Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 403



Only Noblemtl

58th floor (3)

“You really left that old man behind… Don’t you think that’s too much?”

Taylor had been working her lips and tongue since the moment they joined the narrowing lava river upstream. Alan and Nicola were busy, and Zion wasn’t interested at all, so Shiva responded.

“I did it because I trusted you, brother.”

“···.”

“You can even pilot a Titan, so what could possibly stand in your way?”

“···.”

Taylor remained silent, and Shiva looked at his chubby face, then reached into his beard and pulled out a hip flask that glowed softly.

Only then did Taylor’s expression soften. With the raging spirits of depth 6 rushing out, running away was a reasonable choice. Taylor would have done the same, so his current reaction was just acting to target the Holy Water Bottle.

“Just a little, just a little.”

“Relax your hands and speak.”

Shiva knew it too, but he did it anyway. He shut his eyes tightly as he watched the miserable sight of the holy water bottle being emptied.

While resting on one side, Alan inspected the tree as loot. It was still alive, despite being torn to pieces by the lightning bolts unleashed by the Titan’s Mana Sword.

Nicola poked the twitching flesh with his spine cane.

Kkiei···.

“You’re really persistent.”

“This is the extent of what you have to do to destroy the ancients.”

The flesh Allen was holding tried to squeeze through the gap in the power suit, but it had no effect even when it touched the body.

“Can you see it?”

“It’s a bit much to put it on bare hands…”

The flesh placed on the palm merely twitched and did no harm. The disease was a disease, and it was particularly fatal to the ancients and dragons.

Kyuureuk?

The little one had developed immunity to disease, perhaps due to spending so much time covered in flesh. It would be a matter of time before we learned what he had chosen for immunity and what he had given up.

‘There’s also a possibility that the labyrinth intervened and took care of it.’

Alan looked at the tree again. The reason Taylor had taken it with [Spatial Manipulation] as soon as he finished off the tree was to utilize its strangely strong detection ability.

The ears hanging from the branches were removed like leaves and dissected right away.

“The eardrums are very strong. The sound amplification ratio is also high.”

“It might be difficult to write it right now.”

“You’ll have to try it to find out.”

“Stay and study?”

“No. Right now, exploration comes first, so I’ll just look at it when I rest.”

Alan modified the falcon. He disassembled the sonar, cut the eardrum to fit it, and placed it inside. The newly born falcon flew back into the darkness.

As soon as the work was done, Taylor approached me quietly.

“Alan.”

“yes.”

“That’s too much. You had time to gather wood, but you didn’t have time to gather yourself?”

“There was no need for that, since the Titan is much faster than the Fire Spirit. As proof, you and the Titan are fine.”

“That’s···, right.”

Taylor nodded slowly and stepped aside. Shiva lowered her voice.

“You said you were going to show the authority of an elder···.”

“Shut up, man.”

*

The upgraded falcons patrolled a wider area faster than before. The loss rate was also lower. Whereas five units were damaged before, now only one unit was on the verge of breaking.

It was a change that showed how important detection was. As soon as the living radar and trees disappeared, the actions of the abomination swarm became very slow.

‘The importance of obtaining information.’

The falcons flew much closer to the legions, sometimes even flying openly among them.

The beetle quickly escaped and in the meantime, another abomination of depth 6 was drawn into the legion. It was a hermit crab carrying a skull. A bundle of tentacles swayed through the gap.

‘There’s no need to fight.’

The legion, deprived of their eyes and ears, could not keep up with the speed of exploration. Alan only grasped the legion’s location and turned his attention elsewhere.

The Catan shard only mentioned the 58th floor, while Chairman Jake mentioned the ruins. The places they recalled may have been different.

‘Probably the same.’

Jake glanced at the key and spoke of the ruins, so it must be the same place.

Taylor looked down from the high ground to the pitch-black 58th floor.

“It’s a bit petty. I’d appreciate it if you could tell me the location.”

“It would be rude to say that to the chairman.”

“Jake the Guardian has been kidnapped.”

“···.”

“Okay, okay. It’s my fault. Zion, relax your eyes.”

Even if Chairman Jake had told you, the probability of finding it right away was extremely low. In the first place, the area of ​​each floor of the 50th floor is similar to that of a country. And the terrain of the labyrinth changes little by little.

If it weren’t for the landmarks standing tall like peaks of a primeval forest, it would be nearly impossible to find based on description alone. Furthermore, there are many monsters and it’s pitch-black all around.

“Hey. Didn’t Jake give you a heads up?”

“I don’t know.”

“I told you I was sorry.”

“···.”

“I need to help Alan.”

“The chairman said that it was a difficult ruin to enter. Then, is it possible that the entrance is blocked by a legion of abominations, or that it is in a dangerous place? Like the bottom of a lava lake…”

“That sounds terrible.”

But it was also a reasonable inference. It had to be that hard for Alan, who was 6 feet deep, to feel that way.

Underground? Just dig down. Cliff? Just go down. You could be above the clouds like last time, but I don’t think that’ll happen.

Alan turned his eyes to a particularly bright spot on the 58th floor. The overwhelming presence of the lava river drove away the surrounding darkness.

“Let’s go down the lava river like our senior said.”

“Did you hear? My junior also said he liked my opinion.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Alan and his companions moved downstream, away from the river. Occasionally, fire spirits would pop out. True to their name, the rampage spirits would wreak havoc on the surroundings and then dive back down.

Nicola documented the ecology of the spirits.

