The Mech Touch

by welldarn

Just posting this here so I can listen to it while I'm at work. I obviously don't own this work. If you are looking for the previous 175 chapters look up the User: Srtyi.

47. Chapters 2501-2550

Chapter 2501: Wedding Reactions

The marriage between Ves and Gloriana was a joyous occasion!

From this moment onwards, the bride had truly become a part of the Larkinson Clan. Gloriana Wodin-Larkinson smiled with pure bliss and ecstasy as the newly-married couple finally ended their passionate kiss!

"I love you, Ves."

"I love you too, Gloriana."

undefined"Meow!"

"Miaow!"

Their two cats were happy for their union as well. All of the pets watching from below felt the energy coursing through the Larkinson Clan and expressed their jubilation in their own manner.

The loud cacophony of cheers, howls, music and fireworks blended together in an unforgettably grand moment to the lucky pair. Even Master Willix and Jovy floating high above got caught up in the energy. The MTA mech designers clapped when the lovers established their union.

"They deserve each other." Master Willix coyly remarked.

Jovy couldn't maintain a straight face either. "I know I shouldn't, but I feel kind of jealous at Ves. It's so rare for two compatible mech designers to click together to this degree."

The matchmaking services sponsored by the MTA claimed to be able to ensure a perfect fit between two mech designers, but every mecher knew that this was an exaggeration.

Love couldn't be calculated. Love wasn't predictable.

Sometimes, opposites attracted each other. Other times, couples broke apart in the ugliest fashion due to irreconcilable differences.

Jovy simply couldn't figure out how two very different mech designers managed to get along with each other. Gloriana was a thoroughbred Hexer while Ves possessed a much humbler background. Their ideals, design philosophies and values diverged so much that they should have been repelled by each other.

How could someone proud like Ves possibly overlook Gloriana's Hexer tendencies?

How could someone as exacting and precise as Gloriana tolerate Ves' chaotic way of life?

Master Willix glanced knowingly at Jovy.

"Love is one of the few areas where it's best not to adhere too closely to logic. Besides, even if we set aside irrational feelings, there are still several compelling reasons why the two are a great fit with each other. Their different specialties complement each other perfectly. The synergy they have already achieved is but a taste of what is to come."

"Is that why you go out of your way to support them, ma'am?"

"That, and more."

Many other people developed various thoughts about the union that had formed without a hitch.

The projections of Benjamin and Ark Larkinson both looked happy without any other considerations.

Though neither of them particularly liked the Hexers, they were glad that Ves finally got rid of his bachelor status.

"I hope I will live long enough to greet my great-grandchildren." Benjamin wistfully said.

"Don't be like that, father." The patriarch of the Larkinson Family frowned at him. "You still have some years left in your body. From the way Ves and Gloriana are barely holding themselves back from jumping at each other, it looks like we won't have to wait too long before we welcome some new relatives."

The old man sighed and looked down. "I know. I heard that most well-off Hexers have a tradition of raising six children. I will last long enough to meet with the oldest of my great-grandchildren by remote, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to see and talk to the entire set before my bones finally collapse."

A melancholic mood swept over the two important figures of the family. They were not as young as Ves. They also weren't as wealthy as him. Though the family held some shares in the LMC, it invested most of the dividends in its more productive members. The family would only be able to grow stronger if its present and future generations gained the support they needed to develop themselves.

"Father.. if we ask Ves, I'm sure he'll.."

Benjamin resolutely shook his head. "No. The cost is too prohibitive. Whether you pay in credits or merits, the cost to prolong the life of a potentiate, especially one with brain injuries such as myself, is too much. The chance of failure is considerable and we won't be able to get anything worth preserving even if the procedure is successful. My time has passed, my son. Don't let me become a burden."

Though Benjamin's condition looked rather decent, that was mainly because of the increasingly more extensive treatments he received. His old war wounds had been acting up more and more as his body condition passed a certain stage.

Over on the opposite side of the isle, Constance Wodin and her close family each felt mixed emotions.

They were proud that one of their own managed to marry such a prominent and successful mech designer. They were also ashamed that the husband in question wasn't a proper Hexer boy, but an uncouth foreign 'man' with a history of savagery.

Colonel Kellandra Wodin curled her mouth into a frown. "These animals running around below us have no place in this wedding. If we didn't add so many cleaning bots and air purification systems to this platform, we would have been drenched in the stench of the droppings these ignorant creatures are leaving behind."

"I think the presence of all of these pets adds some variety to the wedding ceremony." Tarkus Wodin lightly spoke. "Gloriana's husband is a clear lover of animals. If he takes care of his pets as well as our little sister, then I have no concerns."

"He should have married his cat instead." Kellandra snorted.

"Please, sister. Let's not be so harsh on the boy." Amarintha Wodin spoke up. "Ves Larkinson is blessed by the Superior Mother. He may even be her child."

The faces of every nearby Wodin changed. This was a very contentious topic!

Though Gloriana bragged multiple times that Ves was the literal son of the Superior Mother, the rest of her family didn't quite know how to take that. It was not that they thought that Gloriana was lying, but she may have misinterpreted the relationship between her husband and the Supreme.

Still, from all of the signs the Wodins had witnessed so far, it was undeniable that Ves Larkinson possessed a definite relationship with the Superior. How a foreign boy of all people attained such an unprecedentedly close link with such an august Hexer figure mystifying. Gloriana's direct relatives held very diverging opinions on the matter.

Matriarch Xiaphna raised her wrinkled hand. The Wodin siblings immediately fell silent.

"The will of the Superior Mother must be respected. She is the most exemplary mother of our people. For too long, we have lived without the guidance of the Supremes. Now that one of them has returned to us, it is no surprise that what we think is true is actually at odds with what the Superior Mother originally advocated. Time and ambitious matriarchs have twisted our interpretation of the Supreme's tenets. Now that we have regained access to the original source, we should feel thankful to the boy who has brought her back."

Her wise words conveyed a considerable degree of authority. Minister Constance Wodin, Colonel Kellandra Wodin and many other important members of her dynasty all bowed to show respect.

Now that the Wodin Matriarch offered her unequivocal support to Ves in the clearest fashion to date, people like Kellandra had to watch her tone.

While it was still possible for haters of Ves to voice their discontent, they had to have a good reason for doing so. Since the Wodin Dynasty was already effectively cooperating with the Larkinson Clan to an extent, it was not wise to badmouth their partners.

Of course, there were many other people who were not restrained in voicing their displeasure at the wedding.

"VES! NOO! HOW COULD YOU!" A loud shriek echoed across a compartment on the Pallas Intaer. "I don't understand! That ugly woman practically ruined your life and forced you to consort with Hexers. Why are you playing along with your kidnapper? Are you afflicted by Stockholm syndrome or something? If I knew how bad Gloriana hooked her claws into you, I would have forced you to undergo therapy when you fell into my hands!"

The celebratory wedding was like hell to Aisling Curver! The Fridayman mech designer still yearned to capture Ves' heart, yet from the moment the lucky couple slipped the rings on each other's fingers, her dream finally broke.

Ves belonged to Gloriana from now on! Even if they broke up in the future, the ideal man and partner in Aisling's mind would have been tainted by the poisonous influence of her Hexer rival.

Unless she gained the ability to travel back in time, there was no way to undo this travesty!

A mech pilot who shared a faint resemblance to the groom strode forward. His boots clanked against the deck of the ready room.

Venerable Ghanso Larkinson burned with hatred as he stared at the live footage of the wedding.

His force of will grew more intense! Each time his loathsome cousin accomplished another success, Ghanso's rage grew more intense.

It was as if he derived strength from his vendetta against the mech designer!

As far as Ghanso was concerned, his fellow Larkinsons increasingly fell under the sway of the Devil Tongue. The wedding was the most egregious instance yet due to all of the pride the Larkinsons gained from holding such a grand event!

"I told you he's no good." He growled. "You deserve to be with a better man, Lady Curver. Someone who is depraved enough to love a hexer is no good partner at all. The two of them deserve each other."

Aisling angrily turned around and slapped the expert pilot's arm! "You don't understand, Brighter! His design philosophy is so magical! There are even signs that he has managed to imitate some of Master Huron's inventions. Do you know what that means? We would have been able to elevate neural networking technology to greater heights if I captured him first! Letting Gloriana make the first move is one of the greatest regrets in my life!"

Her heartache struck so deep that she began to cry on the spot!

"My Ves! My Ves! My Ves!"

Venerable Ghanso scowled in disgust. He never understood how a smart and successful mech designer like Aisling could become so smitten with his bastard of a cousin.

What annoyed him even more was that Ves didn't even reciprocate Aisling's affection!

Though he did not approve of Aisling's devotion to his cousin, at the very least their relationship would have restrained the tumor of the Larkinsons.

Now that Ves married one of the insane women of the Hegemony, there was no chance that he will hold back from ruining the Larkinson lineage!

As Ghanso and Aisling processed the outcome of the wedding in their own ways, an alarm suddenly sounded.

[ALERT! THE HEXERS ARE PRESSING US BACK! THEIR GLOW MECHS HAVE BECOME MUCH MORE ACTIVE! AS A RESULT, THE HEX ARMY HAS BEEN LAUNCHING SPONTANEOUS OFFENSIVES AND COUNTERATTACKS AGAINST OUR LINES! TAKE EXCEEDING CARE AGAINST ANY VALKYRIE REDEEMER, ESPECIALLY THE NEW VARIANTS!]

"Damn! I bet Ves is to blame for this again!"

Ghanso soon received orders to board his mech. He left Aisling to her misery and marched to the lower decks. Many panicked or worried crewmen were heading to their stations.

When he reached the hangar bay, the other expert pilot stationed aboard the Pallas Intaer was already standing before her mech.

"You Larkinsons are always sparking trouble."

"Shut your trap, Venerable Foster. I won't let you insult my family. Most Larkinsons are decent. Ves is an aberration, so don't lump him with the rest of us. Is that clear?"

Venerable Foster stared aggressively at her colleague. "I don't take orders from you, Brighter. My opinions haven't changed. Our star sector would have been a better place if Larkinsons such as you didn't exist. Ves is just the only one of you who doesn't bother to hide."

Though Ghanso wanted to punch Foster in the face, this was not the time. They could settle the score afterwards!

Chapter 2502: Regrets

The wedding between Ves and Gloriana continued to evoke strong reactions from people!

Both up close and from afar, many people familiar with the couple were either happy at their joy, jealous of their accomplishments or hated them for how their work impacted the Komodo War!

One of the people who didn't know what to think about the joyous occasion was Tristan Wesseling.

As the direct disciple of Master Katzenberg, he rooted for his own state. He cheered for the introduction of the Glow Crusher and the O-K alloy that was integral to its power.

undefinedWhen the mechs designed by the Miracle Couple suddenly received an upgrade that effectively invalidated the Glow Crusher, Tristan should have been upset. The ease in which the Blessed Squire countered his Master's work was humiliating.

Yet.. having met and briefly worked alongside Ves for a time, Tristan couldn't bring himself to view him as an enemy. It was just unfortunate that they happened to be on opposite sides.

"Now that your relationship with the Hexers has reached this extent, I guess we won't be meeting each other again." The Fridayman Journeyman Mech Designer stated.

The only reason for them to keep in touch no longer mattered. Ves had his homegrown clan to the point where he could leave the star sector whenever he wished. He did not need Tristan or anyone else's help to escape retribution should the Friday Coalition win the Komodo War.

If the Hexers happened to win, then Tristan would turn to other solutions rather than putting his safety in the hands of a close ally of the Hegemony.

Ves and Gloriana could have held a quiet wedding ceremony. For the Larkinsons and Wodins to hold the occasion with so much bombast meant that the former became permanently aligned to the Hexers.

The Larkinsons may not be turning into Hexers, but the sharing of interests would make Ves even more at odds with the Fridaymen.

"What a pity."

Tristan did not feel too much of a loss from this development. He and Ves always followed directed trajectories from the start. There wasn't a lot of intersection in their lives.

Still, if Tristan knew that the third-rater he only paid scant attention turned into such a monstrous threat to the Friday Coalition, he would have spent more effort in befriending him. The fact that Ves managed to pass the trials organized by the Rim Guards should have been an obvious clue that he was destined for greatness!

"Maybe I could have prevented Ves from meeting with Gloriana."

It was no secret how the two initially met. If Tristan took the initiative to spend time with Ves and possibly introduce him to some of the women he was acquainted with, it might be the Hexers against glows instead of his own side!

The realization that he could have changed the course of history weighed heavily on his shoulders.

If he didn't become distracted by passing the trials, he may have been able to spare the Friday Coalition from suffering so much harm!

"Maybe I should reinforce my fleeting relationship with him instead. Even if he's an enemy, being able to speak to him might be crucial in the times to come."

It was too bad that he was confined to a secret research station. While his status afforded him some privileges, he was not allowed to communicate with the outside galaxy. The most he could do was to call up information from the galactic net.

Someone else who held mixed emotions towards the wedding was Carlos Shaw.

Once he was one of Ves' friends and companions. Now, his career was as bleak as his future.

The Apprentice Mech Designer in the service of the Mech Corps wasn't supposed to access the broadcast. However, a mech designer like Carlos was easily able to circumvent the hamfisted information controls, especially when he was on leave.

He currently resided in a rudimentary settlement built on the surface of a planet that used to belong to the former Coman Federation..

Of course, Carlos still needed to be careful about the interest he showed towards his former classmate and boss.

Suffice to say, anything surrounding Ves and the Larkinsons had become taboo to the diminished Bright Republic.

Now that the Friday Coalition strengthened its control over the third-rate state, the once-glorious presence of the LMC and its leader had become a faded memory to many people.

Only the mech pilots of the Desolate Soldier and several other LMC mech models still reminisced about piloting the so-called living mechs. Every other mech they piloted after the state confiscated their LMC mech felt stale and lifeless to them. It just wasn't the same according to their words.

"What makes your mechs special, Ves?" Carlos idly asked.

If he didn't let his jealousy and his trauma get the better of him, he could have stayed by Ves' side. As long as he kept playing the role of loyal soldier, he might have been able to learn some of the secrets that caused the products of the LMC to be so insanely attractive to mech pilots.

All of that was for naught. Carlos felt as if he was one of the stupidest mech designers in the Bright Republic for throwing such a priceless opportunity away. He didn't think he was wrong for wanting to become as successful as Ves. His mistake was to be too impatient about it. If he listened more earnestly to Ves, he could have been among the lucky 'clansmen' sitting in the audience.

"I HATE THIS!"

He sharply waved his hand, causing the projection to shut down.

"Ves.. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive if we ever meet again."

Carlos did not hold out his hope for that.

Ves had already left the Bright Republic far behind. Why would someone who was about to step into the galactic state look back at the backwater that previously held him back?

Not only was there nothing left to return to, the state had betrayed Ves. The government should be grateful that the famed Devil Tongue was too preoccupied with greater matters to take revenge on the people who betrayed his trust!

Some of Carlos' jealousy flared up again. He slapped his head in order to stave off another outburst!

"I can't lose control! Hold yourself together!"

It was too hard for him to do so. He held too many regrets to keep himself calm. Just thinking back on his feeble attempt to start his own mech business after he left the LMC was enough to send him into a spiral of negativity.

"Why did I fail while he succeeded? How come he improved even faster than me? I'm smart as well!"

Yet regardless of his artificially-boosted learning abilities, he remained stuck as a helper to more successful and qualified mech designers. He didn't even know how long it would take until he came within touching distance to Journeyman.

"I deserve better!" Carlos asserted!

It was too bad that nobody believed him. Not even his colleagues in the Mech Corps took him seriously these days.

Somewhere closer to home, the crowd of attending Larkinson clansmen each took pride in the grandness of the wedding. Each of them felt as if their clan had attained a greater status after today.

The members of the Larkinson Family who accepted the invitation to attend by projection looked envious. Unlike the clansmen, the members of the old family hardly felt worthy for the success of one of their original members.

Though the Larkinson Clan and Larkinson Family still shared many relations with each other, they were distinctly separate groups. Half of the people who decided to follow Venerable Ark Larkinson and help him restore the old family felt as if they made the wrong choice.

Why did they object to joining the Larkinson Clan?

Why did they throw away the opportunity to take part in so many glorious events?

What caused them to miss the chance to rise to greatness in the Red Ocean?

Though Ves Larkinson was a much more volatile patriarch than Venerable Ark, many family members began to think how their lives would be if they joined the clan instead.

Certainly, Ves had a habit of driving his clansmen into risky ventures. Just hearing about the horrendous casualty figures of the Nyxian Gap Campaign was enough to cause everyone to shiver.

Yet… Ves always found a way to make it worth it. His magnanimous promise buoyed many survivors of the campaign and helped take the sting off all of the traumas they suffered.

Melinda Larkinson's projection had moved closer to Raella Larkinson. The two cousins shared a deep look with each other.

"You should have been with us, Melinda."

"I don't know." Melinda frowned. "I don't regret sticking to the old family. It would have been great if certain people hadn't driven Ves out. He would have been able to help our family just like he is helping his clan."

Raella shook her head. "It's not the same. The Larkinson Family belongs to the elders and the expert pilots. Ves doesn't like that. I think he's far better off today now that he's basically in charge of us. Expert pilots don't have the most say anymore."

"Isn't that bad? The expert pilots of our family have always formed a stabilizing influence."

"We don't need no stinking stability, Melinda. Remaining stagnant or playing it safe won't get us anywhere. Besides, our expert pilots are a bit different. Just trust me. Putting our expert pilots in charge will just tear our clan apart."

The two watched the married couple begin to make their celebratory remarks. As Gloriana proudly addressed the public, the two Larkinson cousins ended their conversation.

Melinda still hadn't solved her confusion. His cousin's wife looked so glorious. Would she ever be able to wear such a magnificent dress? There was no way her own wedding would ever match the splendor of what she witnessed today!

Though she still believed in the leadership of her current patriarch, was it really worth it to pick virtue over ambition?

While she considered herself to be a proper Larkinson, she was still human. The values and traditions the Larkinson Family instilled to her clashed against the growing emotions boiling in the depths of her heart. She faintly suspected that her decision to leave Ves forever might have cut off her only opportunity for greatness!

No!

It was a mistake to think this way!

Melinda furiously shook her head. She looked back at Ark and calmed again. Her current patriarch was strong and remarkable in his own right!

Though she held some regrets, she did not feel too bothered by them anymore. Life was all about making choices. Perhaps some might not work out as well as she hoped, but there was little point in moping about what-ifs.

One other person in the crowd held some regrets.

Ketis Larkinson sat next to her fellow Swordmaidens. While the warrior women were only mildly impressed by the pomp and circumstance, the only mech designer among them couldn't help but imagine herself in Gloriana's place.

What if she was the one who wore the wedding dress?

What if she was the one who allowed Ves to slip a ring on her finger?

What if she was the one that Ves passionately kissed?

She would be lying if she denied she was jealous of Gloriana. Before the Hexer ever entered Ves' life, Ketis thought she had a chance.

Unfortunately, despite spending so much time together, he never viewed her like he did his current wife.

Why?

What was she missing?

Sure, she wasn't as feminine and charming as Gloriana, but Ves trusted just as much if not more. The two of them had grown very comfortable with each other starting from the Aeon Corona Mission. Yet for some reason or another, she failed to win this crucial battle.

She lowered her head in regret.

"I don't have a chance anymore." She acknowledged under her breath.

Ves was someone who took his commitments very seriously. Ketis respected Ves too much to take him away from Gloriana.

"I should look elsewhere."

There were plenty of other cute boys in the Larkinson Clan. Should she set his sights on one of the mech designers or should he cast his gaze towards the mech pilots instead?

Her eyes fell on the high-backed chair that belonged to Venerable Joshua.

Chapter 2503: Blissful Life

A new era had begun for the Larkinson Clan!

The conclusion of the Nyxian Gap Campaign and the marriage between Ves Larkinson and Gloriana Wodin permanently shifted the landscape for the clansmen.

The clan founded by Ves permanently found its footing among the upper ranks of society!

Though most of this clout would become invalid as soon as the Larkinson Clan departed from the local region, some of it would still endure no matter where they traveled.

undefinedThe prestige of the Larkinson Clan received a substantial boost by achieving feats that others could only dream about. From parading around captured warships such as the formidable pirate heavy cruiser called Gravada Knarlax to convincing an MTA delegation to personally attend the marriage boosted the profile of the Miracle Couple to insane heights!

As attention to their wedding increased, so did the sales of their mechs. The older models offered by the Living Mech Company experienced a resurgence in sales. Though the Komodo Star Sector's mech market had already reached saturation, sales in neighboring star sectors doubled or even tripled shortly after the wedding!

Though it was hard to imagine the Larkinson Clan being short on money these days, the endeavor it was about to embark upon demanded even greater investment.

Several years after Ves conceived of it, the grand expedition he long dreamed about finally came within reach! By his reckoning, he and the rest of his clan could formally begin their long journey across star sectors, star clusters and even galaxies in just a couple of months!

Of course, a lot of preparation still had to be done before the Larkinsons got to that point. The Nyxian Gap Campaign not only killed many clansmen, but also destroyed a lot of ships and mechs.

An even greater consequence of the continuous battles against the vicious Nyxian pirates was that it exposed the inherent weaknesses of the fighting forces of the clan. The Living Sentinels led by Commander Magdalena Larkinson exposed the dangers of fielding third-class mechs and starships against enemies that wielded greater power.

The Larkinson Clan could no longer entrust its safety on the cheapest and weakest tier of war machines.

In order to safely traverse the wider galaxies, the Larkinsons had to upgrade their entire fleet and mech roster.

So far, the newly-married couple of Journeymen Mech Designers only designed a handful of second-class mechs at the moment. What was worse was that two of them were Hexer mech designs.

There was no way for Ves to realize his dream of outfitting his mech forces with his own mech models in the short term!

To prevent his grand expedition from stalling, he had no choice but to allow his clan to purchase commercial mechs from the market. This was a complicated matter, not only due to the prohibitive cost of purchasing second-class mechs, but also the selection of models.

For obvious reasons, Ves could not buy his mechs from the two dominant second-rate states of his home star sector.

The Friday Coalition would rather kill itself than sell a single mech to the Larkinsons.

The Hexadric Hegemony was more than willing to pass some of its mechs onto Gloriana's husband, but hardly any Larkinson relished the prospect of piloting mechs that discriminated by gender!

The Larkinsons had no choice but to purchase their stopgap mechs outside of the Komodo Star Sector.

In short, the problems of the Larkinson Clan just kept piling up. Ves had a lot of long days ahead of him as his duties only piled up after the wedding.

Ves opened his eyes and stretched his arms. After he exchanged vows with Gloriana the day before, the rest of the evening was filled with celebration.

From giving speeches to receiving gifts, he and his new wife enjoyed the attention lavished upon them by their guests.

After witnessing the arrival of Master Moira Willix of the MTA and experiencing the power of glows exuded by the Larkinson Clan's two heirlooms, many guests acknowledged the Miracle Couple's incredible potential.

Even if Ves and Gloriana were merely Journeymen at the moment, they might become very influential Masters a hundred years later!

To the far-sighted leaders of the region, befriending them and giving them some valuable gifts was a worthwhile investment.

Receiving so much free stuff certainly brightened his day. What pleased him even more was enjoying his first night of honeymoon with his beloved.

A silly smile appeared on his face as he recalled that special night. One of the benefits of possessing a cranial implant was that he could remember every single detail.

"Meow?"

"Miaow."

The newly-wedded couple weren't alone. Aside from their bodyguards, their cats had also accompanied them all the way to the bedchamber.

Though Ves used to feel disturbed about the lack of privacy he enjoyed, he eventually got used to the new status quo.

He was too important of a person to be left unsupervised. The Larkinson Clan depended so much on him that it would definitely fall into ruin should he and Gloriana ever disappear!

Considering that their cats were secretly their strongest bodyguards, Ves had little choice but to tolerate their presence during their first honeymoon night.

"Did the two of you enjoy the show?" Ves yawned and asked.

The pair of felines lounging on the headboard paid little attention to him. The biological and mechanical pets weren't interested in human mating rituals.

They were cats.

Lucky had gotten rid of the little tuxedo but still retained his tail ribbon. Clixie retained both her head bow and her tail ribbon. It seemed she liked her new accessories very much.

"Nyaaaa~"

A third cat materialized into existence. Different from the other two cats, Goldie's glowing form emerged right in the middle between Ves and his beloved!

"Hmm…?" A female voice murmured. "Oh, Goldie! You sweetie. Do you want some cuddles?"

Gloriana satisfyingly opened her eyes and gazed at the half-physical form of the Golden Cat. Despite her identity as the ancestral spirit of the Larkinson Clan, Goldie was really just a year-old kitty.

Both cat and human pressed up and enjoyed each other's warmth.

Once Goldie had her fill, she floated over to the other two cats who were arguably her parents.

Now that she was deprived of her feline companion, Gloriana finally shifted her attention towards the husband of her dreams. Pure love filled her eyes as several of her dreams had finally come true.

Her wedding may not have been absolutely perfect, but it was every bit as magical as she had hoped.

Not only that, she finally bound her ideal husband and partner to herself. Pure satisfaction flowing through her body as she raised her arm and admired her new wedding band.

Now that Ves became her man, there was no way he was ever going to leave her! The possibility that other women would be able to steal him away was gone!

"Hihihihi!"

"What are you laughing about, honey?"

She quickly composed herself. "Oh, nothing. I'm just happy that we're finally together like this. I almost feared this day would never come when you experienced some trouble in the Nyxian Gap. Don't ever put me in such a position again, okay?"

"Uhm, I promise! Don't worry, Gloriana. I've had my fill of adventure in the Nyxian Gap. I don't have any urges to repeat the experience. I have too much work to catch up to anyway."

One of the downsides of holding too many responsibilities was he couldn't enjoy a proper honeymoon with his wife. He would have loved to take a few weeks off and just forget about his burdens, but Ves couldn't stand wasting so much time.

Fortunately, Gloriana was kind of a workaholic as well, so she didn't mind spending their first weeks as a married couple on work.

Of course, not just any work would do. She attempted to pinch his skin, only to fail due to his toughened body.

"Now that we're married, we should take advantage of our good moods to fabricate some mechs! We've completed six design projects in the last month, but we haven't made any first production models as of yet! We've waited long enough to realize our mech designs. This is our best chance yet to make another masterwork mech!"

His first day as a married man and already his wife was making demands.

To be fair, she was already like this before they tied the knot.

She was right, though. Aside from the Valkyrie Redeemer, the other mech designs merely remained virtual existences despite completing them weeks ago. This effectively gave the pair five good opportunities to earn another masterwork certificate.

With each and every successful attempt, their affinity for mechs increased a little bit further. This was incredibly valuable as they had already become better mech designers due to their initial successes.

"Alright, Gloriana, but not immediately. I still have to handle some matters. I have some meetings scheduled with Master Willix, the Cross Patriarch and some of the wedding guests who will be departing soon. I also have to sort out the gifts we received. Some of them are quite valuable."

She grinned impishly at him. "I love the gift provided by my state. We have received permission to produce and make use of our own Hexer mech designs! This is such great news!"

"Yes.. great news…"

To be fair, this was nothing more than restoring some of the original rights that Ves had given away in his initial contract with DIVA. The eight Hexer mech designs he promised to provide to the Hexadric Hegemony incorporated a lot of exclusive design elements of the Hex Army.

For various reasons, it was not a good idea for states to spread out their military mech designs.

The Hexers made an exception for the Larkinson Clan. It made some sense now that Ves thought about it with a sober mind.

First, he was one of the lead designers of the Blessed Squire and Valkyrie Redeemer. He was familiar with all of their secrets already.

Second, the Larkinson Clan became permanently associated with the Wodin Dynasty after yesterday. Marriages were one of the most solid methods to secure alliances, and this was no different. Before Ves joined with Gloriana, there was always the faint possibility that the Larkinsons could have turned their backs on the Hexers and reconciled with the Fridaymen.

Now, that frightful possibility was completely ruled out. As far as the Hexadric Hegemony was concerned, the Wodin Dynasty succeeded in ensnaring the Larkinson Clan!

Since the Larkinson Clan effectively became attached to the Hexer state, it was no longer a big deal to release some Hexer-exclusive hardware.

In fact, the Hexers probably hoped that adopting more Hexer hardware would make the Larkinsons more aligned to their state!

Though Ves recognized the ulterior motives behind this seemingly magnanimous gift, he really did not want to pass it over.

Though Ves had no stomach for the Blessed Squire, the Valkyrie Redeemer was far too powerful for him to pass over!

Also, it just so happened that his clan recently absorbed a strong and cohesive group of former Hexer citizens.

"The Penitent Sisters will probably be happy to pilot our Valkyrie Redeemers."

"And so will my Glory Seekers!"

The gift also extended to the household troops of the Wodin Dynasty. There were no legal barriers anymore that prevented Gloriana's personal guardian force from making use of military hardware!

Ves yawned again. "Let's get out of bed, honey. We have a long day ahead of us. Every second is precious."

"Okay!" She smiled. "But first, I have to do this!"

She leaned in to peck his cheek. Her lips briefly pressed against his fine stubble.

"I love you, Ves."

"I love you too, Gloriana."

Their marriage solidified their relationship. Their commitment to each other had grown stronger. All sorts of pleasant emotions rolled through their minds as they seemed to sync with each other.

Both of them raised their hands. Their special wedding bands connected the two lovers in some way. Each ring was bound to a spiritual fragment taken from their minds and transplanted to each other. Aside from granting them limited access to the domain of their spouse, the rings also brought other benefits.

