Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 421



Only Krnovel

Excavation (3)

As the speed of the fall increased, the wind brushing my ears also became stronger. The darkness had a shape like water fog and its density was extremely high, making it difficult to observe.

Alan deliberately jumped down without a light. As Henry said, without light, the soul drain was extremely fast.

‘The speed test is over, and I can finally see the bottom.’

The rune suit worn inside the power suit trembled. It was designed to stick to the skin, so its reaction speed was excellent.

[Gravity] [Reversal]

The body jerked and then suddenly stopped. It landed lightly on the floor and put down the little one it was holding. The little one adjusted its position by patting the soul cloak with its forelegs and tail, as if it was uncomfortable.

Kyureuk~

“Do you like necromancy?”

Kkk!

Alan realized that the boy thought of necromancy as a simple game, just playing with it like playing with clay for fun.

‘You could dabble in many fields like me, or you could focus on just one.’

Alan imagined a future where he would be analyzing papers with his grown child. He was so excited that his body was tingling.

While watching the little boy, I felt a presence from above. Because of the darkness, the detection range was greatly reduced, and the light from the lantern also remained only in the vicinity.

When I raised my head, I saw Oros and Henry slowly falling.

“Hey, I told you to be careful, but what if you just jump off?”

“Henry, have you forgotten for a moment what kind of people we are? A healthy body that would fall from the sky naked and still be fine…”

Oros kept muttering about Alan’s health, not knowing that he had recovered, and then looked around.

Alan thought for a moment. The only people who knew about the special body were his colleagues and Chairman Jake, so was it right to expand on it?

‘Professor Oros is a kind person.’

He is someone I have known since the beginning, and every time we met, we discussed labyrinth-related papers and knowledge, and this time, he also told me about the little boy’s true identity.

Alan made a quick decision and sent a secret message. It was a testament to his faith. Henry, who was scanning the passage, did not see Oros’s eyes almost popping out.

‘I don’t think that’s the case, but if Professor Oros were to betray his faith, wouldn’t it be okay for the world to disappear?’

Alan turned his back on Oros, whose expression was broken, and fiddled with his power suit. Alan himself became a light, emitting light in all directions, but it was blocked by the darkness, so this time only the surroundings were illuminated.

Alan approached Henry, who was touching the wall.

“Do you know that this is the remains of some ancient civilization?”

“The carvings on the wall are like those in the El Dorado style.”

“You’re right. Can you tell me what ancient civilizations you’ve had contact with so far? Even if you’ve only scratched the surface, that’s fine.”

“It’s Shinshi, Eldorado, Atlantis. I thought I found traces of the continent of Mu in Tilly, but I was mistaken. I found records of conversations between Goldeye and the South Star, and they know it as Eldorado.”

“Oh, Tilly. You mean the Antarctic and El Dorado Bank thing? I don’t think it’s a mistake.”

“El Dorado and Mu-do-Continent were allies? That’s why they combined their decisive weapons into one.”

“You cut me off. We can be friendly even if we are not allies. The relationship between the countries back then would have been the same as it is now. You, don’t just stand there and do nothing. You have to step forward quickly. You have to protect me.”

At Henry’s urging, Oros took the lead. Henry himself walked beside Alan and kept talking to him.

“This is why I gave you the lead. Henry, there’s plenty of time to talk without having to use your brain.”

“Do you know why that guy uses formal language with everyone?”

“I don’t know.”

“When I first became a professor, I had such a fierce face that everyone who saw me trembled in fear. So I used polite language to try to appear kind.”

Oros’ eyes sparkled with intelligence, and unlike his kind, his appearance was very gentle. The mask he had worn for decades had become his face itself.

“At first I wondered how long it would last, but at this point, the person himself has changed. It’s a victory for humanity.”

Oros, who had been silently looking straight ahead, looked straight ahead even more at the sudden compliment. Professor Henry, as an expert in excavation and archaeology, was well-versed in ancient civilizations and very talkative.

“You were having too much fun all by yourself.”

“It was fun.”

“Now, from here on out, it’s unknown territory.”

The part of the passage that Henry pointed to was blocked by darkness that had the mass of a fallen soil.

“Isn’t it amazing? How did ancient civilizations bring the immaterial concept of darkness into the material world? Now, get out your tools.”

Henry had already taken out a pickaxe and a hoe. He also had a brush, a hammer, and a chisel hanging from his waist.

“Come on, let’s dig. Don’t put magic power into the tool.”

Henry struck at the darkness with his pickaxe, using the sharp end to poke holes and break them, and the flat end to carefully scrape them away.

When a strong light was shined on the dark fragments that broke off from the mass, they very slowly crumbled and melted into the air.

Alan grabbed a piece of darkness before it melted and breathed his magic into it. The piece was only the size of a pinky fingernail, but it was barely big enough to hold with both arms outstretched.

“You’re the type of person who just tries something out if you’re curious. Do you understand what I mean by not putting magic into your tools?”

“Can’t we just blow it up with regular gunpowder?”

“This is going to be a big problem. How can you get back the valuable relics or historical materials that are destroyed? He’s smart, but he’s a bit aggressive, as expected from a labyrinth explorer. Or is it because he hangs out with that guy?”

Oros turned his head at Henry’s words. He was holding a hoe, but it was so big that it looked like he was playing with a child’s toy.

“Henry, your slander skills are still intact.”

“Oh my, is it bitter to treat humor like that?”

People of an age where they would have many grandchildren were chattering away the darkness like children. Taylor was right when he said that a man regains his innocence when he is with his friend.

