Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 39 Fully Armed
Once the mind is opened, ideas flow freely.

For Lu Ran, the best outcome would be to capture Zell, inherit all the cash on the kid, and then follow the clues to find the extraordinary person behind him.

Having obtained the clues, Lu Ran didn't need to confront them head-on; he could simply call Philip the butler.

Currently, it seems that firearms are still very effective at dealing with these ordinary superhumans; otherwise, the butler wouldn't have issued this commission.

The other party had orchestrated such a grand scheme that Earl Biden was willing to offer such a substantial gift to help him find the mastermind behind it all. It couldn't have been just a simple dinner or tea invitation; there would definitely have been a show of force and a warning.

At that point, the rest would be none of Lu Ran's business. He would happily take over the factory and then focus on its development.

After all, owning a machine factory in this era, even if you're just a lazy bum with no dreams taking on ordinary orders, you can still earn at least a few hundred gold pounds a month, which is much more than what you can earn in an agency.

If he's lucky, he can pay off all the loans in a little over two years, then he won't have to be Sherlock Holmes anymore; he can just switch to being a newly minted entrepreneur.

The only uncertainty is whether this era had the industrial foundation to manufacture airplanes; we'll have to consult with professionals about that later.

Lu Ran paced back and forth, then first found One-Ear and asked, "How many needle crossbows have been made?"

One-Ear replied, "Only three."

Lu Ran asked, "Have you found a suitable venom that can be applied to a needle?"

"Have."

One ear led Lu Ran along the underground passage, and they soon arrived at a small, isolated earthen room. From a distance, Lu Ran could smell a faint stench of decay.

Upon closer inspection, he saw a coiled-up snake carcass inside, estimated to be about 1.5 meters long. Its head was relatively small and slightly oval-shaped, with black and white stripes on its back.

One-Ear explained, "We used this guy's snake venom to soak a batch of needles. The venom is very potent and can kill ordinary small animals directly, but we haven't tried it on a human-sized creature yet. A rough estimate is that it should be enough to knock it down and render it unable to move."

"A banded krait?"

One-Ear asked curiously, "Is that the name of the snake?"

Lu Ran snapped out of her daze and waved her hand, "No, no, I just picked it randomly."

After all, it was only similar to a certain species of snake from his previous life, and it was uncertain whether it had a new name here, so Lu Ran couldn't just make things up.

However, if they are indeed similar species, it's unclear whether the venom of the silver-ringed snake would be effective against extraordinary beings, but it would certainly be more than enough to deal with an adult like Zell, not to mention that his newly learned magic should also be of some use.

Lu Ran was eager to try: "Help me prepare the crossbow and poison needles. I'm about to set off."

One-Ear looked at Lu Ran with some concern: "Boss, do you need me to come with you?"

Lu Ran paused briefly, thought for a moment, then gently waved his hand and said:

"No need. With your current strength, you can't help me much by following me. You should be patient and focus on your studies."

"I've even brought Detective Rat Number Two over for you. You guys should hurry up and find that kid to learn the principles of magic, try to understand them, and see if you can continue learning and researching new magic. That's the best help you can give me."

The progress of Magic Enlightenment is only a little over halfway done so far. Before it is completely completed, Lu Ran hopes to see more surprises. Even if he needs the Rat Hand, he can use enough of the local ones in Baker City.

One-Ear was taken aback: "Magic?"

Looking at his somewhat bewildered expression, Lu Ran felt a mischievous urge and suddenly pointed to the stiff, dead snake corpse behind him.

"Look, the snake is alive!"

One ear clenched his fist and turned his head sharply, only to be met with a snake head that was inches away. At this moment, he could even clearly see the patterns on the snake's scales and its cold, sharp eyes.

hiss.

Alive, really alive?
Despite the immense disbelief and fear in his heart, One Ear shouted without hesitation.

"Boss, run!"

When he turned around, he only saw Lu Ran smiling at him without any reaction. When he turned back again, the snake had also disappeared.

"This……"

One ear was a little confused.

Lu Ran smiled and explained, "Magic." This time, he was much more adept at using it than yesterday, and it didn't consume as much energy. Lu Ran felt that his learning and mastering of magic was surprisingly easy, and he didn't know if it was due to the system's help or his own innate talent.

"Keep it up and study hard."

Before leaving, Lu Ran patted One-Ear on the shoulder, leaving the still-amazed little guy muttering to himself.

"magic……"

……

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but after so long of time traveling through time, Lu Ran, a mouse, only now has the confidence to face an adult on his own.

A breakthrough, achieved by one person alone!
Of course, "facing" here means not being afraid even when discovered head-on. If it were just about dealing with a single human, given the size of the rats, there are plenty of ways to use poison or similar methods.

Lu Ran carried the crossbow on his back, slung a cloth bag containing fifteen poison needles across his shoulder, and then groped his way back up from the ground, before finally groping his way out of the stone house.

"This should be considered my first real battle here."

"I wonder how Bella is doing."

……

"Huh...huh..."

"Bella!"

Afra's voice was tinged with off-key panting, yet she still tried to keep her tone steady. The pearl hairpin in her hair had come loose half an inch while she was running, and a few strands of golden hair slipped down and clung to her sweat-dampened neck, but she didn't have a free hand to gather them up.

"Are you even seriously looking for it?!"

Bella was excitedly sticking out her tongue, trying to pretend she couldn't hear and continue pulling the person along, but suddenly felt the dog leash behind her tighten, forcing Bella to stop. She quickly spun around on the spot and sat down with an innocent look on her face.

Afra held the leash in one hand, glaring at Bella with a hostile expression. Even at this point, Bella was still being unruly, her tail wagging and kicking up bits of grass that splashed onto her skirt.

"You want to take me around the same place three times?"

"Wang! Wang!"

Bella, sensing the danger, quickly tried to rub against Afra, only to have her face grabbed and squashed.

"Don't you dare play tricks on me again, understand?"

"Wang!"

"squeak!"

"Huh?" Afra heard a mouse squeak amidst the barking of dogs. Her first reaction was that she had misheard, but she didn't expect that Bella, whom she was holding by the hand, would stand up and look around.

As if it had just seen something, it turned its head, opened its mouth, twisted and pulled its leash to easily untie itself, and then ran away. In the blink of an eye, only its back could be seen.

The smooth movement caught Afra off guard. She glanced at the empty leash, then at the dog's silhouette in the distance, and stared blankly for a moment.

"Bella!"

Just as Afra clenched her fist, she suddenly looked down and saw a mouse running towards her holding a letter.

The style was so familiar; opening the letter, though the conversation had only lasted a few sentences, it already felt quite familiar.

"Dear Miss Afra, may I borrow Detective Mouse Number One and Bella? Thank you for your generosity."

Sherlock Holmes.

……

Whoosh!
At the same time, a white shadow flashed past on the main road of the manor. Lu Ran was riding on the back of a dog and holding tightly to Bella's fur.

"Same as always, you go do your thing when you get there, I'll find you when I'm done."

"okay!"

(End of this chapter)