Chapter 47 - 047＿New Labyrinth
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047＿New Labyrinth
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Off the coast of Beck Port, there is an island. Even though there was no island there, one had appeared before anyone knew it.
"No way..."
Rodney had a suspicion.
When you open a labyrinth's treasure vault, a new labyrinth forms near that labyrinth. This was something he learned from Sage Daguldor, but Sage Daguldor himself had also released two treasure vaults in the past and confirmed that new labyrinths appeared.
"I never imagined an island would actually form, though."
When he asked a fisherman who had been fishing near the island, it seemed to have appeared the day after Rodney departed for the royal capital.
Rodmel was apparently investigating, so Rodney questioned him.
"That island is undoubtedly a labyrinth. The island itself appears to be the labyrinth, and Selbanui were roaming about."
"A labyrinth that is itself an island... I've never heard of such a thing."
He wished Sage Daguldor were here at a time like this. But he couldn't keep relying on him, so Rodney thoroughly gathered information about the labyrinth from Rodmel.
"Then, there's only one place we can land on that island?"
It was surrounded by quite steep (shunken) cliffs, with only one beach. Apparently, the only way was to land on that beach by a small boat.
"There are many reefs around the island, so only small boats can approach it."
The island-type labyrinth that appeared 300 romu (600 meters) off the coast of Dedel Territory measured 15 kentsu (3 kilometers) north to south and 10 kentsu (2 kilometers) east to west.
The island was surrounded by many reefs, so only small boats could approach, and the only place to land was limited to the beach.
The island itself was a labyrinth, and Selbanui roamed everywhere except the beach.
Rodmel reported that the appearing Selbanui possessed power equivalent to high-level ones, making it quite dangerous.
"High-level Selbanui appear right from the start?"
"For that reason, exploration of the island has not progressed at all."
"It can't be helped. Even our elite soldiers would be in danger against high-level ones."
The elite territorial soldiers were exploring the 7th layer of the Abandoned House Labyrinth, and the enemies appearing on that 7th layer were high-level Selbanui. Since the 6th layer had only mid-level Selbanui, the current situation was that even the elite soldiers had barely progressed in exploring the 7th layer.
It took several hours for an attendant and six territorial soldiers to take down a high-level Selbanui. They could hardly fight such battles several times a day, so exploration of the 7th layer was proceeding at a snail's pace.
"There's no need to force things. Even elites might suffer casualties against high-level ones."
What concerned him then was Emilia. He asked Rodmel if she had done anything reckless.
"She is leading Roxwell and the mid-level territorial soldiers to explore the 7th layer of the Abandoned House Labyrinth."
"The 7th layer, huh. Is she alright?"
"They are achieving greater results than the elite soldiers. It would not be an exaggeration to call them elites rather than mid-level."
Since Rodmel had forbidden entry to the island, Emilia had apparently entered the Abandoned House Labyrinth. The territorial soldiers who had been called mid-level until now were achieving greater results than those called elites.
The mid-level territorial soldiers who participated in the Lake Bottom Temple conquest had the long-range attack method 'Fluid Explosion Bullet' and were displaying remarkable achievements even against high-level Selbanui.
That night, he asked Emilia about the 7th layer.
The 7th layer was a cold region area, with low temperatures and snowfall. According to the information so far, the appearing Selbanui were large apes covered in white fur, with great strength, and they fired ice spheres.
There was no record in books about large apes covered in white fur. Since Sage Daguldor also said he didn't know, Rodney pictured Selbanui like snowmen, yetis, or bigfoot from his previous life's memories.
For that reason, Rodney had widely circulated the name 'Snowman' for that Selbanui.
Rodney asked about the usability of 'Fluid Explosion Bullet' and 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullet'.
"With 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullet', I can inflict almost fatal wounds with one shot. With 'Fluid Explosion Bullet', two shots can take it down."
Since 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullet' could inflict fatal wounds, fighting afterward with weapons like swords or spears was not much trouble.
'Fluid Explosion Bullet' couldn't take them down with one shot, and direct attacks with weapons were dangerous. Two hits seemed to be enough to defeat them.
He reflected that he should have implemented countermeasures earlier.
