Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 107
Only Noblemtl
Holoskin is a magical tool that conceals your identity by giving illusions to your face or body shape. It is good to put on various things and make up yourself, but it cannot beat the convenience of just pressing a button.
Alan and his party applied the holoskins that Lorenzo had given them. Alan was transformed into a healthy-looking blonde, Taylor into a middle-aged man with no beard at all, and Shiva into a black-bearded man with lots of jewelry.
Shiva kept brushing his beard as if he was anxious.
“You have to hide the body that your mother gave you… And if they find out that you’re disguised, won’t they turn hostile?”
“I told you last time···. I often have guests from outside, and since I want to be honest, I mostly wear Holoskin···. So I don’t think people will look at me strange···.”
“Brother who resembles a rat, I won’t scold you, so speak comfortably. We have to act at home, so let’s get used to it from now on.”
“Yes. …No, it’s fine.”
The 26th floor was a mountainous area with repeated ups and downs. In addition, there was no path for people to walk on, so in order to advance even a little, you had to clear away the plants blocking the path.
Even if you strengthen your body with magic power, if you repeat high-intensity labor, fatigue will build up. From the perspective of an ordinary person, it would be monstrous just by considering the time it takes to get tired.
As we reached the concave terrain, avoiding rocks rolling down the steep slope, Gary took a quick look around.
“Our base is at the bottom of a cliff, and if you walk from here for about 30 minutes, you will see your destination.”
“You guys hide.”
Alan ordered the leopard and the box to hide. The leopard climbed into the thick canopy, and the box hid among the rocks.
beep-!
It was a proud beep that signaled that the instructions had been completed, but to Alan it was not enough.
The box was noticeably larger, and of course the rocks couldn’t completely cover its body.
Alan took out a few magic stones and took out his rune pen. He drilled holes in the rock, inserted the magic stones, and used his rune pen to carve the runes of [Stealth], [Silence], and [Assimilation].
The box waved its claws in the air, a sight that Alan could clearly see.
“Wow, shit···.”
Gary unconsciously let out one of the best exclamations of all time, even though he was swearing, and looked at Alan with anxious eyes.
“I don’t plan on pressing the button because I swore at you.”
“after···.”
He let out a deep sigh, perhaps realizing his miserable state of having to be careful even when swearing.
The group moved again. The steep climb was not difficult because there were deeply rooted trees here and there.
After climbing for quite some time, I finally came across a high, flat area before my eyes, and a huge crack appeared. It was impossible to see where it ended, and it stretched out like an anthill.
Gary glanced down at the dark, untouched sun, then turned his head toward Alan.
“Tell me what time it is.”
“Is there a function in the brain expansion device?”
“I’m asking because there isn’t any.”
“It’s 1:20 p.m.”
“It’s that time. Jump down.”
Taylor frowned at the sudden words. His expression grew more grim as he looked back and forth between Gary’s face and below.
“Is this crazy? It looks like it’s over 500m, and you want me to run?”
Gary, who was hit directly by the ominous momentum, shook his head desperately.
“There’s no wind where I’m standing now, but down there the updraft is strangely strong, and it lifts people wearing heavy gear.”
“Then, shall we see a demonstration by a skilled assistant?”
“You can’t jump anywhere, you have to be between the protruding rock on the left and the rut on the right.”
Gary really flew as if it wasn’t a lie. He fell rapidly, becoming a small dot, and when he reached a certain section, he fell slowly like a feather.
Only after Gary had safely arrived below did Alan move. Even if it was a trick, it was okay because he had the gliding function.
“I will go first.”
I took out the suicide device in advance and jumped down. The scenery passed by in an instant. If I hadn’t been wearing the helmet of the power suit, the wind would have been so strong that it would have been difficult to even raise my eyelids.
As I passed a certain point, the wind surging upwards grew stronger and my body slowly went down.
Alan looked at Taylor, who came down after him.
“If only it were easy to climb up, I’d like to experience it a few times.”
“You like this kind of thing?”
“No, I want to experiment to see if it’s possible to generate magical power using wind pressure.”
Taylor made a face like, “Well, then, that’s okay.” Then she glared at Gary, who was pretending to vomit.
The area below the cliff was desolate. Wherever I looked, I saw only dry rocks. As expected from a labyrinth, even though the wind was blowing, there was no sign of weathering.
Is there any point in coming down a steep cliff when there is nothing there? There will be explorers who challenge it at first, but from then on, they will avoid it.
Alan followed Gary and asked.
“Does the wind always blow?”
“From 1:00 to 2:00 PM, Earth time. Only the area I mentioned earlier. Don’t ask why, I don’t know.”
“You’re a bit rough. Are you comfortable with Alan treating you well?”
“no.”
If you speak informally to Alan, I’ll just ignore it, but not to Taylor, so I have to use formal language every time. There’s a bomb right under my brain, so what can I do? I have to endure it.
The wizard of the tower of Essel was so evil that the switch broke or exploded on its own if he touched it. So Gary had no choice but to follow orders.
We had to come down and walk again, wondering if it was the end. After walking for about an hour, Gary went into a cave.
After walking for another hour along the complicated path, the road ahead was blocked. It was an optical illusion, but there was a space cleverly hidden behind a rock.
As we went inside, we saw a fairly large space.
Pot!
Suddenly, a strong light blasted out from in front of him. Since Gary had told him this in advance, Alan didn’t panic and waited calmly.
“You’re alive!”
A voice was heard beyond the light.
“Of course you’re alive. You little punk. Are your eyes broken?”
The artificial eyeball was not a metaphorical expression, as it could break down.
