Compared to the first time, I was the one who moved first towards the Gold Automatons.
It was to show the two girls the strength of these new enemies we encountered.
Actually, we could go on a different route to avoid them but, it's a waste to pass on the chance to get something useful from the cart they were escorting and transporting.
Phantasmic Doppelganger!
Conjuring four clones that possessed the strength of early Rank 2 Transcendent, I used them to create a distraction. Each of the clones used different Pathway Skills pulling at least 10 Gold Automatons' attention to themselves.
Because of that, I used the Void Concealment to silently approach the cart and scan its contents.
This ability was once one of my trump cards back then. Hiding through the void to escape or create an opportunity to deal a fatal blow could be said to be my specialty.
I could be compared to an assassin back then.
However, with Yuko and the girls always with me, I wasn't always using this ability.
Most of the time, I used it to steal something. Like a ten thousand years old sacred ore containing a Heavenfire Essence from an Elemental-type Sage World.
Ah. Heavenfire.
It's another Mystical Flame just like Jayna's Earthfire Essence that I had her absorb back in the Ancient Ruin.
With my memory back, the true nature of the Mystical Flame I had Jayna absorbed was also remembered by me.
Those Mystical Flames was just one of the wonders that could be found in any Level 3 Elemental-type Sage World.
They were actually collectively called the Mystical Elements. Both Earthfire and Heavenfire that I just mentioned falls under the Mystical Flame category.
And among every mystical flame, Heavenfire is supposed to be the strongest Mystical Flame that could be found in an Elemental-type Sage World.
The Mystical Elements followed the traditional five Elements that were actually known here on modern Earth. That's why apart from the Mystical Flames, there were Water, Earth, Metal and Wood Essences that could be absorbed by someone or used on a Formation or any other method such as Talismans, Spells, Technology and a lot more one could think of.
The strength and the rarity of these Mystical Elements were categorized by the prefixes attached to them such as Heaven, Sky, Earth and Saint.
And with that information, it basically meant that Jayna's Earthfire Essence was just in the middle rung. Nonetheless, it's still a rare Mystical Element that couldn't be found anywhere.
For it to be found inside that Ancient Ruins when it was a chunk of a higher Spirit-type World, someone deliberately left that there. Perhaps it was part of a larger formation, who knows?
I guess we might visit that place one more time before truly leaving the Earth. From my memory, I still couldn't recognize that Incarnation of the old gentleman. Perhaps, he's not really as famous as he claimed to be or he became famous after what happened to Earth. Either way, there were answers I needed to get from him. For example, the war that the World's Will mentioned.
Ah. Wait. I was getting sidetracked. I better scan this now before they detect me!
I left the confines of the Void Dimension and immediately spread open my Energy Senses to immediately scan the contents of the cart these Gold Automatons were transporting.
This was actually the only way to scan its contents.
The cart was made from a special material. Unless one was near its proximity, one wouldn't be able to scan its contents. Furthermore, the cart was also preventing any leak of Source Energy from its cover, making it harder for any thief who would have designs to it to know what they were stealing.
Well, back then, stealing from a Waste Disposal Site like this was a common occurrence.
Not everyone was part of a Noble House or any influential family. Due to that, a lot of Earthlings had nary a resource to aid in their Pathway progress. That's why, even on the old Earth, there were a lot of bandit groups or crime groups that were living off the dregs of a Noble House or influential families.
And that's also the reason why Waste Disposal Sites like this have Automatons as guards. The owner of this site still needed to protect the defective products they were trying to recycle.
Fortunately, today, these Waste Disposal Sites were now ownerless. Everything inside here would now be used in accelerating the Earthlings' growth in strength. Be it for training or the defective technology that the brightest minds could improve on.
"Intruder! Categorized as Threat 5, applying lethal action."
After my swift scan, the remaining Gold Automatons finally noticed me. Following that, whatever program instilled in them was activated as they immediately whirled out their mechanical voice to announce what they're going to do.
As soon as they finished, an invisible pressure of multiple peak Rank 2 Transcendents pushed down on my shoulders.
They're not possessing any Source Energy but… the material they're made from was all special that allowed them to possess this kind of strength.
Too bad for them, only Rank 3 Transcendents could affect me with their pressure. Moreover, I was still at my 90% here despite the restrictions set by whatever system was in place here.
Before the remaining 8 Automatons could lunge at me, I summoned my four Pillar Guardians to block them while I analyze how to efficiently deal with them.
Deal, meaning not to disable them but to just stall them here with me while I was waiting for the two women to arrive.
Reinys and Elise already joined the four clones that were playing tag against the 10 Gold Automatons.
With their favorite flames blazing across the area to ignite the shiny Automatons, they began applying what they learned from their earlier fight.
However, they found out that their enemies this time were not as easy as the Bronze and Silver Automatons.
The Gold Automatons was peak Rank 2 Transcendent in strength, they had to utilize everything they had to stand their ground against them.
Reinys who was just leisurely casting a spell earlier was finally jumping around to avoid the particle cannons from the Automatons' arms while counterattacking them.
At this moment, her whole body was blazing as the fire continued to rain down against the Automatons.
On the other hand, Elise was riding the Flamebird as she flew around the area slashing and stabbing the Automatons whenever she would get a chance.
Watching them calmly facing off against the Automatons, I somehow felt relieved.
They're truly these strong now, even without my buffs or even if they were restricted by the place, they could stand their ground against them.
Taking my eyes off them, I watched how my four Pillar Guardians flew back as they were sent flying away by the Gold Automatons in front of me who were still trying to protect and transport the cart safely.
Do I still need to converse with these machines? Haa… I don't think so. What they were transporting was neither useful nor useless to us. I guess if I could categorize it to something, it's a raw material that still needed an expert to be utilized.
As for what kind of raw material, it's a huge chunk of ore. A special ore that could be made into something.
In this case, they're transporting this ore to be melted and made into… Automaton parts. Should I just let them or should I take it and look for someone to make better weapons for my Companions?
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om