Chapter 124: Ophelia

Judging solely by appearance, the creator of this mechanical race standing before them must have had impeccable aesthetics.

Its streamlined metal body was slender and elongated, completely lacking the bulky roundness common to other golems and machines; its highly anthropomorphic design made it look more like a sculptural artwork.

Its limbs were long and slender; such materials and design were theoretically extremely luxurious.

Most mechanical constructs were short, fat, and round for a reason: sufficient capacity to pack in materials was required to maintain hardness while ensuring the functionality of numerous stacked components.

"Truly beautiful, this little one." Lord Lord Kuku also praised this streamlined humanoid design.

This overly luxurious design implied the creator's supreme mastery in alloy materials and mechanical engineering.

Her limbs were slender and long; her upper limbs resembled a dancing doll's, while her lower limbs contained rollers and were composite blade-feet formed from multiple blades.

This mobility combination meant the designer had achieved perfect balance, allowing her to walk on blades in her normal state. Although time had caused most of her parts to wear down or even expose wiring, it was clear that if repaired, she would be a quite elegant "lady."

This design was also the reason Lord Lord Kuku had identified her as female at just a single glance back then.

Even now, with only half a skull remaining and electricity sparking from her exposed areas, she still reminded Li En of a delicate doll.

"So, this lich is also female?"

"Hard to say; she might not be the first contractor."

Li En and Lord Lord Kuku chatted idly while watching XT7718 adjusting her status.

This set of numbers was the code number of the combat formation in her memory, and also her temporary name.

As expected, she had basically lost all her memories.

Considering time's devastation of her memory modules and soul, this loss was likely irretrievable.

But looking back at her past, perhaps this lost memory was not necessarily a bad thing.

"... August 11th. The supply of synthetic steel for this week has been cut off again; we probably won't get the next shipment for half a month. Food is also in crisis. Our flesh-and-blood bodies are fine; those friendly mushroom people sent a batch of new mushrooms, and we gave them a batch of new alchemy formulas and potions. But the mechanical race's energy supply is also cut off. Perhaps I need to consider switching them to a new energy system. Do I have enough resources to develop one?"

Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei held a notebook, telling stories to the revived automaton.

The text on it, looking like ghostly scribbles, only she... and Li En could understand.

Even Lord Lord Kuku was checking data on the side, listening intently with a serious expression.

Most books and records had become history, but the control room's administrator logs, recorded on fixed electronic displays embedded in magic-reinforced workbenches, had been retrieved.

"... News of the civil war has come again. I have done my best to block information. Some researchers suggested halting the research on core energy, saying it is meaningless for the current situation. I responded that I would consider it, but in reality, where would I get the energy to conduct research? It is all used to recharge the mechanical race..."

Previous records were mostly research data that had already lost value; this research base was for studying core energy and minerals.

But pulling up the most recent records revealed some entries from the local "Director."

By now, the civil war had fully erupted, and this remote institute had lost contact with the headquarters.

The Director, a Grand Artificer (Legendary), was striving to maintain the status quo, waiting for a possible turning point, but what she ultimately waited for...

"... The order has been issued. The higher-ups want us to scrap all the mechanical race! How is that possible? They are our friends, our other halves, my sisters. I... I will withhold this order. I believe in my sisters; there should still be a turning point."

Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei sighed, ending the topic there.

What ultimately happened need not be dwelt upon further; all the parties involved were actually beneath the yellow earth.

"According to this record, we found a large pit containing mechanical race parts; the cores were all destroyed."

It seemed the final scrapping order was indeed executed, though perhaps not by this Director's own hand.

And the mechanical race member currently self-checking before them had obviously not been successfully scrapped.

Perhaps it was due to the protection of the Director, who was her sister, or perhaps because the base needed this clearly combat-configured "Security Captain" at that time.

Judging by the "murder scene," that Director likely still believed in her sisters at the very last moment.

Was she wrong? Probably not necessarily.

Because both Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei and Lord Lord Kuku had said that in the late stages of that disaster, the underlying programs of all mechanical race members were activated, turning them all into killing machines targeting their creators.

"... Ophelia, my sister..." At the end of every page of the log, there was this elegant signature.

The mechanical synthesized voice was yet soft and calm; the automaton recovered faster than expected.

She touched her right shoulder, as if able to feel the shattered soul within.

And her own name could no longer be found; only a combat number remained.

"... Can I use this name?" The newborn automaton, with no memories at all, chose to inherit this name.

Perhaps it was because she instinctively liked it.

"That is your own choice." Li En gave his approval.

Obsessing over the past is meaningless; even the race is gone, so dwelling on past grievances is truly somewhat foolish.

"Ophelia" nodded, then fell into silence once more.

Her twin pupils constantly scanned data streams, and several cables connecting to the main console were still glowing.

She was linking to the main console, trying to extract as much knowledge and information as possible from it.

"Let's rest here for today." At this moment, it should already be dusk outside.

