Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 478 continues in-depth
The exact historical date of the mural is obviously unverifiable, but the content it depicts caught Livy's attention.

Simply put, the mural tells this story.

Long ago (the exact time is unknown), a meteor fell from the sky and landed on this land. It brought something evil, terrifying, and eerie. It devoured all living things in its path, merging them into a horrible, enormous monster.

People were helpless against the monster; swords and blades were useless against it. In despair, they could only pray to the gods. Just then, a priest who believed in the Holy Bishop stepped forward. He lured the monster to the church, fought it fiercely, and ultimately let it devour him.

After that, the priest's devout faith in God granted him great power. He seized the monster's body and manipulated it into a sacred place, where he prayed for divine power to seal it inside.

But this was not the end. The priest's assistant was also cursed by the monster, so he, like the priest, chose to seal himself away to avoid harming others.

The final scene of the mural clearly shows someone pushing a giant stone to block the door from the outside, while inside sits a strangely shaped man with wings and a snake's tail on a stone chair at the top of the altar. Below his body, veins extend down the wall, enveloping something within them.

Yes, that's all the information provided in the murals.

Of course, many questions remained unanswered for Li Wei, such as who painted the mural and what era it took—in his view, it shouldn't be the time of King Solomon, since King Solomon was a great sorcerer in that era, and there must have been many others with similar powers. Dealing with an extraterrestrial life form shouldn't be too difficult.

But it didn't seem like the era of the Holy Bishops, because Katie had once said that in the Holy Bishops, the stone chair represented the Holy Lord, and only the Holy Lord was qualified to sit in that position; mortals could only stand below the steps. Although it was unknown how that assistant was cursed, it was certain that he absolutely should not have been qualified to sit in the chair; he would have been more likely to be buried in a tomb.

However, it's hard to say for sure. After all, quite a few years have passed since the Golden Age, with dynastic changes occurring in double digits. Whether religious beliefs changed during those one or two hundred years may have seemed like a long time to people at the time, but from a historical perspective, it's just a fleeting moment.

However, the answers to these questions are not important to Li Wei. At least for the things he needs to investigate now, he has already obtained some answers.

The alien creature that fell from the sky was the starting point of all this. It should possess some kind of ability to devour other creatures and merge with them, probably similar to the gelatinous snail that Levi had seen before. Of course, how the priest, after being devoured by the monster, turned the tables and controlled it, leading it to the Holy Land, is something Levi still cannot understand.

In short, the big boss was "sealed," but later a residual "curse" was found on the priest's assistant (this is also vaguely described in the murals). The assistant decided to follow his teacher's example, so he went to the church and imprisoned himself. The others sealed the underground church, locking him inside completely.

This research institute is studying this underground church.

The problem now seems to be that we still need to turn to that "holy land".

The rest is……………

Li Wei turned to look at the blood vessels on the surrounding walls; they emitted a red, eerie glow.

Hmm? Wait... could it be that...?

Li Wei concentrated his mind and carefully observed the blood vessels with [Soul Vision]. Then, a line of information quietly appeared in front of Li Wei.

[The Mark of Death: A seal that uses blood as its power to suppress life]

So this isn't some kind of evil monster, but an evil magical artifact—well, it's a bit strange to think of a blood vessel as a magical artifact.

Hmm? Wait, could it be that...

Thinking of this, an idea suddenly flashed through Li Wei's mind. He took out a small knife, reached out and gently ran his hand across it, making a cut.

Blood gushed from the incision, and at that very moment, the blood vessels that had been hanging in the air as if dead suddenly transformed into ferocious venomous snakes, rushing straight toward Li Wei!

"Shh!"

The next instant, Li Wei's figure vanished, causing the blood vessels to miss their target. However, they quickly seemed to lock onto Li Wei's location again and turned to rush towards the gap in the seal.

Just then, a match was dropped through the gap.

"boom-----!"

A sudden burst of intense flames erupted, burning wildly in the underground cavity and turning it into a raging furnace. It completely engulfed the trembling blood vessels, and in the blink of an eye, Li Wei saw the crimson aura underground gradually disappear without a trace.

"I see."

Li Wei nodded. He now understood what was going on with these corpses. Clearly, those blood vessels seemed to have an automatic ability to draw blood. After the monster broke free, it killed many people, and naturally, those corpses bled. Then, these blood vessels, like tentacles, dragged their bodies here... Hmm, Li Wei didn't know what kind of ritual this was, but it looked a lot like a machine with a set program.

