Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 123
Only Noblemtl
Research has shown that the bio-armor made of muscle is self-aware.
The monster, which was given the temporary name of Red Ghost, is not capable of communication, but has the habit of making existing living beings its host. Or just extracting life force.
Since both of them mean death, I couldn’t be happy about accepting them in any way. Death is far from the nature of living things.
Alan responded calmly to the unexpected attack.
Kkaaa!
In the brief moment that the red monster screamed at the top of its lungs, Alan made his judgment about the guy.
‘Over 2m tall. There are orcs among the explorers, but in terms of size, they are underground people.’
As Lecter said, it meant that there was an additional laboratory or a place where the Red Ghost was sleeping.
‘Or maybe there was a problem with the tent where the red ghost was kept.’
If it was the former, I could take it lightly, but if it was the latter, it was a sad story. I didn’t like the idea of someone making a mistake or the security measures being a mess.
First, it was time to deal with the enemy that appeared before our eyes.
Alan looked at the box and the meowing red ear, then turned his eyes to the side. Lecter still had his arms crossed, looking relaxed.
“Why? Don’t worry about me and do whatever you want. In the underground lab, I just watched because of the professor.”
“We need to do this quickly, to help with the commotion outside.”
“It’ll be okay since the professor is here.”
“···.”
Lecter was calm, but too calm. Do I look like that to other people? Alan thought as he focused on the red ghost.
The Red Ghost was poking the box with his muscle fibers, transforming them into weapons, just like he did with Oros. The box was working hard to activate its magical defenses, as if it had been hit with its bare body like Professor Oak, it would have been riddled with holes.
Alan quickly approached, dodging the tentacles bouncing off the blue membrane.
‘While the guy was out of his mind…’
As soon as he thought that, one of the tentacles that had been aiming for the box snapped and aimed for Alan’s face. He could have left it alone since he had a visor, but a hand snatched the tentacle away before he could.
‘oh···.’
Alan was slightly impressed. The movements just now were 95% Zion’s and 5% his own.
It was a scene that proved that although the power suit controls the body, as the frequency increased, the body also gained experience.
As he tightened his grip, the tentacle he had caught was crushed, and the red ghost screamed in pain. At the same time, flames rose from the power suit’s gloves and spread along the tentacle to the red ghost’s body.
Kieeeee!
The boy tried to throw the box away as if he wanted to roll on the ground, but he couldn’t get away from the press machine-like claws.
Even if that were possible, it wouldn’t have been possible to put out the fire. Fire with magical power surpasses normal phenomena. The fire spread throughout the body and destroyed the core, causing the muscles to melt away.
“pain···.”
“What did you say?”
Alan checked the red ghost’s vital signs, then turned his head at the sound coming from behind. Lecter’s bleary eyes were focused on the burning flesh.
“The main factor that makes a living thing feel alive. Why is the bio-armor designed to feel pain?”
“Pain is actually a sensation created for the safety of the body. Without pain, living things would become careless in many ways. That would be fatal to the continuity of life.”
“Yeah, it’s good that we can communicate.”
“The same would apply to the Red Ghost. They would have tried to induce a quick reaction from the Red Ghost through pain, thereby keeping the wearer much safer…”
“They failed. They either overlooked the fact that pain could awaken self-consciousness, or they blindly trusted their own skills.”
“Let’s discuss later and move first.”
If things continued like this, it would be like digging through the ashes, so Alan left the tent first. It was already decided where to go.
Kkaaa!
Squeak!
If you go to the place where the enemy roars loudly, you will meet university personnel.
It was as expected. The explorers and students joined forces to push back the enemy. The enemy, who charged in alone without a formation, could not overcome the power of numbers.
Of course, that’s possible because:
“Euryaaaa!”
It was thanks to Professor Oros who was running wild at the forefront. Wearing only pajama pants, he was tearing the enemy’s ears with both hands. The muscle fibers were easily torn like soft crab meat.
If you combined all the muscle bundles piled up under his feet, there would be enough to make ten Red Ghosts.
The red demons, who had continued to attack even as their comrades died, began to retreat slowly when Allen arrived. Despite being human-shaped, they ran on all fours like dogs and disappeared between the buildings.
The professor, who had turned into a red orc, opened his mouth.
“You’re both safe. That’s a relief.”
“You’re already gathered.”
“I must have let out a shout of magical power. Mr. Lecter, didn’t you hear me?”
“I don’t know.”
“It could be because the two tents are on the outskirts. The suspicious nature of the labyrinth has not lasted a day or two… Excuse me for a moment.”
Oros distanced himself from the people and tensed his body. His muscles swelled momentarily, and the blood and foreign substances on his body were sprayed in all directions.
‘There’s a way like that too.’
It was a technique that vibrated the muscles strongly and transmitted the force to the skin to shake off impurities. The explanation was easy, but it was difficult to actually follow.
‘It’s easy to simply apply force, but it’s difficult to just sprinkle dirt under your feet. It’s a technique that highlights the delicate use of muscles.’
Oros, who had regained his original skin color, walked towards the explorers with a steady gait. As he got closer, the explorers swallowed their saliva more frequently.
“Everyone. Who is in charge of the storage today?”
“I am leaving.”
“me too···.”
An explorer wearing a golem prosthetic arm raised his hand timidly, and an orc, a university staff member, also stepped forward.
“I don’t mean to blame you two. Was there a problem with the storage unit?”
“no!”
“Professor! I swear to heaven that never happened.”
“Now that the enemy has retreated, let’s check. Have someone else check if the secret passage is intact.”
