Pioneer Wizard's Notebook

The bear claw scalpel cut open the abdominal cavity of the bone-crushing steel louse, and a small amount of earth blood dripped into it.

A yellowish glow burst forth, and just as the two were about to merge, the scalpel vanished as a blur.

The sharp blade tip danced like a butterfly, carving runes on the two protruding mouthparts, guiding the blood of the earth to complete its final evolution.

Lind's arm was steady.

The body of the Bone-Shattering Steel Lice is so small that the margin for error in engraving the runes is essentially zero.

In terms of the difficulty of modification alone, it is even greater than that of the Ash Furnace Rat.

This allowed him to concentrate fully during the renovation process, not daring to be distracted for even a moment.

Fortunately, the effort finally paid off.

After a full day of experimental research, the tenth test subject, the Bonebreaker Steel Lice, successfully had the runes inscribed.

The blood of the earth transformed its body, turning its original light gray snow-mimicking color into a heavy, deep yellow.

Two pincer-like mandibles twisted and intertwined, transforming into a grotesque silver-white drill bit, containing powerful destructive force from power fluctuation runes.

The modification experiment appears to have been a success.

Now it's time to test the actual results.

Linde took out a sample of iron ore he had brought back from the valley and placed it next to the little creature, waiting to see how it would perform.

However, after a long while, the evolved Bonebreaker Steellice remained motionless.

Even when Lind pushed it with his finger, it still didn't react.

Perhaps annoyed by the urging, it even turned over and pretended to be dead, belly up.

"I'm your guide in evolution, you're practically a creator, aren't you? Isn't this a bit too disrespectful?"

Linde continued to poke it with his finger, hoping the little thing would wake up in time and get up to work.

The Steel Lice already possessed a certain level of intelligence, and after completing its evolution, it further enhanced its abilities.

Their intelligence is no lower than that of an adult wolfhound, and is equivalent to that of a six- or seven-year-old human child.

It may not understand Lind's language, but it can sense the thoughts emanating from his spirit and can basically understand most of them.

This is also why these bone-crushing steel lice gave up resistance and allowed him to carry out the modification experiments.

Linde didn't expect that right after it evolved, the little thing would go on strike, acting like a lazybones who didn't want to work and just wanted to lie down.

There was no response after urging them for a long time.

Linde shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to take out the magic liquid of the superior sunflower and drip a drop in front of it.

hum!

The sound waves of flapping wings rang out, and the little thing immediately turned over and sucked up the magic liquid in front of it like a greedy puppy.

The undulating abdominal cavity indicates that it still desires more.

"Work first, then eat; lazybones get no food."

Lind grumbled in dissatisfaction, pointing his finger at the iron ore.

This time, he didn't need to urge him again.

The little creature flapped its wings and took flight, spreading its three pairs of abdominal legs and embracing the iron ore with its body.

Then he lowered his head and aligned the spiral drill angle on the mouthpiece downwards.

Powder sputtering and augers easily cut through iron ore, while the piercing sound waves generated by high-frequency vibrations echoed in the laboratory.

Under the influence of invisible shock waves, the iron ore was quickly shattered into powder.

Most of them were swallowed into the little creature's abdominal cavity.

Useless rock dust is continuously ejected from its tail.

The iron oxide contained in the ore undergoes a series of internal reactions, gradually accumulating into a layer of steel scales on the upper layer of the wings on the back.

With a bang, the steel scales detached from his back and were delivered to Lind.

The little thing felt that it had done enough work to deserve that tiny drop of magic liquid, so it lay still on the table.

"You only cook what you eat? That's quite particular, not bad at all."

Linde understood what it was thinking, so he stopped urging it and let it go to sleep on its own.

He took out the wizard's journal and made a record of the situation.

【Name: Rock-crushing Steel Lice】

[Type: Extraordinary Monster]

[Description: Evolved from the Bone-Shattering Steel Lizard by fusing the blood of the earth and the power fluctuation runes, it possesses a hard body and an indestructible spiral drill horn.]

[Skill 1: High-Frequency Oscillation: The spiral drill angle on the mouthpiece can generate shock waves, shattering any solid matter it comes into contact with.]

[Skill ② Iron Smelting: The abdomen can dissolve ore powder, purifying iron ore and generating steel scales on the back.]

Linde named the little creature in front of him the Rock-Breaking Steel Lice.

The modification experiment was a success.

The evolved Rockbreaker Steel Lizard is fully capable of carrying out its bio-metallurgical mining plan, easily drilling through the ore deposits and extracting iron ore.

It can even skip the subsequent iron ore smelting and directly produce high-purity steel on the spot in one step.

It does consume a lot of higher-grade sunflowers.

This isn't a big problem; the current size of the Demon Field is sufficient to handle this expenditure.

This is actually good news.

The Rockbreaker Steel Lice showed no aggression or desire for flesh; it was docile and willing to help with chores as long as it was fed magic potion.

As a semi-creator, Linde communicated with them spiritually throughout the process, and their relationship was relatively close.

As long as they are taken care of properly and not starved, there is no need to worry too much about them harming the surrounding workers and ordinary residents.

Furthermore, due to the limitations of the inheritance of the Blood of the Earth, the Rockbreaker Steel Lice has difficulty reproducing.

The birth of the next generation often means the death of the mother.

This is a common breeding problem for extraordinary monsters, so there is no need to worry about the potential spread of their population after they are released into the wild.

Linde felt relieved. Although he would need to spend more time modifying the Rockbreaker Steel Lice, he could avoid creating potential problems for the future of the manor.

Otherwise, if the sky-covering rock-crushing steel lice were to suddenly riot one day...

The thought of that scene sent chills down Lin De's spine.

Large-scale production tools used for construction, when actually used to kill, can sometimes be more terrifying than military weapons.

After organizing all the data from the transformation, Linde adjusted his mindset and continued to invest in the bloodline transformation of the Rockbreaker Steel Lice.

With the data improved, the transformation went exceptionally smoothly.

A total of thirty Rockbreaker Steellice have completed their evolution.

Linde stopped the experiment; this quantity was enough for iron ore mining.

The estate is currently not large and does not require much steel.

He put away the scalpel and equipment, and then sealed the blood of the earth back into the experimental case.

A fist-sized amount of Earth Blood, half of which is consumed while researching Power Runes.

The modification of the rock-breaking steel lice consumed another third of the remaining material.

Linde estimated that the remaining blood of the earth could at most be used to modify a monster the size of a Frostfang Wolf, or two human knights who were about to advance to the transcendent level.

How exactly it will be used depends on the actual situation going forward.

With Rockbreakers and enough magic potion, Lind left the laboratory and rode off to the iron ore region in the valley.

All preparations for mining have been completed, and it is time to officially develop this iron mine and rekindle the fires in the manor's silent blacksmith shop.

The Shield Guard's heavy armor and his plate armor are still eagerly waiting.