Chapter 2504: Awake

The newly-married couple spent their first honeymoon night aboard the Stellar Chaser.

Though Ves did not particularly enjoy spending time on Gloriana's personal ship, the Stellar Chaser was the closest substitute of home for her. Until the Larkinson Clan finally received its long-awaited factory from the Hexer shipbuilders, there was no better ship to spend their first night.

Once the pair left their bed and freshened themselves up, they moved to the dining room where they enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast.

Both of them expended a lot of energy yesterday. The wedding stretched all day and all of the joys they experienced had drained their bodies extensively.

undefined"Meow~"

"Miaow~"

Both Lucky and Clixie sat on the table and bent their heads in their respective bowls.

Though Clixie looked small, it was very expensive to keep her fed. She only accepted a diet of high-energy food such as exobeast meat or high-class pet fare. She would starve to death if she just ate regular cat food!

As for Lucky, he eschewed organic food entirely. His artificial digestion system only took in minerals and metals. Ves had no idea how it worked, but Lucky could eat damn near anything as long as it was inorganic.

As for Goldie, she had already dematerialized her physical avatar. It still cost too much energy to solidify her spiritual form. Besides, she did not need to sustain her existence through eating. The spiritual feedback of the clansmen connected to the Larkinson Clan already took care of her essential needs.

The married couple were just as content as their pets. As they sedately sated their hunger and thirst, their assistants stood by their side, ready to inform Ves and Gloriana of the matters that required their attention.

"Matriarch Xiaphna Wodin and many other Wodins have already departed this star system. Your mother and your brothers and sisters intend to stay here a few days more." Melody Raft reported.

"What of the guests?"

"Most of our guests will be leaving within the week if they haven't already. There are some who intend to stay in order to curry favor with us or expand their networks, but these people are not worth your attention."

"Hmm. What of the Wodin Warriors?"

"Most of the Wodin Warriors will be escorting our matriarch and much of our dynasty members back to the Hegemony. A mech regiment or two will continue to remain here to protect the Larkinson Clan and handle some of the remaining affairs."

One of those developments was preserving the hexagonal platform where the wedding took place. It was a bit of a waste to break it down. Though many of the materials used in its construction were precious, neither the Wodin Dynasty nor Larkinson Clan had any need to recycle so much bulk materials.

Both Ves and Gloriana agreed to convert it into a public monument. Its existence commemorated their unforgettable union and could also serve other purposes. The idyllic garden environment and the various ornaments would surely turn into a tourist attraction, especially after Ves promised to craft a new statue that depicted the Superior Mother holding the Larkinson Mandate!

While Gloriana became engrossed in Hexer matters, Ves busied himself with affairs that directly related to the Larkinson Clan.

"The Cross Patriarch wants to resume talks with you as soon as possible. He seems eager to partner with our clan. He has already informed us that he has slightly increased the amount of strategic materials he is willing to transfer to us in the event of a successful deal." Gavin Neumann reported.

Ves smirked as he sipped his syrupy caffeinated drink. "The wedding must have dazzled him to the point where he finally realizes his weak negotiating position. I'm not quite sure whether it is best for us to join forces. We've received other offers to split the burden of obtaining passage to the Red Ocean, right Benny?"

"Yes, but don't rule out the Cross Clan too soon." Gavin advised. "The other offers come from organizations that are already established and successful. Since they are not in any danger, their proposals contain fewer benefits and more demands. In contrast, the Crossers are desperate and don't have as many options. As long as we drive a hard bargain, we can gain a lot of advantages."

This was a very complicated matter. Pushing the Cross Clan hard might give the Larkinson Clan a lot of benefits in the short term, but would also weaken the foundation of their alliance.

The Crossers needed to feel they benefited from banding together with the Larkinsons. If any of the two sides felt they were being exploited, then a premature breakup would happen sooner or later.

The Red Ocean was a dangerous place. The news he heard spoke of many accidents and enormous blunders. Without sufficient power and wealth, the pioneers who ventured into the dwarf galaxy could collapse at any moment.

Travelling together with the Cross Clan for a time would definitely increase his sense of security. The biggest downside was that there was no way for him to exert too much control over his allies.

Ves had to juggle all of these tradeoffs. Fortunately, he didn't have to do all of the work alone. While the Larkinson Clan lacked a stellar diplomat, his clan had beefed up hiring in this department. He had numerous negotiators who could hash out the finer details with their Crosser counterparts.

"While the Crossers don't bring as much MTA merits to the table as us, they're quite sincere now. I think it might be good to have a firm grip on a junior partner. It is absolutely unacceptable for us to be in the weaker position."

If the Larkinson Clan cooperated with two additional smaller partners, it would be able to maintain a prime position within the alliance. That was much more preferable to Ves than allying with equals.

Once they finished their discussion on the Cross Clan, Gavin moved on to another important point.

"Master Willix insists on meeting you as well. I'm not sure what she has in mind, but you should probably have a good idea."

Ves nodded. "Correct."

Their discussion on his spiritually-enhanced mechs wasn't over yet. They also needed to form a plan on the five expert mech projects that Master Willix agreed to collaborate on. Finally, their meeting would surely turn to the gift that she had personally presented to him yesterday.

He was completely surprised by what she had given him. According to her, the value of the gift was 1 million MTA merits or an astonishing amount of MTA credits. While it wasn't a problem for her to afford it, giving him such a valuable gift raised a lot of eyebrows from the guests.

There was a deeper meaning behind the present. Ves hoped to gain some clarity when he met with Master Willix.

"Are there any other matters that I should know about, Benny?"

"Yes. The Komodo War is experiencing another shift. The glows of the Blessed Squires and Valkyrie Redeemers had become a lot more active since yesterday. Many Hexers are questioning why, but some have begun to believe that the Superior Mother is celebrating your marriage."

It was hard to miss the power boost of the two spiritual entities who were involved in the wedding. Both Goldie and the Superior Mother seemed to derive a lot of spiritual feedback from all of the emotions people felt about the wedding.

Goldie's boost was fairly modest since the amount of Larkinsons she was connected to was still rather modest.

The Superior Mother was different. She came in touch with an increasing number of Hexer citizens.

Many of those citizens happened to tune in to the broadcast of the wedding. Even though any marriage to an inferior foreign boy was frowned upon, Ves had already transcended that category!

As far as most average Hexers were concerned, he was a 'good boy'!

Regardless of how the matriarchs rationalized their increasing cooperation with a foreigner, they did not block people from watching the wedding.

Instead, the Hegemony's government actually encouraged its citizens to tune into the broadcast!

Given all of the recent bad news trickling back from the front, the Hexers could use a distraction to lift up their morale.

One of the reasons why Gloriana took part in a long list of Hexer rituals prior to exchanging vows was because it was a giant influencing operation!

The broadcasts of the weddings targeted towards the Hexers were also slanted towards their sensibilities. The Hexer media outfits heavily alluded to the Superior Mother throughout the broadcast!

All of this meant that a many more Hexers than before became adherents of the resurgent Supreme. The glow radiated by the statue also succeeded in bleeding through the live broadcast to an extent, thereby reinforcing the Superior Mother's presence in the minds of trillions of Hexers!

Though Ves had become too caught up in his devotion towards Gloriana and the festive activities last night, he definitely recalled the Superior Mother becoming more active all of a sudden.

A faintly ominous possibility came to mind.

"How has the performance of the Blessed Squire and Valkyrie Redeemer changed exactly?"

"Their glows are substantially stronger than before, both in intensity and range." Gavin answered. "They're more resistant against the known Fridaymen counters. The Hexer mech pilots that fall under the influence of the glows have also become more fervent. Words don't quite do justice to how extensively this power boost has affected the Hex Army. We've requested battle footage to study the changes, but it will take a few days for us to receive some."

Ves could already imagine why his Hexer mechs changed. This was because he became increasingly more certain what exactly happened!

In order to verify his suspicion, he concentrated his mind and reached out to one of his more powerful design spirits.

As he spiritually probed the powerful entity, Ves immediately received a response!

"Ouch!"

Ves abruptly felt a sting on his mind!

"What's the matter, boss?!"

"It's nothing! I'm fine! I just.. ate something wrong maybe. Please tell the chefs to check their ingredients."

"..Very well."

Ves didn't pay much attention to the concerns of the people around him. In truth, he was in utter shock at the moment!

His probe confirmed something incredibly important.

"She's awake." He muttered under his breath.

Different from his other spiritual products, the Superior Mother had always been dormant as soon as she came into existence. Ves guessed that she possessed too much power at the start, thereby forcing her into immediate metamorphosis.

This state lasted for many months. Ves speculated that the Superior Mother might have completed her transformation sooner if not for the escalating amounts of spiritual feedback pouring into her. She constantly had to extend her growth in order to process all of the power she was absorbing!

Ves thought that the Superior Mother might take years to end her transformation, but somehow his theories were off. His probe earlier definitely proved that she was awake and cognizant!

His heart beat faster as he realized how much his life might change as a result of this development.

His wedding actually came with a 'buy one get one free' promotion.

In addition to obtaining a new wife, he also gained a new mother!

The most important priority for him right now was ascertaining the personality of the awakened spirit. While the Superior Mother was supposed to be his mother's avatar, how much of Cynthia was present?

Ves cautiously communicated with the entity he had just probed. This time, he behaved himself and approached her politely.

The Superior Mother communicated by thoughts and emotions rather than words. This was not unusual among his design spirits. After a short exchange where he was able to gain a solid impression of the awakened spirit, he was finally able to put down his worries.

For the moment, Cynthia Larkinson did not appear to be present. The Superior Mother was still a distinct entity who possessed her own personality and identity.

Though Ves loved his birth mother, he did not relish her watching over his every move for the rest of his life!

While the worst-case scenario hadn't happened, Ves overlooked an important detail.

The Superior Mother was still a mother! And like every mother, she adored her child!

"Ooof!"

Just as Ves relaxed, his head suddenly received a firm push out of nowhere!

Did.. the Superior Mother just pat his head?

Chapter 2505: Pylon

The awakening of the Superior Mother spelled both good and bad news to Ves.

The good news was that her glow had become substantially more powerful. The difference between a dormant entity and an active entity was considerable!

Aside from being able to channel more power, the Superior Mother was also able to exert more control over her influence!

This meant that just like Qilanxo, the Superior Mother could play favorites!

undefinedAnyone who earned a favor might receive a helping hand. Ves already anticipated that the mech pilots of his Hexer products would start to receive several boons!

Of course, the more immediate consequence of the Superior Mother waking up was that she was capable of interacting with him! The few invisible pushes he received were signs of his new mother's care and affection.

Even though the Superior Mother possessed an independent personality, for some reason or another she considered him to be her son!

This was ridiculous! He created her! He breathed life into her! If anything, he should be her father, just like he was a father to all of his other spiritual products!

Ves grabbed the Larkinson Mandate from Nitaa and directed his attention to Goldie.

"I'm your daddy, right?"

Nyaaaaa!

"Good girl."

The Golden Cat may be tied to him through the Larkinson Network, but she was sensible enough to recognize his primacy.

Unfortunately, Ves sensed the opposite vibe in the Superior Mother! He was pretty certain that she considered herself above her progenitor!

After all, what mother would take her son seriously? If Ves was being extra naughty, she might even spank him or something!

"Ugh. I'm already an adult!" He groaned and palmed his face.

If there was one consolation, it seemed that she wasn't paying close attention to him all the time. After she finished abusing his body by patting him with her invisible fingers, she retracted her presence.

As Ves cautiously peeked at the Superior Mother from afar, he sensed an abundance of activity.

The spiritual network that centered around her existence became a lot more vigorous. Ves could sense that she was already regulating the network by withdrawing power from some sources, reducing her output to some destinations while showering specific individuals with her favor.

She was being a lot more proactive about this than his other design spirits. The Solemn Guardian and so on did not possess an enhanced connection to people through spiritual networks. This largely prevented them from exerting fine control over the users of the mechs they watched over.

After all, they were connected to mechs, not people.

Ves immediately realized that the Golden Cat, the Superior Mother and Lufa were distinctly better than his other design spirits. Not even the newly-evolved Illustrious One possessed a spiritual or battle network!

Maybe he should add networks to his other spirits. Allowing them to establish direct connections to mech pilots could potentially make his mechs much more valuable.

Of course, this was only the case if the mech pilots gained the design spirit's favor. If the opposite was the case, then it would become a bit harder to sell his mechs to a broader audience!

Not everyone respected living mechs. Mech pilots were very diverse, and each of them learned from teachers who possessed different views on mechs.

Some treated mechs as disposable goods. Others treated mechs as treasures. This was just one of the many differences that could affect a design spirit's attitude towards mech pilots.

Perhaps it might be best if Ves held off on adding more spiritual networks to his design spirits.

Right now, the Superior Mother was the first entity who utilized her ties to countless Hexers on a wider scale. Ves was not surprised that she was too distracted to pay too much attention to him. As far as she was concerned, every Hexer was her child!

"I'm her favorite, though."

At least he had that. Ves carefully withdrew his perception in order to avoid drawing the Superior Mother's attention again. If she was paying active attention to him all the time, how could he perform his shameful acts in peace?

Ves deliberately halted himself from speculating any further about what the Superior Mother had exactly observed last night.

He quickly finished his breakfast and departed the Stellar Chaser with Lucky and Gavin.

His shuttle crossed over through the void of space. Ves idly activated his comm and called up a projection of the local star system.

A lot of ships had departed the star system. Many guests had already left. What Ves found noteworthy was that the captured pirate warships were nowhere to be seen.

As soon as the Larkinson Clan no longer needed to parade around the Gravada Knarlax, the MTA immediately dragged her and her escorts back to Centerpoint.

"A shame."

Fortunately, his clan already plundered plenty of valuables from the former Allidus Alliance ships. The Unending alloy, the strategic materials stored in the vaults and the stockpiles of other valuable exotics all fell into his hands.

The MTA didn't seem to care about these loose materials. The mechers only restricted the Larkinsons from ripping out the fixed components from the ships. They needed the ships to be as functionally intact as possible in order to ascertain the state of Nyxian pirate shipbuilding development.

"Speaking about ships, we'll be getting a bunch of them as well."

The Larkinsons already ordered a lot of second-hand combat carriers from the Hegemony. Their factory ship was also scheduled to be delivered on schedule.

Though Ves was thinking about acquiring additional capital ships, he wasn't sure if his clan had enough money to place a new order. The five upcoming expert mech projects would definitely eat a lot of money if he wanted to aim for the highest possible quality within his reach.

There was no way that Ves was going to settle for average expert mechs for his demigods! He highly valued their long-term potential, but in order to realize that, he needed to invest considerably in the short-term.

"How much disposable money do we have, Benny? How many hex credits can we spend without putting our clan or our mech company at risk?"

"It's complicated." Gavin replied. "There are many factors that are complicating our calculations. The LMC's monthly sales has spiked, but we aren't sure how long it will last. The profit we earn from selling a Doom Guard in the Komodo Star Sector is higher than the profit from selling the same mech in a distant star sector. In addition to all of this, our expansion in manpower and assets has caused our expenses to skyrocket. Also, don't forget about your promise of providing a basic set of second-class augmentations to all of the survivors of the Nyxian Gap Campaign."

As Gavin continued to ramble about the many factors that affected their available cash reserves, Ves grew impatient.

"Just give me an estimate!"

"Uhmm, leaving out the money that we have already reserved for future investments, you can probably spend up to 1 trillion hex credits without too many repercussions."

"That's enough to order another capital ship."

Gavin cautiously nodded. "Correct."

"Then let's prepare to order some in the future. I'm thinking about acquiring several capital ships while we're at it. With the financial strength of our clan, I'm sure we can borrow a few trillion hex credits."

"While you're right, there are very few lenders who are willing to hand over that much money at once. We'll need to develop a good relationship with one before we can apply for such a giant loan."

"Then start laying the groundwork. The sooner we round out our expeditionary fleet, the sooner we can leave the Milky Way. While I don't mind spending a few more years in our home galaxy, I don't want to obtain our new capital ships right before we pass through the beyonder gate. We need to break in our new vessels and become accustomed to them before we are ready to begin our true adventure."

Ships that big were rather temperamental and difficult to control. The sheer amount of parts and components practically guaranteed that some of them produced flaws. A critical error might disable an FTL drive in mid-transition. This would cause the ship to drop out of FTL travel at best or cause the entire vessel to disappear from the known universe if her luck was worse!

"Schedule a meeting with the Tsais. I need to secure the services of a good shipwright as soon as possible."

"Yes, boss."

"Also, prepare a detailed update on the current progress of our factory ship. If we can add some convenient upgrades, I'd like to do that now when the ship is still under construction. Just like mechs, it's a lot harder to improve a completed vessel."

Even though Ves intended to spend a lot of money in the coming months, he believed he was capable of bearing the burden. The LMC already had a couple of excellent commercial designs in reserve. The Crystal Lord Mark II and the Ferocious Piranha possessed a lot of sales potential. Once the LMC rolled them out, he'll probably be raking in a lot more money!

Before Ves could talk to Gavin any further, his shuttle finally arrived at the Ubiquitous Force.

Some time later, Ves met with Master Willix. They met in a highly-advanced mech workshop this time.

"Mr. Larkinson. You've arrived. Come over here." She called as she stood in front of a high-tech obelisk-like structure.

He approached until he stood next to her and stared at her gift to him. Master Willix already introduced it to him yesterday evening. However, hearing about it was very different from seeing it in the flesh!

The exterior of the obelisk consisted of advanced metallic alloys that Ves didn't recognize. Several electronic components were embedded throughout its structure. He didn't know what role they played.

The obelisk was as tall as a light mech but considerably skinnier. If Ves ignored all of its remarkable properties, it pretty much resembled a giant, primitive antenna!

It didn't take much effort for Ves to realize he was looking at a product of high technology.

However, its actual function was a lot more remarkable than the tech that made it work.

Different from every other tech in the hands of the MTA, the obelisk was actively radiating spiritual energy!

The existence of this device confirmed his suspicion that the MTA succeeded in applying spirituality in some of its tech!

"Our profession is remarkable and unique in our society." The older woman began. "From the moment we advance to the rank of Journeyman, we develop psionic power. This remarkable power system has several reality-defying effects, the most important of which is to bestow our mechs and mech designs with special, reality-bending qualities."

Ves nodded. "I'm aware of that, ma'am."

"Have you ever wondered why this effect is confined in a certain range? Journeymen can only psionically affect a range corresponding to a star sector at the start. As they develop their psionic power further, their range expands. Seniors are even more exaggerated in how many light-years their reach extends, while Masters such as myself can affect the entire galaxy and beyond."

"I hope to reach this level as well one day." Ves modestly said.

Willix smiled. "That will take a lot of time, and that assumes you won't fall along the way. In any case, until then, your range only stretches over a couple of star sectors for now. This is very problematic for your mech company once you begin your travels. If you head to the Red Ocean, how will your mechs still retain their strength in your home star sector? I believe you have already witnessed the consequences of disappointing your customers."

If Ves hadn't moved quickly and turned the situation around by introducing the Living Star Club, the LMC's reputation would have sunk into the ocean!

However, Master Willix might not be entirely correct in this case. Ves had theorized a long time ago that the range she was talking about might not be affected by his design seed.

This was because there were stronger spiritual entities with greater ranges connected to his mech designs! His collection of design spirits were more than capable of taking over his burden in his absence!

However, this was a secret that he wasn't eager to expose. If there was a technological alternative to the range problem of a mech designer, then that would be much more convenient!

The Master Mech Designer gestured towards the obelisk. "Your new P.P. will solve your lack of reach."

"P.P.?"

"It is short for psionic pylon." She explained. "For obvious reasons, you are not allowed to refer it by its actual name to others. P.P.'s are very sensitive and you should not reveal them to anyone unless we grant you permission. In most cases, mentors and Masters provide them to Journeymen who are travelling and need the capabilities of these devices the most. Otherwise, Journeymen such as Mr. Armalon would be much more reluctant to go on tour. Carmin Olson would have provided you with one if you were still her apprentice."

"I see."

"This pylon is worth 1 million MTA merits if you attempt to obtain one yourself."

That much?!

Chapter 2506: Neutral Spiritual Energy

Ves became very intrigued by the P.P. that Master Willix gifted him. The tall obelisk-like device exuded a sense of mystery.

Aside from his mechs, the P.P. was the first example of a device that interacted directly with spirituality that Ves had ever seen.

Since the Mech Trade Association depended so heavily on specific applications of psionic power, it was a given that they would research how to leverage it outside of the minds of mech designers.

However, the difficulty in observing and manipulating it severely hampered any research in this nebulous field.

undefinedYet that did not stop the best researchers of the galaxy. The MTA was one of the two apex organizations of humanity. If their scientists and mech designers failed to grasp psionic power directly, then there were many ways to manipulate it indirectly.

The P.P. was probably one of the results of their painstaking research.

Unlike the Darkbreak module, which was another exclusive MTA product, the P.P. was coated in white.

As Ves tuned his senses towards the P.P., he made a number of remarkable discoveries.

First, much of the structure of the P.P. was purely technological. The only portion of the obelisk-like machine that directly harnessed psionic power was a small lump buried deep in the center of the pylon.

What was the purpose of all of this tech? Ves refused to believe they were useless. The MTA was not the kind of organization that encouraged waste. The expensive, unknown parts each thrummed with power generated from an internal reactor.

Yet as Ves peered deeper, it wasn't the technological components that stood out.

The P.P. already radiated the presence of spirituality despite not being keyed into his design philosophy yet. Someone or something already filled it up with spiritual energy.

As Ves studied the properties of what he felt, he discovered to his surprise that it was very neutral!

Yes, neutral!

He had never encountered spiritual energy with this property before. Every variety of spiritual energy he encountered came with defined attributes. This was because spiritual energy came from life, more specifically sentient life. The thoughts and emotions of intelligent creatures formed the basis of spirituality.

How could any life who possessed emotions generate spiritual energy that was essentially devoid of flavor?

Ves previously thought it was impossible!

Generating neutral spiritual energy was not as simple as stripping spiritual energy of its attributes. This wasn't possible, as spirituality came in defined 'shapes' for a lack of a better description. Each shape was slanted towards a specific attribute.

For something to have no attribute, they shouldn't have a shape. Yet this was a logical trap as something that didn't have a shape was non-existent!

This was what he always thought, but now it turned out that his theories were wrong.

As Ves partially tuned out Master Willix's explanation, he continued to look deeper into the special spiritual energy contained within the P.P.

He eventually found out that neutral spiritual energy actually possessed a 'shape' as well. It just came in a form that he did not expect!

It was difficult to describe what he sensed. Neutrality did not signify the absence of flavor. Instead, it was an attribute in itself! All he knew was that the MTA somehow developed a way to produce a unique variety of neutral spiritual energy.

What was the purpose of its existence? Why would the MTA put this highly-specific kind of spiritual energy into P.P.'s? Its unnatural properties suggested to Ves that it was a lot harder to generate than normal attributes. Ves was pretty sure that no natural process could generate something that felt so artificial!

The quality and purity of the spiritual energy locked inside the P.P. was also very high. Despite its small quantity, the neutral spiritual energy gave him the impression that it transcended the regular barriers of distance.

That reminded him of something. His eyes shifted to Master Willix.

Was she.. the source of this neutral spiritual energy?

He did not dare to peer directly at her blindingly strong spirituality. Yet when he compared her strong presence to that of the P.P., he believed he might be on the right track!

The P.P. made a lot more sense if the two shared a relation! Either Master Willix or some other powerful mech designer supplied precious neutral spiritual energy to the device in order to activate its functionality.

Through these clues, Ves quickly deduced how the P.P. was able to extend a mech designer's influence.

According to his theory, the P.P. likely demanded a spiritual fragment from him. Yet holding his spiritual fragment wasn't enough to make his mechs retain their special qualities imparted by his design philosophy.

The neutral spiritual energy probably served as a carrier or amplifier. Due to its completely inoffensive properties, it could easily blend in with his spiritual fragment. Once the two combined, his fragment probably received a lot of strengthening.

The advantages of fusing these two elements were probably two-fold.

First, it increased his spiritual fragment's influencing range to the point it could act as a substitute for his design seed.

Second, it added a sense of permanency and stability to his fragment. This prevented it from decaying or aging over time.

Ves became increasingly more certain that neutral spiritual energy actually originated from Master Mech Designers, and not just any of them. The only method of generating neutral spiritual energy that he could think of was trying to generate them from sentient but unfeeling minds!

This theory made a lot of sense! It added another reason why rational mech designers existed and why the MTA valued them so much. Their ability to strip their minds of their emotions and rely on pure logic was probably the key to adding a neutral attribute to their domains!

Master Willix had no idea that Ves might have figured out the essence of P.P.'s! While all of the technological components signified that there was still more to them than he currently understood, they probably played auxiliary roles at best.

The spiritual core of a P.P. was what truly mattered!

"...Our Association developed psionic pylon technology with great effort to solve the range problem of younger and developing mech designers. Before the existence of P.P.'s, Seniors and lower were largely confined to a specific region. As soon as they moved far enough away, their existing products in the hands of local users largely lost the qualities that gave them an edge. This is undesirable for both the mech designer and his customers. Can you explain why, Mr. Larkinson?"

Ves quickly turned back to the conversation. "Ah, for one, the professional reputation of the mech designer who went away will be ruined. No one likes to buy a product for its strong defense or something, only for it to lose that advantage a few years later. Such incidents will stain the track records of the mech designers in question, thereby hampering their future endeavors."

"Correct, but there's more."

"If incidents like this take place too often, then the overall market for mechs will become a lot less attractive. Consumer confidence will dip as no one will know for sure whether a mech designer will commit to a specific star sector or star cluster."

Master Willix nodded. "In general, we encourage mech designers to remain confined in a single region. Journeymen should stay in their native star sectors while Seniors should not travel beyond their star clusters."

Ves frowned. "Then why do people recommend that Journeymen should travel around to widen their horizons?"

"Traveling is okay as long as it stays within an acceptable range. Did you not go on such a tour yourself a few years ago? You have gained much from your travels, I am sure. This is usually sufficient to enrich most Journeymen."

Ves grew a bit suspicious about these circumstances.

"Are there any underlying reasons why it's better for mech designers to remain in their local haunts?"

She gave him an approving nod. "Since you are observant enough to recognize it, I will not deny it. We have ulterior motives to keep mech designers in their respective regions. It is for their own good. If the mech market is truly borderless, then what do you think will happen from a competitive perspective?"

It didn't take much for Ves to imagine the consequences.

"Stronger competitors from the galactic center will probably be able to squeeze out the weaker ones from the less-developed regions. The standard of mech design in the Komodo Star Sector is quite low. While the local mech designers are quite good at minimizing costs and making efficient use of local materials, we are much worse off in terms of maximizing performance or adding more sophisticated functionality to our mech designs."

"The Association thinks so as well. Novices, Apprentices, Journeymen and Seniors should be able to earn a comfortable living as long as they are able to design and sell decent mechs. Too many careers will be strangled if they are subject to a huge amount of unrestricted competition. The market for mechs designed by Seniors and lower must be inherently divided in order to provide development opportunities to as many mech designers as possible."

More successful mech designers translated to more realized design philosophies. The MTA did not want a small group of mech designers capturing the bulk of the galactic mech market. That went counter to their goal of improving the overall standard of mechs until they were able to supplant warships!

"What about Masters?" Ves asked. "Are they confined from conducting business as well?"

"No." She shook her head. "Masters do not require protection anymore. We are proficient enough to compete in any market in any possible region. In actuality, few Masters actually take the opportunity to expand their business to every corner of human space. Different markets have different preferences, and the availability of specific exotics can fluctuate very drastically from region to region. Therefore, in practice, Masters will still focus primarily on marketing their products closer to home."

"What about the trans-galactic mech companies?"

"They are immensely wealthy and immensely powerful. These publicly traded megacorporations have invested an immense amount of sums in building up branches and subsidiaries in almost every star sector or star cluster. A sufficient local presence allows these huge mech companies to push their mainstream mech models to a wide variety of local mech markets by relying on the branch headquarters to translate standardized mech designs into localized variants."

This was an enormous subject matter and not something that Ves was qualified to be involved with at his current stage.

Due to the sheer amount of stakeholders, mech designers and money involved, these megacorporations were almost always public rather than private. They were too big to be owned or controlled by a single entity.

They turned back to the original topic.

"Does this P.P. only work for a single mech designer?" Ves asked.

"Yes."

"Then what about my wife?"

"I have already gifted Miss Wodin with her own P.P." Master Willix replied. She waved her hand, causing a projection of another P.P. to appear. "Her model is a little more advanced than yours. Normally, you would have to exchange 1.2 million MTA merits to obtain this device."

The projection of Gloriana's P.P. was noticeably bigger than his own!

"What? Why is her P.P. longer than mine? This is unfair!"

The Master Mech Designer crossed her arms.

"Bigger isn't necessarily better, Mr. Larkinson. In truth, the effective range of P.P.'s is partially dependent on the mech designer in question. Your design philosophy harnesses psionic power much more directly than that of your spouse. This means you need less of a boost than hers. Your partner's design philosophy is considerably more nuanced than yours, so she deserves a larger P.P. Don't feel too bad about yourself. Size doesn't matter. It's how you use it. I have faith that you can make the most of your compact P.P."

Even if Ves accepted her rationale, why did he still feel inadequate?

Chapter 2507: Expensive Instruments

The process of activating the P.P. was fairly simple.

