Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 507 Timed Preview
Li Wei quickly came up with a solution. He picked up the radio and connected to the Eye in the Sky.

"Lieutenant Horn."

"Yes, sir. What are your orders?"

“Go ahead and strike the Crown Palace a few times.”

"...Sir?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's order, Lieutenant Horn seemed not to understand his meaning for a moment.

"You mean we're going to attack the Crown Palace?"

"Just fire a few shots, use high-explosive shells, hit wherever they want, just don't hit the palace."

Li Wei didn't think there was anything wrong with his orders. The Empire and Krant were indeed at war, and Krant was an enemy nation; attacking an enemy nation was perfectly reasonable. Besides, what proof did they have that the Empire had launched the attack?
"You can run away after I've hit you."

"Yes, sir."

Lieutenant Horn was as baffled as ever by Levi's orders, but he had known Levi for some time and knew that although the orders he gave were strange, they always ended up with good results. So he didn't ask any more questions and quickly ended the communication.

A moment later, several muffled sounds came from the sky.

"Thump—thump thump—!"

This was like a thunderclap in broad daylight. For most people, they would probably just look up in surprise and gaze in the direction of the sound. Naturally, they wouldn't see anything, so they would simply categorize it as a strange, unbelievable event that happens in their daily lives, but one that has nothing to do with them.

And put it out of their minds.

However, this is not the case for some people.

"boom-----!"

The shells whistled down, exploding on the rooftops and ground of the palace. The sudden sound and tremor startled Wilhelm II, who was in the royal court. Immediately afterward, the nearest guards rushed to his side.

"Your Majesty, we are under attack! Please take cover immediately!"

"An attack? This is the royal palace!"

Although Wilhelm II said this, he still stood up, then reached out and gently pressed the back of the throne. A moment later, accompanied by a soft sound, the steps leading to the throne began to slowly sink, and in a short while, a secret passage leading underground appeared.

"………………………"

Seeing this through the twin-tailed fairy, Li Wei was speechless. But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. The saintess's transformation of this place was a thousand years ago. Unless the palace was completely destroyed or abandoned, there was no way the underground secret chamber could remain undiscovered.

It now appears that Krant has transformed this secret room into an underground refuge.

Are the things inside gone too?

Oh well, never mind.

Li Wei sighed silently.

Let's go in and take a look first.

Thinking of this, his fingers twitched slightly, and then the twin-tailed elf quickly emerged from the shadows and darted into Wilhelm II's trouser leg through his shoes—well, thankfully he didn't notice, otherwise it wouldn't be a pleasant memory.

"Who on earth would do such a thing, these audacious villains?"

Wilhelm II had no idea that a little elf was sitting on his trousers. He strode toward the secret passage, complaining to the guards beside him.

"They killed General von Kleinmann, and now they want to kill me too? This is Deburg, not Francis!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down. We will protect your safety. No one can harm you. The Imperial Guard will investigate what happened immediately; perhaps it was just an accident."

The guard, standing beside Wilhelm II, spoke.

"An accident? But you said you were attacked?"

"We don't know the situation yet, but your safety is the most important thing right now."

As they spoke, Wilhelm II and his guards arrived at the secret door. The guards pushed open the door, went inside, and turned on the switch. Soon, the lights inside the room came on. Then, everyone went inside, two guards closed the door and stood outside, while the rest of the people stood inside the room.

Meanwhile, Li Wei manipulated the little sprite to quietly slip off Wilhelm II and carefully survey the surroundings.

To his dismay, the room was completely different from what the saint had described. It was almost sparsely decorated, with some furniture, a wine barrel, a bed, and a table and chairs in the corner. The saint had said that the Knight Mephistopheles had spent his days and nights studying religious texts here, but Levi saw nothing but a few books on the bookshelf.

It seems like the trip was in vain.

Just as this thought flashed through Li Wei's mind, a strange scene suddenly occurred.

Suddenly, the entire room was bathed in a bright light, and the next moment, Li Wei saw a strange pattern appear on the ceiling. It looked like a clown's face, grinning at everyone, and then speaking.

"You feel like you came all this way for nothing, right?"

