Chapter 488 - 202: Adorable...

Wei’en spent the entire afternoon holed up in his workshop.

First, he finished making twenty-five Burst Sniper Rifles. Then, he inscribed runes onto the parts that Zero and the other Mechanical Puppets had produced and assembled them into new ones.

Twenty-one of them were for Black Jack and Menor’s group, while the rest were weapons for Zero and all the Mechanical Puppets, intended to enhance their offensive capabilities.

"It’s done."

After assembling two more Mechanical Puppets, Wei’en used his Puppet Manipulation Skill to make them take a few steps, also testing the activation of the Rune Arrays on their bodies.

Once all the tests checked out, he handed control over to Zero.

"Father, including me, that makes four Mechanical Puppets."

Zero looked at the other three brand-new Mechanical Puppets. "Driver, Baba, look! Can you guys tell which one is me?"

"The chest!"

The driver bluntly pointed out the difference between Zero and an ordinary Iron Heart Fury.

"The chest?"

Zero looked down at the perpetually flashing Rune Core on his chest, then at the other three Mechanical Puppets. After observing for a few seconds, he asked in a confused tone, "Their runes aren’t activated?"

"Mm-hmm." Wei’en was also sizing up the Mechanical Puppets. "Your Rune Core is always active. Theirs will only engage the power of the Rune Array when the operator activates the Spirit Rune."

"However, during a battle, as long as you don’t speak, no one should be able to tell you all apart."

"I get it!" Zero clenched his iron fist and swung it a few times. "During a fight, I’ll hide first and control the others. Then, at a critical moment, I can launch a sneak attack and hit them with everything I’ve got."

"Huh?" Wei’en looked at him in surprise. "Did you come up with that strategy on your own?"

"Do you think it will work?"

"O-of course you can."

’That combat style is very much in line with Wizards who specialize in Mechanical Puppets,’ Wei’en thought, a peculiar look on his face, ’but their bodies aren’t mechanical like Zero’s.’

"Also, these Burst Sniper Rifles were made especially for you all. Use them in battle from now on."

"Guns?"

Zero eagerly picked up a Burst Sniper Rifle and spun around in excitement. "I have a weapon now, this is great! Oh, right! The others need theirs!"

As he spoke, he had the other three Mechanical Puppets pick up the sniper rifles, line up, aim convincingly, and pull the triggers.

"Like this, Father?"

Wei’en was speechless.

Watching the movements of Zero and the other Mechanical Puppets, he silently made a mental note to teach them proper marksmanship later.

It was clear from their stances alone that their shooting skills were nonexistent...

Of course, there was one piece of good news.

Their perfectly synchronized movements and identical stances showed that Zero was capable of controlling all three Mechanical Puppets at once.

However, it looked like he could control at most two more.

Wei’en understood now. The number of Mechanical Puppets Zero could control was limited by the level of his own Puppet Manipulation Skill.

His level-five Puppet Manipulation Skill could control a maximum of five Mechanical Puppets.

With this in mind, Wei’en had the driver summon the Mechanical Gate. "Have them go into the Mechanical Gate for now. Tell them to take all the sniper rifles with them, too."

"Oh."

A moment later, Zero reluctantly handed the sniper rifle he was holding to another Mechanical Puppet. He then directed them to toss all the rifles into the Mechanical Gate before climbing through the gate themselves.

"Let’s continue. We’ll make two more Mechanical Puppets. But this time, you’ll be doing the rune inscriptions yourself."

"Yes, Father."

Zero roused his Spirit, and his gear-like eyes turned to the driver and the others. He gave them an encouraging fist pump.

There was still plenty of time. Wanting Zero to get more familiar with the construction process for Mechanical Puppets, Wei’en didn’t have him control the other puppets to help out this time.

"Once these are finished, your job will get easier."

"I understand..."

Wei’en watched Zero’s movements for a moment. Seeing that his help wasn’t needed for the time being, he returned to his workbench, pulled out a blank sheet of parchment, and began to write.

*Topic: A Study on the Fusion and Modification of Undead and Machinery...*

After spending the last two days making Mechanical Puppets and Burst Sniper Rifles, Wei’en had become keenly aware of his own shortcomings. This was especially true regarding the vast amount of runic knowledge he had obtained from the panel, much of which he had yet to master.

The same problem existed with his Magic skills.

His timing for casting Magic in battle wasn’t precise, he couldn’t accurately gauge its effects, and his overall control was lacking.

For example, when he cast the Corpse Explosion Skill in the sea, he had no way of controlling the spell’s area of effect.

If a companion had been within the blast radius at that time, once they were infected with the plague, he could only watch helplessly as they were consumed by the Corpse Explosion Skill’s blast...

Therefore, for the remainder of the voyage, Wei’en decided to focus on improving his mastery over his various abilities and knowledge.

He could improve his Magic abilities by familiarizing himself with their effects during battles with Abyssal Creatures or other encounters at sea.

As for knowledge related to runology, Mechanical Puppets, and Magic Potions, he could only learn through dedicated research.

However...

"How am I even supposed to conduct a research project?!"

Whether in his past life or since arriving in this world, Wei’en had no experience in this area.

Experiments, samples, instruments—he only knew the names.

But as for how to actually begin his research, or what would even count as a tangible result... he was completely clueless!