Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 9



Only Noblemtl

Laboratory (2)

A huge number of mana cables were attached to the top and bottom of the tank. The magical circuits and runes that filled its surface continuously emitted light.

Just by looking at that appearance, you could feel how much Nobak cherished and cared for the tank.

‘Perhaps it’s the result of a lifetime of research. Everyone has a wish…’

Alan zoomed in to get a closer look at the inside of the tank, but the Golem drone’s poor build quality and the angle of the vents made it difficult to see much.

I needed better reconnaissance equipment. Since I was going to be doing external retrieval missions for a while, now was the time to get some.

As I was turning off the terminal, I heard footsteps coming into the bathroom.

“Mr. Alan. Are you here?”

“I’m going out now. I’m sorry I made you worry by staying too long.”

“No. Then I will wait outside.”

Alan hid the terminal in his bosom and joined the workers, but he was constantly thinking about the purpose of the secret laboratory and how to find the unlock key.

After that, Alan went around the city collecting things, sneaking useful items and hiding them in a storage room called the trash can. The next big cleanup was eight months away, so it was a good place to hide something.

Naturally, Novak kept calling Allen to the second floor laboratory.

“Now open your eyes. How does it feel when the sample goes in?”

“The first symptom is tickling. The second symptom is the movement of magical energy within the body. It is especially concentrated near the left pupil.”

“Explain in more detail.”

“It’s like a shark stalking its prey and closing in on it. I can’t think of any other expression. Sorry.”

“No. That’s enough.”

Alan reacted calmly to the experiments on his own body. Novak smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

“Your eyesight must have deteriorated a lot. Don’t you resent me?”

“It’s okay. It’s much easier to work as a magic engineer if you replace your eyes with artificial ones like the other assistants. Of course, the boss will decide when that will be.”

“Haha. Okay. It’s finally useful. I’ll give you a new one when the time comes, so just wait a little.”

Novak was delighted to see Alan acting as well-behaved as before.

“Why did someone you know so well do that last time? I should have told you from the beginning that they were just fertilizer for the advancement of magical engineering and that there was no need to worry about them.”

“I did it because it reminded me of my mother.”

“Hmm, you said your hometown is Lanka. So, is your family, including your mother, in Lanka?”

“They all went back to the pirates.”

“Oh, my. You must be very heartbroken.”

“Thank you for your concern. It’s been a year, so I’m okay now.”

Alan nodded. But he didn’t forget Novak’s expression. He looked genuinely sorry, but considering his personality, it was just empty words.

If the parents were alive, the bloodline of the hyper-magician might have been captured to experiment with what abilities it had. Or it might have been used as shackles to bind Alan.

After the experiment was over, Alan returned the equipment attached to his body to its original place before the order was given. After finishing the cleanup, he also copied down the records from the data measurement terminal.

Noh Bak looked at the scene with his arms crossed.

“Okay, that’s all for today.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Oh, wait a minute. Starting tomorrow, visit the club near the dock once a week.”

It was called a club, but in reality it was a cartel den. So Novak’s words meant to inspect the magic wear and tools of the cartel members.

It was as important as the work on the second basement floor. In addition, it was a great opportunity for the assistant to examine the combat magic tools.

Since the incident on the second floor, he has been acting like a person whose emotions have been worn out and following along obediently, so I guess trust is slowly being restored.

The intention was to send him to a completely different place because he would be a headache if he showed any more strange behavior. It was also not possible to leave such excellent personnel idle for a long time.

Returning to the basement level, the accommodation area, Alan visited the storage room, pretending to throw away some unnecessary items.

I placed the rat-shaped recon golem, whose functions were much improved over last time, in the ventilation shaft, then went back to my room and lay down on the bed.

‘Shall we begin?’

Alan put in his contact lenses and closed his eyes. Even with his eyelids down, he could still see the dusty, dark landscape inside the vent.

The golem moved in the direction Alan was looking. It felt as if it was crawling on its stomach.

I knew the direction to the lab, so I got there quickly.

A research lab with a lot of advanced equipment had to have a lot of ventilation facilities. If the equipment was left with the heat it was emitting, there was a high chance that the materials would be damaged, and even if that wasn’t the case, if a lethal gas was emitted, it had to be removed quickly.

Alan, who was lingering inside the vent, looked toward the floor of the lab. There were black sticks the size of ballpoint pens stuck at intervals.

‘There is a detection device on the floor···.’

Alan’s gaze turned upward. Fortunately, the golem was able to move along walls, and the ceiling was entangled with thin pipes like roots.

The golem quickly escaped through the gap in the ventilation shaft and climbed onto the pipe to a position where it could face the tank head-on.

‘That’s… an eye?’

An eyeball was floating in the middle of a transparent tank of bubbles, with an optic nerve spreading out like a spider’s web behind it.

Every time the light flashed along the mana cable, the optic nerves twitched slightly. However, the unfocused eyes stared blankly straight ahead.

Alan, lying in bed, unconsciously frowned slightly. He tried to figure out what it was.

Then, a flash of light flashed through his mind. Alan thought of his blanket on the floor of the shack. To be exact, it was a book titled ‘What is Magic Engineering?’ that he had hidden underneath.