"Who? Who's speaking?"

Upon hearing the sudden sound, Wilhelm II and his guards frantically drew their guns and looked around, while his guards quickly surrounded him.

"I also hope you make a wasted trip, after all, what does it have to do with me?"

The voice continued talking to itself.

"That's all a thousand years from now. I'll be long dead by then. Humanity might perish because of it, or it might not. I can't be bothered to care. But some things aren't like that. Do you believe in fate? Well, I don't really believe in that stuff. To me, prophecies are more like warnings. It's just that nobody likes those warnings."

Li Wei then realized that Wilhelm II and the others were completely bewildered by the voice, seemingly unable to understand what he was saying at all. Then he realized that it was an ancient language. Li Wei was able to understand the speech of people from that era because of the wisdom of Solomon, but for people of this era, unless they were experts or scholars, they should not be able to figure out what people from a thousand years ago were saying.

"People like to hear good news and don't like to hear bad news. I think people won't change even in a thousand years. That's why I rarely make prophecies. You see, if you tell someone that they will be stoned to death if they go out today, they will only feel that you are cursing them. And if they are really stoned to death, their family will complain that I didn't warn them sooner. In the end, they just don't want to take responsibility."

"………………………"

"You might be wondering why I'm rambling on like this? Hahaha, it's simple, because I'm bored. You're the one who needs time, not me. I can say whatever I want, and talk for as long as I want. What are you going to do about it?"

"………………………"

Li Wei felt his fist harden; he understood why the Holy Maiden looked speechless when she talked about this guy.

"So let's go back to our previous topic."

The other person seemed determined to finish their rambling. "So you see, when Arthur came to me and told me his thoughts, I also told him that it wasn't a good idea. One day, his approach would cause very trouble. And Arthur also told me that he knew my concerns, but he believed that future generations should be able to solve this problem."

At this point, the voice burst into laughter again.

"Look, he believed in humanity! But humanity failed him. What have they been busy with for the past thousand years? Trivial matters, pointless farces. All of them, all of them are just a bunch of idiots! They foolishly forgot what they were supposed to do, what they were meant to do. So you see, I told you, that's what people are like. They didn't focus on what they were supposed to do, they were just like a bunch of dogs, doing nothing but wagging their tails and getting fed until they die of old age!"

Li Wei sighed silently. Well... this person is indeed... very unique.

He doesn't look like the one who created the Holy Bishops at all.

Generally speaking, those who create religions should at least be morally upright, if not compassionate. But this person's tone suggests he would rather the whole world atone for their sins with their deaths.

Imagine the supreme Pope standing in the square, pointing at the crowd and shouting, "You are all idiots!"

It does feel pretty crazy.

"So, I'm actually reluctant to say these things, but if I don't, I feel I can't convey my mockery of those stupid idiots of the future. So I still have to say it: these idiots have made this world like this, and what I'm going to do is sit in my chair, have a glass of wine, watch them walk down the road to destruction, and then raise my hand and shout 'Cheers!' at the height of their screams and cries!"

This person... really doesn't know what to say.

Li Wei wondered if the followers of the Holy Bishop would have their faith crumble and their worldview destroyed if they knew that the creator of the Holy Bishop was such a person.

"The Holy Bishop is the worst thing I've ever created! That Arthur guy is just delusional!"

The voice suddenly became impassioned.

"He thought the Holy Bishop was some kind of machine, that as long as its parts performed their functions and were properly maintained, it would run forever. But that's not how it works! The workers might slack off and not repair it, or they might overlook it, or they might even steal the spare parts and sell them! That's the reality! The Holy Bishop won't always be as he imagines! Never! You know what? I really agree with Jeanne's suggestion to smash the floating city down on that ugly, hideous Rosary Church, and with a bang—the world will be peaceful! What Holy Bishop? To hell with him!"

Li Wei thinks... this guy is just taking advantage of the fact that no matter how much nonsense he spouts, no one can refute him, or rather, no one can hear him even if they do. So he's just spouting nonsense here, truly letting himself go.

