Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 436 Be cautious
Levi and Katie put on gas masks before venturing into the bottom of the lake.

It's no wonder Li Wei was so wary. Although he had been in this world for a long time, this was the first time he had dealt with a case involving flammable, explosive, and dangerous biochemical materials.

Let alone Li Wei, I'm afraid the entire empire has never dealt with a biological or chemical leak before.

After all... the current level of technology... hasn't reached the point where we can haul dangerous goods all over the streets.

However, in Li Wei's view, this thing was much more dangerous than ordinary biochemicals.

Most biochemicals don't have self-awareness, but this thing is different. No matter what form it takes, it's definitely alive, not dead.

This is really annoying.

Imagine if dangerous gases had self-awareness and knew where people were, wouldn't that cause people a lot of trouble?

Think about it: if viruses like the flu also had self-awareness and knew where to infect people, that would be a big problem as well.

Although Li Wei had seen several similar movies, it was useless. At most, all he knew was to evacuate the crowd, implement protective measures and isolation, and then watch the protagonist perform amazing feats, discover some vaccine or antibody, and then the movie ended.

But that didn't work.

What kind of era is this? This is an era where doctors dare to inject radium into patients' bodies to treat illnesses, calling it a new therapy, and cutting off the frontal lobe is not illegal!

Li Wei was able to obtain a gas mask to deal with poison gas attacks; full-body protective suits like those in modern times simply didn't exist. While a diving suit would also work… well, professional diving equipment didn't exist at that time.

People these days live rough lives and aren't afraid of death; you could just say that each era has its own way of life.

Levi's magic resistance was a bit better, but Katie was a bit of a worry, so Levi and Katie put on gas masks, rubber boots, and raincoats, hoping to protect themselves as much as possible.

Of course, considering the special nature of the enemy this time, Katie's bare hands might not be of much use, so she unusually brought a weapon.

Well, Katie can use weapons that aren't ordinary either.

At this moment, the little girl had a large iron barrel more than a meter tall on her back and a flamethrower in her hand, which looked quite strange.

Especially when you think about how this flamethrower suit was taken from a knight's mech.

Well, the reason they don't let the mechs in is simply because the entrance is too small for them to fit through.

But having people carry mechs and weapons inside... well, judging from Katie's appearance, it's not much different from a student carrying a schoolbag.

Li Wei adjusted his gas mask and then checked the oxygen cylinder at his waist. The Empire had advanced technology in compressed gas; an oxygen cylinder the size of a flask could store enough oxygen for half a day. Connected to the gas mask, it could completely isolate the internal air supply.

Of course, what's even more frightening is that once Katie opens fire, all the oxygen will be gone, and then it's hard to tell whether the enemy or you will die first.

Li Wei put on his protective gear, glanced at Katie, who was looking curiously at the strange things on her body, then grinned and gave Li Wei a thumbs up.

Li Wei nodded, then raised his hand to the little mermaid in the distance, making a "two" sign.

Seeing Li Wei's gesture, the little mermaid waved her hand again, and then another ring of water appeared, sealing the two of them and the entire stone gate inside.

Yes, with double insurance, there shouldn't be any problems.

Li Wei looked around at the constantly flowing water and felt a little strange. After all, this was the first time he had actually encountered something like magic in reality—well, I'm talking about the kind of water and fire magic that's so common in anime and manga. That stuff is everywhere in games, movies, and anime, but this was the first time Li Wei had seen it since coming to this world.

The little mermaid's trick is pretty clever; she truly lives up to her title of water fairy. The only problem is that she needs water.

Without water, it won't work.

Moreover, based on his conversation with the little mermaid, water quality seems to be very important. As for rivers like the Fog City River... the little mermaid doesn't even bother to touch them.

Li Wei snapped out of his thoughts, exchanged a glance with Katie, then pointed ahead and made a gesture.

Do it.

Katie nodded, then walked to the stone door, reached out, and pressed her hand against it.

"————————!"

Inside the gas mask, the sounds were somewhat muffled, but a rumbling noise could still be heard. Katie put down the flamethrower and pressed her hands firmly against the stone door, pushing it inward. The door trembled violently, and pieces of gravel and dust fell away. Only then did Levi realize that the stone door was nearly two meters thick, and several iron chains, each as thick as a thigh, were interlocked between the stone sections!
"…………………"

Li Wei glanced at Katie silently, without saying a word.

This wasn't the first time he'd seen something this outrageous.

But every time I see it, I still feel it's so outrageous.

The door opened a crack, and Levi gestured for Katie to stop. He then stepped forward, casually tossing a little sprite through the crack in the door.

Then, Li Wei quickly switched perspectives.

What Li Wei needs to confirm now is what the thing inside looks like. If it's just some insects, he can burn it. If it's a solid object, then he'll charge in and deal with it. In short, he definitely can't just recklessly rush in; he simply doesn't have the means.

Horror movies are hard to make these days. For example, the scene where the protagonist bravely enters a cave to search for monsters was a classic, thrilling scene in the past.

Looking at it now, this idiot doesn't even know how to use a drone, yet he rushed in to his death; he's just plain crazy.

That would turn a horror movie into a comedy.

