Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 541 The Sealed Secret
"————The night before the casting ceremony."

Tomorrow is the official forging ceremony, and the elders are quite relaxed. They seem to believe that as long as the mithril puppets are completed, their positions will remain secure. But I don't think so. In my opinion, Mithril Valley has reached a point where it has no future.

Our ancestors discovered Mithril Valley and obtained everything from it. But to me, this is not wealth, but a curse. We are trapped by the curse of greed, afraid to leave this place even for a moment. It's as if everything will be alright if we simply stay in Mithril Valley.

But is that really the case? When the Empire attacked us, I breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps the Empire would take Mithril Valley from us, but at the same time, it would break the shackles binding our race. Perhaps we could leave this place and start new lives like normal people, instead of staying here, exiling ourselves generation after generation like imprisoned prisoners.

I've had enough of this life, and most people have too. They stay here, surrounded by mithril and stone. But the world isn't just about mithril and stone. We should leave and see a wider world. That's why I don't think the elders' ideas will succeed.

They stubbornly wanted to consolidate their power and maintain their position, but it was all in vain. We were trapped in this underground prison, and no one could rescue us.

Except for one.

The elders foolishly believed that the Mithril Guardians would become their obedient puppets, suppressing any resistance. But they had no idea how vital the Mithril Guardians were to the darkness hidden within the Mithril River.

I know I may not live to see tomorrow, but if I don't make it to the end, I hope whoever reads this record can help me fulfill one wish—to bring the Mithril Guardians to the Land of Origin, for that is the only way for our race to escape suffering.

After listening to the saintess's story, Li Wei narrowed his eyes and began to think.

"Interesting, really interesting."

This is the last entry in the record, and also the only useful clue. According to the saintess, only master blacksmiths are qualified to keep records, and master blacksmiths are also the most skilled in their race. This means that the creation of the mithril dolls was actually carried out by master blacksmiths.

These words suggest that the claim that mithril dolls could suppress rebels was more of an excuse used by the master blacksmith to deceive the elders. He couldn't possibly create a mithril doll secretly without the knowledge of others, so he used this pretext to get the elders' approval for his plan.

But in fact, this mithril doll was not prepared for the elders.
The master blacksmith clearly intended to use the mithril puppet for something else, like he said, the darkness in that Mithril River... Hmm, this gave Li Wei a very bad feeling.

"He wrote it all down, so why didn't he write it clearly?"

Li Wei flipped through the records again, complaining speechlessly, while the saintess smiled slightly.

"This was a traditional method of inheritance. Back then, rulers in many places would only verbally tell their heirs the most important secrets before they died. These might be secrets about the clan, secret passages, or treasures that only they knew. So, they wouldn't write them down so clearly."

"That's ridiculous?"

Li Wei had to admit that this was incredibly foolish.

"What if the other party is killed or dies unexpectedly? Wouldn't the skill be completely lost?"

"That's true."

The saintess nodded.

"But at that time, most countries did this, mainly to prevent invaders from possibly finding their clan's secrets or treasures."

As she spoke, the saintess smiled.

"That's how it was when Arthur conquered many countries. In the end, we still didn't know where the secret treasures of the ruling families of those countries were kept."

"………………………"

Since I can't have it, you can't have it either, right? Fine, this is a kind of mutual destruction. If I'm uncomfortable, you won't be comfortable either.

From this perspective, it makes perfect sense.

"However, the darkness in this Mithril River... doesn't sound like a good thing at all."

As Li Wei spoke, he looked at the saintess.

"Or is it that the vocabulary used here is different from that used outside?"

"The same."

The saint shook her head.

"I also feel that the meaning implied by this darkness... well, it's probably not so reassuring."

"So we need to continue the search."

As Li Wei spoke, he glanced at the system panel. The mission was not yet complete, which meant that the system had not yet determined that they had found the source of all this.

That being said...

What is that primordial land?

"I've heard it's the source of the Mithril River, but that's just hearsay. After all, apart from master blacksmiths, even elders aren't allowed to enter, let alone an outsider like me."

Do you know where it is?

"Of course I... don't know."

The saintess answered confidently, which was normal, after all, that was the most important place in Mithril Valley. If others knew about it, even if it was sealed off, outsiders would probably have a hundred ways to open it.

"But he wrote this for someone else to see, right? Hmm... Mithril Valley is sealed off, so it's unlikely to be someone from outside. That means it must be someone from inside Mithril Valley. Could it be that this is a well-known secret?"

"That's hard to say."

"Anyway, let's look for it first."

The two split up to see if they could find any clues. The saintess went to wander around the area, while Levi... after thinking for a moment, he finally returned to the corpse lying face down in front of the throne.

Well, as a detective, the corpse provided him with quite a lot of information.

Besides, dead people don't lie, right?

"Hmm... let me see..."

Li Wei cautiously approached the skeleton and examined it closely. The skeleton was relatively intact, but judging from the wounds on the bones, the person who ran here was probably covered in wounds and had been badly injured.

As for who did the cutting, comparing the weapon's gaps might reveal the answer, but Li Wei felt that this person didn't need him to help find the culprit.

After all, the murderer is most likely dead too.

He was over 60 years old, about 1.8 meters tall, with a large frame, and showed signs of having done heavy labor for many years... Well, this information is useless now.

"Ok?"

Li Weizai carefully examined the corpse before him, then shifted his gaze back to the front, noticing the corpse's fingers. He discovered that the corpse's right hand fingers were not spread out on the ground, but rather curled up, with only one finger pointing forward.

Is there something there?
Li Wei followed the direction the skeleton was pointing and arrived in front of the throne. He crouched down, reached out and touched the spot where the skeleton was pointing, and then felt a small bump.

Then, he pressed it gently.

"Click—!"

