Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 486 Preparing for War
Li Wei's tower has many rooms; in terms of living space alone, it's certainly more than enough. Only the laboratory is relatively more troublesome. But fortunately, Li Wei can solve this problem. To be on the safe side, he had previously bought all the houses around the tower and renovated them to connect them to the tower.

Some of these houses were specifically used as warehouses; with a few simple modifications, Anne could then use them for her research.

Upon returning home, Levi naturally went to see his little girls first. Alice and Sophia were overjoyed to see him and rushed over to hug him tightly. So, while stroking the two little girls' heads, Levi listened to Eileen recount what had happened while he was away.

The boutique is doing very well, and Uncle Hank's steam car business has basically reached all over the country. However, he said that recently the factory has been mainly receiving orders from the government, apparently because of the war, and the other party needs a large number of vehicles. Li Wei did not comment on this.

In any case, it seems inevitable that the Empire and the Kingdom of Krant will clash head-on, so we must prepare for it.

In contrast, news from Qi Ya's side greatly excited Li Wei.

"Grandpa asked me to tell you that the work you asked him to do has been completed, and he found the idea very interesting. Also, the plan has now entered its fourth phase."

"Oh? Really?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei immediately became excited.

While the military factory was developing jet engines and Dr. Tester was developing a brand-new steam generator, Levi had considered combining the two to create a completely new mech. However, he certainly didn't have time to oversee the entire development process, so Levi drafted a plan for both sides. Simply put, if the previous step of development was completed, they would proceed with the next stage of manufacturing and development according to the plan.

In this way, even if Li Wei is not present, the research and development and manufacturing can continue smoothly.

It seems that things are progressing quite smoothly over there.

Upon hearing this news, Li Wei was quite excited, but he suppressed his excitement and spent a day at home with the girls before taking the Sky Eye to the military factory the next day.

When Levi stepped off the airship, Miss Krant and John Dunn were already waiting there.

"It's been a while since we last met. You all look to be in good health."

Levi nodded to Miss Krant and John, greeting them. Miss Krant was much the same as back at the Great Salt Lake, still looking like an excited fanboy upon seeing Levi. John Dunn, however, had changed considerably. Levi remembered him as a naive young man when he was trying to sell him jet engines; now, with his messy hair, thick beard, and dirty white robe—well, he really did look like a mad inventor.

Upon seeing Levi, Miss Krant hurriedly stepped forward, lifted her skirt, and bowed, while John scratched his head sheepishly.

"Well, it's been a long time, Lord Li Wei."

"Judging from your appearance, you've had a tough time lately?"

"This is quite an achievement..."

John gave a wry smile when Levi asked.

"Professor Andrew really gave me a hard time. There were a few times when I even thought about jumping off the building..."

Is he strict?

Speaking of Professor Andrew, Levi remembered him. He was a physics professor at the Royal School of Physics. After recruiting John to build missiles for him, John said he needed Professor Andrew's help, so Levi went to the Royal School of Physics to find him, only to be told that Professor Andrew had disappeared.

Yes, it was in this case that Li Wei inadvertently got stuck in a bug at the bottom of the world.

However, Levi's only impression of Professor Andrew was that he was lying unconscious on the floor. After the incident was resolved, Professor Andrew readily accepted Levi's invitation. As for anything else, Levi didn't pay much attention.

"Haha, he said I'm stupid and have no talent... He gave me so many lessons, I practically never stopped from morning till night..."

John scratched his head, looking speechless, but he quickly broke into an excited expression.

"However, thanks to Professor Andrew, our research and development has progressed rapidly. We have now produced shells with a range of about 50 to 100 kilometers, which far exceeds the range of current naval guns and artillery!"

Well, that's already considered a short-range missile.

"What about accuracy?"

Upon hearing Levi's question, John's previously excited expression changed considerably.

"Well... we can only say it's within the target area, but it's not exactly precise. However, Dr. Tester has been a great help. His steam generator can effectively increase energy consumption and increase range and distance. Not only that... you see, the mech you requested has been built!"

As they spoke, the three of them had already crossed the pier and arrived at the workshop in front of them. Li Wei looked up and followed the direction John was pointing. He saw a steel mech standing in front of the wall at the end of the factory!
It is about eight meters tall, slightly taller than the Knight-class mech. It is humanoid in shape, with a sharp triangular head.

