It felt so good to be close to the witch!

The "mechanical colonization" technology was one of the experiments conducted by the Mind Theory faction to solve the problem of the last 10% of legendary knights undergoing mechanization.

The Mind Theory School believes that once they complete the final 10% of body mechanization and make up for the last physical defects, they will be able to achieve their ultimate sublimation, and their combat power at the same level will officially surpass that of the legendary knights of the Radiant Empire.

The legendary knight of the Mind School has undergone 90% mechanical modification, covering most areas of his body. The only two problems that have not yet been solved are his heart and brain.

"Mechanical invasion" is one of the products that emerged to address the need for mechanization of the heart.

The heart is the source of life. Once the heart is lost, even a legendary knight of the Heart School will die within a certain period of time. The only difference between them and ordinary people is that the legendary knights have superhuman vitality, which allows them to survive for a longer period of time after losing their heart.

The key technology of "mechanical colonization" is a special chip, also known as the "mechanical colonization core." The specific manufacturing process is a closely guarded secret that the gray-robed man, Miarko, does not know. His mission with the mechanical witch, Toni, is to implant a "mechanical colonization core" codenamed 003 into the body of a berserk creature native to the Radiant Empire and observe its specific changes.

In fact, this was not the first time the Mind School had conducted experiments on the mechanization of the heart; "mechanical colonization" had also been tried in secret laboratories within the Kolei Empire.

There is 003, and naturally there were 001 and 002 before that.

However, the first two experiments resulted in indescribable tragedies.

For some reason, creatures modified by "mechanical invasion," whether animals or humans, lose their minds and frantically attack any flesh-and-blood creatures within their sight.

The creatures bitten by them will develop large areas of metallicity on their bodies and become equally bloodthirsty and frenzied.

The Kolei Empire paid a heavy price to suppress the two "mechanical colonization incidents." From then on, all forms of "mechanical colonization" experiments were strictly prohibited within the Kolei Empire. Once discovered, no leniency would be shown, and the entire operation would be eradicated from its source.

However, the yearning for mechanical flight could not possibly be stopped by a mere ban.

The Mind Theory faction's high-ranking members secretly developed a version of "Mechanical Colonization Core 003" and dispatched several teams to infiltrate the Radiant Empire to conduct experiments.

It must be said that the leaders of the Mind Theory School are quite formidable.

This 003 version of the mechanical colonization core has been significantly improved. In the first three days after being implanted into the heart of a black bear, the bear's appearance remained unchanged, but its internal organs gradually began to become metallic. This transformation from the inside out is exactly what the Mind Theory School has been constantly pursuing.

But unsurprisingly, an unexpected event occurred.

On the fourth day, 73 hours after the mechanical implantation core was implanted, the black bear began to grow rapidly, evolving into a ferocious animal, and its temperament changed drastically, becoming as bloodthirsty and insane as in the previous two experiments.

In addition, the mutated black bear released an extremely strong pulse wave, causing the gray-robed man Miarko and the mechanical witch Toni, whose bodies had been mechanized, to fall into a state of temporary physical malfunction and become unable to move. This allowed the black bear to rush out of the experimental base and then encounter the Black Stone Territory's grain purchasing team, which led to the series of events that followed.

After learning the whole story, Roy was both amused and exasperated, but also quite serious.

Ironically, Reid and his companions were caught in the crossfire, unfortunately encountering a giant black bear that had just rushed down the mountain from the experimental base.

What's truly alarming is the terrifying nature of this thing called the "mechanical colonization core."

If the giant black bear is discovered much later, resulting in a large number of living beings being contaminated by the machine, the consequences will be unimaginable.

This should also be part of the Kolei Empire's conspiracy.

Even if the experiment fails, the spreading mechanical contamination can still deplete the Radiant Empire's manpower from within.

Besides the beginning and end of the incident, Roy also learned about the general situation of the Imperial Magic Machinery of Cole and the special nature of the mechanical witch Tonière from the gray-robed man, Yarko.

Although the extraordinary knights of the Kolei Empire are divided into those who believe in the body and those who believe in the mind, they are the same in using external magical weapons.

External magical weapons are divided into two main categories: magical firearms and magical explosives.

The former can be further subdivided according to its use. For example, the "Break-203" used by the gray-robed Miarko is a type of magic-powered sniper rifle.

