Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 77
Only Noblemtl
The labyrinth is a collection of incomprehensible phenomena, and at the same time, it has stimulated the curiosity of many scholars. Perhaps, the part that modern civilization has revealed may only be a fingertip.
As if to prove it, the steam created by Alan’s heat rays was sucked in somewhere. It was as if there was a ventilation system in the stuffy Daejeon.
There was a large hole in the back of the guard who was lying face down on the boiling water. Blood was slowly seeping out from the half-cooked area.
“May you rest in peace in your mother’s arms. It is not a pretty sight, so let’s move the loot quickly.”
The prayerful reverence in Shiva’s voice quickly faded, and was replaced by a sense of anticipation.
Alan asked, carrying the remains of the automaton to the corner.
“You look happy.”
“I am naturally happy that the reward for my fair labor is right in front of me. The monastery was a communal property, so there was nothing that could be considered personal property.”
“It’s joint ownership, so where do we get alcohol?”
Shiva shook his head at Taylor’s question.
“The method of making holy water and its distribution route are confidential, so even Brother Taylor cannot tell you.”
“Shit.”
“Brother, you are speaking too harshly.”
“What about confidentiality? He must have climbed over a wall or dug a hole to get in and out. Or he must have dug a tunnel and spied on it.”
Shiva’s beard trembled in the ‘Tunnel’. It could have been a natural shaking that occurred while collecting the automaton, but at least that’s how it looked to Alan.
After moving the automaton that was lying near the central passage leading to the throne, only the power suits used by the guards remained.
Alan’s numb eyes sparkled slightly. The guy standing there with his head slightly bowed seemed unscathed, and he felt a surge of satisfaction.
Taylor whistled as he circled the power suit.
“It’s neat. How did you come up with this idea?”
“It was inspired by information that if the power suit receives damage beyond its limit or the degree of restraint is severe, the guards will escape.”
“Surprise shows like this are great, but if you draw such pictures, please let us know. We’re exploring together, right?”
“yes.”
“I don’t think you had any bad intentions. You just forgot because you were thinking about this and that.”
As Taylor said, I had too many thoughts, so I put it on the back burner and forgot about it. Taylor smirked at Alan.
“At this age, you can see everything.”
“Brother, there are people who are not like that. Sometimes, there are people who let time pass by as a waste disposal facility···.”
“As expected of a monk, even his words are noble.”
The two people who were talking turned their heads towards the door of the battlefield. Alan also turned his eyes following them, and after a while, the door opened slightly.
The eyes that appeared through the gap scanned the battlefield, and a short sigh was heard.
“I already caught it. Just a little while ago.”
“That’s why I told you to come quickly and not wander around.”
“The guy who went missing for an hour because he was constipated said···.”
There was a group of eight explorers. They moved slowly, leaning against the right wall of the Great Hall, facing the throne.
“I’ll just pass by and do my business.”
One of the unwritten rules of the labyrinth is ‘do not approach without permission’, but there was no choice since you had to go through the throne to get to the primeval forest.
Taylor, who knew the specificity well, nodded slightly but did not relax.
They approached the throne and pressed something, and a black door appeared in the air. The explorers disappeared into the door that rippled like waves in an instant.
“What do you think? Isn’t it amazing?”
Taylor asked Alan, but Alan’s attention was completely focused on the power suit.
“yes?”
“No, just do what you were doing.”
While Taylor and Shiva took a break, Alan chased the box away. He was worried that the box, which kept hovering around the power suit like a crow that liked shiny objects, might cause trouble.
“Go away.”
beep–
The box, which had been scolded by its owner, began to dismantle the broken wolf. It used its pincers to tear off the parts where the magic stone and soul stone were installed and put them inside its body.
Meanwhile, Alan disassembled the power suit and placed it on the cart one by one. He was able to do it by himself thanks to his reinforced exoskeleton.
