Chapter 6092 Metal Is Weak Ves was not able to understand how the Elegant Rage worked. That did not stop him from collecting a lot of data. He set aside many of the aspects of the mutated mech that eluded his understanding and focused on securing more realistic gains. One of the theories he came up with was that mechs that incorporated aspects of the Emperor Tree's wooden construct technology possessed the ability to regenerate their own battle damage. Although the Elegant Rage was not a pure wood-based biomech, its extreme transformation had caused it to become a lot more powerful and special than its previous iteration. Even now, Blinky was able to perceive that the Elegant Rage was quietly growing by absorbing the ambient wood-attributed E energy from the environment. The wood energies were most present in the patchwork wooden components of the mutated mech. However, Blinky was also able to perceive that the wood energy ran through the metal components as well. Somehow, the remaining metallic components of the Elegant Rage suddenly became receptive towards wood energy. In contrast, the living mech also became less welcoming towards metal energy. This was a highly unusual shift as every modern living mech was able to cultivate the Lesser or Greater Larkinson Metal Guardian Mantra! As the name of this mech-exclusive cultivation suggested, every living mech was slowly able to strengthen its material frame as well as its spiritual foundation by absorbing metal energy from the environment. Progress was relatively slow and the effects were not too dramatic, but only a few years had passed since Ves first granted his living mechs more agency in their growth. It made sense for mechs made predominantly out of metallic alloys to absorb more metal energy. It did not make sense for a mech that still contained a lot of metallic parts to neglect the value of metal energy! Why did the Elegant Rage decide to convert to an energy type that did not entirely align with the material composition of the mech frame? Ves figured that the best way to find out was to get a direct answer from the living mech herself. He activated a command that slightly powered up the machine and caused the third order living mech to become a little more energetic. Though the living machine had always remained active even when almost all of her systems had shut down, Ves' action essentially conveyed his willingness to extend more autonomy to the living mech. The Elegant Rage had previously been restricted from acting by herself due to the potential fear that she may go rogue. Fortunately, she remained well-behaved after her return from the mission. She never kicked up any fuss during the time she was shipped from the Reticula Corein System to the New Constantinople System. Though Ves could definitely tell that there was an element of primal rage to her spiritual foundation, the third order living mech demonstrated sufficient control over her impulses. She had earned his trust. "Can you answer a few questions for me, Elegant Rage?" The three eyes of the mutated mech briefly flashed. "I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO SATISFY YOUR CURIOSITY, PROGENITOR. ASK AWAY." "I am sure you are aware of many of the changes to your mech frame. Do the wooden components feel amiss to you in any way? Do they inflict any pain? Do they feel foreign to you? Would you rather get rid of them and revert to your prior form?" "I HAVE EVOLVED." The third order living mech expressed her opinion. "I HAVE BECOME STRONGER AND MORE DIFFICULT TO DESTROY THAN EVER BEFORE. WHY WOULD I DISLIKE THESE CHANGES? MAYBE IT IS DIFFICULT FOR YOU AND OTHERS TO ACCEPT A MECH THAT HAS INTEGRATED SO MUCH WOOD, BUT IT FEELS COMPLETELY NATURAL TO ME. I DON'T LIKE METAL ANYMORE. IF I HAD MY WAY, I WOULD BE MADE COMPLETELY OUT OF WOOD." "What?" Both Ves and Alexa blanked out for a moment. What they heard… sounded absurd. As mech designers who worked on many powerful metallic mechs, they possessed a strong and unshakable belief in the power of classical mechs. The concept of wooden mechs was too strange and weird for their sensibilities. Even if it possessed a couple of unique advantages, metallic mechs had developed far too much to lose their crown. "Why… do you want to get rid of your remaining metallic components?" Ves questioned. "BECAUSE THEY FAILED ME." The Elegant Rage succinctly answered. "WHEN THE ZEAL STRUCK MY BACK, MY ARMOR AND STRUCTURE FAILED TO WITHSTAND THE BLOW. EVEN WORSE WAS THAT I HAD NO ABILITY TO REGENERATE MY BATTLE DAMAGE ON MY OWN. I WAS ON THE VERGE OF FAILING MY BATTLE PARTNER. IT WAS ONLY WHEN SHE MANAGED TO BREAK THROUGH THAT I FOUND A BETTER ALTERNATIVE. WITH THE HELP OF LANIE'S POWER, I GRASPED THE POWER OF REBIRTH AND ASSIMILATED A MORE SUPERIOR MATERIAL!" The living mech meant every word she said. Her spiritual foundation sang with joy and gratitude as the Elegant Rage continued to gush about her transformation. "UNLIKE THE RIGID AND UNRESTORABLE PIECES OF METAL THAT SIGNIFIED MY WEAKNESS, THE WOOD THAT I MANAGED TO INTEGRATE WITH THE HELP OF LANIE IS VASTLY MORE SUPERIOR. IT IS WARMER AND FILLED WITH LIFE. IT HAS HELPED TO RESTORE LANIE'S BROKEN BODY AND RETURN HER TO A HEALTHY CONDITION. I NO LONGER HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I RETURN TO BASE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE REPAIRS I NEED. I CAN REGENERATE ON MY OWN BY ABSORBING WOOD ENERGY AND LANIE'S WILLPOWER. NO LONGER WILL ANYONE BE ABLE TO REDUCE ME TO A HELPLESS AND INFIRM STATE. THE POWER OF WOOD IS EVERLASTING." The Elegant Rage had become a complete wood element fangirl after surviving a traumatic event! From her limited perspective, metal was weak and wood was strong. The latter might not necessarily be any tougher or more resilient, but it was far easier to repair organic matter than inorganic matter! Though Ves did not necessarily agree with all of the living mech's stances, he did not bother to correct her. There was little point in doing so. Every human and every living mech was different. So long as their opinions did not lead to any harm, it was fine for them