Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 482 Deep into the Tiger's Den (Seeking a monthly vote at the end of the month)

When Li Wei woke up again, it was already the next morning. He yawned, stretched, and then sat up in bed.

I must say, last night's dream was quite interesting. The Goddess of the Night was a bit silly, but because of it, Li Wei learned some information about this monster.

However, this raises a question.

The Goddess of Night didn't say anything, perhaps because she herself hadn't realized it, but after combining this information, Li Wei discovered a problem.

First, Li Wei first refers to their world as A, and the parallel world as B.

According to the Goddess of Night, this monster descended upon World A and was sealed away by the followers of the Holy Bishop.

But the truth is, as of now, both the monster and the assistant were discovered in World B, not World A.

This raises the question: do they exist in world A?

Li Wei was not clear about the characteristics of this creature. Some science fiction movies and games he had seen mentioned that higher-dimensional beings could interfere with lower-dimensional beings, and so on. In other words, to explain this problem, this monster would have to exist in both A and B.

But how exactly did they do it?
Of course, parallel worlds can differ due to various circumstances. Just look at the empires in parallel worlds; their world lacks coal, but whether they simply haven't discovered it or it doesn't exist at all, Li Wei isn't sure. In fact, the same principle applies to different civilizations. Different environments create different civilizations, and different choices lead to different paths of development…

Li Wei pulled himself out of his thoughts and shook his head. He didn't like things like parallel worlds; they were too complicated, too troublesome, and there wasn't a single, complete theoretical basis to rely on; it was all just guesswork.

He quickly washed up, then went to the dining hall for breakfast, and went to the bridge to greet the officers who were changing shifts.

"Nothing strange happened last night, right?"

"No, sir, everything is normal."

"That's good."

Li Wei nodded, then sat back down in his chair and picked up the observation scope again to look down.

Then he blinked.

Interesting.

Last night, because it was dark, Li Wei couldn't see anything, but now it's different. Under the sunlight, Li Wei's [Soul Vision] can clearly see that below the Eye of the Sky, on the city of Münnek, a twisted mark resembling lightning is emerging in the sunlight.

It looks like a twisted, split scar.

etc……………!
Li Wei suddenly remembered the masked man. After being killed by the Baron, he was "stuck" in a spatial rift until Li Wei used [Reality Anchoring] to correct the error, at which point he was "spit out." And while he was "stuck," people in both worlds A and B saw his corpse!
World A consists of the Baron's butler and maids, while World B consists of the Baron himself.

Could this monster be like that too?
Li Wei still doesn't quite understand what the Goddess of Night meant by having her followers fuse with the monster and then seal it away. But could it be explained in a game? The player controls a character and uses teleportation, but the god, acting as the boss, inflicts a debuff that prevents teleportation.

If this debuff is used during the skill's execution, will it cause program errors? Is that why the monster exists in both A and B? In other words, the seal the Goddess of Night spoke of is actually "locking" the monster in space?

"Mr. Li Wei".

Just then, Annie's voice rang out. Levi looked up and watched as Annie walked onto the bridge and came to his side.

"I've made some discoveries about that combination."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei's eyes lit up.

"What discovery?"

"Following the paper, I simply created two tissues with similar synthetic structures. I discovered that when they are brought close together, they generate an unknown resonance signal. I cannot yet determine what this resonance between the tissue structures means, but I must say, it is indeed a rather unexpected discovery..."

"Structural resonance?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei immediately became interested.

"May I take a look?"

"of course can."

Led by Anne, Levi arrived at a warehouse, which Anne was temporarily using as a laboratory. Inside were some strange instruments, the names of which Levi couldn't recall, and their operation was quite different from what he was used to.

Anne led Levi to a microscope, where Levi discovered two samples placed under the lens.

"This is a synthetic beast that I created after following the steps in the paper and making some simple adjustments. The incubation process itself took a bit longer."

Annie explained it to Levi, who looked at the sample slices placed on the glass slide—well, he was glad he hadn't seen what Annie had prepared.

So Li Wei wisely didn't ask any questions, but instead lowered his head and carefully looked into the microscope.

Under the microscope, Li Wei could see cells-like structures, but they were different from the cells he had seen in biology class. These cells were equilateral triangles, and when connected together, they formed a strange shape resembling a triangular spiral.

"That's how it is when it's stationary, but if we just get a little closer..."

Annie brought another sample slice closer, and then Levi saw that the strange spiral cycle from before suddenly began to expand and contract, as if it had sensed something, and the other sample showed the same reaction.

What would happen if you put the two of them together?

"They will merge together."

"Hmm...it's all merging together..."

"By the way, they can also devour other lifelines."

As she spoke, Annie took out another sample, explaining that it was collected from human corpses in the previous underground research institute. Li Wei looked at it; although he couldn't understand it, at least the cells were similar to those he had seen in movies and games.

After Anne extracted this part of the sample, she dripped it onto the triangular specimen that Levi had seen, and then a surprising scene unfolded.

Suddenly, the triangular spiral-shaped cell transformed into a venomous snake, lunging at its prey and coiling it tightly around it. It twisted and coiled incessantly. Li Wei watched as the cell was slicing into pieces by the triangular snake, and then completely absorbed.

