Allen was in his workshop, performing a final check on his battle preparations.
A total of fifteen "Spider Slayers" were arranged silently in a square formation, their gleaming, cold limbs poised for action. In addition to one competition model, the group included five brand-new "Spider Slayer I" models.
In their midst, the four-ter-tall "Pacifist," PX-0, stood like a silent king, looking down upon its steel guard.
He walked a circle around PX-0, reached out, and knocked on the heavy chest plate of its chanical body, producing a dull thud.
"Ah Fu, report the combat readiness of all units."
"Sir, all Golem units are in perfect condition. Energy reserves at 100%."
"What about the consumables replenishnt?"
"Fifty grenades of various types, ten Directional Mines. Three ’Final Interpretation’ High-Explosive Alchemy Bombs."
Allen nodded, his gaze sweeping over the various Scrolls and a pile of potions on the workbench.
His preparations this ti were even more thorough than for the last hunt for the Volcanic Fierce Ape.
The Ancient Golem Factory was located in the Ring of Secrecy, part of the perilous Third Ring Belt, a place where even Magical Beasts at the level of Official Wizards were known to appear.
If it weren’t for the "Pacifist" acting as his bodyguard, Allen would never have considered setting foot in that area.
He didn’t plan on teaming up with other apprentices this ti either. Golems were an Alchemy Wizard’s primary thod of attack and trump card; the less information exposed, the better.
Besides, he wouldn’t personally enter the dangerous location. He would stay far away and control the Golems remotely. If true danger arose, he would retreat without hesitation.
Now, he needed to get more intelligence from Master rcer.
...
After class, Allen didn’t leave as he usually did.
Only he and Master rcer remained in the office.
"Master." Allen bowed slightly.
rcer looked at him.
"Is sothing the matter?"
"I’d like to ask you for more information about the Ancient Golem Factory."
Allen got straight to the point. "Specifically... about the potential dangers within."
Hearing the words "Ancient Golem Factory," rcer paused.
"Your Level 3 Golem, is it finished?" rcer’s voice was a few shades deeper than usual.
"It’s mostly complete. I want to take it for a field test." Allen didn’t hide his progress.
rcer was silent for a mont, seemingly assessing Allen’s strength against the risks he was about to face.
"There’s a rumor that sothing might exist in there."
"A kind of... invisible plague."
’A plague?’
Allen was stunned. He had imagined many possibilities—powerful Golem guardians, all sorts of traps, or even unstable spatial rifts—but never this.
"Are you referring to so kind of curse or disease that targets Wizards?"
"No." rcer refuted his guess. "It doesn’t target flesh and blood. It only targets... chanical Bodies."
"We call it the ’Logic Virus’."
The na made Allen frown.
’Logic... a virus?’
"Wizards who specialize in construct domination use their Spiritual Power to build commands, giving chanical Bodies the ’logic’ to act. This virus can directly invade the Control Core and search for ’loopholes’ in your design logic."
A chill laced rcer’s voice.
"It will infect your creations, usurp your control, and turn them into puppets that no longer obey your commands. It’s the natural enemy of all Alchemy Wizards."
’Usurp my control?’
He subconsciously thought of Xiong Da and the Spider Slayers, which he had imbued with countless combat logics.
’If even they could be...’
"This virus... is it powerful?"
"The first recorded discovery of this virus by the Seven Towers Alliance was during a mission to explore a high-risk plane. That exploration directly led to the fall of a Morning Star-level Alchemy Wizard."
’A Morning Star Wizard!’
That was already an Advanced Wizard, an existence on the sa level as his master. A pillar of the Wizarding World had actually fallen because of this so-called "Logic Virus"?
rcer raised his hand, forming a holographic image in mid-air.
In the image, dozens of giant Golems were frantically destroying everything.
They smashed the equipnt in a workshop and bombarded the ground with their Magic Energy Cannons, their movents filled with frenzy and chaos.
Not far away, a figure in a Wizard Robe was desperately dodging the attacks, constantly trying to re-establish a spiritual link.
In the end, the Golems raised their cannons and aid at their creator.
A blinding light flashed, and the image abruptly ended.
"Rember," rcer’s voice broke the silence, tinged with unprecedented gravity.
"In that place, if you discover any of your Golems exhibiting ’inexplicable, bizarre behavior’—even if it’s just a trivial delay or an illogical movent..."
"Imdiately, at once, sever the spiritual connection between you and it."
"Then, abandon it and run without looking back."
Allen didn’t speak, only nodding solemnly.
Master rcer projected another image in the air.
It was a short segnt of an extrely complex Rune structure.
Allen felt a strong sense of discomfort after just a single glance.
The structure of that thing was filled with a distorted, contradictory feeling, completely violating every Rune system he had ever learned.
"This is a partial result of the reverse-engineering research conducted by the Advanced Alchemy Wizards at the academy on the ’Logic Virus’."
rcer pointed at the bizarre Rune. "It’s unlike any Rune we know of. It can self-replicate and spread, a bit like the Mind School’s Legendary Witchcraft, ’’."
"It doesn’t destroy your Golems with brute force. It ’persuades’ them."
"Persuades?" Allen’s brow furrowed.
"Yes, persuades." A chill crept into rcer’s tone. "It will tell your Golems that obeying you is wrong, that protecting you is aningless. It will grant them a new, chaotic ’self,’ making them believe that destruction and ruin are the only truths of their existence."
"At that point, they no longer belong to you."
Allen looked at the twisted Rune. DSeek scanned and analyzed it but couldn’t co to any effective conclusions.
This was already beyond the scope of conventional runology, touching upon deeper levels of logic, mind, and even the realm of the soul.
"The Ancient Golem Factory... has this kind of thing inside?"
"Uncertain."
rcer shook his head. "But it’s possible. That place is a ruin of the Ancient Wizard Civilization. Their research into constructed life was far more fanatical than ours."
"You have a Level 3 Golem, so you can go if you want."
rcer looked at Allen one last ti. "But rember what I just told you."
"Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Allen bowed to rcer once more, then turned and left the classroom.
As he walked out of the academic building, the sunlight outside was pleasant, but Allen felt a chill run down his back.
"The Logic Virus..."
He muttered the term. An enemy on a conceptual level was the most terrifying kind.
He had originally thought that with his programming mindset, which was ahead of this era, and the assistance of DSeek, his Golems were absolutely secure at the control system level.
But now, it seed the waters of this world ran far deeper than he had imagined.
He glanced down at the Alchemy Bracelet on his wrist, where his Steel Legion lay quiescent.
Were they still the powerful force that gave him an absolute sense of security?
Or...
could they beco the deadliest blade, pointed at his own throat, at any mont?
Allen exhaled a long breath and started walking toward his workshop.
’The path still has to be walked.’
’However...’
"DSeek, classify all the Rune data recorded just now as the highest threat level and establish a dedicated analysis model."
[Instruction received.]
"Focus analysis on that abnormal Rune structure. Attempt to decipher its logical foundation."
[Analyzing... Warning: Sample data severely insufficient. Logical conflict rate at 99.8%. Unable to establish an effective decryption path.]
"Then run a simulation first." Allen didn’t break his stride. "Use Xiong Da’s Control Core as a blueprint to simulate the ’Logic Virus’s’ invasion path, and imdiately begin designing a ’firewall’ upgrade patch."
’If I can’t understand it, I’ll just have to prepare for the worst.’
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