Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 83
Only Noblemtl
Taylor’s artificial eye is fixed in the office. It either senses magic or uses clairvoyance to check on Novak’s condition.
“He’s still alive. But judging by the way he’s trembling, I don’t think there’s any need to worry about him waking up.”
“You detonated the artificial mana heart and damaged the entire magic circuit, so it would be better for you to become a corpse.”
The omnipotence and addiction that magic gives are stronger than drugs. Losing the means of spiritual elevation that even has no side effects causes an unimaginable sense of loss.
During the standoff, Alan’s spiders entered the factory, and the crates that had been painstakingly lowered from the roof found a good firing position again.
Kaka, who had lost his main force, Novak, in an instant, growled threateningly, but it only felt like a cat standing on end in fear.
“Nobak? Come to your senses. If Lady Sandra finds out about this, you guys will never be safe. She’ll be crying out for you to kill her.”
“Disruption of magical power, unstable breathing, changes in pupils… Many symptoms that appear when lying are observed.”
Alan’s distinct voice echoed through the quiet factory. Taylor smiled faintly as he watched the fidgeting Kaka.
“Then that’s right. If it was really Sandra’s stuff, wouldn’t they have just sent thugs? They would have sent disciples or subordinates to make sure things were done properly.”
“There seems to be a connection.”
“Even so, she’s still a disciple. In any case, people like Sandra are treated as expendable items, so even if she dies, we won’t feel anything.”
“No! He is Sandra’s favorite···.”
“Look, the tongue is getting longer. Hey, that kid’s trying to jump.”
As Kaka’s figure disappeared from the office window, Taylor tried to run out but was stopped by Allen.
“No, that’s not it. I’m coming down the stairs now.”
Kaka came down the stairs, dragging Novak’s arm. Novak’s head hit the metal steps several times, making a thud sound, but he didn’t care.
Kaka, who was as big as an orc, displayed his typical cowardly nature as a goblin when faced with a crisis. In fact, humans are the same, so there was no need to be obsessed with stereotypes.
“Can’t you just spare my life?”
Alan was more interested in Novak than in Kaka, who was kneeling. Smoke was pouring out of the port at the back of his neck, as if his internal circuits had been completely burned by the artificial mana heart overload. He was drooling and twitching meaninglessly.
“Did I do this too?”
“The actions are similar, but if you compare the internal state, this one is more severe. The twisted magic of Nobak must have gone beyond affecting the brain and completely destroyed it. Come here.”
Alan called to the leopard. The metal beast connected to its master knew very well what intention he had in calling it.
“for a moment.”
Alan’s staff tapped the leopard’s forepaw. The claws that had lost their light were wrapped in a bluish glow again.
“Did you fix it by hitting it just now?”
“The internal components were misaligned when it hit the ground earlier. So it would be better to realign it rather than repair it.”
“That’s it. After all, machines need to be beaten to be fixed. Of course, people too···.”
Taylor, who had been unfolding his terrifying logic, glared at Kaka. Shiva was gathering Kaka and his subordinates and reprimanding them while quoting the scriptures of the Mother Church.
The members of the organization who were trying to escape were blocked by Alan’s spider. He jumped down from the ceiling, wrapped his head with his legs, and boom! With two people gone, his will to escape was completely broken.
“Even fighting violence with violence will get you into trouble. So why do you, brothers, fill your lives with violence?”
“Then···, why does the monk use his fists···.”
“I am determined to awaken you all. I feel the pain of having torn my guts by disobeying my mother’s teachings, but someone has to do it.”
Taylor smirked and turned his head. A bloody device was rolling around near the leopard’s paw.
“eww···.”
“Why are you like that?”
“It makes me sick to see that sight.”
“This is a scene you see a lot when using Mana Sword.”
“That one is a bit different from this one… Anyway, that’s a brain expansion device attached near the cerebellum, right?”
Alan nodded. The reason he took out Novak’s device was because it also served as a black box to some extent.
