Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 112 The Ghostly Journey
Since ancient times, the ocean has always been the place that mankind fears and is most afraid of.

Compared to forests, the ocean instills fear in humans from every angle.

Even if you might get lost in the forest, at least the ground beneath your feet is solid. The sky isn't without danger either, but at least if something happens to it, it falls to the ground.

Only the ocean is different.

Once something goes wrong, you're practically isolated and helpless. A series of unknowns become the theme; you don't know where you are, and you don't know what you'll encounter. At least with a plane crash, you know the outcome is that you've crashed to Earth. But when you sink into the depths of the ocean, who knows what's there?
Or, to put it another way, where did the ship go after it sank into the sea?
No one knows the answer to this question, and thus, all sorts of speculations and rumors have emerged. Or rather, even in modern times, when humans can even break through the atmosphere and travel into space, the fear of the ocean remains undiminished. The ocean is arguably the most difficult entity for humanity to conquer and explore.

Walking down the dilapidated corridor, Li Wei cautiously looked around while considering the situation before him.

In Li Wei's view, it makes no sense for the Arctic Star to be considered a ghost ship. It's not an old ship that has been sailing for many years and is about to be decommissioned. It's a brand new ship, fresh from the keel to the steel plates, and in any case, it absolutely does not fit the definition of a ghost ship.

Therefore, the possibility of it becoming a spirit through old age can be ruled out.

No outlandish rumors emerged during the ship's construction, so this possibility can be ruled out.

So what remains is... something on this ship that was activated because of Rosalie's death.

Li Wei was thinking of the Imperial Bridge case. The Imperial Bridge had just been completed, yet it still ended up in an accident. But the conclusion from that case was that no matter how much mystical or supernatural the act, there had to be a medium. Even the charlatans of the Holy Church needed material evidence to validate their claims, not just empty words.

Well, that's normal. If drawing circles and cursing could solve the problem, then the Holy Bishop wouldn't have been banished from the Empire by the Queen.

So, what's on this ship?

Li Wei stared at the corridor and cabin in front of him, then silently activated [Soul Vision].

The black and white color scheme instantly filled his field of vision. Li Wei scanned the area and quickly locked onto his target.

Li Wei stared at the area below the deck. In the cold, dark surroundings, only that spot flickered with an eerie light, like a heartbeat.

From this center, threads-like structures extend outwards and spread in all directions.

Below.

Li Wei quickly recalled the cabin descriptions in the Far North Star brochure he had read and confirmed that it should be... the mail compartment.

Actually, cruise ships were originally designed to transport mail. Most cruise ships naturally have mail compartments, and their function is the same: to transport mail from across the ocean to or from the other side.

In this era, there is virtually no mail inspection, and going through security checks and X-rays is out of the question. Therefore, if someone wants to sneak something in, the average person would not be able to detect it.

Especially with things related to the mysterious, even if you see them, you don't know what they are.

After all, in an era where people can freely smoke and drink, and carry guns on their belts, to say that emails are dangerous is something that people of this era probably don't even know themselves.

Let's go take a look first.

Li Wei withdrew his gaze, then silently gripped the Persuader's hand and walked forward.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

The cabin was dimly lit. Li Wei strolled forward as if taking a walk, scanning his surroundings. From the layout, he could still clearly discern the shape of the North Star, but the conditions varied greatly from place to place. Some areas, except for the lack of people, looked no different from ordinary cabins. Others appeared corroded, covered in rust. In some places, even the plaster had peeled off, exposing the keel.

To be honest, walking through it made Li Wei feel like he was walking inside the body of a giant whale, witnessing its illness firsthand.

Moreover, if we were to compare the North Star to a living being, then looking inside its body now, it is indeed quite ill.

But how could that be? It's just a new ship!

What exactly is inside the mail compartment?
Thinking of this, Li Wei quickly quickened his pace.

"Help me... Detective..."

"Help………"

The wails and cries for help of ghosts echoed in his ears—it was Rosalie, Elaine, and John. However, Levi completely ignored them; these three were just ghosts, nothing to worry about. In his view, the focus should be on that eerie point of light.

As for these three... they're all dead, so whether we save them or not doesn't seem to make any difference.
"Detective...!"

As Li Wei descended the stairs, the screams grew increasingly piercing. At the same time, shadows began to surge and ripple beneath the stairs like a tide. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that it wasn't seawater, but rather a dense swarm of crabs, each the size of a palm!

Countless crabs piled up in the corridor, constantly climbing and swaying, making a "rustling" sound. However, Li Wei seemed completely oblivious, and simply walked down the stairs. Immediately, his legs were completely surrounded by tens of thousands of crabs, as if he had jumped into water!
"Shh...shh..."

