Chapter 261
Shwahhhhhhhhh!
The stream of water struck Sungyoon's skin . Before he had awakened as a Connector, he had been a middle-aged man with rough skin . Now his skin was as smooth as a baby's .
Sungyoon lifted his shoulder . A thin sword had pierced through it, yet there was no wound on the shoulder, and neither were there any scars . Sungyoon brushed his hand over his smooth skin, but his fingertips only sensed undamaged flesh . Healing magic was indeed amazing .
After wiping away the water, Sungyoon put on his clothes and walked toward the living room . The others were already waiting for him . Tim was lazing around on the sofa, while Emily was nudging him with her elbow to gain more space .
“You came out right on time . ”
Grace exited the kitchen with simple side dishes in her hands . The table in front of the sofa was full of all kinds of beverages and foods as the four of them wanted to relieve some of their stress .
Sungyoon glanced at the food .
‘I’m eating the food made by a princess . ’
It was nothing new to him since he had eaten so much food made by her . He just knew that he was living the good life and that Grace’s food was tasty .
‘I’ve never seen her make British food . ’
It could be so because English food had a bad reputation, but Sungyoon never pointed this out . He wouldn’t dare impune the honor of her country .
As always, the party sat down for drinks after they finished their work . Tim was always the first one to speak, and it was no different this time around .
“What do those bastards have against us? Do they have a vendetta against us?”
Tim angrily brought the alcohol bottle to his lips . This wasn’t a bottle of beer, but a strong bottle of whiskey . Tim hadn't diluted it with ice, yet he had no problem chugging it down .
“We are taking losses left and right no matter what we do . ”
To protect Earth and Armstrong city, the party had to set aside two-thirds of their year, so they suffered massive losses . Thankfully, they had received real estate in Armstrong, and it provided them a passive income . However, it wasn’t as lucrative as gathering moonstones within the Great Labyrinth .
‘I still can’t believe the luxuries that we can afford now . It brings home the fact that Connectors who enter the Great Labyrinth make an absurd amount of money . ’
The price of the food on the table before them could easily reach six digits, yet the party never worried about that . They always ate this spread when they returned from their missions .
Sungyoon shook his head . The conventional wisdom of finance no longer applied to him .
The four of them continued to talk . Everyone spoke out against the ambushers without holding back, everyone but Sungyoon . Sungyoon rarely joined in on the conversations, and he seemed to be pondering .
‘Should I tell them what Mr . Hyunwoo did?’
He was sure that Sung Hyunwoo was hiding something .
Sungyoon considered the traces left behind in the labyrinth and the short period that Hyunwoo had spent within the labyrinth . Then he thought about the statements Hyunwoo made, which were inconsistent with the evidence in front of his eyes . With how fast Hyunwoo had entered the labyrinth, he should have witnessed the portal at the very least .
‘He might be hiding the existence of the portal for the same reason as us . ’
Sungyoon didn’t want to do it, but he was also deceiving Hyunwoo right now, and Hyunwoo might be operating for the same reason: consideration of the implications the revelation of the portal would have .
‘Still, I can’t help but feel leery . Something is off . ’
Sungyoon had been stabbed in the back by his former best friend and his ex-wife, and that had a big influence on his thought process . Even though Sungyoon knew he was letting his own experience color his judgment of the situation, he felt his trust toward Hyunwoo crumble .
‘Let’s keep it to myself for now . ’
This was how Sungyoon became suspicious of Hyunwoo for the first time .
‘Anyway, should I take it as a sign that the Gem is about to awaken?’
Sungyoon thought about the Red Gold Gem .
The Gem hadn’t responded to him even during a desperate battle, but he had been able to see the trace left behind by the portal .
‘I don’t know if it will be a boon or a misfortune for me . ’
Sungyoon leaned back in his chair as he thought about the Gem that refused to show itself .
***
Everything returned to normal for Sungyoon's party . They were given a break to rest in Armstrong city, but the duration was only a few days . Then, they had to go back to patrolling . Armstrong's higher-ups prioritized safety, so they couldn’t let Sungyoon's party stay idle .
Fortunately, the party suffered no more ambushes . This allowed Sungyoon a chance to practice activating the Gold Red Gem, and he tried it during any idle time he got on his patrols .
His efforts didn't go unrewarded . After a month—
“Wow! Wow! Wooooooooooooooooooow!”
Chelsea jumped around a blue ball of light floating in the air . The Director looked deeply moved as he gazed at the portal .
“This! This! Can I stick my hand in there?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Wait a moment! Stop! Wait, Strobe! I should be the first one to—”
“You snooze, you lose!”
As the Director rushed to the portal, Chelsea ignored him and stuck her hand through it . Her hand disappeared from view . Chelsea once again let out a high pitched scream as she waved her hand around . The Director reached the portal and stuck his hand inside it too .
Unlike the two excited researchers, the Mayor kept his cool .
“So, this is a portal . ”
The Mayor was cold and surgical in assessing the portal, but he couldn’t completely hide his excitement either . His eyes reflected his emotions .
