Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 375
Only Noblemtl
Forbidden Zone (4)
As they prepared to depart for the fortress that resembled a metal top, Coco approached them cautiously. She was more polite than before, having witnessed Alan’s skills firsthand.
“The Titan must be returned. It is a weapon that should not be shown even for repair purposes.”
“···.”
Alan was wearing a helmet, so there was no way to check his expression. Coco understood the silence as discomfort and annoyance, but she stood firm like a soldier.
“If you go, you can survive as long as you have Titan. I’ll take it with me.”
“···.”
Coco got up and Alan picked up the keys. Coco raised her fist as she saw the pure white cane blocking her way.
“You shouldn’t do this.”
“What’s not working? Put your fist down.”
Zion leapt out of the shadows and thrust his sword at Coco’s neck. The pulse of magical energy from the super-pulsating sword caused numerous warning signs to appear on Coco’s visor.
Taylor stepped in between the two and mediated.
“Hey, hey. The atmosphere has become strange. Defense is a natural reaction, so put your sword down.”
“···okay.”
“Alan, you sort it out.”
“···.”
Alan remained silent. When Taylor looked embarrassed, he finally opened his lips.
“I couldn’t hear you because I was concentrating.”
“You? What on earth did you do?”
“I was trying to soothe him. He’s being picky again today.”
Alan shook the key gently. The Forbidden Zone was the result of tangled imaginary areas, so he thought that although it would be difficult to destroy due to the lack of a blade, escape would be possible.
“I will open the escape route now.”
“Really?! I’ll gather the troops.”
“I called.”
Coco looked to the left of her vision, recalling the memory of when she repaired her power suit.
[Welcome♡]
[Group command transmission complete.]
Let’s wait a moment, the troops who had cleared the garrison came rushing in. Their steps were very light after hearing the news that they were leaving this terrible place.
Alan looked at the Titan. It was heavily covered in security magic, so he would need more time to examine it in detail. But there was no need to confront the defense forces, and he had somewhere to go right now.
He stuck the key into the air. Even if it was pushed away, he tried again slowly, and the white spear dug into the space little by little. When Alan twisted his wrist, the key turned with it.
The hole centered around the key gradually grew larger. This side was a world of only black and white, while the other side was a reality of various colors.
“Go ahead. It’ll be closing soon.”
“Thank you. Escape!”
The troops rushed out, and the Titan also got out by lying down. The door closed as Coco finished saluting and escaped.
Alan turned around and looked at the fortress. The darkness around the floating castle was thicker than before.
“Let’s go right away.”
“Brother, I am impressed. You took the time to help me even though there was no reward…”
“I also feel a sense of accomplishment.”
Shiva and Taylor held each other’s hands tightly. They looked at each other with expressions of great pride.
The network itself was beneficial, and if you gave it in advance, you could get a discount if you had any trouble later. Alan was about to say that, but the opportunity was taken away by the artillery fire from the fort.
The artillery fire, responsible for destruction and transporting monsters, fell near where the advance guard was fighting.
“This isn’t it.”
“The disciples will figure it out. As for the staff, I can use it too…”
“No, you don’t. You need to understand the space.”
The key was not just a convenient tool. It required skill to handle it, and negotiation skills to suit the mood of the key.
“That’s too bad. Let’s go quickly.”
Sophia pointed to the ice sled. She got in front and the rest of us sat behind. As Sophia twirled her ice stick, a path of ice was created.
Sophia took full advantage of the ruins to hide herself. There was no need to fly through the sky and attract the fortress’ attention.
The monster that occasionally poked its head out of the sewers had its head severed by a sled, and the one that jumped out of the alley was just slammed into the ground.
The sled sometimes raced along the wall, and sometimes zigzagged, ignoring inertia.
Zion looked at Alan.
“Do it.”
“How?”
“A lot of features. A lot of features.”
If you pretend, it’s a good one. Alan has included Zion’s monster bike in the modification order.
“Mine first.”
“Hey, follow the order.”
“Taylor even got a tolerance. You’re going to do it, right?”
Alan brought forward Zion’s reservation order.
Before I knew it, the floating fortress was getting closer. I ran while hiding my presence and hiding behind the black and white buildings, but when I got within 5km, the fortress reacted.
The metal surface shook like scales, drawing in the surrounding darkness. The darkness that had been nothing more than smoke gradually took shape and became a gun barrel aimed at the sled.
“Just run.”
“yes.”
Kwaaang!
As soon as Alan answered, a barrage of shots fell behind him. The sled’s speed gradually increased, and the barrage adjusted its position accordingly.
After Sophia’s sled evaded several shots, it then aimed for a building.
Kwarrung!
Tall buildings fell down like trees hit by a chainsaw. They exploded as soon as they hit the ground, sending large chunks flying in all directions.
The sled had already transformed into an armored car. The heavy debris repeatedly hit the ice, making a thud-thud sound.
“It’s going up. Hold on tight.”
As Sophia waved her wand, the ice road shot up into the sky. Since she had already been caught, there was no reason to insist on going along the road blocked by the building.
The sled soared through the air between the collapsing buildings. Monsters stretched out their arms in the shadows cast by the buildings, but only scratched the surface. Instead, those who touched the sled froze.
As soon as I rose above, dark shells approached as if they had been waiting. The shapes of monsters could be seen on the writhing surface.