The carts, which had grown to three, were hauled by automatons conscripted by Alan. Spider and Wolf had lost their fighting ability, but were still able to pull something.
Shiva, who was drying his beard soaked with sweat and water, seemed interested and came closer.
“Brother. It looks like you just injected mana into it, but the automaton you’re dealing with right now is a leopard, and a box, so there are five of them. If you overdo it, you’ll get hurt.”
“It’s okay since it’s just magic overload anyway.”
“Oh, I see. It’s too much magic…”
Shiva’s eyes widened slightly as he repeated the words that Alan had said.
“There was a reason why the number of magic stones remained the same while operating multiple automatons. My brother had a special constitution.”
“Please keep it a secret.”
“Of course. I swear it on my beard.”
“I’ve heard that priests usually swear by their mothers.”
“That’s true, but it’s a bit odd to bring up my mother…. My other brothers take it for granted, but it’s a bit different for me. It’s my business, so wouldn’t it be odd to bring up my mother?”
After finishing the conversation and tidying up the cart, Alan turned his head to see Taylor with her mouth tightly shut.
“Why are you like that?”
“You told me two weeks before I did.”
“Brother, why are you so upset about something like that?”
“You’re being angry at an adult!”
“Let’s fight upstairs, and for now, let’s just take a quick look at the primeval forest.”
Taylor furrowed his brow at Alan’s words.
“I can’t stand it because I see Alan.”
“No, you’re upset because of Brother Allen, so what the heck···.”
Taylor shook his head as if he didn’t want to hear it. The group climbed the stairs to the throne, and the cart took advantage of the slopes on both sides.
Taylor put his hand behind the throne and touched something, and a dark door appeared that seemed to suck even the light out.
Where was there any need to worry? Taylor and Shiva jumped in, and Alan was the last to step in.
It was similar to when he passed through the layers. Black fog enveloped his body, and he lost his senses for a moment. Still, it was familiar, so Alan just walked forward.
In a few seconds, the green of the primeval forest would greet Alan. His vision finally cleared, but the newly revealed scenery was different from what he had expected.
‘What is this?’
It was only then that Alan realized that his body was moving on its own. Even his gaze was raised, as if he had suddenly grown taller.
‘This is an underground city.’
To be exact, it looked like a pitch-black lake. The water was very clean, and there was an artificial island in the middle, but I instinctively knew it was the same place.
It seemed like the word ‘underground’ could be omitted from the word ‘underground city’. The sun was bright, clear clouds hung in the sky, and unidentified birds were flying around, chirping.
Alan’s gaze moved towards the artificial island, the sky, and the palace with the battlefield. Again, this was not Alan’s will.
‘Ice cream?’
While he was pondering, he saw a metal arm on the edge of his vision. It looked similar to the power suit that Allen had faced today.
‘You are now looking at the world through the eyes of a guard.’
The guards were not alone, as they were also soldiers. People wearing identical power suits were walking around. And then the vision became hazy.
“Is the air good?”
“It’s rude to even compare it to a concrete jungle. I want to build a villa and live in a place like this later.”
“A monk’s villa? A worldly man.”
“That’s too much of a leap. That’s what I’m saying.”
Taylor and Shiva were talking in front of Alan, who had returned to reality.
Alan tried to recall the experience from earlier, but the memories were fading, as if he had been dreaming. Still, there were fragments left.
A faint vibration was felt at his waist. Alan took out the compass that was tucked into his tool belt.
‘Is this guy the cause?’
The needles had turned almost silver. There was still a bit of gold left, but it was hard to tell without looking very closely.
As Alan was roughly organizing his thoughts, he heard Taylor and Shiva’s conversation.
“Shall we go deeper?”
“no.”
“Thanks to Brother Allen, I have quite a bit of energy left. I can purify a few animals. I’m sure Mother will be happy to see animals running around.”
“I didn’t know Alan would do this. But there’s no food.”
“Animals roaming the primeval forest will gladly donate.”
