Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 662

Davi, grumbling, peeked out and looked around the elevator.

[Should I try hacking the internal systems one more time?]

“…Just a moment.”

Lenok, who had been intently observing the instrument panel, brought the hammer to the keyhole located below the elevator buttons.

Tock.

The moment he lightly tapped the keyhole with the hammer, the hammer’s shape reassembled, transforming into a key.

“So, this was it.”

After inserting the key and unlocking it, a new button hidden behind the instrument panel appeared.

A single button with no numbers or names written on it.

The moment Lenok pressed it, the elevator began to move again.

Weeeing!!

The elevator doors opened, stopping at a specific altitude, revealing a passage that seemed just wide enough for one person to pass through.

The entire passage was lined with sturdy alloy, designed to withstand external impacts.

That was probably why it had maintained its original form even during the battle between Lenok and the mechanized corps.

Inside a large room at the end of the passage, a massive glass display case was placed.

Inside the display case was a design model. It looked disorganized and messy, as if it hadn’t been properly arranged.

“This is…”

Lenok, pondering while looking at the model, took out Kaise’s research journal from his pocket.

Comparing the blueprint drawn at the end of the journal with the model of the room, Lenok slowly opened the display case and began to touch the model.

“The specific ratios are different from the blueprint, but there’s a certain pattern. If I organize the compatible patterns and match the model, maybe…”

Kuururung!!

At that moment, the shape of the room Lenok was standing in began to change, just like the model.

All sorts of mechanical parts assembled and rose from all directions, changing shape, and the room transformed into a smooth metal cavity.

The blueprint left in Kaise’s research journal wasn’t meant to indicate a place like this.

Instead, it was a message to use the blueprint as a key to assemble a room like this.

And, from beyond the model that disappeared as it was assembled according to the blueprint, a silver metallic object slowly rose.

A metal object shaped like a doorframe quietly floated in the middle of the room.

[What is this?]

Davi tilted his head, as if he couldn’t quite understand even after seeing it directly.

[For something left by an organic being like Kaise, it’s not very intuitive…]

“There’s a message here.”

Below it, a few words were scribbled as if someone had written them in a hurry.

[An object made by refining the failed ambition after persuading the Furnace General. One of the testbed candidates for the project.]

[I gained cooperation through several deals, but he doesn’t seem to have any attachment to life. I don’t think we’ll meet again.]

[Since further adjustments are expected to be difficult, if a project member gets their hands on this object, they should secure the Dragon Heart and discard it.]

So, what was hidden here was an arrangement to prepare a new testbed for the project.

Kaise Bajur had created this object with the help of the Furnace General during his lifetime and hid it here.

However, at that point, he predicted that the Furnace General wouldn’t live long and left a message for the project members.

That sharp intuition and judgment that transcended time was indeed that of the Kaise Lenok knew.

However, there was one thing that bothered him-

“The Dragon Heart, huh…”

The knowledge of the old world that a Side Squad member had wanted to obtain in exchange for the Furnace General’s hammer during the Nasisa Solmer assassination incident.

He had brushed it off as unimportant, but could it be that the object was also related to the Black Consumer Project?

If so, how did the Side Squad know about it and try to get their hands on it?

There was a project member within the Side Squad or perhaps even within Ex Machina.

Perhaps even among the council members Lenok had taken hostage and used, there was a project member mixed in.

“…”

Should he turn Ex Machina upside down once more and interrogate them one by one right now?

However, Lenok thought that it was unlikely to be feasible at the same time as he came up with the idea.

Even while being monitored throughout the mechanical city, if he were to run wild against Ex Machina, it would be difficult to handle the aftermath.

Moreover, it would be more likely to suffer losses if he acted rashly now, when his condition had not fully recovered.

For now, it was best to bury it and investigate the related circumstances when he visited Machina again later.

“Is it over with just getting this frame…”

[Master, did you find out what this doorframe is?]

When he pulled out the floating silver doorframe, the doorframe, which had been divided into four pieces, folded into Lenok’s hand without resistance.

Lenok folded it neatly and replied.

“I had already confirmed that the Dragon Heart was a legacy of the old world. But Kaise told me to secure it through this doorframe.”

[…Right?]

“Considering the fact that the Furnace General made this doorframe, the reason why Kaise requested cooperation, and the circumstances that it was a new testbed candidate, there’s only one possibility.”

Lenok, who had cleanly erased the remaining message, raised his gaze.

“This is a new, simplified Ascension Gate itself, created by miniaturizing the power of the Ascension Gate to its limit.”

Lenok’s eyes sank deeply as he looked at the huge metallic cavity.

“Kaise predicted the failure of the Ascension Gate project decades ago and tried to use its reduced power as a testbed for the project.”

It was different from the simplified Ascension Gate that Lenok had forcibly opened with the power of the Magnetic Domain.

[Ascension Gate: A theoretical device or portal that allows travel to other dimensions or planes of existence.]

