I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

Rhodes focused his attention on the interface in the center of the console.

There was a recess there, about the size of a human head, with a ring of symbols engraved around it, like an authorization.

The groove was originally supposed to be inlaid with some kind of crystal or core plate, but it is now empty, and there are obvious scratches on the edges indicating that it was forcibly removed.

"The authorizer isn't here," Rhodes said in a low voice.

Professor Isaac frowned. "Could it be in another room?"

Rhodes said, "It could be inside the sphere, or it could be in the command node of a hibernating golem. Let's look for it."

He placed his hand on the edge of the control panel, channeling his mental energy to sense the residual magic within.

As an intermediate apprentice, he was able to detect extremely faint loops.

The console is not purely mechanical; it has magic circuits, but it's more like a transmission line than a spell circle.

Rhodes tried to infuse a wisp of magic into the circuit.

There was no backlash from the loop; instead, a thin line slowly lit up, extending along the platform and eventually disappearing at the pipe interface at the bottom of the sphere.

A clearer spot of light flashed in a groove on the surface of the sphere, as if it had been awakened to take a breath, before returning to silence.

Professor Isaac's eyes lit up: "It responded, which means it can still be started."

Sieg also saw the changes on the surface of the sphere.

He stepped forward, his hand resting on the hilt of the short sword at his waist. He didn't draw it, but the meaning was clear: don't delay.

Rod looked up at the bottom of the sphere.

He discovered an inconspicuous access panel next to the thickest main pipe.

The access panel is sealed with a metal plate and has four locking positions. These positions are not keyholes, but rather have a structure similar to push-buttons.

It appears to be an entry point left for maintainers.

Rod walked over, reached out and pressed his hand on the metal plate. His stone skin was instantly activated locally, and the hardness of his fingertips increased.

He pressed down hard, and all four pressure points sank down at the same time. The metal plate made a slight clicking sound and retracted inward, revealing a narrow hole about the thickness of an arm.

The hole is very deep, and you can see a complex metal skeleton and glowing stone strips.

The glowing stone strips were a dark reddish color, as if they had been in a low-power state for a long time.

Rhodes handed the windproof lamp to the professor: "Shine it here, don't move around."

He reached into the hole; the temperature inside was high, but not hot.

My fingertips touched a component that resembled a lock cylinder. The component had a ring of patterns that were completely different from the vengeful spirit patterns on the Lionheart Signet Ring, and were more like structured engravings.

He couldn't remove the entire lock cylinder, as that would trigger an abnormal reaction from the sphere and would also be discovered by Sieg.

What he needs to do is remove the master control identifier from the lock cylinder and replace it with a pseudo identifier, so that outsiders will think that the core is still usable, but they will not be able to truly awaken the Legion.

It's like performing surgery to remove a critical nerve, but preserving the organ's shape and basic function.

He manipulated the faint magical refraction of the [Crystal Shell] to minimize light reflection from his arm movements within the hole, while simultaneously controlling his breathing to prevent unnecessary movements of his shoulder and back muscles.

Rod gently scraped away the scale buildup on the edge of the lock cylinder with his fingernail, finding a tiny crack.

He slid the tip of the Dark Serpent dagger from his sleeve and inserted it very slowly into the gap, prying open the outer shell as if he were prying open a periosteum.

The shell wasn't broken; it was just slightly widened by him.

Inside, a black chip the size of a fingernail was visible, with extremely fine metal wires connecting its edges.

The surface of the chip is engraved with tiny symbols, which are consistent with the symbols for the master control on the black stone slab.

Rhodes' heartbeat was steady. He placed the tip of his dagger against the connecting wires beneath the chip and gently flicked it. The first wire broke without a spark. The second wire broke, and the light spots on the chip's surface dimmed for a moment. The third wire broke, and the chip completely lost its responsiveness.

The light spot in a groove on the surface of the sphere also went out.

Rod immediately reset the casing, pressed it back to its original position with his fingers, and hid the chip in his palm.

