The communication between Lao Tzu and < at the facility in the west of the Pandor continent had changed considerably since the beginning.

"So you have no objection to have your master (Mylord) make a body for Lord Malchitas at ......?"

Lao Tzu said. The other man, , nodded slowly.

"Yes. I have some thoughts about it, but I think I will ask for your help at this time.

"I understand. I will inform the master (my lord) as soon as I return to the base.

Lao Tzu was no longer afraid to call Jin "My Lord.

"Well, now one of our concerns is gone. Can we move on to the other matter now?

"Well, I don't mind if we continue the conversation, but what is it about?

Having accepted Jin as a collaborator, even if only temporarily, <>'s attitude has improved somewhat.

Lao Tzu now started the second round of questions and answers.

"I would like to ask you about the <>."

<> nodded lightly.

"I see..." Lao Tzu continued.

Lao Tzu continued.

"I think this is quite far from what <> wants."

"I suppose it is. Even I wonder what he is doing."

"What do they say?"

<> laughed at Lao Tzu who asked back and looked like he was ...... laughing.

"<> is nothing but a fantasy in the minds of those five."

"Hoho?"

"As I said before, those five are just a prototype, a mere passing point in the process of creating a worthy of Master Markitas."

< himself did not care about the idea of the New Federation of Magic (Neo Magias).

"In the first place, their ideas are contradictory and I don't think they can be realized. Well, it's not much different from the ramblings of a madman."

"That's pretty harsh. <?"

"That's true, but it was only a prototype, and I was only along for the ride to see how it turned out. ......The whole ship is probably at the bottom of the sea now, isn't it?"

"Well, yes."

Lao Tzu nodded vaguely.

"Can you tell me the identities of those five men?"

"Well, it doesn't matter now. They called themselves the .

The Five?

Yes. They were in a position like a close associate of Mr. Markitas, but they weren't particularly good at anything, and I just happened to have them around and let them do my chores.

said that before long he had grown in stature and started to act like a big man.

"Master Markitas created five of these as test subjects for the experiment, but apparently he didn't use them, so they were left in the same facility when I reactivated it."

<> thought it was just right for an experiment, so he copied it and used it in the <> of the golem.

"But it's quite difficult to make a . I can't help but produce a lot of things that are not well thought out."

said regretfully.

Lao Tzu decided to give a little information to increase <>'s confidence in him a little.

"I see, you have not formally studied engineering magic. Then it's not surprising. ......"

Lao Tzu intentionally blurts out a few words to get <>'s attention.

"Hmm?　What do you mean by that?"

<> asked back, just as he had intended.

Lao Tzu answered <>'s question in the following way.

"I'm not a specialist in engineering magic either, so I don't know that much about it, but it seems that the <> to be used for the <> should be as pure as possible, right?"

"Oh?　I didn't know that."

It's true that the Magi Crystals we used for the 5 were of second grade," said.

"Hm, indeed, if Lao Tzu ...... knows such things, then we can only guess at the power of the <>."

I could sense some regret in his words. Perhaps it was because his creator, Malkitas, was hostile to the previous , or perhaps it was because he was ashamed of his own inexperience.

How did he come to call himself the "Neo-Magias" and even own a fleet?

"That fleet was built based on the one that was in that facility over there.

The truth was too good to be true.

Was it there originally?

"Yes. I think it was probably made by the being who built that facility, ......<>."

"......"

Lao Tzu thought that it might not be <> but his golem, but decided to keep quiet about it since it was not relevant to the current conversation. Or, he thinks, he could tell us at an effective time.

"Then again, you didn't have to build six ships, did you?"

"No. I built three ships with five people on board. I thought it would please Mr. Markitas. The other three were already there.

Another revelation.

But the old man asked a question to encourage him to go on.

"You must have spent a lot of money on them."

"Indeed. But fortunately, there are abundant metal resources deep underground here."

"Still, it was a waste, wasn't it?"

But shook his head.

"No. I didn't think it was possible for them to do it, but if by some chance or another they were able to take over a suitable country, so be it. If they were scattered in the process, I was willing to recover them as materials and resources."

Three of the ships were sunk by deus ex machina," concluded.

"I see, so those 5 were puppets to the last degree.

"That's what I mean."

Lao Tzu felt that this 's ability to plan and act could not be underestimated.

(It helped that his knowledge and skills were not well supported.)

Lao Tzu thought that if had focused on supporting those 5 instead of reviving Markitas, the situation would have been much more complicated and worse.

(Stopping is easy, but is it really the best choice?)

Lao Tzu, or rather Lao Kun who was piloting the ship, guessed that <> might still have some secrets hidden in it.

(There is a possibility that we may not be able to find out even if we try to stop and examine it.)

If Markitas had created <>'s <> by also using <> derived from <>, it would have been possible that <>'s <> would have been created by >.

Whether it was intended or not, <free ether wave>> would be needed to extract information from that part as well.

< is an existence from another universe, and it has mastered to an extent that even Jin could not.

Lao Tzu did not want to stop carelessly and analyze it, if even a glimpse of it had been used.

* * * *

<> was done.

The old man said in a hypothetical way.

As for the timing of the awakening of <<<< larva, could it be the time when the spirit life form separated from Markitas? >>

Jin was surprised at the hypothesis.

"What!　...... Well, I can neither deny nor confirm it, but it is ...... possible ......?"

>A fragment of a spirit life form that happened to be left behind in this world after contact with another universe occurred during the incident.

It possessed Markitas, who also happened to be on the same wavelength. They coexisted with him, sometimes tormenting him, sometimes encouraging his sparks.

Finally, he was activated by Jin's magical power, which had magical properties including <>, and separated from Malkitas.

Jin, however, immediately accepts this theory and deduces it.

"I wonder if he emitted some kind of shockwave of at that time.

, which had been stopped, was awakened by that effect.

"Yes. ...... Then, it is not a good idea at this moment to stop it and investigate."

"Hmmm, but <> is quite dangerous, isn't it?"

<

I don't think I can win him over to my side.

On the other hand, if he resurrects Malkitas as an automata, it is hard to predict what he will do.

It was a very difficult choice for the old man and Jin.