Rodney decided to have the elites under Rodmel learn either 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullet' or 'Fluid Explosion Bullet' as well.
"Oh, that's right."
Emilia said to ingest the Snowman's Life Light Stones orally, and handed three Life Light Stones to Rodney.
"Is it alright?"
"One or two makes no difference to me, so eat them without worry."
Rodney gratefully accepted them.
Upon oral ingestion, he learned 'Ice Water Manipulate'. This allowed control over water and ice-type emission source power.
He ingested the second Life Light Stone, but gained nothing.
Normally, a Snowman's Life Light Stone would grant 'Ice Sphere', but for Rodney, who could ingest them, it became 'Ice Water Manipulate'.
'Ice Water Manipulate' was source power that could produce drinking water, chill beer ice-cold, and even fire ice bullets like a Snowman.
Also, the owner became unaffected by cold, enabling them to go naked even on a bitterly cold snowy mountain.
"That's a convenient source power for exploring the 7th layer. But I'm fine with the 7th layer. Winter in Dedel Territory is plenty of snow for me."
The Life Light Stones collected by the elite territorial soldiers who first explored the 7th layer and by Emilia's group numbered about seventy.
If they gathered about thirty more, they could probably have one person learn 'Ice Sphere'.
"Once someone learns 'Ice Sphere', we'll stop 7th layer exploration and focus on the island."
"I agree with that!"
"But I have to develop the car too, so I'll leave the 7th layer to Emilia and Roxwell."
"Can't be helped. But who will learn 'Ice Sphere'?"
"Let's see... Emilia already has 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullet', but it would be fine for her to learn 'Ice Sphere' too. If the elite soldiers also learn either 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullet' or 'Fluid Explosion Bullet', there should be no complaints."
"It's just that Big Brother is the one who has to go through the pain."
Emilia laughed it off lightly, and Rodney, feeling the pain, gave a wry smile.
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While hurrying the car development, he had all the attendants and elite territorial soldiers learn either 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullet' or 'Fluid Explosion Bullet'. This should leave no dissatisfaction with having Emilia learn 'Ice Sphere'.
Rodney hurried the car development. He wanted to explore the island, but since the car development was half-finished, it would feel unsettled not to complete it.
Thanks to Bajis, the railway connecting the port, the Galim Syrup workshop, and the beer workshop was complete. All that remained was for Rodney to develop a more powerful car.
Secluding himself in the research facility, Rodney utilized 'Shape Processing' to create a high-output generator. Something that could even be used for a beam cannon.
He also developed a new motor. The generator could simply be a reproduction of the beam cannon's, but the motor required considerable trial and error.
He wanted to check the rotational speed, but there were no measuring instruments. So he had to distinguish sounds to confirm whether the rotation speed had increased. It wasn't just analog; it was a world of pure sensation.
After trial and error, he finally developed a high-speed motor. The generator and motor both ended up large, so the car body also needed to be enlarged.
This time, the car body would not be something like a trolley, but rather a one-box-type car.
By adjusting the gear ratio, it wouldn't achieve high speed despite the high rotation, but instead prioritized power.
The first test run was done without cargo. This succeeded without difficulty.
Next, they conducted a test run pulling cargo. They pulled a trolley loaded with large stones instead of Galim Syrup or beer.
They increased the supplied power and ran the motor. The car started moving. He thought the speed would increase smoothly like this, but a strange noise came from the motor and it stopped.
The test run ended in failure. It was determined that the cause was the motor burning out due to considerable load.
If they didn't have to transport heavy loads, there was no particular problem. But that would defeat the purpose.
"I have to think of a new motor structure..."
His previous life's memories were not those of an engineer. He couldn't easily modify motors.
"For now, let's try cooling it."
Air cooling and water cooling. He debated which was better, but thought water cooling seemed more suitable. He decided to create paths for water around the motor and circulate it.
"It's become quite a large-scale operation."
He installed another motor to circulate the water. It wasn't that large itself, but was necessary for water circulation. That was the only thing he could think of for now.
"As I thought, I need an engineer."
Rodney was aware that there were limits for a non-engineer like himself, but there was no engineer in this world who could build cars.
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