He did not turn around immediately.

Sig was less than five meters behind him, his gray eyes like two scanners, watching every muscle twitch in Rhodes' back.

At this distance, any unnecessary movement will be interpreted as abnormal.

Rhodes remained bent over, his left hand still holding Professor Isaac's arm, while his right hand, under the guise of adjusting his cuffs, quickly pulled inward.

He constructed a basic zero-ring spell model in his mind: "Hand of the Wizard".

An invisible force field was generated inside his sleeve, pushing the black crystal along the inside of his forearm and precisely into the hidden pocket inside his shirt, which was specifically used to store magic stones.

The entire process took less than a second, without any significant physical movements. There was only a very slight friction sound between the fabrics, but this sound was perfectly masked by the low hum of the surrounding pipes.

Rod straightened up and turned to face Sieg.

He looked tired and tense, as if he had just completed a precise operation, and there was even a fine layer of sweat on his forehead.

"Lord Sig," Rhodes' voice was slightly breathless, "the internal transmission lock has been reset, but I've discovered a problem."

Sieg didn't speak, but simply raised his chin slightly, signaling him to continue.

The hand that was pressing on the hilt of the Demon-Slaying Short Sword did not loosen.

Rhodes stepped aside, making way for the control panel, and pointed to the still empty slot and the indicator light next to it that was flashing a faint red light.

"This core hasn't been completely extinguished, but it's merely alive."

Rhodes walked to the control panel, hovering his hands over the severely corroded joysticks. Instead of touching them directly, he used his mental power to guide the remaining magical energy within.

Look here.

As Rhodes's mental energy was injected, a row of runes on the surface of the control panel lit up.

Immediately afterwards, the huge gray sphere, twenty meters in diameter, emitted a muffled hum.

In the grooves on the surface of the sphere, the intermittent light spots suddenly connected into a line. Although the light was still dim, it did form a closed loop.

"Buzz~~"

A slight tremor came from the ground, and the steam that had been stagnant in the surrounding thick pipes began to flow slowly, emitting a hissing sound of pressure relief.

Professor Isaac's eyes widened, and he was about to exclaim in surprise, but was stopped by Rhodes' stern gaze.

"That's the problem."

Rhodes pointed to the dim band of light on the sphere's surface and explained to Sieg, "The energy circuit is open, but the power is too low. This factory has been shut down for thousands of years, and the energy supply from the earth's ley lines has long been cut off. Right now, it's like a person who hasn't eaten for months; it doesn't even have the strength to stand up, let alone drive those massive construct legions."

Sieg frowned, took two steps forward, and scanned back and forth between the huge sphere and Rhodes' face.

He didn't understand ancient engineering, but he understood people.

He was observing Rod's heartbeat, breathing, and pupil changes.

Rod accepted this scrutiny with equanimity.

"Moreover, there is an even more troublesome limitation."

Rhodes pointed to the empty slot in the center of the console where the licenser should have been inserted.

"There should have been a physical authorizer here, but it's gone. According to the logs on the Black Stone, the ancient controllers set up a double safeguard to prevent the core from being stolen."

Rhodes looked into Sig’s eyes and said, word by word, “In addition to the physical authorizer, we also need a biometric key.”

Sieg's eyes flickered, and he raised his hand, making a questioning gesture.

"A specific life frequency."

Rhodes explained, "The rulers of ancient mortal dynasties would record their biological characteristics, perhaps in their blood or a specific brainwave frequency, into their core. Without this key, even if we fill the core with energy, it will only be a giant bomb, not an obedient soldier."

This is a lie that is half true and half false.

The core does require authorization, but the authorization identification chip is currently in Rhodes's arms.

If Rhodes wanted to, he could find a way to crack the chip or recreate a licenser at any time.

But he had to convince Sieg that the core was now incomplete and unusable immediately.

Only in this way will the king not be in a hurry to move the core away, and Rhodes will have the opportunity to monopolize it in subsequent research.