Chapter 550 - 219: This Is Fraud~

Not only had he signed an equal contract with the Spiritual Mystery School and reaped a host of benefits, but his Destiny Barrier Spell had also been upgraded to the Demigod level for free.

’Hmm, Demigod... So Demigod is the level above Legendary?’

A surge of motivation washed over Wei’en. Great Mage, Legendary, Demigod... Godhood. ’As long as I complete this path, my safety in this world will be guaranteed!’

’Time to continue the research project!’

With the Destiny Barrier’s protection, he no longer had to worry about the Dawn Church or that unknown entity locking onto his position for the time being. He could now focus solely on improving his strength.

With that in mind, Wei’en opened one of the Era Relics he had selected—one concerning undead modification—and began to read.

As he perused its contents, he jotted down useful information on a blank sheet of parchment.

’The structure of Undead Creatures, the Origin Core, and the Undying Body...’

’When using their abilities, the Origin Core treats the body as a tool or weapon. For magic, this means engraving a Rune Array onto flesh or bone to cast a spell.’

’Close combat is even simpler. Power flows from the Origin, augmenting the body for battle...’

’Research indicates that the devouring ability of Undead Creatures is instinctual, but their conversion efficiency is only about ten percent. In other words, to increase its Origin by one point, it needs to devour other Undead Creatures worth ten points of Origin...’

’Advancement is even more straightforward. As long as the Origin grows stronger, the Undead Creature’s level will rise naturally...’

Having recorded the useful information, Wei’en had a better understanding of Undead Creatures.

Their massive bodies were, in practice, just a layer of skin attached to the Origin Core. When Origin Power was transmitted to the body, there was almost no time lag...

This was unlike living human bodies, which were constrained by the speed of thought.

’If that’s the case, then the mechanically modified body—well, the Undying Body—must retain its undying properties, as well as its seamless connection to the Origin Core...’

’In other words, the mechanical body must be thoroughly integrated into the Undying Body. Otherwise, the augmentation would be just as those research reports described: nothing more than strapping mechanical equipment onto an Undead Creature.’

Wei’en continued to write a few points for his plan on the parchment.

’One: Find a way to fuse machinery with the Undying Body.’

’Two: The mechanical parts of the body must be able to increase in strength along with the Origin, or be able to evolve when new materials are added.’

’Three: Before any of that, I need to thoroughly understand the physical structure of zombie-type creatures, the pathways the Origin Core uses to control the body, the selection of Rune Arrays for their skills, and so on...’

Looking at the list of problems on the parchment, Wei’en scratched his head. ’This is a lot of work.’

But he knew that to reach his ultimate goal, he had to solve each of these problems. Otherwise, the augmented Undead Creature would just be an incomplete prototype.

With this in mind, Wei’en activated his black communicator and contacted the research institute.

"Director, it’s a pleasure to see you."

Teresa’s figure appeared on the holographic screen. She was holding two scrolls of Era Relics, and behind her gold-rimmed glasses, her eyes were filled with excitement.

"Mm."

Wei’en said calmly, "I’ve finished reading the materials. We can begin the practical experiments for the project."

"What?!" Teresa froze. She turned in a daze to look at the other researchers, who were still buried in the materials on undead modification. "You... you’ve read it all?!"

"Mm."

Wei’en nodded. He was inwardly amused by her reaction. ’Is it really that surprising?’

Still, he was quite satisfied. This reaction, at least, showed that his abilities were well on their way to winning over these researchers.

"Have Escobar and the others come over. I have instructions."

"Yes, right away, Director!"

Teresa took a deep breath, discreetly dropped the relics she was holding onto the floor, and waved to the equally shocked Escobar and the others, signaling them to hurry over.

A moment later, all the researchers were standing before the screen, staring at Wei’en with varied expressions. ’What kind of prodigy reads through all that material so quickly?’

Unaware of their thoughts, Wei’en held up the parchment. "I’ve already outlined the next few problems we need to solve," he said. "Teresa, take notes."

"Yes."

"One: The research subject for this project is zombie-type creatures. First, we need to find a suitable metal that can fuse with their bodies. I mean a complete fusion—a material that can connect directly to the Origin Core..."

This was the crucial point. If they couldn’t find a suitable material, the resulting mechanical augmentations would likely be unable to improve along with the Origin Core’s advancements.

"Two: Compile a list of all Magic Runes or Arrays used by zombie-type creatures. I recall the materials provided by the School contained some relevant information..."

"Three: Advancement experiments. I need a detailed report on the process of change in the Origin Core and the body of a zombie-type creature as it advances. This experiment will be conducted concurrently with the first task, and I will be participating in it myself."

"Four: Fusion experiments. After finding a suitable metal, we will conduct the experiments from points one and three on the zombie-type creatures until the changes in the mechanical components’ capabilities are synchronized with the changes in the Undying Body..."

"Five..."

As Wei’en laid out the plan for the next stages of the project, the disbelief in the eyes of Teresa and the others transformed into excitement.

Whether it was Escobar, Ausel, or Christa, all of them had experience both in independently completing research projects and in participating in projects at other institutes.