Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 454 No martial ethics
Levi and Morales used the rocks to conceal themselves and quietly made their way towards the monastery. As always, Levi sent a little sprite ahead to scout the way. The sprite waved its tentacles and easily traversed the rubble-strewn ground, disappearing into the ruins of the monastery.

Next, Li Wei carefully observed the surroundings.

In what should have been a place of prayer in the monastery, several priests were kneeling on the ground, forming a circle and praying in hushed tones. And in the center of them sat a round… gemstone?
It does look like a gemstone, oval-shaped, about a meter long, and held upright in the center by a silver frame.

At that moment, the priests were murmuring prayers before the gem, their words unreadable. Beside them, five fully armed knights, swords and shields in hand, stood in their respective corners, vigilantly watching their surroundings…

"Ok?"

Just then, one of the knights seemed to sense something. He turned his head and looked warily in the direction of the sprite. Li Wei quickly looked away, not daring to look any further.

Good heavens, this paladin is so outrageous? Sensing other people's gazes and stuff like that, isn't that something that only happens in martial arts novels?
Besides, I was using a twin-tailed Pokémon to investigate, how could that be detected?
Sure enough, there was something wrong with these paladins!
Li Wei looked at the gem again, this time focusing his attention.

The Vision of the Soul!
The next moment, the world began to change, and the form of the gem reappeared before Li Wei.

However, the gemstones at this moment are completely different from those before.

Its color inside is...gold!

Indeed, Li Wei remembered seeing it in the world of "low-level code," where the color of the royal palace was gold, and right now, the color inside this gem was also gold!

But it's not just about being gold. In fact, the center of this gem shimmers with a golden soul radiance, but the silver frame that binds it emits a red aura. Moreover, if Li Wei looks more closely, he will also find that the priests also have a strange red glow.

These red rays of light, like streams, were drawn into the central silver frame and then poured into the gemstone, seemingly suppressing the golden light within.

There's something wrong with this thing, let's get it checked.

Li Wei maintained his [Soul Vision] and stared at the silver frame. Soon, a line of information appeared before him.

【Soul Shackles: Instruments of Torture that Bind the Soul】

Good heavens, is this something the Holy Lord Church uses?

Li Wei was also surprised when he saw the "test results" of this thing.

A shackle on the soul, binding the soul?
It doesn't seem like a good word at all.

And why do this here? It would be understandable if you did this in the dungeon under your own church, but why come all the way to Chongqing to do this trick?
There is definitely a problem!
Li Wei withdrew his gaze. They were now close to the monastery. Li Wei gestured to Morales, signaling him to prepare. Then, Li Wei reached into his waistband, pulled out a flashbang, and weighed it in his hand. At the same time, the little elf hidden in the ruins wiggled its six legs and dashed towards the location of the gem.

The twin-tailed sprite was so small that ordinary people couldn't even detect its presence. However, these knights were clearly not ordinary people. Soon, one of the knights turned his gaze toward the twin-tailed sprite with a puzzled look. Then, holding a longsword, he strode toward the twin-tailed sprite!
I'll see what you're capable of!
Sensing the knight's approach, Li Wei immediately increased his speed, maneuvering the twin-tailed sprite forward. The knight, however, remained silent, drawing his longsword and forcefully slashing it down in the direction of the twin-tailed sprite!
At this moment, time seemed to slow down.

Levi maneuvered the twin-tailed sprite to accelerate suddenly, dodging the blade that nearly shattered it into pieces. Then, he spread his wings and flew above the gem.

The knight, having missed his first strike, did not hesitate and swung his sword again at the twin-tailed sprite.

But as he swung his sword, the twin-tailed sprite flashed and transformed into a flashbang.

A dazzling light and an explosion tore through the darkness in that instant.

"------!"

The exchange lasted only a few seconds, and the priests hadn't even had time to react. So when the blinding flash erupted, they had no choice but to stop praying, instinctively raising their hands to shield their eyes, and collapsing to the ground with cries of pain.

But this is just the appetizer!

"Whoosh—!"

The mortar shell tore through the air, whistling as it hurtled down, mercilessly crashing down!

"Boom boom boom!"