After Master Willix fiddled with the configuration, she commanded Ves to approach the device and put his arm through a slot that opened up at the base of the pylon.

An energy clamp suddenly held him in place while some sort of force tugged at his mind and spirit!

"AAHHH! WHAT THE HELL?!"

undefinedThe P.P. generated some kind of energy field that was very disturbing to Ves! Not only that, but some of the neutral spiritual energy stored within the depths of the obelisk flowed out and enveloped his body.

Despite its neutral quality, the foreign spiritual energy was very high quality and therefore quite painful to come in direct contact with. Ves felt as if he was submerging his head in a pot filled with boiling water!

"Endure, Mr. Larkinson. This binding process will fail if you put up too much resistance."

This painful process lasted for up to half a minute. By that point, the neutral spiritual energy receded into the pylon, taking something extra in the process!

The process ended quickly after that. The binding that held his arm in place disappeared, allowing him to pull it out. He quickly took a few steps back as he looked fearfully at his P.P.

"What was that?!"

"That is the P.P. extracting some of your psionic power. It hurts because it is damaging to you. While you will recover in time, I advise you to avoid playing with other P.P.'s until you have recovered from this experience. This may take months or years."

As Ves recalled what took place at the end, he realized that the neutral spiritual energy somehow managed to siphon away some of his spiritual energy!

Ves lost enough to constitute a small spiritual fragment. If he knew this would happen, he would have carved it out on his own accord and just handed it over to his P.P. without any fuss!

He looked quite sour.

"Are P.P.'s dangerous?" He asked.

"They can be. If you bind just one of them, then there is no concern. It is when weaker mech designers become greedy and want more that will pose a problem. Mech designers who are in need of large amounts of funds think that using P.P.'s is a convenient means of expanding their market presence. Reaching more customers means higher sales, which in turn leads to higher revenue. However, binding too many P.P.'s consecutively will permanently damage their psionic power. For you and your partner, one should be enough. There is no need for your mech company to extend its effective market reach beyond the Yeina Star Cluster."

She was right. In the future, his design focus would be oriented around the Red Ocean's mech market. Ves only wanted to maintain a presence in the Komodo Star Sector and the surrounding region because the LMC was already rooted here. He also wanted to make sure that his father and the Larkinson Family would be able to make use of his products at their prime.

Ves cared little about selling his mechs to the rest of the galactic rim. While he was sure that his glows were desirable enough to be in high demand in many more star clusters, he doubted that the LMC would be able to control so many regionalized operations at once.

Perhaps he might have a chance if he continued to reside in the galactic rim, but since he and his entire clan would be leaving for the Red Ocean, the distance was too great to do anything more.

In a way, he agreed with Master Willix's underlying message. Journeymen such as him shouldn't be too eager to enter into markets he had no business touching in the first place.

Instead, he should develop himself honestly and advance his design philosophy. Once he advanced to Senior or Master, a lot more markets opened up to him without messing with any P.P.'s.

According to Master Willix, only Masters were truly qualified to compete against the entire mech industry!

While Ves already tasted the benefits of selling his mechs to a large number of states, he knew he couldn't be too unbridled in his expansion. Already, the competition in other star sectors was pushing back hard against the encroachment of LMC mechs. His mech company didn't have the energy to fight back against too much organized opposition.

He turned his attention back to his activated P.P. Now that it took some essence from him, Ves perceived some mysterious transformation taking place inside its depths. Soon, the pylon's technological components started to activate.

A powerful wave of spirituality spread from his newly-bound P.P.!

His P.P. spurted several times as it kicked into gear. Eventually, it achieved equilibrium, causing it to propagate weak but very familiar waves that extended across vast distances.

The pylon copied his design seed's ability to extend its influence across a huge distance!

Another way to look at it was that his P.P. turned into his surrogate. It turned into a serviceable substitute for his physical presence!

Master Willix called up a console and studied the data supplied by the pylon.

"The binding process has succeeded. From now on, you can depart to the Red Ocean without the concern that your business empire in your native star cluster will collapse."

Ves relaxed. He was glad it succeeded in one shot. He didn't want to repeat this experience!

"What happens to my P.P.? Will I need to take care of it myself?"

"That won't be necessary." She shook her head. "We will ship it to our cluster headquarters."

"Not Centerpoint?"

"No. Your P.P. is a cluster-wide model. It is not optimal to store your P.P. in this star sector due to its remote location. The Winged Serenade Star Sector sits in the center of the Yeina Star Cluster. Placing your P.P. here will ensure your design philosophy affects the most territory that matters. You don't need to be concerned. The Komodo Star Sector will still fall under its range."

Now that Ves completed the process, they withdrew from her mech workshop. They entered one of her offices in order to discuss other matters.

"Mr. Larkinson. I have extensively examined your lessons on your design philosophy. I have also analyzed the extensive footage, logs and other data of your latest battle. I've developed numerous questions."

"Ask away."

She proceeded to ask some tricky and insightful questions. Ves had to reach deep into his design philosophy in order to clarify her confusion.

Even though she was still incapable of designing living mechs, her theoretical understanding of his design philosophy had caught up very fast!

In some instances, her questions opened some angles to him that he hadn't even considered. This provided some useful avenues for future research!

Once they finished the question-and-answer session, Master Willix moved on to her remaining obligation.

"Now that you have concluded your wedding and surrendered your captured warships to us, my presence isn't needed anymore. I will be returning to Centerpoint soon."

That was both good and bad to Ves.

On one hand, Master Willix was one of the most effective protective talismans that he possessed. She was one of the scariest guard dogs in the galaxy. As long as she was nearby, not a single pirate or enemy dared to launch an attack on him, especially when she showered him with so much favor!

On the other hand, Ves continued to feel uncomfortable about doing anything when the MTA was close enough to look over his shoulders. No matter what deal they struck, their different identities ensured they would never be completely aligned!

"Does that mean that you will contribute to our planned expert mech design projects by remote?"

She nodded curtly. "Your Darkbreak module is secure enough to allow us to collaborate without concerns. Let's move onto the projects themselves. Have you developed any ideas on the mechs you ideally wish to realize?"

"Well, I don't have any solid draft designs, but I have sounded out the expert pilots who will receive work and take stock of my available resources. Overall, I want to start with designing high-tier expert mechs right away."

He elaborated on his expectations while he transferred some of the files and documents he prepared to Master Willix. It soon became clear that he intended to incorporate a lot of first-class materials.

"These materials are very remarkable." She raised her eyebrow. "Do you know the value of what you hold?"

Ves smiled at her. "There is little sense in hoarding them. I can think of no better use for them than this. At this time, my partner and I have to go through a lot of effort to design an expert mech. Since we are able to collaborate with you for a time, I don't want to waste this opportunity to design some basic models that will only serve their purpose for a couple a years. I want to invest in the development of our high-ranking mech pilots as much as possible, and providing them with high-performing expert mechs is a necessity!"

She understood his rationale, though she didn't entirely agree with him. "High-performance expert mechs are very difficult to utilize effectively when their intended users are still just starting out as expert pilots. While you are correct if you only consider the long-term outcomes, in the short and medium term, your expert pilots must constantly struggle to channel the raw power of their extraordinary machines."

The problem appeared to be greater than he initially thought. It was like handing over an extremely expensive musical instrument to a beginner artist. The individual in question wasn't proficient enough to make full use of such an extravagant device!

Even so, Ves still believed his course was correct. He would rather deal with this problem than face the prospect of having to design a new set of expert mechs to replace the simpler machines down the line.

"It's not cost-effective to go for the traditional route. First, I am pretty sure that all of our expert pilots under our care will be able to progress faster and with fewer hindrances than others. Second, since we only employ Journeymen at best, we have to find an external Master to collaborate with, and that will cost me millions of MTA merits that I can't afford to spend."

That last reason was the most important one to Ves. He may be swimming in MTA merits right now, but he earned every single merit through blood, sweat and tears. He did not relish going on another dangerous campaign in order to harvest another batch of merits!

She seemed to realize this as well, so she no longer attempted to discourage him. She just wanted to ensure that Ves became aware of the consequences of his decision.

"Let's talk about the process of our collaboration." She moved on. "You told me that you wish to maintain as much creative control over your expert mech design as possible, is that correct?"

He nodded. "I want the expert mechs of our clan to reflect our unique strengths, not yours."

"The quality of your expert mechs will not be on par, then. You will be wasting a considerable amount of potential of the materials you put into your expert mechs."

"I am confident that Gloriana and I can continue to iterate on the designs over time."

"Very well, then. Personally, I approve. While you may have been tempted to rely on my formidable design abilities to maximize the performance of your expert mechs as much as possible, you will not be able to gain as much from their development. Your choice also minimizes my time commitment, which is also a boon."

Of course she would mention that.

Ves also hadn't forgotten about the original reason why she agreed to collaborate with him. She wanted to witness him apply his design philosophy and proprietary methods to his mech designs up close. He wouldn't have much room to do so if she was doing most of the work!

Chapter 2508: Resonance Matching

Master Willix provided him with a brief lesson on the most essential property of an expert mech.

He had learned a bit more about what it took to design an expert mech. The choice and matching of resonating materials played an essential role in empowering them. Without resonating materials, expert mechs wouldn't be the powerful machines that everyone knew and admired!

"While you have brought a surprising amount of interesting first-class materials to the table, none of them possess resonating properties." She explained. "While they are excellent in reinforcing the base performance of your envisioned mechs, you will need to source resonating materials as well in order to complete them. A mech doesn't need to incorporate a large quantity of resonating materials, but more is mostly better."

This requirement added a considerable burden to his ambitions. Resonating materials were far scarcer and harder to obtain. The better ones were treated the same as high-grade exotics. They were solely in the hands of states.

undefinedFortunately, Master Willix understood his difficulties and offered him a reprieve.

"You do not need to source these materials yourself. I promised to take care of the aspects that you are unable to satisfy when it comes to the development of your expert mechs. It is not a problem to provide you with some materials taken from my own reserves."

His eyes lit up. "You would do that for me, ma'am?!"

He loved getting free stuff!

"You shouldn't celebrate too soon, Mr. Larkinson. My generosity has limits. I will only provide you with the amount of materials I deem necessary. They will be enough to last for your expert pilots for some time. If you want to obtain more, you will have to pay for them. Mind you, be prepared to exchange a large amount of merits."

His face soured. "This.. is not exactly what I had in mind."

"You have received more than enough welfare from me. I am not your nanny. This is for your own good. If we incorporate too much resonating materials in the expert mechs, your expert pilots will exhaust themselves too quickly in battle due to the enormous strain in controlling them. It is easier to swing a data pad than a chair."

"Isn't there a way to cut off the resonating materials until the expert pilot is ready to handle the added power?" Ves suspiciously asked.

"Such a solution indeed exists. It won't be necessary for us to employ it in any of your expert mech designs."

What a bummer. Ves had no right to demand Master Willix cough up additional resonating materials.

Though she wasn't willing to provide him with much, she assured him that she would be picking the most fitting resonating materials that she was readily able to provide.

"You may not know this, but resonating materials have varying degrees of fit with specific expert pilots. Some materials resonate fully with an expert pilot. Achieving 100 percent resonance is very rare. In practice, the chance of stumbling upon the most ideal resonating material is too small. Most expert mechs incorporate materials that resonate around 40 to 80 percent with the expert pilot in question."

"That.. sounds quite bad." Ves frowned. "Why can't we go higher?"

"The mech designers or the organizations they are working for only possess a finite collection of resonating materials. In the absence of a perfect resonating material, the mech designers must make do with alternatives that come close enough. In any case, 40 percent resonance is better than 0 percent resonance, which is the case for every other material."

The chance of winning the jackpot was too small. Humanity discovered an endless variety of exotics in the galaxy. Only a small proportion of them possessed resonating properties, but by far most of them did nothing to expert pilots who weren't compatible with them. Trying to match suitable resonating materials with unique expert pilots was quite a cumbersome effort!

"Is there a possibility that a resonating material will result in detrimental outcomes?"

"There is." She nodded. "This is one of the dangers of recklessly putting expert pilots in expert mechs that are designed for others. If the incompatibility is high enough, the mech or pilot might meet an unfortunate accident."

He already suspected that this might be the case. Standard, universal expert mechs did not exist. They were customized to a specific individual by definition. This meant that it was highly inappropriate for them to be piloted by someone other than their intended pilot!

"So.." He said. "I suppose you'll ensure that my expert pilots will receive the best possible resonating materials for their intended mechs?"

She smirked. "Don't push your luck. While it is true that our Association possesses the largest collection of resonating materials in the galaxy, even I cannot obtain every sample. Far from it. While I can try to obtain perfect resonating materials for each of your expert pilots, the expense is too great. This treatment is largely reserved for ace mechs and god mechs. You can forget about attaining perfection at this stage."

"Gloriana will be disappointed."

"She's a big girl."

What did that make Ves then?

"Don't be such a cry baby, Mr. Larkinson. You underestimate my reserves. I dare say that I have the largest collection of resonating materials in the Komodo Star Sector. I've obtained many of them while traveling through the galaxy. Attaining at least 80 percent resonance for all five expert mech design projects is assured. In fact, the ongoing matching process has already resulted in a number of positive hits."

It turned out that when the expert pilots initially underwent a complete examination by the MTA, her personnel already recorded their unique resonance signatures. They could then subject this resonance signature to different materials in order to find out whether they reacted with each other.

This was not something Ves needed to deal with. Master Willix only provided him with a brief explanation to keep him in the loop. He needed to take into account that he needed to incorporate some resonance materials in his designs. She determined the exact use and placement of those materials.

Though Ves was a bit peeved about the lack of control in this matter, he had no choice but to surrender to her terms.

"If I want to obtain resonating materials without exchanging a huge amount of merits, what do you suggest?"

"Resonating materials are mostly in the hands of states or very powerful organizations. You will have to approach them directly and convince them to provide you with some. Mind you, it is customary to trade one resonating material with another resonating material. Any state that reduces its stockpile of resonating materials will weaken the potential of its expert pilots. This is why this trade mostly takes place between states at the same level."

In other words, private individuals such as Ves wouldn't be taken seriously unless he whipped up resonating materials himself.

"I believe the Friday Coalition is highly engaged in this type of trade at the moment." She added. "The state has employed a large number of foreign expert pilots. Each of them require expert mechs that are up to standard. In order to make sure that the needs of every new expert pilot is met, the Fridaymen must acquire specific resonating materials that they hold in short supply. It makes sense for them to trade away the resonating materials they have in excess to obtain specific exotics that match well with individual expert pilots."

This was an important strategic matter! If the Friday Coalition failed to make these trades, the expert mechs of the foreign guests wouldn't be as good!

As it was, due to the haste in designing and fabricating so many expensive expert mechs, the Fridaymen had to make a lot of compromises. Whether it was in cost, fit, sophistication or resonating materials, they were not as good as the Coalition's proper expert mechs.

It didn't matter. Quantity was a quality of its own. Fielding two weaker expert mechs against a single stronger expert mech almost always resulted in the defeat of the latter!

"What about the Hexadric Hegemony?"

"The Hegemony.. has less trading partners. To be fair, the state is under less pressure to source materials elsewhere. The Hexers occupy the most prime territory of this star sector. They have access to richer deposits of exotics. Of course, they can't meet every possible need. The reason why the Coalition is much keener on trade is because it needs to expend more effort to achieve more parity with the Hegemony. This case shows the importance of finding and holding onto a good starting position. If you ever intend to found your own state, then pick the right location."

Ves brushed aside her advice. "I don't have any intentions to anchor myself to a fixed location. I am much more in favor of the nomadic way of life."

That elicited a heightened reaction from the Master.

"I advise you to reconsider. Living in space for the rest of your life is not natural. The spaceborn clans are not good role models. Long-term living in confined spaces results in many detrimental behavior changes that will seriously affect the mental health of your entire clan. Do not forget how the collapse of the Age of Conquest initially came to pass."

"What does that have to do with living in space?"

She frowned. "The admirals and naval officers who were in charge of the warfleets that guarded their space had all become detached from general humanity after too much separation. Their long service aboard their battleships and other warships has caused them to forget where they originally came from. At some point, the spacers developed a superiority complex. They considered themselves better than the humans living ignorantly on their planets. Once they no longer identified themselves with these lesser humans, it has become a lot easier for them to justify the act of slaughtering innocent civilians."

Ves shrugged. "I'm a mech designer, not a fleet admiral. What does this have to do with me? My fleet is nowhere near as powerful as a warfleet. There is no way that I'll follow in the footsteps of these arrogant spacers. I thought we all learned from the Age of Conquest and tempered our use of augmentation!"

"You are not understanding my point, Mr. Larkinson. The evil that humans inherently possess has a greater chance of getting free in insular environments. The smaller the environment, the greater the problem. Not just ships, but other small communities such as isolated villages and small churches are subject to this rule. If you want to ensure the long-term health of your Larkinson Clan, then you should strongly consider finding a good planet to settle. Humanity is simply not a race that is suitable to live in space."

Of course, a representative of the MTA would say that.

Ves was a bit skeptical about her advice. She was clearly biased against the CFA. The elite spaceborn clans that Ves admired seemed to be doing fine despite never ruling over any permanent territories.

That was pure freedom! With the entirety of human space within their reach, the spaceborn clans could evade any danger and move to any star sector that held the greatest opportunities to them. Their lack of territory may deprive them of some very useful advantages, but the upside was that they weren't shackled to the fortunes and misfortunes of a specific region!

This was an extremely relevant advantage to Ves as he had to worry about some very powerful enemies such as the Five Scrolls Compact.

He could never allow himself to be cornered if the worst came to pass!

His meeting with Master Willix soon came to an end. Ves boarded his shuttle which brought him to his next appointment.

Ves fell into thought. While he was convinced that going nomadic was the best solution for him, was that really true?

Though the CFA and the spaceborn clans embraced this way of life, they weren't exactly the most wholesome people that Ves had met.

"They're strong, though. That counts for something."

Chapter 2509: Widening Scope

After Ves concluded his meeting with Master Willix, he decided to meet with Patriarch Reginald of the Cross Clan at the seat of his power.

Though discussing with someone at their home ground would put him at a disadvantage, Ves did not think too highly of the Crossers. They were brutes who mainly ruled with their fists. Even if they were helped by a comprehensive staff of professionals, as long as the head was a muscle-headed gloryhound, the governance of the clan would always be dysfunctional.

Ves just wanted to visit the flagship of the Cross Clan in person, nothing more.

Though the Larkinson Clan still awaited the delivery of its first capital ship, Ves intended to obtain much more. With the amount of merits he possessed, a substantial proportion of the 20-ship quota that came with passage through the Red Ocean would fall into his hands.

undefinedThat was 7 to 8 ships if Ves succeeded in negotiating his fair share.

He did not want to waste this quota. While he knew that a blooming shipbuilding industry had set up in the Red Ocean, right now demand far exceeded supply.

Most industries in the Red Ocean were still in their infancy. What development humanity had set up on the other side of the inter-galactic beyonder gate mostly belonged to the Big Two. As the MTA and CFA still had to complete the conquest of the dwarf galaxy, the output of those established industries all went towards supporting the frontline mech armies and war fleets.

This meant that the pioneers essentially had to start from scratch in order to satisfy their own needs.

It was quite hard to get the ball rolling. Without a lot of existing infrastructure, many settlements had to be built, and that took a lot of financial and material investment.

The few organizations who managed to get their shipyards up and running were flooded with orders from eager and wealthy pioneers. Combined with the fact that the supply of high-quality materials necessary to build starships was still in very short supply, a factory ship like the one ordered by his clan might cost twenty times or even fifty times of what he ought to pay!

This reality showed him that he would undoubtedly get ripped off if he wanted to acquire more capital ships once he reached the new dwarf galaxy. It would take at least another decade for prices to drop to reasonable levels.

"Fortunately, the pricing of subcapital ships shouldn't be so extreme."

Capital ships were much harder and more cumbersome to build than smaller vessels. It was relatively easy for a shipbuilding company to set up a small or medium-sized orbital shipyard. The only reason why the prices of most smaller ships were inflated as well was because of the shortage of materials.

This was not a critical problem to Ves. He would deal with the problem of acquiring combat carriers and logistical ships when he reached the new frontier.

For now, his priorities mainly concerned the expert mechs and the capital ships of his clan. Their acquisition increased the actual strength of his expeditionary fleet.

Ves was not blinded by the reputation and prestige he had accumulated in recent years. He also did not intend to put too much stock in Master Willix's overt support.

Perhaps the yokels of the local star sector might respect the Larkinsons, but it would be a very different story once he crossed over! By nature, the pioneers who were able to afford a beyonder ticket were all exceptional in their own right. There were too many whose strength and accomplishments completely crushed his little clan.

With the mixing of so many crouching tigers and hidden dragons, an adorable cat like the Larkinson Clan wouldn't scare anyone.

"The only way to earn their respect is for the cat to bare her claws."

After all, even if a cat was not a threatening animal, she could inflict a lot of pain with her claws!

"Isn't that right, Goldie?"

The spiritual cat didn't manifest, but Ves stroked the emblem affixed on the cover of the Larkinson Mandate regardless.

The book had grown more vigorous and exceptional in recent times. The explosive growth of the Golden Cat also initiated some unknown transformations in the ancestral heirloom.

To be honest, Ves actually didn't expect such a process to take place. While the book still remained the same from a physical standpoint, in his spiritual vision he observed the intrinsic spiritual foundation growing and transforming into something different.

The book had to grow in order to accommodate the expanding strength of the Golden Cat. The two of them were tied to each other. While this breed a dangerous degree of interdependence, it also offered opportunities as well.

"It's kind of like the synergy between mechs and mech pilots."

He suddenly realized that he could apply presumed specialization in a broader context than just mech and mech pilot.

If he broadened the scope of his specialty, wasn't it just an instance of establishing symbiosis between an object and a living entity?

This idea had potential. He was already capable of producing totems, which were simply objects that possessed a bit of life. While Ves wasn't able to impart as much spirituality into objects that weren't mechs, it was not impossible for him to achieve some results if he put in some effort.

Could he expand this relation? Was it possible to strengthen this clan by widening the application of his design philosophy?

He began to formulate several interesting possibilities.

What if he turned the Larkinson Regalia into his exclusive totem?

What if he paired a Larkinson ship captain with his factory ship?

What if he bound Venerable Joshua to a life-oriented totem?

"It can't be that simple!"

He shook his head. Though these ideas all held promise, he did not forget about the inherent danger of performing spiritual manipulation on living people. If anything went wrong, death was a very real possibility!

If Ves somehow caused Venerable Joshua to blow up his own head, then his loss was incalculable!

At the very least, Ves had to perform his experiments on more expendable test subjects.

"Should I import some captured pirates?"

Ever since he figured out that human civilization did not extend rights to pirates, he discovered that there was quite an active underground market for them. While it was a lurid and unsavory means of earning a living, there were still plenty of Peacekeeper outfits and other organizations that eagerly wanted to supplement their income by extracting the most value out of their pirate captives.

The only problem was that the documentation surrounding the merchandise could easily be forged or falsified.

Sometimes, innocent spacers forced to crew the ships of their captors were lumped into the same groups as murderous pirates.

Other times, the Peacekeepers even snatched random civilians from nowhere and slapped the label of pirates on their heads!

Therefore, this unregulated market was very murky. A proper, upright warrior clan such as the Larkinsons would never engage with such filth.

"Forget it." He shook his head. "I'll solve this problem some other way. There's no hurry, anyway. I have too much work on my plate to devote much time on this side project."

That said, he did not intend to ignore the potential of this idea. He actually felt quite motivated to explore what he could do even if it wasn't directly related to mechs.

"It's as if I'm a Star Designer!"

Naturally, this was just a delusion. Compared to the real deal, Ves was just a baby trying out a new trick.

Soon enough, his shuttle approached the fleet of the Cross Clan. Ves studied the main fleet and the ship composition.

The Crossers had done a fair amount of work in patching up the holes and fixing some of the damage to their battle-scarred vessels. However, more work had to be done to restore the vessels to their prime.

Despite the shabby appearance of the fleet, its strength was still undeniable. With around 70 combat carriers and 200 support ships, the Cross Clan could easily defeat a typical Fridaymen mech regiment.

The two fleet carriers were even more impressive. The Antonio Cross was only 1.8 km long, but she was quite a mobile capital ship that was perfectly suited for exploration.

The Hemmington Cross was a lot more unwieldy at 3 km long. Not only that, but she possessed a considerably broader shape, making her look like an alligator.

The internal volume of such a vessel was immense. At first, the Larkinsons thought the Hemmington Cross held around 500 mechs.

In actuality, she carried at least 1000 mechs!

Of course, packing so many mechs on a single ship, even a big one, came with a lot of tradeoffs. The Hemmington Cross didn't possess a lot of cargo capacity. She also lacked a sufficient number of mech workshops to service the vessels and her mobility and defensive attributes were abysmal as well.

To Ves, the Hemmington Cross was nothing more than a giant transport for mechs. She served her basic function well, but her many shortcomings turned her in a liability in a frontier environment.

If the Crossers had any sense, they would sell off this white elephant as soon as possible and invest the proceeds into acquiring some more sensible capital ships. Obtaining another fleet carrier similar to the Antonio Cross was ideal for a martial clan like the Crossers.

Of course, the chance of someone as proud as Patriarch Reginald following his advice was minimal. Even if the Larkinsons partnered up with the Crossers, the influence they could exert on each other was not great. Both clans had their own ideas on how to run their affairs.

Besides, the larger fleet carrier was named after the Cross Clan's only ace pilot. The Vicious Mountainers would rather die than letting anything happen to this precious ship!

It didn't take long before the shuttle approached one of the hangar bays of the flagship. As the immense bulk of the Hemmington Cross loomed larger, Ves had to admit that despite her many weaknesses, she still looked impressive on a primal level.

Once the shuttle landed on a designated landing spot, Ves emerged along with Lucky and Nitaa.

He briefly swept his gaze and spotted a lot of activity. The Cross Clan may have lost most of its assets during its flight, but there was no way the Cross clansmen neglected the need for mechs!

Each of the mech models employed by the Crossers were excellent products designed by competent Seniors and Masters.

It was too bad that the clan failed to retain these precious mech designers. The mechs the Crossers currently utilized had no chance of being updated or upgraded in the future. They would have to be replaced entirely if the Crossers wanted to keep up with the times.

"Patriarch Larkinson. Welcome aboard our flagship!"

A small but respectful greeting party stood in front of the arriving shuttle. Ves calmly stepped forward and nodded. "Thank you. Your fleet carrier is an impressive vessel. Is it possible for me to tour your fine flagship?"

The Cross officer beamed with pride. "The Hemmington Cross is our greatest home! However, I'm afraid I have to refuse your request. We cannot allow too many people to decipher the secrets of our flagship. I hope you understand."

"Understood."

"Please follow me, sir. Patriarch Reginald is already expecting you at one of our conference rooms."

They traversed a substantial distance. They took some elevators that took them to the upper decks before boarding a small floater platform that rapidly zipped through the hallways.

Once they arrived at an ornate hatch, Ves had to leave Lucky and Nitaa behind while entering the opulent conference room by himself.

Two people stood up at his arrival.

Patriarch Reginald Cross looked exceptionally pleased at the moment.

"Patriarch Larkinson! You're just in time! I have just concluded an agreement with this fine gentleman. Please welcome the latest addition to our clan. I'm told he is quite a formidable Senior Mech Designer. Now that we have regained some mech design capabilities of our own, I hope you will revise your expectations of us. Our new guest designer shall be in charge of designing my new expert mech!"

This was new! Ves hadn't expected the Cross Clan to make such a big move, but in hindsight, it made a lot of sense.

Perhaps the Cross Clan observed how well the Larkinsons were doing and wanted to join in on the action.

As Ves shifted his gaze to the man standing next to the Cross Patriarch, he frowned a bit. The middle-aged man looked a bit familiar.

"Mr. Larkinson! It has been some time." The Senior strode forward with a strong and vigorous stride. "Don't you remember me? We used to have business dealings."

Ves quickly accessed the databanks of his Archimedes Rubal implant and executed a face-matching program.

His heart sank as soon as he saw the results.

"You.." He uttered with shock. "Why are you here?"

"Why can't I be here? The Sand War ruined all of my industry. I might as well hitch a ride to the Red Ocean rather than wasting my time in this worthless region. The Cross Clan has been generous enough to accept my terms. We might even become collaborators again. Isn't that good news?"

"Yes… good news.."

Benedict Cortez smirked in satisfaction. "I can already imagine what stellar mechs we can design now that you have grown so much."

While Lord Reginald Cross looked happy that he managed to employ a Senior, Ves knew that this matter was not so simple.

This was because Ves was one of the few people who knew the actual identity of Benedict Cortez.

In truth, the new guest designer of the Cross Clan was actually Professor Reno Jimenez, who was more infamously known as the Skull Architect!

Ves was standing in front of a bigger war criminal than himself!

Chapter 2510: Reformed

The Cross Clan gained a new guest designer!

Such a surprising change was quite a coup to the defeated and exiled Garlaners. Ves abruptly had to change his entire approach towards his negotiation with the Crossers due to this development.

A Cross Clan without a high-ranking mech designer was just a homeless and sorry-looking collection of warriors.

A Cross Clan that was presided over by a genuine Senior Mech Designer could easily reverse its declining trajectory!

undefinedAs long as the Senior began to design some decent commercial mechs, the Crossers would no longer be bleeding money left and right. In a couple of years, the clan might even turn a profit again. Ves would no longer hold much leverage over them when that happened!

