to leave.

Only after Lord Klopp left did the Queen turn her gaze to Levi.

"Sir Levy, what do you think? Is all of this... related to this insect?"

"I think it must be related."

Li Wei shrugged.

"After all, Lord Klopp became sober and stopped talking nonsense after I made this thing."

"But this is strange."

The Queen looked thoughtfully at the dead insects in the bottle.

"If this thing can manipulate people's minds, then why not do it to me or Louise? And the others in the palace—aren't they better targets?"

"Theoretically, that's true, but if you ask me, I suspect this thing might be suppressed in the royal palace and unable to function."

At this point, Li Wei couldn't help but recall what he had seen when he inadvertently exploited a bug to enter the bottom of the world during Professor Andrew's disappearance. At that time, Li Wei saw the entire palace radiating a golden glow, which might explain why, despite the many mysterious events the enemy had orchestrated in Fog City, none of them had occurred in the palace.

Li Wei remembered seeing similar settings in online novels, such as the royal city being the place where the emperor's dragon aura resides, and demons and monsters cannot approach it, and so on... Maybe the royal palace here is like that too.

"In the royal palace? Why?"

"This is just my guess, after all, I've heard this theory before..." Li Wei briefly explained the concept he had read in an online novel to Her Majesty the Queen.

"...That's it. I suspect they may have tried it at first, but found it didn't work, so they had to resort to this more roundabout method."

As Her Majesty the Queen said, if these people really wanted to manipulate the country, they could have directly controlled the Queen and the Princess instead of going through such a roundabout way. The reason they are doing this now, Li Wei suspects, is not that they don't want to, but that they can't.

"Of course, this is just a guess. Maybe next time I can just grab one and bring him to the palace to see for myself."

After all, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

"Then I'll leave it to Sir Levy."

Her Majesty the Queen looked at Li Wei, smiled slightly, and then pondered for a moment.

"Does Sir Levy's political viewpoint have any merit?"

When asked by Her Majesty the Queen, Li Wei shrugged.

"I'd love to say no comment, but..."

"but?"

"In my personal opinion, capitalists are absolutely unsuitable for power. At the very least, allowing these guys to get involved in power will only bring unimaginable disasters to the country and the people."

"But isn't it precisely because of their existence that the empire has been able to prosper?"

"Parasits always like to distort the truth. In my opinion, if it weren't for the prosperity of the empire, they would have no value."

Li Wei snorted coldly. When it comes to distorting the truth, no one is better at talking nonsense than capitalists. That's how it was in Li Wei's time. Many people were able to make money not because they were particularly shrewd, but more because they were lucky enough to catch the right opportunity—the so-called "even pigs can fly."

However, foolishly, some people mistake this for real ability. This is why nouveau riche rarely have a good ending. A quick glance at the newspapers reveals that many nationally renowned millionaires in the early days of reform disappeared without a trace. The reason lies in this: they mistook the opportunities of the times for their own strength, resulting in stubbornness and eventual financial ruin.

Many capitalists are like this, especially in this era where steam technology has become so popular that even pigs can become millionaires.

But he is still a pig, even if he is a pig living in luxury and wearing fine clothes.

"Of course, words are not enough. There is a way to prove this."

"Oh?"

“You can choose any place, set it up as a special zone, give them a year, and let everything in that place be done the way they want, like ballots and all that. According to them, it’s all about small government, big market, free capital, and the monarchy not having to interfere. I believe that in a year at most, these guys will be exposed for who they really are.”

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, the Queen immediately became interested.

"You mean they are bound to fail?"

"This is just one person's opinion, but that's how I see it."

Li Wei was so certain because in his own world, his country had done something similar, and the result... hahaha... it's still a great joke.

"What if they succeed?"

"Then we can learn from its successful experience and then gradually promote it nationwide."

"Hmm...that's a good idea."

Hearing Li Wei's answer, Her Majesty nodded slightly. Such a thing would have been difficult for the old empire, but the current empire was centralized, the power of local lords and nobles was greatly weakened, and in the Queen's view, this method could also be used as a means of clearly distinguishing rewards and punishments…

"I'll think about it carefully."

"Then Your Majesty, I shall take my leave."

Li Wei also stood up, bowed to the Queen, and took his leave.

"I'm leaving this case to you, Sir Levy... By the way."

"...?"

"I'm really looking forward to what happens next with Betty the puppy."

"...I will try my best to find time to draw it."

You're really taking advantage of me.

Li Wei couldn't even manage a sigh.

Of course, drawing comics is ultimately just a side job. What Li Wei needs to do now is find that secret underground meeting place and, ideally, catch them red-handed at one of the gatherings. Li Wei can't possibly visit each of those nobles individually; that would be too troublesome and a waste of time.

It would be much more convenient if we could capture them all at once.

Of course, Li Wei knew that simply arresting people was only a temporary solution; with so many foolish idiots, some would naturally fall for their proposals. That's why he suggested that solution to Her Majesty the Queen: whether a system is good or not, you'll know by testing it in one place.

Of course, the empire is so vast that it's impossible to implement this nationwide; they'll find a place as a testing ground. Once it's grown, everyone will immediately see how it turns out.

And naturally, such experiments would have to be conducted in the territories of those idiotic nobles who strongly supported the idea.

However... this group's counter-surveillance skills are really quite poor.

Although they blindfolded Lord Klopp, he also provided enough clues.

He set off from the gate of another nobleman's house, a journey of about half an hour. There was no sound of steam engines around, so it was most likely either not in the city, or in some secluded place, and probably underground...

However, Li Wei felt that searching in this way was too troublesome. Fortunately, he had a simpler way.

Instead of searching on your own, wouldn't it be more convenient to just have someone guide you?
(End of this chapter)