Li En glanced at his companions, saw Lord Lord Kuku flipping through a book, and knew they probably couldn't leave today.

Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei was also busy; these "veterans" would definitely not leave until they had dug this place out completely.

He also saw Miss Shaliman, a physical weakling, looking at him with a pleading gaze.

It seemed she was truly exhausted and truly did not want to leave.

"Alright then. If it's just a day or two, the Dark Elf city won't have any problems."

Li En opened his book; he was actually a bit tired too. A day of travel plus combat was indeed somewhat exhausting.

For tonight's dinner, we'll just make do with dry rations.

Or perhaps later, when there's time, I can activate the mobile grill and use the meat seasoning Sul taught me, paired with dragon meat and snake meat; the taste should be quite good.

"Lord Lord Kuku, can you explain this spell to me?" Now that there was free time, Li En also started grinding.

"Ha! Ask someone else! I'm busy! How about tonight, I'll use a clone to teach you." And Lord Lord Kuku, how could she possibly abandon the research data in her hands, immediately pushing the task to others.

Li En pondered for a moment; when visiting the Heroic Soul Hall tonight, while others were learning high-tier spells, if he kept asking about first-circle magic, he would maintain a bit of the mystery and dignity of a senior!

Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei did not intervene this time because her magic system was completely incompatible with that of traditional mages, making it entirely unnecessary for her to learn.

Li En estimated that even a Magical Girl would be unable to learn it.

During their idle chat, Li En learned that although Magical Girls could take up supernatural professions, they often pursued spellcasting classes that utilized "external forces," such as Warlocks, Sorcerers, and Clerics.

Their internal magic system formed a self-contained whole, and it was likely that many Orc power systems conflicted with it.

Worth mentioning was that Magical Girls possessed no Soul abilities; of course, they actually did not care and did not need them.

"We do not lack power; in fact, being too powerful is a trouble for us." This did not seem to be mere boasting.

The supernatural system of the "Beast" required restraint; if the "Car" had too much horsepower, one press of the gas pedal might kill the driver.

"What do you want to learn? I will help you." The only one who seemed able to take the initiative was Miss Shaliman.

Although she was also only a First-Ring Mage, she was Li En's senior.

She also had enough time to slowly study those First-Ring spells.

"This one: Magic Missile."

"A classic model? I am familiar with this."

The second First-Ring spell Li En wanted to learn was the most classic one, Magic Missile, which summoned several force missiles to smash into opponents, dealing noble and pure force damage.

Clearly, he intended to remedy the weakness of his near-total lack of ranged capabilities, gaining at least some ability to shoot and interfere.

Originally, if he were to study a First-Ring offensive spell, with his Red Dragon bloodline he should have prioritized fire spells to gain greater power, but the First-Ring fire spell was Burning Hands.

"Waving a hand to send out a wave of fire, burning one's opponent... uh, does this really need to be learned?"

Now Li En could already do this; Dragon Fire would surely be more powerful than a First-Ring spell.

One still had to learn it, as low-Ring spell knowledge would become the foundation for high-Ring spells; one had to make up for skipped classes, but it was unnecessary to prioritize learning them.

Thus, Magic Missile could satisfy his needs.

As the most common ranged attack spell, although it could not perform area attacks, its range was quite long.

For Li En, since its model was extremely mature and there were numerous variants satisfying various needs, it was said that Evocation mages could even turn it into Elemental Missiles.

Also because the technique was so mature, veterans could simplify it to a single "casting gesture," allowing the caster to release it almost instantly.

On that day, Li En's mage opponent had cast this spell instantly in a moment of urgency; this meant that if practiced to a certain level, one could cast even while wearing armor (though it would still fail).

This spell was something almost no mage did not know, and Miss Shaliman had practiced it until she was thoroughly familiar with it.

The difficulties Li En, a novice, encountered were ones she had encountered herself, so her explanations flowed smoothly.

But the more she explained, the more confused Miss Shaliman became.

It was not that Li En performed exceptionally well, but rather that his talent seemed average, and there were some questions that Miss Shaliman herself had never even stumbled over.

Average talent was nothing, but it did not quite match his outrageous progress.

But Miss Shaliman glanced at Lord Lord Lord Kuku, thought of the Heroine being by his side, and pondered what to do.

Li En asked some questions and was also slightly surprised by Miss Shaliman's deep accumulation; she had indeed put in a lot of effort on the path of the mage.

The first time camping in the wild made Li En slightly excited; although most of the time was spent on study, in the evening he brought out a barbecue grill and let his companions try his cooking skills.

Finally, it was late at night; this time no one stayed up late, and everyone went back to sleep.

After all, this would mean the second night in the Hall of Heroes was beginning.

"Only one day has passed; there should be no changes." With a mindset of just getting by, Li En calmly entered the dream realm and arrived at that magnificent hall.

But very quickly, he realized he had thought too simply.

(End of this chapter)