The monster didn't return to fight the blood vessels for the corpses, for reasons unknown. In any case, it chose to flee the place and head towards the outside world. However, the Kingdom of Krant had already completely sealed off the research institute, so it devoured the unfortunate survivors and then curled up in a safe place, waiting for new victims to arrive.

That should be roughly the process.

Li Wei tried to reconstruct the "crime scene" and felt that what happened there was quite clear.

But this was only the surface; he still hadn't found the root of the problem.

Perhaps Anne can help him answer this question.

In fact, Anne did help Levi solve the problem.

“I found the records of Dr. Fleming’s research here back then.”

When she returned, she was overjoyed and radiant.

"According to records, this place was first discovered by a group of miners who dug out this cave, discovered the strange things inside, and reported it to the Krant authorities. The latter came here, sealed it off, and then built a research institute. Guess what they were researching?"

"What are you researching?"

"Sample No. 1".

She paused for a moment, then continued speaking to Li Wei.

"According to this record, people found a man with features of different kinds of animals on the stone chair above this altar. He was dead, but his body had not yet become a mummy. I don't know if Krant saw this Sample One and that's when he got the idea to create Zoanoids, or if he had the idea of ​​Zoanoids first and then decided to preserve this sample for research. In any case, they established a research institute here and invited Dr. Fleming to form a team to study this sample..."

At this point, Annie shook her head.

"They asked me to participate in the research on beast-type soldiers, which might be related to this matter, but I refused... No, anyway, Grandpa doesn't allow the modification of primates, it's just..."

Anne's expression was clearly complicated, and she might have felt a little regretful, but she quickly changed her mood.

"Needless to say, I found evidence of their research on beastmen in these documents."

"Oh? Really?"

"Yes, according to this document, they discovered a unique combination of lifelines in that sample number one. By using this combination, the lifelines of animals can be connected to those of humans without causing a rejection reaction. This is not a secret and is the basic theory behind the modulation of beast soldiers. However, I always thought that Dr. Fleming came up with it himself. I never expected that he actually discovered it from the sample."

"You seem very excited?"

Levi looked at Annie and asked, puzzled. Perhaps due to different experiences, this Annie in this world was more talkative than the one Levi knew, but she rarely showed such excitement. The Annie Levi knew only displayed similar expressions when dissecting monsters with a scalpel.

Annie blinked when she heard Li Wei's question.

"It feels so good to be able to look at any information I want without having to submit a report or seek permission. I have learned a lot this time."

Katie, who was standing next to her, also spoke up with a grin.

"Miss Anne made me open all the locked cabinets in that room!"

"Hmm...I see..."

This must be what it feels like for players to ransack an NPC's house after mastering lockpicking skills.

"Mr. Li Wei, have you made any progress?"

"Yes."

Li Wei nodded. After Annie's explanation, Li Wei understood the whole story.

Simply put, a long time ago, an extraterrestrial creature crashed here. It had the ability to devour other creatures and merge them with itself.

Then this creature caused a catastrophe. The priest and his assistant then sacrificed themselves to seal the extraterrestrial being. The underground chapel where the assistant was sealed was later unearthed by miners from Krant, who discovered the assistant, now a creature fused with a curse, and began to study him.

Then they discovered that this assistant possessed a hidden code that could effectively solve the problem of fusion and rejection of the beastmen they encountered. "...So they used this as a basis to create the theory of beastmen, and on this basis, they created a legion of beastmen. That's my view."

Li Wei briefly explained the situation, and Katie looked like she suddenly understood.

"Ah, I get it, it's just like that giant moth at the Great Salt Lake, right?"

"more or less."

No wonder.

Hearing Li Wei's answer, Katie nodded in deep agreement.

"I was wondering why I felt so disgusted when I was entangled by that thing. My hair was practically standing on end."

…………………Although Li Wei thought that anyone who was entangled by that thing would have a similar reaction, who knows?
"Extraterrestrial beings?"

Anne, on the contrary, was quite surprised by this concept.

"You mean... life from beyond the sky? Is that even possible?"

"It happens occasionally, and it's never anything good."

Li Wei didn't explain much about this to Annie, after all, he didn't know much about what the empires of this world were like.

However, what he was thinking about now was something else entirely.

"Miss Anne."

"Ok?"

"You should know that the reason why Krant was able to defeat other countries in this war was because they possessed the Beast Transformation General, and the Beast Transformation General can control Beast Transformation Soldiers, right?"

