In his dorm room, Allen stared at the fist-sized black sphere on his workbench.

This was the Control Core for the "Spider Slayer."

For the past two days, Allen had barely left this lab table.

He hadn’t "taught" the Control Core what to do using Spiritual Power or voice commands like other Alchemy Apprentices. That method was far too inefficient.

He had chosen a completely different approach.

DSeek’s virtual interface unfolded in his vision, with countless streams of data cascading down like a waterfall.

Hundreds of action plans, built with logic trees and probability models, were being converted by DSeek into a command set that the Control Core could "understand," all according to Allen’s preset parameters.

[Instruction 37: Upon encountering a ’Heavy Armor Patrol Puppet,’ if distance is greater than fifty meters, prioritize attacking the knee joint’s drive Rune with a sniper weapon. If distance is less than twenty meters, activate ’Shadow Travel,’ circle to its rear power interface, and execute a piercing attack.]

[Instruction 81: If surrounded by more than three enemies, immediately execute escape logic protocol.]

[Instruction 112: Automatic target acquisition behavior logic...]

Hundreds of instructions and thousands of branching decisions formed a complete, automated combat logic system.

It was an art of war, encompassing a series of tactical maneuvers including reconnaissance, assessment, deception, ambush, evasion, assault, and sniping.

DSeek packaged it all into a highly sophisticated "Competition Tactical Module," which was then slowly "poured" into the metal sphere by the primary thread using Spiritual Power.

He knew that Spiritual Power was acting as both a "bridge" and a "translator" in this process.

The generic Control Cores on the market were already pre-configured to handle most scenarios, and their accompanying background control programs were only meant for minor user adjustments. But Allen, applying the logic of coding from his past life, had pushed this feature to a whole new level.

He often had a strange, disconnected feeling.

In his previous life, getting a robot to make such complex autonomous decisions would have required a massive software engineering team, millions of lines of code, and countless rounds of debugging and iteration to even come close.

Yet here, an Advanced Apprentice from an alchemy school could accomplish it independently, using just some mysterious materials and a body of knowledge called "Rune Engineering."

No circuit boards, no servers, and certainly no so-called programming languages.

There was another thing Allen couldn’t wrap his head around. Different types of Control Cores on the market behaved completely differently after installation. For instance, the behavioral logic of a Humanoid Golem Core and a Spider Golem Core was fundamentally distinct, and they even possessed a certain degree of intelligence.

Allen had run multiple tests on the intelligence level of these Control Cores himself. He discovered that they actually had the ability to learn autonomously and understand vague instructions. Moreover, at the same price point, a Humanoid Golem Core had a stronger learning capacity than a Spider Golem Core.

’What’s the principle behind this? Why is there such a difference?’

Allen couldn’t comprehend the underlying technology at all.

He couldn’t figure out how the underlying architecture of a Control Core was created, especially since the Wizarding World had never developed a technology like software programming.

Software programming from his past life seemed like a massive system, but any mortal could understand its fundamental logic through dedicated study. Even if some functions appeared simple, they were built upon mountains of code, and their workings were ultimately traceable.

The Rune engineering of Wizards followed a completely different developmental path. To Allen, it was a total technological black box. Even with an established learning path, using it always felt a bit esoteric.

...

When the final tactical module finished writing, the Rune patterns on the Control Core’s surface flashed with a faint light before fading away.

Allen let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair, feeling mentally exhausted.

"Sir, your body has been under strain for too long. I recommend you replenish your nutrients and engage in a light Meditation."

Ah Fu walked to his side, placing a warm drink of the perfect temperature on the corner of the table.

It was dressed in a crisp tuxedo, its movements as graceful as if it were serving a Grand Duke.

Allen picked up the cup and took a sip of the warm liquid, washing away some of his fatigue.

The Black Tower New Star Cup was still half a month away.

There was still plenty of time.

The hardware and core logic for the "Spider Slayer" were in place, but Allen’s creative desire was far from satisfied.

DSeek was his greatest trump card, but its "input terminal" was limited by his own five senses.

DSeek could only analyze what he could see, and it could only process what he could hear.

He wanted to build a more powerful external information-gathering device for DSeek.

’An implantable bionic eye?’

The thought was dismissed as soon as it appeared.

That was the path of mechanical ascension—step-by-step replacement of one’s flesh and blood with cold machinery to become a perfect creation.

Allen had no plans for physical modification at the moment. Implants required constant maintenance, upkeep, and upgrades. His energy was limited, and the Meditation Method he was learning wasn’t compatible.

The "Myriad Machine Resonance" Meditation Method’s main function was "control," not "fusion." It was about making machines an extension of his will, not making himself a part of the machine.

At Allen’s request, DSeek sketched the outline of a pair of glasses.

It wasn’t a normal pair of glasses, but more like a monocle, or perhaps an external device that hung on the ear with the lens floating in front of the eye.

You could think of it as a power level scouter from "Dragon Ball."

The design schematics for the Judgement Alchemy Sniper Rifle’s scope were also pulled up.

Optical zoom, thermal imaging, Magic Vision... all these technologies could be used, but he wanted more.

Besides integrating the "Judgement’s" existing functions, he also planned to add three new modules: a basic "material analysis" function, a rangefinding function, and an embedded "Magic Spectrum Detection" capable of capturing subtle fluctuations in Magic Power.

To achieve all this, his current knowledge was insufficient.

"Ah Fu, set a schedule reminder to go to the Central Library to study the creation of Alchemy Tools," Allen ordered.

"As you wish, Sir." Ah Fu bowed slightly.

Allen nodded, making a mental note of it.

With the "eyes" problem solved, another plan surfaced.

He also needed a dedicated reconnaissance-type Mechanical Body.

Initially, his idea was simple: directly replicate the quad-rotor drones from his past life.

Simple structure, low cost.

But he quickly overturned this idea himself.

A drone’s noise in a quiet environment would be a dead giveaway, and its fragile rotors probably couldn’t even withstand the pressure of Magic Power.

More importantly, just a few days ago in his "Advanced Rune Engineering" class, he had learned about a technology that was both magical and sci-fi: the Anti-Gravity Rune Matrix.

His own Flying Skateboard was an application of this technology.

Since there was a more "magical" way, why cling to outdated Earth technology?

Allen’s mind raced, and the design sketch for a new Mechanical Body began to form in his head.

Its core was a palm-sized metal sphere, inscribed internally with a small Anti-Gravity Rune Matrix and powered by a single Middle-Tier Magic Stone. This would allow it to float and move silently.

Its "eye" was a crystal lens embedded with multiple Detection Magic models, which could provide a 360-degree, unobstructed field of view as the sphere rotated.

As for survivability...

He would install an "Illusion Rune Array" to allow it to become invisible, and then design a Rune to conceal its Magic Power fluctuations.

A mobile spy that could float, was silent, and could camouflage itself.

He named this little device the "Demon Eye."

It required no offensive capabilities. Its sole mission was to use the [Cluster Link Formula] to transmit all battlefield information in real-time to Allen, the command hub. Allen and DSeek would then analyze and process this information before distributing it to the "Spider Slayer" or other Mechanical Bodies.

Reconnaissance, command, and hunt.

An information-based, miniature combat system was taking shape.