Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 98
Only Noblemtl
The mammoth, which was appropriately named a super-heavy tank or a land carrier, was tough enough for its size. It stood tall even as its entire body burned due to the betrayal of the suicide birds inside.
“It’s gross.”
Taylor was a magic practitioner. Even though he had an artificial mana heart implanted, his magic sensitivity and perception were intact.
Thanks to that, I could feel the powerful force swirling inside the mammoth. Unlike humans, it didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding. In the first place, since that large body would be visible from anywhere, why would it bother to hide?
Taylor nodded, exchanging glances with Shiva.
“One, two, three···.”
“wait a minute.”
Alan braced himself and blocked the two with his sled as they charged forward. The sudden braking caused the snow to fly up.
“It’s over. Get away from me.”
“Does it look different to the eyes of a magic engineer?”
“Yes. That is the last desperate measure. It is a self-destruct sequence that destroys all parts before falling to the opponent.”
As Alan said, the group retreated to a distance. They moved to a position where the mammoth was visible, and a bonfire was burning in front of the still burning power plant.
That’s a relative metaphor, but there was quite a grand explosion. As the earth, which had been groaning in pain, stopped crying, Alan observed the mammoth.
“It’s definitely over. I don’t see any other automatons.”
“What if I was okay?”
“The mammoth is a monster that cannot be placed on the same level as the DT-10 we saw in the mine. If we had fought properly, you and Mr. Harsh would not be here.”
“Not even Shiva, but me?”
“Brother···.”
Shiva stabbed Taylor in the face with a tone full of reproach. Of course, Taylor was joking because everyone else was fine.
“Because he was trying to protect me, like he said he would take care of the power plant’s overload.”
Taylor scratched his head after hearing Alan’s words. It was clearly an embarrassed gesture.
“But please don’t do that again.”
“···?”
Taylor just gave him a questioning look. Before he could open his mouth, Alan stepped forward.
“You never know until you try. Even if it seems impossible, I will find a way.”
“Let’s do that.”
Could that really be the case? Even though they had talked beforehand, Alan knew how Taylor would act if a dangerous situation arose. Since it was a problem that could not be solved with words, he focused on what was in front of him.
Alan took apart the mammoth. It was so big that it seemed like it would take all day, but if he just took the key parts, it was a quick job.
“This one is too heavy and unnecessary, this one is okay but it’s not worth the effort…”
The more he dug inside, the more disappointed Alan became.
It was only natural. The mammoth had been significantly damaged by the explosion of the power plant, and it had to endure additional explosions.
When Alan removed the iron plate with a hammer, there were melted circuit boards and power cables stuck here and there. It would have been much better to just buy them rather than take them away and separate them.
“I managed to retrieve the soulstone, but I’m not sure if it’ll work properly.”
Of course, removing the soul stone was also included in the self-destruct sequence, but there was a problem and that part remained.
The self-destruction had some effect. The soul stone was a transparent, flat crystal with opaque air currents floating around, but now some parts were completely blackened.
“It’s a shame, but I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with this.”
“Is there anything to salvage there?”
Alan looked at the place Taylor was pointing to. The power plant was overflowing with a red river. It was a liquid that was the earth and automata melted into. That must be how the cauldron that boils the sinners of hell looks like.
“It’ll be tough. We’ll have to wait until it cools down before we can transport it, which will probably take quite a while.”
“how much?”
“I read a paper a while ago···.”
“Ugh···.”
Taylor’s brow furrowed as the headache-inducing story came up.
“I’ll make this short. There was an accident at the power plant due to the earthquake, and it burned for over a month. It was fortunate that it was powered by power, because if they had used uranium or plutonium, it would have been terrible.”
“I said I wouldn’t explain it in detail.”
Taylor covered Alan’s mouth and prepared to go back. Before setting out on his journey again, he looked around at the land melting from the heat of the power plant.
“What would the other parties have done? They probably wouldn’t have dared to confront the automaton army.”
“Brother Elf, your brain is like a muscle, so you could have just done it.”
“Rather, those beastly guys move based on instinct. I would have given up the moment I saw them. You can bet on that.”
“Three bottles of high-quality holy water for the starter.”
“I have 3 bottles on the other side.”
Alan, who was watching the healthy gambling scene, boarded the sled.
“I assumed all the cases and overloaded them, so the door will open regardless of the other side.”
With those words, he began to return.
As I moved a little, the snowstorm came again. The wind blew hard, making the perceived temperature drop even more. I almost missed the burning power plant.
Taylor, his head slightly bowed because of the snowflakes hitting his face, spoke.
“What about the box?”
“I remember every single character I typed.”
Taylor’s expression was not good as he saw her tapping his head. Alan knew what he was thinking.
Alan stroked the head of the spider on his shoulder with his finger.
“The soul stone of an automaton is like the soul, heart, and brain of a human. It is naturally the top priority for protection.”
“Could it be that spider?”
Alan nodded. The spider’s movements on his palm were unnatural, like an insect that had eaten pesticide.
“I guess it’s because my body is different, but I have trouble even walking.”
“You, do you keep talking vaguely? You were like that at the power plant too. Are you trying to tease me? Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Have you even started feeling affectionate?”
“You act like you’ve developed intelligence. Artificial intelligence? Artificial spirits? Anyway, you know what I mean?”
“It’s a similar concept with a different name. Like the sun or the sea. And the box shows that appearance by inputting a lot of response algorithms or behavioral patterns.”
“You never know.”
