Herman was incredibly excited to hear Xiao's appointment!
It had been a while since he joined the Mechanicus, and he deeply understood the crucial position of a School Chief Master.
The internal structure of the Mechanicus was very clear: the highest level was naturally the Pope himself, under whom were various Archbishops of the Mechanical Sage rank.
These Archbishops were divided into different Schools based on their primary technical focus, and each School had a Chief Master as its leader.
As of now, there were four major factions within the Mechanicus.
Among them, the most numerous was the Mechanical School, which focused on prosthetics and Mechanical Ascension.
The second most numerous was the Weapon School, which specialized in developing various weapons.
Next was the Basic School, which focused on energy and materials science.
There was also a small faction, the School of Life, which championed Gene Ascension and focused on genetic modification.
This School seemed particularly unconventional within a cult full of mechanical and metal worship.
However, if one understood that most of their predecessors came from the Animal Gang, then everything became understandable.
The Animal Gang was actually an experimental consumable organization under Biotechnica, composed of a group of steroid addicts who pursued extreme muscle and physical strength.
To increase muscle, they even directly injected beast steroids into their bodies as nutrients.
Every day, while dozens of needles were injected into their bodies, they also had to swallow a large amount of harmful banned drugs.
Some only needed four hours of sleep to achieve the effect of nine hours, allowing them to free up a lot of time for muscle training.
Some could help people quickly expel bloating from their stomachs.
Some mobilized nerves to relieve fatigue.
And some promoted gastrointestinal peristalsis and accelerated digestion.
All these drugs were meant to enable them to metabolize food quickly.
To maintain strong muscles, they needed to consume tens of thousands of calories of high-calorie food every day.
None of the drugs taken by the Animal Gang had any clinical data support, and many were even officially banned substances.
But they had no choice but to take them; due to long-term heavy use of steroids and testosterone, they could only adopt this "fight poison with poison" method to balance the chaotic hormones in their bodies.
It could be said that every member of the Animal Gang was like a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.
Hundreds of synthetic chemical substances in their bodies reacted and repelled each other, causing their immune systems to completely lose control.
Their bodies were covered with needle marks and cysts, and their skin was ulcerated and festering; every day they lived was a new medical miracle.
These devil-muscled individuals, who developed their physiques in a short period, had abnormally viscous blood due to high platelet counts, like petroleum, which would quickly solidify like jelly at the bottom of a cup and could not be poured out no matter how much it was shaken.
These so-called black technologies, on the surface, seemed to quickly build muscle, but in reality, they were a shortcut to accelerating death.
Few Animal Gang members lived past forty years old; generally, after thirty-five, their bodies would rapidly decline, leading to a large number of diseases: liver failure, hepatic encephalopathy, diabetes, high blood pressure, and epilepsy.
They even lost testosterone secretion and fertility, becoming unable to have offspring, ultimately dying alone in a corner of Night City.
Initially, Biotechnica sent a large number of Animal Gang members to infiltrate the Mechanicus to gather intelligence, but they unexpectedly discovered Primal Power, which could solve their problems and diseases.
Nano-mechanical insects could regulate the body at a cellular level, easily resolving their chaotic metabolism and clearing the side effects caused by various hormone residues in the body.
This also made the Animal Gang the biggest believers in the God of All Machines; later, almost all members began to believe in the God of All Machines.
Because even with the help of Primal Power, these fitness fanatics, though reborn, did not stop their love for steroids.
On the contrary, it made them even more fanatical, and their obsession with hormones became uncontrollable.
Even because they could use various chemical agents without restraint, they began to pursue more potent hormones and agents, and turned their attention to various powerful beasts, attempting to uncover the root cause of the beasts' strength.
As the saying goes, "one must be insane to survive"; it was this madness and obsession with muscles that prompted them to establish the current School of Life branch and develop into one of the most influential factions within the Mechanicus.
The level below the Schools consisted of the Bishop class, formed by Mechanical Priests, who were undoubtedly the core strength of the entire Mechanicus.
They guarded every important City that required faith, managed all believers and adherents, and simultaneously bore the sacred mission of spreading the gospel for the God of All Machines.
The next level down were the Mechanical Priests who were in the Qi Refining realm.
They were the grassroots personnel of the Holy See and staunch propagators of the gospel.
They traveled to every corner of the world, whether bustling metropolises or tranquil villages; wherever there were humans, they embarked on their journey without hesitation.
Some chose to wander endlessly, spreading the gospel to every corner and practicing their faith.
Others chose to establish a Holy See in specific locations, permanently stationed there to spread more believers for the God.
As for the lowest level of the Holy See, they were a group known as "Gear Lads."
They belonged to the reserve of Mechanical Priests; due to their lack of knowledge, they were not yet qualified to awaken Primal Power.
Therefore, they could only receive preliminary basic education within the Holy See, studying diligently and continuously accumulating knowledge.
Only when their knowledge reserves passed strict assessments could they formally hold the initiation ceremony and awaken their Primal Power.
Of course, if a Gear Lad was exceptionally gifted and could awaken Primal Power on his own, then even if he was an Animal Gang member with only muscles in his brain, he could directly be promoted to a Mechanical Priest.
The entire Mechanicus had only four such noble seats, which was enough to illustrate how immense the influence of a School Chief Master truly was.
Now, Herman had been given a leading position, so how could he not be happy?
At this moment, Herman had virtually ascended to the top of the global pyramid!
More crucially, the School of Soul was closely related to promotion to Mechanical Great Sage and would undoubtedly become a compulsory course for every Mechanical Sage.
In other words, every Great Sage who successfully advanced in the future would become a disciple of his School.
As a result, his status would also continuously rise with the passage of time.
Thinking of this, Herman was so excited he could barely contain himself.
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSim