Chapter 869: Chapter 870: Products She smiled at him, then lifted her hand and pointed toward the floating skull. "I didn’t—he... ehm. It did." Damon followed the motion of her finger. The thing hovering in the air was unmistakably a human skull, bleached white and cracked with age. Pale light burned within its empty eye sockets, the glow subtly shifting as if it were looking back at him. Damon’s gaze lingered on it for a moment before he spoke. "And what’s that supposed to be?" Before she could reply, footsteps echoed from behind the corner. "Oh, you’re back." Lyn stepped into view, his smile wide and unrestrained. "We’ve been waiting for you." He closed the distance quickly, enthusiasm bleeding into his movements. "Come on, we have so much to show you. You won’t believe what we’ve been up to—oh, and you should see Maw." Lyn seized Damon by the arm and started pulling him forward while Sithara pressed lightly at his back, urging him along. Damon let himself be dragged, allowing the momentum to carry him deeper into the underground chamber. As they moved inside, a sharp screech sliced through the air above them. Damon’s steps slowed. He tilted his head up. Strange cocoons clung to the ceiling, suspended in clusters. Thick, viscous fluid seeped from their surfaces, dripping slowly to the stone below. There were fewer than ten. His mouth twisted. "What the hell happened while I was gone." Lyn followed his gaze, smiling as if the sight were reassuring. "Yeah, the newborns aren’t ready yet. We only have a few hundred so far. They’re not that strong—simple drone sentinels at best." Damon barely registered the explanation. He felt it instead: a faint, crawling sense of connection, like threads tugging at the edges of his awareness. They guided him farther in until the passage opened into a wider chamber. The first thing Damon noticed was movement. A familiar shape circled Matia as she stood calmly at the center of the room. Maw. It lunged at her without warning. Matia shifted her stance and casually smashed it aside with a barrier, the impact echoing through the chamber. Damon recognized it instantly, despite the changes. Maw was larger now. Still an amorphous mass, but several new mouths opened and closed across its body, flexing as if testing their purpose. The creature seemed uncertain, constantly reshaping itself. Damon lifted his gaze. Dozens of floating skulls and drifting shades hovered throughout the chamber. But what truly caught his attention were the knights. Armored figures stood in rigid formation, perfectly still, like statues carved from steel. Damon felt it then, life. A faint connection tugged at him, familiar and unsettling. Yet there was no sense of self within them. Only instinct. "Hm." The sound slipped out unconsciously. "Those are the second type of drones," Sithara said quietly. "Humanoid models. We had Maw intentionally shape them to resemble humans, only on the outside. Under those helms, they are anything but." Lyn crossed his arms, clearly pleased. "We’ve been experimenting. We made a significant breakthrough. Maw is an excellent specimen. These drones are the same ones you saw in the cocoons. They’re the weakest combat type Maw can produce, but they’re born quickly, low quality corpses are enough." Damon watched Lyn speak, his cadence measured, his confidence practiced, like a seasoned researcher from a magical institution. Then again, Lyn was one of the founders of Lysithara. Or would be in the future. Sithara stepped closer and pulled out a neatly written report, holding it out with both hands. Her eyes lingered on Damon’s face, searching. He hesitated, confused for a moment. Then it clicked. Iris used to look like this. Whenever she wanted praise but would never ask for it. That girl had been all sharp edges and fire. Sithara was the opposite. Damon reached out and placed a hand gently on her head. "Good job, Sithara. I’m proud of you." Her face brightened instantly. Prodigy or not, she was still a child. "As you can see," Lyn continued, "we tested their combat capabilities. They’re around first class advancement, slightly weaker individually. But their hive mind allows coordination, which makes them far more dangerous." Damon stepped closer to the knights. They appeared to be wearing silver plate armor and wielding swords. He reached out and tapped one. The sound was wrong. The armor wasn’t separate. "They’re like bugs," Lyn said, quill scratching across parchment, "except instead of an exoskeleton, they possess a biological carapace resembling magical metal." "Try hitting one," Lyn gestured. Damon didn’t hesitate. He raised his hand and struck casually. The drone was sent flying, slamming into the wall with enough force to crack stone. Red fluid splattered across the surface. Slowly, unnaturally, it stood back up. Damon frowned. That strike had weight. Enough to kill a first class combatant outright. Lyn’s smile widened. "They adapt to damage. The initial models had blue blood and poor durability. After Matia destroyed them repeatedly, the hive learned. Maw created improved versions. The blood color was changed so they could blend in with real people." Damon flipped through the report. The original models were grotesque, barely humanoid. The newer versions were refined, efficient, and disturbingly convincing. Matia approached him and gave a slight nod. She said nothing. Damon returned it with a small smile. "There’s a limit," Lyn continued, his tone more serious now. "High-end models are costly. The better the food Maw receives, the better the result. That means powerful corpses and massive amounts of organic material." Damon lowered the report and looked around the chamber. "Then it should be possible to create specialized models. Winged units for the sky. Mining variants. Dragons, wyverns. Ground tanks shaped like drakes. Sea serpents. An army that never tires and never hungers." Sithara nodded slowly. "Yes. It’s possible. But extremely expensive. We fed Maw millions of corpses during testing." Damon nodded. "I see. I assume these drones aren’t your best work." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 Lyn’s grin turned almost boyish. "I’m glad you asked. Lazarak is in the inner chamber, working with our best creations. I can’t wait for you to see them. By my analysis, even you will be impressed." Damon glanced at Matia. She nodded once. If Matia was impressed, then Damon was very interested.