The next moment, the throne slowly slid to the side, revealing a staircase hidden beneath it. At the same time, the crystal chandeliers on the walls lit up, illuminating the dark passageway.

"Huh? How did you find out?"

At this moment, the Holy Maiden also came over, curiously looked at the secret passage, and then looked at Li Wei, who shrugged and stood up. "Dead people can talk too, Holy Maiden."

"What? Were you communicating with spirits just now? Are you a necromancer?"

“……………………That’s not what I meant. Never mind, let’s go inside first.”

Li Wei felt that this was something that couldn't be explained clearly in a short time, so he simply stopped talking about it. The Holy Maiden didn't seem to want to ask any further questions, so the two of them entered the secret passage and headed deeper into it.

"Da, da, da."

Footsteps echoed through the passage. The saintess walked in front, while Li Wei followed behind. Well, considering that the saintess's physical condition was better than his, Li Wei naturally followed the "ladies first" rule.

Anyway, he's used to using girls as human shields more than once or twice.

"What do you think is the darkness hidden beneath the Mithril River?"

As the saintess walked, she asked curiously, but Li Wei shook his head.

"How could I possibly know?"

"I do have some guesses, and I hope I'm not right, and I also hope I'm not wrong... By the way, is there anything wrong with that mithril doll?"

"no problem."

Li Wei reached out and tapped his pocket. Puppeteers cannot control things with self-awareness, but after the Holy Maiden removed the "chip" from the mithril doll, it became inanimate. In theory, both Li Wei and the Holy Maiden could control it, but Li Wei still accepted it.

Consider it an apology from the Night Raven.

"What do you think the master blacksmith wanted to do by having someone take that mithril doll to the Origin Land?"

"Um……………"

Faced with the question of the saintess, Li Wei began to ponder.

Logically, he should have ordered the mithril doll to do something, but he could have simply written "order the mithril doll to do this" on it. However, he didn't write that; instead, he told the person who saw this message to take the mithril doll to the Land of Origin...

"Perhaps the doll itself can achieve its purpose if it goes there."

The saintess did not comment on Li Wei's answer. After a pause, she suddenly changed the subject.

“Did you know, Mr. Li Wei, that there are some very interesting legends about puppeteers?”

"legend?"

"That's right. Dolls are made by humans to resemble themselves, or rather, dolls represent a certain form that humans desire. That's why some legends tell stories of souls being attracted to dolls and residing within them."

"Ah, I've heard of that too."

Li Wei was no stranger to such legends; he had heard plenty of similar horror stories, like Mary making phone calls or dolls whose hair would grow on its own.

"But actually, this kind of thing does happen in our time."

"Huh? Really?"

"Of course, strictly speaking, aren't idols also a kind of doll? Gods can possess dolls and interfere in the mortal world. This is actually quite common in our world."

"A statue? I see, now that you mention it..."

Upon hearing this, Li Wei immediately recalled the statue in the abandoned silver mine during the Alice incident. Come to think of it, he still didn't know what kind of god resided there—anyway, he was unlucky enough to have to destroy a large mech to take it down.

"However, ordinary materials cannot withstand the power of gods. Creating a divine statue is not such a simple matter."

"Then, will mithril work?"

Li Wei now understood what the saintess meant. Indeed, the Mithril Guardians could be described as puppets, but they could also be described as idols.

"In terms of the material itself, mithril should be qualified, but there has never been an example of casting a god statue with mithril. Moreover, if they wanted to make a god statue, they could have made a much larger one—after all, Mithril Valley is not short of mithril."

"Perhaps the elders wouldn't agree."

Recalling what he had written in his previous notes, Li Wei chuckled. The master forger himself had implied in his writings that he was deceiving the elders, which meant that the elders clearly didn't know the true function of the mithril guardians. Under these circumstances, how could he convince the others that he would build a gigantic mithril statue?

Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed not an easy thing.

But as he laughed, Li Wei's laughter faded.

Because he understood what the saint meant.

And the answer is right before our eyes.

At the end of the corridor was a stone door, carved with ancient patterns. Li Wei could tell at a glance that this was definitely not the style of Mithril Valley, because the patterns were carved with a large number of strange polygons that were pieced together and extended into each other, looking like the kind of three-dimensional patterns that could create optical illusions.

“Be careful, Mr. Levi.”

At this moment, the saintess also became more vigilant.

“Although I don’t like the Holy Bishop, I have to tell you that not every god agrees with Arthur’s proposal. Some gods have abandoned humanity and even chosen to exile themselves. Others have been sealed and imprisoned by other gods. In short… I just want to tell you that even those guys are not people that ordinary people can deal with.”

"So, can we turn around and leave now?"

Do you want to?

"I think we should at least figure out what's in here."

Li Wei stared at the stone door, feeling a sudden, inexplicable unease, as if he had instinctively sensed some kind of danger.

Fortunately, reality is not a game, so there's no issue of not being able to escape when fighting a boss.

If all else fails, just play Hearthstone.

Upon hearing Li Wei's reply, the saintess said nothing more. Holding her sword in one hand, she pushed open the stone door with the other.

Then, a scorching heat emanated from inside the stone gate.

".........!"

In that instant, Li Wei felt as if he had entered a sauna, dry and scorching. He frowned, gripping the persuader in his hand tightly. He cautiously followed behind the saintess, then the two exchanged a glance and stepped through the stone gate.

The space behind the door looked incredibly spacious and boundless. In front of the two of them was a beach. In the distance, the mithril tide seemed to be constantly washing over the beach like ocean waves, making a splashing sound.

After Li Wei went in, the stone door slammed shut with a loud bang, and the two of them were enveloped in darkness.

But a moment later, a dazzling light appeared, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

And Li Wei finally saw it, right in front of him, an unimaginable being.

(End of this chapter)