Mission rewards and advanced skills

For the residents of Fog City, it was a day worth celebrating.

The vicious Courtesan Killer had been shot dead, and peace and quiet had returned to Fog City's nights-at least on the surface.

Sitting on the sofa, Li Wei set down his newspaper and let out a long breath.

The news made no mention of Amelia. It merely said that Doctor Dolittle's extreme religious beliefs had twisted into evil thoughts after his daughter's accidental death, ultimately driving him to murder the courtesans.

But Li Wei knew that was not the truth.

Afterward, he, Inspector Lestrade, and the others had searched the entire hidden chamber. Li Wei also had a question: Amelia had died in an accident several months ago, so why had Doctor Dolittle only started killing now? What had he been doing before that?

Doctor Dolittle's diary recorded the whole sequence of events.

The saddest part was that Amelia's death truly had been an accident, yet not entirely one.

According to the diary, Amelia had wanted to perform an operation on her own using that equipment without Doctor Dolittle's knowledge. But he had discovered what she was doing and tried to stop her. During their argument, Doctor Dolittle had accidentally touched a switch on the machine. It had suddenly activated and pierced Amelia straight through the heart.

In that sense, it certainly had been an accident.

Afterward, Doctor Dolittle had sunk into despair. A few weeks ago, however, he had gone to church for a service and met a fellow worshipper. The man had expressed deep sympathy for his plight and given him a book of magic, saying it contained a way to bring his daughter back to life.

Initially, Doctor Dolittle had withheld judgment. As a doctor, he had never heard of anything like it. But his love for his daughter had overcome his reason. Late one night, he had sneaked into the cemetery, opened his daughter's grave, and brought her body back. Then he had performed a ritual on the operating table-the bizarre magic circle Li Wei and Inspector Lestrade had seen was the result.

The outcome needed no explanation. Amelia had transformed into that monster. According to the book, she could return to life by killing those sinners, taking their hearts, livers, lungs, stomachs, kidneys, and other organs, and offering them as sacrifices.

It sounded like something straight out of a gory B-movie.

Even in a film, it would have been a tired cliché. But faced with it in reality, Li Wei could not laugh.

He had previously thought this world was nothing more than an ordinary civilization experiencing a boom in steam technology, albeit a somewhat interesting one.

But now... well... those monsters' corpses could not be faked.

Inspector Lestrade had received a commendation for solving the Courtesan Killer case. The unluckiest of them was actually Officer Fletcher. Although he had taken part in the entire operation, his carelessness had almost ruined everything. According to Officer Fletcher, while he was guarding Doctor Dolittle, the doctor had suddenly appeared to be in great pain, as though suffering an attack. Fletcher had followed his instructions and reached into his pocket for his medicine, giving Doctor Dolittle the chance to draw a gun. Fortunately, everything had worked out in the end. Had Doctor Dolittle escaped, Officer Fletcher would probably have worn his uniform for the last time.

Li Wei did not know how Amelia's body and the magic book had been dealt with, but he knew the higher-ups took the matter very seriously.

The reward they had given him made that clear.

The city council's bounty had promised a substantial reward to anyone who provided information or clues about the Courtesan Killer, or captured the culprit.

Now Li Wei finally knew how much that reward was.

Five thousand pounds!

It might not have sounded like much, but it was a fortune!

In the Empire, one gold pound equaled twenty silver shillings, and one silver shilling equaled twelve copper pennies.

Broken down by class, ordinary people earned roughly five to fifteen pounds a year, or a few dozen shillings a week. The poor had it even worse, earning perhaps less than ten pennies a week.

The middle class, meanwhile, earned between thirty and a hundred pounds a year.

The nobility had the highest incomes. Even the lowest earned around seven hundred pounds a year, while hereditary nobles earned eight to ten thousand.

Well... the vast gap between rich and poor was plain to see.

Incidentally, eggs were relatively expensive in this world, costing a penny each. By comparison, a cheap set meal at a budget restaurant catering to the poor also cost a penny.

