Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 69
Only Noblemtl
The spider robot, now the size of a palm but when it grew bigger it would be called a multi-legged tank, and it moved in various ways. Thanks to [silence], the sound of its mechanical legs hitting the wall did not spread.
The mine was as complex as an anthill, and it would take a while to explore its interior at the speed of a spider. Even if someone visited the tent and asked, I would explain that I was tired and had fallen asleep, so that was okay.
It was fortunate that there was no fog inside the mine. Otherwise, I would have had to turn on the lantern, which would have made infiltration impossible.
As the camera eye moved around, the image transmitted to Alan also changed in real time.
‘The broken rock is slowly regenerating.’
It didn’t matter what form it took – powder, fragments, etc. It crawled on the floor like slime, and stuck to larger pieces to form large clumps.
‘It looks like torn flesh is healing.’
It was such a strange sight. I wanted to go and see for myself what kind of magical power it was and what mystery it contained, but for now, I desperately suppressed my curiosity.
“Oh, I don’t want to bother walking around.”
The spider hanging from the ceiling lowered itself at the sound coming from around the corner. Soon, a swarm of Lockhart explorers passed by below.
“Why can’t I just tell them to survive on their own? Then they only have to clean the underground once a day.”
“Stop talking nonsense. If you bring too many from the ground and draw attention, the investigators will come down.”
“Do you think they’re doing it out of a sense of justice? They’re probably coming to give you an estimate of how much they can get for your money.”
“Did you hear that a monk from the Mother Church visited the camp? He said he would treat you as a condition of your stay.”
“My wrist ligaments are sore, I should go see a doctor.”
“Why did you get hurt? While fighting?”
“No. The miner was acting frustrated and hit his head, but the angle was slightly off.”
“Oh my. You idiot. Anyway, since we’re not overstaffed, let’s switch shifts when the next shift comes.”
The explorers who spoke like that leaned or sat down near the corner and dabbled.
The spider, who had heard all the inhuman conversation, rose up. Moving more cautiously than before, it passed over their heads.
‘I think it’s inside there.’
Identifying the miner did not mean the investigation was over, but it was necessary to take one step at a time.
As we went inside, a small room appeared with ten people lying down.
‘The treatment is worse than at the clinic.’
Nobak did give us a bed, but here, there was nothing but an old blanket and a worn-out pillow. The room was so small that no one could sleep with their legs stretched out. We had to be pressed against each other because of the cold coming up from the floor.
There were more than one or two rooms like this. Alan observed them slowly and carefully.
‘About a hundred people.’
There may be more in other places, but that’s the number of people I can see. It seemed to Alan that he was seeing his old self.
‘Illegal immigrants or those caught dreaming.’
I didn’t mean to call you stupid. What’s wrong with wanting a better future? It’s the fault of the person who lied.
The spider, which had been slowly looking around the interior, suddenly stopped at one point. It was hanging from the ceiling, and only the camera eye was moving.
‘It looks familiar. Who was it?’
Alan quickly ran through his memories. The bar, the disappearance, the photo, the truck.
‘ah···.’
Some scenes have become clearer. The man now lying on the ground shivering looks like the old man who came with me to Maze City. I don’t mean that he looks like his son, but he really does look very similar.
‘As if aging has progressed. That’s probably···.’
The spider’s eyes stopped at a corner. A pickaxe for mining and a bloody needle.
In Lanka, all workers who recharged mana batteries had similar needles inserted into their forearms. When they were low on mana, they would replace their life force to replenish it, so they were always tired.
They got money and comfort in exchange for their lives. People who didn’t know that were considered high-class workers.
The spider crawled down to the floor and settled down at the man’s bedside. It checked his face again and touched his cheek.
“···.”
There was no response as if he had just finished a hard day’s work.
Talk.
“Ugh.”
Bam.
“Ugh.”
Exactly!
“Uhhh… what is it, a stone?”
