Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 60
Only Noblemtl
Green Blood (3)
The abandoned factory was completely empty, with no people or machines left. Bright sunlight poured in through the broken glass windows and shattered walls.
In the brightest spot, where thin curtains of light gathered to form a curtain, Alan, wearing a gas mask, checked his equipment.
‘Mattan launcher, staff are good.’
The launcher is worn on the thigh, and the staff is swung horizontally once. The dust particles, which are particularly visible due to the sunlight, are blown around by the wind pressure.
There are two goals for coming here.
Liberation of the captured people, disposal of Greenblood.
‘The clinic was like this too.’
The children of the clinic endured in the gutter for a better future, not knowing that the safe fence that Nobak had built was actually a pot, and that they were slowly being boiled.
The difference is that the kidnapped characters sense the future and tremble in fear.
‘It would be good if we could solve it one by one.’
Now that we know that their target is the magic engineer, we can’t just leave them alone. How can we explore the labyrinth when someone has malicious intentions and is nitpicking behind them?
When Alan gestured, the leopard that had been lying down approached slowly. It blended so naturally into the scenery that if it weren’t for its owner, it would have passed by without being noticed.
The leopard’s pattern, or runes, were more ornately adorned on the body than before.
[Reinforcement], [Acceleration], [Strong]
In human terms, endurance, speed, and strength.
Meanwhile, Alan’s realm has advanced, and the leopard, which has benefited from the three rune combinations, has improved in performance. Depending on who you are dealing with, it is much more difficult than the goalkeeper.
Alan felt his phone vibrate in his arms and pulled it out. Taylor scanned the hideout and sent him a rough estimate of the number of people inside.
[25]
That means there are at most 25 people. They have to do bad things to make a living, so how could they all be huddled together in a hideout?
Ahead of Alan as he left the abandoned factory, a leopard moved, and behind him, a square metal box with tracks moved. Unlike a cart, it was an automaton that moved actively and transported consumables or small machines.
Thud thud, thud thud, knock.
The sound of Walker and the caterpillars on the pavement was unusually loud. Who would want to run a factory near a gang hideout? It was a natural result, since there were no people.
If you turn the corner in front of me, you will see the main entrance to the hideout. Alan paused for a moment and lightly tapped the top of the box with his cane.
The top and side of the box, which was stacked in layers like a lunch box, opened up and spider-like robots crawled out. The baby spiders, who looked like they had just hatched from eggs, waited for Alan’s orders.
“in action.”
I have checked the locations of all the power lines leading to the hideout. When I designated each coordinate, the spiders split up and moved.
After waiting for a moment, a response came back that they had arrived safely, and Alan sent a signal made of magic. He would only cut the line connecting to the hideout, so the other factories would be fine.
pop!
I started walking again, my ears trembling with the sound of an explosion somewhere in the background.
The first thing you see when you turn the corner is an automatic turret with its head down and a gang of orcs growling at the sudden turn of events.
As someone shouted, what appeared to be the lowest-ranking gang member ran into the hideout.
‘Should I call a technician? I guess there’s no emergency power source.’
No matter how I think about it, it’s a funny sight. They are a group of people who completely ignore the law and don’t even pay their taxes properly, but they use the infrastructure of society established by rules well.
Of course, Alan didn’t laugh. As usual, he analyzed the enemy’s movements with his cold eyes and cool mind.
‘Turrets and surveillance cameras disabled. No repair personnel.’
As a gang, they couldn’t expect perfect response, and that was a blessing for Alan. It didn’t matter if they restored their power.
‘It’ll be over by then.’
Just then, they spotted Allen from the other side, and at the senior’s direction, three gang members stepped forward and charged towards the intruder.
A gang that may have been great in the past, but has now become as small as it can be. Still, the Orcs were a threat on their own. Even more so when they were armed with reinforced exoskeletons.
Knock knock knock!
The manufacturer is believed to be a back-alley workshop, but the weight of the exoskeleton itself, combined with the orc’s charging power, should produce enough power.
With every step, the pavement dented, scattering pieces of cement in all directions.
It’s not for nothing that the ancients were afraid of orcish infantry. Even back then, the sight of these giants, averaging 1.9m tall, charging in armor was terrifying.
However, Alan remained calm.
“2nd floor, forward.”
Alan, who was accustomed to the labyrinthine method of calculation, referred to the second floor as the second floor. Before he could finish his sentence, spiders swarmed out again.
Nine spiders, smaller than the palm of a hand and with long legs, crawled quickly across the floor and the wall.
“It’s so small that it won’t be very destructive. Just trample it!”
To put it nicely, it was a wild and, to put it badly, ignorant orcish judgment. The magic resistance that the reinforced exoskeleton itself provided was also the basis for the judgment.
Finally, the spider approached and jumped up, landing on the orc’s chest. And then there was an explosion!
Phong!
It was a cute sound, like opening a bottle cap. The bluish barrier would protect us, the orcs believed, if only for a moment.
“What the hell!”
“They’re crawling inside!”
Two spiders entered through the small holes in the shield. The spiders, which had been burning through the exoskeleton and the orc’s body without hesitation, moved towards the back.
The target was the mana battery attached to their backs and the power storage unit, which was the same as the magic power. The spiders, each in their own position, played an explosive sound once again.
Phong!!
A light sound was heard again. The reinforced exoskeletons suddenly stiffened, and the orcs, unable to move their next leg forward, fell down.
‘It’s okay.’
It was Alan’s short review. The runes of [Weakness], [Explosion], and [Concentration] were good for penetrating magic resistance or shields. Furthermore, Alan was a magic engineer, so he knew the structure and vulnerabilities of magic tools well.
