Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 77 New Commission
In this era, investment is also high-risk, high-return. However, for Li Wei, keeping money in the bank is useless; he had previously put some into a trust fund to collect dividends. Just then, more funds were allocated from above, so Li Wei decided to invest in Uncle Hank's factory.

Of course, he didn't just invest directly. Instead, he first used his abilities to thoroughly investigate the company—as someone from MI7, it was a simple matter for him to investigate the operations and finances of any company he wanted.

The result... was not bad.

From a financial perspective, Uncle Hank's "Kailida Steam Machinery Craft" seems to have normal financial transactions, but it doesn't make much money. This is quite normal, similar to the wave of people leaving their hometowns to start businesses in the 1980s and 90s. Everyone wanted to do business and become a big boss, but very few actually managed to open large companies. The rest either struggled to survive or went bankrupt and left.

This "Kailida Steam Machinery Craft" is one of those businesses that is currently struggling to survive. After all, its business scope basically overlaps with other shops in the area. At present, it relies entirely on the support of old customers and makes a living by doing mechanical modification and repair most of the time.

However, most steam engine shops are like this now, offering a one-stop service for repairing, modifying, and manufacturing cars. It's a rough-and-ready development, but in a few years, they will definitely become more standardized and won't be able to continue operating like street workshops.

Uncle Hank clearly understood this, and that's why he wanted to take this opportunity to get ashore.

Of course, you can't do it without money.

They have the skills and the manpower, but they lack money.

That's why Uncle Hank had no choice but to seek out Levi—after all, a rich man who could hand over hundreds of pounds without batting an eye is someone you naturally want to cling to.

Through Inspector Lestrade, Levi found a reliable law firm and eventually signed a contract. Levi invested £800 for a 38% stake, essentially receiving dividends but not being responsible for the company's day-to-day operations. Levi had no objections to this, as he didn't understand the business.

While Li Wei was busy with his side business, a series of dramatic changes were taking place in the empire.

Li Wei had never met the Queen and did not know her opinion on the Imperial Bridge incident, but judging from her subsequent actions, the Queen had clearly made up her mind to deal with the Church.

Shortly after the opening ceremony, newspapers began publishing front-page headlines accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including the alleged misappropriation of corpses. Several priests and pastors were publicly executed.

But that wasn't enough. Her Majesty clearly intended to do more than just kill a few minor karami; she directly linked the matter to the Holy Lord's Church itself, accusing it of violating its faith. She also declared that the Imperial Church was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Holy See in Muraen, and established the Puritan Church as the state religion of the Empire.

To put it bluntly, the Queen believes that the faith of the Holy Lord Church headquarters is impure, disloyal, and unorthodox—after all, they have their reasons. As a church pastor, you dug up graves and desecrated corpses, and those pastors also claimed that it was all an order from headquarters. Who would believe you if you said your faith was pure?

Therefore, the Queen publicly declared that we no longer recognize the legitimacy of the Holy See, because the state religion of our empire is the only legitimate holy church!
The Queen's words were not merely empty rhetoric. After all, the doctrines of the Holy See developed alongside Emperor Arthur, and the Empire was, in essence, the birthplace of these doctrines. As the ruler of the Empire, she certainly had the right to point her finger at the Papacy and accuse them of disloyalty and insubordination…

Afterwards, Li Wei also looked into the doctrines of the Puritan Church and found that these people were indeed quite capable. Because historically, Emperor Arthur had a very close relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ, and Emperor Arthur was recognized by the Church as the Son of God, so many places concerning the spread of doctrine by the Church of Jesus Christ would inevitably involve this emperor.

The Puritans seized upon this point, firmly linking their doctrines with Emperor Arthur and the empire.

In this way, the title of Holy Bishop is not just a belief, but also a spirit and expression of patriotism.

If the Church of Christ's missionary work previously focused on spreading universal truths applicable to all, deliberately downplaying the connection between Emperor Arthur and the empire and religion, then the Puritans did the opposite, using nationalism and patriotism to enhance the spread of their faith.

However, it's common for religions to vie for the right to speak, so there's nothing strange about it.

From these news reports, Li Wei could at least see that there had always been a local faction and a papal faction within the empire. The papal faction, in order to promote the authority of the church, deliberately downplayed the existence and achievements of Emperor Arthur the Great, the father of the empire. The local faction, on the other hand, believed that this was a deliberate suppression of them and a blasphemous act of distorting the truth and reversing right and wrong.

In more local parlance, the Papacy believes, "Our Papacy considers your Emperor Arthur to be the Son of God. He is the Son of God. If it weren't for our Papacy's recognition, he would be nothing!"

However, the local faction argued, "Whether the Vatican recognizes it or not, Emperor Arthur is the Son of God. You mortals dare to deny God; it is utter blasphemy!"

After much discussion, the two sides reached a stalemate.

