Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 79
Only Noblemtl
Vito’s words were cut off by Alan’s question. Just hearing the groans coming from the other end of the terminal, you could tell how flustered he was.
“Let’s meet in person instead of just talking on the phone. The location is the park behind Breaker headquarters. Take a taxi or the monorail and come right now.”
[Okay, I’ll go right away.]
As the appointment was set, Taylor asked with a worried look on her face.
“The kid you said we acted together with? Is it okay if we meet?”
“So we decided to make the location a park.”
After finishing his preparations, Alan left the warehouse, and Taylor followed closely behind. Shiva, who was racking his brain wondering what was going on, also moved his short legs quickly.
The park behind Breaker’s headquarters was created by the city hall, but as Breaker’s buildings grew around it, it naturally became their property.
The reason we meet here and not at the warehouse is.
“No matter how many brain cells a cartel member has, he wouldn’t create work here.”
If there was a dispute here, it would be the same as declaring war on Breaker. It wouldn’t be war, it would be just a one-sided massacre. Or, since it was near the headquarters, Chairman Marshall, who was staying in the chairman’s office, could jump out of the window.
“If the depth is 7, you could jump from the 50th floor and be fine, right?”
“Don’t expect too much. I’ve already organized an expedition, so it’ll take at least two months for me to come back.”
While they were having a small talk, a shadow of a person appeared at the entrance to the park. It was Vito, who had become much more sharp-faced, perhaps thanks to being freed from Nobak.
Alan stepped forward, while Taylor and Shiva stood behind him like a screen. Shiva, unable to see Vito because of Alan’s body, moved slightly to the side.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, but it’s nice to see you. I would have been happier if this hadn’t happened.”
“Did the cartel really use me as bait?”
Vito, with an anxious expression, got straight to the point. Alan didn’t say anything directly, just asked questions, but Vito had a rough idea of what was going on.
Magic Engineers are a job that requires a smart head. If they seem clumsy when doing something, it’s because it’s unfamiliar, and once they get used to it, they quickly show a different side.
Excluding those who forcibly met the conditions by hitting various magic wears like Kiki.
“I came to tell you the news, but after hearing your story, it seems to be true. Is Nobak really alive? Both you and I confirmed the hole in the back of his head.”
Vito was noticeably anxious. Having grown up under Novak since childhood, his shadow loomed large over his mind.
The fears that were imprinted on me since childhood were not easily erased. Even adults have to put in a lot of effort to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder, but the pressure and brainwashing that had built up since childhood were not easily relieved.
Alan looked at Vito with his usual numb face, and after a while, Vito seemed to have calmed down as well.
“It would be a miracle if he were alive. I like the expression ‘a victory of odds’ better than those words.”
Alan’s eyes scanned Vito up and down. Using his clairvoyance to examine the magicware, he saw nothing that could be considered a tracking device.
‘Did you implant something into the brain expansion device?’
As Alan gestured behind him, the box that had come with him beeped and came closer. While the leopard guarding the house now had only combat abilities, the box contained the ability to cope with various situations.
“Take it out.”
beep!
A thick cylinder, a magic bullet launcher, protruded out. Vito’s expression immediately turned pale as the muzzle was pointed at him.
“Other than that, the connection cable.”
beep···.
The box made a sound of regret for some reason. Alan pointed to a bench in the park.
“Just lie down over there for a moment.”
Vito quickly complied, and Alan plugged the cable from the box into the port behind his ear.
The Milky Way was visible only to Alan’s left eye. The star-filled letters that filled the input window were evidence of how the brain extension device worked.
At that moment, Vito, who had been lying down, opened his mouth.
“Oh, you didn’t disable the firewall.”
“It’s already been pierced.”
“It’s fast···.”
“Someone has already weakened it.”
Alan swept through a dark area hidden in a corner of the Milky Way. The area brightened, revealing a cluster of star characters that someone had hidden there.