Alan stared at the box after hearing that. The guy crouched down and stayed still, trying to stop his legs from dancing around on their own.
“I admit that. When you have magic power, incomprehensible phenomena often occur.”
Alan, with his engineer’s stubbornness, thought his judgment was right, but he planned to wait and see for a while. Sometimes, time gives the right answer.
“If only someone had upgraded me, I would be fine···.”
“yes?”
“I mean, the boxes. They must have taken care of a lot of them before the missiles were launched. Then they could have stopped the rest of them.”
Shiva, who had been listening from the side, intervened.
“Brother, you said you shook it off, but you still harbor it in your heart? Please show your elders some generosity.”
“Age has nothing to do with change. Just as all the people who have done terrible things to extend their lifespan were old people.”
“That’s right. The awakening of a person or the conversion of a wicked person is rare. That’s why it’s all the more precious. It’s called a human victory or a hymn.”
Alan asked, remembering the nun who had taken the cartel member away.
“Is this a personal experience?”
“Yes, I have experience working there. There are very few people who truly repent. Or they just brainwash themselves into thinking they have reflected. In reality, they surrendered because of fear and prohibition.”
“As religious people, we should sing about a more hopeful future.”
“As Brother Taylor knows, reality is harsh.”
“So that’s why you became corrupt and a loser.”
“No, why is the conversation going in that direction?”
Perhaps because they had overcome a major crisis, the group felt relaxed. Thanks to this, their steps back were very light.
Alan returned to the building where the door was and went straight down. Judging by the snow that had piled up on the stairs being cleared away, the cleaning toad seemed to be working properly.
I felt a presence in the hall where the door was. When I went down, I saw that there were people gathered there.
Harsh and his cousin hugged.
“Lois.”
“Brother Harsh.”
The dwarf accompanying the elf party greeted Harsh.
“I just came back because of the automaton. You opened the door, right, brother?”
“They did it. The door was open, so why are you standing still?”
“We paid money to hire him, so that’s what he meant. Since you opened it, you should be the first to enter. That’s why I didn’t go in and waited.”
Shiva’s beard formed a curved line.
“He is a brother who knows manners. No matter where he goes, he will not starve to death.”
“I might have waited because I was afraid it would be dangerous. Anyway, I won the bet.”
“I guess there’s nothing I can do.”
“Are you calm? You wouldn’t even let me touch the high-quality holy water.”
Taylor laughed as he looked at the muscular elf, Rollo, while having a secret conversation with Shiva.
“He went confidently.”
“What should I do with so many automatons? Or should I have taken out at least one of the devices?”
“Well done.”
“Why are you interfering when adults are talking?”
Even when Rollo raised his voice, Alan didn’t even blink and said everything he wanted to say.
“If you had broken something, the intruder removal procedure would have been triggered. If emergency power had awakened multiple automatons, you wouldn’t be here. And your friends.”
“Ugh···.”
Rollo distanced himself from the sight of Alan casually speaking of the terrible situation. Death was something he was familiar with, but there was no emotion in Alan’s eyes as he spoke.
“Are you a psychopath?”
“no.”
Now it was time to go down again. Below the open door was a vertical passage. People were climbing down, either hanging on ropes or using climbing gear with attachments.
Alan, who went downstairs, figured out the identity of the passage.
“It’s an elevator.”
Below was a floating circular device without a rope. It was also destroyed.
“I was anxious from the start.”
“Don’t be scared. It’s more ominous when you say it like that.”
“Just shut up and start exploring. If you find anything, don’t touch it and call someone right away.”
Below was a dark hallway, but as people entered, lights came on. Those who had been relying on headlamps calmed down when they saw the light.
People slowly looked around the room connected to the hallway.
“What is this place?”
“That’s a cradle for babies. There’s even a rattle in it.”
“Put it down and don’t play with it.”
“This place is like a restaurant. It can feed 100 people at the same time.”
“This is a warehouse. Is this canned food?”
“Don’t even think about eating it. You know that? If you touch anything in a place like this, you’ll die.”
After passing through all the living facilities, a circular door appeared. Before anyone could get annoyed, the door opened.
“It’s an automatic door.”
“Thank goodness I was recharging my double curses···.”
Everyone stopped talking at the same time. Inside was full of broken glass.
“This is a hibernation device.”
It was a type of hibernation device or life support device. The most advanced device was one that could extremely slow down time. It was an Ooparts discovered in the labyrinth, and it meant that the creator of the labyrinth could also use time magic.
Alan, like everyone else, took a closer look at the hibernation device. The liquid that should have filled it had long since dried up, and there was nothing inside that should have been there.
There was also something black stuck to the broken glass.
‘This looks like blood···.’
Alan looked back at the circular door. There was a trace there that he couldn’t see from the outside.
‘Fingers and bloodstains?’
As if he had tried to escape but failed, Alan followed the long trail.
It was divided into several sections, each with broken glass pipes. And in the last section, traces of fire could be found.
Taylor knew right away what it was.
“They burned it until it was reduced to ashes. This makes it impossible to genetically test it. This is clearly the work of someone who knows better. Judging by the amount of ashes, all the living creatures sleeping in the glass coffins are mixed in here.”
“There is one thing that is still okay.”
There was a single skeleton where Alan had pointed. Taylor crouched down and examined the situation.
“Looking at the wound on the cervical spine, it looks like the carotid artery was severed.”
Taylor’s gaze, which had been moving lower and lower, stopped at the pelvic area.
“There’s no tailbone.”
End