Previously, the Papacy faction was powerful, and the local faction had little power to resist. Now, with the Queen backing them up, they are naturally ready to kick a man when he's down.

Several times when Li Wei passed by the church, he saw pastors preaching so-called "true doctrines" at the church entrance. It was nothing more than the same old line: "Our Emperor Arthur is the most awesome! The Church ignoring this is blasphemy!"... Hmm, you can tell at a glance which faction these people belong to.

Their missionary work was quite effective; after all, they were all citizens of the empire, and they still had a sense of imperial honor. Praising Emperor Arthur was essentially praising the empire, and ultimately, praising themselves.
Everyone will definitely like that.

Although we are not descendants of God, we are citizens of a nation created by the Son of God, with a long history and a long civilization. Compared to those country bumpkins in the wilderness, we are far superior!

In this situation, the Empire quickly took over all the churches in its territory without much effort. Of course, there were opponents, but after the Qingli sect combined religious faith with patriotic honor, these people would have to face the question of "Do you love the Papacy or the Empire?" if they wanted to oppose it... Well, that was a fatal problem.

Li Wei couldn't say anything about it, after all, Her Majesty the Queen must have her reasons for doing so. Of course, even if Li Wei had any opinions, it wouldn't matter; given his status, it wasn't his place to offer advice to Her Majesty. Li Wei could only say that he would take it one step at a time and see how things developed before making any decisions.

However, just because Levi had no opinion about the Queen does not mean that the Queen had no opinion about Levi.

He hadn't even had a few days of comfortable living when the old butler summoned him to MI7 again.

"I called you here today because I have a very important task for you to complete."

The old butler's face was serious and his expression solemn. "This was personally designated by Her Majesty the Queen."

"His Majesty personally designated him?"

To be honest, Li Wei was quite surprised to hear this answer. He didn't expect Her Majesty the Queen to personally appoint him to investigate the case... This commission was probably going to be difficult to handle.

"Yes."

The old butler nodded, then remained silent for a moment before asking.

Do you know the Baskerville family of the Delict area?

"I've heard of it, but I'm not very familiar with it."

"They are nobles, of high status, and have always been trusted by the royal family. But there has always been a strange thing in this family: the head of the Baskerville family would disappear once he turned thirty-eight."

"...Missing?"

To be honest, this answer really surprised Li Wei.

“That’s right. The first case was about half a century ago. Sir Baskerville went hunting after his birthday party and never returned. His servants searched for him in secret and only found his horse. Since there were still animal tracks nearby, everyone tended to believe that Sir Baskerville had accidentally provoked a pack of wolves while hunting and was killed.”

"Um……………"

"If that were all, it would still be considered a tragic accident. But after that, the second Sir Baskerville—the son of the elder Sir Baskerville—also disappeared after his birthday. Unlike his father, the younger Sir Baskerville did not go hunting; after the birthday banquet, he went to his room to rest. According to the servants' testimonies, when they went to wake him the next morning, they found him gone, and his wife lay on the bed, a bloodied and mangled corpse. And…"

"and?"

"On the blood-soaked floor, there were still animal footprints, as if a wild animal had been inside. In fact, the police officer who investigated the scene believed that it was possible that a wolf had entered the room, killed Mrs. Baskerville, and then taken Sir Sir Baskerville away. But the problem was that the two lived on the third floor at the time, and there had never been any record of wolves climbing walls."

"I haven't heard of it either."

Li Wei silently grumbled, listening intently to the old butler's words; he was now completely focused. He had to admit, these two disappearances were indeed bizarre, at least seemingly filled with all sorts of supernatural and unscientific elements.

The old butler sighed helplessly.

"Moreover, after the disappearance of the second Sir Baskerville, a rumor spread that the Baskerville family was cursed. Every missing head of the family was dragged to hell by a demon hound, so no one could save them."

"Hmm... that statement does... have a certain resemblance to the original."

Upon hearing the rumors, Li Wei immediately perked up. After all, based on his experience, once something became associated with rumors, things could get really complicated.

"Just a few days earlier, it was the third knight's thirty-eighth birthday. To prevent another disappearance, the local police had placed Sir Baskerville under close protection on his birthday. And then…"

Needless to say, it failed again, otherwise Her Majesty the Queen wouldn't have asked her to investigate the case herself.

"Your mission is to investigate the truth and protect the Baskerville family's heir, who is currently the only remaining bloodline of the Baskerville family. Her Majesty the Queen's order is that the Baskerville bloodline must not be allowed to die out under any circumstances. You must find out the truth!"

"Okay, I understand..."

What else could Li Wei say about this? Besides, he was indeed interested in the case.

"By the way, will Miss Katie come with me?"

"Miss Katie will not leave the Fog City."

The old butler paused for a moment, then gave his answer.

"This time you will have to go alone."

"All right……………"

Without a good MT (Main Tank), it seems we have to find a solution ourselves.

(End of this chapter)