However, this was just the case if the Crossers partnered up with a normal Senior.

The problem right now was that the actual identity of the mech designer in question was wanted by the MTA!

The Skull Architect was one of the most notorious mech designers of the Friday Coalition. In a fit of obsession, Professor Jimenez assassinated an expert pilot and attempted to integrate the demigod's bones into one of his mechs in order to achieve a breakthrough in the elusive X-Factor!

Suffice to say, his insane experiment failed to yield the desired result.

Once the authorities traced down the missing expert pilot and uncovered Professor Jimenez's heinous deeds, the so-called Skull Architect had no choice but to flee from civilized space and eke out a new living among the pirates of the frontier.

As a second-class Senior Mech Designer, the Skull Architect's products were in extremely high demand among his new if unsophisticated clientele. The man became even more ruthless and even adopted some pirate traditions such as wearing clothes bearing the trophies of his kills on his person.

When Ves initially met and spoke with the Skull Architect via projection, Professor Jimenez possessed an extremely intimidating demeanor.

The fugitive mech designer was no stranger to violence and death! Even when the Skull Architect lost his entire foundation in the Friday Coalition, he continued his efforts to realize his design philosophy.

Of course, the poor and underdeveloped Faris Star Region was not very conducive towards his progression. The Skull Architect barely made some accomplishments before the sandman race went berserk!

Like unstoppable locusts, the entire sandman race swept towards the Komodo Sector! Any planet, space station or ship in their path soon became drowned in a tsunami of living sand!

The Skull Architect lost everything for the second time. This unlucky Senior had to pack up his bags and flee yet again.

The only consolation was that he was able to sneak back into civilized space by mingling with the trillions of refugees who desperately departed the border states in panic.

Due to the sheer chaos and confusion of this immense exodus, the frontier pirates were easily able to forge new identities for themselves.

Calabast played a pivotal role in crafting a new identity for the Skull Architect. Now he was known as Professor Benedict Cortez, a third-class mech designer from a fallen border state.

That was the extent of what Ves knew. He didn't bother to track the man's exploits. Therefore, it was a complete surprise for him to encounter the Skull Architect once again at this time!

What was worse was that this meeting might not be the last time they met together.

Ves began to sweat a bit. While Ves was not opposed to reuniting with old acquaintances, the Skull Architect was anything but simple.

The fugitive mech designer was incredibly bold to enter the Cinach System where the Ubiquitious Force was still present!

If Master Willix knew that a mech designer who had disgraced their entire profession was within arm's reach, she would definitely act with extreme prejudice!

This was bad, because Ves was not an uninvolved bystander. He secretly exchanged with the Skull Architect. Much of what he knew about stealth technology originally came from the former pirate mech designer's hands!

As long as the MTA captured Jimenez alive and read his memories, Ves might very well get implicated in the process.

All of this meant was that Ves had to ensure that no one ever discovered the older man's actual identity!

"Mr. Larkinson, we have much to catch up to." Professor 'Benedict' amiably smiled and spoke. "Come. Let us sit and discuss our future cooperation."

Though Ves was caught off-guard by the Skull Architect's surprise appearance, he quickly tried to regain his composure.

He couldn't afford to let his shock affect the Larkinson Clan's ongoing negotiations with the Cross Clan.

In the following half hour, Ves held a small back-and-forth with Patriarch Reginald. As the Skull Architect was still a new addition to the Cross Clan, it was not appropriate for him to speak too much.

However, the presence of a Senior evidently emboldened Patriarch Reginald quite a lot. The Cross Patriarch became a lot more firmer in his demands.

"I don't agree with this change." Ves frowned. "You promised thirty percent more strategic materials than before last time."

"We can make much better use of these exotics than you. After all, you are just a Journeyman at most. Our clan has a Senior now!"

"That doesn't necessarily change the equation. With respect, while Professor Cortez is a competent Senior, his foundation lies in third-class mechs."

The Senior in question coughed. "In actuality, I have been studying second-class mech design for some time now. As a Senior, it does not take much effort to master the basic principles of second-class mechs in a short amount of time. At the very least, I can design a better and more optimized second-class mech than you, Mr. Larkinson. In a decade, I will probably be able catch up with the likes of actual second-class mech designers."

Damn. Ves wanted to use the Skull Architect's cover story to diminish the guest designer's status, but the disguised mech designer did not play along.

In truth, both of them knew that the Skull Architect was already very proficient at designing second-class mechs. Just because Jimenez had been slumming it in the frontier for some time did not cause him to lose the ability to design superior mechs.

Now that he had become attached to the Cross Clan, he might soon be able to return to designing the mechs he originally excelled at. Back when Professor Jimenez was still an honest mech designer, he was already a renowned and accomplished Senior.

Ves just hoped that the Skull Architect did not resume his 'other' habit!

After doing his best to preserve the Larkinson Clan's negotiating position, the talks eventually stalled out again.

"I see that you and our new guest designer have a lot to catch up to." Patriarch Reginald noted with a tired expression. Sparring against the man known as the Devil Tongue was quite exhausting! "I will leave you two mech nerds to yourselves. Professor Cortez…"

The Skull Architect tactfully nodded at the Cross Patriarch. "You need not be concerned. My friendship with Patriarch Larkinson will not affect my loyalty. As an honorable mech designer, I take my pledges seriously."

What the hell?! Ves felt like puking blood as the Skull Architect hoodwinked Reginald. The Crossers had no idea who they were dealing with! Jimenez's mild and polite facade was nothing but a facade!

Still, Ves had to admire his old acquaintance's acting skills. As the two older men interacted with each other, the disguised mech designer exposed none of the tendencies associated with the infamous Skull Architect!

Once Patriarch Reginald departed the conference room, the new guest designer immediately pulled out and activated a signal jammer.

"We can talk safely now."

"Uhm... "

The professor smiled. "There is no need to concern yourself about the Ubiquitous Force. Just be careful about what you say. There is no need to refer directly to some of the shameful matters of the past."

This still made Ves uncomfortable.

"You.. why are you here?"

Professor 'Cortez' chuckled. "Because of you, of course! What I said earlier is true. The Sand War destroyed everything that I have built. While I have been doing fairly well for myself in recent times, I am tired in some aspects. If I settle down in another state and rebuild my industry, who is to say it won't get knocked down yet again? I am tired of repeating this futile cycle. For this reason, I've been looking to make a new start. What better way to do so than to start over in the Red Ocean?"

His explanation made complete sense to Ves. If he was in the Skull Architect's shoes, he would make the same choice.

The normal reasons that shackled mech designers to a region hardly applied to the fugitive. The man had no reputation or business to uphold. He didn't really have any family holding him back and his loyalty to the Friday Coalition was pretty much zero.

The only fact that made Ves a bit concerned was why the Skull Architect specifically chose to partner up with the Cross Clan of all choices.

As a very competent Senior, many pioneers in the region would have accepted him in their ranks. The Cross Clan was undoubtedly less desirable to more well-organized expeditions.

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have wasted my time on the Crossers." The Senior sneered for a moment before plastering an eager expression on his face. "While we haven't collaborated on too many mech designs, I have become endlessly fascinated with your work! Together, we can design great mechs! In fact, I envy Miss Wodin. She has managed to gain your permanent allegiance. If I was a woman, I would have moved to secure you right away. Perhaps I should have undergone a gender change procedure years ago…"

As the professor openly rambled about turning himself into a woman for the express purpose of seduction, Ves shuddered.

Despite everything that happened lately, the Skull Architect was still the same!

"Professor…" Ves coughed.

"Call me Benedict. Forget about who I was before." The Skull Architect snapped back to the present. "I have completely left behind my past. There is nothing to go back to. I have made too many mistakes to count."

"With respect, sir, but.. what if you return to your old habits?"

"I keep telling you, Mr. Larkinson. I am a changed man. There is no need for me to play my previous role anymore. I know what you are worried about. Please be reassured that I have substantially shifted my research approach. I was wrong back then. I was dabbling in matters that fell outside of my specialty. In the end, I fell victim to my own greed."

Ves slightly narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Are you truly different?"

The Senior sighed. "Truly. You can't understand how desperate I was back then. It is the greatest dream of someone of my rank to advance to Master. While I have made a lot of progress, I encountered a bottleneck. I have tried many solutions to break past this point, but none succeeded. Knowing that this is the most important obstacle to realizing my design philosophy, I drew on more and more spurious theories."

A normal mech designer did not just randomly come up with the idea to integrate the skull of an expert pilot into mech!

The professor definitely had problems before he performed this grievous crime!

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot bring myself to believe it is safe for me to be around you. I don't want to get implicated should you draw any trouble upon yourself."

"Hahaha!" The Skull Architect laughed. "There is no need for you to fear me! You're my best friend, Mr. Larkinson! It was only when you revised my mech designs that I realized what I had been doing wrong all this time. In order to push my mech designs to the next level, I shouldn't have tried to solve the problems I wasn't good at. Instead, I should have collaborated with the likes of you! I am already certain that working with you is the key to progress my design philosophy past the final hurdles. Joining the Cross Clan is a convenient way to remain in your company!"

His underlying message was clear. The former pirate designer was determined to cling onto Ves. He was no different from Gloriana in this aspect!

Chapter 2511: The Greater Devil

Gloriana and the Skull Architect had a lot in common from a professional standpoint.

They were second-class mech designers. They both pursued material perfection in mech design.

Of course, there were slight differences. Gloriana pursued the perfect vessel. This caused her to develop a much stronger focus towards individually-customized mechs. She did not want to make any compromises at all into achieving the greatest fit between her mechs and her clients. This meant that she wasn't able to design mass market mechs by herself.

From what Ves knew of the Skull Architect's work, the former Fridayman nominally specialized in energy transmission. What this actually meant was that the Senior actually obsessed over achieving the maximum possible efficiency.

undefinedWhile the professor made steady gains in this field, eventually he approached the limits of what was possible with his abilities.

In order to squeeze even more performance out of his mechs, he had to go through great extremes. How the Skull Architect turned to the X-Factor of all variables as the way to go was quite mystifying.

What the professor just explained plainly explained why he attached himself to the Cross Clan. It was nothing more than an attempt to take advantage of the Crossers to stay close to Ves, who he regarded as one of his best hopes of breaking past his current research huddle!

Ves had to applaud the Skull Architect's decision. If Professor 'Cortez' applied to join the Larkinson Clan directly, then his application would have been rejected straight away!

While the Larkinson Clan eagerly recruited competent personnel, it mainly directed its focus towards younger talents rather than older professionals.

Compared to the former, the latter were much more set in their ways. It was significantly harder for the Larkinson Network to convert them into truly loyal clansmen. This was especially so for highly-accomplished individuals such as Senior Mech Designers and their equivalents in other professions!

With the mental and spiritual strength of the Skull Architect, there was no possible way for Goldie to convert him into an honest Larkinson. In fact, Ves feared that the Senior might corrupt the Golden Cat instead!

"What are your intentions towards the Cross Clan?" Ves carefully asked.

"Isn't it the same as you?" The older man replied with a smirk. "The Crossers may be louts, but they are strong. If there is one lesson that I have learned in the frontier, it is that mech designers need protection. As long as I take care of their mechs and finances, I'll have these Garlaners eating from the palm of my hand in no time."

"Are you trying to take control of the Cross Clan?!"

"Not exactly." The Senior shook his head. "What would I do with all of that power? I am different from you. It is enough to wield enough influence to satisfy my needs. Patriarch Reginald Cross can keep running this band of glory-obsessed idiots. To mech designers like myself, most forms of power are ephemeral. Only our knowledge is eternal. Advancing to Master is the only goal that matters to me. As long as I can realize my ambitions, I can gain power over an organization that is ten times as powerful as the Cross Clan!"

In other words, the Skull Architect only used the Cross Clan as a means to an end. This explained why the Cross Patriarch signed Professor Benedict Cortez as a guest designer rather than a new member of his clan.

Not every organization adopted the model of the Larkinson Clan. It was quite rare for a clan to adopt external members on a wide scale.

After all, it was too hard to ensure the loyalty and commitment of those who joined in this fashion.

The Larkinson Clan was able to break this custom because of the existence of the Larkinson Network.

In any case, the Skull Architect wasn't the only guest the Crossers signed on. The Black Cats already observed a string of other people becoming enticed by the benefits offered by the Crossers.

While the Larkinson Clan also offered attractive conditions, it imposed very strict recruitment standards. Not only that, but not everyone wanted to abandon their family and allegiance and turn into full-time Larkinsons.

The contracts offered by the Cross Clan imposed considerably less demands.

"I can break my relationship with the Cross Clan at any time as long as I give them prior notice." Professor 'Cortez' explained. "However, I do not intend to break away if I can help it. The Crossers may be rough, but they have potential. At the very least, Patriarch Reginald is truly a possible ace pilot candidate. If he ever succeeds in becoming a Saint, then I'd be a fool to abandon such a powerful mech pilot."

"The previous ace pilot of the Cross Clan went mad on power and provoked a lot of enemies." Ves poignantly pointed out.

Professor Cortez waved his hand. "The Vicious Mountainers have learned their lesson. If not, I will personally intervene to make sure the patriarch remains a positive influence."

And what if the new ace pilot remained obstinate? From his personal experiences with wrangling his own expert pilots, trying to persuade an ace pilot to change his mind should be a herculean feat!

He shuddered again. What if the professor decided the best way to solve an out-of-control ace pilot was to turn the latter into bones?

Perhaps the Skull Architect might believe that his first attempt failed because the mech pilot was too weak.

If the unhinged mech designer integrated the skull of an ace pilot into his mech instead, he might be able to succeed!

Ves became less and less enthused about partnering up with the Cross Clan. Compared to joining hands with such an unstable element, he could entertain offers instead.

The Skull Architect was quite perceptive. He was someone who had to ally and work together with all manner of people throughout his eventful life.

His plan could only work if the Cross Clan succeeded in partnering with the Larkinson Clan. If the negotiations collapsed for some reason, then his primary motivation to attach himself to the Cross Clan became moot!

Since securing this cooperation was vital to his interests, the Skull Architect immediately made assurances.

"Mr. Larkinson, the Cross Clan can offer even more benefits to your clan now that I am here. Without my presence, the Crossers would have likely stagnated. Now that I am willing to lend my services to them, they will soon be able to return to their former glory. The Crossers will continue to keep up with the development of your clan as the years go by. With our combined strength, we will have more security in the Red Ocean."

Ves frowned. "While you are right, a strong partner will want more power and a greater share of the benefits."

"That is the nature of sharing power. It is a worthwhile tradeoff. You may think that your Larkinson Clan only requires a few years of development to get ready for the Red Ocean, but that is not enough. Partnering up with the Cross Clan is a great way to tide you over in the first few decades of your stay in the dwarf galaxy. With my presence, I can keep the Crossers honest and ensure they will not drag your feet."

"Other potential partners can offer me these assurances as well." Ves responded. "I am not hearing any reasons why I should choose the Cross Clan over the alternatives."

"Come now, Mr. Larkinson." The Skull Architect confidently smiled. "There is also me. You have long been flailing around without any form of guidance as a mech designer. With my guidance, I can assist your progression and prevent you from going astray. Don't underestimate my teaching qualifications. I mentored a number of frontier brats into decent mech designers. Mayra of the Swordmaidens should be familiar to you. She came out alright, didn't she? Even though you have achieved immense success by yourself, you can advance to Senior at least a decade sooner with appropriate guidance."

This was a very compelling argument to Ves. Though the Skull Architect might be exaggerating the benefits of his guidance, the fact that he was good at teaching was not false!

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to raise a frontier native like Mayra into a Journeyman under barren circumstances!

Ves was still reluctant, however.

"I'm already a Journeyman. At my stage of development, I can already figure out the way forward. Besides, I'm not alone. I have Gloriana as well. We frequently exchange with each other. The added value of having you as a sounding board is not great."

"Are you looking down on me because I'm just a single rank higher than you?" The Skull Architect's smile grew a little strained.

"No! I just.."

"I told you, Mr. Larkinson. Don't underestimate my qualifications! There are differences between Seniors as well. I am over 140 years old and have progressed enormously in my current rank. I am only a short distance away from realizing my design philosophy. Do you realize what this means? Befriending me means befriending a Master-in-the-waiting! As long as you can assist me in overcoming my final bottleneck, you will earn the eternal gratitude and support of a Master! And unlike Moira Willix, I am not bound by any pesky rules of neutrality or other onerous bureaucratic rules."

"This…"

The Skull Architect raised a finger. "Our design philosophies work well together. The collaborations we had before were too limited and indirect for you to recognize the benefits. However, believe me, we can design revolutionary mechs together!"

"I already have Gloriana."

"Miss Wodin cannot assist you in designing expert mechs! Your clan has acquired quite the number of expert pilots and expert candidates. Perhaps you have already made the arrangements for the expert mechs of the former, but what of the latter? While you can make deals with unfamiliar Master Mech Designers, their time is costly. If any additional expert pilots emerge within your clan, are you willing to give up millions of MTA merits?"

That was indeed a very grave problem. There was no way the Hall of Heroes would have only five expert pilots.

"I am different." The professor generously said. "No matter if I'm a Senior or Master, I will not demand any merits to help you realize your expert mech designs. Unlike other mech designers, I recognize the value of your design philosophy. Not only that, our separate approaches synergize well with each other. This will ensure that any expert mech we design together will perform more optimally!"

Ves had collaborated with Seniors before. Ves enjoyed collaborating with Professor Ventag on designing the original Aurora Titan. If he was able to collaborate with an even better mech designer, then he might be able to realize some ambitious mech designs that he could only dream about otherwise.

Perhaps this might not matter very much when it came to his normal mech designs, but it was different for his expert mech designs.

Each expert mech designed for the Larkinson Clan had to be as good as possible!

Yet the cost in merits, resonating materials, design expertise and so on was quite burdensome. Compared to getting ripped off by others each time he approached a third party, it might be better to take advantage of the deal offered by the professor.

The Skull Architect might be an unhinged war criminal, but he was a potential Master who promised to offer his services for free.

Thinking about all of the MTA merits he might save over the course of the next couple of decades, Ves became very tempted!

It took too much time for him to advance to Senior himself. While the System offered him a means to acquire the skills needed to design expert mechs himself, he wouldn't be able to explain how he was able to come up with them without the intervention of a Senior or Master.

No matter how he looked at it, the generous concessions offered by Jimenez sounded incredibly attractive to him. This was especially the case if the professor succeeded in advancing to Master!

Enjoying the backing of a real Master was very valuable, especially in a place like the Red Ocean!

"Maybe.. we can talk about this further.."

"You have made the right decision, Mr. Larkinson." The Skull Architect grinned.

Chapter 2512: Altered Power Balance

The Cross Clan had changed!

Before, Ves and the Larkinsons looked down on the Crossers. The latter were a bunch of washed-up warriors who lost their foundation.

Ves even concocted some plans to assimilate the refugees into the Larkinsons. No matter their deficiencies, the refugee fleet largely consisted of bona-fide second-class soldiers. Their martial prowess exceeded that of the Hexers.

This was because unlike Hexadric Hegemony, the Garlen Empire constantly engaged in war!

undefinedEven though the scale of wars in the Vicious Mountain Star Sector was not very large, the fact that many Garlaners fought in their lifetimes was undeniable!

Only true war produced true warriors. Ves had already observed many deficiencies from both sides of the Komodo War. In particular, the insular Hexers made many assumptions that turned out to be different from reality.

The tribes of the Garlen Empire would never make so many fundamental mistakes! Their enthusiasm for battle meant they were very motivated in increasing their effective battle strength.

Each time the Larkinsons saw the Crosser mechs performing live exercises, the disparity in martial tradition became very clear.

The Cross Clan were consummate soldiers and warriors!

The precision of their formations, their controlled aggression, the versatility and utilization of their powerful second-class mechs and more completely transcended everything Ves had witnessed!

Even if the Larkinson Clan's mech forces possessed a strong core of battle-hardened veterans, their foundation was still too shallow. Surviving a few desperate battles in the Nyxian Gap did not make the Larkinsons qualified to take part in proper conflicts between second-class powers.

"We still have much to go to complete our transition from a third-class to a second-class power." Ves sighed as his shuttle departed the grand flagship of the Cross Clan.

In terms of military development, the Cross clan possessed an undeniable edge.

The reason why the Larkinson Clan still kept its head high was because of its superior industrial and financial strength.

This went beyond just having a pair of Journeyman. The LMC was a rising mech company that had long exceeded the scale of other typical mech companies. The great attraction of glows caused its products to have a very wide appeal in many different markets.

The revenue earned by the company was astronomical! Though the low value of third-class mechs and the large number of middlemen involved meant that the per-unit profit was fairly low, the quantity of sales was terrifying!

Across the surrounding star sectors, LMC mechs became increasingly more ubiquitous.

The current commercial mech models offered by the LMC all provided a lot of value, making them a good fit for many customers in almost every state.

The Komodo War also showed the great promise of employing LMC mechs on a much greater scale. This meant that customers were ordering the LMC's products in greater batches than before!

These trends showed no signs of abating. In fact, the LMC's growth jumped yet again as the publicity of the Miracle Couple's wedding enabled the LMC to reach out to even further markets!

Money was the foundation of success in human space.

The Larkinson Clan only needed a little time to convert its earnings into additional battle power.

"It's too bad I can't take advantage of the Crossers anymore." Ves regretfully sighed.

Now that the Cross Clan gained the support of the Skull Architect, their industrial and financial prowess would likely surge again. It would take time, but the prospect of bankruptcy no longer loomed over their heads.

The only advantage the Larkinson Clan possessed was that its scale and foundation was hard to match by most competitors.

The Skull Architect did not possess as great of a business foundation as the Miracle Couple. He essentially had to start from scratch, whether it was designing a set of suitable mechs for the Crossers to acquiring the industrial capacity needed to produce his mechs.

He did not possess the cluster-wide production, distribution and sales networks that the LMC painstakingly built.

His current cover identity wasn't famous enough. Almost no one had heard of 'Professor Benedict Cortez'. It would take years of hard work to build up a reputation that was somewhat comparable to recently-advanced Seniors. Without the brand recognition of an established mech company, the Skull Architect wouldn't be able to achieve a lot of sales at the start.

"It's doubtful whether he will even invest in a fixed industry."

There wasn't enough time. The Red Ocean beckoned. The Larkinson Clan was almost ready to embark on its grand expedition. Once it departed, the LMC operations it left behind wouldn't become abandoned goods.

The LMC already made adequate preparations to keep its local operations going. With the help of prior accumulation, business alliances, government support and the Larkinson Loyalty Medallions, it was no problem to maintain their current level of productivity and profitability.

For at least a decade, the LMC's operations in the Yeina Star Sector would continue to supply a steady stream of cash to the Larkinson Clan.

This was vitally important because it was not easy for the Larkinson Clan to earn a sufficient amount of money on the move. Its expanding fleet and mech roster meant that its expenses were ballooning rapidly.

There was no choice. The current Larkinson Clan had to invest enormous sums in almost every aspect. The current development for the clan called for the acquisition of lots of capital ships, sub-capital ships, mechs, supplies and augmentations.

Even with the astounding success of the LMC, Ves still needed to work hard to expand its income.

This was something the Cross Clan and its new guest would never be able to accomplish in a short time.

"It seems the problem is not as bad as I feared. The Larkinson Clan should still possess a strong financial edge.

It was just that the Cross Clan was no longer in such a desperate position as before. Senior Mech Designers had many ways to earn money aside from running their own mech companies.

Even without producing a single mech, Professor Cortez could leverage his formidable design skills to design excellent mechs and simply put them up for licensing or outright sell them like a design studio.

He could even accept commissions from wealthy clients. Just like how Ves initially accepted a commission from DIVA, it was no problem for a Senior to solve the problem of individual clients for a rich reward.

Aside from that, there were other ways that the Skull Architect could earn money. He could tutor mech designers over the galactic net. He could leverage his formidable science and engineering knowledge to assist in the research and development of mech components.

In short, Seniors were never destitute!

"There are limits, though."

Why did so many mech designers dream of running their own mech company?

It was because selling mechs was the most lucrative choice out of all of their options!

While the Skull Architect would doubtlessly work hard to earn money in his own way, Ves was pretty certain that he held an advantage in this area.

There was only so much a single person could achieve. The time of a Senior was very valuable, but without the backing of an entire mech company, Professor Cortez shouldn't be able to reverse the fortunes of the Cross Clan single-handedly.

"The situation will only change once we reach the Red Ocean." Ves guessed.

The Red Ocean would be their new base of operations. It was not unthinkable for the Cross Clan to establish a fixed presence on some planets in order to get the Skull Architect's mech company up and running.

In fact, with his strength as a Senior, Professor Cortez's business operations in the dwarf galaxy might surpass that of his own ventures!

"It depends on how I plan to conduct business in the new galaxy." Ves hummed.

He held many discussions on this topic with the likes of Gavin and Raymond. Ves was inclined to rely primarily on his upcoming factory ship to produce high-end mechs, but most of the executives of his mech company wanted to establish a stronger presence at fixed settlements.

Regardless of the choice, Ves believed that the Cross Clan might rise up rapidly once it established a firm foundation in the Red Ocean.

That did not spell good news to the Larkinsons. Once the Crossers grew stronger, they would definitely want more say in their partnership.

"How troublesome."

Their partnership might dissolve or at least diminish to a lower level of cooperation.

Ves shrugged. "That won't happen for at least a decade. At that time, our Larkinson Clan should have caught up to the military development of the Cross Clan. Perhaps we don't need to rely on any close alliances to survive in the Red Ocean."

Aside from sharing the cost of a beyonder ticket, the principal motivation to band together was because the Red Ocean was too dangerous.

In the first ten years of their stay in the dwarf galaxy, none of the pioneers could guarantee their safety. As long as any of them stepped outside of the protected star system, it was open season!

Partnering up with the Cross Clan still made sense.

Besides, the addition of the Skull Architect brought a lot of benefits in this critical early period. The offers he made showed that the former fugitive was not domineering and knew how to act according to his current position.

Ves was no longer the weak Apprentice Mech Designer of before, while the Skull Architect had long left behind his identity as one of the most formidable pirate mech designers of the Faris Star Region.

Despite the gap in age, experience and rank, the two of them were actually quite close in status. They also needed each other to complete their own goals, and this caused Ves to feel at ease.

There were no inherent conflicts between them. There was no logical reason for the Skull Architect to go against the mech designer who might possibly play a key role in helping him advance to Master!

"I should stop referring him to his old moniker."

Professor Cortez seemed determined enough to leave his old life and habits behind. As long as he did not engage in any crazy experiments, he shouldn't be a liability.

While his shuttle was still on its way to its next destination, Ves briefly conferred with Calabast, Major Verle and some other people about the changes to the Cross Clan.

"Our bargaining position has weakened." Calabast frowned.

"We haven't lost out that much. The Cross Clan is able to provide more benefits now. Besides, the amount of MTA merits is the most important factor. Our superiority in this aspect will ensure we retain enough dominance."

"That is true, thankfully."

Once Ves dealt with these matters, his shuttle finally arrived next to a civilian passenger ship.

This was not a regular ship. She hailed from the Harmony Association of Majestic Teal.

Ves passed through the hatch and stepped onto the deck of the foreign ship with Lucky and Nitaa. Two people along with some perfunctory guards awaited his arrival.

"Patriarch Larkinson! Welcome aboard our ship." Erander Tsai called.

Ves shook hands with the senior shipwright.

"Thank you. Is this…"

"This is my daughter, Vivian Tsai."

A woman in her thirties with straight black hair and a professional outfit stepped forward and bowed. "Hello."

Ves sensed that the younger ship designer was feeling rather mixed.

She never expected her father to recommend her to the Larkinson Clan all of a sudden. She was doing fairly well in the Harmony Association. Why should she leave behind her friends and family and travel hundreds of thousands of light-years away?

Vivian didn't know what to make of her current situation!

This was one of the reasons why Ves visited in person. He did not want to delay her recruitment and integration into the Larkinson Clan. With the impending arrival of his factory ship, it became more important than ever to gain an expert who understood ship construction at a deeper level.

If he waited, who knew whether she would leave. He needed to take matters into his own hands and convince this young but promising shipwright to work on his behalf!

Chapter 2513: Imaginative Shipwright

Projections of dozens of ship designs filled the work compartment. A dizzying variety of virtual starships flew around Ves as he tried to evaluate the vessels from a design and engineering standpoint.

The ship designs weren't too detailed, but the drafts and broad strokes revealed plenty for Ves to develop an overall impression on their designer.

As a fellow creator, he knew that every person possessed an individual touch. They developed their own habits, adopted their own preferences and favored certain solutions. As long as Ves was good enough, he could recognize these touches and understand a different creator's style.

While Ves was not too versed in ship design, starships were still machines. Even if their scale was on another level, much of the science and engineering was still the same whether he looked at mechs or space-faring vessels.

undefinedA few immediate properties stood out to Ves. Many of the ships projected in his view were distinct.

They seemed to deviate from the norm. Their exterior and interior were not very comparable to other ships, particularly the standard ones adopted by the mainstream.

"These ships look.. artisanal. They are unique, individual designs." Ves remarked.

Erander nodded with a smile. "Many capital ships are unique. Even vessels from the same series exhibit at least some variation due to updates in their design, the introduction of new technologies, changing specifications and so on. It is customary in our industry to treat each capital ship as precious, valuable and worthy of continued investment."

"That sounds similar to how my mech company aspires its customers to treat its mechs. We believe that mechs are alive, and should be treated with respect."

