Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 4



Only Noblemtl

Pirate (2)

Alan’s vision was a mess. No, in fact, it was hard to even open his eyes. All he could do was take short breaths when he felt he was not underwater.

“Huh. Huh. Huh.”

It was a sea area where even a human could not properly control his body. Alan’s body, which was weak to the point of being weak, was dragged around by the ocean current.

Water was capricious and violent. Alan experienced firsthand why angry water was listed in the book as one of the natural disasters.

The water pressure and current squeezed my whole body. I could barely move my fingers or toes.

I barely managed to stretch out my arm, but all I could catch was shapeless seawater. There would likely be wreckage from a ship that had broken on the reef, but there was not even a rag to grab onto.

‘Am I going to die like this…?’

As if a rope was tied to his ankle, his body gradually went down, and his mind, which was affected by the state of his body, also became distant.

Time was cruel. The longer Alan struggled with pain, the longer it dragged on. It was a lie that old memories flashed before his eyes at the moment of death.

‘It hurts so much.’

At that moment, a light went on in Alan’s mind. The pain was proof that he was alive. He was still breathing. It would be easy to give up, but he couldn’t become fish food.

Alan, who had been fluttering like laundry in a washing machine, reached out. Just as a straight line that started at a small angle eventually becomes infinitely farther away, he hoped that his current insignificant efforts would become a clue to his life.

Fortunately, the effort didn’t land in the trash can. Alan bumped into something hard. Ignoring the pain, he hugged it with his whole body.

Instead, the pain gradually subsided. It was strange. Alan held on to the reef and headed for the surface. There was air there to fill his lungs.

“Phuha!”

Alan spat out the water in his mouth and inhaled the salty air. He couldn’t figure out where the strength came from.

Alan didn’t give in to his usual curiosity. There was something far more important going on right now. Without hesitation, he put his head into the water.

I tried to lift my eyelids, but it was too difficult. I took another deep breath and lowered my head. I pulled my eyelids back with one hand.

‘Ugh···.’

It was so painful and bitter, but finding my parents came first. I had to find them no matter what. My worries about my eyesight and injuries were pushed far away.

But it wasn’t easy. The rough currents sucked up mud and silt from the bottom and spread it in all directions, severely limiting the range of visibility.

‘No. Please···.’

Alan continued to plunge his head into the sea. Once, twice, three times… As the number of times increased, more weight was added to his mind. The weight made of regret, sighs, and sorrow was too heavy even though it had no shape.

Anticipation plunged into the depths of the ocean, anxiety rose to the surface. The two emotions clouded Alan’s mind.

The moment he tried again, Alan’s body was lifted into the air. It wasn’t a dreamlike situation where a crisis had unleashed potential.

Alan’s body moved out of the vortex. In that direction was a pirate ship. As he got closer, he could hear their voices.

“Save at least one of them!”

“Shut up, I’m concentrating!”

A man wearing a helmet resembling a pirate, and black headgear, was gesturing towards Alan.

As his arms moved to the right, Alan’s body moved to the right. The faster he swung his arms, the faster his body moved.

One of the goblin pirates saw the sight and chuckled.

“Do you see what that kid is doing? He’s just waving at the air.”

“I told you to shut your mouth.”

“That’s why you should buy good Magictechwear, even if it’s expensive. When using telekinesis, it’s better to just wiggle your fingers, and the enemy won’t feel threatened. Look at what you’re doing now. Even that kid who’s being caught over there is probably laughing inside.”

“What can I do if I don’t have money? If you don’t want to give me anything, just look around. I’ll throw you in the ocean.”

The goblin shut his mouth, as if the threat had worked. The magic-using pirate, still angry, threw Alan roughly onto the deck.

“Cough!”

Alan, who didn’t even know what a fall was, fell back first, gasping for breath due to the impact piercing through his lungs.

“It’s a complete log.”

“Looking at the squirrel, I don’t think it needs a net. I’d lose even if I picked a fight with a squirrel.”

“How many times do I have to shove it in your ear to tell you not to call me that? I am the proud head of the Goblin Kingdom…”

“Shut up and call the boss. I came here to at least get some money for fuel, but it seems like it was a waste of time.”

The pirates who had been expecting Alan’s rebellion began to talk amongst themselves, feeling discouraged.

Alan stood up, holding on to the railing while their attention wandered away, a precarious move, like a baby learning to walk for the first time.

“ah···.”

A sigh escaped my lips. All I could see was a whirlpool. The greedy monster was sucking up all the remains of the fishing boat. Even my parents.

My heart was torn. There was something heartbreaking about Alan’s expression.

Of course, it was of no use to the pirates. One of the big pirates kicked him in the groin.

Before Alan could even groan, the fishman with the bulging head plunged a sharp needle into his shoulder.

“If you move, you die.”

It was a coercive voice. A strange tension arose among the pirates as the fisherman appeared. It was similar to that of a worker who saw a factory manager.

After a while, a loud noise was heard from the rectangular machine that the fisherman was holding.

“If he was a worthless guy, I was going to use him as shark bait···.”

“How is it?”

“He doesn’t even have a mana heart, so why is his magical power concentration so high? Is this real?”

“Is the machine broken? Or is there some kind of trick involved?”

“No. If he could fool us, we’d all be dead already. He’d make more than enough to cover the cost of fuel.”

The tension among the pirates eased slightly as the fisherman seemed to be in a good mood. The pirates who had been keeping their mouths shut until now began to chatter.

“That’s strange. You can do that without Manaheart?”

“Why are you looking at me? I have Manaheart.”

“Yes, yes. So you’re going to wear an artificial brain and use magic. Hey, catch that guy!”

Alan stumbled again and clung to the railing, then fell backwards. He was grabbed by the nape of his neck by a telekinesis and rolled around several times.

When Alan lost consciousness, unable to even groan, Eoin ran over and checked his pulse.

“You have to be gentle with it, you punk! If you get sick and the price drops, you’ll be responsible. Since we’re on the subject, you take responsibility and watch over it.”

“Captain. There are new recruits, and I…”

“I’ll give you a bonus.”

The pirate laughed at the fisherman’s words and carefully moved Alan. He went down below deck and put the harvest in the cleanest cage.

Alan, who had fainted, came to his senses because of the unpleasant smell of sewage. In fact, he had a tolerance for it since he had smelled it often in Lanka, but strangely, he could not stand it now.

Rather, I felt miserable when I thought of my hometown. The garbage dump where strange things sometimes came out, the train that blew its whistle even at dawn, the shacks that swayed in the wind.

And the warm shadows of two people.

“Black···.”

Alan covered his mouth with his hand. He couldn’t make a loud noise because the pirate who had used magic was sleeping in a hammock hanging from the ceiling.

It was empty. The despair that filled the space where hope had disappeared felt particularly strong. For a long time, Alan’s vision went dark as he shed tears.

When Alan woke up, he tried to recall his dream. Memories from before the ship broke apart, especially the last kiss between Robinson and Mary.

‘Don’t give up.’

‘I love you.’

Alan no longer shed tears. Instead, he began to expend his energy elsewhere. First, he listened to the sound of the ship.

‘Be quiet.’

It was a world of difference compared to the engine noise of the fishing boat I rode when I escaped.

‘It must be a pure mana engine.’

Since there was no need to ignite fuel like an internal combustion engine, the drive motor itself was surprisingly quiet. In addition, the energy conversion efficiency of Mana itself easily crushed fossil fuels.

Now I used my sight instead of my hearing. This was a musty, dirty dock. Our floor was covered in brown stains.

Alan’s eyes landed on the bars. Even when he pulled lightly, they felt heavy. It wasn’t something that a normal human could bend, let alone a troll.

Finally, his gaze fell on the pirate. Alan called out to the pirate who was sitting there blankly.

“Wizard?”

Of course, the pirates didn’t notice right away. There were several cages below deck, full of people who had been captured like Alan. The language they spoke, Soldos, had a strong Lankan accent.

‘Like our family···. Family···.’

Alan’s thoughts hardened for a moment. He remained dazed for a moment, then shook his head vigorously. He also pressed hard against his eyes.

‘···They are people who escaped the civil war.’

