Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 34: A Brand New Department

It turned out that once a case was solved, the public’s curiosity quickly dissipated.

Within a few days, the newspapers had stopped reporting on the vampire killings, instead turning their attention to the City Council’s resolution to phase out horse-drawn carriages on a large scale and promote steam cars, along with the related debates.

After eliminating Betty, Levi also stopped dreaming about the Courtesan Killer……… Well, for him, that was naturally a good thing.

Since that night, Levi had been busy.

First came the treatment———fortunately, according to the doctor’s 【Diagnosis】, Levi had only suffered a mild concussion with no lasting aftereffects.

This secretly relieved him.

Of course, he also used his own 【Diagnosis】 skill to check himself, and the conclusion was the same.

Then came the task of writing the investigation report, then submitting it……… After finishing all that, Levi finally had time to check the rewards for completing his mission.

 【Mission “Darkness and Shadows” complete】

 【Time Spent: S】

 【Investigation Efficiency: A】

 【Impact: S】

 【Overall Evaluation: SS】

Compared to before, his investigation efficiency rating had dropped this time.

Levi guessed it was probably because the opponent had committed crimes twice in succession.

In other words, the more times the culprit committed crimes, the lower his investigation efficiency rating……… Hmm……… Fine, that was understandable.

 【Reward obtained, Lifespan +50, Bonus +10】

Because the overall evaluation had dropped by one grade, the bonus reward was also lower.

Still, an extra two months of life was nothing to complain about.

 【Special Ability Obtained: Mystery Resistance +15%】

Mystery resistance, huh………

Seeing this, Levi recalled the sonic attack from that bat monster—something he truly couldn’t defend against.

He wondered if this 【Mystery Resistance】 could help him block that kind of strange, nonsensical power.

Levi still remembered that mysterious figure who could kill enemies directly through mirrors.

To him, that was far deadlier than any bullets.

 【Agility increased to 75】

 【Optional Advanced Skill +1】

 【Shadow Movement】【Bloodthirst】【Sonic Attack】

Obviously, these were things the system had taken from Betty.

Levi glanced over the three skills.

【Shadow Movement】 was somewhat similar to teleportation, except the limitation was that one could only move through shadows, with the distance increasing along with proficiency.

Hmm———now Levi understood why Betty hadn’t been able to use this move while escaping: at that time, the searchlights had illuminated the entire alley brightly, leaving her with no shadows to escape into.

【Bloodthirst】, in Levi’s view, was closer to a berserk state.

Simply put, it consumed a portion of blood in exchange for a temporary boost in physical attributes———Levi gave it up after only one look.

With his constitution, bleeding himself would likely put him on a slab after just one or two uses.

As for 【Sonic Attack】, Levi didn’t even need to read the description—he had personally experienced it.

It was a true area-of-effect killing weapon.

Even at the lowest proficiency, it could at least be used as a kind of stun grenade.

Unfortunately, just like before, he could only choose one of the three.

Levi hesitated between 【Shadow Movement】 and 【Sonic Attack】, but in the end, he chose———【Shadow Movement】.

The reason was simple: 【Shadow Movement】 allowed short-range teleportation using shadows as a medium, ignoring obstacles.

That was what made Levi decide, because up to now he had never drawn the 【Lockpicking】 skill.

Being able to phase through walls with 【Shadow Movement】 was a very good alternative.

Levi was very clear about his own definition of himself.

He had no intention of being some kind of hero who fought head-on.

Just like with Betty before, Levi preferred to position himself as a detective———someone who collected, investigated, summarized information, conducted reasoning, found clues, locked onto the target, and then………

Then called the police.

Fighting on the frontlines was the responsibility of soldiers and officers.

Levi felt he didn’t need to take that risk, especially since he cherished his hard-won second life very much.

【Shadow Movement】 was extremely useful whether for phasing through walls or for escaping.

And there was another reason Levi abandoned 【Sonic Attack】: since those soldiers and Katie had all suffered from the monster’s sonic assault, they naturally knew what it looked like.

If he displayed the same ability in front of them, without being able to explain the system inside him, it would inevitably cause suspicion.

So, for the sake of safety, Levi gave up 【Sonic Attack】 and chose 【Shadow Movement】.

Escaping was more important than fighting.

After making his choice, Levi picked up the floating card before him.

It quickly vanished, and then he saw the skill 【Shadow Movement】 appear next to the 【Agility】 attribute.

So that was how it worked.

Levi realized that every ability corresponded to exactly one attribute or skill.

For example, 【Eye of the Reaper】 was an advanced skill under 【Shooting】, while 【Soul Sight】 was an advanced skill under 【Investigation】, and 【Shadow Movement】 was an advanced skill under 【Agility】.