"I am aware. I admire your outlook. In the shipbuilding industry, your views are not exotic. Some of it is due to their size. We small humans simply can't imagine that ships that are taller than many skyscrapers are dull. Another factor is the great expense needed to build a single capital ship. They are the opposite of disposable products. It is not uncommon to see capital ships in the galaxy that are over several centuries old. As long as their owners maintain them well and keep their parts up to date, it is not impossible for these aged ladies to eke out another century."

Ves looked quite impressed. "It's hard for anyone in the mech industry to hang on to an existing mech that long. In fact, mechs that are in use for over twenty years are already ancient in many people's eyes!"

Talking to an engineer who specialized in another field was always interesting to Ves. Comparing his experiences to that of Mr. Tsai's allowed both of them to look at their work from a different perspective. Sometimes, contrasts produced the most surprising insights.

As Ves continued to exchange with the senior shipwright, he began to pick out and examine some of the more interesting-looking ship designs in greater detail.

"That's the Cunning Lizard, one of my draft designs." Vivian Tsai spoke out, breaking her long silence. "I designed her for clients who intend to travel to the Red Ocean like you. The Cunning Lizard can best be described as a carrier and mobile base."

"This ship looks.. Very complicated. I see she's made up of two distinct halves."

"The forward half of the Cunning Lizard is actually a sub-capital ship. This section contains plenty of living space and production capacity." Vivian became more engaged as she presented her work to someone who might be able to realize her work. "While that doesn't sound remarkable, the forward half exists to facilitate the operation of the rear half."

The rear of the Cunning Lizard was a lot bigger in terms of volume. Twenty identical sections lined the rear. They not only stretched far, but were also affixed to giant rails along the hull.

Ves grew puzzled.

"What is the purpose of these…"

"They are docking stations. Smaller sub-capital ships are able to shelter in them. The Cunning Lizard can even engage in FTL travel in this configuration, allowing the crews of the smaller vessels to transfer to other ships or mingle with each other in the common areas of the Cunning Lizard. This way, the normally-isolated crews and passengers of the sub-capital ships won't be cooked up by themselves!"

Ves looked quite shocked at this elaborate arrangement. He couldn't imagine how much effort Vivian Tsai had to put into her studies of FTL drive technology to accomplish such a great feat!

"The concept is still incomplete." Erander Tsai couldn't help but inform Ves. "Humanity has built ships like these before, but the technical challenges are immense."

"I can see the potential uses of this ship. It is a great solution to improve the livability of a fleet. However, is this the extent of the Cunning Lizard's role?"

"There is more." Vivian said. "The primary purpose of my ship design is to increase survivability, not comfort. Due to the extensive propulsion systems and FTL drives of the Cunning Lizard which allows for consecutive jumps, she can easily help a large number of sub-capital ships flee to safety! After performing two FTL transitions in quick succession, the rear section, which I call the Lizard's Tail, can be ejected from the Cunning Lizard. The latter possesses a smaller FTL drive that allows the most important half of the ship to immediately transition into FTL. The sub-capital ships that were previously docked with my ship can engage in FTL as well."

"What about the Lizard's Tail?"

"It's deadweight at this point." Vivian shrugged. "While the Lizard Tail looks big, I deliberately designed this section to be expendable. As long as your crew take out her strained FTL drives, only pure structure is left. Any enemies who are chasing us won't earn much of a profit from capturing this unimportant tail. Once the chase is over, you can easily build another Lizard Tail."

Ves had never come across a ship concept as unique and eccentric as the Cunning Lizard. Though the concept's logic was plausible, the practicality of this ship design left much to be desired!

"Although I'm not too familiar with second-class starships, the high requirements and sheer amount of variables involved is very considerable. Can this ship even work?" He asked.

Both father and daughter looked at each other.

"My daughter's work is more of a mental exercise than anything. While it is possible to construct a working version of the Cunning Lizard, we will have to invest an enormous amount of funding and years worth of research to solve all of the technical challenges."

Ves grimaced at this verdict. "The amount of effort required to realize this concept is not worth it. Although I applaud the creativity and imagination of this ship concept, our Larkinson Clan isn't in the market for impractical ships. We need ships that work."

Vivian looked disappointed. "I have better ship designs!"

"I know. I just focused my attention on this Cunning Lizard because it is different from anything I've seen before. Can you show me your proudest work? I want to see your best."

A competitive fire burned within Vivian. "Over here!"

Ves smiled. It didn't take much effort to rouse Vivian's pride. As a mech designer, Ves was keenly aware of the thoughts and desires driving other creators.

No matter if someone designed mechs or ships, they all wanted to gain other people's approval. Just like Ves, Vivian craved validation.

By picking apart one of her most eccentric and impractical designs, Ves caused the woman to feel professionally challenged. She no longer became caught up in her doubts and reluctance about joining the Larkinson.

Now, she just wanted to prove this outsider that she was a capable shipwright!

Vivian quickly showed him a projection of a defensive capital ship.

"This is my concept for the Graveyard, a scavenger vessel that can easily upgrade herself by incorporating the debris of fallen mechs and ships! She differs from other improvised ships by incorporating a deliberate layout and systems that allows for a strong cohesive inner structure to bear a large amount of mixed and uneven materials that may or may not have been added to the ship in haste. There is also room for plenty of bunkers to further increase her defensive power. In order to facilitate this transformation, the Graveyard possessed enough production and processing capacity to support a complete scavenging and recycling operation."

Ves had to admit that the Graveyard sounded like a much more practical design. Sure, this ship concept had its problem. The Graveyard's mixed outer hull led to very difficult handling and traversal. It was probably going to be a pain to keep the Graveyard on course when engaging in FTL travel.

The Graveyard was an inefficient ship design. Her biggest flaw was that she tried to incorporate both defensive and scavenging capabilities into a single hull. This unavoidably resulted in a lot of compromises that detracted from the ship's overall performance.

As someone who highly prized specialization, Ves would rather obtain a dedicated defensive ship and a dedicated scavenging ship than a Frankenstein creation that attempted to be both.

Yet… thinking about the ship quota made Ves pause his initial judgement.

While it was true that obtaining two specialized ships was the better choice, the different functions of the Graveyard ship concept just happened to complement each other.

Not only that, a ship like this that did not need to rely on large and dedicated shipyards to perform comprehensive upgrades and repairs on her hull was ideal for travelling through a dangerous frontier.

This was a highly self-sufficient ship!

"I like this design." Ves honestly admitted. "Your work offers good value. While it is expensive to construct the Graveyard, after she can easily become a lot tougher by relying on her own capabilities. Her purpose is clear. In battle, she functions as a shield. Out of battle, she can play a vital logistical role. While she can perform multiple functions, they are cohesive, not irrelevant or superfluous. Perhaps the most serious flaw of this ship design is that her structural integrity cannot match a standard defensive ship. However, considering how cost-efficient the Graveyard might be, this is a forgivable flaw."

His mostly positive evaluation provided a lot of validation to Vivian. She practically beamed with pride as Ves did not hold back in showering praise to her best work.

"Now that you have inspected my daughter's work closely, what do you think, Patriarch Larkinson? Are you willing to take her in and make use of her talents?"

That was not a simple matter. Ves looked thoughtfully at the two Majestic Tealers.

Though Ves had not heard much good about the star sector they came from, most of the awful rumors centered around the rulers and those in charge. People like Erander and Vivian Tsai came across as normal enough, so there shouldn't be too many problems concerning their personalities.

Ves looked around and briefly studied the projections of the other ship designs. Few of them looked normal. It seemed that Vivian was a very creative shipwright who wasn't satisfied with designing standard starships.

Was there anything wrong with that? Not necessary. One of the main reasons why Ves wanted to hire a shipwright was because he wanted to acquire unique capital ships that added strong and unique benefits to his fleet!

If he just wanted a plain old boring fleet carrier or mining ship, then he didn't have to go through so much trouble. He could just order a standardized or partially-modular capital ship from a commercial shipbuilder.

Ves wasn't happy with this solution! Ever since he specified his requirements for his factory ship to the Hexers, he already planned to modify and upgrade her once he got his hands on his future flagship.

Therefore, he would gladly accept people like Vivian.

He smiled at the junior shipwright. "If you are willing to help us expand our fleet, then we will be glad to take you in. I promise that your work will not be confined to tinkering with our existing vessels. You will have plenty of opportunities to design your own ships in our clan! So what do you say?"

Chapter 2514: Fellow Creators

In the end, was there any doubt?

Ves might be troubled if he tried to recruit someone who was absolutely unwilling to abandon everything and join a risky venture, but Vivian Tsai was not at that point. She merely didn't have enough time to weigh such a life-changing decision.

Since that was the case, Ves directly pre-empted her normal decision-making process by challenging her. Once he ignited her passion, he lured her in by offering her an implicit promise to turn her ship designs into reality.

This was enough to win her over!

undefined"Will you really make use of my ship designs?"

"Yes." He said. "Of course, they will need to match my requirements and specifications. As long as your work conforms to what our Larkinson Clan needs, then I will do my best to find a shipyard to realize your work."

Of course, it was a lot more complicated than that. For one, Vivian simply couldn't design an entire capital ship from scratch by herself. She needed to hire an entire team of shipwrights, naval engineers and other technical experts in order to design an immense vessel filled with countless interconnected parts.

This was not something Ves had to worry about. He could leave these routine matters to Vivian. He just cared about acquiring the right principal shipwright to lead the Larkinson Clan's naval design operation.

As long as Vivian and her operation settled in, they could start designing unique starships that precisely fit the Larkinson Clan's needs. Ves might finally be able to add some distinct but very useful capital ships to his fleet that would surely be useful in the times to come!

Though he and the Tsais still needed to hash out a contract, as far as Ves was concerned, he could already consider Vivian a Larkinson. Once she entered the clan and formed a connection to the Larkinson Network, she would no longer have any thoughts about going back to her old life.

After explaining a bit more about what he expected from Vivian, Ves and her father stepped out of the workroom.

"Meow."

Lucky curiously floated around while Nitaa silently covered Ves' back.

Though there shouldn't be any threats on the passenger ship, who knew if someone wanted to act on Ves. In fact, Nitaa thought it was foolish for the Holy Son to step aboard a ship that wasn't under his control.

"I am glad that Vivian has decided to become a part of your clan." Erander spoke. He looked a lot more relieved than before. "She may not be very focused in her work sometimes, but she is earnest about designing starships that help people's lives."

"I can understand that. I hold the same mindset when designing my mechs. Machines make people's lives better. It is only through greater application of technology that we are able to further separate humanity from its primitive biological roots."

The Majestic Tealer threw an odd glance at Ves. "That is.. surprising to hear from you. I never imagined you would hold such a noble sentiment."

"Why is this surprising? We are both creators. We are both agents of order who work to provide solutions to people."

Erander awkwardly coughed. "Patriarch Larkinson, we create very different machines. The starships I design and build are purely civilian products. They pose no inherent threat to our fellow men once we deliver them to our customers. At best, you can argue that combat vessels such as fleet carriers can be used for destructive ends, but they are not engines of destruction. Mechs on the other hand…"

"I can understand why you would think that way, but I think you are discounting the role of mechs. Violence and war are an indispensable part of humanity. You cannot restrain our race's urge to fight. I think the Big Two has made the right decision to designate mechs as a reasonable alternative to warships as war-making tools. Ever since the Age of Mechs supplanted the Age of Conquest, our race has never engaged in mass slaughter on a galactic scale."

"Mechs are war machines. They are built for the express purpose to destroy. Even outside of battle, their mere existence inspires fear."

"I see that as good. It shows that mechs don't actually have to kill anyone or inflict any destruction to maintain order. Deterrence is essential to keep society running and to prevent our alien enemies from attacking our civilization."

"That does not make mechs righteous! While I respect your skill and efforts, I cannot disassociate mechs from death. The immensely prosperous mech industry is capable of supplying as many mechs that humanity wants. It is far too easy for people to get their hands on mechs. The ubiquity of mechs grants power to people who have no right to control dangerous weapons. Just look at Vicious Mountain! If their tribes and their glory-addled warlords aren't killing each other all the time, the Garlen Empire would have grown into a behemoth at this time!"

They couldn't come to a consensus. Their life experiences and backgrounds were far too different. The teachings they received also instilled different values and principles into their minds.

Shipwrights thought of themselves as the most important enablers of human advancement.

After all, the fate of modern humanity was undeniably tied to space! Without any means of crossing the stars, how could their race possibly bloom across the galaxy?

Of course, much of humanity's past and present success in its expansion rested on the destructive firepower of warships.

Erander Tsai conveniently left this special category of ships out of his consideration. He was just a civilian shipwright. Even if he designed a lot of ships, he had never touched warships before.

In fact, seeing the Gravada Knarlax was the closest that he could have ever gotten to a real warship!

Therefore, Ves did not take much stock in the Majestic Tealer's viewpoints. While it was correct to say that starships were indispensable to humanity, mechs served a purpose that was just as vital.

The Age of Mechs was a blessing to human civilization! There were very few alternatives to mechs that could capture people's imagination and wean them off their dependence on warships.

Despite their disagreements, Ves and Erander still respected each other. They were both very accomplished in their respective industries.

Just as Ves was about to enter his shuttle, the older man issued one last remark.

"As a parent, I am fearful of letting Vivian go. She will have to navigate life without my direct presence."

Ves turned to the older man. "You can still keep in touch with her through the galactic net. Though it's no substitute for hugs, she can still keep you in the loop."

"I know. It's just… family is difficult to part with. As a father, I know that every child must walk out of my shadow one day. It's just that I never anticipated doing so. Before I recognized the warning signs around the Harmony Association, I intended to keep her by my side until she learned everything she could from me. While I have changed my plans, I find it difficult to go through with them. The Red Ocean is too dangerous."

"Relax." Ves patted Erander's back. "Your daughter is in good hands. The Larkinson Clan welcomes every newcomer, especially one as capable as her. We aren't travelling to the Red Ocean on a whim. We plan to aggressively expand our strength in the coming years. Your daughter's role is indispensable as we are bound to acquire some core capital ships that will form the nucleus of our expeditionary fleet."

"I am glad that you intend to make good use of her capabilities. Shipwrights like her are often employed to tweak ship designs or realize upgrades to existing vessels. It is actually quite rare for people of our profession to make full use of our skills and develop brand-new ships and ship classes from scratch."

"Mech designers have to cope with similar circumstances. As long as Vivian is capable enough, I won't let her abilities go to waste."

Erander Tsai looked very pleased at that. It was a pleasure for shipbuilders like his daughter to become part of an organization that intended to acquire a lot of starships. The Larkinson Clan made no secrets about aspiring to become a nomadic, space-faring power. The Larkinsons would provide plenty of stimulating and meaningful work to his daughter and protege!

Once Ves left the passenger ship, he rode his shuttle back to the Stellar Chaser. He finally reunited with Gloriana in her mech workshop.

"You're back." She spoke.

"I'm back, honey." Ves smiled as he approached and embraced her in a hug.

"It's about time you returned. I've been waiting to fabricate the first production models of our mech designs for weeks."

"Don't worry. I'm looking forward to what we can accomplish as well. I've taken care of the most important issues. We shouldn't have much interruptions in the coming three weeks."

He still needed to stay on top of a couple developments such as the ongoing talks between the Larkinson Clan and the Cross Clan. Still, as long as nothing abrupt took place, Ves was inclined to let his clansmen handle most of the wheeling and dealing.

With someone as ambitious as the Skull Architect in the Cross Clan, there was no way he would allow the talks to founder. It was only a matter of time before the two clans joined forces.

Ves felt free to concentrate on his current priority. After completing six mech designs, he and his wife received six prime opportunities to make another masterwork mech.

It was just that the recently-married couple immediately stumbled upon their first problem.

"Due to our separation, the Valkyrie Redeemer we build out of our own hands won't strictly be the first production model anymore." Ves carefully noted.

That predictably caused his new wife to scowl. "THAT'S YOUR FAULT! If you didn't wander off into the Nyxian Gap, we wouldn't have been separated from each other for half a year. The Hex Army truly couldn't wait to deploy our Valkyrie Redeemers after receiving the complete design. Now our chance is practically gone!"

At their level, there was no hope of making any masterwork mechs unless they embarked on something of special significance.

So far, the two merely leaned on the fact that their fabrication attempts would produce the first true finished copy of a mech model. This sentiment was strong enough to bring them close to the required standard under optimal conditions.

Yet now that the two were about to fabricate their first Valkyrie Redeemer together, Gloriana's mood was already ruined due to the reason she had just stated.

Ves already knew this. He just didn't want to bring it up in order to remain positive.

Oh well.

"We should make the attempt anyway. Who knows. Maybe our copy is special."

Three days went by without success. Gloriana's foul mood ruled out any possibility of either of them entering into an inspired state. Their cooperation was stilted and the Valkyrie Redeemer mech they ended up with was one of the worst first attempts that Ves had ever made.

Certainly, it was a powerful mech that radiated a strong death-oriented glow.

Its quality wasn't quite up to par, though. There were too many disjointed areas which spoke of lack of concentration or lack of coordination.

Suffice to say, Gloriana wasn't very pleased by the outcome. Compared to her usual work, the Valkyrie Redeemer was an outright disaster!

"You need to get your act together, Ves! I won't allow you to make something this bad again!"

"It's been months since we last worked together!" He defended himself. "Both of us have progressed a lot during this time. It shouldn't be a surprise that we have to start over and learn how to work together again. Now that we know what to expect from each other, I think our next attempt will be better."

She scowled at him. "For your sake, I hope you will do better. Otherwise, our honeymoon ends early!"

"What? You can't do that!"

Chapter 2515: Philosophical Differences

Ves and Gloriana spent too much time apart.

After Ves led Task Force Predator into the Nyxian Gap, his collaboration with Gloriana mostly happened through remote.

While that did not significantly impact the quality of their mech designs, they still grew rusty when it came to knowing each other's habits and preferences.

It also didn't help that both of them progressed their design philosophy significantly. Ves not only made several breakthroughs in his specialty, but he had also evolved his design style further.

undefinedThe increasingly desperate circumstances of his task force forced him to develop new tricks and solutions to cope with the restrictions he faced. He put his life on the line for every change or modification he made to his mechs.

He also became exposed to a lot of pirate mechs. Though their quality and maintenance left much to be desired, the pirates exhibited quite a lot of ingenuity when it came to keeping their mechs running even if they hadn't been properly serviced in years.

Pirates were consumers of mechs as well. Just like regular customers, they had their own wants and needs. They abided by several familiar conditions such as limits on complexity, piloting difficulty and budget.

Though most pirate mech designers were as sloppy and awful as Johnny Blast, the mechs utilized by the more organized pirate groups such as the Dry Snakes and the Allidus Alliance were not inferior compared to his own work!

Observing how his pirate counterparts solved or mitigated the challenges unique to the Nyxian Gap provided Ves with a lot of inspiration. His design style shifted even further towards emphasizing robustness and reliability.

This was an evolution of his design style. He became less hung up on maximizing performance because he had witnessed plenty of times in battle that making mechs last was a much greater priority.

It didn't matter if he could squeeze 5 to 10 percent more performance out of a mech. Ves had to make a lot of tradeoffs to achieve increasingly smaller gains. Just a tiny amount of extra performance could easily cause a mech to reach its limit 20 percent sooner!

Different mech designers had different ideas about the balance they should set. While Ves increasingly leaned towards the side of stability, the problem was that Gloriana went in the opposite direction.

Performance mattered. Many customers evaluated and bought mechs by comparing their prices and specs with each other. When mech designers developed their products, they had to make some very hard choices on how to configure their mechs.

Should they pursue the limits of performance? How much reliability was acceptable to them? To what extent should they account for improper handling?

Ves and his wife were on increasingly opposite ends with regards to these spectrums.

Gloriana followed the direction of typical mech designers. While she knew that offering rugged mechs was important, she believed it was worthwhile to sacrifice a bit of longevity and reliability to increase the peak performance of her designs.

To her, designing the strongest mechs gave her much more satisfaction!

"It's what customers want as well." She clarified her views to him. "I feel bad if a mech degrades by 10 to 20 percent after several years of intensive use, but mechs aren't sustainable products to begin with. It's better to achieve the highest possible performance parameters so that if the mech does degrade over time, it starts to drop from a higher height."

"That makes little sense. We can easily lessen the performance drop over time by making our mechs more robust! Besides, in actual battles, other factors play a much greater role in determining victory or defeat than a measly 5 percent difference in performance!"

"You idiot! This margin is enough to sway the outcome of duels!"

It shouldn't have been a surprise that they leaned towards opposite directions with regards to this profound issue.

Ves was much more attuned to large-scale battles where the complex environment, large quantities of mechs and the combination of different mech models often resulted in lots of chaos and confusion!

Under these anything-but-ideal conditions, plenty of factors that seemed important actually didn't matter as much. Instead, Ves learned to set aside every variable except how long a mech was able to last and how much punishment it could take.

Such an extremely basic and simplistic approach rubbed Gloriana the wrong way.

"If every mech designer adopted your perspective, the mech industry would have been a lot more boring!" She yelled! "Mechs are already designed to take hits and endure damage. You're getting overboard when it comes to maximizing reliability. How will our mechs ever stand out from the competition if they consistently underperform compared to their peers?"

"Our mechs have other advantages that make them strong."

"THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE TO LET WEAKNESSES SLIDE!"

"A mech that lasts longer always retains a good reputation. A mech that performed great at the start but falls off sooner won't sell as much after a decade."

"That's just because too many mech owners are too unwilling to invest in proper maintenance! If our customers service their mechs exactly according to manufacturer instructions, they wouldn't lose so much value in so little time!"

"You can't expect perfection from your customers, Gloriana! Most people are inherently sloppy and don't understand the value of proper maintenance. Customers are also constrained by how much manpower, resources and capacity they can allocate towards servicing and repairing their mechs."

"THAT'S THEIR FAULT! We gave them the conditions to maximize the value of their mechs. If they don't take our recommendations seriously, then they are unworthy to pilot our mechs!"

Ves looked exasperated at his obstinate partner. Gloriana based her approach from an entirely different background.

While Ves frequently spent time among the lowest class of consumers such as mercenaries and pirates, Gloriana mainly preferred to interact with the upper end of the mech market.

In her formative years, Gloriana mainly designed custom mechs for rich and wealthy Hexers who could easily afford to provide the best maintenance to their products.

Hexers were very vain about their mechs. Their machines not only needed to perform well, but be in their best state as possible in order to show them off without feeling ashamed.

Since actual conflict wasn't very frequent in the highly-secure space of the Hexadric Hegemony, mech designers such as Gloriana had some very different ideas on what constituted the best mechs.

The Hexers placed much less emphasis on the problems that arose when their products were subject to wear and tear.

Ves and Gloriana couldn't ignore their widening philosophical differences any longer. Along with other factors, their opposing beliefs caused their first attempt at fabricating the Valkyrie Redeemer to fall far short of their expectations.

They clashed way too much against each other during the three days it took to produce a mediocre copy by their standards!

"We need a reset." Ves stated to his wife. "We can't possibly go on to fabricate the next mech on the list with such a dark cloud hanging over our heads."

Even Gloriana recognized the futility of proceeding further. The disgraceful result showed how urgently they needed to find a middle ground.

While their assistants carted the completed Valkyrie Redeemer from the mech workshop, the two newlyweds sat on a bench while holding their cats.

The impromptu pet therapy had a wonderful influence on the couple. Just a few minutes of taking comfort in the company of their pets already cleared up much of their tension.

"Meow?" Lucky looked up at Gloriana as he settled in on her lap.

"You've grown even closer to perfection than before, hihi!"

To her, Lucky was a remarkable work of engineering. In her eyes, almost every aspect about him was refined, elegant and sublime. Admiring his construction and trying to figure out how she could incorporate his exquisite form in her own work always aroused her interest.

"Miaow miaow miaow."

Clixie's furry tail gently swayed back and forth as Ves ran his hands over her soft fur. Her physical warmth along with her emotional warmth caused his heart to ease and melt.

There was just something about furry felines that brought him a lot of joy!

As a cat person, he adored cats. While he also liked Lucky's company, he was not a traditional pet.

As someone who was attuned to life, Ves found it much more relaxing to interact with Clixie. She wasn't as naughty as Lucky and was quite obedient. She also luxuriated in his love and attention. His ability to understand and communicate with animals easily allowed her to make her demands known!

"Miaow miaow."

"I understand your frustrations, but I can't do that yet." He smiled adoringly at the Rubarthan Sentinel Cat.

"Miaow?"

"You're asking for something that trillions of humans in the galaxy would kill to have. Let alone empowering a human, I don't even know how to grant this ability to a cat!"

"Miaow!" Clixie cutely showed off her claws!

Ves chuckled and rubbed her colorful head. "If you've been observing my work for a time, you know that it tends to get dangerous. I don't want to risk harming you, so you'll have to wait until I've solved all of the problems. I'll boost you right away once I've developed a viable solution!"

It seemed that Clixie had run out of patience with regards to her lack of capabilities. Compared to Lucky's frequent upgrades and Goldie's easy growth, the organic cat was getting very frustrated at being left behind!

While Ves had never seen her in action, he knew that Rubarthan Sentinel Cats were actually quite formidable in battle. It was just that she had already reached her maturity and couldn't grow any further.

It was not a good idea to perform further genetic modifications on her. She was a precisely-engineered designer cat developed by some of the best cat geneticists of the New Rubarth Empire.

Let alone Dr. Ranya, not even the best cat specialists of Felixia would be able to add any improvements to her highly-developed gene design!

Perhaps it was possible to augment her with implants, but that was very precarious due to her complex internal physique.

Ves saw no way to improve her aside from augmenting her spirit. Yet that was another challenge in itself because Clixie did not possess any spiritual potential!

As he racked his head for ideas, he suddenly developed a novel idea.

"Why should I do everything myself? Don't I have other helpers?"

He wasn't talking about James. The obnoxious bastard may possess deep insights into the extraordinary, but he was completely useless when it came to developing specific solutions.

Instead, he turned to the Larkinson Mandate. After taking the book from Nitaa, he called up the spirit resting inside.

"Goldie."

A glowing cat quickly materialized in the air and began to brush against his head.

"Nyaaa!"

"Hehehe. I have a little problem here that you might be able to help with. Can you figure out a way to solve Clixie's problem?"

As soon as he explained the issue to the Golden Cat, the two cats began to converse with each other.

"Nyaa?"

"Miaow miaow."

"Nyaaa… nyaa…"

"Miaow!"

Goldie looked back at Ves in puzzlement.

He sight. "I know it's not any easy problem to solve, but I think we can work together on this. Let's just take it slow while we come up with some good ideas. Moving too quickly will only lead to danger. Is that okay, Clixie?"

"Miaow…"

Clixie looked downcast, but Goldie soon swooped down to cheer her up. His lap became very busy as the two cats began to lick each other.

Ves smiled at the sight.

He hoped that pulling in Goldie might help with solving this critical issue. With how much Goldie cared about her 'mother', she had plenty of motivation to figure out a solution!

Perhaps Ves might even be able to freeload off her hard work!

Ves and Gloriana continued to relax with their pets for a couple more hours before retiring for sleep.

They slept in the same bed.

Chapter 2516: Taking Turns

After a good rest and some mindless cuddling, Ves and Gloriana entered the new day with a fresher outlook.

Though the shadow of their previous failure still loomed large over them, they no longer felt as burdened as before.

A simple break and rest did wonders in cleansing their minds.

It also helped that Gloriana didn't go through with her threat to suspend their honeymoon period.

undefinedThey both loved each other and had just come off a wedding that was close to perfect. Overall, there were far more reasons for Gloriana to be happy with Ves than otherwise.

Still, just because they had some fun didn't mean their problems magically went away. They merely faded in the background. Now that they were ready to fabricate their next mech, they had to confront the issue they were avoiding all this time.

As their cats playfully prowled across the mech workshop, the couple sat down at a work table in order to hash out their differences.

"We need to compromise." Ves said. "Neither of us can continue to work together if we aren't on the same page."

Gloriana crossed her arms. Unlike his sturdy and utilitarian work overall, she preferred to do her work while looking at her best. Her white shirt, black skirt and high heels along with her jewelry and scarf made it seem she was his secretary rather than a proper mech designer.

She was not subordinate to him, however.

"We can compromise by making one of us give in. In my opinion, you should be the one to give up. As far as I'm concerned, the first production copies of our mech designs are extra special. They are collectors items at worst and priceless heirlooms at best. Will anyone who obtains these valuable mechs ever mistreat them in any way? There is no way our customers will neglect or subject them to frequent abuse!"

"Uhm, the Quint has fought against battleships and dark gods just recently. Mechs are meant to be used for their intended purpose. While that has caused the Quint to have some close shaves, it's a much stronger mech. It played a key role in elevating Venerable Joshua. Before you call me stupid again or something, let me just say that as long as absolute perfection isn't attainable, there are different ways to get a good result. Whether we pick your approach or mine, they are both good in certain conditions. What we have to do is to adapt our mech to our current circumstances."

"This.. you may have a point." She reluctantly admitted. "Who do you design the mech for, Ves?"

Ves made a suggestion. "If we want to make both of us happy, then maybe we should alternate between our preferences. Right now, we have expensive mechs that will likely benefit more if I follow your lead. We also have more affordable mechs where performance is important, but reliability is an even greater issue."

She looked intrigued at his suggestion. While the solution he offered was not quite a definite compromise, it at least allowed them to reconcile their differences to an extent.

"We have five mechs to go. I get to dictate the direction of three of them while you can do what you want with the remaining two. I promise not to complain too much."