Poultry such as chickens, ducks, and geese generally cost between five and ten shillings.

Although the Empire resembled a certain country in Li Wei's world, there was one major difference. Its territory was vast. Rather than a small island nation, it occupied almost a fifth of the continent. As a result, goods were more plentiful and prices relatively low.

Taking the poor as an example, a coachman earned around twenty shillings a week and had to spend ten of those on food to support his wife and daughter.

By comparison, a restaurant meal that Li Wei considered palatable, consisting of tea, fries, a plate of meat, vegetables, and dessert-essentially a burger meal without the burger-cost one shilling and ten pennies.

In other words, a single meal for Li Wei cost some people an entire day's wages.

To Li Wei, those five thousand pounds were a fortune, enough to let him live comfortably in this world at least above the middle-class level.

Incidentally, Li Wei had originally intended to split the money evenly with Katie. But she had seemed very busy. After leaving the pharmacy, she had said goodbye to Li Wei, Inspector Lestrade, and the others, then rushed off somewhere. Later, Li Wei had gone back to the warehouse to look for her, but neither Katie nor her two lackeys had been there.

It was as though the girl had vanished completely. How strange.

So Li Wei had put her share away for now. He could give it to Katie when she reappeared.

Still, compared with the money, what Li Wei valued most was what lay before him now.

[Mission "Fog City Mystery" completed]

[Time taken: S]

[Investigation efficiency: S]

[Impact: S]

[Overall rating: SSS]

"So that's how it works."

Studying the evaluation report floating before him, Li Wei raised an eyebrow. He now understood what the system used to judge missions: the time required for the investigation, its efficiency, and the role he played.

In other words, the more actively he investigated and the more firmly he kept the initiative in his own hands, the higher his rating would be. The opposite would lower it. This time, he had identified and exposed the culprit in just three days, which was clearly considered fast.

Of course, a high rating also meant generous rewards.

[Rewards obtained]

[Lifespan +30, bonus reward +15]

[Random skill card unlock +1]

[Advanced skills +2]

[Additional skill selection available-Diagnosis/Dissection/Treatment]

These must be Doctor Dolittle's and Amelia's skills. So taking down a culprit gives me a chance to obtain their skills? That's a pretty good option.

Anyway, first things first...

Li Wei reached out and gently tapped the air. Three cards soon appeared before him. Like the ones he had seen before, they had black backgrounds and golden skulls, making them look particularly eerie. He circled the three cards to see whether there were any hints on their backs, but both sides seemed identical.

All right, no clues there.

I'll just pick one.

Li Wei stared at the three cards and considered them for a moment, then reached out and selected the middle one. Just as before, it burst into fierce flames before him and burned away completely.

At the same time, a system notification appeared before his eyes.

[Investigation increased to 80 (Advanced skill obtained-Soul Sight/Proficiency 0%)]

[Soul Sight: When activated, allows you to sense mutually attracted soul fluctuations and traces. Consumes 5 minutes of lifespan per second]

Well, that's quite a useful skill for a detective.

After that silent quip, Li Wei looked at the system status window again. Another notification had already appeared.

[Shooting: 90 (Advanced skill obtained-Death's Eye/Proficiency 5%)]

[Death's Eye: Slows the flow of time while aiming at a target. Consumes 10 minutes of lifespan per second]

Now that's amazing.

Looking at the notification, Li Wei recalled what had happened. At the time, everything before him really had seemed like footage playing at half speed. The aftereffects had been pretty severe, though. After returning home, his head had hurt so badly that he had spent an entire day lying in bed before recovering.

Still, it was an excellent way to save his life. Trading ten minutes of lifespan for a single second of Death's Eye, though... it felt like a somewhat poor bargain.

Next came the additional reward.

Looking at the three cards that had appeared before him again, Li Wei fell silent.

Diagnosis, dissection, or treatment?

All three seem pretty useful... can't I have them all?