"I think this might be the way that monster absorbs life matter, and it probably originates from this cellular structure."

Anne then spoke up.

"Currently, it can absorb organic matter, but it cannot absorb inorganic matter. Things like ores and iron pieces are no good, and of course, bones are the same. Although it can absorb them, it is not very efficient. It is very likely that this lifeline structure was designed this way to better absorb organic matter."

So all the corpses we see are just bones?

That's about it.

"I see..."

Upon hearing Annie's answer, Levi's lips curled up slightly.

"So, this guy can't handle steel, right...?"

That makes things easier.

In the world of biotechnology, this guy is practically invincible, but unfortunately, Levi's world doesn't follow the biotechnology route.

Steel behemoths are the true symbols of justice and romance! "What do you plan to do?"

Anne looked at Levi and asked.

"Directly invade the Immortal Palace?"

"As things stand, this is probably the only way."

Li Wei stared at the specimen before him, pondering it carefully. Then, an idea gradually emerged from the depths of his mind.

Annie helped herself solve the theoretical problem, and then she would see if her deduction was correct. If it was correct, then they would not only be able to kill the monster, but also return to their own world!

Of course, this is not an easy task.

Soon, another day passed, and the pitch-black night descended once more.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated; it was a night of torrential rain.

Li Wei looked up at the sky above. Dark clouds, like a giant cauldron, obscured everything, and the Eye of the Sky was nowhere to be seen. The streets were deserted; clearly, no one would be wandering around outside in such a heavy rain.

Except for certain people with ulterior motives.

Li Wei's plan was simple: to sneak in and see if the monster was down there, or what it was doing down there.

But this is not an easy thing.

Because the space in this palace is unreliable.

Li Wei reached the edge of the rooftop and leaped down. The instant he landed, the storm vanished, and the world became a clear night. Along the palace corridors, fully armed Krant soldiers stood guard and patrolled. They seemed to have noticed something, glancing in Li Wei's direction.

At that very moment, Li Wei flashed and disappeared into the corridor.

And outside the window, the sound of rain could be heard once again.

"This place is terrible, it's a real scourge."

Li Wei gasped. He hadn't noticed it from a distance, but as he got closer, he saw that the entire palace space was completely fragmented. To put it bluntly, world A and world B were intertwined, and no one could be sure whether the next time you opened a door, you would enter a place where there were people or no one.

After all, there might be people in world A, but no one in world B.

Or vice versa...

Li Wei can no longer even use the puppets for reconnaissance, as they disconnect as soon as he goes to another world. Fortunately, his [Soul Vision] allows him to see the boundaries of these broken spaces.

However, just because you can see it doesn't mean you can solve the problem.

The people inside the palace seemed unaffected, but Li Wei was affected—he felt it must be related to that facet.

Because of the [unconscious control], Li Wei wasn't worried about being discovered, but he wasn't sure if the monster would find him.

In conclusion, caution is the best policy.

After calming himself down, Li Wei continued forward.

He carefully walked through the corridor and past the adjacent foyer, the space constantly shifting from damp to dry, from torrential rain to sunny weather.

Then, Li Wei stopped walking.

In the lobby ahead, a group of fully armed soldiers could be seen patrolling. They had blocked the staircases and entrances, and there was no usable space debris nearby.

Ok………

Just as Li Wei was about to use a twin-tailed sprite to teleport away, an unexpected incident occurred.

A man appeared out of thin air, wearing a white mask, a white shirt, and a black suit. He landed on the ground, and upon seeing him, the fully armed soldiers immediately knelt down in respect.

"Divine messenger!"

"Ah."

The masked man nodded as he looked at the soldiers kneeling on the ground.

"You have done a very good job, God is very pleased, keep it up."

"Yes, it is our glory to serve the true God!"

Why does this sound like something a cult would say to me?
Listening to the conversation, Li Wei was speechless. Could it be that the monster really thought of himself as a god in this world? However, he recognized the man's attire. If Li Wei was not mistaken, it was the outfit of the assassin who had tried to kill the Baron!

So that was some kind of divine messenger?
Wait, since that's the case...

At this moment, a bold idea suddenly came to Li Wei's mind. Then, in a flash, he saw his appearance and clothes change instantly. In the blink of an eye, Li Wei turned into a man wearing a white shirt, a black suit, and a white mask.

Then, he stepped out and walked out of the corridor.

Who is it!?

Hearing footsteps, everyone turned around and were stunned when they saw Li Wei.

Then, the masked man looked at Li Wei.

"Number 9? You're back?"

"……………………"

Li Wei nodded silently without saying a word.

"Why did it take so long? And your mission failed, Baron Hanklis wasn't replaced, what did you do?"

Replacement? Could this be the reason Baron Hanklis was assassinated? This group tried to assassinate him and replace him? Wait, Anne did say that combination could absorb all organic matter. Does that mean these guys can eat each other and then transform into someone else?
Could it be that everyone in this city was replaced in this way?

That's a bit scary.

"…………………"

Li Wei silently shook his head, looking rather dejected. The masked man glanced at Li Wei, then looked away.

"In short, go and explain to the true God that He gave us power not to see us fail."

With that, the masked man turned and walked down the stairs.

Successful.

Seeing this, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief and then followed the masked man down the stairs.

(End of this chapter)