The Mysterious Detective of the Steam World

Am I still alive?

Levi looked around blankly. He was sure that he was still lying in front of the hospital bed a moment ago. He could hear the cold and urgent alarm sound of the equipment in his ears, and maybe he could also see a few vague figures in white coats surrounding him. But Levi didn't care about this. He could feel that the fire of his life was about to go out, just like a candle burning to the end.

But Levi didn't think this was heaven or hell, because he happened to be standing here, and he could feel the solid stone ground under his feet. Dark, tall houses can be seen all around. Under the dim light, you can see that the entire street is filled with light mist, like the steam from a sauna. The cold water vapor hits your nose and fills your chest and lungs.

It was like a dream.

Levi couldn't even remember the last time he breathed so easily. Since his diagnosis, his body has been deteriorating. Even if he moves a little or even takes a breath of air, he feels extremely painful and torn. But now my body is so light and healthy, at least I don't feel any signs of pain or suffering.

However, what is going on?

Is it a dream he had when he was dying? Then this dream is a bit too real.

Li Wei walked to a nearby window, but the reflection that appeared above made Li Wei startled. Although it was indeed him, the clothes he was wearing at this moment were beyond Li Wei's imagination. A three-piece dress, vest, coat, overcoat, white shirt, top hat.

This made Levi feel a little strange. Why did he dress like this? This looks more like COS clothing at a comic exhibition than everyday clothing.

But what exactly is this place? Are you dreaming? A hallucination before death, or did he say that he traveled through time? Of course Levi had read those time-travel novels, but he didn't understand why he would time-travel.

Think carefully, what happened...

Levi closed his eyes and began to recall what happened before. He only remembered that he was in the hospital and that he didn't have much time left. Then... yes, Levi remembered, he had a dream.

In the dream, Levi was not sick. He was still doing his job, an anchor. He faced the computer and camera, playing the new game and explaining it to the audience. What kind of game was it? Levi couldn't remember clearly. He only remembered that he created the character, and then several cards randomly appeared on the screen for him to choose. Then Levi chose one at random...

"Huh?"

At this moment, Levi realized that he seemed to be holding something in his hand. He lowered his head and looked around, and saw a black, tarot-like rectangular card lying quietly in his palm in his right hand. The back of it was pitch black, with a golden skull painted on it, and the front...

Before Levi could turn the card over to take a closer look, the card suddenly burst into flames and spontaneously combusted, disappearing completely in the blink of an eye, leaving not even a piece of ashes behind.

"Woo..."

At the same time as the cards burned and disappeared, Levi suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his brain, as if he had been stabbed by a needle. Immediately afterwards, a strange line of information appeared in front of Levi out of thin air.

[Occupation drawing completed]

【》》》》》Character data is being generated]

[Levi]

[Occupation: Detective]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 40 (you are not suitable for living by selling your strength)]

[Physique: 35 (your constitution is a bit weak)]

[Agility: 60 (your reaction ability is stronger than the average person)]

[Intelligence: 70 (although you are not a genius, your well-read knowledge is far wider than many people)]

[Will: 75 (not even disease can defeat you)]

[Perception: 75 (nothing abnormal can escape your eyes)]

[Appearance: 90 (A woman will faint with excitement just by being close to you)]

[Charm: 85 (You have outstanding appearance, decent manners, and elegant conversation, which makes it easy for people to like you) )]

[Skills]

[Shooting: 90 (for you, always hitting the target is not an exaggerated description)]

[Disguise: 55 (you must disguise yourself to eliminate your own presence)]

[Detection: 70 (you can see in six directions and hear in all directions)]

[Psychology: 70 (For you who are good at observing words and expressions, there are almost no secrets in this world)]

[Charm: 85 (In front of that gentle whisper and dazzling appearance, few people can resist your charm)]

[Details Interest]

[Lifespan: 10 days]

[Credit: 45 (your assets are still sufficient)]

[Address: 312 White Oak Street, Filler District]

What is this?

Looking at what appeared in front of him, which looked like a character attribute table in a game, Levi was stunned. He even wondered for a while whether he was dreaming. Indeed, Levi still has some idea of ​​his abilities. Before getting sick, he had played shooting games for a period of time as an anchor and participated in competitions. His appearance was not bad, and his skills were good, so he was somewhat famous online. When I traveled abroad before, I also participated in training activities at foreign shooting ranges. But Li Weike never thought that his activities could be related to numerical values.

"Da da da..."

Just when Levi was about to find out more about what happened, he suddenly caught the sound of footsteps keenly. Not only that, Levi also heard a faint collision. Along with these sounds, an image gradually appeared in Levi's mind.

