As time passed, the elf fruits continued to swell.
The originally thick fruit skins gradually became thin and fragile as the fruits matured.
From beneath the tree, Hel could faintly see a small, curled-up figure inside each fruit.
Suddenly, the fragile surface of one fruit could no longer withstand the internal pressure.
With a crisp crack, it split open into four sections.
A sticky liquid poured out, and with it slid a petite little girl from inside the fruit.
Just as she was about to hit the ground heavily, Hel used her psychic power to hold her gently in midair.
The girl looked very similar to Niv: smooth, snow-white skin, and snow-white hair.
Her features were delicate and fine, yet her expression remained blank and slightly vacant, as if she were an emotionless AI.
Mechanical structures were clearly visible at her joints, torso, and behind her ears. Even her pointed elf ears contained partial mechanical elements.
"So this is a Mechanical Elf?"
Hel studied the petite girl carefully, and the girl was likewise observing Hel.
At the exact moment their eyes met, a slightly vacant, young female voice transmitted through the soul network into Hel's mind.
"Salutations, Master."
"Master?"
If Hel remembered correctly, this was how Niv had taught the recruited hybrid goblins to address her.
"Yes. How do you feel in your new body?"
"Unprecedentedly good, Master. I even feel I could easily overpower my former self."
The girl spoke with the same vacant expression, but Hel could vaguely sense excitement in her tone, along with a hidden, deep-seated fanaticism — a fervent belief in Hel as Master.
Hel gently set her down on the ground. The girl eagerly began to display her abilities.
Her flesh and skin on her back quickly split apart, revealing mechanical structures inside. Sharp metal blades sprang forth, converging into a pair of metallic wings behind her.
With a thought, hundreds of sharp blades detached from the wings and hovered silently behind her. Each blade emitted a faint cold glimmer, indicating immense lethality.
"We Mechanical Elves specialize in magical attacks. To address this, Mother designed these wings for us.
Each feather can be controlled using our psychic power. They can form shields for defense and act as the best weapon against close-range enemies."
After demonstrating her wings, the girl raised her right arm. With the whirring of mechanisms, a sci-fi styled hand cannon appeared on her delicate arm.
"E5-1 Magic Conduction Hand Cannon. This is our clan's most basic offensive tool.
We can also equip other magical weapons to enhance our abilities."
"I see," Hel nodded. The Mechanical Elf was essentially a versatile soldier.
Her role depended on the equipment she was given: give her a rifle and she's a sniper, give her a cannon and she's an artillery unit. Give her a mech, and she can operate it flawlessly.
Niv had already imprinted all equipment usage skills into their souls at birth.
"Master, for Mechanical Elves to reach their full combat potential, they need proper equipment.
Currently, in the Biotic City, there is only one sixth-tier Valkyrie heavy mech and ten fifth-tier third-generation goblin heavy mechs."
Niv gently wiped the sticky fluid off the petite Mechanical Elf with a blanket, reporting to Hel:
"Heavy mechs of this quality can't be produced by the Biotic City's basic facilities. Most originate from the A1 Mechanical City."
"I see," Hel pondered Niv's point, then looked at the little elf in her arms.
"Starting a mech from scratch, we've tried it before. Half a month's work only produced a prototype, and that was just a sixth-tier mech.
According to my plan, future Mechanical Elves won't be limited to sixth-tier. Seventh-tier combat strength is inevitable.
Building giant mechs tens of meters tall would be impossible for us.
It's better to miniaturize them into wearable exoskeleton-like equipment."
"Ah? But wouldn't that reduce firepower?"
Niv sounded slightly disappointed. She preferred thick gun barrels and heavy crushing firepower.
"That's unavoidable. As the saying goes: poor means precise strikes, rich means firepower coverage.
We're too poor. Even if the Biotic City warehouse has enough materials, we can't mass-produce sixth-tier mechs.
It's better to retain a small mech force and equip the rest with wearable exoskeletons."
"Alright, Master," Niv said, closing her mouth without further comment.
If the issue were materials, she could handle it — the Biotic City stored over 2,000 cubic meters of precious auric metal. That would be enough to construct a 50-meter mech.
But Hel was concerned about production scale.
Even in the entire Goblin Empire, these heavy mechs were the pinnacle of weaponry. The empire itself took over 100,000 years to manufacture a limited number.
Now with only Hel and Niv, mass production was impossible.
"Don't worry. Once we occupy the Goblin Imperial City and inherit all their technology, we won't have to worry about mechs anymore," Hel reassured Niv.
While they spoke, the remaining 30 Mechanical Elves slowly emerged from the mother tree, falling like dumplings. Hel caught them smoothly and placed them on the ground.
Seeing all these petite girls, Hel suddenly realized a question:
"By the way, Niv, are none of the Mechanical Elves grown-up models?"
"Nope. Niv made them all to cater to Master's lolicon preference."