That's right.

Anne nodded.

"I don't quite understand the mechanism, since I haven't studied this topic in detail. But based on what I've seen so far, I think the beastification will secrete some kind of hormone or similar pheromone, causing the beast soldiers to obey their commands. This method is quite common among insects..."

"I think it's closely related to this fundamental theory."

Li Wei pointed to the records that Annie had taken out.

"When countries develop beast-like weapons, they will inevitably make various modifications to them as a precaution. However, the basic theory will not change. After all, as you said, if it weren't for this combination structure, it would be impossible to solve the problem of rejection reaction caused by human fusion, right?"

That's right.

"So I think that's the problem, and the reason why the Beast Transformation can control Beast Transformation Soldiers might also be this."

As he spoke, Li Wei frowned.

"Now I'm worried about what else can control the beast-transformed general."

"Controlling beast transformation?"

“Of course, Miss Anne.”

Li Wei looked at Annie and began to explain to her.

"You see, as I said, the cause of all this is some extraterrestrial creature that fell from the sky. And this creature is not dead yet; it may be sealed in a place called the Holy Land. Let's assume that the beast form can control the beast soldiers because their bodies have the same arrangement and combination. So, if that extraterrestrial creature awakens... will it take over and control all of this?"

"That was many years ago, wasn't it?"

Annie seemed quite surprised by what Li Wei said.

"Could that creature still be alive today?"

"The thing sealed down here was just jumping around right in front of us not long ago. I think it's not impossible."

"It's incredible how it's still alive?"

Annie shook her head, while Levi continued speaking.

"So now I think what we need to do next is find the Holy Land. Unfortunately, there's no record of the Holy Land here. Miss Anne, do you have any clues?"

"I've never been very interested in religion... and I've never heard of any holy sites."

Anne thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"It might not be that name, but there are definitely some clues. You see, this research base has been abandoned, and I think they may have learned of the Holy Land's existence through some channel. They may have built a new research base there. And these things can't be hidden from others; they might just be using some purpose to cover it up—for example, do you know if the Kingdom of Krant started any projects after this research base was abandoned? Moreover, researching these things will inevitably require a lot of researchers. Although you are unlikely to be transferred there, what about the others?"

Li Wei did not believe in absolute secrecy. Ancient emperors would even have craftsmen buried alive with them after building their tombs, yet that didn't necessarily reduce the number of tomb raiders.

Moreover, researching this kind of thing isn't something an evil doctor could conjure up by hiding in a remote castle and creating Frankenstein—that's pure science fiction. An institute needs a large number of scholars and researchers to maintain it, but they're not like dockworkers who can be found anywhere as long as they're willing to work hard.

A scholar often needs years of study and training, and even including their students, these people are definitely a minority.

Their relocation, however, is not something that can be easily concealed.

Given their rarity, it's impossible for these people to be buried alive with the dead once they've been used up.

"………………………"

Anne shut her mouth, frowned, and began to carefully recall and think.

After a moment, she spoke.

“I’m not sure… if that’s right, but I did have a student who was sent to participate in some research project. I don’t know what it was, but afterwards I received a letter from her telling me that she had disobeyed my request and participated in the research on the Zoanoids. She wanted to tell me that this opportunity was very important to her, and she also apologized to me for it.”

"and then?"

"Then I wrote her back. After all, it was my grandfather's insistence, and as his granddaughter, I had to uphold it. But she was just my student, and of course I didn't need to bind her with this rule. So I told her it was nothing and not to take it to heart. She was very talented and should go out and make a name for herself."

Did you have any further exchanges afterward?

"No, she never wrote to me again after that."

"Do you think your student is involved in this matter? Why?"

"Because she was the most talented student I had ever mentored, I was sure the project she was assigned to wouldn't involve her doing menial tasks. Moreover, she told me in a letter that she was being given important responsibilities, which made her interested. Now, if you think about it, this happened after the institute was abandoned."

As she spoke, Anne sighed.

“After that, I followed published papers and projects for a while, trying to see if her name was on them. After all, I was quite curious about it, but I didn’t see any. You know, we scholars keep track of the latest developments in this field, but so far, I haven’t seen her in any published papers or projects.”

This means that the other person is either unemployed or doing classified work.

Do you know where she works?

"The postmark on the letter indicates that it was sent from Muneke, but the exact address is unknown."

After listening to Annie's answer, Levi thought for a moment and made a decision.

"Anyway, we'll find out once we go and see."

(End of this chapter)