But the shell only cut through the air. Alan’s [Space Manipulation] changed the sled’s position, and Sophia calmly continued to create an ice path.
The 5km was passed in an instant, and the fortress was right in front of us. The fortress was firmly connected to the restricted area by chains that extended down from a metallic substance similar to the surface.
“Let’s go down there.”
The only way in was through the gap created by the chains sticking out. The sled spun around like a roller coaster and then dropped vertically. It dodged the additional fire and followed the chains inside.
The diameter of the fortress was close to 500 meters, but the interior was much larger. Alan jumped down from the sled.
“You applied spatial expansion. A strong force can be felt everywhere. Perhaps···.”
“Yes. It seems like it’s entered a fortress-type decisive battle weapon. I’ve seen it twice in my life, but I never thought one of its owners would be a collector···.”
Nicola looked around with a glare in his eyes, then jumped.
“Sophia, is that true? A decisive weapon?”
“You heard me right.”
“Now that I think about it, the color has returned to its original state… Huh? It’s closing!”
The walls of the fortress squirmed like slime, completely blocking the gap through which the sled had entered. Then silver-gray droplets fell from the ceiling. Golems resembling mannequins emerged from the droplets.
He swung his arm toward Shiva, who was nearby, as if there was no need for conversation. The hand that had transformed into a sharp sword aimed for his neck.
“You’re after my beard! You immoral bastard!”
The location was the same. Shiva slapped the blade away with his gauntlet and grabbed his elbow. He pinned him to the ground and stomped on his head.
The golem with the deep footprints on its head turned into liquid and was absorbed into the silver-gray floor. Then, water droplets flowed down from the ceiling again.
They kept appearing as I cleared away the silver-gray golems. But they were easy to deal with. I had plenty of experience with monsters that kept rushing at me in the labyrinth.
Nicola took it easy.
“I was scared because it was a decisive weapon… No, I was a little surprised, but it wasn’t anything special.”
“It will change little by little.”
Alan looked inside the golem with his eyes.
“Your magical power is increasing. Don’t let your guard down.”
“I felt it too.”
When Nicola shot light from his fingers, it would pierce the golem’s head and exit through the other side, but now it was impossible to penetrate. More and more entities were appearing that could withstand the light.
“Alan, do something.”
“Please wait a moment.”
Even if dealing with golems is easy, if the number of golems coming at you is infinite, you will eventually suffer. Alan walked toward the closed door. The box followed closely behind, and the leopard dealt with the rushing golems.
Alan knocked on the door. Naturally, the door did not open to the intruder.
“senior.”
“huh.”
Zion condensed his power into a sword and thrust it into the crack of the door. A ripple spread out violently around the sword. The door that had been shaking came crashing down.
“It’s getting harder and harder.”
“You have the ability to adapt.”
Allen and his party exited the space filled with chains and entered the hallway. Here, too, silver-gray liquid droplets continued to fall from the ceiling.
The bulkheads also came crashing down, blocking the road. The walls, which had been easy to collapse at first, gradually became stronger.
‘It’s taking too long like this.’
It’s short in absolute terms. But the owner of this place is the Collector. If you don’t want to give him any room, you have to hit him quickly and escape.
‘Will it work?’
Alan took out the key that was sealed in the card. Normally, it would not respond even if you coax and comfort it since it had been working hard to get the soldiers out. But the key was shaking.
‘Are you reacting to the decisive weapon?’
The Catan particle introduced the key as a decisive weapon. If it served as a master key, it would be worthy of being called that.
When Alan tapped the bulkhead with his key, it opened. It closed quickly, but the fact that it opened was important. Now was the time when the fortress could not show off its capabilities because it was doing something in the restricted area.
“I will increase the speed.”
Alan, or rather the power suit, ran. Ignoring the golem, he headed towards a place where he felt a strong force.
It seems that golems alone were not enough, and finally the warlocks began to appear.
“Where do you dare to appear here!”
“Even after you die…. Ugh!”
But it was difficult to buy time. The powerful warlocks were busy, so only the small ones flocked.
‘Is it important to harness the power of the imaginary realm to that extent?’
It was still hard to guess. As we got closer to the power room, enemies with a murderous aura began to appear from the other side of the hallway.
But speed was everything. Alan didn’t bother to fight back and changed course. It was much faster to go around than to just confront.
Since the fortress resembled a top, the passages inside were designed to spin in a spiral pattern. After running for a while, Alan discovered a door that wasn’t even a power room, but was guarded by black magicians.
“I don’t know what’s inside, but let’s go in. If there’s something valuable inside, the guys chasing us won’t be able to act rashly.”
As Sophia had said, Alan quickly got rid of the magic-casting rascals and poked the door with the key. The door, which had been opening smoothly, slammed shut with a slight crack.
“Security is very tight. Have you seen what’s inside?”
“···.”
“Alan?”
“I now understand why the supposedly dead collector came back to life.”
“What did you just say? Tell me more about it.”
Alan described the scene as he had seen it briefly. Inside were several glass tubes filled with liquid. And inside were naked collectors lying quietly.
Before looking inside, Alan was wondering if he should call the floating fortress a decisive weapon. To be honest, it was disappointing compared to expectations. However, if it could revive the dead Depth 7, it was more than qualified.