The latter commonly includes "magic individual grenade" and "magic armor-piercing bomb". In addition, Miarko also revealed a very important piece of information: not long ago, the Kolei Empire dropped a super high-powered explosive called "Meteor" on the Solid Stone Wall, which directly collapsed a corner of the Solid Stone Wall that had remained unbroken for hundreds of years.

Meanwhile, the grey-robed man Miarko and the mechanical witch Toni were high-ranking members of the Mind Theory faction who, taking advantage of the gap in the magic array that caused the destruction of the solid stone wall during the "Meteor" experiment, infiltrated the Radiant Empire from underground in a special vehicle called the "Excavator."

The magical weapons of the Kolei Empire were a little different from what Roy had imagined; only extraordinary knights could use them with the help of battle aura, and ordinary knights could not use them.

It's not that the Kolei Empire couldn't produce a version for ordinary people, but without the aid of battle aura, pure kinetic energy shooting is too weak for extraordinary knights and has little meaning.

As for the special characteristics of the mechanical witch Toni...

We must first talk about the situation of the witches of the Cole Empire.

In the Kolei Empire, the witch's fate was even more tragic than in the Radiant Empire.

Once a witch is discovered, she will be forcibly captured, a control chip will be implanted in her brain, and she will be placed under the jurisdiction of a special department called the "Witch Research Department" in the Kolei Empire.

The Witch Research Department, as the name suggests, is a special department that conducts research on witches.

All captured witches must first undergo inhumane and cruel brainwashing. Those who resist strongly will be used as experimental subjects, while those who are successfully brainwashed will become members of special forces and carry out various missions.

It is worth mentioning that the witch's body is extremely tough, making her a coveted experimental subject for researchers from all sides of the Kolei Empire. The only pity is that the witch is susceptible to pollution and has a very short "use period". The more experiments are conducted, the higher the degree of pollution and corrosion, and she often becomes "unusable" in a short time.

The witch Toni's innate ability is metal manipulation, which is why her body has a high affinity for machinery.

Based on this, although Toni was among those with a strong desire to resist, the higher-ups of the Witch Research Department still went to great lengths to customize a special "control chip" for Toni, suppressing her subjective instincts and causing her subjective will to fall into a deep sleep under extreme torment. Then, the chip controlled her body, turning her into an obedient "cyborg".

Due to her special aptitude, even though Toni was only at the witch stage, her body had already undergone a terrifying 60% mechanical modification, making her combat power comparable to a Gold Knight. If she hadn't encountered Ais, who had Grand rank strength, Roy alone might not have been able to defeat her.

It is foreseeable that if Tonière reaches the Grand rank, her body's mechanization will be comparable to that of a legendary knight. If she can reach the rank of Great Witch, she may even be able to "ascend mechanically".

Of course, the Grand Rank and the Great Witch are just wishful thinking on the part of the higher-ups in the Mind Theory faction; they themselves know that the possibility is almost nonexistent.

Since the establishment of the Witch Research Department, none of the brainwashed witches have ever broken through to the Grand rank.

Through research, the Witch Research Department also discovered that the power of the mind, or rather the soul, plays a decisive role in the breakthrough of a witch's strength.

A brainwashed witch loses her mental power, so how can she break through?

This is why Tonigne's subjective consciousness was only suppressed and dormant, rather than being directly destroyed.

The leaders of the Mind Theory School still harbor a sliver of ambition.

Having explained the reasons above, we can now understand the current situation of the mechanical witch Toni: her main consciousness is dormant, but driven by the built-in instructions of her chip, when faced with an insurmountable enemy, she will detonate the power core within her body, not seeking to kill the enemy, but only to destroy herself.

After draining the grey-robed man, Miarko, completely dry, Roy smashed his heart with a single punch, thus offering solace to the spirit of the Blackrock knight who died at his hands.

Afterwards, Roy returned to the cell where the mechanical witch Toni was imprisoned, and fell into deep thought as he looked at the mechanical girl who had been frozen again.

Should we kill her? Or deal with her differently?

Killing the mechanical witch Toninet would be simple, but it would be utterly meaningless. At best, it would only destroy a "mechanical doll" of the Cole Empire, which would not benefit Roy at all.

Ultimately, Toni is also a pitiful person; everything she has done so far has been based on the control of the chip.

Of course, this is also largely due to Tonine not killing the Blackrock Knights.

Otherwise, Roy wouldn't have considered any other possibilities; he would have just killed him and been done with it.

