"Such an extensive automatic breeding facility like the one you described couldn't be used to just breed warriors in case of an assault. The magical beasts were probably used as prototypes for the Flesh Golem project as demonstrated by the brains embedded in the constructs we fought.
"Hence they have probably been moved to the underground lab." Neshal said.
The other Professors nodded, cursing at their own stupidity. It was now too late to enter the underground complex. Even though they had fought no enemy, deactivating arrays and constantly scanning their surroundings was quite a tiresome job.
Still, to Lith it hadn't been a fool's errand. They had now cut off enough mana cables that Solus was almost able to assume her tower form.
Lith used that forced break to use Accumulation a lot and call Kamila again. After seeing her in such a bad shape, he had decided to try and support her to the best of his abilities despite the distance separating them.
Lith spent dinner with her and thanks to his company, Kamila managed to eat a full bowl of soup instead of just nibbling at her food before sending it back to the kitchen.
"It sucks having no one waiting for you but Mom and Dad, uh?" Quylla asked Phloria. She was knee-deep in sheets of paper filled with her notes about the Life Merging reports they had managed to find.
"Well, at least you have Anathor." Phloria said, realizing she had been staring too much at Kamila's hologram and averting her gaze from the couple.
"I don't know. I haven't thought about him once since we got here. I think it's a pretty bad sign. Are you interested in hearing a crazy theory of mine?"
Seeing that Quylla wouldn't stop working even during dinner unless someone actively conversed with her, Phloria nodded.
"I think that all the three successful projects were means to prolong the Odi race's existence. Life Merging probably exploits their artificially identical life forces to avoid rejection when assimilating one another, just like Thrud does with her meat puppets."
"Flesh Golems should be a perfected version of the constructs we have already faced, capable of implanting their minds in a Golem's body, whereas the Mana Reactor should be related to convert mana into life force." Quylla said.
"Is any of these three things even possible?" Phloria was suddenly very interested in the matter. The first two were revolting, but the third option might allow them to give Lith a normal lifespan if they found its blueprints.
"In theory, yes. In practice, maybe. The only problem I have with my crazy theory is that it doesn't explain why the Odi disappeared even though all three projects worked. I mean, I get that the rebels might have killed those on the surface, but what happened to the Odi residing in Kulah?
"Also, I don't get how they were supposed to find life force donors for the Life Merging project. If Lith is right and the Odi were sterile, then their numbers could only decline with time."
"Couldn't they use Body Sculpting on the Teks and absorb their life force?" Phloria asked.
"No, that's impossible. Even with heavy modifications, a magical beast's and a human's life force are too different. My hope is that we find enough about the Mana Reactor to at least repair Lith's life force since it's the only way to help him that doesn't involve forbidden magic." Quylla replied.
There were few things that she wouldn't do to help her friend, but killing people was among them.
Lith tried to give Kamila his undivided attention, but his enhanced senses heard Quylla's words and he got curious. When he listened to her reasoning, he couldn't disagree more with her.
'Her idea of Life Merging kind of makes sense, but the rest is just wishful thinking. If the Odi were willing to consider becoming Golems as a form of eternal life, they would have much more easily turned themselves into undead.
'As for the Mana Reactor, mana and life force are two entirely different things. With Invigoration, I can have my mana core produce as much mana as I want, yet I can't repair my life force.
'Either Quylla sees so far that I can't even comprehend her theory or she's completely off track.' Lith thought.
"Why are you sighing so much?" Kamila asked. Lith didn't want to burden her with his problems, so he replied with a white lie.
"I can't wait to be done with this awful place. Having you so close and yet so distant is killing me." His words managed to make her laugh and eat some bread.
The rest of the evening was uneventful and so was the night. The guards had become so relaxed with the prolonged quiet of those last few days that they had a hard time not dozing off from time to time.
The following morning, despite all of Quylla's pleads, the expedition team was once again split into two groups, leaving the Assistants and the soldiers in the camp while the Rangers, the Professors, and Phloria went to collect the last data.
"I'm sorry, Quylla, but if those we faced so far were the security measures for almost abandoned projects, I can't imagine how tight the security will be for the successful ones." Phloria said.
Even though she appeared to be calm, she was actually on edge. She had searched thoroughly Kulah's commander's office, but she hadn't found the device to reset the base's DEFCON level.
According to Lith's estimates, they were one mistake away from a gruesome death. By keeping her sister as far away as she could from Kulah, Phloria could better protect her life and give her the opportunity to escape if the worst happened.
The elevator for the underground facility was located inside the administrative building, right past the commander's office. Just like the other elevators they had encountered, its metal doors were nigh identical to the walls, making it hard to spot, if it wasn't for the small keyhole at its side.
The moment Phloria put the metal key in the lock, it was ripped off her hand before she could turn it. A thud could be heard as a bright yellow light became visible through the elevator's crevices, accompanied by a rumbling sound.
"Oh shit!" Phloria unsheathed her sword and conjured an energy shield around those close to her. The Professors reacted as well, taking their best equipment out from their dimensional amulets.
"What did you do wrong?" Morok's said, his hands above his weapons as he was uncertain of what form shapeshift them into to better face the metal monster in front of them.
The panic in the air amused Lith, who had to repress his chuckle.
'I guess they have never heard a mechanical elevator moving.' He thought.
A ding accompanied the metal doors opening, revealing a lift big enough to easily accommodate 20 people or a stretcher and a medical team. The key was waiting for them on the inside, behind a glass panel right beside a card reader.
"What the heck is this?" Gaakhu asked. "There are no buttons and no runes, how do we command this thing to move?"
"It seems that the elevator only makes one stop." Lith explained. "We need the other key." Mogar's language had no word for 'keycard', so he just pointed at the other item they had found inside the safe.
"How do you know?" Gaakhu asked. She was a historian and she had never heard of such a device. Before Lith could cook up an explanation, the ground below their feet began to rumble.
