Chapter 609 - 236: Mechanical Undead No. 1

"ROAR—"

A mournful howl burst from the zombie’s throat. Beneath it, the Binding Platform flickered with fluorescent light. The power of the Rune Array wrapped around the creature, forming several thread-like halos of light that locked its body firmly in place.

The workshop’s light was dim. Only a lamp engraved with a Lighting Array hung above the Binding Platform, casting a piercing beam of light onto the zombie’s body.

Its skin was a dark, withered yellow. The entire left side of its emaciated frame was covered in mechanical parts. Even half its face was a mechanical contraption: a constantly retracting and extending mechanical eye, with facial bones and teeth forged from Sarr metal.

If you called it a Mechanical Puppet, even the Wizards from the Mechanical School probably wouldn’t argue.

Wei’en stood before the Binding Platform, his red pupils shining even more brilliantly in the reflected light. His Spiritual Power enveloped the zombie, inside and out, as he meticulously observed every change in its body, not missing a single detail.

’He silently compared every change in the mechanical parts. Compared to the last experiment, this zombie is much more stable. The fluctuations of its Origin Core are calmer, and both the durability of the mechanical body and the operation of the Rune Array are becoming more orderly.’

’If this fails again, I’ll have to apply for more research funding...’

This seemingly simple half-mechanical body was actually quite expensive. The mechanical arm and leg cost thirty gold pounds, while the mechanical compound eye alone cost eight hundred gold pounds. Add to that the Mechanical Heart device in its chest—which served as a second Origin Core—costing one thousand gold pounds... A single experiment cost upwards of two thousand gold pounds.

Combined with the concurrent experiments of other personnel at the Research Center, the daily research expenditure was fifty thousand gold pounds.

Even with the financial might of Teresa’s family, the cost was staggering—let alone for Dean Josue of the Feng Enliso Research Center.

For the past few days especially, a short Skeleton Mage had been squatting by the Research Center’s entrance almost every day. He would use his red-glowing eyes to intently stare at every vehicle transporting materials into the center, all while scribbling and sketching in a notebook he carried.

His serious demeanor was so suspicious that Teresa began to think he was stealing their research, and she had even assigned a legendary-level guard to tail him for a while...

"ROAR—"

Just then, an even more agonized roar shattered Wei’en’s train of thought.

"Hm? The Origin Core power from the advancement was successfully diverted?"

Through his spiritual perception, he observed the Origin Core in the zombie’s head, now strengthened by the advancement. It siphoned off a black gleam, invisible to the naked eye, that traveled down along the Sarr metal bone structure and flowed into the Mechanical Heart.

WHIRRR...

Upon receiving the injection of more power, the gears within the Mechanical Heart began to spin rapidly, letting out a high-pitched whir.

On the surface of the exposed gears, Rune Patterns formed a seamless circuit. This kept the intricate Metal Devouring Array perpetually active, causing it to consume the metal near the Binding Platform and use it to reinforce the alloy’s strength.

After trying numerous methods, Wei’en and the other researchers had established a clear goal for the modified zombie’s advancement: the enhancements to its original Undying Body would proceed as normal, while the mechanical parts would focus on increasing the metal’s durability!

Originally, he had hoped that when the zombie advanced, its mechanical parts would gain Extraordinary traits just like its Undying Body did—for instance, developing razor-sharp claws or a rending ability upon advancing from Captain-level to Minister-level.

After a few failed experiments, he decisively abandoned that idea. Instead, he opted to focus on making the mechanical body’s durability match, or even surpass, the enhancements of the Undying Body.

Although this drastically lowered the experiment’s difficulty, it still required a great many things.

To that end, Wei’en had intensely absorbed the runic knowledge in his mind. He spent three days learning how to draw sixty runes and construct ten Rune Arrays. From this, he created the Metal Devouring Array, the Mechanical Enhancement Rune, and, by referencing the Heart of Elements, the Mechanical Heart Rune Device.

Unlike the Mechanical Heart’s Core Rune from the Mechanical School’s enhancement system, the Mechanical Heart Rune Device was designed to serve as a second Origin for the Undead Creature, thereby strengthening its control over the mechanical body.

He also innovated on the existing "Joy Potion," creating a version suitable for Undead Creatures that he named the "Undead Joy Potion." Its purpose was to bolster their Spiritual Power during the experiment, helping them endure the lengthy process...

Though the process was full of twists and obstacles, Wei’en relied on the wealth of foundational knowledge in his mind and had pushed his current methods to their absolute limit!

Not only that, but he had even planned out an improvement plan for enhancing the Mechanical Undead...

"Experiment #63: Mechanical Undead Advancement. Target: Zombie. Level: Captain-level. Modification Area: Half-body. Materials: Ghost Stone, Sarr metal, iron, and Type-3 new alloy."

"Runes: Soul Fusion Rune, Earth Spirit Rune Array, Metal Devouring Array (New), Mechanical Enhancement Rune (New), Mechanical Heart Rune Device (New)."

"Magic Potion: Undead Joy Potion (New)."

"Log Entry 1: After the fused and modified zombie has devoured enough Undead Origin Cores to reach the advancement threshold, activate the Mechanical Heart Rune Device first. This ensures that upon completion of the advancement, a portion of the enhanced Origin Power will be diverted to the Mechanical Heart, eventually reaching a state of equilibrium."

"Log Entry 2: For mechanical enhancement, activate the Metal Devouring Array to consume the prepared metal materials (valued at two hundred gold pounds). Then, activate the Mechanical Enhancement Rune to reinforce the mechanical body."

"Conclusion: Zombie advancement successful. Formation of the Mechanical Heart as a second Origin Core successful. Reinforcement of the mechanical body successful. The associative modification experiment between the Mechanical Heart and the mechanical body is a success..."