“You have intermittent explosive disorder. You’ll lose points for elegance.”

Scholars have said that the Red Land resembles an environment where strategic weapons were poured out. Naturally, only the ancients had control over such weapons, and because they made a mess of the world, the spirits, the incarnations of nature, were angry.

“We read the paper together, right?”

“It’s not like I can forgive vulgarity just because I feel sorry for them. If I fight with those kinds of people and get hurt, I’ll be the only one who suffers.”

Nicola let out a narcissistic remark for the first time in a long while. Sion blurted out, stroking the hilt of his sword.

“You have fair skin. In that sense, you are a perfect fit for my junior’s graduate school student.”

“I told you not to say that. If you keep insulting and persecuting me, I won’t stay still.”

“What are you going to do?”

Nicola glanced at the dawn that Zion was touching. It was still an unidentified weapon, but its performance was excellent. Especially the part that cut the magic bonds.

And Nicola was a wizard.

“I will endure it.”

“Everyone is here. Now, focus.”

The lava river was long, like a river that cuts across the country and flows into the sea. The scenery downstream was not much different. A lava lake appeared, with a horizon visible.

Alan took out his fish automaton. The ones with [Evolution] and [Fireproof] engraved all over their scales jumped in. A bright red, hot liquid splashed out.

“It’s deeper than I thought.”

“how much?”

“I just broke 200m.”

Nicola, who had asked the question, stuck out his tongue. He was worried about the overwhelming scenery and the events that would occur in the future.

If there is an entrance to the ruins at the bottom of the lava lake, you should dive in. There will definitely be wild spirits of fire swarming around, so it is doubtful that they will leave the explorer alone.

Nicola was bored with just listening to explanations, so she shared a video. A blood-red screen appeared before her eyes.

“What should I show you?”

“If you look closely, it’s slightly different.”

“Huh? What just passed.”

Flames were seen swimming in the red liquid. If flames had a distinct shape in the lava, there could only be one identity.

“There are too many rampage spirits. Look. Another one is passing by. You’re hiding so well. Did you use the spirit stone?”

“yes.”

“Should we also disguise ourselves and go down like that?”

“It’ll be hard because the magical powers they have are different. The spirits that reside in the lake aren’t weak either.”

If anything, they attacked. 30% of the fish that Alan released into the lake have already been destroyed.

Finally, the automaton reached the bottom. I don’t know if the expression “depth” is appropriate for a lava lake, but in any case, the depth was 600 meters. It could have varied depending on where you measured it.

“There’s something.”

Alan spotted something huge through the fish. The rampaging spirit was crouching on the floor, still.

“The overall shape resembles a sea snail.”

“A snail hundreds of meters long? The mere thought is disgusting.”

Nicola’s face turned pale. The fish even used sonar to observe the sea snail and its surroundings. The snail was covering some structure with its huge body.

“It looks like that.”

“I guess I’ll have to get rid of the snail to get in?”

“yes.”

“If you pull that out, the other spirits will go wild too.”

“yes.”

As soon as Alan finished talking, he called the box and the buffalo and set up poles around the lake.

The comrades braced themselves for battle. A fight with the fire spirits in the lava lake? The battle with the legions of abominations felt like child’s play.

“Let’s get started.”

“Alan, we need to get the Titan out! Why did you put the buffalo in?”

As soon as Taylor shouted, the pillars placed on the shore began to emit waves. As soon as the blue concentric circles reached the lava lake, the surface hardened and blackened.

The rampaging spirits, sensing the anomaly, burst out, breaking through the solidified lava. They glared fiercely at the culprit who had ruined their habitat.

The wave reached the bottom. It didn’t cool it down, but it was enough to stimulate the snail. It leapt out of the water, its body writhing hundreds of meters long.

Boom!

The solidified lava plate flipped over and red liquid shot out like a firecracker. The part that was presumed to be the snail’s mouth swelled greatly. Then it shot lava and flames. It was as thick as a high-rise building.

Alan twisted his palm before the red flash reached him. The scenery changed completely. The huge body of the flaming snail appeared right in front of him.

“No! Mother, please···.”

Shiva held his fluttering beard in his arms.

The snail was so big that I couldn’t see the whole thing when I got close. The creature sensed small things and twisted its body. The lava bubbled up.

Alan twisted his palm again before the snail could even look down. The heat that had made even his blood boil disappeared, and the cold air touched Taylor’s skin.

Taylor jumped up in the dark space and pulled out his Mana Sword. The red magic blade lit up the surroundings.

“Alan.”

“yes.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a surprise. Thank you so much.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“······. Why didn’t you tell me in advance?”

“I knew you knew.”

“I told you that your standards are different from ours.”

While Alan and Taylor were having a friendly conversation, Nicola looked around. There were magic tools strewn about, presumably security checkpoints.

It seemed like he had entered the ruins right away. I thought he would fight, but he just avoided it.

‘Well, it’s him.’

Even after the labyrinth allowed spatial magic, magicians did not use spatial teleportation often. The coordinates were unstable, and the labyrinth’s unique magic interfered with it. In short, it was inefficient.

But Alan was different. Manipulating space at will was not a performance that could be seen as runic. He claimed to be a magic engineer, but anyone could tell he was a wizard.

Chairman Jake said that the situation was difficult, but that only applied to other people besides Alan.

Nicola asked, pointing to the labyrinthine script written in front of him with his cane.

“What does it say there?”

Alan deciphered the labyrinthine script the wand had written. It read, “Third Laboratory.”