The already dilapidated monastery was no match for such an attack. In just moments, the few remaining ruins collapsed under the relentless bombardment. The priests who couldn't escape also cried out in agony amidst the blast.

However, Li Wei had no time to care about the priests' miserable state, because he had already seen several figures emerge from the dust and rushing rapidly toward where they were!

"They're here. Are you ready?"

Li Wei raised the Persuader and the Punisher, glanced at Morales beside him, who had also gripped his shotgun and stared ahead.

"Ready, sir!"

The knights were incredibly fast. In the short time it took Li Wei to exchange two words with Morales, they had already rushed over. Upon seeing the two, the leading knight gripped his sword and shield tightly and roared.

"Heretics! How dare you disturb our Lord's sacred ceremony!"

Faced with the knight's angry shout, Li Wei, of course, would not back down. "You have been conducting dangerous activities on Imperial territory without permission. Lay down your weapons immediately and surrender, or you will be killed without mercy!"

One side raised its sword and shield, the other its gun. In fact, both sides knew that it was a matter of life and death, but... the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

Since they've left and won't listen, then let's fight!
"Fire!"

“Da da da da da!!”

The soldiers behind gripped their heavy machine guns and began firing wildly at the paladins in the distance. Normally, this would be enough to stop ordinary soldiers. But these paladins clearly didn't care; they gripped their massive, full-body shields in one hand and strode forward at breakneck speed.

The bullets clanged against the shields, but the knights were completely unfazed!

Hey, you think you can bully people just because you're invulnerable? I'll see if you're really that invulnerable.

Li Wei was not surprised by this, after all, if these paladins hadn't been unafraid of bullets, they wouldn't have killed so many soldiers of the Sasha Alliance.

However, Li Wei and Moreth had made preparations in advance.

What's the best way to deal with infantry?
Landmines, of course!

So, as the knights broke through the barrage and charged forward, Levi raised his gun, aimed at the ground beneath their feet, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang bang bang—!"

As a series of gunshots rang out, countless explosions and flames erupted from the ground, engulfing the knights who had just broken through the barrage of bullets.

Li Wei was unruly. To deal with these knights, he didn't even use ordinary landmines, but rather anti-armor landmines that the Empire used to deal with mechs, aiming for an abundance of martial prowess and overflowing firepower.

He refused to believe it. No matter how powerful your knight's armor is, it can't be thicker than the steel plates of a mecha.
Well, as it turns out, no matter how powerful a knight's armor is, it really can't withstand the steel plates of a mecha.

When the knights reappeared from the smoke, their previous menacing demeanor had changed considerably. Their tower shields were gone, their leg armor was tattered, and only their upper body armor was still barely hanging on them. However, judging from the torn and twisted marks on it, it was clear that this armor could hardly serve its original purpose anymore.

Li Wei raised his gun, aimed at one of the knights, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

The latter reacted quickly, almost simultaneously with the sound of the gunshot, he suddenly turned his head to the side.

But it was all for naught.

The bullet that was fired did not pass by him as the knight had expected. Instead, it turned sharply and, as if it were aimed directly at him, pierced his eye socket, penetrated his brain, and shattered his skull.

The next moment, the knight's body swayed and he fell to the ground.

At this point, Morales also began to take action.

He raised his shotgun, but didn't fire immediately. Instead, as Moreth raised the gun, a chilling aura suddenly emanated from him. A female phantom appeared behind Moreth, reaching out and pressing down on his shoulder.

Then, Morales watched as the paladin rushed towards him, longsword raised high, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

Shotguns are louder and more powerful, but they're generally used at close range. However, Morales clearly had his own method; after the burst of bullets fired from the muzzle, they struck the paladin. The paladin swayed, and the scattered chill turned into a thin layer of ice, covering his body.

The paladin's movements also began to slow down and stiffen, as if he had been frozen.

Morales then stepped forward and shoved the gun into the knight's mouth before pulling the trigger again.

"boom!"

Now, even the most impenetrable armor is useless.

Not bad.

Li Wei glanced over there briefly and nodded in satisfaction. He hadn't expected Morales to be so capable. Judging from his appearance, he had clearly fought quite a few battles.

At least for now, dealing with these knights shouldn't be a problem.

Of course, don't forget, you also need to capture them alive.

(End of this chapter)