Allen stood before the control console, watching on the Demon Eye’s monitor as the Crystal Shell Giant Scorpion vanished into the depths of the canyon.

He didn’t pursue it.

The creature was too far away to pose an immediate threat. Still, the sight was a stark reminder—danger was everywhere in this land.

"There’s not much time."

Allen turned and headed for the materials warehouse.

It was filled with the starter resource packs Gordon had sent: neatly stacked ingots of Demonized Metal, crates of Transformation Crystals, and Rune substrates of all sizes...

In a corner, a bulky-looking Mining Golem stood in standby mode.

Allen glanced over the inventory, already knowing what he had to do.

He needed more forces, more firepower, and a more robust defense system.

But the prerequisite for all of that was to bring the workshop to life.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let his consciousness sink into his Sea of Spirit.

The progress bar for the simulated creation of the workshop’s will was at 15%. He had to monitor it in real time.

’I need to figure out how to perform surgery on my own brain without accidentally turning myself into an idiot.’

「One night passed.」

He stood in the workshop’s central control area. On the console before him lay the giant ancient core he had found in the Ancient Golem Factory. Its processing power far exceeded that of a normal soul, and it could also absorb Magic Power, making it equivalent to a self-powered server. It was the best material Allen currently had for creating a Control Core.

"DSeek, have you finished optimizing the plan?"

[Optimization complete. Success rate increased to 87.3%. The primary remaining risk stems from uncontrollable fluctuations in your own Spiritual Power.]

"That’s good enough. Let’s give it a try."

[DSeek, prepare for data migration.]

Allen took a deep breath and began casting the technique within his Sea of Consciousness.

The next moment, countless streams of information surged toward him like a tidal wave.

It was the sum of DSeek’s existence: every computational record, every knowledge base index, every Q&A interaction...

The sheer volume of information threatened to overwhelm his consciousness.

But at that moment, [Mechanical Mind] activated.

Allen’s thoughts became cold and efficient. He began to filter, strip away, and reorganize.

Unnecessary redundant data was deleted.

The immense knowledge base was compressed and encapsulated.

The core logical framework was extracted.

His goal was to transform DSeek from a parasitic ’add-on’ in his Sea of Consciousness into an independent, autonomously operating intelligence.

At the same time, he had to integrate a part of himself into it.

His memories, his logical problem-solving processes, and a sliver of emotion to ward off the encroachment of the Mechanical Realm.

With his eyes closed, Allen’s fingers traced complex Runes in the empty air.

Driven by his Spiritual Power, the Runes gradually coalesced into a three-dimensional, continuously rotating matrix.

This matrix was the core of the [Workshop Will Creation Technique].

It acted as a mold, compressing, fusing, and reforging DSeek’s logical framework, Allen’s memory fragments, and the extracted emotional modules.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Fine beads of sweat formed on Allen’s forehead.

It was the first time since his promotion to First-level Wizard that he had felt such a massive drain on his Spiritual Power.

The process was excruciating.

It felt as if someone were taking a scalpel to his brain, slicing it open layer by layer.

Veins bulged on his forehead and sweat streamed down his cheeks, but Allen’s hands remained perfectly still.

[Mechanical Mind] suppressed the agonizing pain, keeping it just within a tolerable threshold.

Half an hour later, a "semi-finished artificial intelligence"—a mass composed of countless information streams radiating a faint blue glow—hovered in his palm.

"Step one is complete."

Without pausing, Allen immediately activated the [Soul Processing Technique].

The ball of light began to distort and reorganize. Countless Runes flickered within it, as if undergoing some deep-level compilation and transformation.

Immediately after, he activated the [Workshop Will Creation Technique].

The two techniques ran concurrently. Under the control of his Spiritual Power, the processed, soul-like structure slowly sank into the giant ancient core before him.

VMMM—

The ancient core shuddered violently. The Runes on its surface flashed to life, and lines of light spread out like blood vessels, making the entire core seem as if it had awakened.

Allen didn’t let up, immediately beginning the second phase of his work.

He took out various prepared materials and began installing interfaces and a casing for the core. He inscribed Rune Circuits, step by step transforming it into a standardized, albeit oversized, Control Core.

The process took two hours.

When the final Rune was etched, Allen finally stopped.

He looked at the now-transformed giant core before him. A flicker of exhaustion crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by anticipation.

"Connect it to the workshop."

He carefully placed the core into the interface on the pedestal in the central control area.

CLICK—

Clasps extended from the pedestal, locking the core firmly in place as the Rune Circuits began to connect.

At that moment, the entire workshop’s Rune network was fully activated.

On the walls, floor, and ceiling, countless Runes lit up at once. Blue light surged like a tidal wave, finally converging on the central control area.