But if we don't kill the mechanical girl, how can we get her to regain her consciousness?

After learning about Toni's situation, Roy knew that the only way to prevent her from self-destructing was to awaken her dormant consciousness and free her body from the chip's control.

Knowing is one thing, but figuring out how to wake her up is another.

After all, Roy knew absolutely nothing about magical machinery, let alone high-end human magical mechanical modification.

He had just interrogated the gray-robed man, Miarko, trying to get the specific principles of the magic-powered machinery from him, but this guy was just a "pure user" who knew nothing about the core knowledge. He only knew that the magic-powered machinery was a special kind of equipment that combined mechanics and battle aura.

This is not surprising. Many things are simple to use, but manufacturing them is a completely different story. Just like the Blue Star mobile phone in Roy's previous life, anyone can use it after a simple lesson, but how many people know the principles of a mobile phone or how to manufacture one?

As Roy approached the ice block that had frozen Tonigne, he rested his chin on his hand and pondered silently.

As he got closer, he could sense the thick, deep pollution emanating from the mechanical girl's body.

Judging by the proportions, it is between 90% and 95%, and is already on the verge of getting out of control.

That's probably why the Corle Empire sent Tonine to carry out this mission.

It gives off a vibe that even if a mission fails, the experimental materials can be destroyed by another country.

At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Roy's mind—if I reduce the pollution in the mechanical witch Toni, could I stimulate the awakening of her subjective consciousness?

-

(It seems I've recently tested positive again, and my health is quite poor, so updates will be less frequent. Please forgive me, dear readers.)

(It's almost the end of the month, please vote for me!)

Chapter 127 From today onwards, you are my captive.

After a brief moment of thought, Roy decided to remove some of the corruption from the mechanical witch Toninet.

According to his own understanding, while the control chip played a role in the dormancy of Toni's subjective consciousness, wasn't it also a contributing factor to the pollution?

The control chip used pain to suppress Toni's subjective consciousness, but human instinct caused Toni to resist, and resistance required the use of magic.

The more magic is used, the deeper the pollution becomes.

The pollution inflicts both physical and spiritual torment on the witch.

The more severe the pollution, the more pain it brought to the witch. The combined pain of pollution and the control chip was the main reason why Toni's subjective consciousness eventually fell into a deep sleep.

From this perspective, reducing pollution and alleviating Tonigne's suffering could potentially awaken her dormant consciousness.

Do it when you think of it.

Roy first had Ais break free of the ice seal, and then used his Grand Domain to continuously suppress Toni, who was on the verge of self-destruction. He then walked up to Toni and reached out to grab the fleshy part of her neck that had not undergone mechanical modification.

The mechanical girl's body was so heavily modified that it rivaled that of the Golden Knight of the Mind School. Only her neck, brain, and internal organs remained unmodified. Roy wasn't sure if touching her modified parts would allow him to absorb the contamination, so he simply grabbed her by the neck.

Talent, [Infinite Desire] activated!

"Om-"

In a silent hum, Roy gradually absorbed the pollution within the mechanical witch Toninet's body. After estimating that he had absorbed about 40% and reduced the pollution level in Toninet's body to below 60%, Roy withdrew his hand.

After advancing to Silver rank, he could absorb up to 100 units of energy at a time. Toni's magic power was around 60 units, and with a 40% contamination level, it would only be 24 units. For Roy now, there was no pressure at all.

After the pollution absorption was finished, Roy and the other witches turned their gazes to the mechanical witch Toni, waiting for her next reaction.

Is it a reawakening of subjective consciousness? Or is it having no effect?

Time passed second by second. About 10 seconds later, a faint look of confusion appeared in Toni's cold, mechanical eyes. At the same time, Ais spoke in a clear, cold voice: "The high-energy reaction in the energy core of her body is weakening."

It seems to be working!

Roy's spirits lifted.

Another ten seconds or so passed, and the confusion in the eyes of the mechanical witch Toni was slowly fading.

She instinctively tried to move, but found that apart from her face, she couldn't move any other part of her body.

After a few seconds of silence, she looked at Roy and the others in front of her, her eyes somewhat vacant, and said, "Who are you?"

The girl's voice was mechanical and cold, giving a sense of numbness, as if she no longer cared about anything.

"Toni, it seems you have awakened from your slumber."

Roy smiled faintly: "My name is Roy, the lord of Blackstone Territory in Rafa Province of the Radiant Empire."