Chapter 177
【Master! You're finally here!】
Excitedly, Megus, the former grand alchemist, shouted.
His eyes blazed with an almost feverish intensity that sent an inexplicable chill down my spine.
Whoa. If I’d been human, my eyes would’ve rolled back.
“Take a deep breath. I’ll explain slowly.”
【Tell a dead man to breathe? What a lousy hobby.】
“That’s just generous wording.”
“Hahaha! What a delightful joke!”
Even forcing a laugh from me made it worse.
It wasn’t a joke at all.
【This book. You said it was discovered in a gate?】
“Yeah. The place where I met Zaug.”
【Little thief boy.】
“I am no thief, but an archaeologist! Please address me as such!”
【Yeah, an archaeologist thief boy.】
“Uuuuuugh!”
【Do you know which ruin you went into before you died?】
“Just bring back the valuable stuff. That doesn’t matter.”
We’ve all agreed as a society that anyone who robs a tomb is a thief.
One hell of an archaeologist, that guy was.
【This book is the blueprint for a mechanized behemoth. Master.】
“A mechanized behemoth?”
【Put simply, it’s a golem-type weapon or armor.】
A giant forged of steel, piloting itself, with the ability to fully integrate all its senses and operate just like a human body.
【Its original purpose was to imitate the gods.】
“Getting more grandiose by the second.”
【Well, it’s not complete. Some of the manufacturing methods are missing.】
What a shame.
【Even with what’s left, it’s easy to guess how powerful the behemoth would be.】
“If it’s only a partial design, it can’t be made.”
This was an Epic-grade artifact, classified as a Legendary book.
It wasn’t an ordinary item.
Megus had analyzed it thoroughly, so I could read the contents, but I couldn’t use it right away without similar items.
【What do you mean?】
Megus’s eyes narrowed slightly.
【I’m a grand alchemist. Why give up?】
“Without a design, what can I do?”
【The missing parts can be researched by comparing with other components.】
Reverse-engineering the missing parts after analyzing the book?
Even an alchemist like me would have no clue.
I could tell it was impossible.
To confirm my suspicions, I glanced at Ingrid.
“According to the alchemists of my time, this is impossible.”
Even the strongest witch in the Witch Cult said it couldn’t be done.
Megus’s confident tone was impressive.
【Receiving recognition from the Eclipse Witch is joyous!】
“Joy comes after the results.”
【That’s obvious.】
Even joy seeped from Megus’s soul.
【A machine that imitates the flesh of the gods! What a fortunate death.】
“The conclusion seems a bit off.”
【Since I’ve bonded with my master through death, how could I not be pleased?】
I stopped thinking about it.
“It’s a pity, though. You don’t have anything to use it for right away, right?”
“You thief! Why are you sorry?”
“That’s because it was where I died.”
【Foolish. Utterly foolish, you thief.】
Megus flipped the book upside down and handed it to me.
Incomplete Mechanized Behemoth Manufacturing Manual
◈ Restricted to alchemists and magic engineers
◈ Durability: 23/30
◈ Restricted to alchemists and magic engineers
◈ Durability: 23/30
[You have read the Incomplete Mechanized Behemoth Manufacturing Manual.]
[Your knowledge is insufficient to understand the text.]
[The Golden Rule analyzes the knowledge in the book.]
Crackle!
[Some of the knowledge in the book has been understood.]
[Golem Manufacturing skill added.]
├─ Tier 1:Golem creation ✓
├─ Tier 2:Performance customization by materials ✓
└─ Tier 3:[New ability — UNLOCKED] ★
“Whoa.”
Golem manufacturing?
I never expected this rare skill to pop out like this.
“Is it really that surprising?”
“The skill book itself is almost never used.”
Golem manufacturing was a dream skill for hunters awakened as alchemists.
Since you could solo a gate after mastering it, it was the perfect skill to fill the physical weakness of the crafting profession.
“Master, I am here.”
“You iron-headed guy. One more choice just got added.”
【A knight from another world is no different.】
“You agree?”
【The Eclipse Witch is wise. She’s right.】
“Ho ho. I kind of like you now?”
“Go!”
Ingrid and I complemented each other perfectly.
I wanted to balance the team, but this time it was Isra’s fault.
“More usable means is welcome.”
“No time to train combat and now you want to research golems?”
Whoa.
That was a sharp comment, unlike usual Isra.
【This old man has the skill Trismegistus.】
Megus couldn’t use all the alchemy skills he learned in life.
Instead, he would use the secret of alchemy he realized in his later years—Trismegistus—to help me and grant me alchemy control authority.
【I’ll make you one usable golem.】
Confidence overflowed from Megus’s soul.
A golem?
An unexpected power boost.
“Should I leave the treatment of those who attacked Master to the interior minister?”
“I already said it. I have no intention of leaving them alone.”
To eat one bite from China through the Cross Gate.
I need to level up further.
I have to grow stronger without limits.
“Isra, get ready too.”
“Modification?”
“Yeah. Once the audit from the Rift Management Bureau is done, we’ll start.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to delay a bit?”
Surprising.
I thought she’d demand immediate modification after multiple A-rank corpses appeared.
“Why?”
“Intuition.”
Isra scratched her head with her fingers.
The flowing hair was artistic.
Crackle.