The book was not full of valuable knowledge, and was easy for children to read and find interesting. As such, it contained many far-fetched stories.

‘It was in the preface.’

The wish of those who explore magic is transcendence.

The dream of those who have a connection with spirits is to summon the Spirit King.

The hope of those devoted to alchemy is the philosopher’s stone.

The ideal for those who handle weapons is Ganggi or Simgeom.

.

.

.

So what do we, the magic engineers, have? Even though we have a shorter history than others, we still have a destination, and that is…

The Eyes of Akasha.

An ability or device that allows one to see into the essence of all things and grant supernatural phenomena to tools simply by looking at them.

Akasha has the same meaning as ‘Akashic’ in the Akashic Records, which records all events in the universe.

Even though he had gray hair that couldn’t be hidden even with dye, Novak was pursuing that dream. A dream that even Katan, the greatest magic engineer in history, and world-renowned conglomerates couldn’t achieve.

The experiment of continuously dropping samples into Alan’s eyes and the act of digging out the eyeballs of a corpse on the second basement floor all had a reason.

‘I know why you do this, but I can’t understand it.’

How many people had died for his dream? It had been over 20 years since Novak had set up shop here, so counting the victims was meaningless. Besides, Alan’s left eye was gradually losing its light.

In front of Noh Bak, he said nonchalantly that he could replace his eyes with artificial ones, but who would really be okay with that?

Above all, if I had inherited my dark brown hair from my mother, my light brown eyes were just like my father’s. The thought of losing that to me made my heart beat faster.

Alan, who was gathering his thoughts, noticed the door opening beyond the tank, and quickly took control of the golem and hid in a corner.

It was Nobak. He always had assistants or workers at his disposal, and unusually, he was carrying a red sack on his shoulder.

Nobak, who had been putting the bag down near the tank and turning his shoulders, opened the refrigerator door. It looked exactly like the one in the morgue.

First came the bloodless feet, followed by the hands and face that had turned white.

‘That person···.’

Alan remembered his face. It was the assistant who had left a few months ago to open a branch in a rather distant city under Novak’s sponsorship.

Novak pushed the trundle bed he was lying on close to the tank and turned over the red sack. The eyeballs inside covered the assistant’s body like a blanket.

Despite the horrific sight, Novak continued his work as if nothing had happened. He connected a few cables to the bed and worked on the complex mechanical devices attached to the wall.

Sparks flew along the magic cables that dangled from the tank. Black smoke rose from the bodies and eyeballs of the affected assistants.

As the amount of smoke increased, changes occurred in the tank. The optic nerves of the eyes inside wiggled like octopus legs, and the pupils contracted and dilated randomly.

When the smoke cleared, the bed was empty. The assistants and eyeballs used as sacrifices and materials could not withstand the output and turned to dust.

Alan stared at the tank again. The eyes of the thing, whether it was a living organism or a magical tool, seemed more lively than before.

Nobak, who had been watching the measuring equipment with satisfaction, turned around. The gown opened slightly, exposing the inner waistband.

A magical tool, presumed to be a pocket, was hanging from the belt, and it was highly likely that the key to disarming the bomb necklace was inside.

Noh Bak leaves the secret laboratory. Considering the late hour, his destination is likely the bedroom.

Alan moved the golem back into the vent, just in time to see Novak opening the bedroom door. He was placing his hand on the black panel next to the door.

‘Mana Pattern Authentication Device.’

There was no way for Alan to crack the authenticator, as Mana had unique characteristics like a human fingerprint.

It might be possible if there was a special magic tool or a great magician, but it was unlikely that such great equipment or people would appear by chance.

‘Open it with force?’

Of course, it was nonsense. The moment Alan went down to the fourth basement floor, Novak would appear and tear his limbs apart. Or a guard turret would appear and turn him into a beehive.

Alan returned the golem, hiding his regret. He was eager to look inside the bedroom, but unfortunately there was no ventilation shaft leading there.

‘Phew···.’

Alan, who had moved the scout golem to the trash can’s ventilation shaft, let out a quiet sigh. The story Vito had told him came to mind naturally.

‘You kept in touch for a month or two, but now… Or maybe you’re just too busy.’

The assistants who had graduated were not busy. They all became Nobak’s test subjects and ended their lives here.

‘Nobak had no intention of letting us go in the first place.’

I could see why the magical training method I was learning was focused on activating the brain and eye power.

The clinic itself was a place of loneliness. Anyone who was in the tank was raised as food for the creatures in it. Alan was no exception, of course.

‘If you spread this fact… No, let’s just close it.’

There were already a lot of guys who were jealous of Allen’s skills, so if he brought it up even a little, there was a high probability that he would run to Novak and tell him about it.

The only person with any chance was Vito. However, no matter how close they were, this discovery was something that had to be approached cautiously.

It was foolish to rely solely on outside help. It was better to first find a way out on your own, and then bring up the issue if there was no other way.

‘Then next is the key.’

How should I separate them? I have no idea yet.

‘···No. There is a way.’

A room where only the breathing of sleeping workers could be heard. Alan suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed the necklace.

‘A hostage is a hostage.’

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