Mutagen

After retrieving the body of the [Spider Mechid], Mark\'s trio returned to the village with Deriellio and those tasked to carry the broken robot.

The ones tasked to carry [Mechid] were several hairy, bulky, tall creatures that smelled like tobacco. [Kapres] that were popular in Philillippine\'s myths and legends. Having their muscled bodies, they had enough strength to carry the heavy [Spider Mechid] and were tall enough to avoid getting in contact with the black goo.

Furthermore, they brought a crystal that encased the [Mechid\'s] body with something like a barrier, stopping more goo from spilling as it was being carried around.

Mark was curious about the method these magical creatures deal with the broken [Mechids] and could not help but watch. This magical method to carry the dangerous [Mechids] was surely the first for Mark.

As for Mark\'s group, they could just put the [Mechids\'] bodies inside his and Mei\'s rings. They could do the same this time but let the magical creatures do their work out of curiosity.

Carrying the [Spider Mechid] back was not time-consuming because of the [Yasaws]. What took longer was the way to purge the black goo.

The black goo would evaporate on its own, leaving not a single drop behind. However, the time it would take for a glass of black goo to evaporate would be around a day and more for larger amounts. But before it all could evaporate, it would leave damage to the surroundings, such as poisoned plants and corrupted terrain.

Furthermore, the fumes the black goo exuded were also dangerous to living creatures in the long run. It was not only pungent but would cause complications if inhaled in large amounts. And the fumes would intensify during the duration the black goo evaporated into nothingness.

The question now was, why were the inhabitants of the magical village collecting the bodies of the [Mechids]? Was it to stop the bodies from spreading black goo and corrupting the surroundings? Or did they have other purposes?

When Mark returned, he learned that it was actually both.

As Diwata Iraya said, they did not keep the bodies because of the smell. Instead, they dumped all of the bodies into one place far away from the mountain. It was a magically sealed hole in the ground where both the bodies and the black goo were securely contained. It was their way of dealing with the black goo that could cause destruction just by existing.

But before they threw away the bodies, they harvested parts from the [Mechids]. For example, the weapons. It was also the same for the exterior armor and the end of the legs. These parts were not directly in contact with the black goo and could be harvested safely.

The weapons taken from the [Mechids] were then either collected or put to use. It was not like the magical creatures could use the futuristic out-of-this-world weapons, but they could make use of the melee weapons from the [Mechids], such as the blade arms and the sharply pointed limbs that could be used as spears.

As for the metal harvested, it seemed that the magical creatures were melting the metal into usable stuff such as weapons. While they rarely use swords, their spears and arrows could make use of these metals than just plain sharpened stones that could not penetrate the bodies of the [Mechids] at all.

While the [Kapres] was taking off any usable stuff from the [Spider Mechid], Mark managed to get a good look at the bodies already dumped into the magically sealed hole.

The hole was pretty large. It was about ten meters in diameter, allowing Mark what was inside. It was not only the robots, however. It seemed that they also used this hole to dispose of the [Infected] they killed, seeming the distorted bodies of decaying mutated corpses.

Initially, Mark thought it would not be a good idea to mix broken [Mechids] and dead [Infected] in one disposal area. But to his surprise, he was proven wrong.

The black goo from the [Mechids] actually could accelerate the decomposition of the corpses. It resulted in the release of more pungent gas as the black goo evaporated, but it was not a problem since the hole was sealed with magic.

Back to the broken [Mechids], Mark found something odd.

The first [Mechids] were definitely those that looked sleek with whiter color. These [Mechids] were barely stripped of anything since there was no way the magical creatures would be able to break down and process the extremely sturdy metals that came from space. Thus, these ones were left more intact than others.

What baffled Mark was the new [Mechids] that had a darker color. Like the [Spider Mechid], their bodies were made of mixed metals, resulting in a rather disorganized coloration.

But what was with this variety of forms?

Each of the new [Mechids] looked different from another. Or, in the least, have different parts while having a similar few. For example, there were two bipedal [Mechids] with similar torsos and heads but different limbs. There was also a quadruped one with the same torso, looking like a bacteriophage.

Mark was confused and could not find a proper guess as to what was going on. Unfortunately, the day was going late, and it was better to continue with the observation the next day.

They ate dinner with Aliya and Gennie, who was happy to share a meal with their relatives. Of course, there was Spera chirping about why Mark and Mei left without telling them anything. It was something expected of her, but it made the dinner livelier.

And now, morning came. Right after finishing breakfast, Mark immediately went down the mountain back to the disposal site.

Using a long wooden pole, Mark poked into the hole and tried moving the broken robots and decaying corpses to have a better look at the [Mechids]. If he could, he might have flown into the hole. Unfortunately, the fumes inside the hole were pretty thick, although not that visible to the eye. Going inside might not be a good idea since even the wooden pole immediately showed discoloration the moment it entered the hole.

Mark continued to observe the [Mechids] one by one, as much as he could. It was when Diwata Iraya arrived with Morlkil as her guard.

