Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 59
Only Noblemtl
Green Blood (2)
Now that we have a grasp of the information Kiri has given us in advance, all that remains is to hope that she can find something useful in the sea of information.
Alan looked around. There were a lot of strange devices, perhaps because it was a diver’s house or because it was the twins’ hobby.
‘Guardian golems, mind interference jammers, optical camouflage devices…’
As a source of information, there were many items that were kept safe. Since useful things were haphazardly displayed in the living room, Kiri’s workshop must have been even more impressive.
Utah, who had roughly cleaned up the messy living room, sat across from Allen.
“Originally, we didn’t allow guests inside for security reasons, but somehow it ended up like this.”
“What do you usually do?”
“You can open a temporary space in Samramansang and receive requests, or leave a letter at a designated location and have it collected. You and that person came all the way here because of your grandfather.”
“hmm···.”
Taylor stared at him intently, and Utah explained further.
“I don’t mean to be sarcastic or accusatory. If Mr. Taylor hadn’t covered up for my grandfather’s recklessness, he would still be in prison or not be able to retire in good health.”
“That guy had a lot of guts, so he was good in many ways.”
“I didn’t know you would touch Breaker’s server. Is this incident also connected to you···?”
“No. I’m retired too.”
“You’re amazing. There are very few people who step out of this world in good health. And then there’s the fact that they even step back.”
Taylor shrugged at Utah’s words as he looked at Alan. He said he couldn’t remember his tadpole days, but it was clear he had already forgotten about his wheelchair.
The two, who had found common ground in Cheolsu, continued their conversation, and Alan, who naturally felt left out, turned his gaze elsewhere.
A puppy golem was lying near an outlet, using its tail as a plug to charge itself.
Various types of resources, such as fossil fuels, nuclear fuel, and wood, are used to sustain modern society, but the mainstream is still horsepower.
The magical power produced or captured at the magical power plant is converted into electric power and transmitted through wires to homes and factories.
For that reason, a new proverb has emerged.
‘Don’t fight lightning magicians near utility poles.’
Is there a place in the city without power lines? So, don’t lose your temper unnecessarily and keep your distance from lightning magicians, even if it hurts your pride.
The puppy’s camera eyes, which had just finished charging, looked around and found Alan. He jumped up and ran over to me, rubbing his body against my calf.
“Happy. Come here. Don’t bother the guests.”
“It’s okay. Thanks to you, I got some inspiration.”
“Really? If you don’t mind, I’ll tell you…”
“Hey! Don’t ask customers things like that!”
Kiri came out of the workshop and sat down on the sofa, pushing Utah away. Taylor’s eyes met and a blue light flashed for a moment, and that was the end of the information transfer.
It was really convenient to be able to expand my brain to finish in seconds what would take tens of minutes or hours to explain verbally.
Allen also became greedy, but he had never felt uncomfortable because he had lived without it from the beginning, and since Taylor’s training method was more effective in strengthening the brain when there was no device, he gave up.
After making new friends and acquaintances, Alan returned home with Taylor. While riding public transportation, Taylor roughly organized the information and created a screen in the air with her artificial eye.
“This is their lineup. They’re all orc cubs. The leader’s name is ‘Dali’. There are about 40 of his goons.”
He was a typical running orc, except for his bald head and scalp tattoos, which were characteristic of Greenblood. Scars covered his face and body.
“It looks like this. Why are the members roughly like this?”
“The gangsters don’t know when they’ll die, and they don’t know who they’ll take. The number is probably changing in real time right now. For now, they’re wearing running exoskeletons and charging like berserkers.”
“That’s orc-like.”
“Actually, all of the subordinates are the same. They do use magic tools, but I think their basic tactics are like a dog fight. Even though it’s an unsophisticated method, it’s very effective given the tough nature of the orcs.”
Dali’s photo disappeared, and four separate videos played simultaneously. A dark-colored van drove in and out of the warehouse.
