Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 513 Underground Sanctuary
Pure white light tore through the darkness, illuminating the pitch-black underground sanctuary. Then, Li Wei saw everything before him.

It was a huge altar.

On the surrounding walls were various carvings, seemingly no different from churches elsewhere. Above the walls, one could see "angels" (Li Wei found it hard to believe that those creatures with eyes in their wings, more like mutated monsters from a science fiction movie than human beings, were angels) high above, while below them were human believers.

However, unlike the murals in other churches, the believers here are not praying, nor are they fighting. Instead, they depict twisted, evil concepts—they are embracing each other, engaging in acts that defy description. Above them, one can see grotesque, winged creatures, seemingly witnessing the death of those who have gathered for this feast.

Looking further ahead, one could see a group of people laughing loudly, eating and drinking to their hearts' content, in a manner even more extravagant than a noble banquet. Of course, as for what they were eating… well, that was a bit too much to bear.

"Good heavens, what kind of banquet is this?"

Li Wei couldn't help but complain as he read it. He had obviously read it in the wrong order, but the content was understandable. In short, it was about believers holding a banquet to praise the Holy Lord. They prepared the ingredients, cleaned them, and then grilled the food for the banquet.

At the banquet, they received the blessing of the Holy Angel... Well, if you don't read the details and just listen to the synopsis, it doesn't seem strange at all.

Just like watching a one-minute horror movie on a video website, the synopsis is fine, the explanation is fine, but the premise is not to look closely at the content.

Otherwise, it's a different story.

“Miss Elizabeth, this isn’t some kind of holy bishop’s ceremony, is it? I certainly don’t consider this thing to be an angel.”

Li Wei made a joke, while Sister Elizabeth turned pale and covered her mouth, almost vomiting—well, considering the cabin is so small, don't vomit on me.

"I knew it! This thing doesn't look like an angel at all!"

Katie also expressed her thoughts convincingly, or rather, Katie's thoughts were actually the thoughts of most people.

How can something that looks even uglier than a chimera be considered an angel?
"This, this is impossible, how could this be... "

Elizabeth stared blankly at the mural before her, her mind a complete void. If this mural had appeared elsewhere, she could have attributed it to some kind of cult. But this was the Holy Bishop's headquarters, and the underground chapel was its most important forbidden area!
Is this what they are protecting?

Are the clergy at headquarters doing this kind of thing all along?
Elizabeth desperately wanted to offer another answer, but she couldn't. She saw, under the spotlight, tables and chairs resembling those of a banquet hall nearby, and even thick bloodstains on the floor. At the very least, she was certain these traces weren't from a long time ago.

So what exactly are those clergy doing here?
Oh dear, this is so hard to guess, isn't it?

"call-----!"

Just then, suddenly, a flame appeared.

Blue flames ignited in the braziers, illuminating the once pitch-black underground sanctuary. Only then did everyone notice that, right in the center of these murals, stood a colossal stone statue!

It was a gigantic, all-seeing eye, with three pairs of wings on each side. However, unlike the all-seeing eye that everyone was familiar with, this all-seeing eye was vertical, and it didn't look like a human eye, but rather more like the pupil of a wild beast.

Under the blue flames, shadows flickered on the ground, then began to twist and churn upwards. In Li Wei's eyes, the surrounding statues also emitted a dazzling red light.

"Well, I've actually seen this scene before."

Looking at the demons emerging from the shadows, Li Wei muttered to himself. This reminded him of the Little Thunder Temple in "Journey to the West". Back then, the temple was full of gods and Buddhas, but the background music and lighting made the Buddha statues seem particularly sinister and terrifying.

It was a childhood nightmare.

Of course, the Buddha statues in Xiaoleiyin Temple are not real Buddhas, but monsters in disguise.

So, these angels here...

I don't have any Tang Monk flesh for you to eat either.

Levi gripped the joystick, staring at the figures gradually emerging from the shadows. Unexpectedly, they were not the demon army Levi had seen in the Saintess Castle before. Instead, emerging from the shadows were clergy members in robes, including priests and nuns.

They stood there quietly, staring expressionlessly at the black mecha before them.

Then, a voice rang out.

"Who dares to trespass into the sanctuary and defile this sacred place!"

“Defile? I don’t think this place needs our defiling; it’s dirty enough already.”

Upon hearing this voice, Li Wei chuckled and glanced around before commenting. Just as Li Wei said, although the underground sanctuary appeared fairly tidy, the dark bloodstains were clearly visible.

For Li Wei, a detective, identifying this thing was incredibly easy.

“Foolish mortals.”

Then, an old man with a white beard sighed and spoke.

"This is not an evil deed, but a trial given to us by the Holy Lord. Of course, it is not difficult to understand that mortals are foolish and unenlightened, and may mistake it for something else. That is why we are holding this ceremony here to witness the miracle of the Holy Lord."

"Ignorance? Misconception?"

Li Wei chuckled softly.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're probably killing and eating people here. Isn't that an evil deed? It's not like you have nothing to eat."

"This is just a misunderstanding by ordinary people."

The white-bearded old man spoke again.

"In fact, those compatriots voluntarily allowed their flesh and soul to merge with ours. Only in this way can we unleash a more intense spiritual radiance, thereby perceiving the will of the Holy Lord..."

"…………"

Upon hearing the white-bearded old man's words, Li Wei raised an eyebrow. He immediately recalled that the Goddess of the Night had also said the same thing: unless humans sacrificed themselves to ignite their souls, it would be difficult for them to communicate with the gods... Moreover, according to the Goddess of the Night, such sacrifices seemed to be quite common for the gods back then.