Ves scowled at her. "Why do you get three while I get only two?"

"Because I'm a woman and because I need compensation for the suffering you've inflicted on me these past few days!"

"That's nonsense!" Ves had no patience to deal with Gloriana's selfishness right now!

He forcibly calmed himself while trying to come up with a solution that did not amount to outright surrender.

"Look, let's just work on the next four mechs and leave the last one for later consideration." He suggested. "Perhaps we might be able to improve our teamwork to the point where we can find a third approach."

"Okay. We'll do it your way, Ves."

They still needed to fabricate a copy of the Cat's Paw, the Chiron, the Ferocious Piranha, the Sanctuary and the Crystal Lord Mark II.

Of the five, only one of them was a solid second-class model.

"We should leave the Cat's Paw as last." Gloriana decided. "I think it was a mistake for us to start with fabricating a second-class mech straight away. The Valkyrie Redeemer is much more intricate and features much greater considerations than lesser mechs. If we tackle the third-class mechs first, we can slowly ramp ourselves up and work out most of our kinks before we address our heavy artillery mech."

Ves nodded in agreement. He completely agreed with her logic this time.

"The Cat's Paw is arguably the most important mech of this batch. It will definitely be one of the key mechs of our clan."

It didn't take too long for them to determine which mech they wanted to take the lead on. Ves was very partial towards all five mechs, but if he had to pick favorites, it would have to be the Sanctuary and the Crystal Lord Mark II.

The Sanctuary was his first anti-glow mech and was presided over by his newest spiritual product. As the mech that best conformed to Lufa's properties, Ves wanted to make sure the first production copy of the Sanctuary was spiritually strong.

As for the Crystal Lord Mark II, it was a dramatic upgrade to one of his first original works. The story behind this product line and the effort that Ves had made into upgrading its original design spirit into the Illustrious One caused him to develop a lot of special feelings about this upcoming attempt.

Gloriana on the other hand had been highly involved in the design of the Chiron and the Ferocious Piranha. The Chiron incorporated a very sophisticated self-adjustment structure that she had largely devised from the ground up by herself. Though her attachment to the Larkinson Clan wasn't as strong as his, she actually cared a lot about nurturing the next generation of Larkinson mech pilots.

Each of them deserved a mech that closely fit their unique traits! As far as she was concerned, this was a rare way to apply her design philosophy to a standard mech model without offending her sensibilities too much!

As for the Ferocious Piranha, her preference for the mech model was actually quite simple. The light skirmisher was a feminine mech model to her. In truth, the mech only appeared this way because it was slender in comparison to the other mechs.

Now that they selected their mechs, they began to work while letting one of them take the lead.

In previous attempts, they rarely let one or the other take over entirely. The only exception so far was when they created the Little Angel. Gloriana completely took over the show when she fabricated the masterwork copy of the Blessed Squire.

Both of them agreed that whenever one of them entered into a similar state again, they should automatically take charge, ignoring any prior agreements they made.

The importance of taking the lead paled into comparison to fabricating another masterwork mech!

"Let's begin."

They decided to tackle the easiest model first. The Sanctuary undoubtedly won in this regard. Aside from its very special glow, it was a relatively plain space knight that stood out for its relatively high mobility.

If not for the presence of Lufa, the Sanctuary might be able to moonlight as the spaceborn version of the Blackbeak!

"The Sanctuary's value and purpose on the battlefield largely centers around its glow." Ves explained to Gloriana as they were beginning to inspect the raw materials that a transport had just delivered to the Stellar Chaser. "Just like the Blessed Squire, it's a force multiplier, and therefore a key strategic target. This is why I decided to package this mech into an offensive space knight type. It has to be fast enough to get in the range of enemy LMC mechs and it has to be able to last against focused fire."

"I have no objections to your interpretation this time." Gloriana graciously said. "Maximizing the defense of our first production copy is paramount, although we probably have different ideas on how to fortify our mech."

Ves smirked. "That's why I'll be the one that will have the most say for this attempt."

They began to work on the mech. Despite its relative bulk, much of it was due to its thick and hefty armor plating. The Sanctuary's internals weren't very difficult to put together.

Overall, the two regained much of their harmony during this fabrication run. They just needed two days to complete the first copy of their Sanctuary design!

"Meow…"

Lucky looked uneasy as the unnaturally pure and suppressive glow of the finished Sanctuary flooded the mech workshop.

"Miaow~"

Unlike the gem cat, Clixie found the Sanctuary's glow to be rather pleasant.

"Nyaaaa!"

As an inherently spiritual cat, Goldie didn't fare too well in Lufa's influence! The only reason why she managed to maintain her materialized form was because she was stronger than Lufa. Of course, it also helped that Ves hardcoded some instructions in the mech design and its design spirit.

There was no way Ves would allow Lufa to bully the ancestral spirit of the Larkinson Clan!

In the wrong circumstances, Lufa might even be able to suppress or destroy the Larkinson Network!

Making this realization midway into the fabrication run almost caused Ves to botch his current task.

It dawned upon him that he hadn't added any specific strengthening or defenses around the spiritual networks he created.

Wouldn't that make his clan critically vulnerable against spiritual attacks?

"I'll definitely add this to my to-do list!"

Fortunately, the brief distraction hadn't interrupted his rhythm. The white and sacred mech that emerged at the end had clearly reached a higher level of quality than their disastrous Valkyrie Redeemer.

Both of them not only became accustomed to each other's changes, but also minimized their conflicts by letting one of them take the lead.

"It's a fine product, but it still falls short." Ves pronounced with a touch of disappointment.

Gloriana also looked disappointed. "That's because you were too conservative when you took the lead. You didn't go far enough when you could have."

"Let's just take some time off and reflect on how we can do better next time."

Both of them rested and cuddled with their cats. Once they fully refreshed their mental states, they tackled the next mech.

"The Ferocious Piranha needs a proper name." Gloriana stated as they decided to tackle the light skirmisher mech next.

"I think its current name is fine."

"It needs a dignified name!"

Ves disagreed. "There's nothing wrong with continuing to call it the Ferocious Piranha! The name is a good fit for how this mech is supposed to fight. It's already strong by itself, but as the Valkyrie Redeemer already showed, a mech like this would work far better when deployed alongside many identical mechs. A piranha is never depicted alone. While pricy for third-class standards, I believe that plenty of customers will see the value in deploying this mech en masse with the help of its current name. I've even programmed some awesome visual projections to reinforce this theme!"

He eventually got his way, largely because Gloriana's choices didn't sound any better.

While this mild argument spoiled her mood a bit, she didn't let that affect her work.

With her competitive and perfectionist mindset, she could not tolerate an outcome where 'her' mech was inferior to 'his' mech!

She worked extra hard now that she held most of the responsibility. Ves did not work against her even if he didn't agree with her decisions.

In the end, they took two days to fabricate a Ferocious Piranha that was hardly different in quality than the Sanctuary mech they made before.

Gloriana looked upset. "I put in so much work in this mech! Why isn't it better?!"

"Maybe we are going at it the wrong way." Ves guessed. "Have you ever noticed that when one of us takes the lead, we can't produce the synergy we achieved before? We need to work as equals if we truly wish to draw out our potential."

Her anger faded as she processed this argument. "You may be right. It's just that going back to how we tackled the Valkyrie Redeemer mech won't work. How can we solve this problem?"

Neither of them could come up with an answer.

Chapter 2517: Resolving Differences

The two had grown too far apart in order to work as equals. They both possessed opposing ideas on what constituted a good mech. If neither of them took charge, they would just push against each other every step of the way, thereby cutting off the possibility of producing something remarkable at the end of their fabrication run!

However, after trying to make one or the other take the lead, they only ended up with adequate mechs.

Certainly, the quality of the Sanctuary and the Ferocious Piranha they fabricated surpassed that of regular gold label mechs.

Yet they were nowhere close to reaching masterwork quality. It was as if Ves and Gloriana lacked the magic they used to achieve when they worked together.

undefinedThis was a very frustrating outcoming for Gloriana. At the start, they had six chances to attempt a masterwork. Now that they completed their third attempt, the prospect of fulfilling her dream seemed even further away!

No amount of rest and cuddling with Lucky, Clixie and Goldie could pull her out of her malaise this time.

Even Ves felt troubled by this adverse development. He couldn't have imagined that splitting up for half a year would generate so much discord between the two of them. If they weren't able to solve this impasse, the future of their collaborative efforts might go under!

"How will we tackle the Chiron and the Crystal Lord Mark II?" Ves asked. "Do you want to continue with our current approach or find another way to achieve a better outcome?"

Gloriana pressed her fingers against her temple. "I don't want to go back to how we worked before. Every argument between us will only further detract us from our attempts to fabricate the best mech possible. I think we shouldn't be too quick to assume that our current approach is failing us. We just aren't too used to deferring all of the important decisions to one of us. Maybe we need to tweak our methods in order to do better."

They brainstormed some ways to make their next attempts more harmonious. In the absence of one of them entering into a special state, the best way to produce a mech of exceptional quality was for them to get in sync with each other. This wasn't easy to accomplish if one of them was explicitly restrained from showing any initiative.

"We should cooperate more extensively in the areas where we can find common ground." Gloriana proposed. "Despite our philosophical differences, there are still many aspects about our mechs where our opinions are close enough to get along with each other. We need to grasp these opportunities!"

That was actually a great idea. Their relationship was basically based around ignoring their differences while placing as much emphasis as possible on their similarities.

Since this worked so well in their relationship, it stood to reason that it should have an effect in their next attempts.

"Let's do this, then." Ves agreed.

Now that they had regained some much-needed hope, they approached the Crystal Lord Mark II with higher expectations.

Though Ves unquestionably took charge in producing the mech he had a special bond with, his wife gained more room to provide her input.

With both of them actively trying to foster greater cooperation whenever possible, their moods remained positive throughout the fabrication run.

Neither of them started any new arguments. Eager to break the previous pattern, Gloriana kept herself in check to a greater extent than before. Ves admired her forbearance. It was quite rare for her to be so patient.

Yet after two days of hard work, the Crystal Lord Mark II they produced was only somewhat better than their previous mechs.

Gloriana lost her good mood. "We failed!"

"We made progress." Ves tried to reassure her. "Be glad we haven't regressed! Compared to where we stood after we made our first Valkyrie Redeemer mech, we have caught up to our old level. I'm already proud of what we've accomplished this time."

Compared to the previous mechs, the Crystal Lord Mark II was much more dazzling. The Illustrious One finally unleashed its glow through a mech without restraint, thereby causing Ves and Gloriana to be affected by a field that caused their sights to be a little blinded.

It took a bit of time to get used to the complex glow of the Illustrious One. Unlike many of his other design spirits, the Illustrious One did not impose any judgemental values onto the people that fall under its influence.

The Illustrious One didn't care about duty or loyalty to the Larkinson Clan. He did not attempt to terrorize a mech pilot.

Instead, his glow mostly added a bright and sparkling quality to the Crystal Lord Mark II! The landbound rifleman mech looked like it was more at home in a mech exhibition hall than a muddy battlefield!

"This proto-god is wasted on a third-class mech." Gloriana remarked with a frown. "It would have been so much if we could make him empower a second-class mech. In fact, it would also be best if you turned him into a woman!"

Ves did not even bother to engage in her last point. He did somewhat agree with her initial judgement.

"I think we need to design a lot of second-class mechs in our second round of projects. Our Larkinson Clan is lacking too many adequate mech models. We also need to boost the LMC's profit by at least five times in order to fulfill our ambitious plan to outfit our fleet with enough capital ships and expert mechs."

She looked skeptical. "While I agree with you, right now we are the only ones who are qualified to design second-class mechs. Our assistants still need years to reach our standards."

"I've been thinking about this problem for a while now. I see two ways to achieve what I want. The first is to hire second-class mech designers as our assistants. Previously, no second-rater took us seriously. I think our recent accomplishments along with our grand wedding has permanently solved this issue."

Gloriana frowned. "I don't know. Second-class mech designers are a lot more difficult to handle than the obedient boys and girls we have right now. While their design abilities are lacking, I like how much they defer to us. We won't be able to command the same level of respect from the talents who graduated from similar universities as mine. People like us are inherently proud and confident."

She had a good point. Ves always had a headache whenever he had to manage strong personalities.

"The second method is to collaborate with the Cross Clan's new Senior Mech Designer. Professor Cortez is quite a good mech designer."

"I heard about him." Gloriana replied. "I studied his work, what little he has published. He's actually quite average for a third-class Senior. It's only recently that he changed his course and began to design some second-class mechs. I like his specialty. It's just that I'm not sure whether we can work well together."

"Is there a conflict between your design philosophies?"

"We'll have to meet and exchange with each other to be sure. Instinctively, I think that some of what he does encroached upon my specialization. The good news is that I think we can work out our conflicts."

This was something to consider later. Though Ves only threw this option out as a possible choice, he was still very reluctant to work together with Professor Cortez on anything aside from expert mech designs.

They reluctantly proceeded onwards with fabricating the Chiron. Now that Gloriana took back the lead, she tried her best to imitate Ves in opening herself to outside input.

It was a lot harder for her to do so. She had to grit her teeth and act against her nature in order to give Ves sufficient room to express himself.

The end result turned out to be no better than the Crystal Lord Mark II. The training mech they made was merely 'good', which meant it didn't possess any special qualities!

"This isn't working!" Gloriana complained. "Our approach is flawed from the start! No matter how much we try to accommodate each other, we haven't been able to achieve true synergy!"

They had only one attempt left. The last but most important mech was by far the most critical one. The formidable Cat's Paw was not only bigger and more complex than any mech they worked on, it was also a model that would play a key role in the defense of the Larkinson fleet.

In order to give their exclusive second-class artillery mech the best possible start, Ves wanted to start off strong. Even if he couldn't turn the first production copy into a masterwork, he at least wanted its quality to exceed the usual norm.

As Ves and Gloriana retired for a day in order to prepare for the big job, Ves began to think about a way to break their current deadlock.

He agreed with his wife that their synergy was lacking. How could they regain the magic that they achieved during the early days of their collaboration?

At some point, his eyes shifted to his wedding band.

"Wait a minute."

Achieving synergy required great understanding. By getting in sync with Gloriana, he achieved some form of resonance with her, allowing them to focus their entire abilities on the same goals.

Right now, their growing differences had made it harder for them to resonate with each other. The logical solution to resolve this issue was to find a way to narrow the gap between each other!

The moment when Ves and Gloriana returned to the mech workshop again, Ves presented a radical idea.

"You want to activate our wedding rings?"

"Yes." Ves nodded. "Do you recall the shared moment we had right after we kissed during our wedding? Back then, we felt more close to each other than ever before. Part of that was due to our love. Another part of it was due to the moment. However, our rings played a role as well. To be more exact, it's the fragments connected to them that has played a significant role."

Both of them possessed each other's spiritual fragments. Normally, this caused them to feel each other's presence even when they were alone. They also derived some other minor benefits.

What Ves wanted to do now was to activate one of the functions he programmed into the fragments. Once the spiritual constructs built into the fragments became online, both of them should be able to gain a portion of each other's domain!

Ves wasn't quite sure how this would affect their current work, but he theorized that it would definitely allow them to find more common ground.

Though Ves had not tested this at all, Gloriana easily accepted his proposal. "Okay. If you think it will work, let's try it. Our Cat's Paw has to be better than the trash we made before!"

After instructing her for a bit, both of them took the time to calm and center themselves before activating their borrowed spiritual fragments.

A hint of excellence and perfection unfolded into Ves' mind. The foreign presence was not inherently compatible with his domain. He had to put active effort into preventing his mind from pushing away the foreign influence.

Gloriana had it easier. She already hosted his spiritual fragment for a few years. Her strong obsession towards Ves and her acclimatized design seed allowed her to embrace the growing influence of Ves in her mind!

Their rings seemed to radiate energy. An invisible line seemed to form between them. Ves and Gloriana became too caught up in the changes to their moods, thoughts, preferences and perception.

"Wow." She looked impressed. "This is new. I think I comprehend a little more how you view mechs. It's so.. chaotic. Somehow, it doesn't look so bad this time. I can see the charm in letting mechs grow."

"I'm experiencing the same phenomena as you. I didn't expect this to work so well."

Theoretically, all kinds of compatibility problems should have taken place. Yet for some reason, the rejection he anticipated wasn't as strong as he thought.

After adjusting to their altered states, they began their final fabrication attempt with greater confidence!

Chapter 2518: Dual Perspectives

The act of activating a foreign spiritual fragment in the mind was a novel process.

Due to how close they were to each other, the fragments formed a stronger connection to their sources. This not only allowed them to gain a bit more strength, but also increased Ves and Gloriana's mutual understanding towards each other.

This was a magical state, one shared by the both of them. As Ves analyzed what was happening to him, he realized that his current condition was similar to that of entering into an inspired state.

"How intriguing."

undefinedHe had experimented with activating Gloriana's fragment several times in the past, but that was when he was a fair distance away from her. Now that they were in the same room, the experience was substantially different.

In those cases, the fragment itself was too weak to exert any significant power. It only granted him a taste of Gloriana's domain and allowed him to understand her work to an extent.

This couldn't be helped. Ves was too afraid of harming her by harvesting too much of her essence at once. The fragment of him that Gloriana possessed was also rather small. In the past, she couldn't really do more than take comfort in her presence.

The experience was different now. After activating the fragments, both Ves and his wife became a lot more attuned to each other's domains.

However, this state did not come without a price.

Ves could feel that the fragment in the mind of his wife was actively drawing strength from his spirit. The same must be the case for Gloriana as well.

This small drain was not a great concern if it only lasted for an hour, but if it went on for days, Ves estimated that he and Gloriana would both be forced into a low state for weeks!

This was quite a serious price to pay!

However, when he considered the potential benefits of forming a greater degree of mutual understanding with his partner, it might be worth it if it yielded enough results.

If they failed to make a masterwork mech or something close to it this time, then the gains might not be worth the price.

After all, to passionate mech designers, entering into a low state significantly lowered their productivity.

They wouldn't be as creative, they weren't able to channel their design philosophy as effectively and their design results lacked passion. The couple would basically be unable to perform their jobs as effectively!

He turned to Gloriana, who automatically met his gaze. Due to the faint connections to their minds, they had synced up to an extent. She already understood some of his thoughts.

This must be an application of his life domain. Some of its properties complimented their current state well!

"Wow." Gloriana sounded impressed. "Is this how you experience reality all the time? It's no wonder you're so good at manipulating people!"

"Life is the real miracle to me. Everything extraordinary in reality is rooted in mysteries of life."

Just as she became more attuned with life, Ves gained a deeper perception of perfection.

Perhaps perfection was the wrong word to use here. Gloriana possessed an intuitive sense of quality. She was able to look at any object and judge how close to ideal they were. Now Ves gained the same ability in a weaker form.

He looked around. Their chairs, their rings, the work table, the production equipment and so on all provided him with a flood of additional data that he never paid attention to before. He was able to judge their overall quality as well as the factors that raised or lower it. What annoyed him a bit was that every little flaw and imperfection stood out like a sore thumb!

No wonder Gloriana was so irritable at times. She lived in a reality that was filled with flaws. Even when she worked hard to turn her own workshop into her own sanctum, she still couldn't eliminate every flaw!

"You must have built up quite a tolerance." He lightly quipped.

She looked appreciative at Ves. Finally, someone else finally understood what it was like for her to live like this. It was not easy to bear this burden!

"To create the perfect vessel, I have to understand what makes them flawed. It is a necessity for me to learn everything that affects the quality of an object. I also have to develop a deeper sense on how an object fits to a person."

Her domain went beyond observing flaws and judging quality. Gloriana's design philosophy also judged the fit or compatibility between objects and their users.

For example, when Ves studied his current comm, he realized that the high-quality model fit his wrist fairly well. Its automatic adjustment function caused it to wrap around his skin as comfortably as possible, but it wasn't perfect. His skin and flesh did not conform to the baseline human standard anymore. They were harder and stiffer than his comm was designed to accommodate.

"I should buy a custom-fitted comm." Ves concluded.

"Better yet, you should build your own one. It's only when you take matters into your own hands that you will be able to ensure that everything goes right."

No wonder Gloriana was such a control freak. She simply didn't trust other people to do their jobs properly. Just as his unique perception of life and spirituality shaped his behavior, his wife became enthralled by her exceptional vision and intuitive judgement.

To put it in an uglier way, they were slaves to their own perspectives!

Ves never thought about how the manner in which he sensed reality narrowed their minds and put them onto a narrow road.

If he didn't gain a portion of Gloriana's perspective, he wouldn't have been able to understand how much his normal self was missing in his life!

It was rather strange to view reality with two different lenses at once. Ves felt like he was wearing a mental monocle.

Being able to compare one perspective to another was incredibly valuable!

Both Ves and Gloriana gained so many new insights that they both fell silent as they became engrossed with what they learned.

Not only did they deepen their understanding of the other, they also learned more about themselves! Some details blended so well into the background that neither Ves nor GLoriana were able to observe them under normal conditions.

It was only when they were able to compare their perspective to another that a noticeable contrast emerged!

He suspected that rational mech designers who were able to simulate the design philosophies of other mech designers also experienced something similar. Being able to make comparisons allowed rational mech designers to constantly understand their own strengths and shortcomings. This would definitely help them to polish their own design philosophy and prevent their progression from going astray!

However, there was a downside as well.

Aside from the spiritual drain, the mental strain was also considerable. His design seed possessed a very strong identity and did not take kindly to Gloriana's spiritual fragment taking over its territory!

Ves had to restrain his design seed from lashing out at the foreign fragment. He also had to keep his passion pure and prevent it from being contaminated by his partner's influence.

If he let himself become contaminated, then his domain wouldn't be as pure anymore! In the worst cases, his design seed would become heterogenic, causing him to lose much of his specialty.

The gains weren't worth the losses!

The entire point of Ves and Gloriana collaborating with each other was to take advantage of each other's strengths. The better they were at their respective specialties, the more they gained from working together.

If they let themselves be contaminated, then they wouldn't have any strong points anymore. They may have become more self-sufficient, but their work would suffer as their mixed passion would never be able to burn as hot as before.

"This is dangerous."

Ves eventually snapped out of his fascination. He hadn't forgotten about his original goal. He lightly shook Gloriana's arm in order to return her to the present.

"Hey. We still have a mech to fabricate. We are straining and exhausting ourselves the longer we maintain this state. We can't waste our time on introspection. Also, don't get too caught up to what I can do. I'm very different from you. It's okay to take a peek, but I don't advise you to go too far. You'll just lose yourself in the process and push you further away from your ambition."

Due to their enhanced communication, Ves didn't need to elaborate any further. He conveyed his theories, his concerns and his urgency to her by communicating on a spiritual level.

This was quite convenient.

"Alright." She nodded after adopting a serious expression. She became more focused on the task at hand. "Before we begin, we should bestow a proper name to the result of the Cat's Paw Project. Don't tell me to settle for this code name. It isn't serious enough and doesn't properly fit with the design."

He agreed with her this time. The Cat's Paw was a second-class landbound artillery mech that was mainly purposed for static deployment on land and bunker deployment aboard ships.

Nothing about this was related to cats aside from the cat-themed bunkers of his upcoming flagship.

Goldie didn't even preside over the design!

Since Ves wanted to design a heavy artillery mech version of his old Deliverer model, he chose Ylvaine as its design spirit.

He already came up with a suitable name.

"It's official name will be the Transcendent Punisher. Its supreme firepower and enhanced targeting allows it to exact punishment on any enemy that dares to enter its range!"

Gloriana looked oddly at Ves. Even though she understood him, that didn't necessarily mean she agreed with him. She still retained her own perspective.

"It's a bit too direct for my tastes."

"That's on purpose. This is an expensive and powerful machine. One of its purposes is to deter anyone from attacking our expeditionary fleet. Once we are able to fill up every ship-based bunker with Transcendent Punishers, we'll be able to frighten off many people, particularly once our new artillery mechs have demonstrated their prowess!"

The Transcendent Punisher was their latest Ylvainan mech. While it derived its spiritual abilities from the Deliverer, it was much more powerful than the third-class marksman mech that once played a key role in the Sand War!

Ves and Gloriana began to fabricate the mech. In order to help them become more attuned to Prophet Ylvaine, Ves took the liberty of channeling Transcendent Punisher's design spirit.

While this added even further strain to his mind and spirit, it fit their current circumstances well!

Neither of them possessed much love for the Ylvainan Faith. Yet now that Ves channeled Ylvaine and extended the design spirit to Gloriana, both of them knew exactly how to make an authentic Ylvainan mech.

"The prophet will bless this machine!"

The two proceeded to work together in a much more harmonious fashion than before. While they were still trying to experiment and get used to their special states, they already tasted the benefits.

They spoke less and less to each other as they switched over to a more intuitive way of communicating with each other. At many times, they were of one mind. In the few cases where they conflicted, they easily hashed out their differences because their mutual understanding reduced their opposition to each other.

Gloriana finally understood the twisted logic that drove Ves to make decisions that didn't make sense to her before.

Ves realized how much certain elements were so glaringly wrong that she couldn't tolerate their existence. He became a lot more sympathetic towards her decisions even if it affected his own choices.

Both of them worked harmoniously for five straight days. It took a lot more time to fabricate a heavy mech. The sheer amount of parts along with their greater mass slowed down everything.

With each passing day, Ves and Gloriana experienced more and more strain. Their minds became weary and their spiritual energy reserves slowly diminished. They had to take regular breaks in order to recover from the strain and to stave off contamination.

All of these difficulties hampered their cooperation a bit, preventing them from achieving the best possible result.

In the end, their most difficult fabrication run to date produced a Transcendent Punisher that both of its creators took pride in! Unlike the previous five mechs, the machine they made was of significant higher quality than before!

"It's a pity…" Gloriana wearily sighed as she squeezed her ring, deactivating the fragment in her mind.

Ves was quite happy with the result. "I don't think there is anything to complain about. We achieved a higher standard of quality through replicable means. As long as we get more used to our activatable states, we can keep working on it until we are fluent enough to reach the next level!"

To him, this experiment was a success!

The potential of this new method lay in its consistency. Rather than praying for something as random as serendipity to bestow him or Gloriana with a special state, Ves would rather develop one himself that he could apply whenever he wanted!

Chapter 2519: Completed Round

The Transcendent Punisher was arguably the biggest and most powerful mech that Ves had ever designed.

It was one thing to flesh out designs by completing its schematics. It was another thing to piece it together in person up close!

The immense size and mass of the mech was already intimidating in itself, but its pure and sacred glow seemed to give people the impression that the machine was an embodiment of Ylvaine's wrath!

Just looking at the mech caused Ves to gain the impression that it was ready to exact divine punishment on anything that affronted the prophet!

undefined"Transcendent Punisher indeed." Gloriana remarked as she looked ready to go to bed. The marathon session had drained her a lot! "Our artillery mech fits the prophet well. Only a boy could output so much threat and violence."

Ves was too tired to palm his face. Now that he deactivated the remote domain fragment in his mind, he no longer gained any sympathy for her Hexer views.

That was another side effect of his previous state. Understanding Gloriana meant gaining a very unwelcome glimpse on what she thought about boys! That was something that made Ves even more determined to guard against contamination!

"Even if it's not a masterwork, it's quality is remarkable enough to merit its own name. Do you have any suggestions?"

She shrugged. "I'm not in a naming mood right now. I don't have any inspiration."

Neither did Ves for that matter. As he examined both of their conditions, he noticed that they had expended quite a lot of spiritual energy.

The new technique which he called remote domain sharing was very useful but also very costly. If not for learning so much after activating it for the first time, Ves would have considered this attempt to be a loss.

As it was, Ves and his partner gained so many new insights that they had a lot to think about for the next couple weeks. This was good because it would take up to a month for them to restore from their loss.

Ves hadn't lost as much spiritual energy as he was a bit more efficient in its use. He also built up a modest reserve of excess spiritual energy which he could absorb right away.

However, Gloriana was able to recover faster because she could rely on prayer to accelerate her spiritual energy production.

His face scrunched a bit. Developing a replacement for his Grand Dynamo became a much higher priority than before!

He squeezed his brain for a suitable name. "What about the Prophet's Fist?"

"It's not a melee mech."

"The name is figurative. Anyone who suffers from this mech's attack will feel as if the Great Prophet punched them in the gut. It's not a pleasant experience, that's for sure!"

"Whatever."

Gloriana accepted his stupid name without any further complaint. While she was somewhat proud of crafting a good mech, she did not care as much about the Transcendent Punisher design as her husband.

Unlike her, Ves had long looked forward to fielding the Larkinson Clan's first true second-class mech!

The Transcendent Messenger was but the first of many powerful Larkinson-exclusive mechs!

Hopefully, Ves would be able to replace 80 to 90 percent of the stopgap mechs with Larkinson mechs of the same caliber!

"They Ylvainan faction in our clan will welcome our Transcendent Punisher model. They won't feel neglected anymore. They can also look forward to playing a key role in defending our expeditionary fleet for a long time to come. With the sheer power of this model, it will take at least a few decades before it begins to show its age."

Gloriana nodded. "Even if its power falls off, we can easily upgrade its armament in the event we gain access to better weapon components in the Red Ocean."

This was one of the key design features of the Transcendent Punisher. Mindful of how circumstances might change in different environments, the pair added a bit of modularity to its huge design.

While it wasn't an actual modular or semi-modular design, a crew of mech technicians should be able to swap out its weapon components without needing to disassemble the entire machine.

