Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 42
Only Noblemtl
Cave (4)
François and Omar, the leader of another group and a magician, were discussing in the empty lot where the Collector had disappeared.
As you can see from the bloody wand Omar is clutching, he is a wizard who is also skilled in close combat, and he is not at all put off by the half-orc’s growls.
Alan wanted to hear their conversation, but he couldn’t hear a thing, and their bodies were turned away so he couldn’t see their lips.
Unlike the explorers who were calming their startled hearts by clinging to the wall of the vacant lot, Alan calmly began to assess the situation.
‘Why did you gather explorers under the pretext of training?’
It was also the time to conduct labyrinth training, and it was only natural that strong explorers would follow along as guides.
‘Then it must have been a trick to deceive the eyes by judging that there was a collector’s subordinate or assistant.’
But that plan suddenly went awry.
The collector down there had his eyes set wide open, watching over the floors, so tricks like this didn’t work on him.
It was known that the labyrinth had no means of interference between different floors, but the Collector broke that rule and caused corpse explosions with zombies while also using black magic called ‘Whispers of the Dead’ to convey his intentions.
It was an unavoidable situation. Even though the Collector was a powerful black magician, I didn’t know that he would break the laws of the labyrinth that people had believed in.
From now on, the newly discovered law will apply to those who know it.
However, unlike Allen, the explorers who did not know the inside story focused only on the reality before them.
“What’s going on? Why is the Explorer suddenly exploding? Is this a new type of automaton created by the Underground Man?”
“My cart···, my money···.”
“Was that black magic just now? There’s a crazy guy messing with the Breaker. Now I have to catch him, so is this the end of the lesson?”
Alan listened to their conversation as he swept the cart away. The shield generator blocked the corpse explosion first, and since it was modular, it dissipated the impact and rolled on.
‘Let’s roughly shape the bent parts here and there with heating pliers, and for the rest, let’s rent a workshop and use a metal forming machine.’
After finishing his thoughts, Alan called out to Kiki, who was standing there blankly.
“Please hold the wheel part.”
“Wipe it and use it? Go up and buy a new one?”
Throwing away and buying new ones. It was still an unfamiliar practice for Alan. Recycling was a daily routine at the Lanka and Novak clinics. It was natural, since nothing was completely mine.
As he went through those years, the idea of ’repairing things that can be fixed’ was ingrained in Alan’s mind. Of course, it was no different now.
“You deserve to pay for the ride in the cart. Get it fixed quickly before you move.”
“eww···.”
Kiki grabbed the red-painted cart with a grim expression. Then she felt something squelchy and was startled.
As the two men roughly restored the cart to its original condition, the two team leaders finally came to a consensus. Their voices could be heard quite clearly as they approached the team members.
“The chairman···.”
“Who cares about whom? Omar, we can just take our men out. If he had the resources, he would have done something else.”
“The Chairman wouldn’t have the luxury of tracking it down. And if he were the Chairman, he would have anticipated the current situation to some extent.”
After finishing their nonsense, they headed to where their respective crews were gathered.
François stood before the explorers, whose eyes were just rolling.
“I decided to come back because something went wrong.”
“Are you just a crazy warlock?”
“It’s true that he’s crazy, but if that warlock’s title is Collector, then it’s a different story.”
The commotion grew louder. Just the brief footage that appeared in the sky and was quickly erased showed how dangerous the Collector was, and that was why there was no explorer who did not know his name.
“stop!”
The orc’s distinctive low sound pierced the explorers’ ears. As if by magic, the chaos that had been spreading like wildfire was stopped.
“The chairman has gone to catch him, so there’s no need to worry. We’re just getting out in case something happens.”
The murmurs completely died down when Jake Marshall, the chairman of the Breakers, was mentioned. They knew what a strong man from Depth 7 was.
The conversation ended there. François and Omar headed down another passageway, intending to pass along information to any groups they might encounter.
Group 6 moved faster than ever. They were talking nonstop while coming down, saying it was hard, but when they went up, they suddenly stopped talking because they heard the name of the collector.
The only noise was the sound of combat boots scraping against the rough stone floor, and the creaking of cart parts dislocated by explosions.
The uncomfortable silence eased a little as we exited the 13th floor.
Kiki, who had been riding the cart because of the oil leaking from her joints, stubbornly refused to do so this time and walked beside Alan. In the silence, he spoke quietly.
“I thought you might be able to escape.”
“Are you a collector?”
“Yes. The Hextech Expedition passed by while we were resting in the vacant lot. That means that other groups besides the Breakers are also cooperating in this. The Collector is dangerous, but if the big shots of Maze City cooperate, they will die.”
Since there was no one to talk, Kiki’s voice carried better than expected, and the nearby crew members pretended not to notice and pricked up their ears.
“So I guess I’ll run away.”
“Are you clearing out all the wandering explorers?”
“Yeah. Maybe Chairman Marshall, but explorers like us would tear them apart like a collector’s tissue. If we’re unlucky, we could end up as a bio-bomb like those guys.”
Even as they passed the large open space on the 12th floor, Kiki didn’t stop talking.
“Since we don’t know which path the Collector will take, we first get rid of explorers who could become materials for black magic. It looks like he’s prepared quite a bit.”
“you’re right.”
“Right? Am I right?”
Kiki stared at Alan and kept her mouth shut. Thinking about it, the voice she had heard just now belonged to someone else.
Before they knew it, Group 6 had stopped. Kiki, who almost collided with the cart, turned her head to follow Alan’s gaze.
