Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 470 Secret Investigation
After a preliminary assessment of the situation in this world, Li Wei concluded that, at present, it was virtually impossible for the empires of this world to defeat the Kingdom of Krant, which had already developed biotechnology.

In Li Wei's view, the empires of this world are somewhat similar to the late Qing Dynasty in history: closed off from the world, scoffing at any progressive technology, only thinking about maintaining their rule, and not about reforming productivity. Because of this, their current confrontation with the Kingdom of Krant is like using outdated weapons against a fully armed modern army—it's not that they can't win, but they will inevitably pay a heavy price.

The only reason the empire hasn't completely fallen is because its territory is simply too vast, and it hasn't created any beast-like legions, meaning the Kingdom of Krant doesn't have enough manpower to conquer the entire empire in the short term. It's conceivable that if the empire continues in this way, it would probably take the Kingdom of Krant five or six years to possibly conquer the entire empire.

That's why they came up with the plan to raid the Fog City. If they could capture the Fog City and seize George V, then annexing the empire would be much easier.

However, it would be very difficult for the Empire to defeat the Krant invasion. Without coal and with relatively underdeveloped internal combustion engine technology, it would be very difficult for the Empire to achieve an explosive increase in productivity to deal with the Krant's beastly legions, in Levi's view.

But is there really no other way?
Li Wei disagrees.

The reason is simple: the Krant Legion can use beastification to control beast-like soldiers created by other countries. What does this mean?
This indicates that all Zoanoids share the same underlying port.

This means that as long as you find the right direction, you can easily catch them all.

This often happens in movies and games. Sometimes, there are viruses that are only effective against humans but not other animals. The reason is that humans have some other characteristic that other animals don't, and the virus specifically targets that characteristic.

In Li Wei's view, the only way to deal with the beast-like legion is probably to find that shared underlying port and control or destroy it.

This obviously requires the help of a biologist.

So when he saw that the Kingdom of Krant was issuing a warrant for the arrest of a biologist, Levi immediately focused his attention on the matter. After all, the Kingdom of Krant wouldn't issue a warrant for the arrest of a biologist without reason. It was like a case; every murderer has a motive. So, what was the motive behind the Kingdom of Krant's warrant for the arrest of this biologist?
Or rather, out of so many biologists in the world, why is it that only this person is wanted by the Kingdom of Krant?

Of course, another reason why Li Wei paid attention to this intelligence was because there was a name he recognized on it.

Anne Delint Darwin.

Hmm, this name reminds Li Wei of Miss Anne from his own world.

She locked herself and the dragon's corpse up for more than half a year without going out, and even though the war outside was raging, she had no interest in it at all.

Based on Levi's understanding of Anne, she was clearly passionate and interested in dissecting and studying all sorts of strange creatures.

This is still in their world, a world where biotechnology is not yet very advanced.

As for Miss Anne in this world, although it's uncertain whether it's the same person, at least the name is the same.

This world, of course, doesn't have the internet, but investigating a person isn't actually as difficult as one might imagine. In the Empire, a directory is published almost annually, recording the records of prominent figures, including their information and details. This dictionary is purchased by most members of high society, so that they know who to contact if they need help.

Incidentally, Li Wei was also on it.

Since the Anne of this world has Darwin in her name, she should probably be on it as well.

So, with this idea in mind, Li Wei went to the Imperial Library and actually found an introduction to this Miss Anne.

Anne Delint Darwin, granddaughter of the renowned biologist Dr. Charles Darwin, who pioneered Darwinism and discovered the Lifeline in this world, was also one of the first scholars in the Empire to create synthetic beasts using the Lifeline. She studied biology at the Royal Academy and later went to the Kingdom of Krant to pursue her doctoral degree. She created synthetic species such as sniffer dogs and healing worms…

Levi carefully read the introduction to Miss Anne in the book, and then checked the publication date. Although there wasn't much information about Miss Anne, Levi gleaned some details that weren't written down.

Given the current state of the Empire, Miss Anne was clearly not valued there, so she went to Krant. Meanwhile, Levi had already learned during his intelligence gathering that the Kingdom of Krant was seeking to strengthen itself and was therefore inviting talented individuals from all walks of life to join its ranks.