The moment the man woke up, a spider’s buttocks stung the back of his neck.
“···!!!”
In an instant, the hacked man froze stiffly like a patient who had been poisoned by paralysis. It was easier to break through the firewall of a brain-enhancing device used by ordinary people than it was a top-line product from a large corporation.
It’s not even a wireless hack, I just plugged the cable into the port.
Before the man could even begin to be surprised, a voice spoke through the brain extension device.
[Are you Hassan, Abdul’s son? Don’t be alarmed, I hacked him because I was afraid he would be caught if the reaction was too loud. Just talk to him as if you were talking on the phone.]
[Are you the troubleshooter sent by Dad? Please save me… No, it’ll be hard. There are too many corporate guys, so it’ll be hard.]
When I first heard from my uncle, he seemed like a naive person, but perhaps the hardships had matured his mind, as he was also able to care for others.
[I can’t go into detail, but there is a way.]
Alan threw a blank check. No matter how possible something is, if the person involved has no hope, it is bound to fail, so he had to instill will.
[You won’t be disappointed. To do that, you need to first understand the internal structure.]
[There is also a restricted area deep in the mine, would that information be helpful?]
[Of course.]
If there was anything valuable inside, he could take it as a hostage. Anyway, Alan’s persuasion was effective, and Hassan grabbed the rope.
[The road I know is blocked, so it will be difficult to enter now.]
[The mine keeps regenerating. I know that.]
[Yes. So tomorrow at work, I’ll dig a hole and go inside···.]
*
Alan opened his eyes and met Taylor’s gaze, who was looking this way.
“You didn’t sleep?”
“How can I sleep peacefully? Did the investigation go well?”
Alan was lucky enough to contact Hassan, who informed him that there was a restricted area inside the mine.
“How did you talk?”
“First, I broke through the firewall and took away his physical control, then I slowly convinced him.”
“Oh, well done… no. Why are you so calm?”
“The hacking itself was nothing special. Mr. Hassan understood it easily.”
“If it were that easy, citizens would be getting hacked all the time and having their accounts emptied. Well, it’s possible, since they’re working themselves to death in a labyrinth and not getting any inspections.”
Zion was not interested in this conversation, and Shiva, although he seemed to be an outsider, was listening intently.
“That’s funny. I have a brain-extension device, but I never really thought much about the risks.”
“The firewall is a structure that is proportional to the strength of one’s magic resistance, so as one’s level increases, hacking becomes more difficult.”
Taylor, who had been listening quietly, leaned toward Shiva.
“Does a priest ever need to use an extension device?”
“We are also human beings. We have the right to enjoy the conveniences of civilization, such as telephone calls and access to all things.”
“What memory modification are you into right now? Is it like a mating video?”
“Brother, you have such a rich imagination. This is a scripture…”
“You don’t think it’s a hassle to memorize it?”
Taylor’s claws flashed sharply, and Shiva closed her eyes and pretended not to hear.
*
The next day, Hassan went to work as if nothing had happened. Miners were walking around like zombies, and spiders were crawling across the ceiling.
Hassan took a few deep breaths and then struck the rock hard with his pickaxe. He didn’t have a mask, so the rock dust settled in his throat, but his spirit was not dampened.
Just then, a supervisor passing by spoke to me.
“You’re working hard today. If you were to slack off today, I was going to give you a one-on-one fight with Jiha-in.”
“If you want to eat special food, you have to dig a lot.”
“What do you pigs think the same way? You need to have constructive thoughts to develop. Do you think it’s okay to always try to satisfy your one-dimensional desires?”
It wasn’t something that someone who blocked all opportunities should say. Hassan knew that too, but he just giggled and bowed.
Finally, a small hole appeared in the rock wall, revealing another passage beyond it.
“If you go straight, you will come across a restricted area.”
Talk.
Hassan felt something invisible touch his foot. He opened his eyes blearily as usual and slowly lifted the pickaxe.