“Kiri hacked into a nearby surveillance camera and stole the footage. Do you think it’s strange?”
“Vehicle traffic is concentrated mainly at night and in the early morning.”
Crime rates rise when the moon rises, a common occurrence in all countries. Maze City is no exception, so any normal parent would keep their children at home.
Things are a bit different in downtown areas, but people walking around there also refrain from going into alleys.
“It’s obvious at first glance that it’s kidnapping.”
The following footage is sponsored by surveillance cameras located throughout the city. Of course, it is sponsored on this side, but it is robbery on the other side.
“The video you just showed me is where the van was seen. And this is.”
An additional missing person poster appeared on the left side of the screen. Oddly enough, its location was near where the van was pictured.
“There’s something more important. Look under the poster. Do you see anything in common?”
“They’re all magic engineers.”
“I didn’t specifically attack you, but I was trying to kidnap a random magic engineer and followed them to the secret passage factory. The old man and the young magic engineer who work today and tomorrow would have been good prey.”
“Rather, wouldn’t it be more suspicious if we encountered that combination in the labyrinth? What did they believe in that brought them here? It would be more natural to judge it this way···.”
“If your brain works that far, you’re not an orc. And criminals have a different brain structure than us. Breaking the law is just part of our daily lives. Like eating and sleeping.”
Taylor opened a can of beer and gulped it down, his throat burning.
If he had been sick like before, he would have stopped him, but now that he was fine, there was no need to. Alan brought out a box of small parts and started putting them together.
“Do you know why I kidnapped you? In the past, magic engineers would have been wizards regardless of their level. In short,…”
“You mean they took him for human experimentation because he was a talented person? Whether it’s a country with poor security or the powerful Soldos Federation, it’s the same everywhere.”
Taylor asked cautiously at the overly cynical response.
“Have you ever had something similar happen?”
Alan described the Novak Clinic in such a calm tone that it seemed as if he was observing someone else’s experience from a third-person perspective.
“I had a feeling that life wouldn’t be smooth sailing···.”
Taylor patted the young man on the shoulder for a long time. Then, looking at the machine taking shape in Alan’s hands, he asked.
“What is that?”
“I also told you about the toy I used to scout the Novak Clinic.”
“A cat toy that resembles a mouse?”
“I saw the puppy at my house in Utah and it occurred to me, why don’t you go that far in the way of setting up a bomb? Just make these babies and plant them, and it’ll make things easier.”
“Wait a minute, the inspiration you got from seeing that cute puppy robot is an explosion robot?”
Taylor looked puzzled for a moment, then rubbed her face with her palm.
“It’s better than those who cower…. Yes, in Maze City, if you get hit once, you have to hit back unconditionally. If you stay still, the number of people who will attack you as if you’re a fool will gradually increase.”
The prototypes that Allen created were made up of species that can be easily found anywhere, such as rats and spiders, and that can move around easily.
Taylor asked as he watched the number of spiders that had been chosen grow.
“You’re being proactive. No way? You were singing about the reinforced exoskeleton recently, and you’re saying that after seeing Dali’s picture?”
“It’s a matter of humility.”
“What do you mean by ‘doing both?’ That’s the goal. It’s good to blow things up, but what are you going to do if there are people caught?”
“ah···.”
Taylor nodded slightly as she watched Alan let out a small gasp. It was easy to overlook details in the intense concentration, but that was something she had to fill in.
*
After preparing, Alan and Taylor arrived at the old industrial area. The reason it was called ‘old’ is because the companies that were marginalized by the expansion of the city and wanted larger premises moved there.
The floating population had drastically decreased, creating an eerie atmosphere, but there were still factories operating, with white smoke rising from their tall chimneys.
Alan climbed to the roof of a nearby abandoned factory and observed Greenblood’s hideout.
“Machine gun turrets, surveillance cameras, guards on the roof. It’s more secure than I thought.”
