Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 20 The Mysterious Place
This wasn't so much reasoning as intuition; Li Wei instinctively felt that something was amiss.

The reason is simple: it went too smoothly.

They came here to search, easily found the safe, and then the notebook. If they didn't know Mrs. Clarty's true identity and were simply investigating, they might have been misled by this answer—Mrs. Clarty, like many others in the Lower City, had many secrets and engaged in illegal activities. But this was not uncommon in the Lower City, and quite normal.

However, that's not the case. Levi and his companions only started looking for clues after they knew Lady Clarty's true identity. Therefore, in Levi's view, this answer was unacceptable.

Is this some kind of smokescreen? To hide Mrs. Clarty's true identity?
Li Wei pondered, glancing at the excited Katie beside him. Indeed, for most people, seeing a safe immediately conjures up images of important secrets, or perhaps the most valuable and precious items stored inside. And since this safe was so easy to find, if someone discovered it, they would naturally overlook searching other areas…

Li Wei carefully inspected the safe, then closed it.

"Keep looking."

"Huh? There's nothing inside?"

"That might be a smokescreen."

Seeing Katie's slightly surprised expression, Levi explained to her in a low voice, and the girl quickly realized what he meant and became annoyed.

"I never expected Mrs. Clarty to be so cunning. But my mother once told me that what is easily obtained is often not what we want..."

"In short, we need to keep looking."

Levi looked away from the safe, and the two of them resumed their search of Mrs. Clarty's office.

However, there wasn't much in the office itself, and Mrs. Clarty clearly didn't intend to stay there permanently. Apart from some documents, money, jewelry, medicine, and the like, there was almost nothing of value in the room.

"Ugh, really, I can't find anything!"

Katie plopped down on the bed next to him, muttering a complaint. Levi was also somewhat disappointed; they didn't have much time to waste here, but now it seemed… hmm?

Li Wei suddenly noticed something, walked over to Katie's side, and carefully examined the corner of the bed.

"There are signs that this place has been moved."

"Hey?"

Hearing Li Wei's words, Katie curiously lay down on the bed and peered under the bed. She saw a faint scratch on the floor, clearly the result of accumulated dirt over time.

"This bed can actually be moved?"

Lady Clarty had placed a heavy single bed there, which looked quite luxurious and didn't seem like it could be moved easily. Whether Clarty could move it or not was unknown, but Levi certainly couldn't.

"Let's look around and see if there are any government agencies nearby."

"Ok!"

Having found a clue, Katie quickly got to work, curiously touching around the bed. When the girl's right hand reached to the edge of the bed against the wall, Katie's expression changed.

There's a pull tab here!

"Pull ring?"

"That's right, watch me!"

As she spoke, Katie lifted her arm, and the two of them saw a slight sound as the foot of the bed moved slowly, revealing a hidden door underneath. It was a seemingly ordinary wooden door. Levi reached out and opened it, and saw a series of stairs appear before him, leading deep into the darkness.

"what is inside?"

Katie also came over, excited, her eyes shining as she stared at the dark tunnel in front of her.

Li Wei sometimes genuinely envied her innocent and carefree energy; he was already thinking of closing down the place. After all, in movies, places like this usually didn't have anything good, but plenty of bad stuff. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough evidence yet, and Li Wei couldn't bring anyone to investigate.

"I do not know either."

As he spoke, Li Wei picked up a gas lamp from the table and turned it on, while simultaneously drawing a revolver from his pocket.

"But we soon found out."

A dim, yellowish light illuminated the darkness. Levi, gun in his right hand and lantern held high in his left, walked ahead, while Katie followed behind, curiously looking around. The two descended the dark, cold stairs step by step.

The surroundings were cold and damp, the walls were covered with icy dew and slippery moss, and the stone steps stretched downwards in the dim light as if they were endless.

strangeness.

Li Wei stared at the steps in front of him, his mind filled with questions.

It is evident that these stone steps have existed for a very long time. Although Li Wei could not determine their exact age, his [Perception] and [Detection] vaguely told him that these stone steps had existed for at least several hundred years.

In other words, unless Pink Lady is a century-old business, these stone steps could not have been built by Madame Clytie.

If that's the case, then... that's a bit strange.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes, the narrow staircase came to an end, and at the same time, a heavy stone door blocked their way.

"What can we do now?"

Looking at the heavy stone door in front of her, Katie blinked in surprise and looked at Levi, who then took out the key he had found on Ms. Clarty earlier.

"What else can we do? We'll just have to try them one by one."

It has to be said that Levi's luck was pretty good. On his third attempt, a low hum came from the stone door in front of him, followed by a rumbling sound as the heavy stone door slowly opened to both sides. Seeing this, Katie instinctively clenched her fists and took a step forward. Levi also gripped his pistol, warily watching the darkness before him.

Then... a light appeared.

"Huff...huff...huff..."

The opening of the stone door seemed to be some kind of mechanism; the next moment, streaks of fire appeared, illuminating the surrounding environment.

"Wow..."

Seeing this, Katie's eyes lit up with excitement.

"This is just like an adventure story I've read!"

"Adventure story?"

"Yes, I love adventure stories the most. Brave knights delve into underground labyrinths, eliminate monsters, solve puzzles, defeat the demon king, and seize treasures! Maybe there's a legendary demon king sealed down here!"

"…………"

I just hope no demon king actually appears.

"In short, you'll know once you go in and take a look."

Li Wei mentally grumbled to himself before making his decision. To be honest, Li Wei was very reluctant to go in.