Then, a familiar voice echoed through the workshop.

[System booting...]

[Workshop Rune Network connection successful.]

[Magic Furnace Core connection successful.]

[Scanning device inventory...]

[Scan complete. Currently controllable devices: Alchemy Machines x3, Rune Etching Machines x2, Factory Servants x12...]

[Workshop Will initialization complete. Awaiting name.]

"Jarvis."

[Name confirmed. I am Jarvis, your workshop butler. It is my pleasure to serve you, Master.]

The voice had a mechanical quality, but its tone and rhythm were subtly similar to DSeek’s.

Allen wasted no time and immediately began the calibration process.

He granted Jarvis the highest administrative authority, second only to his own, giving it full control over all the workshop’s equipment.

As for Ah Fu...

"Ah Fu."

The construct butler in the tuxedo immediately approached and bowed respectfully.

"Master."

"From now on, you will be under Jarvis’s unified command. Your responsibility is to coordinate the daily maintenance and material transport of the Factory Servants."

Ah Fu’s mechanical eyes flickered, as if it were processing this sudden ’demotion.’

But it quickly returned to a state of calm.

"As you command, Master."

Allen turned back to the central control area.

"Jarvis, first task: autonomously plan and produce Spider Slayers. Target quantity: ten units."

[Task received. Accessing Spider Slayer design schematics...]

[Schematics loaded. Analyzing material inventory...]

[Inventory is sufficient. Generating production schedule...]

[Schedule complete. Estimated time: 15 hours. Commence execution?]

"Execute."

The moment Allen finished speaking, the entire workshop whirred to life.

Under Jarvis’s unified command, twelve Factory Servants began moving metal ingots, Rune crystals, Energy Cores, and various other parts from the materials warehouse.

The Alchemy Machines activated automatically, drawing on Magic Power to begin shaping the materials delivered by the Factory Servants.

Beams of light from the Rune Etchers danced across metal surfaces, carving precise patterns.

Everything proceeded in an orderly, methodical fashion.

Allen stood to the side, observing quietly.

He didn’t interfere, only sending corrective commands to Jarvis through their mental link whenever he noticed a deviation in the process.

Much of the day passed.

The chassis of the first Spider Slayer had taken shape and was now undergoing the inscription of its Rune Circuits.

Allen nodded in satisfaction.

"Jarvis, pause production."

[Production paused. Is there a problem, Master?]

"No problem. The process just needs a little more optimization."

Allen pulled up the production logs, carefully analyzing the time and resources consumed at each stage. He then adjusted some steps to run in parallel and eliminated several redundant operations.

After several more hours of adjustments...

When Allen gave the command to ’resume production,’ the efficiency of the entire process had increased by nearly ten percent.

"Excellent."

He leaned against the console, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes as he watched the bustling machines and servants in the workshop.

"Jarvis, make an assessment. With our current equipment and personnel, can the production of Level 1 and Level 2 Golems—aside from the creation of the Control Cores—be fully delegated to you?"

[Assessing...]

[Conclusion: It is feasible, but requires the following conditions be met:]

[1. A stable supply of materials.]

[2. Timely equipment maintenance.]

[3. Control Cores must be personally crafted and delivered by you.]

[Once these conditions are met, I can independently complete the entire production process for Level 1 and Level 2 Golems.]

The workshop continued its operations.

This time, Allen no longer had to do everything himself.

He only had to stand there and watch as Jarvis commanded all the equipment and servants, operating with the efficiency of a precision machine.

The feeling was incredible.

It was as if he had finally transitioned from a ’single-player gamer’ to a true ’base commander.’

"So, what about the supply of raw materials?"

[The current material inventory is only sufficient to produce twelve Spider Slayers. To maintain continuous production, more materials must be supplied as soon as possible.]

[Recommendation: Initiate mining operations immediately.]

Allen fell silent for a moment.

Mining meant sending Golems out of the workshop’s safe zone and into a wilderness fraught with unknown dangers.

But without mining, his industrial system would be unsustainable.

"Jarvis, pull up a topographical map of the area around the workshop. Mark the location of the black-veined iron ore."

[Topographical map displayed.]

A three-dimensional map materialized before him.

The ore vein was about seven or eight kilometers from the workshop, located in a region of low hills. The relatively open terrain was ideal for mining, but it also meant a lack of cover.

"Confirm the security status of the area around the ore vein."

[Command received. Dispatching Demon Eye.]

High in the sky, an invisible Demon Eye immediately flew toward the ore vein to conduct a detailed scan.

Ten minutes later, the real-time feed returned.

For now, there were no signs of large Magical Beasts around the ore vein, only a few low-level rock lizards wandering the area.