As the explorer and staff said, the storage was intact. The cans that had been used to compress the red ghosts and the transparent cases containing the red liquid were silently guarding their positions.
“The numbers are correct and there are no broken parts. I’m really glad it wasn’t your mistake.”
The explorers and staff let out a collective sigh of relief. The professor’s muscles, which had seemed to be glaring at them, became still.
As they were huddled together near the storage area, the personnel who had gone to check the condition of the passage returned.
One of the explorers wet his lips with his tongue.
“I···.”
“It’s okay, so feel free to talk.”
Oros smiled, but the explorer’s trembling grew worse. After a moment, he opened his mouth to speak.
“The passageway is gone.”
“this···.”
The professor touched his forehead at the mention of the disappearance of the path connecting the ruins and the labyrinth. The protruding muscles of his neck spoke for him.
In fact, it would have been fine if Oros had been alone. If he had, he would have already broken through the ruins, obtained the secret, and opened the passage door.
But now there were students. Baby birds, looking up at their mother bird, fluffy wings fluttering.
Oros smiled as kindly as he could.
“Guys, what did I say?”
“You said there is always a way out of a labyrinth.”
“Thank you for your answer, Carlson. I understand that you are confused because this is your first time. But please keep calm and remember that there is a door somewhere.”
Oros called the explorer’s interim leader and senior staff.
“Let’s move the camp closer to the wall. Put the tents as close together as possible, and use whatever materials you have to build the wall. And Mr. Lecter and Explorer Alan, please come and see me for a moment.”
The explorers didn’t say much about Alan, who was always alone. At first, they wondered what he was, but as they watched him research, they realized that he was a person who lived in a different world.
Oros brought the two into the tent before it was demolished.
“Those two are the most talented people here, aside from me.”
“You want us to open a passage.”
“It’s like Explorer Alan said. Actually, I want to go, but I have students…”
Oros said this and put his hand to his ear.
“Do you hear? The Red Ghosts are still lurking around here. They’re hiding the audacity we saw in the lab basement, and strangely, they’re biding their time.”
“Does that mean there is an entity controlling them?”
“That’s right. It’s comfortable because it’s like a book.”
Oros agreed with Alan’s words.
“I haven’t confirmed its existence, but my senses tell me so.”
Then, for some reason, he swept his arm muscles. The arm muscles twitched in response. Oros tapped that area.
“I’m not asking you to take care of that. Once I confirm the location and return, I’ll step forward and take care of it in one go.”
“As a teaching assistant, I will follow the professor’s instructions. Alan, let’s hurry.”
“Just a minute. Is there another way?”
Two people paid attention to Alan’s words.
“I took it to mean that the professor was anxious about whether the camp would be able to hold out while he discovered something.”
“That’s right.”
“But if you have the power to block the attack, it will save a lot of time if you go out and explore yourself.”
“What method?”
In response to the professor’s question, Alan pointed to the side with his hand. The box, which had been still, reacted to the sudden gaze and clicked its claws.
“I am a magic engineer. And automatons are not at risk of infection. They are not living things, so covering them with your body would be of no use.”
“I know that, but can you get an automaton up that fast?”
“It’s possible. Since the automatons guarding the university have all been gathered in one place, we have enough materials.”
“Let’s check it out first and then continue the discussion.”
Oros, who had gotten up, moved to the place where the remains of the automaton were piled up. Occasionally, when he heard the roar of the enemy ghost, he would throw a rock in its direction to silence it.
“Alan, is that possible?”
“it’s possible.”
“Could the automaton have made it that easily? Why don’t we just find the leader of the Red Ghost?”
“It is important to satisfy intellectual desires, but there are weights to work.”
“Aren’t you curious about the origin of the red ghost?”
“The first priority is to send the students home safely.”
“Hmm… I thought you would understand.”
Alan brushed aside Lecter’s words and checked the automatons. There were many badly damaged children, but it didn’t matter since they weren’t going to be in operation forever anyway.
“Soulstone.”
The box opened its drawer at the master’s command. Inside, the soul stones that were peacefully sleeping were visible.
“Explorer Alan, have you prepared in advance? You seem very well prepared for the expedition.”
“Yes, what···.”
Actually, it was a little different. The mammoths we fought in the snowfield had the ability to produce their own automatons, and Alan applied some of that to the box.
The soul stone that the box spit out was an item that the guy had temporarily engraved with astrological characters. Of course, he only input the astrological characters for basic actions. The rest was up to Allen to figure out.
Alan placed the soul stone on the floor and bowed his head. As his magical power grew deeper, three circles were drawn on his face as usual. At the moment when the light from his eyebrows became the strongest, Alan opened both his eyes.
‘Multi-hacking.’
There was no firewall, and since it was something Allen had created in the first place, it easily accepted magic power. The star characters inside the soul stone changed quickly.
Alan looked up. The visor prevented light from escaping outside.
“Now, just put the soul stone in and turn on the magic furnace.”
They didn’t have to do all the work alone. Once the students had roughly put together the body of the automaton, Alan would come along and quickly finish the repairs.
“That’s amazing. The contents of the soul stone will be different depending on the type of automaton···.”
Oros was amazed at the mechanical soldier who was raising his body. It was not a phenomenon that could be covered up by saying that it had been prepared in advance.
Professor Oak’s eyes turned into those of a bird of prey.
“Mr. Alan···.”
“Let’s talk about it later.”
“Haha. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Oros, properly dressed in his exploration gear, disappeared between the buildings. Screams were heard repeatedly as he killed several enemy ghosts along the way.
Alan commanded the automaton and placed it in front of the explorers, while Lecter watched with his arms folded.
End