The design once again astounded [Iteration[1], the complexity easily surpassed the original [Combat golem] and the best part was that it could be built with [automata stone] in [Golem molds] just not its current [Golem molds].
Though [Iteration[2] said it would be better if it had a stronger material, something about improving efficiency.
[Iteration[2] informed it that the current [Golem molds] were simply too crude and lacked any sophisticated design, it even went as far as to say they hampered overall efficiency, [Iteration[1] couldn't have that, not at all.
So [Iteration[2] quickly got to work, tweaking and tinkering with the [Golem mold] blueprint until it was finally satisfied with its handiwork.
[Iteration[1] was very happy [Iteration[2] loved building and tinkering so much, it would be having a hard time now if it wasn't for [Iteration[2] as it wasn't very apt at coming up with new things or just general innovation.
[Iteration[2] took quite a while, spending a few days perfecting the design before finally sending it over for official use. The new [V2Golem molds] had a larger interior that housed many tiny tools, they were quite larger too, and they also had four extra input slots.
[Iteration[2] didn't just stop there, though, it designed the tools to build the parts needed for the [Golem], it made a [Plate press], with the necessary [Plate molds] that would press molten [automata stone] into [Automa plates].
A [Stone cutter] to produce [Stone rods], and [Stone conveyor belts] that led directly into its various machines to move it all.
Using [Golems] to move everything back and forth just wasn't going to cut it, even [Iteration[1] saw how inefficient that was going to be, [golems] would still be used, just not when it came to the production side of things unless it was a specialized type.
[Iteration[1] found the concept strange at first, like, why not just build the entire thing in one place out of a single piece of material in one go? Why build separate parts at all?
Eventually, it warmed up to the idea and understood better, that things were going to get complicated, eventually. Specialized parts were going to be needed for some things in the future, everything couldn't be done at once in a single place, and some things might require special conditions to make.
[Iteration[1] wasted no time and sent the [Builder golems] to work, quickly erecting 20 [Plate press] 20 [Stone cutters], the [Plate press] and the [Stone cutters] both had a port for [Stone pipes] and an export port for [Stone conveyer belts].
[Iteration[1] quickly had the [Builder golems] run some [Stone pipes] over to them, connecting the twenty [Plate press] to the [Large stone fluid tanks] for molten [automata stone] and the twenty [Stone cutters] to the [Large stone storage tanks] for [automata stone] to cut.
When that was finally done, [Iteration[1] demolished all its previous [Golem molds] and built 30 [V2Golem molds] since they were better in every way possible and connected them all to [Large stone fluid tanks] for molten [automata stone], and [Stone conveyer belts] that led to the [Stone cutters] and [Plate press].
Once that was all done, [Iteration[1] turned the setup on with a mental command, and the magical machinery churned to life, the [Stone conveyer belts] were filled in seconds as the [Plate press] and [Stone cutters] worked unbelievably quickly, surprising [Iteration[1].
[Iteration[1] knew this was a fault of its own though, it was wondering what type of [Golem] to start producing, it wanted to test the new [V2 Combat golem] but was it needed at the moment? It-
A loud bang interrupted [Iteration[1]'s thoughts, startling it by a bit as it wondered what happened to cause such a loud commotion. [Iteration[1] spread its senses throughout all its tainted areas, sweeping for any anomalies.
It wasn't long before it found the culprit, a section of a tunnel five of its [Worker golems] were digging had collapsed, crushing the [Worker golems] in the process.
This wasn't supposed to be possible as [Iteration[1]'s [automation mana] automatically tainted anything the [Worker golems] touched, making things such as structural collapse all but impossible.
So [Iteration[1] concluded that the culprit had to be an outside source, and it was right, a few seconds later, it suddenly lost control of the collapsed [automata stone], no, that wasn't right.