The spider quickly passed through the passage. It was not far from where the miners were, but there was no sign of human presence.
Delving deeper, Alan discovered a suspicious place: an ordinary passageway blocked by two well-armed explorers.
‘There it is.’
As Alan had thought, he entered the passage and a strange facility appeared. The empty space was filled with machines he had never seen before, and thick cables were tangled messily on the floor and ceiling.
As I moved my eyes along the cables, I saw a man lying on the operating table, with cables tightly connected to him. He was no ordinary person.
‘A prosthetic hand for a magic engineer…’
A group of people who appeared to be researchers gathered around the man. I couldn’t tell what kind of experiment they were doing, so I looked away for a moment.
‘uh?’
The way to distinguish between magic stones and magic crystals was easy. Whether they were shiny or not. There were scammers who sprayed polish on them to target that.
Why am I suddenly saying this? This is a magic stone mine. But I saw a magic stone.
‘It doesn’t look like something prepared for experimentation.’
Alan scanned the empty lot once more. The vat containing the magic stone, the operating table, and the glass tube containing the magic stone were all connected together.
‘As if conducting an experiment to create a magic stone.’
As evidence, the man tied to the operating table screamed, causing the magic stone to shine slightly stronger.
I could see why the magic engineer was here. He was someone who had the potential to become a wizard if not for magic engineering, so he was a perfect test subject.
There is a high probability that you will be missing some of the requirements for becoming a wizard, such as high intelligence, precise manipulation of magical power, excellent magical sensitivity, and a large mana heart, but your other abilities will still be fine.
Alan opened his eyes and told Taylor about it.
“Greenblood kidnapped a magic engineer. I don’t know who’s behind it, but I know at least one person.”
“Since you’re bringing it up now, I guess Lockhart is one of the culprits.”
“It seems like they are experimenting with turning magic stones into magic crystals.”
Even though the total amount of energy in magic stones and magic crystals was the same, their values were completely different. Just like how gold and silver have the same weight but the difference is huge.
To explain how great it is, the legendary elixir that can even revive the dead was called the blood of a god, and the magic stone was called the flesh of a god.
When magic stones were added to the workings of all things, they elicited positive reactions as desired by humans. For example, if you put magic stone powder in a water-based potion, it becomes better than the original.
“If you put it in a grenade, it becomes more powerful than dynamite. There are many cases like that. You get the general idea, right?”
Shiva nodded, and Taylor furrowed one eyebrow.
“Why do you have to use an explosion as a metaphor? It makes people anxious…”
“It’s just a tool for explanation, so don’t worry too much about it.”
As I was barely able to calm Taylor down, who had a lot to say but looked like he wasn’t going to say anything, I heard the sound of a sword being pulled out.
“Then let’s begin.”
“Wait a minute. What are you starting?”
“The chairman said that we have to remove everything that gets in the way of the labyrinth exploration. That way, the water quality will improve and the latecomers will grow quickly.”
It was a sound that could only be heard by a person of character. The Breaker was the most trustworthy organization among the Explorers’ Guild. It could not have been without the influence of the Chairman.
“Okay, then just calm down and sit down.”
Zion kept making a rustling sound as if he was feeling sorry. I wondered if he was having fun, so I looked at him for a while and then looked away.
If Allen expected Zion’s skills to be as good as they were, it would have been possible even if they had just charged in. The problem was that she would be the only one standing in the end.
If she were alone, she could have attacked and escaped at a disadvantage, but it was difficult because she had people with her.
“There are plans and strategies for times like this. They can reduce a bucketful of blood to a single drop.”
“I’m bored.”
“It won’t take long.”
Alan closed his left eye, trying to comfort Zion. The spider was still busy moving around, especially since it had been staying in the armory for a long time.
Assembly and disassembly are the same field, just with different meanings. Alan was an expert in assembly, which meant he was also excellent at disassembling.
End