“If we use this, we can go to the ancient city that Mr . Woo found?”
“That’s right . ”
The two researchers had been competing with each other to examine the portal, but they whipped their heads around when they heard the conversation between the Mayor and Sungyoon .
“Let’s go right now!”
Chelsea and McGregor became ready to go pack right now, but the Mayor stopped them .
“Please wait for a moment . We have to make preparations . Moreover, both of you are here as geologists studying the Moon, and not experts on ancient cities . We have to call the researchers from a related field of study . ”
“Mmm!”
The two wanted to deny his assertion, but the Mayor was right . They were both scientists with a rational mind, so they pressed down on their objections . However, they couldn’t help but hold a grudge against the Mayor, and looked at him with a reproachful gaze .
The Mayor ignored the two of them . If he couldn’t shrug off their glares, he wouldn’t have lasted this long as the mayor of Armstrong city .
“I would like to ask you a couple of questions, Mr . Sungyoon . ”
“Please ask away . ”
“Is it possible to open the portal to different locations?”
Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .
“I still can't fully use this Gem's abilities . Or maybe, this Gem can only open a portal to one location . I don't know . For now, I can only open a portal to the ancient city . ”
“How long can you maintain it?”
“Indefinitely . However, it closes by itself after five minutes if I don’t pay it any attention . Also, I have to stay near it to keep it open . ”
“Hmm!”
The Mayor stroked his chin . The possibility of Sungyoon awakening more of the Gem's abilities indeed existed, but as it was now, the Red Gold Gem fell short of what the Mayor had worried about . It wouldn’t have a devastating effect on the balance of power .
‘It's a good thing, but at the same time, I do feel a bit disappointed . ’
Another possibility was that the Red Gold Gem had yet to mature .
“Let’s form a research team for now . ”
After thinking it through, the Mayor spoke .
“I would like to join it . ”
“Me too! I want to join that research team!”
The Director and Chelsea approached the Mayor as if they were beasts chasing after a tasty morsel . The two of them threw away any semblance of being researchers, and the Mayor looked fed-up by them .
‘No . This is why they are researchers . I can’t fault them . ’
These researchers had left behind their comfortable lives on Earth to come research on the Moon . It showed their passion for their work . Considering that, the Mayor knew that such a reaction was only normal .
“Alright . I’ll let the two of you participate in it . ”
“Awesome!”
The two researchers let out a bright laugh as they high fived each other . And thus, the plan to explore the ancient city started .
***
The Mayor had no intention of announcing the existence of portals to the world, so he didn’t choose his people based on ability . He chose those who could keep a secret .
Initially, high rank Connectors, including Sungyoon’s party, were dispatched to the ancient city as scouts, and they didn’t find any strong monsters . This result let the Mayor sigh in relief since he wouldn’t have to hire high ranking Connectors to protect the researchers .
Armstrong was shorthanded on high ranking Connectors capable of entering the Great Labyrinth, but they had a plentiful supply of middle rank and low rank Connectors .
Finished with the preparations, the Mayor dispatched a fifty-member strong research team . They were experts from various fields . Since it was an ancient city that was to be explored, most of these researchers were archaeologists . They would determine if the ancient city had any connection to the civilization on Earth .
Of course, all of the researchers became wild with joy when they saw the city . They turned into hyenas running toward their prey . As they ran around the city, the researchers even forgot to eat most of the time .
The Connectors looked at them with weary eyes . Fortunately, the city was only home to Skeletons, so the Connectors had it easy .
While the researchers focused on the city, Sungyoon remained in a particular room and coldly looked at a piece of equipment . He had assumed it was the device that controlled the portal, and like before, it projected holograms in the air .
‘This is probably the key to operating the portals . ’
This equipment had captured all of Sungyoon's attention . The researchers had already swept through this room once, but they had no idea how this machine functioned . Therefore, they left the device to Sungyoon, who had managed to activate it before, and left to research other parts of the city .
Before leaving, all the researchers had looked at Sungyoon with anticipation in their eyes . They expected some kind of result from him . It was way too much pressure, and Sungyoon did his best to brush aside those memories .
Tuh-buhk!
Sungyoon stepped closer to the device . He glared at the hologram screens as if he were trying to read what was on there . The hologram still showed a cross-sectional diagram of the building . It was mostly red, but the three spires were colored in blue .
‘Now that I think about it, I never went to the other two spires . ’
Last time, the Red Gold Gem had directed Sungyoon to a particular spire; the place where he had to refill the moonstones . In his rush, he hadn't thought of checking out the other two spires .
‘I should have a look, just in case . ’
He had gained nothing by glaring at the holograms, so he started to move toward the spires . The building was large, but he could explore it within a day .
Soon, Sungyoon was done with his observation of the two spires . He hadn't found anything out of the ordinary . Each of the spires had a room at the top, and that was it .
‘If this were a simple problem, the researchers would've already found clues about it . ’
Sungyoon grumbled . He did not return to the room with the equipment, and instead, went to the first spire, where he had loaded in the moonstones to activate the devices .