[Nanite Host is activated]

[Active condition: Power balance above +300]

The core decides to turn on the passive nanite production power since it has a lot of power to spare, right now those nanites are the one that allows the core to move around and continue its exploration objective so it will need to produce as many of them as it could, but since the production is rather sluggish and converting defeated lifeforms into nanite is far faster. The machine will try to find the bugs and convert them into nanite as much as it could.

Speaking of continuing, the core noticed it did not get the Core gain XP message after it killed and converted the bugs to nanite earlier, it spent a few minutes working on it and found out that the evolution core now have 2 ways of getting XP, either by discovering 'evolution material' by interacting and learning the world around it or killing and assimilating creatures that have Greater evolution core or higher, it seems like the higher Pioneer go, the harder things will get for the machine to get more efficient.

The core logs that bit of data into the flash drive as it makes a set of instructions for the new nanites to turn into memory cells and join the external data drive structure as soon as they are created to expand the data storage capacity.

[/Drive1_remaining_capacity: 25%]

[/System_power_balance: +599]

[/System_power_show: 50/50]

[/System_efficiency: #404 SYSE not found]

The core checks its some of its current status as the body stops in front of a dirt wall, the machine has come to a dead end, and since the machine don't want to do any digging work to continue, it decides to turn around and backtrack around until it finds a turn to take and continues its exploration work.

[/Data_analyzed]

The core has finished analyzing data about the bugs that it extracted earlier, the nervous system data is nothing but junk since the core is already better thousand times fold, the muscle data and carapace sample though helped the cord improving the temporary body a bit by tweaking the nanites in the joints and the overall shape of the radiated earth body. The last unknown data segment is about an unknown crystalline substance in the bug's blood, the substance's description matches the unknown gemstone like material Pioneer once discovered back in the colony chamber, apparently it is some kind of special energy conductor that allows the bugs to absorb the magical energy in the environment, what happens after that is unknown as the core has no data about that part, it seems like the core will try paying special attention to this detail in the future.

The core tries looking at itself by using the nanite eyes to see what it is like with the Lesser Magic Sense on, the core does seem to absorb magical energy as well by the look of it, however, the core has no such substance in its construction, so the question how the core could do such action intrigues it a lot. The core is a bit over zealot on finding answers to questions that it can not answer at the moment due to the lack of data as if the core succeed finding the right answer for them, the core will be able to make derivative products from the new data and make its work easier. But for now, the core needs to secure a proper place to settle down first and it will spend time on the in-depth research part later.

The core notices a small path on its left as it stops to take a closely look at it, the hole is a bit too small for the body to fit in, but it is the only non-backtrack way Pioneer can take for now, the core will have to find out a way how to get in that hole and explore it to see if it lead to a new area or not.

The core looks at the temporary body and the nanite swarms waiting for its order for just one second before it gets an idea how to fit in, the core decides to reduce the size of the temporary body by half and use the trimmed off material to build a copy of itself and inhabit in it, then the core will control both bodies at the same time through the nanites to get in the small tunnel, once it finds a bigger place, the core will reassemble the two smaller bodies into one big body and continue its work.

The core quickly does some calculations to modify the body and give instructions to the nanite before it executes its plan, 5 minutes of cutting and gluing later, the big body has turned into 2 smaller, identical body, one carrying the core and the other is empty.

Now with the bodies ready, the core begins its adventure into the small, dark tunnel, the core is eager to find out what is on the other side and what it will discover there.

[/Warning: Anomaly_detected]

[/Lifeform_detected]

[/Lifeform_tagging]

The two smaller spider golem-like robots spot some small, harmless looking glowing worms crawling around in front of them, the worms are feeding on the rocks and pooping green crystalline dust. The core has no idea what those things are, but the core knows one thing, it needs material for making more nanites, and the worms is a possible material source for that process.

The core at this time still want to avoid unnecessary combat, however, it is not because it is one of the core's directives, it's because the core understands it is too weak to stay relevant against strong opponents and make more needless enemies. However, the thing in front of the core does not seem to possess any intelligent to have such complex reaction to its action, and the core is in desperate need for nanite, the core assumes its action could be justified as a live or die survival choice and could be reasoned with if needed.

[Pioneer 0 defeated Lesser Earth Worm | +10 XP]

[Pioneer 0 defeated Lesser Earth Worm | +10 XP]

[Pioneer 0 defeated Lesser Earth Worm | +10 XP]

...

An hour has passed, the core's 'survival' action has turned into a genocide as it kills and converts nearly all the worms it found on its way, the previously thought to be a group of worms turns out to be an entire colony scattered throughout the long, narrow dark tunnel. The amount of nanite only increased by 40% only however as the worm nanite conversion ratio is just horribly slow and inefficient.

As the core kills and converts the last worm into nanite, Pioneer also spots the end of the small tunnel and exit it carefully. The two small machine looks left and right to scan their surrounding quickly, the area they just arrived is a very large tunnel filled with glowing crystal formations unlike the barren pit of darkness it once stayed in, the area is overflowing with magical energy and eerie green-purple light.

[/Scanning_mineral]

The core sends out a small cloud of nanite to take samples of the crystals and do basic examinations on them to study their features and predict what they are. At the same time, the core also orders the nanite to re-assemble the body just as planned.

[/New_objective: Explore the area]