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to tell if Kaka’s words are true or false, and you’ll also be able to learn more about the eyes.
Alan looked at the burning factory. Novak, who had taught him the importance of a sure kill, had really gone far away this time. If there was a soul, it would be mixed in that smoke.
“You’re going to your mother. I envy you.”
“If you’re really jealous, let’s hold hands and go together.”
“I can’t do that because I still have work to do. And what would a mother think if she saw her child harming himself?”
“Anyway, what I mean is···”
Taylor leaned against the wall and began to watch the fire, while Alan looked behind him. The ten surviving cartel members were tied up like fish to the rope that Shiva was holding tightly.
“Is there a reason you kept me alive? If I escape and open my mouth….”
“No, absolutely not.”
“Brother Kaka, please keep your mouth shut. Our church has a repentance process, and we want you to participate in it.”
“Can you explain?”
“Destroy the Manaheart, exchange the brain expansion device for something provided by the Mother Church, and distribute it to the brothers who are dispatched to developing countries… No, put it under there. Since you have caused harm to the world, shouldn’t you repay it? The satisfaction level is extremely high.”
“Bad people?”
“Brothers and sisters in charge of the parish.”
It meant that he liked having a useful workforce. As his body became more comfortable, his mind would naturally become more gentle.
The sound of an engine was heard, and a black van and truck with a heart, the symbol of the Mother Church, drawn on them, arrived in front of the factory. A fierce-looking nun got out and greeted Shiva.
“Is that person an applicant for admission?”
As Shiva pulled the rope, Kaka’s body shook.
“you’re right···.”
“Voluntary admission is welcome.”
Kaka seemed to have a lot to say, but he kept his mouth shut when he saw Shiva’s forearm and the nun’s face.
The nun, who had loaded the organization members into the back of the truck, shook hands with Shiva and then got into the van and disappeared.
“I broke the precepts of death, but I did good deeds, so the karma I accumulated today is now zero.”
Shiva’s rationalization was a familiar sight. Taylor snorted at the logic of miracles and kicked the objects piled nearby with his foot.
“Why do you have so much luggage? You even took the golem body.”
Alan looked back and forth between Taylor’s body and the golem’s body.
“Recycling? That’s a bit···.”
“why?”
“It looks like a scavenger. And the golem body is out of proportion, so it’s not very good. You too?”
Shiva did not ignore the cry for help.
“That’s right, Brother Allen, physical practitioners do not prefer golem bodies that ignore balance and only increase power.”
“Okay. Then I’ll give you a new Magic Wear.”
On the way home, Alan, sitting in the passenger seat of the truck he had procured from the factory, looked at a passing police car and asked.
“Sandra is also a depth 7 like the collectors? How strong are they?”
“Isn’t there a fortress surrounding the door to the labyrinth?”
The fortress surrounding the 50m high and 100m wide labyrinth entrance was protected by all kinds of defensive magic, automatic turrets, and Titan units. Lanka’s own military power would not be able to stop the Titan units.
“If Jake and the Collector had really fought, they would have had to build a new fortress. Even if they had only argued a little, that would have been the case.”
“Why did the collector run away without fighting back?”
“The labyrinth is a huge business, with countries, companies, and individuals all connected. But if you mess it up, will people stay still?”
“Ah, even collectors are afraid of the power of the majority.”
Taylor shook his head slowly.
“If you look at the behavior of the bastard, it will be more annoying than scary. Just think of it as a moving magic splitter.”
Although its power varies depending on its size, it is usually a weapon that can reduce a city to ashes. One person is comparable to such a weapon.
“You mean weapons of mass destruction?”
“That thing, a magic that manifests in the sky. What was it? It’s incredibly powerful.”
“Satellite magic?”
“Right. Now I remember.”
The satellite magic created by the dwarves of a certain country on the Western Continent, which is connected to the Eastern Continent, combined artificial satellites launched into space to create a giant magic circle and rained down bombardments on the ground.