Countless crabs crawled onto Li Wei's body. Anyone else would have been terrified by now. But Li Wei seemed oblivious, continuing to walk forward. Even as the crabs burrowed into his collar, nose, and ears, he remained completely unaware.

In fact, Li Wei simply didn't see it.

He was now using his Soul Vision, and all he could see were the cold, black outlines of inorganic matter and those shimmering threads. As for the crabs, Li Wei neither saw nor sensed them. Even the rustling sound he heard was the same.

Li Wei has now discovered that this thing—although he doesn't know exactly what it is, it's clearly not very strong!
At least that's how it is now!
Perhaps not enough people had died on the ship, or perhaps there were other reasons. In any case, Li Wei had discovered that the opponent only used a few tricks over and over again. Apart from manipulating the souls of the three dead and making his own ghostly cries, he also created some illusion-like tricks... However, Li Wei had the [Soul Vision], which allowed him to directly ignore these illusions, so they could not play a role.

Looking back now, it's highly likely that Elaine and John were under the illusion of the ghost ship, which is why they drowned on the floor.

But no matter what, this guy doesn't seem very strong, so Li Wei has a chance!
“Da da da………”

Li Wei quickened his pace. He didn't take the elevator, but went straight up the stairs, since the other party might play tricks on him if he went up the elevator. The stairs were relatively safer.

It's only relative.

"—!!" Li Wei abruptly stopped and stepped back. At the same moment, a figure leaped down from the air and pounced towards Li Wei!

That was none other than John, who had "drowned" earlier!

He was soaking wet, looking as if he'd been submerged in seawater for 180 days. He looked like a water monkey. Then, John let out a deep roar, leaped from the ceiling, and pounced on Levi!

Faced with this sudden attack, Levi didn't even stop walking; he simply raised his gun and casually fired a shot in the direction John was.

"boom!"

The scorching flames exploded instantly, engulfing John in the blink of an eye. He screamed and twisted his body, losing his balance, and plummeted down, disappearing into the darkness of the stairwell.

Li Wei reached out again, grabbed the railing, and jumped down.

Finally, the point of light was right in front of us!

But at that moment…

"Waaaaahh ...

Amidst a fierce blast of the ship's horn, a torrent of icy seawater crashed in, engulfing Li Wei. The next moment, Li Wei felt as if he were being swept into a toilet bowl and spun rapidly down the corridor, and then…

"Pfft!!"

He opened his eyes and gasped for breath. He realized he was still lying on his bed in the bedroom, but unlike before, he was now completely soaked, and could even smell the salty scent of seawater…

“Ding ding ding ding ding!!”

Just then, the bell rang out urgently!
What happened?

Hearing the bell, Li Wei's heart tightened. He hurriedly got out of bed, quickly changed out of his soaking wet clothes, put on his hunter's outfit, and then rushed out of the suite to the deck ahead. At that moment, the sailors were running around in a panic, shouting and yelling desperately.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Li Wei hurriedly went down to the deck and went to the cabin at the front to ask a question. Hearing his question, the captain turned around and glanced at Li Wei before answering.

"It's an iceberg! Sir! An iceberg has been spotted ahead!"

"iceberg?"

"Yes, we are trying to change direction..."

"The rudder has malfunctioned!"

However, the captain was interrupted by the helmsman before he could finish speaking.

His face was deathly pale, and he gripped the rudder tightly.

"The rudder has malfunctioned! The ship is uncontrollable!"

"What? How could this be!?"

The captain was taken aback by the helmsman's reply.

"Slow down immediately! Reverse! Stop the ship!"

"No, no, it seems like something... is stuck!"

"what?!"

At this moment, Li Wei had already manipulated the puppet bird to quickly investigate forward, and he did indeed see an iceberg appearing on the distant horizon under the cover of night.

Unlike in the movie, this ship had enough time to avoid the iceberg!

But it suddenly stopped working? Wait, could it be that…

Li Wei lowered his head, looked at the deck below, and activated [Soul Vision] again.

Then, Li Wei saw it!

In the mail compartment, the shimmering, heart-like light was gradually growing brighter. And the threads extending from it seeped into every corner of the cabin!
That's it!

Seeing this, Li Wei immediately understood the reason. He grabbed the second mate and glared at him.

"You, take me to the mail pod, now, immediately!"

"Hey? Why?"

"Hurry! This is the only way to save this ship!"

Although he didn't know why Li Wei looked so anxious, the second mate nodded vigorously.

"follow me!"

(End of this chapter)