Those asterisks were called malware, viruses, etc. as a single program. The asterisks that made up the malware quickly disappeared, unable to withstand Alan’s gaze.
“Someone thinned out the firewall and planted a tracking program there. Now that it’s been removed, don’t worry.”
“I’m sorry. I was so careless that I dragged them all the way here.”
Alan was so deep in thought that he couldn’t respond to Vito’s apology.
‘What could be the reason? Revenge? Or the eyes?’
It was all plausible evidence. He must have been furious at having been almost killed by livestock, and naturally he was blinded by rage.
Next is the eyes. The star character input window was very wide. The wider it was, the more star characters could be engraved, and the more stars there were, the more diverse the functions and the higher the power.
In that sense, the value of the eyes was high. They even contained advanced vision and measurement abilities that were only found in artificial eyes for magic engineers. One eye could cost more than the money that Alan had accumulated so far.
Of course, there was a problem with the Bad Sector because Nobak couldn’t finish his research and Alan was forced to wear it while in an unstable state due to the explosion.
‘That too can be resolved by absorbing the magic stone. If Nobak is really alive, I can hear from him exactly what the eye is.’
While Alan was pondering, Taylor, who had a rough idea of the situation, growled.
“Nobak? Who dares that senile brat. Aroma? I don’t know where you’re stuck in the countryside, but since you crawled all the way here, I’ll show you something spicy. Does Maze City look like shit to you?”
“Brother, your choice of words is too harsh.”
“Ddaengjung only pretends to be a monk at times like this. Oh, you didn’t hear, did you?”
As Taylor briefly summarized what had happened to Alan, Shiva’s beard trembled.
“Huh, that kind of thing… I guess I’ll have to break the precepts again.”
“I think I secretly like it.”
“That’s not true. I’m just full of thoughts about disciplining my crooked brothers. I also feel a little jealous when I think about meeting Mother before me.”
Taylor looked at Shiva and twirled his fingers around his temple. As the only normal person, he felt the need to lead abnormal people like Alan and Shiva.
Taylor spoke to Alan, who was now looking straight at him.
“Let’s not worry about the police. They don’t even bother with the gangs that are native to Maze City, so they wouldn’t be interested in a violent organization that came in from outside. What’s their name? I don’t think Cartel is their real name.”
“It’s Corona.”
“The name itself smells like shit.”
“It means crown in your language. What you are doing is completely out of place.”
Now that the ill-fated relationship from the past has followed us here, it was time to show Maze City the way.
Alan took out his terminal and called Kiri, an informant and diver. She could find the information buried in the ocean of all things.
Kiri happened to have free time and answered the phone right away.
[Hello, Alan.]
“I have a request. Can you help me find some people?”
[People? The scope is too broad.]
“Just a moment. You came in through the southern checkpoint, right?”
Vito nodded and said when he passed.
“Please take a look from 7 days ago. Their accent and appearance will be exactly the same as Vega’s. They are also members of the cartel that settled in Aromaa called Corona.”
[Do you know how many people go in and out of the checkpoint every day? It must be hard work. I’m busy, so I’ll hang up now.]
*
Vito, who followed Alan to the warehouse, was exuding a gloomy expression. Taylor looked at him and winked.
“Are you going to keep it?”
“I feel bad about letting go of the trustworthy and useful personnel who came to me on their own. Their trust score is higher than their skill score.”
“It’s much better to keep your promises even if your skills are a little lacking. Why, are you trying to recruit me to the party?”
“No. Even if you give bonus points to acquaintances, it still falls far short of the standard.”
Vito raised his head as if he was listening to the conversation. Then he walked towards the refrigerator, mumbling.
“You’re still so cold-hearted. Can I have some water? Why did you take off the drink label? Ugh! It’s alcohol.”
Taylor gave Vito a cold look as he coughed.
“hmm.”
