[Resistance impossible. Requesting reinforcements... Code unrecognizable. Reporting to command... failed.]

[Reporting to code name A.S.]

The Bronze Golems spoke similarly to the Stone Golems, but something different happened after Lee Shin-Woo had broken all but the last two into pieces of bronze.

[No answer. Retrying...]

[Reporting to code name A.S. again… Rejected.]

"Wait a sec. A.S.? Is that a service center?[1]"

Lee Shin-Woo had been listening to the Golems with only half of his attention. Right when he was about to make the finishing blow, he heard those strange words and stopped swinging his axe.

"They said they had no signal, right?"

"Rather than there being no signal, it seems more likely that whoever they’re contacting have all been killed."

The two of them had come to a similar conclusion. After the failure, the Bronze Golems froze in place like they were damaged. Lee Shin-Woo didn’t have the time to worry about them now, though.

"Let's collect the loot first."

[Ceasing function.]

[Ceasing function.]

Lee Shin-Woo swung his axe and easily shattered the Golems into pieces, which then dispersed into particles of mana and returned to nature. He collected all the Perium and Bone Core dropped by the Golems before looking up to survey his surroundings. As expected, he wasn't able to find anything.

But then he said, "The connection hadn't been completely cut."

The Golems had started out requesting reinforcements before attempting to report to their command center. After both options had failed, they reported to a figure with the code name A.S. He hypothesized that A.S. was either the one in charge of the Golems or their maker.

Up until now, the Golems had never gotten any answers, but finally, there seemed to be a meaningful response. Even though the Golems’ request for communication had been rejected, at least they had received something.

"Even if there is someone there to receive the report, doesn’t the fact that the connection was rejected mean whoever it is doesn’t care?"

"Well yeah, because they would be an undead."

While there were Golems which were born naturally back when minerals were saturated with mana, these Golems were clearly artificial. Be it the Empire or someone else, somebody created and oversaw the Golems. That person would obviously be an undead by now, which would explain why the Golems were neglected...

"I don't know how the Golem's communication system works, but if their owner truly is an undead, would they really be able to respond this quickly?"

"Not all undead are stupid,” Lee Shin-Woo said. “Putting aside their hatred for the living, high level undead possess an intelligence that is no lesser than that of a living person."

"Seems that way... But if they're that smart, wouldn't they have summoned these Golems and used them?"

"...That's true."

That ended their impromptu deduction session. Lee Shin-Woo and Jin stopped acting like Sherlock Holmes. It simply didn’t fit them. They decided to go back to what they had planned to do, which was to try reinforcing a Bone Core.

"Alright. This will do."

Lee Shin-Woo chose the Bone Core that had belonged to the final Bronze Golem he killed and placed it on the floor, among the other Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Cores.

"You're not actually going to use all the other Bone Cores on that one, are you?" Jin asked.

"I am, actually. There's not enough information in the Stone Golems' cores, and they've been severely damaged and barely have any value to them. Sacrificing them is a much better option."

It was something he'd deduced by examining his own mana and absorbing the cores through Bone Reinforcement. Although it was impossible to understand how the core's activation mechanism worked, he was able to figure out a direct way to examine the Bone Cores. Honestly, that was amazing enough.

"The Bronze Golems' cores are in better condition, but if I were to absorb them one by one, it would take a long time to combine all the information together."

"Will you be able to restore the damaged information with Bone Reinforcement?" asked Jin.

"I think so. I guess there's only one way to find out."

If Lee Shin-Woo could restore the information within the Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Core through Bone Reinforcement, he wouldn't need a lot of them, and would be able to figure out the secret that these Golems held; if he was lucky, he might even be able to figure out the secret behind the code name A.S. with the reinforced core. That was what Lee Shin-Woo had gathered so far, at least.

"Then... Bone Reinforcement."

Lee Shin-Woo executed Bone Reinforcement and used one Bone Core to reinforce the other. Although their levels were different, his skill activated without any problems. It was all fine and dandy until...

[Bone Reinforcement has failed.]

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Lee Shin-Woo.

"No, we can do it. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me who believes in you [2]."

"..."