The foundation of a gate created by miniaturizing the principle of the Ascension Gate itself in reality.

Kaise had persuaded the Furnace General, who had created the foundation of the Ascension Gate, to create a miniaturized artifact that could contain the power of the Ascension Gate.

Wasn’t he planning to apply the gate’s power to the project and use the void of the old world as a testbed to rewind infinite failures?

“That’s why he left a message saying that the Dragon Heart could be secured within this. However, there’s one difference…”

Lenok chuckled.

“I have the opening code and the core system structure of the Ascension Gate in my hands.”

Unlike other project members, Lenok could open the void of the old world with the power of the simplified Ascension Gate himself, without the help of the Furnace General.

Even if it was impossible right now, he had all the necessary preparations.

If the collaboration between Kaise and the Furnace General was made properly, reproducing it would only be a matter of time.

“Let’s go back. Everything we needed to do here is finished.”

Lenok, who left the room without hesitation, got on the elevator, pressed the button, and nodded.

“I’ll go back to Vulcan, research and create a simplified Ascension Gate, and investigate the Dragon Heart within it. The traces of the project that Kaise left behind lead there.”

* * *

Ex Machina Special Detention Facility Central Control Room.

Hundreds of screens switched rapidly, circuits connected in various places, and guide sounds echoed.

Conversely, none of the people standing in the control room could open their mouths.

Bang!!

The door opened roughly, and the shoulders of the soldiers on guard flinched greatly.

The executioners, who had been pacing around for a while, also turned to the door with stiff expressions.

“C-Councilor Nasisa…”

Nasisa Solmer, in a wheelchair, was entering with a murderous expression.

The only difference was that, unlike when she came alone, this time she was leading dozens of soldiers.

She looked around with a fierce expression and asked.

“Where is Kyunroe?”

“He was last seen near the Furnace General’s workshop tower, it is presumed.”

“Presumed?”

Everyone shut their mouths at Nasisa’s cold question.

“You couldn’t even properly detain a mage who was injured and exhausted. And you say ‘presumed’ instead of tracking or capturing him?”

“…He tampered with the security system. He interfered with the database of the medical equipment brought in for research, reversing it and damaging our authority.”

The doctors also couldn’t say anything and were sweating profusely.

As a result, they couldn’t deny that their demands and mistakes had influenced Kyunroe’s escape.

“If he had broken his handcuffs or used magic, it wouldn’t have been difficult to track his location…”

“There should be a location tracker in his patient gown, right?”

“…It doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Okay. I understand.”

Nasisa looked at the soldiers with a blank face.

“You’re saying that he escaped the detention facility while wearing handcuffs made of magic-blocking metal, wearing a patient gown, and without using magic even once.”

“……..”

“Are you people really in your right minds? Do you not know what will happen if additional casualties occur due to this situation?”

“We have no excuse.”

“Haa…”

Nasisa, who barely caught her breath while sighing, quickly regained her composure and asked.

“You said he was presumed to be seen near the workshop tower. Knowing that, why haven’t you pinpointed his location yet?”

“The ability of the psychic, Aoshu Spero, who cooperated to resolve this situation, has gone out of control, making it difficult to approach easily.”

“…Spero? Are you talking about the Spero I know?”

A middle-aged man, who seemed to be one of the older executioners, nodded with a somber expression.

“It’s difficult to confirm the details of the battle because of the clash between high-level superhumans.”

“Even so, you’re asking for cooperation from a traitor who defected to Gearside?”

“There were strong demands from the Steel Heart Council members.”

Although the head of Gearside had died in another land and its lineage had been cut off, they were one of the most dangerous researchers who had defied Machina.

Now that the organization had been disbanded, their remaining forces were creating their own power and wielding influence in the shadows.

A level 8 psychometry psychic. Aoshu Spero, called the Mastermind, was also one of those monsters in the shadows.

“Haa…”

Because the city was in disarray due to Hermes’ suicide, control was being dispersed and shaken in various places.

Apart from Nasisa trying to resolve the situation, other members of Ex Machina were also trying to control the situation according to their own standards.

Nasisa, who rubbed her temples as if she had a headache, looked at the detention facility screen and opened her mouth.

“First, contact the council member who gave the order at the scene and call all the people involved here. From now on, until Kyunroe’s location is pinpointed, no one-”

Nasisa’s words suddenly stopped as she quickly checked the screen.

“…Councilor Solmer? Why are you…”

The other executioners and agents, who turned their heads following the direction of her gaze, also lost their words.

Room 6, the deepest part of the special detention facility, which had been empty at the same time as Kyunroe’s escape.

On the camera showing that screen, the figure of a young man wearing a patient gown and handcuffs was being shown.

Lenok, sitting on the bed and waving his hand casually towards the screen.

As if the current chaos was a lie, he was as comfortable as if he had been there from the beginning.

At the sight of the escapee who had returned to the detention facility as if nothing had happened, even after turning the entire city upside down.

No one in the control room could easily open their mouths.