By that logic, 【Bloodthirst】 was probably an advanced skill under 【Constitution】………

 【Shadow Movement: The ability to freely travel through interconnected shadows.

Maximum range: 10 meters.

Proficiency: 0%.

Lifespan consumption: 15 minutes per second】

Hmm……… The amount of lifespan consumed probably depended on the importance of the skill.

Levi remembered that 【Soul Sight】 cost five minutes of lifespan per second, 【Eye of the Reaper】 cost ten, while 【Shadow Movement】 cost fifteen.

But thinking about it, 【Shadow Movement】 was indeed an extremely valuable skill—it could even let Levi escape through shadows while being sprayed with gunfire.

Thinking of it this way, the high cost was understandable.

Of course, although the vampire murder case had been solved, things did not end there.

Franz Rebecca was still at large.

Yet according to police investigations, they couldn’t even pin down the suspect’s features.

Some claimed he was a stern, serious old man who always smoked a pipe.

Others insisted she was a smiling, kindly old lady.

Neither Franz’s former students nor colleagues could clearly describe his appearance.

They couldn’t even tell whether Franz was male or female.

It was as if every person saw an entirely different image of “Franz Rebecca.”……… Levi really wanted to ask: in that case, did this person use the men’s room or the women’s?

In the end, the police could only issue a wanted notice using the written records left at the school.

As for its effectiveness……… Trying to catch someone whose gender and age were completely unknown was chasing ghosts.

But that had nothing to do with Levi.

That was one of the perks of being a detective compared to a policeman.

Detectives only had to identify the culprit.

Arresting them was the police’s job.

No one would accuse a detective of dereliction for failing to catch a criminal, but people would definitely scold the police as useless if they failed.

Clearly, catching this person would not be easy.

And through this case, the authorities seemed to finally be taking action seriously.

Inspector Lestrade later told Levi that because of the back-to-back incidents of the “Courtesan Killer” and the “Vampire Murders,” the authorities had concluded that these were not ordinary crimes.

They suspected it was part of a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging or even overthrowing the Empire.

Therefore, the authorities had decided to establish an intelligence organization called “MI7.” This agency was under the royal family and directly answered to Her Majesty the Queen.

Its main task was to investigate and track down strange and mysterious cases and intelligence.

Inspector Lestrade would serve as the police liaison for this agency.

Once the police discovered another such mysterious case, he would screen it out and hand it over to MI7 for handling.

MI7 had extremely broad powers.

Once they identified a case or person related to the mysterious, they were authorized to mobilize local police or even the military to deal with it.

From this, Levi could see that the royal family was clearly taking the matter very seriously.

A department that, even in its infancy, already wielded such great power and answered directly to the Crown……… inevitably gave Levi a few uneasy associations.

  But in a sense, this was necessary, after all……… who knew what kind of tricks these mystics might come up with next.

Now that there were even bat monsters, Levi felt it wouldn’t surprise him at all if he someday saw Leviathan out at sea.

But he still had many things to do.

For example……… reporting to MI7.

To be honest, Levi was a little excited about this.

He still remembered how in those old 007 movies, the secret bases looked.

You walked into a company, greeted a blonde, blue-eyed beauty at the desk, exchanged a codeword, and she would smile slightly before pressing a button.

Then the bookshelf behind her would slowly open, revealing a hidden door.

The protagonist would step forward, recite a password, match voiceprint and retina, and then the secret door would open, revealing a corridor full of futuristic atmosphere………

Wasn’t that cool?

Secret bases were a man’s romance!

However, when Levi stepped off the carriage and arrived at his destination, the slightly rundown Victorian-style building before his eyes left him utterly dumbfounded.

“Welcome, Mr. Levi.”

If not for the Old Butler waiting at the door, Levi would have thought he had gone to the wrong place.

“Good day, sir.”

Seeing the Old Butler, Levi walked forward, lifted his hat, and gave a polite bow.

Today, the Old Butler was not wearing his usual tailcoat, but instead a well-fitted business suit, making him look more like a successful capitalist.

“To be honest, I thought we would be meeting somewhere more discreet.”

“That’s exactly why we came here.”

The Old Butler chuckled and made a gesture toward Levi.

“Please follow me.”

Entering the slightly shabby building, the Old Butler led Levi into the lift, pressed a button, and soon the elevator gave a harsh screeching sound as it carried them upward.

Meanwhile, the Old Butler spoke softly to Levi.

“The royal family has already read your report, and after a series of studies, we finalized this plan. However, our identity requires some changes………”

“Ding-dong.”

