To make an adequate decision, you need to think about a lot...

"You will have to wait..." - you answer the frightened young woman adamantly.

"But... Please! I told you everything!" - you ignore her cries, going back into the dark corridors of these underground ruins.

The steel of your feet makes a loud noise as you walk and think about the new information.

You approach the place again where the corpse of the boss of this unsuccessful gang of robbers of ancient ruins lies.

Now you need to release your anger...

A series of powerful blows with steel legs...

The corpse becomes just a mess of bloody meat and bones...

Then you also trample the bronze control rod with a characteristic malachite magical symbol on the top.

A symbol called "the hand of blessed metamorphoses".

A symbol that is forever imprinted in the fabric of your memory like a red-hot brand on the skin of cattle.

A symbol of the cult that enslaved you.

Cult of the Highest Criterion…

The so-called "improvers"…

Painful echoes of the past flash before your mind's eye…

But these are nothing more than scraps of information that are difficult to concentrate on.

So, you are very lucky now…

If this control rod was magically focused specifically on your golem-core - then you would not be able to cause this object any harm. Any such attempts would be blocked by the powerful magical bonds that form the basis of your golem-core's existence.

But this control rod was not yours.

This control rod enslaved some other golem.

So your powerful steel feet trample this magical object, completely destroying it.

The veil of rage partially lifts…

"So more than three hundred years have passed… The world has changed beyond recognition… I will have to adapt…" - you think.

You turn around and walk back to the frightened girl with some elven blood in her veins.

Despite her horror of you, you interrogate her thoroughly about many things and phenomena.

Her knowledge is limited, but thanks to your persistence, you eventually learned a lot.

Over the course of three centuries, many coastal and island territories sank into the waters of the seas.

The decline of the elven peoples, the beginning of which you witnessed in the distant past, has only worsened. The average life expectancy of elves has decreased - now this period is not much more than two hundred years (at best - about 230 or 240 years). Combined with the falling birth rate, this looks like doom ...

Many elven states, which were fragments of the ancient elven Empire of the Diamond Throne, perished over the centuries due to wars, barbarian invasions, natural disasters or other catastrophes. Your city ... Niellen ... is not the only one turned into ruins.

Now there are only two elven states left: the Free City of Tior-Faen (a large island trading city-state) and the Great Domain of Loten-Rael (a small isolationist monarchy in the southwest of the continent).

The human states have become larger in territory, more populous and more developed. At least this applies to the states of the southern part of the continent. In the central and northern regions of the continent, there are still many nomadic tribes of savages.

The number of orc tribes has also increased.

Near these ruins is the region of Bone Coast. It is home to many orc nomadic tribes.

What were these idiot ruin plunderers planning to do with you?

They wanted to use you as an exotic, expensive artifact that could be sold for a lot of money in one of the largest cities in the western part of the continent. This island city is called Agnerta and is the capital of a human kingdom that claims hegemony in the western part of the continent. This state is called the Sacred Kingdom of Orlania.

Irony of fate...

At the time of your work for the cult, there were only a lot of pathetic half-savage human city-states and tribes in these western regions.

And now the descendants of the savages of the past have created their own civilization...

Returning to the topic of the plans of the idiot losers that you disrupted - the girl tells you that the boss made a deal with a group of local pirates. The ship is waiting on the southern coast of the island. It was to this ship that these bastards were going to take all the valuables they found, including you.

You killed some of the group of plunderers of ancient artifacts.

But most managed to escape.

Should you hurry in the hope that the ship has not yet managed to leave the southern coast of the island? This would be logical if you refused to search for your control rod among the ruins. Overcoming the sea depths without a ship is risky - strong pressure at the depths of the sea can immobilize you and violate the integrity of your golem-core.

Or will you decide to find another way? For example: find your control rod among the ruins, and then find a way to destroy this magical artifact to eliminate the risk of losing your freedom.

The fate of this girl...

This question is the least of your concerns...

You approach her threateningly.

The shadow of your large steel body falls on her graceful figure.

She screams in panic, sobbing from all-consuming horror: "No! No! Please! I told you everything I could!"

"Are you sure. That you told me everything important? Didn't you hide anything?" - your steel fist slowly approaches and your booming non-human voice sounds like a sentence...

"I... I... will be completely honest! Forgive me! I am not a ****! I am a member of this group! My name is Dahlia... Devin... The leader of our group decided to punish me - he temporarily chained me as a punishment. It happened because of jealousy and all sorts of dirty rumors... That dwarf bastard Khurgeir accused me of stealing... Valuable things actually went missing in the group's camp... The other members of the group were outraged... And Devin was **** to punish me... Devin was a rough guy, but he... I liked him..."

Probably, looking at your bloody steel legs and fists, she guessed that Devin's fate was extremely sad.

That's why the girl only let out loud sobs from then on.