"But unfortunately, it's too late. There's no point in you doing this now, so my advice is to run, run as far as you can, since this world is about to end anyway. Arthur always hoped for good things to happen, but it turns out there are no good things in this world, so live as long as you can. The gates of hell have been opened and can no longer be sealed, and now, all it needs is a trigger... blood, fear, death, pain... nothing can fill the insatiable greed of a demon more than this."

At this point, Mephistopheles paused for a moment, then let out a cold laugh.

"Go home and wait to die, enjoy your last moments of happiness."

As the words fell, Mephistopheles' voice disappeared completely, leaving Wilhelm II and his guards looking at each other in bewilderment, wondering who had just spoken or what he had said.

But for Li Wei, his brows were furrowed at this moment.

Mephistopheles rambled on for a long time before finally getting to the point.

Has the gates of hell been opened?
In other words, those demons could come out at any time?
Wait, then why aren't they coming out...? I know!
Li Wei pondered for a moment, then suddenly his eyes lit up.

Although many things sound terrible right now, Levi discovered the worst thing of all.

That means Miss Saintess's plan absolutely cannot be carried out.

Moreover… Li Wei also had to bring this terrible news back to the Holy Maiden.

In fact, the saintess was quite surprised when she heard the news that Li Wei brought back.

"The gates of hell have been opened?"

"At least that's what the voice said, but whether it's true or not, I can't be sure."

Li Wei shrugged and looked at the saintess in front of him.

"By the way, this guy's personality is really..."

"How to say?"

"Taking advantage of the fact that he lived a thousand years in the future, and that no one could insult him, he proceeded to curse everyone, claiming that everyone in this era was an idiot and deserved to die, and so on..."

"Ah, that's definitely Mephistopheles."

The saint was clearly more certain of this than Livy.

"Perhaps it's because he has the ability to see into the future that he's always so cynical. Oh, speaking of which, I'm reminded of something. I once built a fortress and invited him to come and see it. After he finished looking at it, he said to me, 'You know this thing will collapse sooner or later, right?'... Another time, a nobleman in the empire had a baby and invited him to give his blessing. After he arrived, he said, 'The child is yours, congratulations.'"

"…………………"

This guy is really a master of sharp tongue.

"He wasn't beaten to death because..."

"Of course it's because he's very strong, otherwise I would want to kill him."

Judging from the Saintess's aggressive manner when she said this, Li Wei felt that the first Pope's fighting strength might be among the top three.

Otherwise, they would have been beaten to death long ago.

But to be fair, what he said was indeed correct, especially in an era when there was no way to verify bloodlines. If a knight appointed by the emperor told you that your child was his own, with this endorsement, at least the child would not have any problems with inheritance in the future.

Of course, that's not a pleasant thing to say.

"Although his words were unpleasant, I don't think he was entirely unwilling to help us."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"I just have this feeling that if he truly had no faith in humanity, he wouldn't need to tell us that the Gates of Hell have been destroyed. Because..."

Indeed, this was what Li Wei had thought of. He suddenly remembered what the Goddess of Night had told him: gods need believers to burn their souls to unleash their power, because there is no fire left in this world. If this is true for the gods, then it is very likely that it is true for demons as well. In other words, even if the gates of hell are opened, it would require a great deal of power to unleash a large number of demons.

Sacrifice, even death!
If the Holy Maiden were to smash the floating city down onto the Flower City, countless people would die! And the souls of those who perished could very well activate the Gates of Hell!
That will be the real end of the world!
Although this Mephistopheles knight was quite sarcastic, he did indeed inform Levi of the most important news and intelligence. If he truly hoped for the extinction of humanity in this era, he could have simply said he supported the Saintess's plan, and then Levi would have returned and told him, and the two of them would have definitely decided to smash the floating city down on the Flower City.

And then it was all over.

Based on Mephisto's performance, this is exactly what he wanted to see.

And... Levi recalled a line from Mephistopheles' complaint.

"Miss Saint, do you know what he meant by the ugly and unsightly Rose Church?"

　I noticed there were absolutely no ads for Valentine's Day this year. I didn't even remember the date; I was just thinking about how many days until Chinese New Year...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)