Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 409 Tracking Clues
To be honest, although Li Wei arrested so many people, in fact, apart from one unlucky guy whose head exploded, everyone else was basically released a few days later.

The reason is simple: once the insects are driven away, they can no longer recall what they did. Even the old man in the black robes' servants are the same. If they try to interrogate them by force, the insects will find a way to destroy their brains, so Li Wei and his companions will get nothing but a drooling idiot.

So Li Wei had no choice but to expel the worms from these people's brains before releasing them.

Fortunately, because they had lost their memories, these people didn't know what had happened before, so they believed whatever Li Wei said—for example, Li Wei told them that they had been influenced by an evil cult that worshipped the devil and were forced to ingest some harmful substances, which caused them to hallucinate.

Now, their bodies have recovered and they can go back.

Yes, it's that simple.

However, this also caused the trail to go cold.

Fortunately, humans keep records—not just diaries, but records of the buying, selling, and purchasing of various goods.

So Li Wei decided to start his investigation from there.

As he said, the dead don't lie.

The same goes for things.

Li Wei currently has two leads.

First, there was his haul from that manor. According to the subsequent investigation, the manor belonged to the old man in black robes. The servants were also the old man's servants. However, what Li Wei should note is that although the servants had no memory of what happened before they woke up, they all said in unison that before they lost their memories, the old man in black robes had dismissed some of the servants, leaving only a minimal number to maintain the manor's operation.

Li Wei suspected that this might be related to the limited number of insects. After all, if the old man in black robes had enough insects, he could easily turn every servant into his own. However, the fact that he dismissed most of them before taking action suggests that the old man likely had to make some cuts because he didn't have enough insects.

After all, the servants knew each other well, and if someone noticed that someone else was acting strangely, they might leak the news.

Well, from a confidentiality perspective, it's understandable.

But that's not important; what's important is Livy's discovery.

First, there was the fragrance that appeared at the banquet; Livy had already found its source. It was milky white in appearance, resembling oil. It was made into candles, and when these candles were lit, they emitted that wonderfully enchanting fragrance.

Li Wei's [Soul Vision] assessment of it was [[Secretions of ? ? : which can attract prey and induce a state of unconsciousness through scent]].

Hmm...it's a bit disgusting, isn't it?

Of course, you wouldn't know anything from the candles themselves, but the problem wasn't the candles, but the boxes they were packed in. They bore the logo and seal of a certain merchant guild. Li Wei investigated and found that this guild was mainly responsible for transporting goods, meaning they were responsible for getting these candles here.

So where did they get the candles from?

Yes, that's interesting.

Secondly, there were the maids whose bodies were covered in insects.

Their situation was far worse than that of the nobles whose brains were simply ravaged by worms. In fact, it could be said that their bodies had been completely hollowed out, their entire bodies becoming breeding grounds for those worms. Li Wei had also tried to expel the worms from these maids, and the result was that they died after the expelled worms—yes, utterly and completely dead.

Or perhaps they are already dead, merely being manipulated by parasites to pretend to be alive.

Thinking about it that way makes me even more disgusted.

Even so, they still left a clue for Levi—he followed the maids' footprints in the manor and discovered that they led to a secret underground chamber. The chamber was empty except for a large pool resembling a bathhouse.

The pool contained clean, pure water.

This immediately caught Li Wei's attention.

When Li Wei first visited the Great Salt Lake, he complained about the "pure water trade" in this world. For example, filtered water has fewer impurities, won't damage the parts of steam engines, and is much less likely to produce scale, and so on. Of course, this water is drinkable too, just like mineral water. Li Wei even brought two large buckets with him when he went to the Great Salt Lake, enough for cooking and drinking tea.

However, the situation here is different. It takes a lot of pure water to fill an entire pool, and the manor has no filtration facilities, which means that they buy their pure water from other water stations.

Li Wei has already sent people to investigate. Such a large purchase of purified water must have been recorded at the water station.

So you see, recording is a good thing, or rather, civilization exists precisely because of recording.

However, there is something strange about this pool—it is not actually a swimming pool.

Generally speaking, swimming pools should have their surroundings reinforced and decorated. But this pool is just a simple pool; to put it bluntly, someone dug a large hole in the ground and poured water in until it was full.