Of course, it would still take at least a day to perform such a comprehensive procedure. The weapon mounts were tightly affixed to the rest of the frame in order to prevent the Transcendent Punisher from wrecking itself with each weapon discharge!

This was something to consider for the future. The Transcendent Punisher's current weapon loadout was more than sufficient to handle most threats in the surrounding star clusters.

Hardly any second-class mech could withstand getting focused upon by gauss cannons, positron beam cannons and pulse cannons.

Perhaps only expert mechs were able to withstand the barrage, but as long as hundreds of Transcendent Punishers accurately fired upon their positions, their resonance shields and energy shields wouldn't last very long!

Ves grinned. He actually looked forward to testing out his latest mech model against some uppity enemies. The only downside was that it was very difficult to mass produce his heavy artillery mech.

In fact, Gloriana had to upgrade her mech workshop in order to fabricate such a huge machine!

"Once we gain our factory ship, we should focus on pumping out as many Transcendent Punishers as possible. I'll tell my staff to stockpile enough raw materials to produce hundreds of copies."

"That's a lot, you know."

"Our upgraded fleet can handle it. The factory ship and every combat carrier we're about to receive all possess bunkers that need to be filled. It's a waste to leave them empty in the event of battle."

The couple wrapped up the session. Ves ordered the Prophet's Fist to be shipped off to somewhere else where Major Verle could decide on how to utilize this mech.

Once Ves and Gloriana cleaned up the mech workshop, they left the compartment and dragged their weary bodies back to the latter's stateroom.

Both of them crashed into beds right after they changed their clothes. Their cats looked bewildered at how much the mech designers exhausted themselves!

"Meow." Lucky pressed his paw against Ves' cheek.

"Miaow miaow." Clixie curled her body next to Gloriana's head.

After a long night of rest, the newlyweds woke up again. After undergoing their morning routine, the pair discussed their next actions.

"I have a lot of matters to catch up to." Ves spoke. "We've been preoccupied with fabricating our mechs for two straight weeks. A lot has changed. Many guests have left. Master Willix and the Ubiquitous Force are already back in Centerpoint. Our talks with the Cross Clan have almost reached their end. Some of the hardware that we've ordered are already being delivered as we speak."

He did not look forward to handling all of these affairs, but he had no choice if he wanted to stay on top of the situation. He couldn't delegate everything.

Gloriana looked a bit tired as well. "I really hate it when you put me in this awful state. I don't feel as enthused about mechs as before. How can I perform any design work under these conditions? It seems I will be devoting my time on studying and handling the affairs of the Glory Seekers."

Both of them wanted to remain productive. Neither of them were in a mood to resume their honeymoon, not that they did anything too special.

Still, both of them were somewhat satisfied with their gains. The Prophet's Fist achieved a level of quality that gave both of them hope of reaching the peak again.

Ves figured he just had to spend more effort into increasing his emotional attachment to a mech design. Previously, cared about the Transcender Punisher design, but obviously he could have been more passionate.

The pair discussed when and how to publish their completed mech designs.

The Chiron and the Transcendent Punisher were meant for internal use. Ves did not need to announce them to the public. Neither did he need to present their designs to the MTA to undergo validation.

"The Transcendent Punisher can wait until we receive our factory ship, but the Chiron should start production straight away." Ves declared. "Our clan has rebuilt its mech academy, so there are plenty of mech cadets who can make immediate use of our exclusive training mech."

Ves looked forward to seeing how much of a difference the Chiron could make at the start. While the true potential of this self-adjusting training mech wouldn't become prominent until years later, it should already be considerably better than the bog-standard mechs the academy were currently utilizing.

"What about the Crystal Lord Mark II and the Sanctuary?" Gloriana questioned.

"There is no need to unveil the Sanctuary yet. Perhaps the only mech that has a lot of sales potential is the Crystal Lord Mark II." Ves replied.

"Will you hold one of your amazing press conferences again?"

Ves haplessly gestured to his tired face. "Do I look like I am in a condition to hold a compelling presentation? I'll be stuck like this for several weeks. We can either wait to publish the Mark II or leave it up to someone else to announce it to the public."

"You can also settle for publishing a simple press statement."

"I'll just shove this question to Raymond. The LMC shouldn't have to rely on me all the time."

His response made Gloriana pleased. "Good. You don't have to step forward each time you accomplish something. While I know you like the Crystal Lord product line, it isn't impressive compared to our second-class mech designs."

"The Crystal Lord Mark II may possess a fraction of the power of the Transcendent Punisher, but it has the potential to become the LMC's latest cash cow."

"Do you really think that? No offense, Ves, but the demand for premium rifleman mechs isn't great."

"That just means that even if the Mark II's sales fall short of reaching the level of the Desolate Soldier and the Doom Guard, the new model will still improve our financial position."

He had a lot more faith in the success of the latest edition of the Crystal Lord now that it had been brought up to par with his other glow-oriented mechs.

Once they decided on how to handle all of their finished mechs, they began to look to the future.

"We have a few weeks to think about our next round of design projects." He said. "Even if we aren't in the most creative mood right now, we can figure out the roles we need to fulfill."

"You wanted to design a lot of second-class mechs this time, right?"

"Yeah. We need to complete our commission with the Hexers as soon as possible. We also have to outfit most of our Larkinson mech pilots with living mechs. Ideally, I want to complete both of these objectives in two years."

Gloriana looked a bit shocked. "Two years? That's too fast!"

"We can do it as long as we work hard enough."

"Our assistants won't be able to keep up. Didn't we talk about this?"

"We did. I also mentioned that we can find ways to circumvent this problem. In fact, don't underestimate how much our assistants can currently do. Each of them are working hard to get up to our level. We can always try. We'll just have to lengthen the time it takes to complete our second-class design projects by a couple of months."

The first round of projects showed that four months was sufficient to complete a third-class mech design. However, second-class mech designs benefited a lot from extra development time.

While both Ves and Gloriana had already thought about some of the mechs they wanted to design next, they decided to wait until after they recovered from their exertion.

As Ves was ready to depart the Stellar Chaser, Gloriana brought up something important.

"My parents and my brothers and sisters are ready to bid farewell to us. Please come with me to Parma Imago. I know you don't like to be around my mother, but we both need to meet them at least one more time."

"Err.. I need to meet with the Cross Patriarch.."

Gloriana glared at him. "You are meeting with your new mother-in-law."

"Okay.."

Chapter 2520: Ves the Good Boy

Ves hadn't met with Gloriana's immediate family very often. This was quite regretful as the imminent departure of the Wodin Warriors meant that this might very well be the last opportunity they would be able to speak with each other in person.

When the newlyweds boarded a shuttle that brought to one of the fleet carriers of the Wodin Warriors, Ves did his best not to get annoyed by how weird the Hexers decorated their ships.

From their hexagon-shaped corridors to their hexagon-sided tables, the female supremacists found plenty of ways to express their love for the number six.

The Parma Imago was still an impressive ship regardless. Her modern technology along with her advanced materials meant she could play a very useful role once the Wodin Warriors took part in the Komodo War.

undefinedAs Ves and his new wife boarded a floater platform that brought them to the upper deck of the fleet carrier, they passed by plenty of male and female crew.

Ves frowned even further as every Hexer male assigned to the Parma Imago was no taller than 1.66 meters.

He was already familiar with this sight about the Stellar Chaser. The difference was that the Parma Imago boasted a much larger crew. While all of the women occupied important positions, the boys were responsible for all of the grunt work.

"Why do you Hexers even cap the growth of your male Hexers?" Ves couldn't help but ask.

"That's because they're boys, silly."

"This is unnatural!"

"That's the point, Ves. Nature is wrong. Nature is outdated. Ever since our civilization has developed to the point where boys aren't needed to defend their tribes anymore, their barbarism and propensity for violence aren't necessary anymore. Unfortunately, our civilization has developed too fast for our evolution to catch up. To prevent boys from deriving too much confidence in themselves, the matriarchs ordered their growth to be capped at a below-average height."

"And this actually worked?"

"The Hegemony considers this policy to be a massive success! There have been less rebellions ever since boys all have to look up to women all the time."

"Not every boy is cut short. Your siblings are just as tall as any other man in the galaxy."

"That's because they're good boys! Mother has raised them well. The Hegemony offers to unlock the growth of any boy who is exemplary enough. This reward gives hope to every boy in the Hegemony. Many of them work harder than ever in order to be recognized as a good boy!"

Ves could easily imagine why. He couldn't imagine the pain of being vertically challenged while living in a state where every woman was taller!

"Who exactly decides whether someone is a good boy?"

"There are different panels or other institutions that are dedicated to monitoring, rewarding and punishing boys. My mother happens to be in charge of one of them in the Scimitar System. She has punished many boys and rewarded a few of them over her career. Don't worry, Ves. You're a good boy to her, so she won't punish you anytime soon!"

Ves twitched. Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?

"I'm a man, Gloriana. Not a boy."

She turned lovingly at him. "Of course you are! You're not just a man, but you're my man!"

Well, at least she had her priorities straight.

The floater platform finally delivered the pair to the entrance of an observation chamber.

Once they passed through the hatch, they looked up to see an impressive view of the stars. The dome was oriented towards Cinach VI, so the pair also enjoyed an impressive view of the planet from above.

After admiring the open view, they walked across the wide deck until they reached an open terrace.

Constance and her brood were already present. Even Venerable Brutus sat next to his older brothers.

"Ves. We have been awaiting your arrival." The mother greeted him before turning to admonish her daughter. "Youngest, you've been out of contact for two straight weeks. Melody keeps telling me you have locked yourself up in your mech workshop."

"We were busy, mother!"

"That's no excuse to cut yourself off from the rest of your family!"

The exchange lasted for a minute. After she finished rebuking her daughter, Constance turned her disapproval to her new son-in-law.

"I see the both of you have been very busy in the last two weeks. Both of you look very tired. Have you been exerting yourself too much these days?"

"Uhm, fabricating mechs is intensive work." Ves modestly replied. "This is especially the case when attempting to create new masterworks. It's through putting a lot of effort that we have already succeeded a couple of times despite our young ages."

"Very well. Did you succeed?"

"We came close in our last attempt. We're quite happy with the result. Maybe next time we'll achieve our goal."

His mother-in-law inquired a bit more about their work. She exhibited some interest in the mech designs he recently completed.

"These third-class mechs are a waste of your time. According to my daughter Kellandra, your clan is more than capable enough of fielding second-class mechs. Your most important clients such as our state also urgently need more mechs from you. So far, a year has gone by, but you have only delivered two designs out of the eight that you have promised."

Ves nervously smiled. "We.. were busy in our own affairs these past few months. It will be different now. I don't foresee any major distractions in the coming months and years so I should have plenty of time to complete the commission."

His commitment seemed to satisfy Gloriana's mother. "Good. Work hard and deliver the remaining mechs in a timely manner. We will reward you for every success. In fact, the Hegemony has recently approved a bonus for you considering how much your Blessed Squire and Valkyrie Redeemer designs have helped us defeat more Fridaymen."

The older woman elegantly waved her hand, causing a projection of a very familiar-looking capital ship to appear into view.

"This is my factory ship!"

Ves had already memorized the specific configuration of the Estralla Klavier-class vessel. As he studied the projected schematics, he immediately noticed some discrepancies.

There were a few more additions to the ship design.

"Wait a minute. That wasn't there before…"

Constance tapped the schematic, causing the alterations and new additions to light up in red.

"In light of your great service to our great and righteous state, the Hexadric Hegemony has decided to reward you with an allotment of free upgrades. The schematic already contains some improvements recommended by the shipyard that is currently constructing your ship. You have the right to suggest other additions and alterations if you so wish."

"How much, ma'am?"

"800 billion hex credits."

That was quite a lot! This amount completely soothed his regret for not being able to earn any money from the sales of his Blessed Squire and his Valkyrie Redeemer.

Sure, he might have been able to earn even more money over the long run, but that would take way too much time. Considering the current needs of his clan, he would rather get a lump sum straight away when his factory ship was still under construction.

While much of the structure was already built and fixed, there was still a lot of leeway to make some structural improvements that couldn't be done once the ship went active.

This was a precious opportunity!

Some of the suggested improvements already looked quite impressive. The factory ship already came with two heavy-duty FTL drives, but the Hexers added a third one for additional redundancy!

The outer hull plating that had yet to be installed consisted of a better and tougher alloy without increasing the factory ship's mass. This was incredibly helpful as even a modest boost to defense could save a lot of lives in the future.

Due to the formidable size and surface area of the factory ship, neither Ves nor the Hexers could afford to incorporate materials comparable that to mech armor. It was simply too expensive. This was why Ves was still diligently saving up on Breyer alloy in order to mount a fantastic prow on his new factory ship!

The recommended upgrades all looked sensible to him. They improved the core parameters of his factory ship, particularly improving mobility and defense.

Of course, the inherent DNA of the factory ship was still the same. Compared to other capital ships, she was relatively slow and couldn't be used to tank a lot of hits like some moving fortresses.

The only downside was that these recommendations already ate into much of the budget of his factory ship. He only had a third of the bonus left to implement some additional improvements.

"Can we replace the supplied production equipment with better models?" Ves asked. "I'm particularly interested in obtaining a machine that can process ultra-hard first-class metallic materials."

Though his factory ship already came with a second-class manufacturing complex's worth of production facilities, none of them were rated to handle materials as hard as Unending alloy!

"I don't think we can afford such a machine yet." Gloriana answered. "Even in the Hegemony, such a powerful machine is unaffordable to all but the state and the most successful mech companies."

"A shame."

He should have expected this answer. It seemed that Ves would either have to rely on Lucky or find some other means to process Unending alloy. He couldn't borrow the Ubiquitous Force's mech workshop now that Master Willix already returned to Centerpoint.

Ves examined the ship design for any areas he wanted to add some extra modules or any aspects he wanted to improve.

However, his low state did not help him with this regard. He simply couldn't come up with any good ideas.

He suddenly remembered one of his latest hires. Didn't he recruit her to take on these matters?

"Can you give us some time to submit our proposed modifications?" Ves asked. "Altering a ship design is way too complex for any single person to tackle. I'm not specialized in ship design, but I have staff that do. I'd like to bring these design schematics back to my team so that my people can puzzle out a solution that satisfies my goals. Also, can we expand the available budget by putting in our own money?"

Constance nodded as if she already expected the answer. "I will get back to you on the budget matter. You have a week to submit your suggested changes. After that, the construction of your factory ship will reach a stage where major alterations cannot be implemented without tearing open the hull again."

"I understand. How long will it take for the ship to arrive in our hands?"

"I am told it will take less than two months to deliver your factory ship, even accounting for your suggested upgrades."

"That's quite fast."

"Several institutions of our state are assisting in the construction. The fabrication of ship parts, the supply of materials and the amount of personnel have all received substantial boosts. You can thank us for this change. Our dynasty has lobbied the state to accelerate the construction effort."

Constance and every other Wodin in the terrace looked expectantly at Ves.

"Uhm.. thank you.. mother."

Constance smiled warmly in response. "Anything for my son."

Inwardly, Ves felt like puking. His mother-in-law didn't have to call him that! Why did he keep getting more mothers? Sometimes, he just wanted to go back to the days where he didn't have any. At least he didn't have to worry about meddling women trying to keep him on his best behavior!

With that done, they all proceeded to settle down and talk about other matters. Constance and many of her children were very curious about what Ves and Gloriana planned to do in the Red Ocean.

In a matter of months, the Larkinson Clan would finally depart from the Komodo Star Sector. Both Gloriana and Brutus would be accompanying Ves and his clan to an entire new region of space.

It was a given that Constance was quite concerned about the Larkinson Clan's plans. She wanted to make sure that Ves didn't lead her youngest son and daughter into another abyss!

Chapter 2521: Indigo Tremor

The Parma Imago's observation chamber served as a large and spacious venue for Ves and to interact with his in-laws. Since Ves and his new wife might not ever have the opportunity to meet with the Wodins, Constance insisted the newly-weds to accompany her for an entire day.

Gloriana enjoyed spending time with her mother. She acted deferentially and listened to almost every word her mother said. She also grouped up with her older brothers and sisters who each wanted to pamper the youngest for one last time.

As Gloriana giggled at the teasing of her sisters, Constance had brought Ves and Brutus to a quiet garden that featured a tranquil three-dimensional lake.

Similar to what Ves had seen in the Ubiquitous Force, the Hexers installed sophisticated antigrav modules that precisely kept several large bodies of water suspended in the air. Fish swam from one body to another by passing through moving tunnels. Luminescent exoplants drifted lazily in the water, causing portions of the floating ponds to look like sparkling jewels.

undefinedAs the three sat down on some floating chairs, Constance gazed thoughtfully at her son-in-law and her youngest son. Her elegant dress made out of multi-layered black fabric featured moving purple hexagons of different sizes. Their moving patterns were a little distracting to Ves. Her status and stature made it difficult for him to look at her in the face.

"Brutus, my boy. Are the Glory Seekers prepared to accompany the Larkinson Clan in its journey?"

"We are ready, mother." Brutus answered with a prim and proper voice. "Even if an emergency occurs that forces us to depart straight away, we have everything we need to sustain ourselves for years."

"You will have to prepare some more. Matriarch Xiaphna has approved the transfer of the Parma Imago to the Glory Seekers. In order to represent the might of our dynasty, we cannot have you and your fellow Glory Seekers limit yourselves to sub-capital ships. As the Larkinson Clan acquires its own capital ships, our people must also possess a bulwark!"

Both Brutus and Ves looked shocked at her announcement!

It was not a trivial matter to transfer an entire capital ship from one unit to another. Their great value and enormous cost meant that they had to be treated very carefully.

"Which vessel?" Brutus asked.

"The Indigo Tremor. She is one of our newest fleet carriers. We are already in the process of refitting and resupplying her so that she can keep up with any long expeditions."

Ves raised his hand. "Can I see her specs?"

His mother-in-law obliged. She transmitted a single document that contained a summary of the fleet carrier's properties.

The Indigo Tremor was indeed a fairly recent acquisition. Bought in preparation for the Komodo War, the Wodin Matriarch instead decided to transfer her to the Glory Seekers shortly after the wedding.

With a length of 2.5 kilometers, her long and fairly broad hull was not as unwieldy as the Hemmington Cross, nor as fast and nimble as the Antonio Cross.

The Indigo Tremor possessed balanced properties and could carry up to 600 mechs or even more in an emergency. This was not an exceptionally high amount considering the large internal volume of the fleet carrier, but Ves had recently learned that these capacity numbers were guidelines more than anything.

For example, a 1.8 kilometer-long vessel such as the Antonio Cross was nominally rated to carry 240 mechs, but she offered plenty of additional space in her hull. Normally, that space was taken up by cargo bays, fuel tanks, spare parts, ammunition and even internal fabrication units.

If Patriarch Reginald Cross wanted to stuff more mechs in the slender fleet carrier, then the crew could remove ship components, cargo goods and supplies to make room for more than a hundred mechs!

They wouldn't be stowed as safely and securely as the standard complement of mechs, but at least they got in, which was better than nothing!

However, under normal circumstances, the fleet carriers were designed to accommodate other functions related to supporting a fleet or mech force. The Indigo Tremor was a decent example of that as she featured a good amount of cargo space for supplies and higher-than-usual mech workshops and even some fabrication facilities to produce new parts!

As Ves studied the schematics of the new flagship of the Glory Seekers, he realized that she was quite suited for frontier expeditions. She carried a good amount of mechs and her rounded capabilities enabled her to service her mechs without relying on logistical ships.

Overall, the Indigo Tremor formed a powerful addition to any fleet. If such a capable fleet carrier joined his expeditionary fleet, its safety and security would definitely receive a powerful boost.

It was just…

"While I appreciate this kind gesture, the beyonder gate…"

Constance bore deeply into his eyes. "I am sure that a lovely son as you would not object to our dynasty's kind gesture. With the addition of the Indigo Tremor, you can spare the cost of acquiring another capital ship, which will certainly help you in the long run. Though our Glory Seekers will run the Indigo Tremor, she is meant to safeguard my daughter, and by extension you and the rest of your clan. It is only proper for you to include her in the quota of any eventual beyonder ticket."

Though Ves appreciated the addition of a fleet carrier, especially at the earliest stage of his expedition where he could only count on a factory ship, the fact that he had to surrender one of his quotas was very upsetting!

If he didn't earn any more MTA merits in the following years, he would only be able to count on a quota of 7 or 8 capital ships. Ves already formed some plans on how to allocate those slots.

The surrender of one of them to welcome a fleet carrier that was not under his control meant he might have to scrap a fleet carrier of his own. He originally planned to obtain two or three of them, but in light of this development he would have to settle for less.

The only way to compensate for this loss was to try to earn more MTA merits in order to increase his clan's quota!

Ves wasn't sure whether he would have the opportunity to do so. He had already learned how hard it was for Journeymen to earn millions of MTA merits in a short amount of time. He had already sweared off performing any further high-risk missions such as the ones that lured him into the Nyxian Gap.

Without an easy way to make massive contributions to the MTA, Ves would likely have to accept that he wouldn't be able to bring more capital ships to the Red Ocean.

"Ma'am.. thank you for the offer, but our Larkinson Clan is already capable enough to build its own fleet."

Constance peered at Ves in a familiar manner. Gloriana stared down at him like this as well when he was being obstinate.

"The Glory Seekers must have a strong base of operations in your fleet. Their combat carriers cannot adequately serve this role. After all, once you reach the inter-galactic beyonder gate, it is not worth it to bring these sub-capital ships to the Red Ocean. Considering the difficulty of acquiring new ships in the new frontier, we cannot allow you to leave Gloriana's honor guard deprived of ships and mechs."

Damn. That ruled out one possibility to neuter the Glory Seekers.

Ves coughed. "A high-quality fleet carrier such as the Indigo Tremor must be an expensive vessel to maintain."

"Our dynasty takes full responsibility over the Glory Seekers. You do not need to concern yourself over the funding and management of the Indigo Tremor. The crew we intend to provide for her is fully capable of running a Hexer fleet carrier."

Constance shut down any opportunity for Ves to reject the Indigo Tremor's addition to the Glory Seekers. She verbally cornered Ves until he had no choice but to gift the Wodins one of his precious ship quotas!

She smiled in satisfaction once she secured his commitment. "You have made the right choice, my son. Make no mistake. Our two organizations are bound to each other. No matter how far you go, our dynasty will always support you. Each of us hope that my youngest daughter will be able to succeed alongside you and rise up to become a pillar for our dynasty in the new frontier."

"We don't need a lot of help." Ves replied in a feeble tone. "We can take care of ourselves."

"We shall see. Know that you can always turn to us should you require funding, technical assistance or any other help that we can supply to you from a distance."

"Thank you for the offer. I will keep your generosity in mind."

"Speaking of generosity, I hope that you will keep your second family and mind and give us some due consideration." Constance leaned forward. "For example, your clan has developed some unique and exceptional products that cannot be obtained from any other source. We have produced a good amount of Valkyrie Redeemers and variants ever since we received the right to field them from the Hex Army."

"I hope those Valkyrie Redeemers will serve your dynasty well. They are great mechs. Gloriana and I made sure of that."

"Before you go, we would like you to pay a visit to this vessel's hangar bays and draw the Superior Mother's blessing upon them. Our new mechs could dearly use any support they can get before we deploy them to the frontlines."

Ves narrowed his eyes. "As long as they are authentically made, every version of the Valkyrie Redeemers already carry the Superior Mother's blessing. That should be clear from the glows they project."

"We expect more out of them. Since our dynasty is allied to your clan, it is in poor taste to withhold your secrets from us. Gloriana has already told me that you have a tendency to leave your best innovation to yourself and your clansmen."

There was no way Ves could deny that!

"That's true, but…"

Constance raised her palm to interrupt his excuse. "As soon as Gloriana married you, she became a Larkinson in the truest sense. At the same time, your union with my precious daughter has made you a part of the Wodin Dynasty. Whether you acknowledge that or not, we deserve to be treated as your family as well."

What kind of twisted logic was this?! Didn't Ves agree with Gloriana that she was explicitly marrying into the Larkinson Clan without requiring him to reciprocate?

Even though this was legally the case, it was very hard for him to deny the existence of an invisible bond between him and the Wodin Dynasty.

"Gloriana will be sad if you do not help us in our time of need. Several of her cousins will be piloting your Valkyrie Redeemers in battle in the coming months. As you are the main reason why these mechs have glows, it is only right for you to maximize their performance and bring forth what you have withheld from the public."

In the end, Ves acquiesced to Constance's request. Venerable Brutus brought him down to the hangar bays of the Parma Imago so that he could call upon the Superior Mother to enhance the spiritual foundations of the brand-new Valkyrie mechs.

This was a fairly quick process that did not need much effort on his part. In fact, he was able to do this procedure by remote if needed.

The hardest part to him was to call the Superior Mother's attention and prompt her to donate some of her strength in order to empower the mechs in question.

Surprisingly, the Superior Mother easily accepted his request. Love flowed through their spiritual connection while the Superior Mother gently empowered every Valkyrie mech he designated.

She even listened to his instructions and capped the strengthening to 25 Ves!

In order to give the Wodins the impression that he was actually doing something, he boarded each and every mech and tinkered with some random settings in the operating system.

"It's done." He said as the Superior Mother receded.

Venerable Brutus appeared doubtful. Though he sensed some elevated activity in all of the mechs, he expected something more.

"Is that it? You hardly did anything."

Ves shrugged. "I didn't withhold much from the mechs. I just had to raise some limits. You Wodins will discover the difference in time."

Hopefully, his new mother-in-law would be happy with this little contribution!

Chapter 2522: Tearful Farewell

Having met his obligation to his new in-laws, Ves returned to the observation chamber and rejoined Gloriana's side.

Despite their ages, she and her fellow sisters were smiling and giggling like teenagers for some reason.

"You're back again." Gloriana kissed him on the cheek. "Did you do what my mother asked you to? It's crucial to give our Wodin Warriors as many chances as possible to excel in the battlefield."

He stared dourly at his wife. "What did you tell your mother, exactly?"

undefined"Not much." Gloriana blinked. "I just told her it's not that much of a coincidence that your Larkinson Clan obtained so many expert pilots and expert candidates. I didn't tell her how you were able to accomplish that. I know how to keep a secret!"

"Gloriana... "

"Don't be like that." She whined as she pressed against his side. Her intoxicating perfume filled his nose with pleasant floral scents. "I still care about my relatives. My mother and my dynasty raised me to become a Master so that I can design the most suitable mechs for them. As it stands, I won't be able to fulfill this mission to the fullest extent because you'll be bringing me away. It's only fair for you to help my dynasty out every once in a while. Otherwise, our matriarch wouldn't have supported you so much."

"I get that, but I don't like it when I'm being pushed in doing something. Even if it's your mother, I hope our cooperation won't proceed like this. If I want to help the Wodin Dynasty, then let me do it on my own terms."

"I know." She placed her hand on his own. "I will make sure to tell my mother to respect your terms. She was just in a hurry today because she and the rest of the Wodin Warriors barring a small guard force will be making their way back to the Hegemony very soon. Please don't ruin my final moment with my mother. I don't know if I'll ever be able to be with her in person again."

Even though she had a lot of time to prepare herself, Gloriana still looked emotional. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she came closer to bidding farewell to her family!

He felt sorry for her. While he was actually glad to distance himself from Gloriana's manipulative mother, he had to act like her dutiful husband and companion for the remainder of her last day with the people she grew up with in her youth.

Once evening came, the entire family moved to the hangar bay where a shuttle already waited for the couple to depart from the Parma Imago.

"My daughter…" Constance moved to hug her youngest. "I will miss you so much."

"Mommy…" Gloriana cried.

Despite her low state, her emotions were far too strong to let her mental exhaustion get in the way of pouring out her sadness!

Ves felt a bit awkward as mother and daughter tearfully hugged each other for the last time.

He could not offer any consolation to them. There was no way for him to predict that his Larkinson Clan would ever return to the Milky Way if they managed to enter the Red Ocean.

Even though most people predicted the price to pass through the beyonder gate would drop in a century or so, the Gate Consortium would definitely continue to charge a fortune to pass through!

It simply wasn't worth it to pay millions of precious merits just to go back to a galaxy that was much more stagnant and solidified. Unless humanity resumed the great war against the aliens that occupied the other half of the galaxy, there wouldn't be many opportunities for his clan to rise to greatness.

This was especially the case in the furthest reaches of the galactic rim. The Komodo Star Sector where the Hexadric Hegemony and the Wodin Dynasty were based didn't even have a fraction of the wealth and potential of a phasewater-endowed zone in the Red Ocean!

Even though Gloriana loved her birth family a lot, it was impossible for Ves and the rest of the Larkinson Clan to acquiesce to her wishes and return to the old galaxy at great cost just so she could enjoy her reunion.

Both of them would probably have to advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer before it became somewhat affordable for Gloriana to take a trip back, but that wouldn't happen for a very long time.

"Don't let anything happen to my baby sister, you hear me?" Kellandra walked up to Ves. "I don't care how many beyonder gates or light-years away you are. As long as something happens to her, I promise to do everything possible to travel to you so that I can squeeze your neck and snap it in half with my very hands!"

Ves raised his hands. "Hey! I love her as well, you know! I won't let her come to harm. You can trust me! The moment I married her is the moment I will cherish her life and happiness for the rest of my life."

Constance's second daughter did not think much of his promise. "I don't expect you to take care of her. Your only job is to allow the Glory Seekers to continue to guard my baby sisters. If and when your Larkinson Clan eventually drops the ball, I hope the soldiers arranged by our dynasty can succeed where you have failed and bring her safety. Is that understood?"