“What about donations… Wild animals are tougher and have a stronger smell than you might think, and I didn’t prepare any seasoning.”
Alan agreed with Taylor’s opinion. Mana was overflowing thanks to his constitution, but he had used up a lot of the supplies he had prepared while clearing out the guards.
“Let’s go up. Exploration is good, but safety first, safety second.”
“Knowledge first, and knowledge second. Is that because you want to study power suits?”
Alan didn’t answer Taylor’s question because it was so straight to the point.
In fact, the power suit was too big to carry around. It took time to figure out how to handle a 3.2m tall metal giant.
“If you don’t mind disposing of it, you can come down, but Alan won’t like that.”
“How do I dispose of the power suit here?”
“When you receive memory modification, you should look through the information in advance. What on earth are you doing with the brain expansion device?”
“I had an interview with my mother.”
“The excuse is… The Explorers’ Guild and the companies’ bases are on the 23rd floor. The guys who dig the ground from the 24th floor came out and made it on the 23rd floor.”
A sort of forward base, hunting parties in the primeval forest would stay there for long periods to sell their spoils, purchase supplies for exploration, and so on.
It takes more than 10 days just to travel from the ground to the base, so you can’t keep going back and forth when the wagons are full or you run out of supplies.
Shiva nodded in agreement.
“But from now on, the line will change so I guess I’ll be able to get in quicker.”
“No. You must consistently settle the loot you get from hunting monsters in the primeval forest to renew your explorer ID.”
“Oh… Is there anyone who would pay money to get this?”
Alan shook his head. The line was the order among the explorers, and surprisingly, Roman Company was also strict about that part. As expected of the world of explorers where ability is everything, qualifications were given only to those with power.
“I heard that Roman Company is a group with many unique explorers.”
“Personality? Are you talking about a dog-like personality?”
“What Mr. Shiba said makes sense. If you accept just anyone, the quality will drop, but there will be normal people among them. No matter how many defective products a company produces, if they are good at picking, they will be fine.”
“The analogy is a bit strange. In that case, isn’t it a lotus in the mud, a pearl in the sand?”
Alan shrugged and turned around. The door had already moved about 5 meters, and as the name of the primeval forest suggests, there were so many trees and bushes that he had to open his eyes wide to see. That was why he needed a compass.
The black door swallowed Alan’s body again, and the same phenomenon as before did not occur.
*
There were three main ways to carry a powersuit: wearing it, using a cart, or using a storage pocket.
It was too much of a waste of magical power to wear it. In order to transport the 3.2m power suit in its entirety, the cart had to be large. If it was disassembled, the cart could be smaller, but if a battle broke out, it could end up being worn.
‘The only way left is···.’
Alan’s left eye scanned the shopping list of all sorts of things. He saw the Ooparts space pouches he had obtained from the labyrinth, or dimensional pouches or dimensional backpacks for short.
How great is the benefit of the Dimensional Backpack in the Labyrinth? It’s too much to list.
Alan first looked at the palm-sized dimensional backpack that could store 75L of space. It was doubtful whether it could even properly store one arm of a power suit, but it started with a ‘hundreds of millions’ of space.
I shook my head and looked at the power suit standing tall in the middle of the warehouse. I thought I knew why so few people were wearing it.
Alan, whose interest had slightly cooled, observed the round compass on the desk. He consulted Taylor about what had happened, and was advised to keep quiet for the time being since it was related to a collector.
That was right. There was no need to attract attention, and these things are hard to find even if you pay for them.
Beyond the transparent crystal, the door opened wide. Shiva came in first, holding an envelope containing holy water, followed by Taylor.
“It’s a gift.”
Taylor threw something. Of course, Alan didn’t react, and the thing hit the floor with a thud.
“It’s memory correction.”
“Zion promised to send me the experimental data last time. I got it while I was out.”
“thank you.”
Alan, who did not have a brain expansion device, plugged the memory correction device into the terminal.
End