In the laboratory, the Nest lay quietly on the workbench, curled into a basketball-sized mass of blue gelatin.
Benjamin pushed open the laboratory door and walked in, with the Black Giant Priest following behind him.
"Wait outside," Benjamin said to the Black Giant Priest without looking back.
"Yes, Master." The black figure retreated outside, and the vertical slit in its chest silently closed.
Benjamin walked to the workbench and looked down at the basketball-sized mass of blue gelatin.
"Nest." He reached out and poked its surface with a finger.
The blue gelatin trembled lightly, then immediately arched up like a cat awakening from sleep. A slit opened in the middle of its round body.
The Nest possessed three-hundred-and-sixty-degree perception without blind spots, but in order to communicate with its master, it deliberately formed unique markers, equivalent to a creature's "front face."
A faint silver glow flickered within the slit. This was its most primitive way of expressing closeness toward its creator.
"Stop acting cute." Benjamin poked it again expressionlessly. "This time, it's serious business."
The Nest immediately restrained itself. The silver glow within its sensory slit condensed into a more stable shape, assuming an attentive posture.
Benjamin first took out a stack of materials from his Internal Grotto-Heaven.
The materials consisted of thumb-sized transparent crystal sheets. Dense data and images were sealed within them, while every crystal flickered with an eerie dark-purple luster.
These were all the data he had compiled after conducting detailed research on the "bizarre."
After placing the materials on the workbench, Benjamin's gaze swept back and forth between the crystals and the Nest.
That was right. Benjamin was modifying the Nest yet again.
After the previous modification, the Nest had actually already reached a level that satisfied him.
At the time, Benjamin and Viola had granted