Chapter 34 - Unexpectedness

  ‘Engineering Lab.’

  Lucas and Chloe were standing in front of the entrance of the ‘Engineering Lab’. Upon entering, it was a similar scene to before, with rows of apparatus lined up before their eyes. This time, however, there was an array of robotic arms scattered across the room.

  Some were hanging limply from their bases, while others remained frozen in mid-action.

  “I’ll check out the room, so you do what you want,” Chloe waved her hand as she vanished into the deeper part of the lab.

  Seeing her disappearing back, Lucas turned his attention to the available computers. However, all of them were damaged in one way or another and couldn’t be booted properly. But this wasn’t an issue for him.

  He found the least damaged-looking computer and sent a streak of his energy into it. Under his energy’s influence, the monitor of the computer lit up. Sitting in the chair, he began navigating through the files.

  Most of them were schematics, some for prosthetic limbs, some for drones, and some for weapons. To his surprise, there were even a couple of schematics for exoskeleton suits.

  Lucas’s eyes brightened at these schematics, but eventually, he frowned. “Some of these designs are just plain bad. What kind of genius comes up with this? Obviously, it’s not going to work if you use such a convoluted method,” he clicked his tongue as he went through more and more schematics.

  Eventually, he leaned back in the chair, resting his eyes as he let the knowledge he had gathered marinate in his mind.

  All of a sudden, Chloe called out to him. “Hey, Lucas. You might wanna take a look at this.”

  “Hmm?” Lucas hopped out of his seat and walked over to Chloe’s location

  He approached Chloe, who was standing in front of a giant glass container. Inside, there was a white robot, remarkably similar to the one they had faced in the dungeon, but this one was on a smaller scale.

  It appeared unfinished, with parts of its body incomplete, exposing wires and skeletal frames beneath a thin layer of white plating.

  “Looks similar to the golem, right?” Chloe said, studying the robot.

  Lucas’s eyes narrowed as he examined it. “Yeah, but this one’s a prototype. Or more accurately, ‘unmagical,’ if that’s even a word. It’s just pure science and technology, none of the magical components we saw before.”

  “So, do we keep it?” Chloe asked as she watched Lucas studying the control panel next to the robot’s container.

  Shaking his head, Lucas answered while fidgeting with the control panel, “Nah, I’ve got its blueprint in my mind. Besides, Jager and Manuel’s design is more reliable than this prototype.”

  “Come on,” Lucas said, dusting himself off. “Let’s head to the main course.” He smiled as he exited the Engineering Lab and headed toward the elevator.

  “Where are we going now?” Chloe asked, following close behind.

  “Obviously, the real ‘real’ secret lab,” he explained. “We’ve checked the entire fifth floor, which was supposed to be the R&D Department. There’s a virology lab, an engineering lab, and a bunch of others, but where’s Mophalite? Where’s the ‘Magitechnology’?”

  As they reached the elevator, Lucas took a peek into the shaft and continued, “I looked at this building’s blueprint earlier. Apparently, the hidden magical lab isn’t on any of these floors.”

  Firing five wires from his , he latched them securely to the top of the elevator shaft. Extending his free arm, he signaled Chloe to hop on.

  “So, where’s this secret magic lab?” Chloe asked, grabbing his arm and clinging tightly to his body.

  Lucas smirked as he extended the wires, lowering them both down the elevator shaft toward the ground floor. “Just follow me,” he said with a confident grin, releasing Chloe once they landed.

  Both of them now stood in front of an inconspicuous white wall in the lobby. Chloe stared at it and hesitated. “Don’t tell me it’s behind the wall.”

  Grinning, Lucas sent a streak of his Psionical Energy into the wall. All of a sudden, some kind of mechanism began humming and whirring as faint bluish lines appeared on the surface, splitting it open to reveal a hidden elevator.

  “Ta-da! A hidden elevator just for you,” Lucas joked.

  Chloe froze in surprise, staring at the unexpected revelation. Lucas patted her shoulder and grinned. “Let’s go and have a look.”

  As if sensing their presence, the elevator doors automatically opened. Both of them stepped inside. Before they could descend, a mechanical voice rang out.

  “Detected unverified personnel.”

  “Scanning for access tags.”

  “Failed to detect access tags.”

  “Please present access tags for visual verification.”

  Hearing the announcement, Chloe glanced at Lucas, who merely shrugged before releasing another streak of Psionic Energy into the elevator.

  “Access tags verified.”

  “Identity confirmed.”

  “Welcome Mr. King of the Eurobeats, Miss Matcha’s Empress.”

  With that, the elevator began its descent.

  “Hah?!” Chloe blurted out at the names. “What are these lame names? What the hell is Matcha’s Empress?!”

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  Shrugging, Lucas replied nonchalantly, “We can’t possibly use our real names, right? Miss Matcha’s Empress.”

  Before Chloe could retort, the elevator suddenly trembled violently. Both of them were caught off guard, nearly losing their balance.