Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 71 has been found (Last day of the month, please vote with monthly tickets!)
Levi spent another day gathering intelligence from Lestrade and MI7, but found nothing particularly useful about the Imperial Bridge. The only thing he knew for now was that, in Levi's eyes, the red light within the model of the Imperial Bridge was gradually taking shape.

That model is also a bit tricky right now.

Although Levi told Katie to take it home to play with, Katie kept it at MI7 for the time being, only playing with it occasionally when she came over. Henry also suggested that they might as well just smash the thing, like those cursed scarecrows in many ghost stories; maybe if you smash it, everything will be fine.

But for Li Wei, it's like those people in many horror movies who have a bad habit of smashing things. If you smash it, what if it releases something troublesome? Who will deal with it? Li Wei certainly wouldn't stand in front of it. Let whoever wants to die go ahead. He definitely wouldn't.

So for now, that thing is temporarily stored in MI7's vault, and everyone comes over every day to take a look and see if there are any new changes... at least not for now.

But it's hard to say what will happen in a few days.

However, the Queen was not entirely without options. Levi heard from Anthony that Her Majesty had invited the Archbishop of the Holy Lord Church—the only person in this operation who was not arrested due to his identity—to attend the opening ceremony of the Imperial Bridge.

Well, it's kind of like "if we're going to die, we all die together; you can't escape." It's just that the Pope is too old to come; otherwise, the Queen might have dragged him along to be buried with her.

If that archbishop were also involved in this matter, perhaps he would abandon the plan… Yeah, right. In Li Wei's opinion, those religious fanatics are completely irrational. The archbishop might even be hoping to die with Her Majesty the Queen, so that after they die he could directly report to the Holy Lord, skipping the queue altogether.

As for the suggestion to exclude the Queen, Levi had already made it, but it was clear that the Queen had no intention of backing down. Obviously, she would not bow to such a vague threat.

There's nothing you can do about it. You see, what the leader wants isn't necessarily what you want. You can only do what the leader says.

So don't try to anticipate your leader's needs or thoughts; that's all nonsense. There's a saying, "The emperor isn't worried, but the eunuchs are." No matter how much preparation you do, if your leader doesn't do things your way, it's all for nothing.

"call……………"

Li Wei put down another record and reached out to rub his eyes.

The police department and MI7 have done a lot of work and have indeed collected some rumors about the Empire Bridge, but most of them are about corruption and bribery, and some say that people were buried in the pillars during piling, causing vengeful spirits to haunt the bridge. However, none of these are enough to damage the bridge itself, and they have absolutely nothing to do with the bridge model.

If it really is the work of a vengeful spirit, wouldn't it be more convenient to just get a skull?

In fact, rumors and gossip have always existed since the construction of the Imperial Bridge. After all, it is the empire's largest engineering marvel, and it's natural for everyone to discuss it. However, no rumors or gossip have involved the quality of the Imperial Bridge itself. After all, this is the imperial capital, right under the Queen's feet, and people should be careful what they say.

You look very tired.

Eileen came over and poured Li Wei another cup of tea, asking him in a low voice.

"It's alright, but the situation this time is a bit complicated and not easy to handle."

Li Wei sighed and stood up. He had been sitting at his desk all day and his whole body was stiff.

"I'm going out for a walk, I'll be back for dinner."

"Ok."

Li Wei also felt tired. He gave Eileen some instructions, then stepped into the elevator and left the room.

When Li Wei walked out of the clock tower, it was already afternoon.

There weren't many people on the streets at the moment, and the sunlight was a bit dim, but that's normal in Chongqing, or rather, it's good enough to have any sunshine at all, so don't worry too much about the brightness.

Li Wei walked down the street with his hands behind his back, lost in thought.

The Imperial Bridge case is far more complicated than the previous ones. The problem is that even with all his extraordinary abilities, Levi is useless if he can't find the target. It's like a ball of yarn; you have to find the end to untangle it. But the issue is that Levi can't determine which end is the loose end.

Moreover, even if he did decide, he wouldn't know what to do.

However, Li Wei wasn't under much pressure. Even if he failed… failure didn't seem to be a significant blow to him. He could just run away. The continent was so vast, and it wasn't just the Empire. He could simply apologize, resign, take a train to a scenic spot, and live a quiet life, perhaps solving some cases to prolong his life. That didn't seem like a bad idea.