The pirate was yelling at them to shut up, and when their crying got worse, he used his telekinesis to slap them on the cheek.

“Wizard?”

“huh?”

Alan’s next attempt was met with a response. The pirate shook his head and looked in the direction from which the sound had come.

“Are you talking to me just now?”

“Yes. Are you the wizard?”

“Wow! You have a keen eye.”

A smile spread across his weathered face. Alan’s choice of words and polite manner had piqued his desire for recognition.

“If you cry again, I’ll wrap my thigh around your mouth and shove it in there. This isn’t a joke, so just keep your mouth shut.”

The pirate who had been threatening the people squatted down in front of the cage where Alan was trapped, grinning.

“Why did you call a busy wizard?”

“I never thought I would see a wizard in a place like this. He’s like a pearl in the mud.”

The pirate remained silent for a moment. Alan looked around to see if he had offended him.

“Pearl···.”

Fortunately, it was only a rumor. The pirate chewed on the word several times, as if he liked it.

“I like you. I would like to accept you as a new employee, but unfortunately, it is a product, so there is nothing I can do.”

“Ah, the product···.”

“Don’t worry too much. If you find a good owner, you’ll be able to eat well and live well. You’ll be priced high, so rich people will buy you.”

It wasn’t something a captured pirate should say, but Alan listened quietly. Every word he uttered was information.

As a result, we also learned the uses of the headgear worn by pirates. Magicware is a type of equipment and parts worn or implanted into the body, and headgear is one of them.

The correct name is Ebi (artificial brain). It is a device that is literally an artificial brain and allows even non-magicians to use magic.

Alan asked questions like a madman, and later the pirate, fed up with it, covered his ears and ignored him.

After spending what felt like an eternity of time in a place where he couldn’t tell day or night, Alan realized that the ship had anchored.

The pirates tied people up like sausages and sent them out. The port workers didn’t even glance at them, perhaps because it was a familiar sight.

It was a fairly large port. There was a cluster of warehouses on the right, and high stacks of containers on the left.

The pirates took the kidnapped people and headed deep into the ocean. If there is a supplier, there must be a demander. This time, the demander was a slave trader.

Alan kept his eyes on the departing pirates until the very end. No matter how much time passed, he would never forget their faces.

“Revenge?”

A pot-bellied elf who had been smoking a cigarette tossed the butt on the floor.

“Wake up.”

“···.”

“Are you going to pretend not to know? All the guys who were captured here think the same way. But as time passes, emotions dissipate. Even if you don’t like it, you have to do it. If you don’t want to die.”

The elf put his hand on the drainpipe hanging on the outside wall of the building as if he was trying to make a fuss. He only touched it for a moment, but a finger-shaped mark was left.

“If you don’t know even after doing this, there’s nothing you can do.”

As the grinning elf twirled his finger, his subordinates appeared and dragged the slaves underground.

Alan was treated as a commodity. He was labeled as having a special constitution, so he was treated better than other slaves.

The word ‘unique’ meant that it was hard to find. So the buyer showed up sooner than expected. It was less than 24 hours later.

He was an old man with gray hair wearing a suit. Unlike his wrinkled face, he had a straight back and was a large man.

He touched Alan’s body directly and handed the heavy pouch to the elf. Alan followed his new master down the alley.

“You’re lucky.”

Suddenly the old man turned around. Unlike before, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.

“You idiots don’t have enough insight to put a fair price on it. Thanks to you, I got a good item at a low price. From now on, call me boss.”

“Yes, sir.”

The president’s short mustache rose slightly at Alan’s immediate answer.

“I’ve heard that people with excessive magical powers sometimes suffer brain damage, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for you.”

“Excessive magical power?”

“Don’t you know? On the continent across the sea, they call it arrhythmia. Oh, I almost forgot. It’s a gift.”

The boss didn’t seem to care about satisfying Alan’s curiosity. Instead, he grabbed his shoulder with a rough hand and put a thick, dark necklace around his neck.

“Do you like it? Even if you don’t like it, you have to do it. Be careful because if you do something useless to get rid of it, it will explode.”

────────────────────────────────────

────────────────────────────────────