Chapter 13 Part1 (1/2)
<chapter 13.=”” arema=”” steelworker=”” -=”” 1=””>
[Resistance, impossible. Requesting reinforcements... Code unrecognizable. Reporting to command... failed.]
[Reporting to code name A.S.]
The Bronze Golems spoke similarly to the Stone Golems, yet said something different after Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had broken all but the last two into pieces of bronze.
[No answer. Retrying...]
[Reporting to code name A.S. again. ...No signal.]
”Wait a sec. A.S.? The code name is a service center?[1]”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo vacantly listened to the golems, and right as he was about to ready his finis.h.i.+ng blow, he heard their strange remarks and stopped his axe. Jin then spoke.
”They said they had no signal, right?”
”It's not like they had no signal, but that they've been all killed, right?”
It seems like the two's opinions were in accord. The Bronze Golems, having no signal, froze in place as if they were damaged, but he didn't have the time to worry about them anymore.
”Let's collect the loot first.”
[Ceasing function.]
[Ceasing function.]
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo swung his axe and cleanly broke the golems into pieces. The golems dispersed into several particles of mana and returned to nature. He collected the dropped Perium and Bone Core at the center of where they were, and suddenly surveyed his surroundings. Naturally, he wasn't able to find anything.
But this came out of his vacant mouth.
”The connection hadn't been completely cut.”
At first, the golems had requested for reinforcements, then next attempted to report to command. After that, when none of those had worked, they reported to a figure with the code name A.S. He hypothesized that this A.S. figure was either the one in charge of the golems, or their maker.
Until now, he hadn't gotten any answers from their reports, but he'd finally seen a meaningful response. Though they had received a cold reception and gotten no signal, there was definitely a response given after receiving the report.
”But doesn't the fact that they got no signal mean that the person doesn't care, even if we a.s.sume that there was someone there to receive their report?”
”Well yeah, because he should be undead.”
While there were golems which were born when minerals were naturally saturated with mana, these golems were clearly artificial. This meant that there was a figure who created these golems and managed them, whether it be the Empire or another individual. Then that figure should obviously be undead by now. And that would explain why the golems ended up being neglected...
”I don't know how the golem's reporting system works, but if their owner truly is undead, would they really be able to respond this quickly?”
”Not all of the undead are stupid. If we exclude a high leveled undead's hatred for the living, their intelligence isn't much different from a living person's.”
”Seems that way... But if they're that smart, wouldn't they have called these golems and used them?”
”...That's true.”
At that point, they were left in the dark. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin stopped acting like Sherlock Holmes, when it didn't even fit them, and decided to continue doing what they had planned to do. That was to try reinforcing a Bone Core.
”Alright. I've chosen this one.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo chose the Bone Core that belonged to the final Bronze Golem, and placed its 'Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Bone Core' onto the floor. Seeing that, Jin asked.
”You're not actually going to use all the other Bone Cores on that one, are you?”
”Yeah, I am. There's not enough information in the Stone Golems' cores, and they've been severely damaged so there's barely any value to them. Sacrificing them is a much better option.”
It was something he'd roughly been able to figure out as he examined his own mana, and absorbed the cores through Bone Reinforcement. Though it wasn't possible to understand how the core's activation mechanism worked indirectly, he was able to figure out a way to approach this directly. Honestly, that was amazing enough.
”The Bronze Golems' cores are in better condition, but if I were to absorb them one by one, it would take a long time to add up all the information together.”
”If you use reinforcement, will you be able to restore the damaged information?”
”In my opinion... yeah. I guess there's only one way to find out.”
If he was able to restore the information within the Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Core through reinforcement, he wouldn't need a lot of them, and he would be able to figure out the secret that these golems held; if he was lucky, he might even be able to figure out the secret behind the code name A.S. too with this one core. At least, that's what Lee s.h.i.+n Woo thought.
”Then... Bone Reinforcement.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo executed Bone Reinforcement and used one Bone Core to reinforce the other. Though their levels were different, his skill activated without any problems. It was all fine and dandy until the activation, but...
[Bone Reinforcement has failed.]
”I have a bad feeling about this.”
”No, we can do it. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me who believes in you [2].”
”...”
He didn't know if it was because Jin trusted in Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, who in turn, trusted in him, but the next attempt succeeded. They rejoiced, but Lee s.h.i.+n Woo soon a.s.sumed a serious expression upon examining the information.
[Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Core]
[Original Core synchronization rate: 13.2%]
”I haven't seen that before.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo expected for there to be a +1 behind the Bone Core, but he was wrong. Instead, it indicated a synchronization rate with the original core, something that seemed slightly large-scale. It's likely that if the reinforcement was successful, this value would increase. That's when Jin asked the key question.
”What about the amount of information?”
”Hmm... It's been restored.”
It was only a small amount, but a portion of the damaged area was indeed recognizable again.
If he were to say how much, it was like when he was confused about the difference between two h.o.m.onyms in a sentence before, and now he was sure which was which as it was such a strange difference between them [3]. In any case, what's important was that he was able to restore some of the information.
Maybe the original core would appear if he completely restored the core?
'Though I don't really need to know what the original core is...'
At the very least, he was sure that he was going in the right direction. In order to more thoroughly investigate the change in the synchronization rate, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo gripped the Bone Core and continuously used Bone Reinforcement. A blinding light arose.
[Bone Reinforcement has failed.]
[Bone Reinforcement has failed.]
[Bone Reinforcement has succeeded.]
[Original Core synchronization rate: 13.4%]
”What!”
One successful reinforcement resulted in a 0.2% increase? He had 310 more Autonomous Defense Type Bone Cores, and a bit more than 100 Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Bone Cores. It would be a relief if the Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Bone Cores had a high synchronization rate, but it they didn't, he might go broke before he even attempted to use them.
”Ugh... d.a.m.n it, I'll go for it regardless!”
”See, I told you you'd feel anxious.”
”No, I believe in you. I believe in you who believes in me!”
”You know, I think there's a final version to that. Something like 'believe in the you who believes in yourself'.”
”d.a.m.n it. I really wanted to say that one...!”
It was too late to back out now. If he failed to restore the core, then he'd have no choice but to leave this place and give up!
With a heart of iron and blood, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo prepared himself to lose everything and continued with the reinforcement. Because he had used Bone Reinforcement a countless number of times, its speed was at least reliable.