Chapter 262

As he entered the spire, Sungyoon observed that nothing had changed, whether it be the space where he poured the moonstones in or the wall paintings.

“Ah. You're here, Mr. Sungyoon?”

Feeling Sungyoon's presence, Chelsea stopped sketching the design of the moonstone equipment and turned around to look at him. The Director was next to her too, and his face lit up on seeing Sungyoon.

“Mr. Sungyoon! I’m glad you're here. I have a request.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You said you activated part of the device’s function by pouring moonstone into this compartment?”

“That is correct.”

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, but do you mind putting more moonstone there?”

According to the information provided by Sungyoon, this machine had provided energy to the other devices in the building. The Director assumed that it was likely that this machine was the fuel tank for the building. With more fuel, it might show more changes.

“Of course not. However, does it have to be me? Couldn’t someone else do it?”

“Mr. Sungyoon, you found this device, and you activated it. Wouldn’t the chances of it working be higher with you?”

‘He has a point.’

Sungyoon didn’t hesitate as he took out a moonstone from his storage Gem. However, the Director stopped him.

“Please, not right now. I would like you to do it later. We would like to conduct an experiment where we put in different quality and type of moonstones. I want to see if there is a difference if we put in processed and unprocessed moonstones, and the difference between doing it with moonstones from the regular labyrinths and that from the Great Labyrinth.”

“I see.”

Sungyoon put away his moonstone.

“Did you find anything new?”

“Nothing meaningful.”

Until now, McGregor looked like a child in a candy store, but that happy look instantly vanished. Chelsea went through a similar transformation.

“Nevertheless, we did determine that this city wasn’t probably built here.”

“What do you mean wasn’t built here?”

“That is….”

The director’s gaze moved, and Sungyoon naturally followed his eyes. The direction they faced was where the ominous paintings had been drawn.

“It looks as if this city was thrown into the air and shoved into the labyrinth.”

At first glance, the city looked like it was meant to be built like a big rectangular city. However, the edges of the city were abruptly cut off and fused to the wall. Moreover, the borders of the city were broken in an irregular manner. The heavy damage suggested that the city was forcefully shoved into the labyrinth.

Sungyoon’s expression hardened as he understood the implications of the Director's words.

“Are you saying the wall paintings might be depicting the truth?”

“I can’t give you a decisive answer yet.”

“I had hoped you would answer in the negative...”

Sungyoon looked at the paintings once again, and his gaze fell at the center of the Moon, where the creature was struggling in confinement.

***

Plu-El’s head hurt. After Tiotudo died, the morale of her people had tanked.

Moreover, the opinion on what they should do in the future started to split. More small disputes started to break out. At such times, the leaders of their people had to mediate and guide the people. However, the leaders were also in a state of confusion.

Plu-El, Aruwen and Tiotudo.

The three of them had stepped up to take the leadership roles. However, Tiotudo was dead, and Aruwen had once again shut himself in his room.

The only one left was Plu-El, but she was also in a state of shock from Tiotudo’s death.

She wasn’t in a state where she could lead her comrades.

‘What should I do?’

Even as her head had a splitting headache, Plu-El was doing her best to come up with a solution. However, her head was to cluttered. She had no idea what she should do first.

“Mom?”

A small girl walked up next to Plu-El, who was holding her head.

“You are here, Soyoung?”

She immediately wiped away all signs of worry from her face, and she let out a smile.

It seemed Plu-El was unable to completely fool Soyoung. She kept looking at Plu-El’s face from all angles.

As she continued to do this, the smile on Plu-El’s lips deepened.

“Are you hurt, mom?”

“No. Mom is fine.”

She hugged and patted her daughter’s back. Even if things were tough, she would be able to overcome everything if she had her daughter.

This was what it meant to be a parent. This was what it meant to be a mother.

Knock! Knock!

A sound interrupted Plu-El from enjoying her cute daughter’s warmth. She frowned as she spoke towards the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Plu-El.”

Plu-El’s face hardened. Soyoung shrank back.

He didn’t even giver Plu-El time to give an answer. He entered through the door. Her face crumpled when Aruwen entered her house without permission.

“What brings you here, Aruwen?”

Her voice turned cold without her realizing it.

Soyoung flinched in surprise in her arms.

Plu-El continued to pat the child’s back, but she didn’t stop glaring at Aruwen.

“I have something I want to say to you.”

Aruwen looked at Soyoung.

“I would like you to send Soyoung into her room for a brief moment.”

Plu-El and Soyoung were surprised.

Aruwen always looked at Soyoung with acrimony in his eyes, and he never called her by Han Soyoung. However, he had just called Soyoung by her name. It had been quiet, but there was no denying he said it.

“Will you go into your room for a moment, Soyoung?”

Soyoung nodded her head as she left her mother’s arms. She almost ran towards her room.

She looked fl.u.s.tered as she looked back towards Aruwen before she closed the door.

“What is it?”

She crossed her arms as she looked up at Aruwen. No, she glared at him.

It was good that he had softened his attitude towards Soyoung, but it wasn’t good enough to change Plu-El’s attitude towards Aruwen. His actions had been too dumb and reckless for her to do so.

“I’m here to talk about what we should do.”

He pulled out a chair as he sat down.

