"Regardless of how you look at it, that automata is an anomaly."
Shortly before the mysterious automata arrived at the Loizart mansion, Laojun spoke to Jin.
"What is it, Laojun? Is it an emergency?"
At Laojun's voice, Jin sat up in his control seat. Laojun smoothly took over control of the Body Double Jin had been operating.
"My Lord, forgive the interruption, but I felt this was something you needed to hear."
Laojun then relayed the situation regarding the mysterious automata.
"Based on its behavior, I believe it has come to investigate the military capabilities of the current era."
"That seems likely."
"The power behind it is almost certainly Onogoro Island."
"I thought as much."
Jin agreed. He braced himself, realizing that Onogoro Island might be attempting to interfere with the world for some unknown reason.
The magi-screen in the command room displayed a live feed sent from the eyes of Quinta unit Regulus 46, commonly known as Deck.
"In that case, it’s for the best if it underestimates us as much as possible."
"Yes, My Lord. Keeping its evaluation of us low is our best course of action."
Since Deck had been reporting every movement of the mysterious automata to Laojun, it was clear the intruder had not yet realized the full extent of Jin's capabilities.
"However, it will eventually discover your existence, My Lord."
Since he wasn't exactly hiding, Jin knew that was inevitable.
"Should we capture it?"
"Yes. However, it will likely try to measure our strength during the encounter, so I believe it would be best to either win by a narrow margin or neutralize it in an instant."
"Understood... Reiko!"
"Yes, Father."
Since Jin himself was on Hourai Island, Reiko was naturally by his side.
"Since we don't know the extent of its abilities, I want to deploy our top combatant. Will you go?"
"Of course."
"And—this is something only you can do—do not use any special magic. Subdue it with raw strength alone, and when you see an opening, use the ether eliminator."
The ether eliminator was a magi-device that stripped away free ether from a target. Jin had used it previously to exterminate the Voracious Grasshoppers; when used on a golem, it could force it to Stand Still. Jin handed the device to Reiko.
On the screen, the mysterious automata was shown breaking through the gates and entering the mansion grounds.
"It likely used Craft Magic or something similar to perform Forming on the gates."
It was a function that had also been installed in the giant golem, the Shouro Empire's artifact. It wasn't surprising for the mysterious automata to possess it as well.
"Let it into the garden. Once Reiko teleports there, deploy a magic barrier," Laojun instructed. He wanted to avoid leaking as much information as possible.
"...You 'Live Puppets'."
Hearing that term provided final confirmation that the mysterious automata had been dispatched from Onogoro Island.
"There's no mistake. Reiko, go!"
"Yes, Father."
Reiko teleported away instantly.
Soon, the intruder's voice echoed through the feed.
"Ojou-sama? You? Though you are made to resemble a human, are you not just a Live Puppet?!"
The battle began immediately. Simultaneously, a magic barrier was erected around the entire mansion, including the garden. Reiko knocked the mysterious automata back and, as instructed, activated the ether eliminator.
"Nuh? This is...? My strength is... fading..."
The mysterious automata ceased all movement.
"Good, that's it. Just as planned."
Jin felt relieved as the ether eliminator proved effective. It seemed the automata hadn't anticipated a scenario where it would be deprived of free ether.
"Now then, what should we do next?"
If the ether eliminator was deactivated, there was a possibility it would resume its activities. Jin wanted to keep it neutralized.
"Alright, Reiko, check its structure... Ah, no, that won't work."
As long as the ether eliminator was active, magic of all kinds—including Craft Magic—was unusable in its vicinity.
"My Lord, if you switch to a Magi-Jammer, you will be able to use Craft Magic again."
"Ah, right."
While the ether eliminator stripped away free ether, the Magi-Jammer worked by placing the free ether within a certain range under the user's control. In short, no one except Jin and his creations could utilize the local ether.
"Let's go with that."
Laojun relayed the instructions to Reiko.
"Understood."
Without a moment's interruption, Reiko switched from the ether eliminator to the Magi-Jammer. The mysterious automata remained motionless, while Reiko was now able to use Craft Magic without issue.
"Analyze."
Reiko first investigated its structure.
"The control core is the type located in the head. And... it has a magi reactor."
A magi reactor was a magi-device that combined the functions of an ether converter and a mana driver into a single unit; it was a technology used only by Jin and the Progenitors. Even for Jin, it was a technique he had only mastered under the tutelage of No. 700672.
"For now, I shall disconnect the magi reactor."
With this, the mysterious automata was completely neutralized.
"Reiko, just to be safe, wrap that automata in your barrier and transport it to the workshop in the mansion."
Following Laojun's instructions, Reiko carried the mysterious automata into the workshop. This ensured it was hidden from all observation. Jin arrived shortly after.
"Reiko, you did well."
First, Jin repaired the broken gate.
"As I thought, it was broken using Forming..."
There was currently no way to prevent such a direct structural manipulation. Jin then set about analyzing the mysterious automata. The first thing he did was duplicate the data within the control core; information was more precious than any material. After that, he moved on to the physical structure.
"I see, this one also mimics the human body."
It followed the same design philosophy as the golems he had encountered shortly before the Ether Stampede. Of course, the craftsmanship here was far superior.
"The skeleton is... I'm surprised, it's 64 light silver. The muscles are a synthetic material, but the performance seems high."
Based on a rough estimate, it seemed capable of producing about ten times the strength of a human.
"Under normal circumstances, it would be a threat, but..."
Compared to the golems of Hourai Island, it was no competition. In this regard, Jin held the advantage. The wiring of the magi-nerves was also extremely precise. Despite the human-like exterior, there was no wasteful obsession with matching the positions of magi-devices to human organs.
"However, that's quite a large magi reactor. I suppose it's designed to operate even in areas with thin concentrations of free ether."
Under Jin's hands, the internal structure was revealed bit by bit. Just as expected, he found a magi-device that appeared to be a communication unit. Jin disconnected it immediately. Beyond that, there were no particularly notable components that could serve as a reference for his own work.
Conversely, it meant that the golems and automata Jin created had already reached a comparable level of perfection.
"Looking at it this way, it seems we can't definitively say our technology is inferior to Onogoro Island's."
Jin felt a sense of satisfaction, knowing their technology could, to some extent, stand on equal footing.
"Since they seem to be a group softened by peace, perhaps their combat technology has not advanced as much," Laojun noted.
"Yeah, that's a possibility... Let's leave it at this for now. Next, I need to extract information from this control core."
Jin left the mysterious automata in the mansion's workshop and returned to Hourai Island with Reiko.