Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 416 Underground Shadow
When Li Wei's feet touched the ground again, the first thing he felt was a scorching heat.

Flames licked the ground, turning it into a blazing cauldron. Everything around was charred black, and a stench permeated the air. Levi frowned. This stench was familiar to him; it was the same nauseating smell that had emanated from the Tree of Flesh and Blood when he roasted it in the botanical garden, only much stronger.

Those damn bastards…

Li Wei cursed silently in his heart. All around him were charred corpses, unrecognizable from their original forms. Li Wei withdrew his gaze, then looked at the fortress command post in front of him and made a gesture to Henry.

"follow me."

The expeditionary force inside the fortress wasn't completely wiped out. After eliminating the white "snowflakes," Levi discovered a considerable number of white soul radiances underground. Clearly, these were the remnants of the force, and their hiding place was obvious—when Levi and his men attacked this place, they had been plagued by the underground tunnels dug by the Kingdom of Krant, and now they were obviously using them as well.

Entering the fortress gates, one is greeted by a scene of utter devastation. Through the hollows carved into the cliff face, bullet holes riddled the walls, and corpses lie scattered on the ground. Li Wei walks forward to one of the bodies, crouches down, turns it over, and examines it closely.

It was the corpse of an Imperial soldier, but it didn't look like an Imperial soldier. He was so thin that he was skin and bones, his mouth was wide open, revealing sharp teeth, and octopus-like tentacles emerged from his mouth, hanging limply on the ground. His hands were thin and hard, like the claws of some kind of wild beast.

"Holy Lord above."

Upon seeing this, Henry couldn't help but gasp. Although it wasn't his first time following Levi in ​​the fight against the alien monsters, witnessing a human transform into a monster was still an extremely rare experience.

"What's going on, Captain?"

"I'm afraid we'll only be able to get the answer after the autopsy, if there are any qualified doctors here now."

Anne is not someone we can count on for the time being. She's currently locked herself away in the place where she studies dragons, so busy that she's almost oblivious to the world around her.

Li Wei pulled himself together and then took out the Persuader and the Punisher.

"Okay, let's move on."

The fortress was littered with corpses, some soldiers turned into monsters, others ordinary soldiers. Li Wei could even recreate the scene before him—the soldiers working inside the fortress were suddenly attacked from outside by their monstrous colleagues, catching them off guard and causing them to suffer heavy initial losses.

However, the Imperial soldiers were highly disciplined. After the initial surprise attack, they reacted quickly, using the terrain inside the fortress to build bunkers and fortifications, trying their best to stop the monstrous soldiers from continuing their advance. But these monstrous soldiers were clearly more difficult to deal with than they had imagined. They were obviously fearless and incredibly strong; they could easily break through the defenses made up of heavy tables, chairs, and cabinets, and their bare hands could tear the flesh of these soldiers like rag dolls.

The fortress command post was certainly designed to defend against external attacks, but the original designers envisioned humans as the enemy, not monsters. Therefore, it was clear that the survivors could only fight their way back, eventually retreating into the port fortress's underground tunnels—channels previously used by the Krant army to move troops, now being used again by the Empire.

The underground passages were interconnected, making it difficult for Li Wei, even with his [Soul Vision], to pinpoint the enemy's location. This reminded Li Wei of the Rune Mine; he actually disliked underground places, well, he disliked both underwater and underground environments.

This wasn't because Li Wei had any claustrophobia, but simply because he disliked the feeling of having difficulty distinguishing up from down, left from right, right from left, east from west, and north from south.

But now, he has no other choice.

"Alright, it seems we're going to have to dig a hole now."

Looking at the blood-stained entrance to the passage and the corpses all around, Li Wei sighed silently.

"Let's go."

There should have been lights in the tunnel, but for some reason, the wiring was damaged, so there was no light at all. Henry and the other steam-powered soldiers could turn on the searchlights on their armor, while Levi... could just hide behind these human shields.

He is, after all, the commander; there's no need for him to always be at the forefront, as that's not a good thing.

The silent, dark tunnel was extremely narrow, only wide enough for one steam-powered soldier to pass through. The sounds of footsteps and the clanging of armor echoed against the hard stone walls, creating repeated, resounding echoes.

No one knew which tunnel to take, not even Li Wei. He could only try his best to use [Soul Vision] to determine the location of the white souls and then move his people closer to that location.

