Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 463: The Pursuit to the End
When Levi saw Baron Hanklis emerge from the Imperial Central Bank again, the latter was pale, holding a letter in his hand, and looked utterly dejected.

"Sir Levi, I..."

Baron Hanklis looked at Levi, hesitant to speak, then finally handed the letter to Levi.

"You see for yourself, Holy Lord, my head is about to explode."

Li Wei took the letter, sat down in the chair next to it, and then took out the letter from the envelope and began to read it.

That's what it says above.

"...I am Baron Haberth Hanklis, and I have left this letter here to tell anyone who can open this safe what has happened to me. Now that you have seen this letter, it means I have been unable to solve this mystery, so I hope you can solve it. In return, the treasure I left in the safe is yours."

This isn't just my delusion; in fact, I'm not even sure if there's something wrong with me or with the world. Everything changed the moment I killed that man.

It all started that night. I was in my home, reading in the lounge, when I fell asleep. Then, for some reason, perhaps instinctively, I woke up. When I woke up, I saw a masked man holding a sword, lunging at me. Almost instinctively, I raised my gun and pulled the trigger.

A gunshot rang out, and the man died. At least, I think he should be dead. But after that, I passed out again.

When I awoke again, I found the man's body still there; I could touch it. But none of my family or servants saw him. Even so, they still avoided the man's body. I don't know what's going on; maybe I've gone mad, or maybe everyone else has.

I tried to throw the man's body into the valley, hoping no one would see him and that he wouldn't exist. But I failed. Every time I returned, the body was still lying there, motionless.

Not only that, but after that, I started having strange dreams.

Upon seeing this, Li Wei raised an eyebrow. When he came to see him before, he hadn't mentioned anything about dreams.

In fact, I don't know if it was a dream or not. Sometimes scenes suddenly appear in my mind, and I remember things. For example, I once played golf with a man named Newscal, or I signed a contract at a mine processing plant two days ago.

This information was so vivid that I thought I had actually done it, but later I discovered that I didn't know anyone named Newscal, and I didn't have any factory contracts to sign. I have a diary, but I've always used it as a schedule and a record book. I write in it what I did that day and what I'm going to do next.

However, I've found that I sometimes misread entries in my diary. For example, I once wrote on June 15th that I was going to attend Cromwell's charity banquet, but when I picked up the diary, I saw that I was having lunch with a man named Bigles.

These hallucinations are getting worse, or rather, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish which are hallucinations and which are my reality.

I saw a doctor, and he thought I was hallucinating due to excessive stress, but I don't think it's that simple. Those tranquilizers were completely useless, and he even wanted to prescribe "Mind Jellyfish"... that damn monster, I won't fall for it! It only eats people's brains and turns them into walking corpses!
I also went to see a priest, perhaps it was some kind of curse or black magic, but the priest was also helpless. The scriptures they recited only made me more agitated and uneasy.

I didn't know what to do, and I didn't know who to turn to. Just then, a name suddenly popped into my mind.

Li Wei!

Surprisingly, I recognized him, yet I didn't know him personally. I remembered him as an earl, a Thistle Knight, a detective skilled in dealing with supernatural forces. But I had never heard of him before, I didn't know when the Empire had bestowed the title of Thistle Knight, and I had no idea why I had suddenly thought of him.

But I felt it was time I gave it a try; perhaps it could solve my problem. So I left home and headed to the Fog City, finding the address I remembered. Sure enough, there was a young man named Li Wei there. I told him about my situation, but it was clear he didn't know much about it either. He suggested I see a psychiatrist again, which disappointed me. It seemed this young count couldn't solve my problem either.

I didn't reveal everything because I discovered that this world was quite different from the world I knew. The Empire I knew wasn't like this; there were no synthetic monsters on the streets, and the Empire wasn't in danger! But the world I knew wasn't like this! I remember clearly that just before coming to Fog City, the newspapers reported that the allied forces of the Empire and Francis had suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of the Kingdom of Krant, with both sides engaging in a brutal and merciless battle on the Marne River.

