Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 536 Returning to the Ruins (A new month, please vote!)

Since the dragon was killed, the entire ruins have been basically sealed off, with only a few archaeologists and a battalion of soldiers stationed there.

Even archaeologists cannot explain the origins of this city.

But now things are better. With the saintess around, Li Wei no longer needs to rely on these archaeologists to figure things out, like blind men feeling an elephant.

However, the saint did indeed give Li Wei a surprise.

"Mithril Valley? You actually found this place, you're really lucky."

"You know this place?"

"of course."

The saintess gazed at the surrounding buildings with a sense of wonder as she spoke.

“In our time, Mithril Valley was a very prosperous city—well, I think you guessed it, the city was famous for mithril.”

As she spoke, the saint pointed to the enormous void in the underground city before her.

"Did you know? Legend has it that this mountain is full of mithril. The people of Mithril Valley mined out all the mithril and then built this city here."

"But we haven't found any special weapons or equipment here."

Li Wei asked in confusion, "According to the Holy Maiden, this place is called Mithril Valley, so shouldn't even the floor be paved with mithril?"

But in reality, it seems that only stones remain here.

“I’m also surprised. I remember it wasn’t like this when I came here before.”

The saintess looked around, her eyes filled with doubt.

"I still remember the towering silver statues at the gate, the exquisitely carved bronze decorations on the ground, and the endless stream of carriages arriving from all directions. Countless merchants came here, hoping to exchange their goods for some products from Mithril Valley. The people of Mithril Valley are very skilled in smelting and mining. I even exchanged knowledge about smelting and forging with the lord here. I never imagined that after thousands of years, this place would have fallen to such a state..."

As she spoke, the saintess squatted down, reached out and gently stroked the ground, then sighed.

Li Wei frowned and glanced around.

"That's not right."

"wrong?"

“According to you, there should be at least some mithril fragments left here, but we’ve searched for so long and found nothing… Oh, right, and this gold coin.”

Li Wei took out a gold coin he had taken from the dragon's nest and threw it at the saintess.

Have you seen it before?

"Never seen it before."

The saintess examined the gold coins in her hand carefully and shook her head.

"It's definitely not from our era."

"It seems that Mithril Valley has gone through a lot since then."

Li Wei shook his head, then turned to the archaeologist next to him who was in charge of exploring the area.

Have you made any new discoveries here?

"I'm sorry, Sir Levi, we haven't found any records about this city here... It seems that everything here has been deliberately erased."

The lead archaeologist carefully answered Li Wei's questions while curiously observing the saintess.

Well, I wonder what he, as an archaeologist, feels when he sees living ancient people right now.

However, Li Wei clearly didn't need to care about such a trivial matter.

"Erased? Are you sure?"

Although when Li Wei first entered the underground city to explore, he found that it did not seem to be a city simply occupied by dragons, he did not really know the specific situation here—after all, he was only concerned with escaping at that time.

"Yes, according to our investigation, this city has experienced war, and there should have been two groups of people living here at different times. That's what's strange. The first people to live here were probably the Mithril Valley people that the Holy Maiden mentioned, but they left for some reason. Then other people moved in, and those should be the later occupiers."

"Not war?"

“It doesn’t look like it. We found the cemetery, and the analysis of the human bones inside shows that the oldest of these bones is much younger than this city.”

Upon hearing this, Li Wei looked at the saintess.

Where do the people of Mithril Valley bury the bodies of their own people?

"Hmph, don't be surprised to hear that."

The saintess revealed an amused smile.

"When people from Mithril Valley die, they throw their bodies into the Mithril River."

"The Secret Galaxy?"

"That's right, don't mistake it for an ordinary river. It's a flowing river of mithril! It's also the most important treasure in the entire Mithril Valley! It's a pity you can't see it. At the very bottom of this city, the flowing mithril gleams with a mesmerizing light under the fire. It flows through the riverbed and is then carefully captured by the people of Mithril Valley in special containers. After cooling, it is melted down again and used to make all kinds of armor and weapons."

As she spoke, the saintess looked around at the city, as if she had returned to those days.

"The Mithril Valley people firmly believe that the river is the source of their life, so after a Mithril Valley person dies, their body is thrown into the Mithril River to be completely melted."

"This is really..."

Upon hearing the saintess's account, Li Wei raised an eyebrow, remarking that the scene must have been truly breathtaking.

but………

"Have you discovered any river channels?" "No, sir."

The archaeologist hesitated for a moment.

"In fact, we did not reach the lowest point that the Holy Maiden mentioned at all."

"Huh? Why?"