Hmm...but...times change.

Moreover, in Li Wei's view, these guys covered in red light were really not convincing.

"Just because it was like that before doesn't mean it's still like that now. Times change... You don't actually think that in this day and age, you can perform some kind of evil ritual down here with a legitimate reason, do you?"

"A fool."

Faced with Li Wei's mockery, the white-bearded old man silently shook his head.

"We serve the Holy Lord, and the Holy Lord's will is our will. Mortal laws and rules cannot bind our faith! Do you intend to defy the Holy Lord?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You mean, if the Holy Lord tells you to kill, you kill; if the Holy Lord tells you to eat, you eat; whatever the Holy Lord tells you to do, you do?" "This is our duty as the offspring of the Creator! Even if the Holy Lord demands our flesh and soul, we will not betray its will!"

Levi shrugged and looked at Sister Elizabeth.

"Miss Elizabeth, what do you think?"

Faced with Li Wei's question, Sister Elizabeth stared blankly at the white-bearded old man.

"Miss Elizabeth?"

“He, he… Sir Levy, that gentleman is… His Holiness Franz, the 182nd Pope, known as the Consecrated One… We…”

"I'm asking you a question."

Li Wei looked at Elizabeth, speechless.

What do you think, Katie?

"Hmm? What do you mean, 'what do you think,' Mr. Li Wei?"

"Do you think the Holy Lord is someone who would have others kill and eat people to demonstrate divine miracles?"

"Of course not. Shouldn't the Holy Lord protect humanity? Only demons would do things like cannibalism."

"That's right, that's what I think too."

Li Wei snapped his fingers, then glanced again at Elizabeth, who was pale, trembling, and silent, before looking away.

"Alright, two votes in favor, one abstention, we've made our decision."

"Decide?"

“That’s right. We believe that you are not worshipping the Holy Lord, but the devil—because the Holy Lord would not allow humans to kill and eat people…it’s that simple.”

"Utterly foolish!"

Upon hearing Li Wei's reply, the white-bearded old man roared in anger.

"Do you really think that with your meager wisdom you can fathom the Holy Lord's great will and thoughts?!"

"I don't want what you think, I want what I think."

Li Wei calmly interrupted the white-bearded old man's roar. His voice was calm and composed, without the slightest wavering.

"If the Holy Lord is not the kind, merciful, and protective deity we imagine, then..."

The mech's cannons were raised forward, and the roar of its engines grew louder.

"I hereby declare that such a Holy Lord is of no value and meaning to us humans. Therefore, we do not believe that the Holy Lord you worship is the one we believe in, but rather the devil! And you... are all followers of the devil!"

That's right, that's it.

The answer to the question of what kind of being God is is—it varies from person to person. Everyone has a different view of God, and everyone has a different understanding of God. And what everyone knows is only the God as propagated by the Church. As for whether God is really like this, does it matter? For God himself, perhaps it is very important. But for Li Wei, it is actually not important.

Just like celebrities, the image a celebrity has in real life is completely different from the image their fans have of them. The image fans perceive of a celebrity may be vastly different from the real person. But does this matter? No, because fans aren't idolizing the real celebrity; they're idolizing the celebrity in their minds. This is why, after numerous smear campaigns and rumors, fans quickly abandon their idols.

It doesn't matter what kind of person a celebrity is; what matters is what kind of person others perceive them to be.

A celebrity's personality and life are none of anyone else's business. What fans want to know is not the real celebrity, but the side of the celebrity they see.

That's how many celebrity scandals on the internet come about.

Many fans claim, "I didn't know he was this kind of person!" after a celebrity's scandal breaks.

The reason is simply that "you don't know," not that "he isn't."

Even if you don't know it, he is still that kind of person.

The Holy Lord is the same.

Angels too.

The church believes that those ugly, alien-looking monsters are angels, and can come up with a thousand reasons to convince itself to accept this.

But believers don't need it. As Katie said, this thing looks so ugly, it doesn't look like a good person at all, who would like it?
Simple, straightforward, but that's enough.

Li Wei didn't care why the Holy Lord promoted this thing. Perhaps, as the Goddess of Night said, one needed to sacrifice and ignite their soul in order to make contact with the gods.

But he knew that modern society wouldn't accept that. Even if it were an angel, so what? Would you all agree to an angel killing a few people just to descend? Or would you go to great lengths to fabricate a series of reasons to prove that what the angel did was meaningful, acceptable, and understandable?

Do you perhaps want to persuade others to understand these monsters?

This is just as meaningless as writing reading comprehension exercises.

In savage tribes that eat raw meat and drink blood, people would eat the hearts of their enemies, believing that they had gained their souls and power.

However, nowadays, apart from a certain gourmet with the surname Han, most people keep their distance from it.

Therefore, your opinion is not important.

The important thing is—I think!

In the past, such sacrifices might have been the prevailing trend, a rule acceptable to most, and perhaps the chosen ones would have considered it the highest honor. This is not impossible; weren't all tribal sacrificial cultures like this in the past?

But the problem is, times have changed!

Most people today would not accept this kind of behavior!

If the other side is unwilling to adapt to the times, then there is only one way out: death! Such a deity is better off without!

As Li Wei spoke, the sound of gunfire erupted!
Countless shells appeared silently at that moment, instantly turning into streaks of fire that completely engulfed the entire underground sanctuary!

(End of this chapter)