But danger is everywhere.

"Stop."

Li Wei lowered his voice and gave the order. Soon the steam engine soldiers stopped. Then Li Wei looked ahead and stared at that place—in the darkness, one after another bright red figures were rushing towards them like wild dogs.

"Enemy ahead, prepare to attack!"

Upon hearing Levy's order, Henry immediately raised his flamethrower and aimed it forward. The other steam-powered soldiers also quickly raised their weapons, extending their searchlights forward until they reached the corner. Frankly, a group of rational individuals might have abandoned the operation because of this.

But clearly, they are not.

Soon, under the spotlight, a group of dark figures suddenly emerged from around the corner. They opened their mouths, roared, and pounced on the group like wild men, using both hands and feet.

"Enemy attack! Open fire!"

With Henry's command, a pillar of fire several meters long illuminated the previously dark passage, mercilessly engulfing the enemy before them. At the same time, the steam-powered soldiers around them pulled their triggers, and gunshots rang out, echoing and reverberating in the narrow cave.

Bullets tore through enemy corpses, flames devoured their flesh, and in moments, the sudden raiders were completely annihilated. The tunnel was filled with the stench of burnt flesh and the slight urge to breathe. "Maybe we shouldn't have had a BBQ underground."

Li Wei made a comment and then shook his head.

"keep going."

After that, they encountered several more attacks, and it must be said that the underground environment was truly infuriating. Sometimes they were only a wall away from the enemy, yet they couldn't see each other at all. Other times, even though they were far apart, they would unexpectedly meet in the same tunnel.

Li Wei was speechless. Just how deep had those groundhogs in Krant dug their hole?
Fortunately, they are getting closer and closer to their goal.

"stop!"

Just as Li Wei and the others were passing through another tunnel, a voice suddenly came from the shadows ahead.

"Password!"

"I am Li Wei, the commander of the Thistle Knights. I have no password."

Li Wei, of course, didn't know what the password was, but he believed that no one would bother to investigate such a trivial matter at this time.

Upon hearing Li Wei's reply, a moment of silence fell. Then, a lamp was lit, and several soldiers with rifles cautiously peeked out. When they saw Li Wei and the steam engine operator behind him, a look of relief immediately appeared on their faces. They quickly stood at attention and saluted Li Wei.

"Sir!"

"Hmm, you must be from the expeditionary force. Is Commander French here?"

"Yes, when the enemy stormed the fortress command post, the commander led us into this underground passage. He has now set up a temporary command post here. Please follow me."

Following the soldiers, Li Wei continued forward. They passed through a complex network of tunnels and two lines of defense before finally arriving at a relatively spacious hall.

This place seemed to be used as a secret weapons depot by the Krant army. When Levi entered, he saw French leaning against the wall with a furrowed brow and a tired expression. When he saw Levi, his eyes lit up, and he could hardly believe his eyes.

"Good heavens, Sir Levi? What brings you here?"

"I also came here on business."

Levi gestured for the others to step back, then walked to the side with French and whispered something.

“I was investigating a case and discovered they might be trying to sabotage the front lines, so I rushed over, but it seems I was too late. Do you know what happened?”

"totally no idea."

Commander French shook his head.

"I was in the operations command post when I suddenly received a report that we were attacked by our own people, and that many soldiers had turned into monsters. Before I could figure out what was happening, those monster soldiers rushed in, and I could only lead the remaining soldiers to leave. What is the situation inside the fortress now? Where are the other soldiers?"

"I don't know. Do you think anyone can escape?"

"I think so, because before I left, I ordered the garrison troops on the outskirts to retreat immediately into the southern forests. At least that way, some of their strength should be preserved. I really don't know why things turned out this way..."

"Sir."

However, before Lieutenant Horn could speak, Lieutenant Horn's voice came through the radio.

"We have discovered traces of Krant's army in the distance."

"………………………"

To be honest, I'm not surprised at all by this.
Li Wei sighed silently, then picked up the radio.

"You must immediately proceed to the southern forests and see if there are any remaining Imperial troops there. Gather them together and await further instructions. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

"What's wrong? What happened?"

French looked at Levi and asked, but the latter shrugged helplessly.

"Bad news, we've found companionship."

(End of this chapter)