Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 32 Mysterious Beetles and Derived Ores

Harvey suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Asdalen and asked.

"By the way, when we rescued you from the ancient wizard's ruins, what did you mean by that lair?"

"Those were some strange creatures I discovered when I woke up occasionally..." Deep red soul fire flickered in Asdalen's eyes, as if he was trying hard to recall.

"A strange kind of beetle often appears in wizard ruins. There are so many of them, it seems like they emerged from the ground."

"At first, I thought they were just ordinary swarming insects, until I discovered their target was the Philosopher's Stone stored in the Mage Tower."

"Those beetles are frantically searching for items and ores rich in magical energy. They even don't spare the alchemical potions in those bottles and jars. Anything containing a trace of magic energy is their target of prey."

He squatted down, picked up a round pebble and handed it to Harvey, who was feeling confused.

"After consuming the magic energy, those insects will immediately mate and lay eggs, then die soon after, gradually transforming into spheres with a metallic sheen, like pebbles..."

Harvey was stunned, and suddenly remembered the metal pebble he had picked off from the ceiling of the ancient wizard's ruins. "Wait! Come with me!"

He pulled Asdalen and ran back to the study, and handed him the bag of pebbles that was almost forgotten in the warehouse.

"Yes, this is what the insects transformed into after death. As for how it was embedded in the ceiling of the Mage Tower, I don't know." Asdalen gave an affirmative answer.

Harvey dumped all seven or eight beetle pebbles from the bag onto the desk. "I've tried burning it with flames, corroding it with acid, and even having Reiner cut it with a jigsaw, but there's no way to destroy it at all."

"At first I thought it was some undiscovered, extremely dense, hard mineral, but I never expected it to be transformed from a living beetle."

Harvey felt that perhaps he had too little experience, and he had to find a way to get guidance from those knowledgeable high-level spellcasters at the next forum exchange meeting.

Asdalen picked up a pebble with his metal palm and tossed it around casually.

An idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and he suggested hesitantly, "Since it was transformed from a living organism, perhaps we can try to analyze it using the same living matter."

Living matter? Harvey fell into deep thought after hearing Asdaren's suggestion.

……

At night, the spacious experimental workshop was brightly lit, and Harvey lit up all the illuminating magic stones hanging from the ceiling.

"Sir, this strange stone doesn't seem to be of any use at all. Why do you have to dismantle it?"

Reiner frequently replaced welding guns, wire saws, grinding wheels and many other accessories and tools, but all to no avail.

The grinding wheel was even still grinding and cutting the beetle ore when it broke into several pieces due to excessive force, almost leaving ugly scratches on his prosthesis.

Harvey wore a metal mask with hardened crystal lenses for his eyes, and his voice was a little dull when he spoke.

"This beetle feeds on devouring magical energy. Its products inevitably carry a certain amount of residual magical energy. Strictly speaking, it can be considered a magical material, but its function is unknown."

As long as it is unknown, it is worth further study.

Harvey arranged for Reiner and himself to stand beside the metal laboratory table to operate, while Asdalen observed from the side to prevent any emergencies.

As for Pierce, night was now his normal activity time. He preferred to patrol the periphery of the manor, capture some small animals, and collect some fresh blood for himself as a reward.

Harvey used a pipe clamp made by Reiner to firmly fix the beetle ore to the metal table to prevent it from rolling around during the experiment.

Then, from a row of glass test tubes, a test tube half filled with light yellow liquid was taken out.

This is an alchemical material produced in the Misty Mountains. It is a magical material extracted from mutated golden tree trunks.

It has rich life energy and is the main casting material for many natural spells.

A few drops were scooped out with a dropper and carefully dropped onto the surface of the beetle ore. The liquid slid down gently like grease, leaving no trace on the ore and no experimental reaction occurred.

He immediately replaced the beetle ore with a new one and drew out a new bottle of plant extract containing the same natural spellcasting materials.

Still no response...

Clean the ore and replace it...

Half an hour passed, and all the experimental materials in a row of glass test tubes were tried, but none of them worked.

Asdalen stood beside the experimental table and felt that if he had not been transformed into an alchemical life, he would probably fall asleep yawning.

Harvey and Reiner were still very excited. One operated while the other assisted, and they kept changing the experimental materials skillfully and smoothly.