Lee Shin-Woo didn’t know if their trust in each other played a part, but his next attempt succeeded. Their celebration was short-lived, though. Lee Shin-Woo’s expression turned serious upon examining the message that popped up afterwards.

[Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Core]

[Original Core synchronization rate: 13.2%]

"I haven't seen that before."

Lee Shin-Woo expected for there to be a +1 appended to the Bone Core, but he was wrong. Instead, what he got was the synchronization rate with the original core, which seemed more profound than he had expected. It seemed the percentage would go up after every successful reinforcement.

"What about the amount of information?" Jin asked the important question.

"Hmm... It's being restored."

It wasn’t much, but a portion of the damaged core was recognizable again.

To make an analogy, it was like he was reading a sentence with multiple homonyms. He was confused at first, but now that he had seen the big picture and noticed the subtle difference between the words, he was able to discern the meaning of the sentence[3]. In any case, the important part was that he was able to restore some of the information.

Maybe the original core would appear if I fully restore this core? There would be no need for me to find out what the original core is then...

At the very least, he was sure that he was going in the right direction. In order to more thoroughly investigate the change in the synchronization rate, Lee Shin-Woo held onto the Bone Core and continuously used Bone Reinforcement. A blinding light arose.

[Bone Reinforcement has failed.]

[Bone Reinforcement has failed.]

[Bone Reinforcement has succeeded.]

[Original Core synchronization rate: 13.4%]

"What?!"

Each successful reinforcement resulted in only a 0.2% increase? He had 310 Autonomous Defense Type Bone Cores, and a bit more than 100 Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Bone Cores. It would be a relief if the Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Bone Cores granted more synchronization rate; otherwise he might run out of cores before he could even try other uses.

"Ugh... Damn it, I'll go for it regardless!" Lee Shin-Woo exclaimed.

"See, I told you you'd feel anxious."

"No, I believe in you. I believe in you who believes in me!"

"You know, I think there's a final version to that. Something like 'believe in the you who believes in yourself'."

"Damn it. I really wanted to say that one...!"

It was too late to back out now. If Lee Shin-Woo failed to restore the core, he would have no choice but to give up!

With a heart of iron and blood, Lee Shin-Woo mentally prepared himself to lose everything and continued with the reinforcement. Because he had used Bone Reinforcement a countless number of times, it was at least reliably fast.

[Bone Reinforcement has failed.]

[Bone Reinforcement has succeeded...]

[Fail...]

[Fail...]

[Succeed...]

That's how the 310 Bone Cores and a hundred something Reinforced Bone Cores gradually dwindled in number. In their place was a glowing Bone Core. The light was so faint that it might as well be his imagination.

[Reinforced Autonomous Defense Type Bone Core]

[Synchronization Rate: 99.9%]

Jin was aggravated. "Why the hell does it have to be 0.1% short? There aren't any Golems left!"

"No, it's fine."

"Can you use other bone equipment to reinforce it by any chance?" Jin asked, making a sensible assumption, but Lee Shin-Woo firmly shook his head.

"Cores can only be reinforced with other cores. I think."

"What then?"

"This is the end of the reinforcement."

Lee Shin-Woo propped up the core with both hands. He had made it what it was with most of the Golems' cores in the highlands. Now even Jin could see the geometrical patterns that covered the Bone Core.

"But I can't tell what it says at all," Jin said.

"Hmm, I'm sure you can’t."

"You're really pissing me off..."

If Lee Shin-Woo hadn't absorbed a few Bone Cores prior to this, he wouldn't have been able to make sense of the patterns, either.

However, during his repeated uses of Bone Reinforcement, he had meticulously examined the patterns being restored and analyzed the mana being transferred between them. Now that the core was completed, he was able to figure out the state the restored Bone Core was in, and the kind of item it was.

"Hoo..."

Lee Shin-Woo calmly held up the core and tapped into the mana saturating his bones, wrapping it around the Bone Core. In response, the delicate golden light emitted from the core suddenly turned the same color as his reddish mana. That’s right. My mana has changed into a dark red after reaching level 4.

[The Bone Original Core has been completed. You’ll need more materials to manufacture Golems. You can analyze the core to figure out the materials needed.]

"Huh..."

