Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 437 Son of the Plague
Li Wei encountered no obstacles along the way.

Perhaps because the previous visitors had already helped him deal with the traps and enemies, Li Wei only saw skeletons and some already activated traps on the road.

Through these clues, Li Wei could at least clearly reconstruct the entire process—the priest led more than twenty paladins (Li Wei found the holy bishop's mark on the armor of one of the skeletons, proving their identity) into the temple. He wasn't sure how they got in; it was certainly impossible for them to have pumped water like he had, but considering the cultists were there at the time, perhaps they had other methods.

In short, the paladins, led by the priest, charged in and fought the cultists, which was something Levi found somewhat incomprehensible. Judging from the remaining skeletons, their opponents were merely ordinary people—mostly children, women, and a few men.

But no matter how you look at it, they shouldn't be a match for a fully armed paladin.

However, the truth was that the paladins suffered heavy losses, with nearly half of them falling in the corridors. This was utterly incomprehensible to Li Wei. After all, judging from the corpses, they were fully armored and wielded large shields and longswords.

For that era, it was considered well-equipped.

Furthermore, Li Wei knew some descriptions of the Holy Knights of the Holy See; they were the Holy See's most valiant, powerful, and elite warriors, practically the cream of the crop. In any case, the fact that they would suffer over half their losses under an attack by a group of old, weak, and disabled men was itself very strange.

Li Wei found some marks on their corpses and armor, mostly from violent impacts. Even those not fatal, judging from the force of the impact, must have caused irreparable damage to their internal organs. And clearly, although there was a priest in the group, he wasn't a healer, nor could he possibly heal the paladins in a critical moment.

What happened to them?
Li Wei did not see any weapon or entity capable of causing similar damage to the paladins, but he had some ideas, though they were just ideas.

They walked down the steps and came to the front of the main hall.

It was pitch black inside, and Li Wei stopped in his tracks.

He stared into the darkness, then took out a flare gun and aimed it ahead.

"Bang-----!"

The flashing flare streaked across the sky like a shooting star, tearing through the surrounding darkness and revealing everything hidden beneath.

Inside the hall stood seven fully armed paladins: three on the left, three on the right, and one in the middle. They held swords and shields and stood there motionless, like statues.

However, they are not statues!

In the light of the signal flare, Li Wei could clearly see that the armor worn by these knights had turned a dirty, dark brown, as if it had been corroded by something. Not only that, but something resembling blisters could be seen squeezing out from the gaps in the joints, spreading like moss across the knights' armor.

It even gives the impression that the entire armor is made of solidified flesh and blood.

However, what Li Wei was concerned about was not these knights, but the thing sitting on the altar behind them!

It looked like a fat, enormous, rotting big-headed fly. Even under the illumination of the signal flare, you could see that its huge compound eyes, like a fly's, almost covered most of its head. Next, there was its fat body, covered with dense, downy hairs, and from it, equally hairy limbs…

At the same time, the task prompt in front of Li Wei finally appeared.

[Task "Purification" Activated]

Mission Objective: Destroy the Son of Plague!

"Katie, do it!"

Just as the mission prompt appeared before Levi's eyes, he immediately stepped back and waved forcefully at Katie. Katie instantly raised the massive mech's thrusters, aimed at the hall before her, and pulled the trigger!

"call--------!"

The intense heat hit him head-on, causing Li Wei to take a few steps back again. He could even feel the scorching heat burning his skin through his raincoat.

As long as it is flesh and blood, it is not immune to fire. Logically speaking, if an ordinary person were hit like that, they would either be burned to death or suffocate due to lack of oxygen.

But Li Wei knew that he was not facing an ordinary person.

He took two steps back, standing next to Katie, then raised the Punisher in his hand and aimed it forward.

Just then, a figure suddenly burst out of the flames! It was a paladin, his armor now glowing red-hot, his entire body resembling charred meat, a deep brown and blackened color. Even so, he charged out of the inferno, raising his longsword and slashing down at the two men!

At that moment, the gun in Li Wei's hand also fired a shot.

"Bang bang bang!"