The magic struck in a flash, so there was no way for an ordinary city to respond.
The dwarves of that country claimed that it was a space observation satellite, but no one believed it since they had just launched it after completing a large-scale destruction experiment.
Of course, if you used such a weapon recklessly, you would become an enemy of the whole world, so if you weren’t crazy, you wouldn’t have used it.
Taylor and Shiva’s eyes met through the rearview mirror.
“As a fellow dwarf, what do you think?”
“Strong power is always right.”
“I forgot that I was on a date.”
When Alan returned home and informed him that he had completely cleaned up Novak, Vito, who had been hugging his knees on the sofa, jumped up and down.
When I saw her dull skin suddenly become clear, I could tell how much mental anguish she had gone through.
“Then shall we start working tomorrow?”
“I thought you were going to rest for a few days, but right away?”
“You have to fix things to make money. If you sit still, you can’t do anything. What’s the pay structure?”
“It’s performance-based pay. The more you repair, the more you earn.”
“You’re going to give me a lot of percentages, right?”
“I can lend you the equipment too.”
Vito accepted without objection. He had left behind all the equipment he had worked hard to prepare in his hasty escape. Vega was such a dangerous country that even if he returned now, there was no guarantee that his house would be safe.
In addition, the abilities of a magic engineer come from their equipment, and the better the equipment, the higher their reputation. There are exceptions like Alan, but Vito himself did not think he was that kind of oddball.
“Okay. I’ll go to the Red Dwarf store starting tomorrow.”
“I’m saying this out of concern, but please don’t inflate unit prices or do excessive repairs.”
“It’s too moral.”
“I’m saying this because I think Vito is the one who will solve most of the problems the customers meet there.”
“Well, the gunsmith is really friendly too.”
If you did something wrong, the gun that the customer paid for could end up pointed at you. So unless you had hidden abilities or were crazy, most of the arms dealers were friendly.
A few days later, Alan succeeded in restoring the memory fragments contained in the brain expansion device. Taylor, who happened to be nearby, approached him, shaking a bottle of alcohol.
“Is what he said true?”
“Some of it is true. The cartel itself is owned by Sandra’s disciple. Novak also worked under him. He was entrusted with strengthening the eyes through sacrifices, but I took it away. He came secretly because he would have died if he had told the truth.”
As always, only relatively recent records remained.
It would have been nice to have a secret clue to absorbing Ooparts without being an Ooparts, but things in this world aren’t that easy.
‘If I can read the letters in the Bad Sector hidden by the black clouds, my mystery will be solved.’
To do that, I had to collect magic stones. These days, it seems like we’ve entered a period of stagnation, so magic stones from the lower floors have little effect.
Alan had to find a cure for his hypermania, so he was destined to descend into the labyrinth anyway.
Actually, there is a sure cure: destroying Manahat.
But what is the point of such a treatment? If the magic is distorted, the runes cannot be drawn, and the affected brain cannot recognize the star characters either.
Being alive but not really alive was not to Alan’s taste.
After the incident in the sea area called the Sea Dragon’s Anger, Alan kept pushing himself. He was still running by inertia.
If there ever comes a time when Alan stops, it will be after he has cured his hypermania or has accomplished something great. Of course, the rest will only be brief.
“In that sense, next time let’s go to the base on the 23rd floor.”
“Suddenly? You just thought about it and came to a conclusion on your own again?”
“For now, I plan to explore around that area.”
“···Okay. Okay. Now that we’re on the subject, how about this?”
The light from Taylor’s artificial eye created a screen on which was written the words ‘Supplies Transport’.
“You’re not a Breaker employee anymore.”
“I asked François for a favor. If we’re going to go anyway, let’s go comfortably.”
“Brother, are you saying that you got the position through connections?”
“So you don’t like it?”
“It is a world where we help each other and live together.”
End