Chapter 557 (2/2)

Now, this was by no means a simple task mechanically, to transform heat into energy. In fact, it was near impossible in a compact series of machinery. But the ability of the System to simplify processes was a godsend, in this case. It took quite a bit of studying and experimentation, but Randidly was able to intuit the inner process of the transition on the spear and bastardize it to work with much simpler inputs and outputs.

It was almost less work than it sounded; most of the runes on the spear were associated with carefully encapsulating Aether and Meaning. Heat and electricity was child’s play, in comparison.

“Runes. I had to do a lot of work to make the details work, and they are honestly pretty inefficient.” Randidly said, downplaying the research and resources he had relied upon to create such a tiny thin. “But they function well as a heat sink, even now. With some more time and funding-”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, anything.” For the first time since he had met the other fastidious man, Randidly heard Henrik laugh. It was honestly slightly off-putting. It sounded strangely like goat burps. “Bababababa…. With this…. The scale of the drones we can make… Ah! If you don’t mind would you allow me to watch the process of engraving? You’ll be compensated for the process, of course…”

Shrugging, Randidly acquiesced. His technique in Mana Engraving was not something that someone could casually copy. In addition to his high Control and Focus, and the stability that his large Mana pool provided, Randidly’s Mana Engraving Skill had reached 115 in the past few days; if Henrik could watch and replicate it Randidly would eat his non-existent shoe.

Much to Randidly’s chagrin, he failed the first time he attempted it. Gritting his teeth, he did it again, this time successfully. All the while, Henrik was scribbling notes furiously. Afterward, he thanked Randidly and gave him access to several higher tiered plans, for free. Unfortunately, most of these Randidly had obtained by destroying the drones in the attack on the organ harvesting plant. But Randidly could say that, so he could only smile and accept.

Besides, these plans weren’t warped by heat like the real metal copies he had obtained were. There weren’t any areas of difference that Randidly could notice, but having the full plans at his disposal was a good thing.

Afterward, Randidly immediately began work on a flying combat drone. Because he was able to basically ignore the heat problem that had plagued him previously, Randidly designed a whole new model based on combining the Skylark with a ground-based upgrade on the Porpoise, called the Armored Turtle. The Armored Turtles selling point was two low bore railguns mounted on a swivel on its back.

With the heat dissipation, Randidly could double the size of these guns without many problems. Increased propulsion was necessary, but also easily within his abilities without the problem of heat. After he created it, the real question for Randidly was actually whether to give this over to Ghost’s control.

To ascertain the deadliness of the larger rail guns, he tested the shot on himself. The shot left him with small burns in the area of impact, but also with a bleeding would. This made Randidly’s expression grim. The drone he created would likely have suspect accuracy, as it was a flying railgun, and it also possessed a limited ammunition cache. But its long range and high penetrative power would still make it dangerous.

Besides, Randidly didn’t doubt that they would try and slap the larger rail gun on ground mounted drones to increase the accuracy…

There was one bright spot: the railgun was good against armor, but not against energy-based shields. Even Randidly’s positively anemic Mana Shield stopped the projectile dead. That was likely a function of his Intelligence stat, but it also meant that most people from Zone 32 would be safe.

As for the people here…

Well. Randidly felt it very powerfully at that moment, the lives of all of the people who would possibly be affected by his decision here. But without these tools he could provide, people couldn’t stand up against the wave of Raid Bosses that were rapidly popping up. They needed these weapons. And for the short term, anyway, every drone would need to be handmade by Randidly. No one else had the Mana Engraving to equal him.

And so it was that Baloo Erickson invented the Pterodactyl drone, with two swiveling railguns and enough mobility to escape most flying monsters below Level 40. He provided Henrik with the blueprints and the prototype. The man was too busy drooling to respond, but Randidly figured he would get paid for his trouble eventually.

Leaving, Randidly shook his head. How quickly this recalcitrant man had shifted his opinion was somewhat amusing.

Once he was away from the drone manufacturing zone, Randidly gathered Tykes and Dinesh and headed South. It was time to do a little pest control in Lake Apollo.