As Darwin's granddaughter, Miss Anne's fame was undoubtedly immense, and judging from the records in this book, she created several chimeras at a young age, demonstrating her exceptional talent. However, due to religious reasons, the Empire found it difficult to promote chimera research, so it was only natural that she went to the Kingdom of Crant, which welcomed her biological research at the time.

What about after that?
This information was recorded in the dictionary, but Levi felt that given Miss Anne's talent and fame, the Kingdom of Krant would definitely not simply leave her aside as a decorative figure. It's even possible that the creation of the beastmen was related to Miss Anne.

But if that's the case, then she'd be more suited to be the boss than a wanted criminal, right?

Could it be that, like in many game storylines, the scientists who participated in the villain's core experiments had a change of heart and then defected?

If that's the case, then it's understandable... In short, Li Wei feels that starting from this direction is currently the most promising approach.

However, finding Miss Anne won't be easy. The intelligence comes from Eisenster in the Kingdom of Krant, but that doesn't mean Miss Anne is still here. Moreover, searching for someone in the Kingdom of Krant is like finding a needle in a haystack. Think about it: even Krant's beastmen can't be found, so how is Levi supposed to find her, and where does he even begin?
Li Wei naturally had an idea about this as well.

"Just like investigating a missing person case."

He said to Katie.

"Let's assume that Miss Anne Delint Darwin has disappeared and we want to find her. Where would we start? Of course, her house, which is also where she is most likely to have left clues."

So this is where we ended up?

Katie looked up curiously at the apartment building in front of her. The two of them were standing on a street in Essenster. Katie was dressed like an ordinary girl from Cront, wearing a smock and a blue hat, with her hair tied up in a bun and tucked into the hat.

Li Wei, on the other hand, was still wearing a suit, but he had replaced his top hat with a regular hat.

"Mr. Li Wei, how did you know this address?"

“I checked the journals where Miss Anne published her papers before. To facilitate academic exchange, many authors would attach their contact address at the end of the paper. After all, most people don’t bother to look at these things when they have nothing better to do.”

Li Wei checked the address he had copied down and realized that Annie lived in this apartment.

Of course, not now.

"Alright, let's go in."

Li Wei nodded as he spoke, then walked into the apartment building.

The journey was very smooth. Perhaps because it was daytime, most people weren't home, and thanks to [Soul Vision], Levi was always able to avoid others. Katie, on the other hand, was extremely excited, tiptoeing behind Levi, looking as excited as if she were doing it for the first time.

Or rather, it is indeed similar to stealing.

Room 303 on the third floor.

Li Wei arrived at the door, then bent down and carefully examined the lock. He then ran his finger lightly across the area next to the lock.

"Would you like me to open the door for you, Mr. Levi?"

Katie was also very excited at this moment, rubbing her hands together as if she was about to step forward and open the lock with force.

"and many more."

Levi stopped Katie from taking any further action. He squinted at his right hand, where he was wearing a white glove. On his index finger, a speck of dust was clearly visible on the white glove.

However, it's too shallow.

Then, Li Wei reached into his pocket, pulled out a lock pick, and inserted it into the keyhole.

"What is this, Mr. Levi?"

"Lock pick".

"Huh? You can pick locks?" "I just learned."

Li Wei answered casually, though that was half a lie. He had indeed studied lock picking, but he soon realized that he didn't need to go through all that trouble to learn. From a certain perspective, the lock pick was also his puppet, and he could use the [Puppeteer]'s ability to make it automatically hook open the lock cylinder, instead of trying each one by himself like a clumsy thief.

Well, this thing is in Li Wei's hands; it's called a fully automatic lock pick.

"Click".

And indeed, after Li Wei inserted the object, the locked door opened with a soft click. Li Wei then looked to both sides to make sure no one was nearby. He then carefully led Katie into the room and closed the door again.

Wow!

Upon entering the room and seeing the scene inside, Katie let out a soft gasp of amazement, and even Levi's eyes showed a hint of surprise.

It has to be said that this place doesn't look like a normal person's home at all.

