Mage Adam

The Angels were wise creatures. Once their enthusiasm dimmed, the questions they thought of followed.

The third Angel asked, "But that invader is too weak, I don't know how he manages to survive in the outer void. Does he really know the way back to his original world? Maybe he got caught in a spatial turbulence and ended up here by chance. After all, Father has hidden the coordinates of this plane. Even the Pretender, if he were still alive, couldn't find his way home."

Before the first Angel could scold him, the sixth Angel said, "I was the one who found him. He didn't just appear out of nowhere outside the Plane; I'm sure he came here on purpose. The way he entered the plane was also incredible. Even if we can't find the world he comes from, we must capture him to learn his methods."

"Moreover, he has indeed made the Titans' power stronger. If we ignore this, maybe soon the Titans will be strong enough to truly threaten us."

"You all should understand what that would mean."

"If Father has to leave the Origin to help us, then His efforts to take hold of the Origin will be wasted. The Pretender's leftover techniques could enable the Titans to create countless Royals in no time. We couldn't make up for such a result even with a thousand deaths."

The first Angel finally said, "So, let's go to war."

"I agree."

"Agreed."

...

At this time, Adam and his friends, and even the entire Titan race, had no idea that a plot against them was forming. The clouds of war had already gathered over their heads, ready to burst at any moment.

They hadn't run into many large Metal Eaters along the way. Using their stealth fields and Stealth Gear, they easily avoided all patrol teams and reached the site of Lithium 15's self-destruction.

There were still occasional storms in the area, and Adam could sometimes see energy gathering and exploding.

Then Iron 27 asked, "Adam, I heard your factory can help weak Flames gain strength. Lithium 15..."

"Lithium 15 was one of the first Flames to be helped. The situation is much better now. As long as the factory keeps working, we can restart passing on the Flames," Qi 31 said excitedly. "We've already set up magnetic smelting factories in several major cities nearby. In the next five to ten years, we can expect a large number of newborns."

Iron 27 nodded in satisfaction, "Maybe I should also pass on my Flames."

Suddenly Adam asked, "Passing the Flames... What impact does it have on you?"

"Our strength will decrease a bit, and we need to accumulate energy again to recover. Why do you ask?"

Adam said, "Then I think, you Royals and Warlords, perhaps should not pass the Flames for now."

The two looked at each other for a while, then asked simultaneously, "Why?"

Adam was worried that if the Metal Eaters started a war, the Titans would lack middle-level fighters. However, war was just a suspicion for Adam, not a solid reason he could use to convince others.

Not wanting to spend too much time explaining, he simply offered it as advice and changed the subject.

Adam pointed to the low-level Metal Eaters active in the center of the explosion and asked, "Are they clearing the energy storm?"

Iron 27 replied, "They're the lowest units of the Metal Eaters, their only job is to create nests and clean up battlefields."

"Isn't anyone commanding them?"

"There is, but their superiors aren't much stronger. These low-level guys are common in Metal Eater territory, and they could be wiped out by any minor accident."

Adam nodded. These were perfect spies---plentiful and unnoticed. Thinking this, Adam patted Sophia on the back.

Sophia opened her mouth and unleashed a dragon breath that trapped the low-level Metal Eaters in place. The static in her breath paralyzed them, making them lose control of their movements.

Iron 27 and Qi 31 didn't know what Adam was up to, but as experienced warriors, they knew that on the battlefield, following the leader was the best way to stay effective. So, they followed Adam without questioning.

When they got to the front, Adam grabbed a Metal Eater three meters long. His high-frequency vibrating electroblade easily broke through its defense field, then he sliced straight down its back.

Adam had dissected many Metal Eaters in York, but those were second-level or higher. He had never dealt with such basic units before.

After slicing it open, the electricity quickly spread through its body, targeting structures like neurons and signal reception areas, and destroying them.

Then Adam looked inside its head and found...

"Just mush? They don't even have the ability to think?"

Qi 31 answered, "Yes, they can only obey the simplest commands and carry out basic tasks. However, the metal they excrete is very good for building new Titan bodies."

Adam wondered, "Then why don't you capture these things?"

Iron 27 waved his hand to disperse Adam's energy. He released one of the Metal Eaters. It flew around aimlessly for a few seconds before hovering, shaking violently, and then self-destructed.

"That's why. Once they are isolated from the group, away from the command unit, they self-destruct. But your skill is impressive, considering we've never managed to capture these low-level units before."

Adam realized these cannon fodder were disposable, with no value for reuse. They were like the simplest alchemical golems of the Mage World---created by apprentices, only useful for clearing debris.

"Does a group only follow commands from one leader? When they join with other groups, do they switch to listening to different leaders?"

This question was a bit unusual, something the Titans hadn't thought about before. Iron 27 thought about it for a moment, drawing on his experience from the front lines, and guessed, "It's probably the second option."

"That's good to know," Adam said, calling over Lina.

Iron 27 was meeting Lina for the first time and was quite curious about her. "So this is your..."

Lina, looking stunning yet very serious, introduced herself, "Hello, I'm Lina. I'm a forest elf and a slave of Master Adam."

Iron 27 responded warmly, "I've heard about you. That fungus was your creation, right? You've really helped us out."

Adam cut their conversation short.

A buzzing noise of electricity zipped through the air as Adam opened all the Metal Eaters' skulls. He then instructed Lina, "Use the seeds I've modified to infect them. I need to track where they go and what they do."

Lina quickly placed a deep blue, translucent seed into the brains of the Metal Eaters.

These seeds could conduct slight electrical currents and magnetic fields. Once implanted in the organisms, they could mimic electrical signals, effectively replacing neurons.

This allowed them to feed the hosts false information and commands, while also controlling their actions. Moreover, the seeds could sustain themselves on the host's body, producing new seeds as they grew.

However, the limitation of these seeds was their low quality. They could only influence the lowest-level Metal Eaters, but for Adam's current purposes, they were effective enough.