Li Wei had the means to use a drone, so he wasn't stupid enough to make a fool of himself. He first made sure nothing was crawling out from under the door before throwing the little sprite inside. Then he switched perspectives and began searching inside.

The elves' vision is different from humans, and in the pitch black, they could only make out a rough outline. However, just from this, Li Wei noticed the problem. First of all, this place was definitely man-made, not built from natural caves like a mine. At least, the perfectly smooth 90-degree angles on all sides couldn't possibly be attributed to the wonders of nature.

Then, continue downwards.

The spiral staircase stretched downwards, making Li Wei frown.

If something really happens, running will be difficult; a straight tunnel would be much easier. But with these spiral staircases, it's hard to say what will happen, especially given their age and lack of maintenance. What if they collapse…?

Fortunately, it wasn't too deep. The little sprite circled around twice and arrived at the second level below.

But this is the main course.

Li Wei could see that after passing through a long corridor, there was a large room, with several knights who looked like statues, each holding a long sword, standing around the room.

The reason I say "appears" is because in Li Wei's "Soul Vision," the soul radiance of these knights is red.

Whatever it is, it's definitely not a sculpture.

Then it's right in the middle.

Li Wei paused for a moment, staring at the center of the main hall.

There, there was a strange red figure. It looked humanoid, with a head, hands, feet, and wings, but its body seemed rather obese. It reminded me of the chubby Buddha I remembered seeing in the temple.

But what's displayed here definitely isn't Maitreya Buddha.

Looking at the figure, Li Wei had a bad feeling. He remembered the statue he had found in the mine's temple during the Alice case. That thing was really difficult to deal with; it even cost Li Wei his large mech. In the end, he only managed to take it down by self-destructing the mech and collapsing the entire mine.

However, the domain of that statue back then seemed to be some kind of dream, not too strong, but it's hard to say about this one. The only lucky thing is that this statue doesn't look as big as the one in the mine, at most three to five meters tall, so it's not impossible to fight it if you really want to crawl inside.

Um……………

After thinking it over, Li Wei made a decision. Then he turned back to look at Katie. He pointed to himself, then to the front, then to her, and then to the back.

Katie understood and nodded.

Then, Li Wei waved his hand.

continue!

"Boom boom boom boom—!"

This time, Katie pushed the stone door open again with force. Levi then turned on his flashlight, illuminating the path ahead, and walked in front, gun in one hand. Katie followed closely behind Levi, holding a flamethrower.

With the flashlight's illumination, Li Wei saw more things that were invisible from the elf's perspective. For example, the walls of the corridor were carved with murals, but due to the passage of time, many of the murals had faded or peeled off, making them unrecognizable. However, the All-Seeing Eyes on the load-bearing pillars along the edges of the walls were clearly visible.

Li Wei didn't know what was depicted above, but he had seen similar formats before. Churches of Holy Episcopal Churches were basically all in this style, and not the ancient kind, but a modern architectural style.

Generally speaking, the murals in the churches of holy bishops are also carefully arranged. In addition to the common "prologue" of God creating heaven and earth, the rest of the murals depict the miracles God performed in various places.

For example, if a plague breaks out in place A, and then God blesses and removes the plague, then this part will appear on the murals of the church in place A.

For example, if area B experiences drought and little rain, and then God blesses and brings rain, then the church in area B will have a record of this event.

This type of record falls under the category of "adapting to local conditions" in local contexts.

Because the murals were severely damaged, Li Wei couldn't make out what they depicted, but he could discern some issues—these murals weren't destroyed naturally, but rather deliberately vandalized. The marks on the wall indicated that someone had deliberately tampered with them, destroying them all.

As for who did it—Li Wei naturally already had suspects in his mind.

As he walked forward, the "crime scene" before him seemed to reconstruct itself in Li Wei's eyes. The priest led the knights into the area, torches held high as they advanced, and then they saw the murals painted on the walls on either side. Clearly, the priest considered this blasphemous and ordered the knights to destroy them.

The knights then drew their weapons and destroyed the murals.

As for what is drawn on it, I have no idea.

However, Li Wei felt that at least the priest did not believe that these murals were simply fake.

From a criminal investigation perspective, criminals wouldn't go to the trouble of forging documents unless they were certain there was a huge profit to be made.

Mural making is a laborious and time-consuming task, and cult members who make a living by swindling and deceiving people probably wouldn't care about that.

The fact that they did it anyway means that it is real, or that the people who painted the murals believed it to be real.

"…………………"

Thinking of this, Levi suddenly saw a flash of white light from the flashlight. He quickly stopped and gestured for Katie to stop as well. Then, Levi crouched down and looked ahead. In front of him was a skeleton; judging from the condition of the bones, it seemed to belong to a child.

There were obvious slashing and thrusting wounds on the skull and limbs. Li Wei picked up the skull and examined it carefully.

Judging from the condition of the remains, the knights must have first slashed the victim's limbs, and then pierced his head with a sword, killing him.

But the question is... is it necessary? Does it take several adult knights to go up and hack and slash at a six or seven-year-old child to kill him?
Or is there something wrong with the child himself?
Li Wei stood up; in front of him was a spiral staircase extending downwards.

And their answer is not far off.

(End of this chapter)