Chapter 494 - 203: A Miss Zombie Like That Must Be Top-Tier

"Let’s wait and see."

Wei’en smiled and said no more. "That’s all for now, Teresa Witch. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Director."

After the call ended, Wei’en took out a new sheet of parchment, copied a new research project proposal, and placed it in the blue and white box to send to Teresa. Only then did he let out a long sigh.

’I never realized the normal promotion process for a Wizard was this troublesome...’

All this time, he had relied on allocating points on his panel to learn all sorts of knowledge, subconsciously ignoring the hardships other Wizards faced.

But this time, just creating a plan for a research project, listing a few questions, and laying out some points of caution had completely wracked his brain...

It was truly hard to imagine how other Wizards managed to accumulate and transform various kinds of knowledge while also raising their Wizard level.

With that in mind, Wei’en got up to check on Zero’s progress. Seeing that he had finished the parts for one Mechanical Puppet and was starting to inscribe runes, Wei’en sat down beside him to explain a few key points.

"The patterns and nodes on the limbs are the simplest. You can start with the limbs..."

"The core node here shouldn’t be too deep, or it will affect the transmission speed of the Rune Power. Once the conversion speed drops, the effect of the Spirit Rune will be difficult to manifest."

"Also, pay special attention that all patterns must strictly follow the adhesive layer of the Sar metal. There can’t be the slightest deviation."

Zero followed his instructions step by step to complete the rune inscription, and his progress was quite smooth.

Seeing this, Wei’en understood that compared to Zero’s ability to learn independently, his practical skills were much stronger.

Especially for a step like inscribing runes, which required extreme precision, Zero seemed to have an innate, powerful accuracy. He could complete the rune inscription on every part to a very high standard. It was more than enough for creating Mechanical Puppets.

When the assembly of the final part was complete, Zero controlled the Mechanical Puppet to perform a few movements and activated the Rune Array to finish the test. Then, with a hint of excitement, he asked, "Father, I... I succeeded?"

"That’s right, you succeeded!"

A smile appeared on Wei’en’s face, happy that Zero could complete the assembly. But he still reminded him, "Don’t get too excited, though. I was helping you this time. You can celebrate when you finish the next one on your own."

"I’ll get back to it right away!"

Zero quickly released control of the Mechanical Puppet and went back to burying his head in his work, using the drill press to make new parts.

This time, Wei’en didn’t continue to guide him. To avoid affecting Zero’s work, he didn’t even go near, wanting to see if Zero could finish it alone.

If Zero succeeded again, then all subsequent Mechanical Puppets could be left for Zero to complete. Wei’en would only need to provide the detailed design schematics.

That way, his workload would be much lighter.

BUZZ BUZZ...

A little over two hours passed quickly, and the black communicator rang again.

After Wei’en answered, a phantom projection twice as large appeared above the trophy. Teresa and several people in matching Wizard Robes behind her appeared before him.

"Apologies, Director, for keeping you waiting," Teresa said, bowing deeply.

The other Wizards bowed along with her. In that fleeting glance, they all got a clear look at Wei’en’s current appearance: his short, jet-black hair, slightly dark skin, and those crimson eyes. His expression was unusually calm.

’Is this the person who will be leading our research project in the future?’

’The "Mutated Mage" Wei’en Loft, who single-handedly slaughtered thousands of Holy Professionals from the Dawn Church and decisively killed a Judgment Knight?’

"It’s no problem."

After they straightened up, Wei’en sized up each of the so-called researchers and said calmly, "Everyone, welcome to my research institute. My name is Wei’en Loft. Please, introduce yourselves."

"I’ll go first," Teresa said, jumping in. "Teresa Ilina Silvira, just promoted to Third-level Researcher. I’m an Advanced Mage of the Secret Art Spell System, specializing in necromancy and Elemental Magic, supplemented by the body-strengthening system of the Blood Spirit School..."

Only then did Wei’en notice the origin sub-bodies above her head. They hadn’t been visible before because the projection was smaller, but this time he could clearly see eight heads.

’Eight?’

’So, the number of origin sub-bodies can break through to eight...’

As he thought this, Wei’en also noticed the other Wizards, two of whom were also from the Secret Art Spell System.

One was a young Wizard with a restrained expression and roughly managed hair; he had four origin sub-bodies.

The other was a Witch, also from the Secret Art Spell System, whose appearance was quite striking. She had short red hair, a fair complexion, and an expression that held a trace of arrogance?

"Escobar Osman, Intermediate Mage, First-level Researcher..."

"Christa Kanawa, Advanced Mage..."

"Benoy Duarte, Second-level Researcher..."

"Ausel Mubarak, Plague Poison Modification..."

"Adolph Boyer, a Mutated Mage... I’m very happy to be joining Research Institute No. 66 and hope to follow in the Director’s footsteps!"

’Plague Poison, Mutation?’

Wei’en observed the several Wizards with interest. The higher-ups at the Ghost Soul School had really found him some characters.

"Welcome, once again!"

As he spoke, Wei’en took out the research project plan and gestured with it toward the people in the projection. "I assume you’ve all seen this proposal? Any questions?"

"Wei’en Mage!"

At that moment, the Wizard named Benoy stepped forward. "Excuse me, but why did you choose this particular research topic? And not runology, which you are skilled in?"

"Hm?"