Yet, the newspapers here make no mention of this! The Empire hasn't even allied with Francis? How is that possible? Without Francis, how are we supposed to stop the unstoppable chimera army of the Kingdom of Krant? Those damned Darwinists, they're about to rule the world!
This is not the empire I know, nor is this the world I am familiar with. Why, why has it turned out like this? Where have I ended up?
I decided to talk to that young count again. Although he was young, for some reason, I felt I could trust him. Perhaps after I told him everything about these strange things, he would agree to help me solve this problem…

However, the hallucinations became more and more severe, and I couldn't even tell which of what I was seeing were hallucinations and which were reality.

If I cannot persevere to the end, then I hope you can help me find the answer to this secret…

That's all for this letter.

"this………………"

Li Wei frowned as he looked at the letter. To be honest, compared to the hallucinations that "Baron Hanklis" had mentioned before, this matter did indeed attract Li Wei's attention more. If he had told Li Wei this back then, Li Wei probably wouldn't have simply treated it as some kind of mental problem.

Unfortunately, it's a bit too late to say all this now, proving once again that saying halfway through something, like going back to your hometown to get married, is a potentially fatal mistake.

"Baron Hanklis, what are your thoughts?"

Li Wei looked at Baron Hanklis, who was silent and smoking. Perhaps because of the smoking, his complexion was much better than it had been just moments before.

"Judging from your reaction, it seems you don't think this is the ramblings of a madman?"

"You'll know just by looking at it."

Baron Hanklis took out a notebook from his pocket, opened it, and handed it to Levi. Levi took the notebook and saw some itinerary records and arrangements written on it, including this entry.

[At noon on June 15th, I had lunch with Mr. Biglis to discuss the transfer of metal smelting technology.]

"This Mr. Biglis...?"

“He is a scholar who improved a technology that can better smelt iron, improving both quality and output. I wanted to acquire this technology, so I specifically contacted him.”

Baron Hanklis explained with his head covered.

"But I want you to know, Sir Levy, that I did not have any hallucinations, nor did I say I saw anything strange while reading my diary, I..."

"Please calm down, Baron Hanklis. I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush things."

Levi reassured Baron Hanklis, and he could indeed understand Baron Hanklis's feelings. It was simply too terrible, too incomprehensible, too unbelievable... But fortunately, Levi had seen enough movies that he did have a way of explaining the phenomenon.

"I have a pretty good idea of ​​what's going on. It's not some kind of black magic or curse. If you want to talk about it, it's a scientific phenomenon."

"Science, is it a scientific phenomenon?"

Sure enough, upon hearing this word, Baron Hanklis immediately perked up. This era was one where science and magic coexisted, but as a citizen of the Empire, he naturally placed more trust in science.

"I think it's probably right, although I can't be sure yet, um..."

After a moment's thought, Li Wei made a decision.

"In any case, let's go see Her Majesty the Queen first."

If I go now, I should be able to make it in time for afternoon tea. The manuscript for "Betty the Dog" was published a couple of days ago, so I'm not worried about the Queen pressing me for it.

Baron Hanklis was clearly very nervous about meeting Her Majesty the Queen, but Levi was already used to it. He arrived at the palace with ease and then enjoyed Her Majesty's afternoon tea at their usual spot.

Then, over afternoon tea, Li Wei told Her Majesty the Queen about this, and of course, showed her the letter.

“This is indeed a strange thing.” Her Majesty the Queen looked at Li Wei after reading the letter.

"Can you explain this? I've heard rumors that some people die when they see another version of themselves."

"This situation might not be something like a curse."

Li Wei also spoke up.

“I suspect that ‘Baron Hanklis’ is from another world.”

"Another world?"

“That’s right, I call it a parallel world, it’s a theory…”

Li Wei recounted the theories of parallel universes he had read, which immediately piqued the Queen's interest.

"Do you have evidence?"

“There is some evidence, but not much. For example, that ‘Baron Hanklis’ has a younger brother who is serving in the Imperial Army. However, our ‘Baron Hanklis’s’ younger brother died at birth. That is to say, the ‘Baron Hanklis’s’ younger brother in that world did not die but survived. Moreover, according to the records in the letter, the Empire in that world allied with Francis in order to fight against the Kingdom of Krant… We obviously do not have that.”