The high-explosive shell struck the knight in the chest, sending him flying backward before he was engulfed in flames once more.

With Li Wei's marksmanship, a headshot would have been easy. The problem was, he couldn't gamble that this thing wouldn't just kill him like a zombie, where a headshot would kill him instantly. After all, the priest had brought the paladins here almost a hundred years ago, and these guys had been trapped here for so many years without dying. You're telling me a headshot would kill them? Li Wei didn't believe it!
Just to be on the safe side, let's cremate him!

The first one was sent flying back, and soon, the figures of several other knights appeared, shields in hand, braving the flames as they approached Levi and Katie step by step. It really looked like a supporting character in an anime willingly becoming a meat shield to protect the protagonist and withstand the BOSS's attacks.

Although the flames Katie released were very hot, they weren't hot enough to easily melt steel. Fortunately, Levi had a solution!

With a flick of his left hand, several exploding spiders leaped out, crawling forward along the ground until they reached the knight. They jumped up and grabbed his leg tightly, then—

"Boom!"

With a series of explosions, the exploding spider clinging to the knight's leg suddenly exploded, severing both of the knight's legs. The knight, now without legs, naturally lost his balance and plummeted headfirst. Li Wei then raised his gun and fired several more shots, sending the spider flying back into the flames.

However, at that moment, the flames that had almost covered the entire hall suddenly began to weaken, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into a small flame, stubbornly burning only at the nozzle.

"???"

Katie glanced at the flamethrower in her hand with a puzzled look, seemingly not understanding what was going on.

But Li Wei knew! It was obvious this was underground, and the little mermaid had sealed it off with a water shield—a completely enclosed environment. Katie's burst of flames had probably burned away all the oxygen here. If he and Katie hadn't been wearing oxygen tanks, they might already be collapsed from lack of oxygen.

The flames had shrunk, and it was now possible to see that the seven knights in the hall had been charred black, some even reduced to bones.

However, these are just appetizers!
Li Wei hurriedly raised his head and looked towards the front of the hall, but there was nothing there!
wrong!

Just then, Li Wei also sensed a flash of red light. He quickly looked up and saw the enormous, fat fly monster perched on the ceiling, its body charred and smoking. Upon seeing Li Wei, the fly monster flipped to its ground and then swooped down on him!

Fortunately, Li Wei's fire attack seemed to have damaged the fly monster's wings, so it couldn't fly now. However, seeing a large fly rushing towards him still made Li Wei a little nervous.

However, in the blink of an eye, Katie put down the oil drum she was carrying, grabbed the huge long pipe, and slammed it down on the fly monster!
"————!"

The heavy jet nozzle collided with the fly monster's head, causing both to stagger. Katie's pipe was bent by the impact, while the fly monster staggered back a few steps, clearly also badly hit by the nozzle.

That does not work.

Seeing this, Li Wei frowned. Logically speaking, this fly monster was also a living creature, and an oxygen-deprived environment should have the same effect on it. But it seemed that this fly monster had no intention of reasoning with him—after all, its soul glow was red, and it might possess some strange magical abilities.

But on my side... I don't have that kind of ability.

While Katie was attacking the fly monster, Levi also launched an attack, firing several incendiary bombs. However, due to the lack of oxygen, the incendiary bombs, which were usually ineffective, were now useless, at least not achieving the effect Levi had hoped for.

This cannot continue.

Li Wei stared at the monster, his mind racing as he considered a solution. This thing couldn't be allowed to leave. The cramped environment of the underground temple restricted both himself and the monster. If it got out, aside from anything else, if it released a plague-like fart, everyone around would collapse.

As for whether this guy would do it or not, Li Wei didn't dare to gamble. In the game, insect enemies love to self-destruct and release poison, and who knows if this giant fly in real life would do the same. If the battlefield could be confined to this place, that would be fine, but the problem is that this place has already been burned out of oxygen by Katie, and it's not suitable for fighting right now.

That's the only way!
After thinking about this, Li Wei made a decision, then grabbed Katie and gestured to her.

run!
(End of this chapter)