‘To be exact, you said that he became a brat. So when he’s with his colleagues, his mental age…’

There was no rule that friendship had to be shared with peers.

Alan disengaged the automaton as he observed the darkness. Moles wearing soul cloaks slashed through the darkness, while mini bulldozers cleared away the shattered darkness.

Henry was amazed at the speed of work that had suddenly increased. Because of the nature of the ruins, people had to come in and dig, and take long breaks, but thanks to just one person, the paradigm had been turned upside down.

“Should I call someone else too?”

“Let’s just do it among ourselves.”

“The young man knows something.”

Henry had no intention of giving up this moment. What would be the point of exploring the ruins for fun if he left it to someone else?

Alan approached Henry, fiddling with the darkness.

“professor.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s a relic related to the soul, so why doesn’t the necromancer come down?”

“The advance party collapsed, so I hired him just in case, but he stumbled and passed out when he came down. So I had him help the investigation team recover. Are you holding out at depth 6? Do you have any feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

“I was holding off on inviting famous people because they are too picky and have too many requirements, but I’m glad you came. Isn’t Soldos too much? If you’re going to do this kind of work, you should at least give them a tight budget, or open it up to the private sector. You petty and greedy bastards.”

Excavating the ruins of an ancient civilization was not always profitable. Sometimes it was a waste of time, and sometimes it was a great loss to deal with powerful guardians. So the Soldos government had no choice but to be cautious.

“Whew, whoosh.”

Professor Henry fixed his gaze on the faint mural and took a deep breath.

When it was judged that the relics had not yet proven their usefulness or were useless, only the ‘real’ ones like Professor Henry remained and continued the excavation.

“More discoveries, more budget!”

As the length of stay increased dramatically thanks to Alan, Henry even sent people from the camp thinking that something was wrong. They returned feeling relieved after seeing Alan’s brief explanation and Henry’s crazy appearance.

A few days had passed since they had come down to the ruins. When Alan lay down in the two-person sleeping bag, the little boy naturally burrowed inside. He took off his power suit and hid it with the sleeping bag, and laid his head on Alan’s stomach.

Alan lightly stroked the little boy’s chin. He hadn’t done this before he recovered, but he noticed it immediately after the procedure was over and leaned back.

‘The image stored in the crown showed a city completely blackened. Could that have something to do with the darkness covering the ruins?’

I checked the soul cloak and closed my eyes in thought. But at some point, I opened both my eyes.

Whoosh!

The sound of something sticky and unpleasant being sucked in got on Alan’s nerves.

Whoosh!

As soon as I heard the sound again, I opened my eyes and soul eyes and looked around. The soul cloak was shaking violently. As the soul power was rapidly drained away, the soul screamed.

Alan took out the Heaven’s Way, made a new mantle, and put the worn soul back in. Welfare was important for long-term use.

‘There is something.’

El Dorado was far from good, as evidenced by the ruins of the Tecna, where sacrificers were manipulated into ripping out their own hearts and taking souls as a toll.

Something hiding in the ruins would be similar.

Oros realized the suspicious situation and got up at the same time as Alan. Professor Henry, who was only at depth 2, shivered in his sleeping bag. The soul cloak he wore was on the verge of tearing.

Alan gave Henry a new soul cloak and stood him up. His eyes were blurry, so he shocked him with a weak [Lightning].

“Ugh!”

“Mr. Alan, I sense something evil.”

“Yes. The soul was both a toll and a means of recovery.”

The soul cloak, which greatly increased the time spent in the ruins, facilitated the resurrection of something.

Alan sent a return command to the automaton that removes darkness even at night. But there was no response.

I headed to the excavation site. I reached the place where the darkness that limited my vision and ate away light was dark, and I saw a red mass. The place that was completely blocked by darkness was now filled with flesh-like objects. The automatons were buried in flesh.

‘Hate speech? No, it’s different.’

As Alan reached out to the automaton, flesh writhed. Dozens of eyes glared at Alan as the flesh filled the passage.

Part of its eye twitched and transformed into a mouth. It chewed the automaton until it was round and spat it out at Alan.

“this···.”

Their eyes widened as if they were interpreting Alan’s words as embarrassment. It was almost as if they were mocking him.

“It’s a waste of ingredients.”

But that wasn’t what it meant at all.

It is said that if you look into the abyss for a long time, the abyss will also look at you. The world of necromancy was similar. Something evil was taking shape to attack Allen and his group, so it was time to look in from this side.

“bout!”

Oros roared. His bulging muscles naturally burst his upper body. The majestic power contained in his muscles, which were slit like a mountain range, shot out toward his flesh.

A single stab of the regime struck the air, quickly pushing away the air and magic power.

As a result, the passage was cleaned cleanly. Not even a single piece of flesh remained. The remaining traces of the ancient civilization were also cleanly swept away, but that couldn’t be helped.

It was more difficult when it was dark. Mystery is scary when it hides secrets, but when the identity is revealed, it is not as bad as you think.

Every time Oros roared, the passages and rooms were swept clean. All traces of civilization were destroyed, but it made it easier to see the overall structure of the ruins.

At the place I arrived, I found something evil. The guy was curled up in a place that looked like a temple with many circular pillars.

“A snake with a human head. I heard that evil spirits are more powerful when they lose their human form. Is that true? Is there a problem, Alan?”

“it’s okay.”

I just briefly wondered if it was big enough to fit into the Heaven’s Gate.