What a natural born research-oriented spellcaster!

Harvey took off his metal mask and breathed a sigh of relief, then took the soft towel handed to him by Reiner and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Natural magic materials are completely ineffective, at least that's the case with the dozen or so that I currently have.

Is it because the level of the spell materials is too low, and the magic energy contained is not sufficient? Then what if during the experiment, the energy-gathering device of "Unit 0" is connected to the beetle ore, and the pure magic energy extracted from the magic network is directly output to it?
The magic version of scientific experiments can also include "catalysts".

Thinking of this, Harvey decided to try it immediately and do it!
He asked Reiner to pull over a thin charging pipe and firmly fix the beetle ore with a bracket engraved with inscriptions. These inscriptions can achieve instant input of huge magic network energy during charging.

Has the same effect as the inscriptions on Reiner and Asdalen's alchemical prostheses.

The experiment continues!

Reiner activated the energy-gathering mode of Unit 00 and adjusted its energy output frequency to the intensity of his daily charging.

Harvey put on his mask again and observed the beetle ore fixed to the bracket by the lock.

As expected! After the energy from the magic net was injected into the ore, it vibrated slightly. The originally metallic surface gradually became transparent, revealing a strange scene of liquid flowing inside.

It's not purely solid?
Harvey took a closer look and found that the mineral reaction was limited to this and there were no further fruitful discoveries.

"Reiner, increase the output frequency!"

"Increase the frequency!"

"Not enough, I want to see the specific reaction inside the ore!"

Reiner gripped the brass operating handle of Unit 0 tightly and warned worriedly, "Sir, we can't increase the power any more. The instrument is about to overload!"

"Use the cooling device to temporarily cool it down and maintain energy output!" Harvey ordered without raising his head.

Reiner could only frantically pull up another joystick, and several brackets with frozen magic stones installed rose up and fit tightly against the main body of the brass cylinder of "Unit 0".

"Push it up one more level, the liquid material inside the ore is flowing faster!" Harvey gave another quick order.

Reiner could only pull the handle again with a grimace.

The violent humming sound of "Unit 0" resounded throughout the laboratory, and the entire body of the fuselage vibrated slightly.

Under the huge input of magical energy, the beetle ore finally underwent the transformation that Harvey hoped for.

The liquid substance that was originally flowing slowly inside it quickly dissipated, and the entire ore suddenly burst out with a dazzling light like daylight.

Harvey subconsciously closed his eyes, and only heard the warning sounds of Reiner and Asdalen sounding at the same time.

"careful!"

"Lord be careful!"

The violent explosion was accompanied by a loud bang, and Harvey felt as if he was hit head-on by a huge force.

Finished! Dead! This was the only thought in his mind!
When he finally opened his eyes, he found that the mask had flown away to who knows where.

Two tall alchemical prosthetic bodies were pressing down on him, and a wide metal breastplate covered his fragile chest and head.

Hiss~ I feel like my ribs are broken.

"Sir! Are you okay?"

Reiner and Asdalen quickly stood up and began to check Harvey's body.

"Strange? Why didn't such a violent explosion kill me on the spot? At least I should have lost some limbs, right?" Harvey touched his body and found that all the parts were intact.

He was clearly facing the explosion at close range, but why was there no sign of injury except for the dull pain in his ribs from being pressed by the two alchemy monsters?

……

"Son of Fire" Phil Holden was sitting in front of the "Magic Brain", dancing his fingers excitedly and typing rapidly on the keyboard.

He and the "Frost Giant" had been having a "friendly" exchange for three hours regarding a research issue involving the analysis of rare spellcasting materials.

Although the entire academic exchange process is full of non-special terms such as "dog shit", "stupid pig", and "low-witted bastard".

But overall, Fair felt that he still had a slight advantage.

He was planning to transmit a final summary message, followed by some emotional venting words, to end this virtual magic battle that made him proud tonight.

Suddenly, it was discovered that the inscriptions on the base of the "Magic Brain" instrument, which was originally functioning normally, suddenly went out, and the mercury tadpoles used to form the text on the crystal plate that displayed the content information also dissipated and disappeared.

"Huh? What's going on?" The high-level spellcaster was stunned.

All the content I just wrote with all my heart was just... wasted?

(End of this chapter)