“You’re smart for a goblin. It must be because of the magicware on your head. I’m curious about the pipe structure. Can I pull it?”
A figure wearing a deep black hood was blocking the middle of the passage leading out of the vacant lot.
The explorers of Group 6 shined their headlamps on his face. It was polite to shine light in another direction to see who he was, but it was unlikely that someone who suddenly appeared and blocked the way had good intentions.
“You really are going too far.”
“What’s too much is your face.”
No one rebuked François for his personal attacks. The face inside the hood was shocking.
Pale skin, like flour, dry lips, a hairless head, and an appearance that made it difficult to guess gender. The most shocking sight of all was the stitched-up eyelids and the traces of an incision on the forehead.
All the explorers had good eyesight thanks to artificial eyes, so the ugly sight was burned into their minds without any hesitation.
Alan was the same. Even his left eye observed the figure, presumed to be a warlock, closely, regardless of what his master was thinking.
‘What was that wriggling inside my skin just now? A parasite?’
The reason the collector was called that was because he collected the ‘brains’ of people with special qualities. Naturally, he had a wealth of knowledge about brains.
‘They must have put it there for the purpose of mind control.’
It was something that Alan also knew. He simply asked himself the question because of the discrepancy between reading about it in writing and encountering it in person.
François sensed an ominous aura coming from the warlock and pulled out his crimson axe.
“Are you his puppet?”
“You call me a bastard to the great teacher? Will you tolerate me belittling your chairman?”
“Of course not.”
“Me too.”
The warlock was already holding a black flute in his bare hands. The mouthpiece of the flute touched his lips faster than François could throw the axe.
puck!
The axe flew late and dug into the warlock’s shield. The blade stopped in front of the enemy’s forehead.
The warlock ran his fingers along the axe’s blade. It was so sharp that black, dead blood ran down his hand and arm as soon as he touched it.
Even though he was injured, the warlock smiled brightly as if he was glad of something.
“That’s too bad.”
“at all.”
The moment Francois shouted that, the blade of the axe transformed into a sharp spear and pierced the warlock’s forehead. Several parasites crawled out from the small gap between the spear and his skin.
“Hehehe.”
But the warlock did not die. His sinister laughter filled the clearing.
“Do you feel like you’re interfering with the Master’s plans? No. Rather than ruining them, you’re helping them. The stronger the victim, the better.”
“What are your intentions?”
“Ask your talented, talented chairman.”
The black magician deploys his shield again and forms a seal, and François rushes to stop him.
Alan wanted to observe the battle between the two, but unfortunately he had no time to do so. The flute used by the warlock interfered with the labyrinth like a whistle of old.
The solid cave walls bubbled like boiling water. The shadows shining from inside grew larger and larger.
“Overflow! Come here!”
The assistant managers, realizing the situation, gathered their crew members.
This confirms the assumption that the Collector has acquired the Ooparts or knowledge that can interfere with the labyrinth.
“Forward! Magic users, prepare!”
Now was not the time to ponder such matters. A difficult number of underground people and automatons were tearing through the walls and being born.
François and the warlock were hidden from them.
The two vice-captains block the front and back, and the vanguard forms a defensive circle around them. Since they are magic users, they do not just stand behind them, so they also hold shields and stand with them.
The automaton was definitely different from the labyrinth because of the control of the underground people. Even though it was surrounded, it did not rush in right away, but waited for an opportunity or an order.
“Whew, whew. Damn it.”
Kiki moved differently than the usual goblin behavior of being stupid and scared. His two wrists folded completely behind him, and sharp spikes emerged from inside.
Kiki, who had finished preparing, stood tall in front of Alan while being protected by the vanguard herself.
“You only trust your brother. You are the first person who has been so kind to goblins. So, you must not die.”
“···.”
Alan didn’t understand what kindness was. Whenever Kiki spoke to him, he would accept her, whenever she said her legs hurt, he would give her a ride in the cart, whenever she asked him about magic engineering, he would answer her questions. It was the kind of thing that he would do if someone else asked him to do it.
Anyway, I didn’t have time to think about random things right now.
The roar of the underground people, with their large automatons including bulls, rhinoceroses, and stag beetles in the front row, was growing louder.
Alan stared at the automaton. The more magic power entered its eyes, the stronger the blue glow became.
The automatons in the cave are more resistant to magic than the enemies you encounter in the maze, but as you explore and gain knowledge, Alan also grows.
My vision began to change slowly. My eyes peered through the thick armor. My pupils moved along the circuits that powered the intricate parts, the rapidly turning gears, and the accelerating cylinders.
At the end of it are the magic stone and the soul stone.
The power in Alan’s eyes forcibly broke through the soul stone’s security system and entered inside. And the sight that was visible was stars all around. The stars that had been quietly planted began to move according to Alan’s will.
Unlike the left, the right eye observed the underground people. One of them aimed something that looked like a pistol at the ceiling.
Exactly!
At the same time, the automaton was running. The explorers gulped at the pressure of its size.
But they couldn’t run as fast as they wanted. Five steps at most. The automatons fell to the ground like dominoes.
“what?”
“Do automatons also have defective products?”
“Wake up and concentrate! There are still many enemies!”
The assistant captains urged the explorers on. The crew shook their heads and began to attack the underground people and automatons.
Kiki looked up at Alan without realizing it. She could tell because he was so close to her.
It wasn’t a coincidence. If there was one thing all those who stopped had in common, it was that they were in Alan’s field of vision.
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