"Did you manage to figure something?"

Diwata Iraya asked.

It was not surprising that she was interested in what Mark was doing. Knowing more about these space robots would also benefit her and her people in the long run.

"I need more information."

Mark asked back without removing most of his attention to the broken [Mechids] inside the hole.

"What kind of information?"

Diwata Iraya inquired in response.

From there, Mark asked several questions and learned more things.

Like what Aliya explained yesterday, the [Mechids] attacked the village consecutively. The intervals were rather random, between three days to an entire week. However, the longer the interval was, the more they worried.

If the interval was short, there would only be one or two [Mechids] attacking the village. Sometimes, there would be three. However, when the one-week interval came, and everyone thought it was over, more than five came, causing more casualties and injuries.

Fortunately, the longer interval only happened twice so far, with the shorter happening more often. Although the magical village had to deal with constant attacks, it was way safer fighting smaller groups of [Mechids] than larger ones.

Then, Mark asked a question about the similar-looking [Mechids]. And he found the answer quite strange.

From what Diwata Iraya remembered, the similar-looking [Mechids] were the ones who attacked at the same time. Apparently, [Mechids] attacking in groups would have a similar appearance while being completely different to the previous and future attackers that came.

Furthermore, during each attack, the [Mechids] would have different weapons and attack patterns, making them harder to fight with the same methods they did before.

Mark scratched his head. It was as if new [Mechids] were being designed and tested, coping with the terrain and other factors. In fact, it seemed that the bipedal and humanoid [Mechids] were the first and older attackers. And as time went by, fewer and fewer bipedal and humanoid [Mechids] appeared, replaced by quadruped and multi-legged ones.

It was not only the legs, but even the shapes of the torso and arms were changing.

Mark also noticed that the [Mechids] seemed to become bulkier and larger as time went on. It was something odd since if someone wanted to traverse mountainous terrain, a lighter body would be far more suitable.

Many hypotheses and other information were discussed by Mark and Diwata Iraya until Mark was called for lunch. Time sure passed fast if one was spending time on something they were interested in.

Unfortunately, no concrete conclusion was derived from the information they had so far.

After eating lunch, Mark was back again at the disposal site, investigating the broken [Mechids]. He was pretty dedicated in this for some reason. And for him, even a single clue could help a lot in this situation.

During this time, a huge question popped up in Mark\'s mind.

Why was this village being targeted by the [Mechids] in the first place?

If attacks were coming constantly, it meant that the [Mechids] were specifically targeting this village for some reason. After all, Mark did not hear a lot of instances of [Mechids] attacking the current Codon Settlement. In fact, it was rare there, and there were more encounters of [Evolved Feral Animals] attacking the settlement.

Mark already knew that [Mechids] were far more intelligent than the common [Infected]. However, he never expected them to be this intelligent. Was it supposed to be expected of futuristic high-tech space robots?

But for them to come in groups... And using Earth\'s resources...

"Prototypes..."

Mark murmured.

Prototypes were the preliminary models of something, especially machines. These models were not something that could be used to fully fulfill the intended purpose of the machine. And rather, it was the testing phase of the final product.

"Factory... Prototypes..."

Mark repeatedly murmured.

Using the new resources it managed to get on Earth, the [Giant Mechid], a [Factory Class Mechid], started creating prototypes of new [Mechids], which did not only use the new resources. They were also created to cope with the things the other prototypes had gone through and experienced.

The first [Mechids] were used to test the inhabitants of the village and the terrain of this place. Then, the [Mechids] were developed, being able to adjust to the attacks and tactics of the magical creatures, forcing them to change.

But in the next attacks, the new [Mechids] would cope with the newly devised tactics, forcing the magical creatures to switch to another.

At the thought of this, Mark\'s eyes went wide.

How could the next models of [Mechids] develop, coping with the predicaments and experiences of the old models? The factory was all trapped inside the crater, after all.

"Crimson."

Mark murmured with a frown, and the murky-black colored [Bloodchild] appeared out of thin air and plopped unto Mark\'s head.

Gently poking the [Bloodchild] on his head, Mark gave his instructions.

"Search the area. Try to see if there\'s any [Mechids] lurking around in hiding."

After receiving the instructions, Crimson wobbled and vanished in a puff of black mist. Mark could feel the little [Bloodchild] leave his side and fly around the mountain undetected.

Crimson returned an hour after with the unfortunate, or maybe, fortunate news. There was no sign of any [Mechids] around the mountain aside from the ones broken inside the hole.

Mark frowned at this result as it made no sense. But before he could continue investigating the [Mechids] inside the hole, the shadow of the leader of the [Yasaws] appeared behind him.

"Diwata Iraya asks for your help," Deriellio said in an urgent tone. "The giant enemy spawned a new one."

This report made Mark frown.

Diwata Iraya had just said earlier that there were a few days intervals on the attacks of the [Mechids]. Then, why was there a new attack when the last one was just yesterday?