The elevator stopped at the fifth floor.

The gate creaked open, and Levi stepped out.

Before him was a massive office, filled with busy clerks.

They wore plain uniforms, some flipping through files, others typing away.

Outside the office hung a sign reading 【Exploration & Mystery Editorial Department】.

“???”

Levi cast a questioning look at the Old Butler.

The latter only smiled faintly, saying nothing, and instead led Levi into the editorial department, and into the 【Editor-in-Chief’s Office】.

With the heavy door closing behind them, shutting out the noise and leaving complete silence, the Old Butler poured Levi a cup of tea.

“Please enjoy.”

“Thank you……… so, what’s going on here?”

“Exactly as you see.”

The Old Butler smiled faintly, sitting down behind the editor’s desk———upon which the nameplate read: Crawford Babylon.

“We carefully studied your report, consulted experts from various fields, and discovered……… the key to all this lies in controlling and filtering rumors.”

“But this is no easy task.”

Levi certainly knew that rumors and gossip were not so easily controlled.

“Exactly.”

The Old Butler spread his hands.

“Thus, welcome to the Exploration & Mystery Editorial Department. This will be a newspaper formally published in Mist City. Unlike other papers, it will focus on local oddities, all kinds of mysterious rumors and events. Anyone can write letters describing the mysterious, strange, and unexplainable things happening in their region and send them here. And then, we will dispatch a special guest investigator……………”

At this point, the Old Butler chuckled and pointed at Levi.

“Mr. Detective Levi himself, who will investigate and reveal the truth.”

Levi had to admit, upon hearing this explanation, he was quite surprised.

“So you mean, you intend to publish a newspaper dedicated to mysterious and strange events?”

“Exactly.”

Good heavens, that was indeed something.

Levi was both surprised and impressed.

He had to admit, this was a brilliant move!

The biggest problem with rumors was that they were uncontrollable, unregulated, and spread easily across wide ranges.

However, humans were naturally inclined toward authority———perhaps people in the internet age wouldn’t understand, but in the past, the phrase “it’s written in a book” was practically equal to truth.

Similarly, even if it was just rumor, once it was printed in black and white, it carried more “authority” than mere word of mouth.

And it was easier to gain public acceptance!

In this way, if two people had similar rumors, and one of them could pull out a newspaper to back it up, that version would clearly carry more credibility than the other.

For the one who preferred hiding among the masses, spreading all sorts of gossip and horror stories, this was nothing less than a heavy blow!

After all, when faced with official authority versus hearsay, people subconsciously leaned toward authority!

Of course, this was something only the government could do.

If Levi tried it, it clearly wouldn’t have the same effect.

It seemed the Empire’s government in this world was still somewhat reliable.

Thinking this, Levi felt a bit more at ease.

Then he saw the Old Butler reach out and press the bell on the desk.

“Next, I will introduce you to several key figures in this department.”

A moment later came a knock at the door.

Then Levi saw three people enter: two men and one woman.

They all looked rather distinguished, and from their dress, they were clearly from wealthy backgrounds.

Upon seeing Levi, the three paused in surprise.

The middle-aged lady’s eyes even lit up brightly, while Levi hurriedly stood, nodded, and bowed politely.

At this time, the Old Butler spoke again.

“This is Mr. Benjamin Thomson.”

He pointed first to the tall man in front, a gentleman with a goatee, looking scholarly and refined.

“He is an excellent scientist, specializing in military inventions. In this department, he is chiefly responsible for modifying weapons so that they can be more effective against monsters.”

Then he pointed to the short and stout man beside him, round like a beer barrel.

“This is Mr. Richard Scott, whose expertise lies in history and folklore. He will provide you with sufficient intelligence and analysis.”

The short, stout man chuckled and nodded at Levi in greeting.

“This lady is Windsor Herson, a psychologist. She is mainly responsible for conducting psychological assessments and evaluations. Of course, her field of research———the subconscious———should also be of great help to you.”

“Much obliged.”

Levi bowed to Ms.

Windsor, and she returned the gesture with a slight bow.

“Of course, their work is not limited to that.”

After finishing the introductions, the Old Butler smiled again.

“Once you solve these mysterious cases, Mr. Levi, they will be responsible for reframing the process from a professional perspective, transforming it into a form the public can understand and publishing it……………”

“Hmm……………”

Levi nodded.

That was understandable.

This way, when he resolved future mysterious incidents, these experts could reinterpret them as some kind of scientific or psychological phenomenon……… Hmm?

At that thought, Levi froze for a moment.

Wasn’t this basically Approaching Science?