"However, this is nothing but empty boasting on a letter."

The Queen had her own ideas. Li Wei's "parallel world theory" sounded interesting, but it wasn't enough to make her completely believe it.

“I understand, so I plan to investigate this further, and I think this matter may not be completely unrelated to our world.”

"Oh? What do you say?"

Sure enough, the Queen became interested upon hearing the actual details.

“We’ve always been puzzled about how the Kingdom of Krant came about with its chimera technology, haven’t we? I suspect that this technology may very well have come from another world.”

Li Wei's judgment was not simply made up.

In fact, since the start of the battle, many people have been discussing one question: where did the Kingdom of Krant get this chimera technology? They kept quiet before the war started, and then suddenly announced it?

In strategy games, it's normal for different factions to have different tech trees; you go for mechanical, I go for biological, and they go for psionic.

But the problem is, that's not how reality works.

The empire's steam technology initially focused on improving the loom, then gradually expanded to various fields. This process inevitably involved technology leakage and technological espionage. Scholars also conducted extensive research and reforms related to the steam engine, producing numerous academic papers.

It's impossible for me to secretly hide a technology tree for you and then suddenly unleash it when war is about to break out.

Just kidding.

Even decisive weapons aren't built like this. You should at least start from scratch with materials, right?

Summoning the ultimate creature directly is something that magic, this illogical thing, does.

Therefore, following this process, in the early stages, the Kingdom of Krant would always release some techniques or theories related to biological modification.

But none of these were there!
So much so that now the Empire has captured a chimera and sent experts to study it, but a group of biologists are scratching their heads, completely baffled as to what's going on.

Generally speaking, such suddenly appearing cutting-edge technology is either an archaeological find of a marvelous artifact or the burning of aliens with a cigarette butt.

In short, it must have fallen from the sky; it definitely couldn't have grown on its own in the ground.

Li Wei's idea was that it might have flowed here from the Krant Empire in that world.

After all, judging from the letter, Baron Hanklis complained that the doctor prescribed him Mind Jellyfish. Although Levi didn't know what Mind Jellyfish was, the literal meaning suggested it was some kind of animal. He also mentioned that he couldn't see any chimeras on the streets, indicating that chimeras were rampant there, everywhere. This aligns perfectly with the principle of technological diffusion.

The Empire, for example, was simultaneously building mechs with steam engines and steam-powered vehicles. Useful technologies that can be used for both military and civilian purposes to increase productivity will inevitably spread.

The death of Baron Hanklis further solidified Levi's belief in this idea.

Assuming Baron Hanklis accidentally traveled to this world through some means, he shouldn't have been killed by Krant's soldiers. However, the reality was that he was shot and killed by Krant's bullets in the Imperial Hotel's restaurant.

So who fired the shot?

If you're not from this world, then you're naturally from that world.

If we assume that the Krant people of that world can kill people who travel to parallel worlds in this way, then it's not impossible that they themselves also have similar time travel technology!
If that's the case, then it's highly questionable where the Kingdom of Krant's biosynthesis technology came from!

"Your idea is indeed bizarre, but it's also true. I've consulted experts, and there are indeed some problems with the origin of the biosynthesis technology in the Kingdom of Krant. Although we had similar ideas, we ultimately failed to develop it. In other words, that world is a world where biotechnology has developed?"

Her Majesty the Queen, however, was quick to grasp the essence of the matter and soon understood Li Wei's idea.

"You plan to investigate this matter?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I authorize you to investigate this matter. Let me know any results at any time. Oh, and remember to bring Katie along."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Katie is essentially acting as an observer for the royal family, and it's clear that Her Majesty intends to use Katie to confirm whether this matter is true.

Just as Li Wei finished speaking and was about to take his leave, Her Majesty the Queen called him back.

"By the way, Sir Levi."

"Yes?"

"I heard you played a few songs on the radio station in Delicat? They seemed to be quite popular there? Well, our local radio stations don't have many interesting songs either. How about you record a few for us to play?"

"…………………yes."

Her Majesty the Queen has a new angle for urging updates.

(End of this chapter)