Instead of having to foolishly destroy the whole thing, you could have disabled it by cleverly damaging just a few key components.
“Get up quickly!”
“I’m almost naked… ugh!”
“what?!”
Before the fallen orcs could even shed their exoskeletons and rise, a four-legged beast sprinted past them. The panther’s sharp claws were covered in a small amount of red blood.
The veteran opened his mouth wide. His expectation that he would tear apart the weak-looking intruder in one breath was pleasantly wrong.
“Fuck, I couldn’t even get close···.”
The veteran ordered the gang members who had just joined him at the main gate to return fire, and he himself jumped up next to the automatic turret installed on the wall.
He grabbed the gun’s connection near the machine gun mounted on the turret with both hands, gritted his teeth, and pulled.
Squeak!
With the addition of the reinforced exoskeleton and the orc’s strength, the machine gun was pulled out in one breath. Just as it was about to aim at the arrogant intruder.
A large shadow fell upon the veteran. Unable to bear the weight, the veteran fell down along with the shadow.
“Take it off!”
The Orcs who had come to support shouted as they surrounded the leopard that was aiming for the veteran’s neck. The leopard cleverly swung its claws until the end and then leisurely escaped before being caught.
“I, I···.”
Beyond the wall that the leopard had jumped over, the screams of the orcs erupted incessantly, and when the veteran, with blood streaming from his face and arms, checked outside, there were no unharmed orcs.
Alan looked at the orcs lying in a row and thought.
‘It’s easier than you think?’
The reason why the ending is questionable is because I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t even use the magic launcher like in the underground, but the speed of clearing out the enemies was incredibly fast.
Rather than the power of a leopard or a spider.
‘It must be because of the runes.’
As the number of linked runes increases, the difficulty of engraving increases and the magical power granted also increases rapidly.
Although I only explained the negative aspects, it is common for output to increase when input increases. Even the effectiveness of magic engineering increases by multiplication rather than addition.
Alan nodded as he looked at the ten orcs lying in front of him. They were all elite soldiers wearing reinforced exoskeletons, and it was a satisfactory result to have taken them down in such a short period of time.
Allen, who happened to meet the eyes of the veteran who was looking at this place, attempted to hack the exoskeleton. Even if the magic tool was only a little complicated, it was possible because the soul stone functioned as a central processing unit.
I lightly tore open the thin firewall and looked inside the soul stone. Alan’s magical power rushed into the place where the stars were gathered like the Milky Way, destroying the order.
“Ugh!”
The veteran’s exoskeleton betrayed its master and moved on its own. Curled up like a ball, all he could do was breathe.
Then a giant orc wearing an exoskeleton appeared and kicked the veteran. As the creature rolled into the wall and disappeared, the orc’s mouth opened.
“Stop! Are you the problem solver?”
“You would know better.”
“I only targeted those who had no connections, but I guess that was a mistake.”
Dali was the young leader who wanted to restore the former glory of Greenblood.
In order to quickly grow their organization, they would have rushed into dangerous and easily deceived activities like human trafficking, while still thinking that they were different from others.
First, the failure of those who were broken was dismissed as mere misfortune.
The situation was clear and there was no further conversation to follow.
Dali’s helmet visor came down, and he charged like his subordinates. The exoskeleton was thicker than the equipment they wore, and it was something close to full-body plate armor.
Equipment is also skill. It was fundamentally different from his subordinates who were helpless against leopards and spiders.
He blocked the front paw of the leopard that was rushing at him with his left hand, slightly bent his knees, placed his right palm on its stomach, and threw it to the ground.
Crack!
The thrown leopard slid down the asphalt, its claws digging into the asphalt. Even though the armored part was slightly dented, additional attacks were needed to completely silence the leopard.
He left the rest of the work to his subordinates and approached Allen himself. He figured that since he was alone anyway, he could just take him down.
Instead of pulling out his grenade launcher, Alan opened his left eye wide. He tried to subdue it like a veteran who had become a ball, but this time it bounced off without a hitch.
If only a little more time were given, Alan’s body would be torn apart like tissue paper.
Alan knew his limits. Close combat was an area he absolutely could not tolerate.
“Hacking? That disgusting little bastard is up to something. This is a firewall!”
“so?”
Dali shouted confidently. Alan held out his cane as he watched the man who thought he had the upper hand.
All the boxes waiting behind opened, and this time more than 20 spiders rushed out. The spiders lined up like soldiers and rushed towards Dali one by one.
Phong!
“With just this kind of method!”
Phong!
“No problem!”
Phong!
“This is···.”
As Dali got closer, his voice got louder, but his words got quieter. The cause was his increasingly damaged shield and the spiders that had infiltrated his body and were crawling all over him.
Unlike before, the spiders hanging from his chest and face exploded at the same time.
“Oh, if you do that, the parts will break···.”
Running away, Alan, engulfed in a puff of smoke, knelt down just three meters away, and buried his head in the ground.
“You’re really ignorant. You’d be better off using a pistol.”
Alan suddenly wondered if he and Taylor had been overreacting. Or maybe Professor Oros had raised his standards for orcs significantly.
As I watched the rampaging leopard, I took out my phone from my bosom and saw that a message had arrived from Taylor.
[Are you okay? There are fewer people inside than I thought. Where did you go on a business trip?]
[These kids are nothing. You scared me for nothing. You, a perfectly healthy goblin, are scaring me for nothing. You can’t stop me with just this much muscle.]
A message from Kiki, who was rambling on without knowing the situation, followed.
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