Chapter 497 - 204: Type-Zero’s Debut

"No..."

"I have a question!"

"Hm?"

Wei’en looked at the person who spoke and saw it was the young Wizard who also specialized in the Secret Art Spell System.

’Escobar?’

’I remember Teresa mentioning he used to be Dean Josue’s assistant?’

"What’s the question?"

"W-well, it’s like this." Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Escobar grew timid again. He subconsciously scratched his messy hair and asked quietly, "I saw in your proposal that the mechanically modified parts are supposed to upgrade automatically as the Undead Creatures’ strength increases. Is... is that even possible?"

"Tell me your understanding of it," Wei’en said, gesturing with his hand.

"F-from what I know, Modified Wizards from the Mechanical School have to manually replace their previous mechanical parts after they level up. So I was just thinking, if even they can’t achieve automatic enhancement, or even upgrade their existing parts, then how can we...?"

At this, Escobar mumbled, "Shouldn’t we lower our expectations a bit?"

Wei’en looked at the other researchers and chuckled. "I have to admit, that’s an excellent question, and what Escobar said is true. Do any of you have other thoughts? Feel free to share."

He was, of course, aware that mechanical bodies and human bodies couldn’t be treated the same. Beyond the potential need to re-engrave and upgrade the Rune Arrays, the most fundamental issue was the material used to build the mechanical parts.

Some metals were geared toward defense, while others were used for engraving Arrays. It was incredibly difficult for such materials to automatically change and upgrade along with an increase in strength.

In fact, when he had originally written down this idea, he had merely hoped to use such an unrealistic goal to shut the other Wizards up.

But after giving it serious thought, he felt it wasn’t entirely impossible to achieve.

For example, they could grant the mechanical parts intelligence, making them vassals of the Undead Creatures. As the undead grew stronger, the mechanical parts would upgrade themselves.

’That would be an indirect way of achieving the project’s objective.’

Of course, the most perfect outcome would be to transform the mechanical parts into something akin to flesh and blood, allowing them to fuse completely with the Undead Creatures!

"Director, I also think Escobar has a point."

Teresa glanced at the others. Seeing them all still lost in thought, she had no choice but to be the first to speak up. "I have a few Wizard friends in the Mechanical School. After they increase their strength, they change their body structures, using better materials to craft new mechanical devices."

"And here within the Phantoms, Wizards who practice Undead Magic have also considered researching similar topics, but they all eventually gave up. The key issue is that it’s just too troublesome. You have to prepare new mechanical devices for every single upgrade, and the power boost for the Undead Creatures isn’t even that significant."

Wei’en gave a noncommittal nod. "Anyone else?"

"What if we prepared materials in advance for the fused and modified Undead Creatures, allowing them to consume the materials to enhance their bodies? Would that count as a solution?"

"Continue."

Adolph swished a few of his tentacles. His tone was no longer as grim as before, but still cold as he said, "For example, we could install a Rune Array in a specific part of an Undead Creature that allows it to consume metal materials. This could continuously improve that body part’s defensive capabilities. That should be achievable."

This was a method he conceived based on the Mutated Mage system. Mutated Mages only fuse with one source of contamination characteristic, and to increase their power, they must continuously consume and absorb that same source.

’By the same logic, if the mechanical parts could also do this, then the mechanically modified Undead Creatures... hmm?’

’At that point, it wouldn’t just be the Undead Creatures. Even Modified Wizards would be tempted!’

"A good idea."

Wei’en considered it. The method could serve as a reference, but they would need to confirm whether such a Rune Array actually existed.

"Alternatively, we could try shrinking the mechanical modifications to an extreme degree, say, to the size of a plague toxin," said Ausel, who was completely shrouded in a black robe. "Wouldn’t that make upgrading them simpler?"

’Mechanical parts the size of a plague toxin?’

’Nanobots?’

Wei’en looked at Ausel with great interest. "That’s also an excellent idea."

"Wouldn’t the simplest way be to equip the Undead Creatures with a toolbox, something like the Mechanical School’s Mechanical Box Spell, and then fill it with various types of mechanical parts?"

Christa looked up, her four heads bobbing around. "That way, they could swap out different mechanical parts to suit different environments."

’This method is certainly the simplest.’

"Feasible," Wei’en said with a nod and a light chuckle. "All the methods you’ve suggested have some degree of feasibility. Some I hadn’t even considered. However..."

At this, he turned and beckoned to the Mechanical Life form behind him. "Zero, come here."

He hadn’t intended for Zero to appear this early, but since the conversation had reached this point, it would be difficult to truly command their respect without a demonstration of his capabilities.

And Zero was the perfect evidence of his mastery of Mechanical Puppets—or rather, mechanical modification.

"Father."

Zero stopped what he was doing and appeared before the black trophy. He looked at Teresa and the others and asked in confusion, "Who are they? How should I address them?"

"Just say hello to them."

"Oh." Zero’s gear-like eyes contracted slightly. He raised his mechanical arm and waved. "Hello, everyone. I am Zero."

"He..."

Teresa stared blankly at Zero, who had appeared on the screen. His entire body was mechanical, with none of the fleshy parts that even the most modified members of the Mechanical School retained.

’What is this thing?’

"Director, is he a Modified Wizard from the Mechanical School?" Oshana asked cautiously.

"Have you ever seen a Modified Wizard who didn’t preserve their original vessel? Even the fully modified ones leave at least an eyeball."

Adolph stared at Zero with fervent eyes and exclaimed, "Director, please, tell me. Who is he?"

"A Mechanical Puppet?"

Just then, a shocked expression appeared on Teresa’s face. She pointed at Zero on the screen and said, "I’ve seen that model before. I think it’s a Mechanical Puppet commonly used by the Mechanical School in the last era. Its name was... it was..."

Zero helpfully reminded her, "Iron Heart Fury."

"Yes, that’s the name, Iron Heart Fury!" Teresa turned to Wei’en excitedly. "Director, does he possess intelligence? How did you do it? Is he a completed experiment from the undead-machine fusion project?"

"What do you think?"

Wei’en waved his hand, dismissing Zero to continue his work on the Mechanical Puppets. Watching their reactions with satisfaction, he smiled. "This is our research institute’s first secret. Before I answer that question, Teresa, prepare some contracts."

"Contracts? Right, right, contracts! All of us must keep the institute’s secrets!"

"That’s right!"

"I agree! Please, let me sign a contract as well!"

None of the other Wizards showed any resistance. In fact, they eagerly asked to sign contracts with Wei’en to protect the secret.

Escobar recalled the sight of Zero and murmured, "If that’s truly a Mechanical Life... I can’t even imagine how insane the Wizards from the Mechanical School will go!"