According to the laws of horror movies he had seen, in such places, once a person walks in, the door will automatically slam shut with a "bang," leaving the person inside helpless and only able to wait for death in despair.

If he could, Li Weining wouldn't go in!

But unfortunately, there is no if.

Li Wei's lifespan has increased to more than a month, but he still needs to extend it through missions. Now that this mission has been triggered... well, he has to go in whether he wants to or not.

So Li Wei had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in.

The only saving grace was that he managed to persuade the eager Katie to wait outside. Levi reasoned that if he were locked up inside, at least Katie could run out and call for help. Of course, Katie was very unhappy about this, but after Levi assured her there was no danger inside and he would let her in, she finally agreed to his terms.

The interior space was much larger than the exterior. Illuminated by the lights on the walls, Li Wei could clearly see that it resembled a church. Well, this wasn't unexpected for Li Wei. After all, what kind of cult wouldn't be called a cult if they didn't perform sacrifices or something?
However, this place wasn't like many games or movies, filled with blood, bones, and flesh. Instead, it was quite clean; at least on the surface, it appeared to be just a very ordinary hall. Apart from an altar in the very center, there was nothing unusual about the rest.

So the problem clearly lies with the altar.

Li Wei turned his head and looked towards the altar, then he was suddenly startled!
On the altar, a woman clad entirely in a black robe bowed her head, gazing at him like a monarch. She sat high on the altar, her silvery eyes gleaming, as if a ruler were looking down upon his subjects.
Li Wei shuddered and hurriedly raised the gun in his hand. However, when he looked again, he found that there was no one on the altar, only a stone bench.

Hallucination? Or some kind of omen?
Levi frowned, staring at the chair without moving. However, after a long time, the chair did not react in any special way until Katie's shouts came from afar, at which point Levi pulled his thoughts away from the altar.

"Detective, is everything alright? May I come in?"

Katie's voice rang out again, and Levi once again cautiously scanned his surroundings before responding.

"It doesn't look dangerous. Come in."

Upon hearing Levi's answer, Katie rushed in excitedly like a puppy released from its cage, but her expression quickly changed from excitement to disappointment.

"Huh? No treasure?"

What do you think there might be here?

"A huge pile of gold coins, treasure chests, and countless treasures?"

I'm sure this young lady has been reading too many adventure novels.

"But this is quite interesting too."

Katie stood with her hands behind her back, gazing curiously at the altar before her.

"What is this thing? Why is it down here?"

"I'd like to know too, but unfortunately, I'm afraid only Claytiev knows what really happened."

"Um…………………"

Katie circled the altar in front of her, looking puzzled.

"I feel like I've seen something similar somewhere before... Ah, that's it!"

At this point, Katie seemed to remember something and clapped her hands.

“The temple, right, this place is laid out a bit like the temple, only smaller.”

"The temple? You mean the cathedral of the Holy Bishop?"

Li Wei paused for a moment, then looked at the main hall again. But no matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem like the place at all. It wasn't like Li Wei hadn't been to a church before. The layout of the church here was actually not much different from the one in Li Wei's world. There was a pulpit in front, and then rows of chairs. Where else could you find something like this?

"It's not a church, it's a temple."

Katie shook her head.

“The annual New Year’s sermon is held in the Holy Bishop’s basilica, where the Holy Bishop’s Pope will personally ascend the high platform and pray for blessings in the name of the Lord before the throne.”

At this point, Katie chuckled.

“Every time I see it, I think it would be interesting if an elderly person like His Holiness the Pope, who walks unsteadily and can't walk properly, were to fall down the steps in front of everyone…”

"Oh, come to think of it, there really is such a ceremony..."

After Katie's reminder, the relevant knowledge surfaced in Levi's mind: the Holy Bishop's New Year's Prayer Meeting.

However… based on my knowledge, only the powerful and high-ranking officials of various countries can participate in that prayer meeting… Hmm, this young lady is indeed of extraordinary status.

"Then he would sit in the chair and pray?"

"Of course not, it's kneeling in front of the chair."

Katie shook her head.

"That is the throne of God. Ordinary people are not allowed to sit on it. Only gods can sit on it. That is why the throne is built on a high altar. Even His Holiness the Pope can only kneel on the third step below the chair and ask for the blessing of the Holy Lord."

Why is it level three?

"Then I don't know..."

As for why the Holy Bishop doesn't simply build an idol, Li Wei doesn't need to ask, because in this world, the Holy Bishop also has the precept of "not creating or worshiping idols." Therefore, even an omniscient and omnipotent God is only worshipped by the Holy Bishop in the symbolic form of the "omniscient eye," rather than in the actual form of an idol.

"Is the all-seeing eye carved on that throne?"

"Ah."

"That's going to be interesting..."

As Li Wei spoke, he looked again at the tall altar and the table atop it. He wasn't sure if what he'd just seen was a hallucination, an illusion, or something else entirely. But if this was a cult's ritual, then the chair should be carved with the symbol of an evil god.

Thinking of this, Li Wei took a deep breath, then walked up to the altar and walked step by step toward the top of this pyramid-like altar.

Nothing happened along the way. Li Wei quickly arrived at the top of the altar, then stared at the chair in front of him, remaining silent.

"Detective, what have you found?"

"nothing."

Hearing Katie's curious question, Levi sighed silently.

"The mark above is that of the All-Seeing Eye."

It seems I guessed wrong again this time.

(End of this chapter)