Even more strangely, according to Li Wei's trace evidence analysis, the maids seemed to spend most of their time here.

In other words, someone dug a hole underground, filled it with pure water, and then soaked the maids in it... Hmm... The more I think about it, the stranger it gets.

Soon, the agents of MI7 relayed the message back to Li Wei.

“We found the estate’s water discharge records at a water station three blocks away from here.”

The lead agent quickly reported to Li Wei.

"According to the water station staff, they deliver water to the estate every seven days. Therefore, the demand is huge, and the owner is very generous; it's a rare big deal for the water station, so they remember it very clearly." "What do they use to transport it?"

"Waterwheel".

"oh……………"

Hearing this, Li Wei nodded. The water truck was also designed by Li Wei. Originally, Li Wei's idea was to build fire trucks, but just like everything in this era could serve multiple purposes, the water station also bought these fire trucks to use as water trucks, with the main feature being that they could prepare clear, pure water for you no matter where you were... Anyway, it's a trick for the rich, and ordinary people can't understand it.

“They would send three or four water trucks each time, and sometimes they even had to borrow water trucks from other water stations because the water station didn’t have enough.”

"Aren't they curious about what the people on the estate are doing with this water?"

"They seemed to have been told that the owner of the manor liked to use a pure water swimming pool, so they didn't pay any attention to it, at most just thinking it was a nobleman's quirk."

“……………………”

After all, in the general public's impression, rich people always like to do stupid things that are pointless and unnecessary, which is a stereotype.

But Li Wei couldn't say they were wrong.

After listening to the report, Li Wei frowned and began to think. He tapped the table lightly, staring at the report in front of him.

The need for pure water must have a reason. Could it be that these insects require pure water to grow? If so, then it's understandable why their numbers are difficult to increase. Pure water is rare in nature; only water treatment plants can process and filter it…

Especially in Chongqing, finding such pure water is no easy feat. Does the fact that the other party went to such lengths suggest that these insects have high requirements for water quality?
Well, if that's the case, Li Wei at least doesn't have to worry about these people putting bugs in the water pipes in the foggy city anymore. Although the water is drinkable, it's still different from the pure water at the water station... It seems that these bugs have pretty high requirements for their quality of life.

If it were placed in the Wudu River, it would probably have died long ago.

Li Wei gathered his thoughts and looked at another group of people beside him.

"Any clues about the candles?"

"Yes, sir, we questioned the Chamber of Commerce, and they confirmed that they had indeed shipped goods such as candles."

From where?

“From Tulip Avenue in the Lakeside District.”

"really interesting."

Hearing this, Li Wei narrowed his eyes. The Lakeside District was a relatively remote area; to put it simply, its location was somewhat similar to the suburbs of a city in Li Wei's world. The air was good, the scenery was beautiful, but the location was secluded. Hmm…perfect for causing trouble.

but……………

"Making candles in the lakeside area? Instead of the industrial area? That's really interesting."

Li Wei narrowed his eyes, revealing a cold smile. Clearly, something was amiss, and nothing could be stranger than candles being shipped from a villa area.

"Aren't the people from the Chamber of Commerce surprised? Why would these people send candles from the Lakeside District?"

"Some of them inquired, but were told that it seemed the owner was very passionate about this kind of craft..."

"Ah, an artist who lives in the lakeside district and is passionate about making candles."

Li Wei stood up; he had a feeling that he had found a clue.

But that's not enough.

"Go and investigate the water stations near Tulip Avenue again, and see if there are any similar situations there."

"Yes, sir."

As Li Wei finished speaking, he glanced at the other team of agents beside him.

"Go and check the situation of that residence. Be careful not to alert them. Go to the property management office or something similar and find out who owns the place now, whether there are any resale records, etc. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

After issuing the orders, Li Wei watched the agents leave, then stretched contentedly. This was the advantage of having subordinates; tedious investigations could be delegated to others instead of running around like a headless chicken. Of course, these clues were also discovered by Li Wei, so they naturally needed his follow-up. If these clues were incorrect, then they would have to find another way.

But now...

Li Wei thought for a moment, then picked up the microphone.

"Keep the Eye in the Sky ready."

An investigation is necessary, but nothing is more direct than seeing it for yourself.

(End of this chapter)