The light dimmed, and a man appeared beside the searchlight. His hair and beard were caked with grease and dirt, as if he had not washed properly.
“The lake kids said you were taken, how did you escape?”
“Do you believe what those kids are saying? I was hiding in the swamp the whole time. Do you see this?”
Gary raised his left hand, missing his pinky finger.
“This is the price I paid to escape safely from that bastard Lorenzo.”
“Good. This time, I’ll use the fingers that have ear-piercing capabilities.”
“What the heck···.”
“But there’s a guest behind you? You ran away so fast you could die, and you brought me back.”
As the time for the retreat ended, Furbo observed Alan and his group. Gary coughed and explained as he had agreed beforehand.
“I stopped by the meeting point on the way here just in case, and there was a visitor. So I brought him.”
“Since when have you been so sincere?”
“shut up.”
Thanks to Gary, his trust level had increased, and the bear only asked a formal question about his business. When Alan told him that he was a magic engineer, he was overjoyed.
Maggots also use MagicWear, but since they live buried deep down, there is no way to repair them when they break. That is why the visit of a repairman is welcome.
“Brother, do you have a license?”
“There isn’t any.”
“Hmm…, okay.”
I actually liked it when he said I was unqualified. After all, why would a licensed magic engineer come down to the labyrinth to repair a maggot?
“That’s a cool power suit. Where did you get it?”
“There was someone I didn’t like, so I forcibly took her off.”
“I would like to meet that kind of donor.”
“If you go to a good place, you won’t be able to meet.”
He had taken the guard’s suit, so there was not a single bit of falsehood in Alan’s words. The furry man seemed to like this answer as well, as he tore the corners of his mouth open. It was not a good sight to see his rotten teeth.
Gary’s base was based on a large passageway with branches extending out in all directions. The large passageway served as a market, restaurant, slaughterhouse, and other places.
Alan lowered his voice as he watched the maggots skinning the forest creatures.
“That’s quite a lot.”
“There are about 50 people.”
The maggots looked this way once in a while, spit out a few happy curses at Gary, and then returned to their work.
Gary led Alan into a hole he called the guest room. Seeing the sack of straw that was supposed to be a bed, it seemed much better to just sleep on the floor.
“I have to report to the boss, so wait a moment.”
“Find out where the stolen cylinder is.”
“Depending on the situation···.”
As Gary disappeared, Alan observed the room, and his eyes met Taylor’s. He was holding his nose with his hand, and the face hidden inside was also frowning.
“Does it smell that bad?”
“It’s clear that maggots have no sense of smell.”
“By the way, Ooparts has some amazing abilities. Since you said the research isn’t finished, there must be more hidden abilities, right?”
“What ability?”
“You’ve seen how to tame and ride a forest creature.”
“Brother, if you have a brain problem, let’s go to the hospital run by the church together. I’ll tell you and give you a discount.”
“What are you talking about? You forgot. You don’t have dementia!”
The reaction was fierce. Taylor was very sensitive to the word or nuance of dementia, as she had been suffering from a kind of magic wear-induced coin possession.
Gary returned as Taylor was saying that she wanted to ask her sister to make her a mask too.
“Where are you?”
“that is···.”
Gary scratched his head and a white powder fell. Taylor growled.
“If you don’t want to get your wrist cut off, don’t scratch.”
Gary, who had become more attentive, began to explain slowly.
“Now that you’ve seen what abilities it has, I think you know how valuable it is.”
“so?”
“The leaders of each organization divided it up. I guess they are too greedy and cannot trust each other.”
Alan, who had been listening quietly, joined in the conversation.
“Are Oparts easily divided?”
“I guess they’ll share it. Each one is useless, so they have to be combined to be effective.”
“This is a headache.”
If we were to surprise the captain, we would have to worry about the people living here. If we couldn’t take them down right away, they would scatter through the escape routes that were open on all sides.
Then they will run far away, and when word gets out, other organizations will hide deeper.
“There is one way.”
“?”
“The person who told us the location of the Oparts and gave us the magic tool will come back in five days. At that time, the leaders will gather in one place.”
“Do you know the place?”
“know.”
“You are very cooperative.”
“Please tell Lorenzo, I did my best.”
“All right.”
Gary’s face lit up and he left the room again. He had brought a guest with him, so he could stay with him, but he had to move around separately to gather more information.
Alan asked Taylor.
“Why is that? What good does it do to leave a good impression on Mr. Lorenzo?”
“Eshel Matap also operates an organization similar to the Purification Volunteer Corps.”
“Brother, is that true? Ethel Matap also works hard for the purity of the world.”
“No, I mean, you’re using slaves.”
Of course, the word slave does not exist in the law. However, there were many people who did not realize that they were slaves. There were also many who were placed in much harsher situations.
“There are poor countries. They should always be there, they should never develop, their people should never have power.”
“You’re talking about resource theft.”
“They claim they obtained their rights through legal transactions, but if you look inside,….”
That meant using them as slaves in such a harsh environment. Since they only had to be fed, it was much cheaper than running an automaton with magic stones.
“I wondered why the clock function was removed from the brain extension device, and that was the reason. Slaves don’t need to keep track of time while working. Shall we begin?”
“Do you have any good ideas?”
“I introduced myself as a magic engineer. I’ll be back soon for an inspection, so I plan to work on it little by little.”
“It looks somehow familiar.”
“Because I’ve done it against cartel members too.”
“Oh, right. Do you know what happened to them?”
“It must have exploded due to overload. Five days later, they’ll be dragging their men to the trading place.”
End