Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 473 Following the Clues
I never imagined that the Empire would possess such technology.

Sitting in the chair, looking at the surrounding decorations, Anne couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. Although she was from the Empire, Anne didn't have a very good feeling about it. On one hand, those despicable religious believers always regarded her and her grandfather's research as the wisdom of the devil, criticizing and rejecting it relentlessly. On the other hand, Anne was also quite dissatisfied with the Empire's rigid system. It was for this reason that she ultimately chose to leave the Empire and go to the Kingdom of Krant.

I never expected something like this to happen...

"Dong dong dong."

Just as Anne was filled with mixed emotions, a knock sounded at the door. Anne composed herself and looked towards the door.

"Please come in."

The door opened, and Levi and Katie walked in.

"Hello, Miss Anne, are you settling in well?"

"Very good. I never expected that traveling in an airship would be so comfortable."

Anne's words were sincere, given that the world's industry was relatively underdeveloped, especially due to the advancement of biotechnology; therefore, horse-drawn carriages hadn't been abolished. In fact, they were becoming increasingly common.

In other words, people in the world today have simply moved from using horses to pull carriages to using animals that are faster, more stable, and stronger than horses to pull larger carriages.

Therefore, for Annie, this level of technological creation was indeed beyond her imagination.

but……………

“There’s something I need to be honest with you, Mr. Levi.”

Anne looked at Levi and spoke.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Although I have created many synthetic beasts for the Kingdom of Krant, research on bio-soldiers is not within my scope."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Li Wei's expression didn't change much.

"I see. This is quite unexpected. After all, given your strength and reputation, Miss Anne, we originally thought you would be a key figure in the plan."

“Thank you for the compliment, but my grandfather once said that he was against any work that would alter the lifeline of primates.”

"Hmm, Dr. Darwin seems to have a very high level of awareness."

Levi wasn't too surprised by Annie's words; clearly, Dr. Darwin had anticipated this as well. In Levi's view, it was one thing to modify chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, cats, or dogs, but modifying primates was a different matter entirely.

After all, Levi had seen movies where chimpanzees gained intelligence and turned the tables, defeating humans and ruling the earth. In Levi's view, any modification to primates was very dangerous.

It's far more dangerous than modifying mosquitoes to be cold-resistant.

"But it's okay, I think you know more than we do."

Li Wei was speaking from the heart. While he could at least grasp some basics of steam technology, he was completely clueless about biotechnology.

This kind of biotechnology, in particular, is beyond Li Wei's imagination.

"So, what do you want to know?"

"If you don't mind, let's start with the development of the Zoanoid Soldiers."

"Okay, but let me state upfront that I don't know much."

Anne paused for a moment, then looked at the two of them calmly and began to speak.

"To be frank, I am not against Krant's invasion of the Empire."

"Hey?"

It has to be said that Anne's words completely stunned Katie.

"Why, why?"

"Because the empire should have died long ago."

Anne glanced at Katie.

"It has become rigid, old and decrepit, unwilling to change or accept transformation. My grandfather proposed the theory of the lifeline and put it into practice. But those priests who only kneel before the altar and pray all day criticize him harshly, considering his actions blasphemous and evil. They try their best to prevent the technology from circulating in the Empire and do everything they can to persecute my grandfather, all for their own selfish desires."

"But Dr. Darwin's theory was still proven, wasn't it? Countries began to adopt it."

"That's true."

Anne nodded.

"Even so, the empire remains filled with ignorant pride and self-confidence. They seem to believe that they can stop this technological innovation simply by relying on their glorious past. But in fact, they failed, which does not surprise me, nor do I feel any sympathy for them. After all, they closed that door with their own hands and are now facing all this."

"Then why are you helping us?"

"Because the technology used by the Kingdom of Krant is inconsistent with my philosophy."

Annie shook her head.

“Grandpa once said that modifying primates is dangerous and would endanger humanity itself. If the Krant Empire used my chimera to conquer the Empire, I would have no problem with it. But when they use beastmen, it conflicts with Grandpa’s wishes, and naturally I can no longer support them.”

As she spoke, Annie frowned.

"However, it's worth mentioning that the beast-transformation technology was quite strange when it first appeared."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei immediately became interested.

"How to say?"

"There are currently two biotechnology routes."

As Anne spoke, she picked up the paper and pen from the table and began to draw and explain to Levi and Katie.

"The mainstream approach is synthesis, which is Grandpa's method. It involves extracting the lifelines of different species, fusing them together, creating entirely new life forms, hatching them, and then using nutrient solutions to promote their further growth. Of course, this is a very time-consuming process, especially the creation of new species. They must obey human commands, be docile, and have limited abilities. The fusion of lifelines is an extremely complex task. The lifelines of different species have different patterns, and combining them is not an easy task."

Looking at the drawing Annie had made on the paper, Levi wondered if this lifeline was actually DNA...