“Listen carefully. It would take more than ten days to explore the lower levels of the cave. The deeper you go, the longer the journey will take, and in the meantime, the warehouse will be completely empty.”
“Would you like to hire me as a watchman and manager?”
“You can repair magical tools by making use of your aptitude. It’s better than having the warehouse empty.”
Vito, who had just found the water hidden among the holy waters, raised his voice.
“I didn’t agree.”
“Then are you going back to Vega?”
“No. Since we’ve come this far, we should just sit down. Can I call you boss?”
“Just do as you normally would.”
Alan got up from the sofa and headed to the workbench.
“Let’s get ready and wait for news from Kiri.”
“It’s the same for labyrinth monsters and people. If you shoot them, they die, and if you cut them, they fall.”
Taylor also checked his equipment. He had recently defeated the guards, and the underground people were human-like. So, preparations for the expedition were in preparation for war.
Alan looked at the power suit standing on the workbench. It was so tall that he had to crane his neck to see it.
The underground people were quite tall, similar to the average male orc, who is currently 2.2m tall. The underground people, who were called guards because they guarded the throne, were particularly large in stature, and their power suits naturally grew to fit their bodies.
There were many problems with Alan wearing the power suit as is. So, while leaving aside the parts like the magical power and artificial muscles, the size of the skeleton and outer armor was reduced.
Modern metalworking is so advanced that it fits Alan’s needs perfectly.
Alan stroked the power suit that looked like it was dissected from a human body.
“If I wear this, I’ll be about 2.3 meters tall.”
“I shortened it by almost 1m. Is there any problem?”
“The shorter the length, the thicker the horsepower circuit, which improves the instantaneous output.”
“At that level, you could even carry it around on a cart.”
“I’m considering several options, so I’ll think about it when I get there.”
I haven’t decided on a method of transportation yet. It was a hasty idea since the power suit isn’t even complete.
Alan first tried to equip only the roughly completed left arm. Even though the weight balance was seriously off, he was able to hold on thanks to the reinforced exoskeleton.
Alan left the warehouse with a penguin-like gait and arrived at an empty lot lined with concrete blocks.
Vito, who followed, opened his mouth.
“If the real Nobak is alive and has come after us, what are you going to do?”
“Of course it should be removed.”
Vito felt the difference as he watched Alan answer nonchalantly. In less than a year, Alan’s skills and spirit had gone far away. He was amazed, envious, and jealous.
A sudden surge of pain blew Vito out of his thoughts.
“Oh, hot! What is it?”
Concrete debris hit him all over. Vito crouched down and looked at Alan.
“What is going on?”
“When I asked if you were going to stay that way, you nodded.”
“I was just thinking about something else.”
“Shall I show you again?”
Only then did Vito realize that the bricks had been shattered. He nodded and hid behind Alan to prevent another incident from happening again.
As Alan thrust his left hand forward, a cannon barrel emerged from his forearm. The cable supplying mana shuddered, and a blue ball of magical energy shot out from the muzzle.
bang!
This time the bricks shattered and flew everywhere.
“It’s quite powerful. What runes did you use?”
“I also applied circuit magic.”
“Wait a minute, you can handle the stars too. And circuit magic too?”
Runes, star script, and circuit magic.
Even though the three of them were studying together, he was doing the difficult work alone. Taylor, who had a dignified appearance when he didn’t open his mouth, and Shiva, who also gave off a pious and solid impression.
Vito felt a sense of comfort, as if he had found shade in the blazing sun.
“It was good that you ran here. But Alan, you said you would provide fire support from behind. Do you really need a power suit? Just like in spy movies, in a moment of crisis, the most important ability comes from your own body.”
“Instead of just watching spy movies, watch documentaries that feature gear like power suits. And if you have a power suit, shouldn’t you want to wear it?”
“In that sense, can I try it on too?”
“Of course not.”
Vito, his whole body hunched over, leaned against the warehouse wall. He observed Alan’s experiment with sparkling eyes.
End