Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 449 Max Level Skills

There's a reason why Li Wei orchestrated the explosion.

The reason why the Sky Eye didn't fire, but instead used this method to move the bomb, is quite simple.

If the fire is fired from the outside, it will bury everything inside. The monastery was originally a protective layer designed by the demon for itself; its true lair is in the cave. Therefore, even if Li Wei blew the monastery to the ground, it wouldn't pose any threat or harm to the demon.

Therefore, the best approach is to surround the opponent and then bomb them.

This way, those inside can't escape, while those outside can all be blown up.

Just like a firecracker, once the outside explodes, everything inside is exposed.

However, the system hasn't yet given a completion notification, indicating the problem remains unresolved. But for Li Wei, the next task is clearly much simpler than storming a monastery fully armed.

The mountain wind howled as Li Wei stood on the collapsed ground blasted out by the explosion, looking at the craters radiating outwards in all directions, and then pointed in a direction.

"Right here, dig."

Upon hearing Li Wei's order, three fully armed steam engine soldiers quickly took shovels and began digging at that spot.

"Mr. Li Wei, what are we looking for now?"

Katie curiously peeked out and looked at the pit in front of her.

"There's probably nothing left here."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

Levi stared at the enormous crater before him and nodded. Just as Katie had said, this was a full salvo of bombs. If used for aerial bombardment, it could flatten a church. Placed in the narrow confines of a cave, with virtually no buffer, the explosive power was naturally even more terrifying.

Logically speaking, it would be normal for the remains to be completely destroyed.

However, Li Wei's "Soul Vision" told him that demons cannot be judged by common sense.

"Sir!"

At this moment, one of the steam engine soldiers stopped and turned to Li Wei.

There seems to be a corpse here.

"Dig it out."

"Yes."

The steam engine crew quickly resumed digging, and soon everyone saw half a head being unearthed from the hole. Currently, only the left side of the face remained, the skin and flesh still clinging to the bone, though it was likely burned and rotten due to the high temperature.

The half-head was closed, looking like the body of a victim who had been dismembered by the murderer.

"You guys go down."

Li Wei waved his hand, signaling the others to disperse, then glanced at Elizabeth.

"Miss Elizabeth, get ready to begin."

"Ah."

Elizabeth nodded, then followed Levi cautiously to the half-human face.

Then, she took out a bottle of holy water from her bosom and looked at Levi, who looked at Elizabeth and nodded.

"………………………"

Elizabeth's expression was clearly complicated, but seeing Levi's resolute attitude, she lowered her head, took out the holy water, and poured it on that half of her face.

Just as the holy water was poured onto that half of her face, a bizarre scene unfolded—the part of her face where the holy water had been poured suddenly began to hiss and steam, as if it had been doused with concentrated sulfuric acid. At the same time, that half of her face opened its eyes and glared fiercely at Elizabeth!

"mortal---!"

Even though this thing had been blown so badly that it couldn't even speak or speak, and only half of its teeth remained in its mouth, you could still hear a sound like thunder as its mouth opened and closed.

"How dare you be so insolent—!"

"Wow."

"Whoa!"

Seeing this, Li Wei whistled, and Katie covered her mouth in surprise and cried out. The soldiers watching from all around also changed their expressions.

To be honest, it's not surprising that dead people can talk, but for someone whose head has been blown up to less than half its original size to still be able to shout so loudly is truly mind-blowing.

Li Wei reached out and pressed down on the mouth of this half-face, and it could only whimper.

"This is really not scientific."

Li Wei stared at the scene before him, utterly bewildered and speechless. "You've been blown to pieces, and you can still talk? But if someone covers your mouth, you can't speak. Is this scientifically sound or not?" Li Wei was completely baffled.

However... a statement still needs to be taken.

"Hello, this is... Mr. Devil."

Li Wei released his hand from the other person's mouth, and the latter turned his eyes to stare at him angrily.

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"question?"

"Regarding the lady you are currently possessing, and her companions."

"You've come for her?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, the demon was taken aback, then it grinned and let out a sinister laugh.

"But unfortunately, you couldn't save her, and her friends are already dead! Their souls have been completely devoured by me!"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to ask what happened to them back then?"

Li Wei took out a notebook from his pocket, adopting the posture of a police officer taking a statement at the scene of a case, while the devil didn't seem to care and quickly answered.

"It's just the foolishness of mortals. These guys, I don't know where they found out about my monastery, actually came here to investigate. Hmph, I initially thought they were lackeys sent by the Holy Bishop, but it turns out they're just a few mortals. But that's fine, I've been in the monastery for too long, and I'm already tired of those nuns. It'll be good to change things up..."

As it spoke, the demon let out another chilling laugh, and upon hearing it, the expressions of everyone present turned grim. The way it spoke, treating humans as mere playthings, sent a chill down their spines.

Li Wei, on the other hand, calmly took notes in his notebook.

"and then?"

"At first, I wanted to lure this medium. In my experience, people like her usually have a hard time surviving in human society. With a little guidance and persuasion, she would obediently become my slave. However, to my surprise, this medium's willpower was far stronger than I imagined. Hehehe, I must say, this is what makes it interesting..."

"So, you changed your target to those three guys?"

“That’s right.” Upon hearing Li Wei’s question, the demon burst into laughter.

"Compared to that medium, these three mortals were incredibly fragile. You had no idea what kind of ugly desires lurked deep within their hearts. I don't think the medium ever imagined that her trusted companion would turn around and attack her. Hahaha, thinking back on it now, I still find it incredibly amusing."

The demon was clearly engrossed in toying with humans and was quite pleased with himself at the moment.

