Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 491 Shadow Operation
Basically, Krant's offensive against Francis can be summarized by these few news items.

The Ugly Beast Army Retreats in Defeated Streak

A terrifying army of monsters launches a surprise attack and seizes the invincible defenses.

The terrifying Death Squad wiped out 300,000 Franciscan soldiers.

The Krant Kingdom's frontline legions approach the capital's final defensive perimeter.

The Great Kingdom's General Will Soon Arrive in the City of Flowers

"Wow, as expected of a Franciscan, the angle of his fancy knee slide is different from others, and it even has a touch of artistry."

Sitting in the coffee shop, Li Wei crossed his legs, looked at the newspaper beside him, and complained.

It must be said that the current state of Huadu has truly broadened Li Wei's horizons.

First, the army of the Kingdom of Krant entered the City of Flowers, and before their arrival, many residents had already fled to the countryside. Of course, many others had nowhere to escape and had no choice but to stay. The City of Flowers was once rumored to be a romantic and beautiful city. But now, in Li Wei's view, the city had nothing particularly to be proud of.

The entire city was a desolate wasteland, or rather, utter chaos. Most of the youths had been arrested under various pretexts and imprisoned in concentration camps, forced to perform manual labor for the Kingdom of Krant. The city was rationed, and apart from the Krant soldiers, even getting enough to eat was a problem for everyone else.

In addition, another striking feature is that entertainment venues such as song and dance performances not only did not close down, but actually became even more prosperous. And their customers, of course, were the Krant occupying forces in the city. Many Krant soldiers would come to these places to pass the time during their breaks, and incidentally, to hunt for women.

Yes, that's right, this is also a "benefit" for the occupying forces. After all, the city is currently in chaos, with order almost nonexistent, and people have to rely on the occupying forces to survive. In particular, the young women and men will try to seduce the Krant soldiers and obtain some of the restricted food supplies from them.

Yes, the young men got a share too.

Li Wei entered the city, naturally disguised as a Krant soldier. As a result, during his investigation, he was frequently harassed by local men and women. The women were alright, but Li Wei found the men completely unbearable. Especially when they looked at the Krant soldiers with "affectionate eyes," implying that only they possessed the masculinity they desired…

Well, although the Empire has had its share of Francis jokes, Levi thinks reality is far more outrageous than the jokes.

What's even more interesting is that the occupying forces in Krant were actually quite civilized; they didn't engage in the usual street burning, killing, and looting, and were rather disciplined. This surprised Li Wei somewhat, since he had seen too many occupying forces burning, killing, and looting in occupied territories. The discipline of Krant... that was terrifying.

As we know from history, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, both Liu Bang and Xiang Yu attacked Xianyang, and they naturally coveted the gold and silver wealth of Xianyang and wanted to plunder it all.

Fan Kuai and Zhang Liang advised Liu Bang not to be blinded by temporary wealth and glory, as this was the reason for the Qin Dynasty's downfall. They said that if he wanted to rule the world, he needed to win the hearts and minds of the people. Liu Bang realized his mistake and heeded their advice.

Xiang Yu, on the other hand, acted willfully and burned down Xianyang, even burning down the Epang Palace.

In the end, it will be clear who has gained control of the world.

In Li Wei's view, it was astonishing that the Krant army, upon arriving in the city known for its romantic, decadent, and extravagant lifestyle, did not burn, loot, kill, or plunder.

From the Empire's perspective—hiss, this kid is terrifyingly powerful, he must not be allowed to live!
This shows that Her Majesty's judgment was correct. Krant was not satisfied with ruling the Empire across the sea; it wanted the whole world!

After contacting the rear, Li Wei made a decision.

He planned to assassinate General von Cartermann, the incoming commander-in-chief of the Kingdom of Krant's army!
The reason for assassinating him was simple: General von Cartman would soon arrive in Florence and formally accept Francis's surrender at the Royal Palace, representing Francis's formal entry into the Kingdom of Krant. If he could be assassinated at this time, the Krant army would inevitably try to find the killer within Francis's territory, thus delaying their ability to concentrate their forces against the Empire.

According to the Queen's military plan, the Empire will officially launch an offensive against Krant in the winter.

The reason for choosing winter is simple: according to Delint—who is also Annie from another world—synthetic beasts are animals, and winter is naturally the least friendly season for them. Units like the Firebird, in particular, are almost immobilized in blizzards. The Empire's steam technology, however, clearly doesn't need to worry about this problem.

Therefore, launching an attack in winter would be the most advantageous situation for the Empire and the most disadvantageous for the Krant.

However, this was not easy. It was clear that the previous Franciscan regime under parliamentary rule hadn't fared much better, and many Franciscans deeply resented their rulers. This was why the Cronte occupying forces were so popular there. The Cronte officers, in particular, became VIPs and honored guests at various entertainment venues in the city.

The other Franciscans at most grumbled a few bad things about the occupying forces behind their backs, but they didn't really intend to have any conflict with them.

However, Li Wei also learned from the soldiers of the Krant army that there were indeed still resistance fighters waging guerrilla warfare against the Krant army in those rural areas. And now they were being besieged by the Francis army led by the Krant army. Obviously, in the eyes of the Krant soldiers, these resistance fighters were basically no threat.

Not to mention that with the arrival of the Cronte occupation forces, the Franciscan nobles, who had been overthrown in the previous revolution, have been resurrected. They have become the lackeys of the occupation forces and have used this opportunity to regain their status and power.

Well, looking at Francis in front of him, Levi had to admit that the Queen's decision not to ally with him was the right one.

This country is in complete chaos, with all sorts of problems arising, and it doesn't seem capable of getting anything done at all.

As it is now, the parliament has just been overthrown, and the aristocracy has immediately come to power.

It's utterly speechless.

It's almost time.

Li Wei took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, then stood up and straightened his clothes. He then walked out of the room and stood on the second-floor balcony, looking into the distance. He could see that the main streets of the entire city were now blocked off, surrounded and guarded by a large number of troops. The defenses were so tight that not even a mosquito could fly in.

Fortunately, Li Wei was prepared.

He picked up his cane gun and aimed it at the royal palace at the end of the avenue.

Through the scope, everything looked as small as a toy, and even the soldiers moving around looked like tiny figures.

However, Li Wei didn't care about any of that. He simply hid in the shadows, watching in that direction, his finger on the trigger.

The sound of military music rose from afar.

A tough-skinned pack animal pulled a magnificent, gilded wagon, the size of a motorhome, slowly making its way through the central avenue towards the royal palace, surrounded by soldiers and chimeras. Through his scope, Li Wei watched as the wagon arrived at the palace gates, and then a bald, mustachioed, and upright elderly man stepped out.

He was dressed in military uniform, his chest adorned with medals and ribbons. With a serious expression, he shook hands with the agent Francis, who had come to greet him. Francis, in turn, was quite obsequious towards the old man, beaming with delight.

Li Wei placed the scope's ring over the bald head and stabilized the crosshairs.

Then he took a deep breath.

In an instant, the flow of time around them began to slow down.

The next moment, Li Wei pulled the trigger.

(End of this chapter)