“It used to be even more awesome. If they hadn’t messed with Jake, they would have been a total flop. It’s good to destroy them head-on, but people need to act smart. Through the secret passage Kiri told us about… Why, what’s going on?”
As Alan looked at one place, Taylor also turned his head. A familiar figure was walking down the street.
“Isn’t that a kid named Kiki or something?”
“Why are you here? The orc next to you is wearing a holoskin.”
“You have a good eye.”
“The area around the magic tool sways like a mist.”
Alan zoomed in on his vision, and at the same time tried to use his clairvoyance to see the orc’s true form.
A fierce face was placed inside the shaggy illusion. A tightly-cut head and scalp tattoos were also revealed.
“Orcs belong to Greenblood.”
“You mean even a goblin the size of a mouse’s poop is part of the gang? I knew this would happen from the first impression.”
“Let’s go down first. If you see a glow in his eyes, that means he’s on air, and if he’s a gang member, he probably wouldn’t be streaming around here.”
Alan, who had landed on the ground, quickly followed behind them. At the same time, he hacked into their brain extension devices with his eyes, severing their connection to the outside world.
The eyes that were densely filled with star characters to heal Taylor were greatly enhanced, so much so that they didn’t even realize that they had been hacked.
Kiki let out a bewildered voice as the broadcast suddenly turned off.
“What? Why are you suddenly like this?”
“Kiki. I see you here.”
“Huh, huh? Alan?”
While Alan stepped forward and held Kiki and Oak’s gaze, Taylor, who had hidden behind the wall, carefully moved behind them.
“We spoke on the phone a few days ago, but it’s even better to see you in person.”
“What brings you here?”
“I was trying to film a video of repairing a magic tool as viewer participation content. But then the connection suddenly went down. Why is that?”
“That sounds interesting. Where are you going?”
“excuse me.”
The place Kiki pointed to without hesitation was the warehouse that Greenblood used as a secret passage.
“Oh, the person here is my regular listener, ‘Goblin Slayer’. His name is a bit scary, but he’s a kind person.”
“after···.”
Alan let out a deep sigh. It was heartbreaking to see Kiki walk into prison on her own without knowing anything.
The orc was easily kidnapping the innocent, or in Taylor’s words, stupid Kiki.
Wood crack!
Even before I could finish my sigh, I heard the sound of a chicken’s neck being cracked. The sound of its neck breaking was loud, as if the chicken was quite large.
“What? What!”
Kiki was startled when she saw the orc’s head spinning around, so she hid behind Alan. Then, she made eye contact with the culprit.
“He’s an old man with a bad personality.”
“You green piece of shit. Where did you sell your manners?”
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know what was on my mind···.”
“I don’t know whether I should be angry or not when I see that piece of crap like that.”
The three and one corpse went back into the abandoned factory. Kiki, who had barely calmed down her shocked heart, asked Alan the reason.
“Why on earth did you kill him?”
“Did you sell your country in your past life?”
“why?”
“How can someone like this get twisted?”
Alan explained about the kidnappings Greenblood was carrying out, and that today’s sacrifice was Kiki.
“I almost died. Then I’ll leave now···”
“Where are you going? We have to stay here until our work is finished.”
Kiki, who had been grabbed by Taylor’s scruff, sagged like a baby animal.
“The two of you must enter the secret passage together.”
Kiki went crazy again when she heard Alan’s words.
“No! Are you crazy?”
“You’re planning on using the Orc’s Holoskin? That’s a good idea. There won’t be many people guarding the secret passage. If your comrades show up with food as promised, you’ll just open the door.”
“It would be easier if we just blew it up, but then the loot would go flying away, and it would be dangerous for the people who might be trapped inside, so please be patient.”
Taylor took off the orc’s clothes and put on the holoskin. The body shape was similar, and since he kept his mouth shut, it seemed like the same person.
“Please save me.”
“Who killed him? Get a good look. And Alan is more dangerous. He’ll draw attention away from the main gate while we sneak in.”
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