Two people, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin. They were wearing police uniforms with batons and handcuffs on their waists. Levi could even retrieve information from his brain and confirm that the sound was the sound of the baton colliding with the handcuffs.

Almost at the same time that this image was formed in Li Wei's mind, Li Wei saw several figures walking out of the fog in front of him. The short, fat man walking in front had a big belly, a fat beer belly, and two well-groomed mustaches under his nose. His face looked very blessed.

The tall and thin man next to him is a young man who looks like he has just entered the workplace. He is holding a gas lamp and looking around nervously. When they saw Levi, they were stunned for a moment, and then the tall and lanky policeman almost hurriedly took out the pistol from his waist - luckily the pudgy man with a mustache next to him stopped his next move.

"Hello, sir."

When the leader, Mustache, saw Li Wei, a smile appeared on his face, and then he asked.

"Excuse me, it's so late, what are you doing here?"

"I..."

Li Wei stared at the other person, and at the same time he was thinking quickly in his mind. So far, Li Wei still doesn't know what his situation is. But he understood that the current situation was not good for him. Late at night, a well-dressed man wandered alone on the street and was interrogated by the police. So what was he going to say?

Although the mustached police officer looked smiling and amiable. But Levi's experience tells him that this kind of person is the best at investigating. He has encountered this kind of people before when traveling abroad. Compared with those who act like they don't want to enter strangers, people who hide their knives in their smiles should be the most careful, otherwise you are likely to be touched by the other party without knowing it.

Thinking of this, Levi also immediately recalled what appeared in front of him just now, which was like the character attributes in a video game.

"My name is Levi, and I am a detective."

He answered decisively.

Since the identity given to him in the system is [Detective], Levi might as well just let it go.

"Ah, that's it."

Hearing Levi's answer, Mustache nodded.

"Are you also after the bounty? Mr. Detective? Perhaps I should remind you that this is not an easy task... But before that, please let me see your ID and citizen number."

"………………"

Levi reached out and almost instinctively took out a wallet from the pocket of his coat, then took out a card that looked slightly larger than a business card and had a texture similar to plastic and handed it over. The whole movement was smooth and fluid, as if he had repeated it countless times.

"………………"

Mustache took the card, looked at it carefully, and then compared it with Levi. He took out a notebook and recorded something on it, and then he returned the card to Levi. Levi took the card, resisted the urge to take a closer look at what it was, and put it back in his wallet.

"It's so late and it's too dangerous for you to be alone. How about we give you a ride? Mr. Levi?"

"Of course, it's not an honor."

Li Wei naturally would not refuse the other party's proposal. After all, he had just come to this world and he still hasn't figured out what happened. And with a police ***, it's somewhat safer.

So Levi joined the two of them and followed them forward. During the conversation with the other party, Levi learned that the mustached policeman was named Lestrade, and the young man next to him was his partner Fletcher. Lestrade was obviously a talkative person. Even when he was walking on the road, he was always looking for something to talk to.

"So, Mr. Detective, have you found any clues?"

"Not yet."

"I think so, how can it be so easy."

Lestrade laughed when he heard Levi's answer. He held out his belly and swayed ahead.

"It's not easy to find a courtesan killer, you know? Mr. Detective, those reporters think that we police are useless, but what can we do? It's not our fault that we are short of manpower, and those bosses would rather publish a reward in the newspaper than Allocate funds to our police department. Thanks to them, everything is not peaceful at this time. People report seeing the social butterfly killer every day, but they can’t even explain what the social butterfly killer looks like..."

The social butterfly killer.

Hearing this word, Levi's brain immediately seemed to trigger a keyword, and the inside story about it quickly emerged.

On the streets of this city, women were murdered late at night one after another. Their necks were cut off, their bodies were cut open, and their internal organs were taken out. Because these victims were all socialites who solicited customers on the streets late at night, the murderers who committed these murders were also called courtesan killers.

Well, this reminded Levi of a similar case in his own world. Like that case, no one knew whether the socialite killer was a boy or a girl, old or young. However, several cases have occurred, causing panic in society. Therefore, the city council also published a reward in the newspaper, claiming that whoever could provide clues about the courtesan killer or catch him would be given a large sum of money.

There must be a brave man under a big reward. After that, some people did have the courage to look for the social butterfly killer. Some people called newspapers and the police station, claiming that they had clues about the social butterfly killer, but unfortunately they found nothing. Instead, it wasted a lot of police time and energy. No wonder Mr. Lestrade was so dissatisfied and complained.

"Ah——————!"