He doesn't have any particularly deep feelings for this country now, and he's just treating this case as a job.

Even if the Empire Bridge really collapses, it's just... collapsed, right?

What else can I do?
As he walked, Li Wei got a little tired. He came to a nearby park, bought a serving of fish and chips from a stall, and sat on a bench to eat and rest. To be specific, he only ate the chips; he didn't touch the fish, as he didn't really like fish anyway.

"Meow..."

Just as Li Wei was admiring the scenery, he saw a stray cat with its tail raised cautiously approach him, raise its head to stare at him, and let out a soft meow.

"Take this."

Li Wei understood the cat's meaning perfectly well. It was offering help for no reason; what it wanted was obvious. So he simply placed the fried fish on the chair next to him, covering it with newspaper. The cat glanced at Li Wei, then at the fried fish on the newspaper, meowed, and then leaped onto the bench, burying its head in its food.

Li Wei reached out and stroked the kitten's body, feeling its warmth. At the same time, he squinted and looked at the children playing in the distance.

"How nostalgic!" Watching the children running and laughing in the square, Li Wei sighed with emotion. Children back then didn't have as many toys as they do now, but they all had just as much fun together. Games like drop the handkerchief, eagle catches chicks, beanbag toss, hopscotch, jump rope…

Sigh, kids these days only play on their phones. I wonder if those old skills will be lost.

Li Wei reminisced while petting the cat and watching the children play games.

Li Wei had never seen this game before. Two girls held hands and raised them high like an archway, while the others lined up like chicks caught by an eagle, holding onto each other's clothes and spinning around in the middle. At the same time, you could faintly hear their singing.

"The Imperial Bridge is collapsing, collapsing, collapsing. The Imperial Bridge is collapsing, my beautiful lady."

Build it with wood and mud, wood and mud, wood and mud, build it with wood and mud, my beautiful lady.

The wood and soil will be washed away, washed away, the wood and soil will be washed away, my beautiful lady.

Build it with bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar, build it with bricks and mortar, my beautiful lady.

The bricks and mortar will not remain, will remain, will remain, the bricks and mortar will not remain, my beautiful lady.

Build it with steel, steel and iron, iron and steel, build it with steel, my beautiful lady.

Steel will rust and bend, rust and bend, rust and bend, my beautiful lady…”

As he listened, Li Wei's expression gradually changed. He stared at the children, his gaze becoming serious, and he even stopped petting the cat.

This song... why is this song so strange?

Thinking of this, Li Wei did not hesitate and stood up directly, walking towards the group of children.

When they saw Li Wei approaching, the children stopped and looked at him curiously. This was only because Li Wei was well-dressed and handsome, making him very popular with the children. If it had been a red-nosed drunkard reeking of alcohol, it would have been a completely different story.

"Hello, lovely ladies."

Li Wei took off his hat and smiled slightly at the children. The children huddled together, giggling and watching Li Wei curiously. Then, a girl who looked older came out, looked at Li Wei, and lifted her skirt, mimicking the others' graceful skirt-lifting gesture.

"Hello, sir."

"Hello, Miss."

Li Wei smiled and nodded at her, then asked.

"I'm very interested in the game you're playing. May I ask what game you're playing?"

"Imperial Bridge Game!"

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, the children answered in unison, just like when answering a teacher's question in class.

"Oh? Can you teach me how to play?"

"good-----!"

For children, teaching adults their own games is obviously a very interesting thing. They immediately started explaining to Levi, and the whole game was not complicated. Two taller girls held hands, raised their arms high, pretending to be the Imperial Bridge, and then sang.

As for the others, they formed a line and crawled through from below one by one.

He sang while drilling.

"The Imperial Bridge is collapsing, collapsing, collapsing, the Imperial Bridge is collapsing, my beautiful lady."

As the last note falls, both girls simultaneously lower their arms, signifying the collapse of the Imperial Bridge. At this point, the child "circled" inside the bridge is eliminated. In other words, the Imperial Bridge collapsed, and that person was unlucky enough to be crushed and killed, thus being eliminated.

The game continues, looping until the very end, and the one left standing is the winner.

"I see."

After listening to the children's excited explanations, Li Wei nodded and then took out his notebook.

"Could you sing that song again?"

He has found the thread.

(End of this chapter)