to believe in their little delusions. Besides, Ves loved variety. So what if a living mech had gone astray and became a wood supremacist? The Elegant Rage presented him with a lot of novelties that he had never encountered before! "Well, I am glad that you have embraced your changes." Ves said in a placating tone. "The problem is that your transformation is incomplete. Now that your battle partner has gone ahead and joined the Red Association, I have been tasked to convert you into a Carmine mech. I intend to do so with your newly obtained wood foundation as its core. Since this is tech that I have yet to develop, I need to conduct extensive examinations and experiments on you. Are you okay with that, Elegant Rage?" "I TRUST YOU TO DO WHAT IS BEST FOR MYSELF AND LANIE. YOU ARE MY PROGENITOR, AND YOU HAVE NEVER DONE LIVING MECHS ANY WRONG. I AM WILLING TO PUT MYSELF AT YOUR DISPOSAL IN ORDER TO BECOME STRONGER IN THE END. I WOULD LOVE NOTHING MORE THAN TO FORM A PACT FOR LIFE WITH MY ONLY BATTLE PARTNER." The thorns extending from all over the mech frame was by far the Elegant Rage's most prominent exterior feature. They were considerably sharper and tougher than the rest of the mech frame, and they seem to be a lot more attuned to wood energy as well. Ves smiled at that. "Very well. Let's start with a few experiments. We need to collect a bunch of empirical data in order to determine what kind of additional properties you have gained since your mutations. I will need to cut off a few of your thorns as well for additional studies. Scans have shown that both your wooden and metallic thorns possess unusual properties that seem to make them more than what they appear on the surface." The thorns extending from all over the mech frame was by far the Elegant Rage's most prominent exterior feature. They were considerably sharper and tougher than the rest of the mech frame, and they seem to be a lot more attuned to wood energy as well. "YOU MAY… COLLECT THE SAMPLES. I BELIEVE THAT I CAN REPAIR THE DAMAGE, THOUGH IT WILL BE HARDER WITHOUT LANIE PILOTING ME. I AM NOT SURE IF IT WILL WORK." "That is what our studies are for. We experiment and observe in order to turn uncertainties into known variables. You will see what I mean soon enough." The advantage of bringing the Elegant Rage to his private workshop was that Ves could employ an extensive set of tools and instruments. Ves and Alexa retreated to a central workstation. From there, they began to activate a series of wall and ceiling-mounted instruments. Many of them consisted of various sensor and scanning arrays. They came online and began to observe the semi-dormant form of the Elegant Rage in many different ways. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞 Ves also kept Blinky out in order to serve as his spiritual sensor system. While Ves made sure that all of the high-tech scanning systems were properly calibrated, Alexa served as his assistant and took manual control over a heavy-duty plasma cutter. The large mech weapon-sized industrial tool came online and began to form a very thin but hot plasma edge. Alexa grew a little concerned about using such a hot instrument on a partially organic mech. "Sir, are you certain that it is wise to employ a plasma cutter on the Elegant Rage? What if her wooden components catch fire?" "The wood produced by the Emperor Tree and strengthened by forced resonance shouldn't be so weak. The plasma cutter isn't empowered in any special way, so as long as you make the cut fast enough, it shouldn't do much more than scorch the surface of the Elegant Rage. Let's conduct a test by scratching a single metal armor plate." Alexa promptly executed her instructions. She brought the plasma cutter forward and gently used it to dig a fairly shallow groove onto the thickest frontal chest plating of the Elegant Rage. "OUCH! THAT IS TOO HOT! THAT HURTS!" Ves found it interesting that the Elegant Rage gained a heightened sensitivity for pain, even though it shouldn't even possess the nerves to experience this particular sensation. Both Ves and Alexa carefully examined the thin charred line on the armor plate. "Can you sense it, Alexa?" "No. What clue have you found?" "Zoom in on the damage. Look at how the groove is stirring." "Wait… is the Elegant Rage truly capable of regenerating its own battle damage despite lacking the high tech self-repair modules?" Ves smiled. "Blinky can sense a lot of wood energy converging on the damaged sections. The Elegant Rage is right. Wood energy is truly able to promote healing. The outrageous part is that this applies to her metallic components as well as her wooden components!" Though they had yet to test the same capability on an exposed wooden part, the results would probably be the same! The Elegant Rage had already managed to conduct drastic repairs on her damaged and broken metallic components immediately after Venerable Lanie's breakthrough. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that the machine still retained a semblance of this ability. However, it was not without flaws. "It is too slow." Alexa concluded. "According to my brief calculations, it will likely take at least a week for the Elegant Rage to repair such a small and trivial scar. It may take years for the living mech to bring herself back to full functionality if she suffered as much damage as last time!" That was indeed a major flaw. Ves knew that Lanie's companion spirit was able to boost the Elegant Rage's regeneration abilities, but that was not a perfect solution. "There has to be a solution." Ves stated. "Let's conduct further examinations and see how we can make the Elegant Rage more enduring and unkillable." The survival of Venerable Lanie was at stake! Given how eagerly the Mace wanted to put his latest protege to the test, it became a matter of life and death to improve the Elegant Rage's core features! Ves seriously doubted that the Red Association would be able to upgrade all of these features. The mechers did not master his own specializations. This meant that only he possessed the ability to strengthen what made the Elegant Rage unique!