Two heavy machine guns are mounted on either side of the head, while the left hand of the mecha is equipped with a standard mecha rifle. However, unlike the Knight-class mecha, the right hand is not equipped with a flamethrower. Instead, a heavy, diamond-shaped black box is wrapped around the mecha's right wrist, with only a sharp, conical column protruding from the top.

"You mentioned wanting to install melee weapons on the mechs. We considered it for a long time and felt that things like swords or axes weren't quite suitable. So we installed this pile driver on it. It's steam-powered and can easily penetrate hard steel plates!"

As he spoke, John turned his head and blew a whistle. Upon hearing the whistle, the staff next to the mecha immediately sprang into action. A moment later, Levi saw the mecha's right hand slowly rise, followed by a sudden thrust from the back of a pile driver. Accompanied by a burst of steam, the pile driver emitted a deafening roar, and at the same time, the hammerhead shot forward rapidly, forcefully smashing into the steel plate used as a test subject.

It easily pierced through three layers of armor plates used for the experiment, creating a huge hole in them.

"Hmm, it looks pretty powerful."

Li Wei lowered his hands from his ears, looked at the armored steel plate that had been pierced in the distance, and nodded in satisfaction.

However, the fourth stage is not simply about installing the weapons. "It was said before that the fourth stage was complete, which means..."

"Yes, please take a look!"

Miss Krant and John led Levi to the side of the mecha. Levi then noticed that, compared to the front, the back of the mecha appeared somewhat bulky when viewed from the side, and there were two round thrusters on either side of its shoulders.

"We installed the engine on the mech as you requested, and its performance exceeded our expectations."

"What are the results of the experiment so far?"

"this……………"

Faced with Levi's question, John glanced awkwardly at Miss Krant, who nodded slightly at him. Encouraged, John braced himself and continued speaking.

"Currently, it can be used for acceleration and flight over a certain distance, but because the mech is too heavy, it cannot be sustained for very long. The thrust of our designed jet engine is still very limited. If we want to increase the thrust further, we must add more engines or reduce the weight of the mech. But..."

"I see."

Li Wei nodded. Mech games have similar mechanics: the more you pack, the heavier the mech becomes, and the less it can fly. To make it fly, you have to reduce its weight and put most of the weight into thrust. In short, you have to make trade-offs.

"Has it been tested yet?"

“Yes, Lord Levi, but this mech theoretically requires at least three people…”

"I have a way of dealing with that."

Li Wei didn't say much, he just raised his chin slightly.

"Let me see its real-world test."

The practical test was a great success.

Or rather, this time the mecha did indeed meet Li Wei's minimum standards. In other words, Li Wei felt that he could use it now.

"You did a good job."

Stepping out again, Levi looked at Miss Krant and John and smiled slightly.

"Currently, the main part is complete. The next step is to see if it will be effective on the battlefield."

"Will war really begin, Lord Li Wei?"

Miss Krant couldn't help but ask, and it was understandable that she would have such a question. After Francis's surrender, the Imperial newspapers had been very concerned about this issue. Many believed that Krant might establish a separate maritime presence from the Empire. After all, although Francis had surrendered, the Western European Empire had not, and in terms of land area alone, the Western European Empire was larger than the Empire, most of which was uninhabited, frigid land. It was questionable whether Krant could continue its attacks on the Western European Empire once winter arrived.

Therefore, many commentators believe that the Empire may not take the opportunity to attack the Kingdom of Krant, since the reconstruction of Port Dre has already sealed the fate of the Kingdom of Krant, which may accept the division of the world with the Empire.

But Li Wei knew that Her Majesty the Queen would never accept such an ending.

"In short, it's always good to be prepared."

As Levi spoke, he looked at John.

"The Sky Eye will remain here. You're responsible for modifying it again, reinstalling the launchers according to the previous data, and moving the mechs onto it. By the way, how many missiles have you built so far?"

"Fifty, my lord."

John seemed a little embarrassed as he spoke.

"This is a bit more difficult to manufacture than artillery shells, so the production volume is relatively low..."

“I’ll take them all. Now that we’ve succeeded, you can focus your research on increasing the distance and power.”

"Alright, then, Lord Li Wei, which of these two aspects do you think is more important?"

"Um……………"

When John asked him a question, Levi thought for a moment and suddenly remembered a joke.

"As for power, when the kill radius is as far as the range, that's about right. Anyway, you guys figure it out."

"???"

After telling the joke, Li Wei turned and left.

But he didn't realize that this was only a joke to him.

(End of this chapter)