"Another approach is rehabilitation, which was originally only in the theoretical stage. It initially emerged to serve people with disabilities. Because some people wondered if it would be possible to restore people who have lost their arms or legs to their original state by reconnecting them with new limbs?"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Katie remarked.

"Indeed, the idea is good, but impractical."

Annie shook her head.

"All experiments based on this failed. Without exception, those who had modified limbs implanted experienced rejection reactions, ranging from hospitalization to death. This is different from chimeras. Chimeras are like a blank canvas, and what we need to do is draw the picture we want on that canvas. But modification technology is more like repairing a picture that has already been drawn by someone else, which is not an easy task."

Indeed, that metaphor is quite accurate.

"Then one day, people from the Kingdom of Krant found me and asked if I would like to join the research on the beastmen. I immediately refused. As I told you two before, the modification route had not yet been successful, and the beastmen were undoubtedly part of the modification route concept. In addition, its goal was to intervene in primates, which went against my grandfather's ideas. So I did not accept their invitation. But what I did not expect was that they actually made it."

Who led this research?

“Ogles Fleming, he is an outstanding biologist, but in my opinion, his abilities are about the same as mine, especially in the research on beast soldiers. To make humans switch between beast and human forms without causing rejection is, in my opinion, a difficult and almost impossible task.”

Are you jealous of him?

Li Wei stared at Annie, then suddenly asked a question, which she glanced at.

"To be honest, I'm more suspicious of how he did it than jealousy."

"There's nothing wrong with the paper, is there?"

"That's right, but that's the problem."

Anne nodded.

“I read the paper. The theory was detailed and the data was accurate, but there were some parts that I felt were not quite right. Many results did not seem to be derived by Dr. Fleming. Rather, it seemed that he already knew the answer and then deduced the process backwards. This made me a little strange. So, I started to investigate his research.”

"Is this why you're wanted?"

Li Wei wasn't stupid. Anne had no goodwill towards the Empire, so she wouldn't have betrayed them. Therefore, it could only be that she had discovered some secret hidden among the beastmen.

I'm not entirely sure.

Annie shook her head in confusion, clearly unsure why she was wanted by the police.

"So, what did you do before you were wanted?"

"I'm just doing my own research and advancing the projects the Empire wants me to pursue... Well, in that sense..."

At this point, Anne seemed to have thought of something.

"I did submit a report request to the Kingdom of Krant."

"What application?"

"The level of completion of the beastman technology is very high, which is a bit strange."

Anne continued speaking.

"Generally speaking, new technologies require continuous improvement, and the same is true for chimeras. It's not enough to just successfully breed one; it must undergo repeated improvement experiments. Often, the final product is not even the same chimera you initially saw."

That's not surprising. That's how technological development works. In the beginning, airplanes, tanks, and cars came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. It was only after a process of natural selection that they became what they are today.

"However, once the theory of the beast-type soldiers was established, there haven't been any major changes, which is quite rare. So I sent a letter to the Kingdom's biological laboratory, wanting to inquire about the original data..."

"Would that be very rude?"

Li Wei felt that raw data was something that would be very difficult to obtain.

"So I didn't submit a report? After all, if I could see the raw data, I might be able to understand Dr. Fleming's thought process and ideas in the research, which might be helpful to my research."

At this point, Anne fell into her memories again.

"Shortly after that, I noticed that some people were watching me. I found it strange and became more vigilant. Then one day, I discovered through my chimera that these people were trying to break into my house and kidnap me, so I hid in advance. But I didn't expect that the Kingdom of Krant would issue an arrest warrant for me the next day."

At this point, Annie frowned.

"Even now, I don't know what I did to make them so nervous."

"Um……………"

Hearing Anne's words, Levi also fell into deep thought. As Anne said, there didn't seem to be anything particularly strange, or at least not in Anne's own opinion.

However, the situation is different in the Kingdom of Krant.

"Aren't you going to explain to them that this is all a misunderstanding?"

“They are bureaucrats, Mr. Li Wei.”

Anne's expression was calm.

"They only want the results they desire; whether they've arrested the wrong person is not their concern. I certainly cannot entrust my life to a group of people who only know how to follow the rules. As for having a change of heart, that's even less of their business—frankly, the Kingdom of Krant feels very foreign to me now. I'm not even sure if those humans modified by the beast soldiers are still human, and whether they still consider themselves human is also a question."

indeed so.

Li Wei can understand this; many movies feature a protagonist who, for some reason, becomes an alien and ultimately betrays his human identity, embracing other aliens as an alien himself.

but……………

"If you could see the original paper, wouldn't you be able to spot the problems?"

"If there really is a problem... do you think Dr. Fleming plagiarized someone else's paper?"

"I didn't say that..."

Li Wei didn't have that idea; on the contrary, he had another idea.

Assuming that Dr. Fleming's chimera modification technology wasn't his own idea... then where did it come from?
Where can I find this original paper?

"The Kingdom Biological Research Institute's database must contain the original documents."

“Okay, Miss Anne, thank you for your assistance.”

Hearing this, Li Wei knew where he should go next.

(End of this chapter)