At this moment, suddenly, a woman's high-pitched scream was heard not far away. When she heard this voice, almost at the same time, Lestrade and his partner Fletcher had already flew out like arrows. Seeing this scene, Levi was stunned for a moment, but he hurriedly followed them and rushed forward.

Inspector Lestrade looked like a walking ball with a big belly, but Levi did not expect him to run so fast. His legs swung rapidly at a frequency that Levi had never imagined, and he flew forward with his ball-like body. Even the tall and lanky Fletcher couldn't run as fast as him. They walked through the fog-shrouded streets, everything looking dreamy in the dim gas light.

Not long after, they saw a man collapsed on the ground, sitting on the ground shivering.

"Miss, what happened?"

Lestrade came to the other party. She was a young woman, wearing a somewhat worn coat, with yellow hair and a pale complexion. Before Levi even got close to her, he smelled a pungent smell of cheap perfume coming towards her. The latter didn't even look at Lestrade, he just stared blankly at the dark alley in front of him without saying a word.

"You stay here."

Lestrade gave Fletcher the order, and then he stood up and walked forward with the gas lamp in hand. Levi hesitated for a moment and followed Lestrade - he wasn't sure whether it was his melon-eating nature, or simply wanting to watch the fun, or just the curiosity that everyone has. But for Levi, the dark alley now seemed to be full of some kind of alluring charm.

One step, two steps, three steps.

On the main street, the dim yellow light of gas lamps dispelled the darkness. Perhaps because of this, the alleys are getting darker and darker now, as if all the dispelled darkness has gathered deep in the corners where light cannot reach. The light of the gas lamp in Inspector Lestrade's hand seemed to have become much dimmer because of this, and he could only barely see a small patch of ground in front of him clearly.

Under the light, the first thing they saw was a dark, hard road paved with small stone slabs. Then there was blood, thick, a large pool of spreading blood. They spread in all directions like a river that burst its banks, covering everything around it in dim red.

Finally, there is a corpse.

It was a young woman. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, and her eyes almost seemed to pop out of their sockets. The twisted expression was enough to prove that she had seen some kind of terrifying existence. There was a deep gash on her neck, leaving almost only a layer of skin on her head. It's like a slaughtered pig, the body is cut open, the internal organs are removed, and the blood is bled there...

"Damn..."

Lestrade cursed under his breath while Levi stared at the body. This was the first time he saw a corpse in reality, but unexpectedly, Levi felt quite calm. He has watched a lot of TV, novels and games. As mentioned above, many people will feel scared, uneasy or even excited when they see a corpse for the first time. But Levi didn't feel this way at all. He looked at the corpse as if he saw an application question in the college entrance examination room.

Now, he has to find a way to disassemble the equation, solve this problem, and get the final answer. This was not difficult. The body was not messy and there were no signs of struggle. Judging from the other party's expression, she died almost instantly. She saw something and was killed so quickly that she didn't even have time to change her expression.

The cuts are neat and sharp. They are not ordinary daggers or kitchen knives. After all, they may be able to cut the neck, but they cannot cut the body so smoothly. So what's inside...

"Mr. Levi."

Lestrade's voice rang in Levi's ears, and Levi came back to his senses. Only then did he realize that he had reached the corpse and was stretching his head to look inside. Just like the candidates who unknowingly open their eyes and move closer to the test questions in the examination room.

"I understand what you think as a detective, but please don't destroy the scene at will."

"Sorry."

Levi took two steps back and adjusted his clothes, but he still couldn't help but think about how to solve this problem. In fact, he almost had an idea. The woman followed someone into the alley, and the latter revealed his true face. The woman who saw him was extremely frightened. Before she could scream, the murderer took action. The evidence was that the blood stains sprayed on the wall were very incomplete, which meant that the murderer should have been standing in front of the woman when he took action.

Then...the victim fell down, and the latter placed him on the ground, and then...

Levi retracted his gaze, and he looked at the woman's face again. Her expression was twisted and horrified, frozen at the moment of death. What did she see at that time?

At this moment, Inspector Lestrade came to the woman's side. He looked at the woman, prayed a few words in a low voice, and then placed the gas lamp next to the woman. Under the dim light of the gas lamp, Levi suddenly saw a twisting black shadow flashing past the woman's hazy eyes.

Over there!

Almost instantly, Levi turned his head, his right hand reached for his waist and grabbed the handle of the gun - Levi had never been aware of the existence of this gun before, but just like before, he was extremely skilled in this action, as if he had repeated it countless times. The hard, cold ivory gun handle felt a strange yet familiar touch. Levi raised the gun, pointed it above his head, and pulled the trigger.

At the same time, a black shadow fell from the sky and rushed toward Levi and Lestrade!