In the end, Li Wei chose diagnosis for a simple reason: if he did not even know what the illness was, how could he dissect anything? How could he treat it?

He could hardly just start cutting at random.

[Diagnosis skill obtained: 50 (Your medical skills are mediocre, but you have considerable expertise in gynecology)]

Seeing that line, Li Wei blinked speechlessly.

I'm an idiot. Seriously, how did I not think of that? Wasn't this Doctor Dolittle's specialty? Why else would he have been prescribing medicine to those courtesans?

If I'd known, I would've picked dissection...

Li Wei was somewhat speechless, but did not dwell on it. He raised his head and surveyed the room. Now that he had this money, he could have sold the clock tower and bought a luxurious, comfortable apartment to enjoy life in. Instead, he had paid to renovate the place and repair the elevator.

After all, the view was good, and a building like this had a distinctive charm.

Having silently consoled himself, Li Wei picked up his book and resumed reading. If he wanted to be a detective, he naturally needed to learn about this world. He could hardly leave everything until the last minute every time.

So Li Wei had bought a stack of books on this world's geography, history, and other subjects from a bookstore and begun studying diligently.

He had to admit, this world's history was quite interesting.

According to the books, its history so far was divided into three eras: the golden era, the silver era, and the bronze era.

The golden era felt like an age of ancient legends. Looking through it, Li Wei found exaggerated myths similar to Kuafu chasing the sun or Nüwa mending the sky. It was therefore also known as the age of myth. After all, these were still nothing more than myths and legends. The figures involved were all mighty beings such as gods, with no room for mortals, and there was no evidence that those gods had really existed.

Only with the silver era did history become less exaggerated and more verifiable.

Late in the golden era, a war had broken out among the gods, and all of them had fallen. Heaven and earth had shattered, and mortals had finally stepped onto history's stage.

At that time, a tribal chief named Arthur had led his warriors on campaigns far and wide, eventually unifying the entire continent and founding the Mekalon Empire. He had been honored as Emperor Arthur, and the founding of the Mekalon Empire marked the beginning of the silver era.

Like every dynasty, the Mekalon Empire had experienced glory and setbacks. After a thousand years of trials and tribulations, it had finally collapsed completely.

Its central territory had eventually become the Empire where Li Wei now lived. The rest had become several other countries.

The division and collapse had dealt the Empire a devastating blow, leaving it barely clinging to life. In the latter part of the silver era, it could scarcely hold its remaining territory, while also having to guard against its neighbors, who eyed it hungrily for invasion and plunder.

That situation had continued until the year 997 of the silver era, when a great inventor named James appeared.

He had created the steam engine, ushering in the age of steam civilization!

With the advent of the steam engine, the Empire had plunged into a frenzy of transformation. Countless scientists and inventors had rushed into the field, even seeking to make steam engines power everything. Inventions like that steam-powered operating table struck a modern person like Li Wei as utterly bizarre, but to the people of this world, such modifications and inventions were perfectly natural.

Soon afterward, another invention just as great as the steam engine had emerged: the steam-powered difference engine, researched and built by Sir Babbage!

After enduring so much humiliation, the Empire had ample motivation to push these reforms forward. Before long, the combined force of an industrial revolution and an information revolution had completely transformed the once-tottering Empire, breathing fresh vitality into an ancient, backward nation.

And that had marked the beginning of the bronze era.

He had to admit, it really was quite interesting.

Li Wei leafed through the history book with relish, finding it all rather absurd. For example, some of the names in it had also appeared in his own world, except that his world had never had anything like the difference engine. Its information revolution had come much later, too. Yet it seemed that no matter what form a design took, the things people used it for were more or less the same.

"Ding-dong!"

Just as Li Wei was enjoying his reading, he heard a soft chime from downstairs, followed by the elevator starting up. Curious, he put down his newspaper and looked toward the elevator doors. The reports on the courtesan case had naturally mentioned his name as well. Had someone already come to hire him?