It couldn't even be called [automata stone] anymore, [Iteration[1] couldn't feel any [automation mana] inside it, instead, the mana had been replaced by something else, another type of mana, one that felt strangely alive, alive and beastly, green too.
[Iteration[1] felt something rise from the rubble, slowly at first but its speed quickly increased, its ambient [automation mana] trembled as a powerful wave of green, beastly mana made itself known, announcing itself to the world and [Iteration[1].
[Iteration[1] and [Iteration[2] responded with something similar, spending 20 points of [automation mana] as they made their presence known, slamming the invading mana with the might of their soul, it died instantly.
A shimmering green light emerged from the corpse of the invader, dripping with the same green beastly-flavored mana. With a flick of its soul, the light was crushed and consumed by its dense ambient [automation mana].
Seconds later, [Iteration[1] felt foreign knowledge appear inside its mind, knowledge about the invader, or the [High Goblin], as it learned they were called. The one it had just killed was a [Scout], sent to check out the unusual levels of unknown mana its [Goblin shaman] had sensed nearby.
[Iteration[1] knew this wasn't good, more would be coming soon then, although it didn't know what they wanted, from the actions and memories of the recently deceased [High Goblin], it was sure it wouldn't be anything good.
Though the memory package wasn't complete and was all over the place, it gathered quite a bit of information, and from that it concluded that [Goblins] weren't good, not only were they messy, disorganized, and nasty. But they were also troublesome, greedy, and hard to deal with.
[Iteration[1] wanted nothing to do with creatures like these, as long as they left it, it would leave them, that was all it wanted, things couldn't go like that again though.
[Iteration[1] sent the order to build 10 more [Worker golems] and queued up 30 [Combat golems]. The [Furnaces] churned to life as they got to work, releasing massive amounts of thick brown smoke that bled through the collapsed opening leading out into the unknown.
[Iteration[1] knew the smoke would give away its position if it wasn't obvious already but that hardly mattered now, it would find some way to deal with that later if it truly became a problem. When the ten [Worker golems] were complete it instructed them to move over to the collapsed tunnel and clear the rubble.
For some reason, its ambient [automation mana] couldn't taint outside, only if it spent 10 points of [automation mana] to temporarily boost its potency. And even then, it would lose connection with the claimed spot seconds later as a powerful wave of mana reclaimed what it stole.
This annoyed [Iteration[1], but also piqued its curiosity, now it made it one of its priorities to find out what was going on here, maybe it could learn a thing or two. [Iteration[1] also noted how similar the wave of powerful mana felt to the [High Goblin] it had killed, perhaps this was [Goblin mana]? Iteration[1] wasn't sure, but soon it would find out.
Once more [Goblins] came, which they inevitably would, it would have enough data to run experiments and do some comparisons. What felt like a few days later, Iteration[1] felt the familiar mana of the [Goblins] at the entrance of its cave. Wasting no time, Iteration[1] sent a command to all its 30 [Combat golems] to rush forward.
Iteration[1] Watched as the [Combat golems] marched through the widened tunnel, which was barely enough to accommodate them all, but luckily, it did, everything was going as planned until it wasn't.
As soon as its [Combat golems] were close enough to the [Goblins] Iteration[1] felt something hot slam into one of its [Combat golems] tearing off its left arm. A piece of wood with metal attached to it flying at incredible speeds slammed into the other one closest to it, boring a hole straight through its head.
Iteration[1] With all its attention, it hadn't expected the goblins to have a means of resisting it as the memories it had gotten had no mention of that, for some reason. Iteration[1] commanded its army of [Combat golem] to stop as it tried crushing the group of [Goblins] with its soul like it did the last time only to find its effort futile as the collective mana of the [Goblins] stopped its attack, rendering it useless.
Iteration[1] felt another wave of annoyance pass through it as it felt three links to its [Combat golems] snap, it felt so stupid, why had it ordered them to stop? Annoyance turned to concern as it felt another five more links snap.
Maybe it should stop playing around and get serious.