In response to Livy's question, the archaeologist made a gesture.

"You'll understand once you come with me."

Led by the archaeologist, Li Wei and the saint arrived at the deepest part of the underground city. To call it the deepest part was actually just a short distance behind the dragon's lair. A wide road led there, but at its end, there was only a massive stone wall; nothing else.

"We've suspected there might be something hidden behind this, but... we tried detonating explosives, but they didn't even scratch the surface. Shovels, pickaxes, machinery—we tried everything, but nothing worked. If we use more powerful explosives, I'm afraid it might affect the entire underground city..."

"Aren't there any clues or clues?"

Li Wei curiously examined the stone wall before him, but even with his [Soul Vision], he couldn't see anything strange about it. In most adventure games, there should be some kind of hint or explanation near such mechanisms.

Upon hearing this, the saintess chuckled.

"Don't count on it, it's impossible."

"Huh? Why?"

“Back then, Arthur and I also wanted to take over this city directly.”

The saintess chuckled and spoke.

"But the lord of Mithril Valley is threatening us, saying that they have a secret technique that can seal off the entire Mithril Valley. If we force our way in, they will activate this technique, and even if we take over the city, we won't be able to get everything we want."

"And then what? Did Emperor Arthur just let it go?"

"What else can we do? It's not like we're short of money, and it's not like they're unwilling to sell. Since they're willing to do business, why make things so tense? Of course, at that time, Arthur hadn't established his empire yet and needed the Mithril Valley's help, so naturally, he didn't want to provoke them. Besides, these kinds of secret techniques are generally used to isolate outsiders. How could they possibly let you open it from the outside? What would be the point of such a technique then?"

“That’s true, but secret techniques… secret techniques…”

Li Wei curiously approached the stone wall and examined it closely. Well, at least from the outside, it was impossible to discern anything.

So...why don't you want to give it a try?
Li Wei stared at the wall, pondering for a moment.

Why not give it a try? If it works, wouldn't we make a fortune?

Thinking it over, Li Wei concentrated his mind, stared at the stone wall, and a thought struck him.

[Reality Anchored]!
In an instant, Li Wei saw his lifespan decrease by three hundred days. This didn't cause him heartache; on the contrary, he was overjoyed. Because sacrificing his life meant he would be useful, and being useful meant…

"Click...click...click..."

A strange sound came from the stone wall. Li Wei looked up and saw a spiderweb-like crack appear in the center of the wall. Soon, the crack widened and spread in all directions. Soon, rubble poured down from it, and everyone retreated. Then, they saw the stone wall, tens of meters high, collapse before their eyes, turning into a pile of earth and stones.

Then, a dark, deep corridor appeared before everyone.

"By the Holy Lord, this is truly unbelievable..."

The archaeologists stared in disbelief at the scene before them, speechless. Even the saintess looked at Li Wei in astonishment.

"What did you do? I didn't see you use any magic."

“I also have my own little tricks, Miss Saintess.”

Li Wei smiled slightly in response to the saintess's question.

"So……………"

"roar-----!"

However, before Li Wei could finish speaking, a deep roar suddenly came from the depths of the corridor. Upon hearing this sound, Li Wei's expression darkened, and he reached out to draw his gun, while the saintess also casually drew the longsword hanging at her waist.

"It seems things aren't going smoothly here."

With that, Li Wei gave orders to the archaeologists and soldiers behind him.

"You take these professors up first."

"Yes, sir."

Upon hearing Li Wei's order, the soldiers quickly grabbed their guns and escorted the archaeologists to safety. Although the archaeologists didn't want to leave, they were no match for the soldiers and were forcibly taken away.

"So, Miss Saintess, would you like to guess what's inside?"

Li Wei stared into the dark corridor, raised his twin pistols, and casually made a joke. The saintess also drew her longsword and pointed it forward.

"That's hard to say. To protect the Mithril River, the people here have created a lot of equipment, like golems and traps, and countless others. I don't know what they'll come up with after being locked up here for so many years."

"In short, it's definitely not a good thing for us."

Li Wei stared intently at the darkness before him. With his Soul Vision, he could see a dazzling crimson light rushing toward him from within the darkness.

Fortunately, this thing wasn't a giant dragon, otherwise Li Wei would have turned around and run away without hesitation.

"boom!"

Finally, with a loud bang, a monster as tall as a mecha, radiating a silver glow, leaped out of the darkness and roared as it pounced on Li Wei and the saintess!

　By the way, I've decided to learn to drive. It's so inconvenient not being able to drive. Especially since I live in remote areas.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)