Plu-El’s eyebrows twitched, but she didn’t say anything about it.

“What’s on your mind?”

She accepted the fact that both of them had to think about the future of their people.

However, she would punch him on his detestable chin if he spoke nonsense once again.

‘You are the reason why Tiotudo is gone.’

She inwardly grinded her teeth.

“I want to make contact with the one with the Royal Gem.”

Bamboo-doohk!

Strength went into her fists.

‘Is he still thinking about that right now?’

She knew he was obsessed with the Royal Gem, but she hadn’t expected him to continue his obsession after what had happened.

‘Tiotudo died because of it!’

Even if he apologized a hundred times, it wouldn’t be enough, yet he spoke about a subject that he should have dropped.

“…in the end, that is all you think about.”

Tiotudo gave up his life to save him, yet Aruwen hadn’t changed. Plu-El would no longer hesitate. She was about to swing her fist.

However, Aruwen spoke faster than she could act.

“No. That is not what I meant.”

He looked a bit plaintive as he spoke.

“I want to talk to him, and I want to seek his help. I want to carry out the plan you and Tiotudo had suggested before.”

Plu-El’s fist had been c.o.c.ked back, but she froze in place. Her clear eyes widened in surprise.

***

Sungyoon was walking through downtown Armstrong city.

He had been with the researchers, who went to study the ancient city, and the Connectors hired to protect them.

Sungyoon had stayed in the empty and silent ancient city for a month, and he was just coming back to Armstrong city. This was why there was a very ripe smell to his body.

He was finally given a break after a month in the ancient city. Many of the Connectors and researchers had been rotated out through the portal, but Sungyoon had to stay in the ancient city.

Moreover, his party members would never leave without him. This was why his entire party had stayed in the ancient city for a month.

Even the higher ups of Armstrong city knew this was too much, so Sungyoon and his party was given time off.

It was only two days, and the portal would be unusable during this time. However, the researchers didn’t really care.

If it was two days, they could stay in the ancient city and continue their research.

In reality, most of the researchers didn’t rotate out to Armstrong city. They pretty much lived in the ancient city now. This was true in regards to the Connectors too.

They needed a consensus from everyone involved to acquire this break, so it tasted sweet as it could be.

Currently, Sungyoon had come out to buy some groceries. He was in charge of cooking today. He went down the familiar path towards a grocery store.

“Welcome!”

The employee let out a bright smile as he welcomed Sungyoon.

Sungyoon started to pick up food ingredients.

This store had as many food items as the large stores on earth.

The quality of the ingredients were inferior, but it was acceptable since they were on the moon.

Of course, the price of the food was crazy high.

Sungyoon picked up a basket, and he started to put the food ingredients into it.

‘390, 870, 1252, 1570, 1924….’

He was keeping a tally of the price. He had only put in a few items, but the price had ballooned to an extraordinary amount.

‘If I shoplift just a couple dozen items, I’ll basically be a thief that stole a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of food.’

As always, the price of goods on the moon was outrageous.

However, Sungyoon didn’t hesitate to pick up these items.

Even if the grocery was with several hundred thousand dollars, he had the money to buy it. Even if it would last only a couple days, he bought it.

He took the heavy basket towards the counter, and he gave his card to the employee.

The receipt printed the price of tens of thousands of dollars, yet he didn’t even look at it. He just shoved the receipt into his pocket. He was about to leave with his groceries when it happened.

“Excuse me.”

Someone tapped Sungyoon’s back. Sungyoon turned to look who it was.

“You are….”

A very beautiful woman stood there. However, Sungyoon was only interested, because he had met her before.

“Soyoung’s mother?”

“You remembered me.”

She smiled as she spoke.

“It is because Soyoung was such a good kid.”

“Thank you for saying that. Also, Shinhae was a very cute and kind child too.”

“Ha ha ha. Thank you very much.”

They were both parents to a child, so they were on the same wavelength as they spoke. They both deeply loved their daughter.

The two of them exchanged pleasantries, and they spent a long time complimenting each other’s kid.

If his party members saw this sight, their mouths would have fallen open in surprise. Sungyoon was being very friendly as he spoke to the woman.

“Plu-El.”

Aruwen, who stood behind Plu-El, tried to hurry up the conversation.

“Ah! Jeez! Where are my manners!”

Sungyoon and Plu-El had started exchanging childhood stories of their daughters. They even started talking about the lessons they learned raising a child. Plu-El quickly tried to get the situation back on track.

Sungyoon turned his attention to Aruwen, who stood behind Plu-El.

‘That person is….’

In an instant, Sungyoon’s expression worsened.

As someone raising a daughter, he had a really bad opinion of Aruwen, who had mistreated Soyoung.

However, Sungyoon realized something was different. It might just be a feeling, but a lot of the malice in Aruwen’s demeanor was gone.

In the past, there was an edge to how he carried himself, but that was gone now.

“I would like to converse with you for a moment. Is that ok??”

Plu-El was careful as she asked the question.

Sungyoon looked at his watch. He still had some time left. It wasn’t as if he was on duty. He just had to make sure he wasn’t late to make dinner.

“It’s fine if it's brief.”

The two of them knew each other through their daughters.

He usually didn’t pay attention to strangers, yet he had readily agreed to the request for her.