Looking around, one could see glass jars on the shelves, filled with all sorts of bizarre creatures, preserved in formalin. These monsters had completely different physical characteristics; Levi saw a bat with a bee's tail and a lizard with a monkey's head—they looked like various experimental hybrids…

"This place looks really uncomfortable."

Katie covered her mouth and muttered a complaint, while Levi nodded in agreement. This place looked more like the home of a mad scientist from a movie or video game.

This place is like a museum of freaks, with the living room serving as an exhibition hall, filled with those nauseatingly bizarre creatures. To be honest, Levi wasn't sure if the room's owner could eat in this environment, but he felt that if he were constantly surrounded by these freak corpses, he would definitely have a good diet, if not something else.

Next to the living room was the dining room, which was also used to display various specimens, except this time they were internal organs. Li Wei recognized some of them, and some he didn't. Fortunately, he had seen quite a few before, so he wasn't too scared. On the contrary, Katie was pale and kept covering her eyes.

Clearly, she disliked this kind of thing very much.

The situation in the bedroom was slightly better, but not much better. The desk was covered with all sorts of large books and messy manuscripts, clearly indicating that the owner usually wrote there. To Li Wei's relief, there were no strange animal specimens, suggesting that the owner hadn't intended for him to be surrounded by them while sleeping.

It's still somewhat normal.

"What are we looking for now, Mr. Levi? The hidden safe?"

Why are you looking for that thing?

Faced with Katie's excited question, Levi rolled his eyes helplessly, then walked to the table, reached out and gently stroked it.

"I was originally planning to see if I could find any clues to determine where she went, but now I have a better lead."

As he spoke, Li Wei picked up a chair from the side and sat down.

"We'll just wait here now."

"Wait?"

Katie didn't understand at first, but after blinking, she realized what Levi meant.

"Huh? Mr. Li Wei, you mean that lady never left here at all?"

"I'm not sure if it was her, but I'm certain that someone has been in and out of this room during this period, and not just once or twice."

Li Wei answered.

"There was very little dust on the keyhole, so it looked like it had been used recently. And after I came in, I noticed footprints on the floor. They were from a young woman, but of course, I don't know if they were the lady we're looking for."

"But isn't she already wanted by the police? How dare she come back? Could she be a thief?"

“Thieves don’t return to the crime scene repeatedly, especially since there doesn’t seem to be anything worth stealing here.”

Li Wei looked around at the windows that were covered by curtains.

"Anyway, let's wait here and maybe we'll get something out of it."

"Um... I won't go outside."

Katie carefully sat down against the wall, then muttered a complaint under her breath, though she could understand it.

Li Wei silently took a book from the bookshelf and began to read it. Katie also wanted to read, but after looking at it, she found that it was mostly in Kranta, so she gave up. After a while, she curled up in a corner of the bed, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Time passed second by second.

As darkness fell, Levi stopped reading and manipulated his puppet bird to look around, trying to see if Krant had sent any agents to watch the place. It seemed not; the room had indeed been ransacked, though not extensively.

To be fair, Levi could understand the thoughts of those Krant agents; they probably wanted to rush into the room, ransack it, and turn everything upside down.

Then, when they stormed into the room, they found it filled with those damn jars and bottles, brimming with freak specimens. Obviously, they couldn't possibly smash all of it to pieces unless they were insane. So, these guys just quickly searched it up, found nothing strange, and left.

Then someone else came.

So who could it be?

The other party came very frequently, but no one noticed?

"Ok?"

Just then, Li Wei suddenly opened his eyes because the puppet bird had seen something.

Something that surprised him.

He opened his eyes and sat up, then reached out and patted Katie, who groggily opened her eyes and looked at Levi.

"Huh? Mr. Li Wei?"

"We have company now."

As Li Wei spoke, a series of light footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. The footsteps were not very clear, and you might not even be able to hear them unless you strained your ears.

"who is it?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough. Get ready."

Levi was ready, and Katie hurriedly hid to the side. The two held their breath and listened to the sounds coming from the corridor.

A moment later, the footsteps stopped, followed by a soft "click".

The door opened.

(End of this chapter)