"I merely distorted their perceptions and instilled some ideas, and as a result, they believed that to eliminate me, that woman had to be sacrificed. And they actually believed everything I said, toying with that woman before offering her to me. They even thought that doing so would seal me away again, hahaha, how amusing… This wasn't their true thought at all. Do you know what they were thinking? They were thinking, 'Finally, an excuse to harm her! And without any consequences! Hahaha, mortals, no matter how many years pass, they can still bring me this pleasurable sin and depravity…'"

"…………………"

Upon hearing the devil's words, Elizabeth gritted her teeth, while Levi merely raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Then why did you kill them?"

"It's very simple, this is that woman's request."

The devil chuckled.

"Just as I was about to possess her, she gave me a condition: I had to kill these three traitors who had betrayed her. Hehehe, in fact, even without her saying so, I wouldn't have let those three live. They were already tainted by my curse in my monastery; death was their only fate. But that's what makes it interesting. She was even willing to resist my temptation to protect her companions, but after being betrayed by them, she decisively abandoned everything, even wanting to kill those she had once risked everything to protect..."

"In the end, isn't this all your doing?"

After learning the details of the case, Li Wei immediately lost interest in the demon and paid no heed to its words. Every boss likes to bombard the protagonist with pronouncements about how depraved, sinful, and deserving of death humanity is. But in reality, isn't it all their doing that they drove us to this point?

Like some chainsaw monster, he handcuffs a group of people, forces them to kill each other, and then mocks their selfishness.

But this system is something that criminals, and even ordinary people, don't have a choice about?
Li Wei always felt that, in the case of the trolley problem, the person who posed the problem should be crushed the most.

If you weren't just bored and came up with this kind of question, why would we bother making this choice?

Ultimately, wasn't this person someone you tied up?
You tie people to the railway tracks, force us to make choices, and then mock us for having human flaws. Are you out of your mind?
In Li Wei's view, this demon was the same; he tormented others to the point of wishing they were dead, and then mocked their depraved actions, which was utterly boring.

It's as if I haven't done anything.

"Alright, it seems that's all you have to say in your testimony."

Li Wei gave Elizabeth a wink, and she immediately went to the remaining half of the demon's face and poured the holy water on it again, causing the demon to cry out in pain once more.

At the same time, Elizabeth also began to recite the sacred texts in a low voice.

"Creator of all things, heed my call, protect your creations, and drive away the enemies of order..."

"What you've done is utterly meaningless!"

Bathed in sunlight, scorched by holy water, and chanted by Elizabeth, the devil's voice grew fainter, yet more ferocious.

"You cannot destroy me! I will return! One day! When that time comes, we will meet again, especially you... mortal!"

The demon stared intently at Li Wei. It wasn't stupid; just by looking at Li Wei, it knew he was the real culprit.

"I have memorized your soul's essence. Even if you are dead, as long as your descendants exist, they will also..."

"You have a very strong sense of resistance."

As the demon's voice gradually weakened, yet he continued to utter threats, Levi silently rolled his eyes. He glanced at Elizabeth, estimating that the time was about right, then stretched out his hand and pointed at the demon.

[Reality Anchored]

The next moment, the demon's eyes widened suddenly, staring intently at Li Wei, as if it wanted to say something. But no sound came out of its half-open mouth.

Soon, the bright red, cat-like pupils faded, returning to their original human form. Then, the muscles and skin covering the skull began to peel away like rotting flesh, turning into dust and disappearing into the air.

When Elizabeth stopped praying, the half of the face in front of her had completely disappeared.

"Great, all done."

Hearing the pleasant notification sound, Li Wei nodded, then looked around and gave the order.

"Let's burn this place down properly to disinfect it, and then we can go back."

"Yes, sir."

When the flames reignited from the mountaintop, Li Wei had already departed from this place of turmoil aboard the Eye of the Sky.

As for what will happen here in the future, he has no idea. After all, everyone in the town is dead, hmm... MI7 will have to send someone to clean up the mess later.

Li Wei returned to his room and opened the system rewards.

[Quest "Exorcism" Completed]

[Time consumed: s]

Survey efficiency: S

[Impact/Effect: S]

Overall Rating: SSS

[Lifespan bonus +1000, additional +500]

Wow, what a bumper harvest!

Upon seeing the "Lifespan Reward" item, Li Wei's eyes widened in surprise. The last time he received a reward of this level was when he fought against the Disaster Messenger in the Dream Realm. In other words, the system considered this demon and the Disaster Messenger to be of the same level.
Well, thankfully this guy didn't revive, otherwise it would have been really difficult to defeat him.

Incidentally, Li Wei consumed 500 days of his lifespan with this [Reality Anchoring], which shows that the demon is indeed very strong. However, Li Wei also found a way to weaken it first with the power at his disposal, and then use Reality Anchoring, which would reduce the lifespan consumption.

For example, I have spent 500 days of my lifespan, but I have received a reward of 1500 days, which means I still have at least 1000 days of lifespan reward to receive.

No loss, gain with blood.

[Puppeteer skill upgraded to level 10]

[Optional additional specialization (Soul Legion/Infinite Control)]

As always, it was a choice between two options, but this time it was a top-tier professional skill. Li Wei took a closer look and it was indeed extraordinary!

The [Soul Legion] allows Li Wei to manipulate an unlimited army of puppets within the current limited area, perhaps related to the demon he destroyed. In other words, as long as Li Wei is within a 1-kilometer radius, he can control as many puppets as he wants, even an entire legion!
[Unlimited Manipulation] is the opposite; Livy has a limited number of manipulations, but no limit on the manipulation distance!

This means that Li Wei could even send his puppets to places like the North and South Poles! And no matter where he goes, he can return to the city directly if he encounters danger!

However, this means that Li Wei can only manipulate a maximum of ten puppets.

Looking at the two top-tier skills, Li Wei was quite perplexed for a moment.

This is really... so hard to choose...

(End of this chapter)