Lee Shin-Woo’s lips curved into a smile. Through their contract, Jin was able to access the message.

"You can make Golems with that?" Jin asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Though I'll need a lot more stuff, and the information is stored inside the core. Everything regarding the Golems is also recorded, so I know where they were originally made, what additional materials I need to make them, as well as the different types of Golems there are and their characteristics."

"Oh... I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm saying that if I absorb this core, I can learn about the Golems here, as well as all the information regarding them. Think of it as their origin."

"Oh... Huh?"

As expected, all of Jin’s talent seemed to have gone into sprinting, and he wasn’t terribly bright. Lee Shin-Woo gave up on getting him to understand and instead held the Bone Core up once more.

It might have been something used to manufacture powerful Golems, but to him, it was nothing but an appetizing wonder drug. This was the end product of high level Magic Engineering. Not only did it contain the method to control Golems, it would also provide him with an organized archive of information regarding all things Golems!

"Bone Reinforcement!"

[By consuming the Bone Original Core, your entire body is reinforced. All stats have increased by 10. Acquiring all the information and memories within.]

At that moment, a tremendous amount of information rushed into his brain, causing him to fall to his knees.

The experience was different from when he absorbed the Weapon Trickster's Arm Bone, or the time he absorbed Gerrit's bone. He had trouble accepting the tremendous amount of information that came rushing at him all at once.

The way to control a Golem. The way to control a Golem. The way a Golem attacks. The way a Golem attacks. The way to gather and release mana. If I follow the throughline, I could become a Golem myself...

That should be impossible, but just by understanding the fundamental ways in which a high level Golem moved, Lee Shin-Woo’s knowledge in magic and martial arts skyrocketed.

He had made it this far with his skills and talent alone. Mana Bone made up for areas he was lacking in, while Bursting Thunder and the knowledge he had gathered so far informed the way he held himself and moved in combat. The results soon manifested themselves.

[Low Rank Mana Bone is now Lv9. Magic has increased by 5. You can now manipulate your mana more effectively.]

[Low Rank Bursting Thunder is now Lv9. Strength and Magic have increased by 3. It seems you've gained a vague understanding of how to call down lightning upon your weapon.]

After getting abruptly dragged into another world and brought into the Underground Empire just a short while ago, Lee Shin-Woo had caught onto the basics faster than the other heroes. It was only natural, since he had been absorbing the knowledge and experiences of the undead who’d already learned these fundamentals.

However, he wouldn’t give himself the perfect mark since most of the enemies he'd fought were low level undead. That changed once he absorbed the Bone Original Core.

[Low Rank Stealth is now Lv8. Agility has increased by 7. You can now conceal your movements more naturally than before.]

[Intermediate Combat Sense is now Lv2. Agility has increased by 5. Your dynamic visual acuity has improved.]

He possessed an exemplary balance that couldn’t be found in even the many individuals in his memories, as well as the know-how of magic manipulation. Moreover, most of his skills had leveled up. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he had gone through an overwhelming growth the moment he got a handle of the basics.

[Using this core to mass-produce Golem? What a waste.]

"Ugh...!?"

That wasn’t the end of the memories he had absorbed. Panting, Lee Shin-Woo was soon hit with the second wave. It was a memory detailing the instant the Original Core was born.

[The copies of the core are deteriorating... Hmm, we may have a remedy for that.]

[Do we really have to go this far? I don't think we need to hide our identities.]

It's impossible for the egoless core to possess memories, but as he and Bone Reinforcement leveled up, Lee Shin-Woo was able to see the memories of individuals related to the bone as well!

[This is all for the Empire.]

[Arema. Arema Steelworker! We have all gathered under your name!]

[We are...]

[We are the best of the Empire!]

[...Since that's the duty we've been given.]

Several individuals' fragmented memories rushed through his mind. Lee Shin-Woo gritted his teeth to commit each and every one of them to memory. It was obvious what the most important piece of information was.

Arema Steelworker.

A.S.

1. T/N: A.S. center is Konglish for after-service center. Basically, a repair shop.

2. T/N: Likely the most famous quote in the anime, Gurren Lagann.

3. E/N: Example: A pole’s poles’ polarity was determined by a couple of polls.