It felt like watching a foreign movie.
“Master’s level has to rise before modification makes sense.”
“That intuition is pretty detailed.”
“I’m forcing an explanation.”
“Good. Then we’ll delay a little.”
Isra’s intuition was reliable.
There were countless tasks besides modification, so we’d wait a bit.
***
A message from the Korean government was delivered through the embassy.
―Hand over Arong’s heart, and the Mir Guild’s gains will only be highlighted.
The Chinese government called Director-General Ling Shamei of the Superhuman General Bureau.
“How have you been? Your Excellency Chairman.”
“Not well at all.”
A folded paper fell in front of Ling Shamei.
Her mind went blank for a moment at the conclusion without the euphemisms.
“I’m sorry, Your Excellency Chairman.”
“I know your devotion to the Party.”
I’ll forgive you once.
But there’s no second chance.
Reading the message in the Chairman’s words, Ling Shamei slammed her head on the floor with a thud.
Blood trickled from her forehead, but she made no sound.
“You’re bleeding from the morning like that.”
“I will do everything I can to make up for damaging the Party’s prestige.”
Ling Shamei slammed her head again.
This matter is non-negotiable.
She wouldn’t ask what mistake had been made.
She might be forgiving, but she was also watching how she would clean up the mess.
“Is this good to accept?”
“It happened because of my lack of diligence. This time, I’ll yield.”
“Winter will be cold.”
It was casually mentioned that the Superhuman General Bureau’s budget would be cut.
Ling Shamei bowed her head again.
Reducing the budget was nothing compared to not having her head cut off.
“One person seems to have to take responsibility.”
“The head of the Marine Affairs Bureau, responsible for this operation.”
“Tsk. A good worker, but unfortunate.”
The treatment of the Superhuman General Bureau officials was decided with a few words.
But.
Neither of the two seemed to care.
“Go. There are a lot of things to do.”
“I will devote myself to the Party!”
Blood flowed from her forehead, dripping to the ground, but Ling Shamei saluted with composure, not wiping it off.
Thunk—
Ling Shamei left the Chairman’s palace and headed for the car.
“Director-General! You’re bleeding!”
Her secretary rushed over and wiped the blood with a handkerchief.
The slight dried marks were already falling off.
It was like a frozen stain in Ling Shamei’s heart.
“Foreign Affairs Ministry. These bastards.”
Did the documents go straight from the embassy to the Chairman’s palace?
It was customary to inform the relevant department.
But.
This case was not passed to the Superhuman General Bureau.
Those who wanted Ling Shamei’s downfall.
Tai Lian, the deputy chairman, must have schemed.
Both men were the Chairman’s favorites.
Ling Shamei and Tai Lian started as rivals.
Ling Shamei represented the rising generation as a hunter.
Tai Lian represented the vested interests.
The Chairman pitted the two factions against each other whenever there was a gap, and Ling Shamei had won most points.
But.
This matter was an enormous mistake.
Enough to destroy years of accumulated achievements.
“Still, I avoided execution.”
As long as I’m breathing, I can recover.
Ling Shamei calculated the losses from the operation failure in her head.
“Turang suffered a major-scale annihilation.”
How much damage had the Superhuman General Bureau ever suffered on that scale?
It was the first time since Ling Shamei became director-general.
“I need to shrink the activity area in Africa.”
It would take a year to replenish the consumed manpower.
There was more.
Handing over Arong’s heart was also an option.
“It’s the only one left after using it for Teng Qixian’s recruitment.”
A drake with an extreme hunting difficulty.
Even after barely defeating it, the heart was rarely intact.
Not a minor injury factor.
Among drakes that came out of the Great Rift, there weren’t many with intact hearts.
That was why it was hard to get Arong’s heart.
As Ling Shamei calculated the damage from the operation failure, she clicked her tongue.
“Does the Rift Management Bureau have any capable people?”
She had underestimated the Korean Rift Management Bureau too much.
Ling Shamei’s conclusion.
The large-scale operation that deployed Turang in major scale.
No one at the Superhuman General Bureau thought this ambush would fail.
What they worried about was hiding the situation right after the operation.
“They used our hunters on foreign soil.”
Disturbing the gazes of the marine affairs and Rift Management Bureau for an hour or two.
If it took too long to subdue or eliminate the target, hiding would be difficult.
So they put a lot of effort into escaping after the operation.
But look, it was a disaster.
“One Brizes isn’t enough.”
Coincidentally.
Ling Shamei reached the same conclusion as Yong Cheonwoo across the sea.
The hunters of Turang were stronger than ordinary A-rank hunters.
They were people who had been fed loyalty to the nation and the Party and had endured bone-crushing training.
No matter how strong Minho was.
There was no way ten A-rank and 107 B-rank hunters from Turang could be defeated.
“They predicted our ambush and immediately deployed personnel.”
Did information leak from Mir Guild?
What was even more surprising was that they had also smashed the spy branches established in Korea.
Even the branches that hadn’t been revealed during Teng Qixian’s recruitment.
This ambush made the branches get hit one after another.
“Rift Management Bureau. They were hiding such a method.”
No way.
A single B-rank hunter handling a major-scale Turang.
And a small agency representative poking the government and business world to move.
It was a reasonable judgment based on hunter intuition.
Ling Shamei had completely misjudged.