Amarithna Wodin walked up as well to stare Ves down in an eerily similar fashion to her mother and her younger sisters. "I don't trust boys, but you're apparently different. As the much-hailed son of the Superior Mother, I hope you can continue to pass on her blessing to our adorable sister."

The two oldest Wodin siblings instructed Ves on what he should do for a couple of minutes. While he wanted to leave right away, it wasn't polite for him to turn away from the two older women.

As Gloriana was done with her emotional farewell, Constance turned to Brutus.

Their goodbye was significantly shorter. The two merely exchanged some words before the woman patted her son on his shoulder.

"You know what you must do." Constance stood firm against the expert pilot. No matter how much Brutus had grown, she was still his mother! "Protect Gloriana with your life. Do not let her fall into the hands of those who seek to exploit her. Be prepared to throw away your life if need be. If you ever survive while your sister perishes, then your life has no meaning."

Venerable Brutus looked back at his mother with a solemn expression. He pressed his fist against his chest.

"If such a tragedy ever takes place, I will avenge her as best as possible before sacrificing my life. This I swear!"

"Good boy. Never forget your roots as a Hexer. The Milky Way and the Red Ocean is filled with misguided people who do not recognize the superiority of our culture. Make sure not to take too much after the Larkinsons and other foreigners. The Glory Seekers shall be your true home from this day forward."

"I understand, mother. In my heart, I am alway a Hexer!"

With these farewells, Ves along with Gloriana and Brutus finally departed from the Parma Imago.

Hours later, much of the Wodin Warrior fleet including the light fleet carrier that bore Gloriana's closest family left the Cinach System.

The star system became a lot less oppressive now that hundreds of Hexer vessels and thousands of Hexer mechs embarked on their journey home.

Ves felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. Even though he knew that the Glory Seekers would soon receive a huge new ship in the form of the Indigo Tremor, a thousand Hexer mechs did not equal the oppression of Gloriana's mother in his eyes!

At least Gloriana was able to share one last intimate moment with her family. She didn't have too many regrets that would weigh her down in the future. That was worth every discomfort that Ves had just experienced.

As Gloriana spent some time by herself to process the separation, Ves met with the Larkinson Clan's new shipwright the next morning.

While Vivian Tsai was just starting to set herself up under Major Verle's auspices, she had already recruited or transferred a few lesser shipwrights, naval engineers and other technical experts.

The Larkinson Clan already has a number of relevant talents hanging around. Now that the Larkinsons were finally getting serious about systematically developing their fleet, the new Naval Design Department served as the main authority with regards to its management.

It was still a skeleton so far. Ophelia Kronon and Vivian Tsai had a lot of work to do before the Larkinson bulked up their staff. The amount of attention the clan had devoted to its ships was quite paltry.

Hopefully, that would change. The Larkinsons should no longer be centered around mechs all the time.

"Vivian, congratulations on becoming the Chief Ship Designer of the Larkinson Clan!" Ves greeted the woman as he entered her office.

Lucky was already floating around while sniffing for interesting curiosities.

The woman in question looked rather overwhelmed. "My title isn't as impressive as it sounds. I am just starting to organize my department. It will take a long time to hire enough experts that meet my standards."

"Take your time." Ves spoke as he sat down in front of her desk. "We can't be too careful when it comes to recruiting new people."

"I take it you did not visit to check up how well I am adapting to my new job."

"You're right. There are two new developments that require your attention. First, The Glory Seekers will be receiving a fleet carrier from the Wodin Dynasty. I'd like to hear your take on their new vessel."

He transferred over the files that he received from Madame Constance. Vivian didn't even need to project the data as she was fully capable of processing it through her cranial implant.

As a prominent shipwright, she already possessed substantial augments. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to reach this level at her relatively young age!

"Hmm." She smiled. "Hexer ship design is quite distinct from the regional norm. That said, the Indigo Tremor is truly a good fleet carrier. She is not any worse than the fleet carriers that my father has designed and built. Her capabilities are on par and the Hexers have even updated some of her tech. She is a ship that can easily roam the stars for at least three decades without requiring any overhauls or deep maintenance."

"Is that impressive?"

"Certainly. Part of it is due to her design. The Indigo Tremor is a fairly rugged fleet carrier. She was actually designed to be in the thick of action against formidable enemies. She can offer a lot of defense, though her mobility is lower than average. She carries a good amount of mechs for her size, though she can always accommodate a couple of hundred more."

Much of her judgement matched with his own, but she also started to mention some insights specific to her area of expertise.

"The Indigo Tremor can actually serve as the base of a fixed colony."

"What?" Ves raised his eyebrow.

"Look here." Vivian projected a diagram of the Indigo Tremor and began to move some of her exterior sections. "If you strip off the outer layers, detach some of her outer modules and install some specific components, she becomes capable of making a safe and controlled landing on any planet with standard gravity."

"That's remarkable for a ship this big! Most capital ships will break apart if they get sucked into the gravity well of a planet!"

Vivian nodded. "The Indigo Tremor is only capable of doing this after stripping most of her heavy hull plating. Anyway, once the fleet carrier makes her landing, she won't be able to lift herself up under her own power, but it shouldn't be necessary. Once the crew anchors her to the ground and repurposes her separated hull plating and other sections, she can essentially turn into a solid fortress that can support the formation of an entire settlement!"

This was remarkable! It turned out that the Wodins may have built the Indigo Tremor with this purpose in mind from the start!

Chapter 2523: Juicy Upgrades

Ves did not know whether the Wodin Dynasty intended to found a colony in the Red Ocean. If they ever wanted to do so, then they already had a ready-made colony ship at hand in the form of the Indigo Tremor!

"There are better colony ships that can serve as the administrative and industrial center of a new colony, but the defenses of a headquarters based around the Indigo Tremor's hull is hard to surpass." Vivian explained.

"While that's true, once she is anchored on the ground, she's a sitting duck. As long as the Hexers lose orbital supremacy, it's hard to withstand sustained bombardment."

"You'd be surprised. There are surface-to-orbit weapons that can threaten any enemy ship that hovers too closely to a planet and there are other defensive measures that can stall an enemy attack. Besides, the main purpose of this defensive center isn't to resist major invasions. The landed fleet carrier mainly has to cover the growing settlement in its weakest period against raids and other opportunistic attacks."

undefined"What happens to the Indigo Tremor once the colony doesn't need her anymore?"

"It depends." Vivian responded. "While it is very difficult to do so, it is possible to reconfigure her into a starship and bring her back into space. She's too heavy to lift herself up, but a fleet of specialized tugboats can provide sufficient assistance in this regard. If this solution is not available, then her owners can always disassemble her entire hull, move the parts into space and reassemble the Indigo Tremor without requiring to fabricate all of her expensive parts from scratch."

Though these measures sounded quite troublesome, it was better than acquiring a brand-new fleet carrier from scratch.

Aside from this extra purpose, the Indigo Tremor didn't possess any remarkable functions.

"Mind you, these schematics are not complete." Vivian warned. "I am missing plenty of details as the ship diagram does not point out how the Hexer plan to fill their compartments. Still, from my understanding of fleet carriers, the Indigo Tremor is mostly a dedicated fleet carrier with a modest emphasis towards defense."

"I see. She has two FTL drives, right?"

"Correct, but it puts an immense strain on them to engage in FTL travel one after another without any extensive breaks in between. She's a bit worse than our upcoming factory ship in this regard."

Just because a starship was theoretically capable of activating one FTL drive after another on an alternating basis to avoid realspace did not mean it could continue forever.

FTL drives were complicated, finicky devices. The larger the ship, the more complicated they were. While they were built to exacting and robust standards, there were too many elements that could go wrong, especially when the engineers only had a few days to service these enormous beasts.

This was one of the reasons why Ves prized the addition of a third heavy-duty FTL drive to his factory ship.

By alternating between three FTL drives, the inactive ones received enough downtime to ensure they remained in good condition. Even if one of them fizzed out and required a month-long reconstruction, the factory ship could still rely on the remaining drives to remain elusive to any enemies waiting in realspace!

After Vivian finished giving her opinion on the Indigo Tremor, Ves brought up the new changes and upgrades to his upcoming factory ship.

"These upgrades are quite generous!" She noted with surprise.

"How so?" Ves looked puzzled. "The Hexers gave us an additional budget of 800 billion hex credits, but a significant portion of it is already spent if we accept the recommended upgrades."

"Much of these upgrades consist of proprietary hardware and materials. We're talking about military-grade solutions. The Hexers are offering you some the best of what they have to offer. While they are probably withholding plenty of sophisticated tech that they do not want to leak to their enemies, their list of choices contain many powerful functions that are even better than what my father has used back in our home state!"

The Hexers were quite sincere if they made so much tech available to them. Vivian pointed out some very useful functions such as specialized anti-stealth detectors and advanced autonomous repair bots.

Of course, all of this tech did not come for free. The Hexers charged a pretty penny for all of these goodies. The Hegemony was waging a war, after all. The state couldn't afford to waste too much money.

Ves looked at Vivian with an expectant expression. "Please help me upgrade the design of the factory ship. Aside from the 800 billion hex credits that the Hexers have rewarded us with, I'm willing to throw in 400 billion hex credits out of our own pockets."

"That is a lot of money! Is the Larkinson Clan able to spend that much? I recall that you plan to acquire at least six more capital ships. If you commit this much money, we might have to delay our other acquisitions."

Ves did not look concerned.

"It's fine. The finances of our Larkinson Clan will be a little tight after spending so much money, but we will soon release a bunch of mech models that will relieve this pressure. Besides, I don't think we will have to delay too much. The Wodin Dynasty has promised to extend favorable loans to us so that we can hurry up with ordering other capital ships."

This was quite a useful favor! While the Larkinson Clan could apply for loans elsewhere, its supposed ally would probably offer the most favorable terms.

Even if the Wodin Dynasty wasn't capable of lending him trillions of credits on short notice, his in-laws could act as a middleman to other Hexer institutions that were more than capable of transferring so much funds.

A long as the Wodins abided by their promise, Ves should be able to borrow enough money to fund the construction of several capital ships at a time!

That was a topic for another day. For now, he cared more about investing in his factory ship. Having observed several different capital ships, he became a bit worried about the size of his future flagship.

"Is two kilometers too short?"

"Not necessarily." Vivian shook her head. "Your factory ship is rather long and narrow, but she features plenty of decks. Her mobility and defensive capabilities are above average compared to a more traditional industrial vessel of this type and she possesses ample production capacity. If you wish to increase the productivity of this vessel, then I highly advise you to upgrade her fabrication facilities. Of course, we will also have to upgrade her power reactors."

The two began to discuss how to spend their entire budget. While it would take at least several days for Vivian and her staff to revise the factory ship in conjunction with the Hexer shipwrights who were in charge of building the vessel, Ves only needed to convey his preferences. It would be up to the ship designers to incorporate as many of them in the ship design as possible given the financial and technical constraints.

Ves was often at the other end of this relationship. He found it quite nice to play the role of a client for once.

As he possessed a related engineering background, he was well-versed in how far he could go. From the moment Constance informed him that he could add something extra to his factory ship, he was already considering several possibilities.

After exchanging some of his ideas with Vivian, they eventually settled on a specific plan.

"Since your highest priority is upgrading the industrial capacity of your factory ship, then acquiring higher-end production equipment and upgrading her power reactors is of utmost importance. Of course, there are also many related systems that need to be upgraded in order to cope with the higher stresses."

Spending hundreds of billions of hex credits on these areas was extremely costly, but it was the only way to increase the factory ship's efficiency without expanding her size.

Ves wanted to expand the factory ship's production capacity because it played an important role in equipping his clan with Larkinson-exclusive mechs. It was also one of his strongest means of earning money in the Red Ocean.

This way, if his business empire in the Yeina Star Cluster ever collapsed for some reason, his clan would still be able to pay the bills by relying on selling mechs produced within the fleet!

When it came to upgrading the production facilities of his flagship, Ves split them up into two categories.

First, Ves wanted to expand his ship's mass-production capabilities. His ship should be able to output sophisticated and complicated second-class mechs at a faster pace than before.

This meant that it should be much less of a burden for his factory ship to churn out difficult mechs such as the monstrous Transcendent Punishers!

In order to increase the output of his factory ship even further, Ves also opted to invest in more compact machines that took up less overall space. After Vivian rearranged the interior of the production halls, they managed to squeeze in a bit more hardware!

"Twenty production lines is the limit." Vivian eventually spoke after she drafted a new layout. "While there is still some room to spare, it is not wise to occupy more space."

"It's enough." Ves replied. "Each additional production line will add more burdens to the rest of our fleet. We need additional cargo vessels to carry the raw materials needed to produce the mechs and we also have to reserve more space to store the finished products."

Increasing his factory ship's mass-production capabilities wasn't his only focus. He also wanted to increase his vessel's high-end fabrication capabilities. For this reason, he invested billions of credits to acquire some of Hegemony's best production equipment to outfit not one, but two luxurious mech workshops!

Though they weren't as extravagantly outfitted as Master Olson's personal mech workshop back on Leemar, Ves was pretty confident he could rely on them to fabricate his expert mechs. Aside from the inability to process materials that were as hard as Unending alloy, the 3D printers, forging machines, alloy compressor and other machines were very capable.

Plenty of Hexer Seniors and Masters utilized the same models that he had chosen! Ves wouldn't have to upgrade the equipment for a very long time!

Vivian frowned at the extravagant expenditures. Ves could have spent his money on many other useful upgrades.

"I don't quite understand why you insist on upgrading both mech workshops. If you need to fabricate an expert mech, then upgrading a single mech workshop is enough. It is unlikely that you will end up in the situation where you are required to fabricate multiple expert mechs in a hurry."

"You're right. It may be a bit overkill when you consider our current state. Only Gloriana and myself are able to make full use of such a powerful workshop, and we are often working closely together. However, I'm looking towards the future. Ten or twenty years from now, our clan will definitely welcome some new Journeymen. All of these emerging talents might wish to engage in their own projects."

What he didn't mention was that Ves was sick and tired of working with Gloriana's production equipment all of the time.

While the two mech workshops both contained identical Hexer hardware, Ves wanted to claim one of them for himself so that he could personalize it to his own tastes. He could precisely tweak the configuration of all of the production machines so that they were completely tuned to his methods!

As for Gloriana, she could add as many hexagons as she wanted in her own workshop as long as she left his man cave alone!

Though Vivian disapproved of his decision, she tried to work with it. He was the boss, and she was his subordinate.

"Since our factory ship possesses so many upgraded power reactors, we should make good use of it." She said, changing the topic. "We can add some heavy-duty shield generators to add some active defenses to the factory ship. In battle, those 20 production lines will have to be locked down. Since they aren't consuming any power, your factory ship will have a lot of excess to spare. Diverting this idle power into shield generators makes a lot of sense."

"That sounds like a good idea, though these shield generators aren't cheap."

He agreed with her recommendation anyway. Increasing the defense of his factory ship was always worthwhile!

Chapter 2524: Shuffling Personnel

The Larkinson Clan entered into a calm period of time.

With all of the excitement surrounding the wedding over now, the Larkinsons all readied themselves for the most important event of their lives.

The grand expedition.

The dream started by Ves had become an obsession for the entire clan. Hardly any clansmen did not look forward to escaping the corner of the galactic rim and venture out to explore what the rest of the multiverse had to offer!

undefinedReaching the Red Ocean was a dream to many, but the Larkinson Clan already possessed enough confidence to reach it. With the enormous amount of MTA merits in the patriarch's pocket, there was no way they were missing this ride!

As Ves busied himself with managing the upcoming deliveries of second-class ships, mechs and other assets, many other Larkinsons got busy as well.

For example, ever since the Larkinsons set up the Hall of Heroes, every expert pilot became occupied with establishing themselves as a semi-autonomous unit.

This was quite rough for a number of expert pilots. Commander Rosa Orfan and Commander Dise were no longer allowed to lead the Flagrant Vandals and Swordmaidens.

It took quite a lot of placating to make them accept the new reality.

Lieutenant-Commander Abis Firelight took over as the new leader of the Flagrant Vandals. He already ran the Vandals for the most part as Venerable Orfan wasn't known for being a diligent administrator.

In the meantime, Venerable Orfan set up an elite spearman squad within the Hall of Heroes. She recruited some of her closest Vandals and a few other Larkinson mech pilots who excelled in piloting spear-wielding mechs to join her Radiant Hoplites.

Lieutenant Sendra took over for Venerable Dise as the new commander of the Swordmaidens. Despite her promotion, everyone knew that she was merely a stand-in for the true leader in the hearts of many Swordmaidens. Venerable Dise's prestige was secondary to the legendary founder of their mech force!

As the spiritual leader of the Swordmaidens, Venerable Dise still favored her sisterhood very much. To fill up her new Blade Mistresses squad, she hand-picked a handful of younger Swordmaiden mech pilots and also snatched up some other promising swordsman mech pilots from the Avatars of Myth. She initially didn't want to, but the Hall of Heroes awarded plenty of Larkinson merits should she succeed in mentoring more mech pilots into powerful warriors.

Venerable Davia Stark was a rather odd existence within the Hall of Heroes. She had emphatically refused to join the Larkinson Clan, yet she promised to fight on behalf of the Larkinsons.

Clansmen or not, Venerable Davia was not only a powerful expert pilot, but also one the few within the Hall of Heroes who excelled in piloting ranged mechs!

Under Commandant Cristoph Larkinson's urging, she reluctantly set up the Lost Soldiers to mentor other Larkinson mech pilots in improving their marksmanship.

Unlike the other expert pilots who either sought companions among their own circle or from the elites, Venerable Davia solely recruited Living Sentinels.

Perhaps she took pity on them or thought they shared something in common with her, but the Sentinels were highly enthused that such a powerful figure was willing to shower them with attention!

The Sentinels experienced a lot of changes lately. Commander Magdalena resigned her leadership position within the beaten and demoralized mech force and moved on to work directly under Major Verle.

Unlike the other mech forces that went through a leadership change, the Sentinels did not have a strong and proven officer at hand who were immediately suited to become the next commander.

Whoever took over the Sentinels had to clean house and right the ship. No average leader would be able to infuse some vitality in a mech force that had just lost a horrendous amount of mech pilots in the Nyxian Gap!

Some people even suggested that the Sentinels needed to look outward in order to find their new commander. Various suggestions circulated within the Larkinson Clan. After being led by an old and grizzled war veteran, many Sentinels actually favored being led by someone younger.

They wanted to be led by someone with a fresh perspective and who wasn't rigid. The Sentinels considered various options ranging from Commander Melkor to Lieutenant Dietrich Krotz.

Neither of those choices were suitable. Melkor had been with the Avatars from the start and would be like a fish out of water if he suddenly took charge of the Sentinels. Lieutenant Dietrich Krotz had only just received a promotion and was too unproven to lead thousands of mech pilots.

As Major Verle became increasingly more distressed about finding a suitable leader, a surprising figure volunteered to turn the Sentinels around.

Captain Casella Ingvar of the Avatars of Myth applied to take over as commander. As soon as this news became known, everyone was floored!

She led the Second Spaceborn Mech Company of the Avatars. Not only that, she had just advanced to expert candidate and was expected to dedicate herself to training in order to become an expert pilot as fast as possible.

For her to take on the difficult and time-consuming work of leading the largest mech force of the Larkinson Clan made little sense!

The hopeful new commander met with Ves and Major Verle in order to explain her decision in person.

Two people along with two pets entered the conference room of the Scarlet Rose.

Ves was already familiar with the Ingvar siblings. He paid more attention to the pets they decided to adopt.

Captain Casella opted to adopt a small goldfinch. The little bird rested happily on the female expert candidate's shoulder.

However, as soon as the little bird spotted the two cats in the compartment, she flapped her wings in a warning manner.

"Meow?"

"Chirp!"

"Ah, sorry about that, sir. Mirrie isn't used to all of the cats in the Larkinson Clan."

"It's okay." Ves waved away the issue. "Being surrounded by so many natural predators can make any bird nervous."

Nothing would come to harm to Casella's pet. Every pet in the Larkinson Clan was sentient, so they shouldn't go out of control.

"Woof!"

An eager-looking hound padded forward. Imon Ingvar had come as well along with his wagging dog.

"You are not invited to this conversation." Major Verle remarked.

As one of the Senior Larkinsons within the clan, he too sought to adopt a pet as soon as he returned from the Nyxian Gap.

"Meuw."

A cat that resembled a traditional British shorthair lazily laid on the desk next to Major Verle's data pad. Hayden was a rather docile cat. Just like almost every other cat adopted by the Larkinson, he was a high-end designer cat who originated from Felixia.

Ves clapped his hands. "As lovely as it is to bring your pets to work, let's get to business."

Each of the animals behaved and restrained themselves. Just because the Larkinsons allowed people to bring their pets to work didn't mean they were allowed to run wild!

Once Casella and Imon sat down, Major Verle went straight to the point.

"Captain Ingvar, I admit that I am surprised at your request. You have fought well in the Nyxian Gap and managed to become an expert candidate along with your brother. Most people in your place would choose to lessen their burdens so that they can devote more time towards training. Why do you want to become the commander of the Living Sentinels?"

"I am a leader." The Avatar Captain replied. Her confidence and aristocratic bearing conveyed a lot of certainty. "Before all of this, I have led the household troops of my former house. I have to admit that I was not the best at leading my troops back then. With the collapse of House Ingvar, my own subordinates rebelled and took over everything."

Her failure caused her and her brother to become stranded in Kinner space. They were in their lowest moments at the time.

"I know what it is like to fail. I am very grateful to our patriarch for giving my brother and I a chance to pick ourselves up. I worked tirelessly to learn from my lessons and relearn how to lead a unit when Commander Melkor entrusted a mech company to me. While leading 40 mech pilots is incomparable to taking charge of every Living Sentinel, my prior experience as a mech officer of House Ingvar is still helpful for me. The Sentinels may be larger than anything I have ever touched, but I am confident that I can inspire them to regain their battle spirit."

Both Ves and Major Verle sensed determination from Captain Casella. She was serious. She did not think about taking over the Sentinels on a whim, that was for sure!

Ves turned to her brother. "Mr. Imon Ingvar, what do you think about your sister's choice?"

"To be honest, I think she's stupid for running off the Sentinels. She's too good for them!" Imon bluntly said.

"Brother! We talked about this! This is what I'm meant to do. I need to prove that I can lead!"

"You just want to make up for the fact our old household troops mutinied on us! Damnit Casella, haven't you gotten over this old wound yet? We aren't nobles anymore!"

Major interrupted their argument. "Please be honest. While I agree that the Sentinels will doubtlessly welcome an expert candidate as their new commander, your brother's remarks are concerning. Is this personal to you, captain?"

The female Ingvar nodded. "It is, sir. I won't hide this from you. I feel I need to make up for my regrets. My past as a failed leader is haunting me. No matter how much I try to move on, I am still weighed down by my memories. I don't think I can achieve apotheosis with so many doubts. Venerable Jannzi told me that expert pilots must have absolute certainty in their purpose and life. I have decided that taking on this challenge is the best way for me to move on from my past and prove once and for all that I am meant to lead mech pilots into battle!"

Ves and Major Verle looked at each other. Both of them possessed some understanding of expert candidates and expert pilots.

Though the major still looked doubtful, Ves was more optimistic.

"I think most expert pilots such as Venerable Dise or Venerable Orfan aren't suited to run a large mech force." He said. "However, there are a few exceptions among high-ranking mech pilots who are driven by responsibility. My uncle, Venerable Ark Larkinson, is a good example. I see something in you, captain. Let me be clear. The Larkinson Clan doesn't want you to sacrifice your chance of reaching the rank of expert pilot. We can find more Larkinsons to lead the Living Sentinels, but we don't have as much choice when it comes to nurturing new expert pilots."

Captain Casella remained confident. "I share your concerns, but I won't slow down because of this. In fact, I will be better off once I succeed."

After a lengthy discussion, Ves and Major Verle finally decided to approve her application. From now on, Commander Casella Ingvar became the new head of the Living Sentinels!

Though Imon was regretful that his sister would be moving out of the Avatars of Myth, Casella exuded a sense of purpose once Major Verle formally promoted her to her new position.

"The Living Sentinels will turn around. I will make sure of that, sir."

"Don't be too eager yet." Verle carefully warned the mech commander. "You have a lot of problems on your hands. Don't move too quickly. While I am willing to put my trust in your decisions, it is best if you sound out your ideas to me first."

"Understood." Commander Casella replied with a serious expression. "I will keep you in the loop. I may need to draw upon additional resources in order to transform the Sentinels."

"You will have all of the support you need. We will try to oblige your requests as long as you produce results."

Chapter 2525: Life of Joshua

The entire clan was truly shocked when Casella Ingvar won the contest to become the next Sentinel Commander!

No one actually expected that Ves and Major Verle would put an expert candidate in charge. Wasn't that counter to the Larkinson Clan's policy that expert candidates and expert pilots should shed their distractions?

Regardless, the announcement had immediate effect. While most clansmen were bewildered, the Living Sentinels were all ecstatic!

"We finally have a commander who understands our plight!"

undefined"Casella is so good!"

"Will her brother be coming over as well?"

"Damn, I look up to every mech pilot that managed to break through in the last battle. We're the only mech force that is still led by a hero!"

"I'm looking forward to her first actions. She has lived through the same horrors as we did in the Nyxian Gap. I would trust her over any outside officer who thinks he can turn us around just because he used to lead a mech regiment in the past!"

Even though Casella Ingvar used to be Avatar before she took up her new position, the Sentinels largely overlooked this detail. They immediately embraced the new Sentinel Commander as one of their own on the very first day!

This was the power of an expert candidate!

Though not as prestigious as an expert pilot, the admiration the clansmen held towards these exceptional mech pilots was quite considerable.

Confidence and morale in the Living Sentinel immediately doubled. Even though Commander Casella hadn't even passed any reforms as of yet, the expectations of her subordinates were so high that they already took it for granted that she would become their true savior!

For her part, the new Sentinel Commander wasn't shy about taking advantage of her reputation. Deserved or not, she aimed to do her best in restoring the Sentinels as a proud and strong band of soldiers within the Larkinson Clan!

While it was too early to tell, she was doing quite well for herself in the first few days. She regularly consulted with Major. Not only that, she secretly corresponded with her predecessor in order to grasp the requirements and responsibilities of her enormous position as soon as possible.

With Commander Magdalena bringing Commander Casella up to speed, Ves had no further concerns about the new changes. He had never lost confidence in the former in the first place. With a younger and stronger face as a conduit, Magdalena should still be able to exert some influence without upsetting her former subordinates.

Of course, this was only acceptable in the short term. Once Commander Casella no longer needed any assistance, she needed to make her mark as a leader and exercise her own judgement. Otherwise, she would become perpetually dependent on other people to make any decisions. This was not conducive to her goal of overcoming the demons of her past.

With Commander Casella taking up her new responsibilities, other Larkinsons changed their routines as well.

Ever since Joshua Larkinson entered the Hall of Heroes, he tried to get used to all of the autonomy he obtained.

Perhaps others might think that being able to make your own decisions was nice, but Joshua was overwhelmed by how many matters he needed to take care of. Back in the Avatars, Commander Melkor and the staff officers arranged almost everything on his behalf.

Since Joshua had no stomach to take care of all of these tedious matters, he began to expand his staff and recruited another Bright Companion with administrative and command ability to act as his secondary.

"Lieutenant Chette, thank you for coming aboard." The expert pilot greeted.

"It is an honor to be selected by you." Chette Larkinson replied.

The trueblood Larkinson had come a long way since the Larkinson Family initially transferred him to Ves. Raella had moved on while Jannzi explosively progressed to expert pilot. Meanwhile, Chette steadily matured himself and even managed to pass an officer course.

Though some of the original Larkinson still found it strange to take orders from outsiders who only became Larkinsons later on, Chette did not harbor these thoughts.

Even if Joshua Larkinson wasn't an expert pilot, Chette was still willing to respect his superiors no matter the blood that flowed through their veins.

This was what the Larkinson Clan was all about. Every single Larkinson was a fellow brother and sister.

Joshua placed his hand on Chette's shoulder. "I'm not good at all of this commanding stuff, so I will leave it up to you to manage the Bright Companions. Are you up to the task?"

"I am. I wouldn't have accepted your offer otherwise."

The two young Larkinson mech pilots discussed what needed to be done. Chette may not be taking over a force as large as the Living Sentinels, but he needed to solve many problems in order to establish the Bright Companions as a strong group of elites under Venerable Joshua.

Not only that, Chette was also expected to keep up with his training and fight alongside the expert pilot in battle. He would never be able to enjoy a free moment of time in the coming years.

Nonetheless, as long as Chette overcame these challenges and proved he could handle the pressure, he would become a very desirable mech officer in the future!

This was one of the goals that Ves and Major Verle had in mind when setting up the Hall of Heroes. Every mech pilot who had the privilege to serve under an expert pilot would be shaped by their experiences!

As Chette went off to take charge of Joshua administration, a surprising guest sought out the expert pilot.

A lot of clansmen wanted to get close to the expert pilots. However, letting everyone take up their time would only distract the demigods from their true purpose.

For this reason, every person had to have a very good reason to meet with one of the heroes of the Larkinson Clan.

Ketis happened to have no problems getting through these checks. She not only offered the gatekeepers a plausible excuse, but also enjoyed a high status within the Larkinson Clan!

As a favored student of Ves and someone who was rumored to be close to advancing to Journeymen, many Larkinsons respected her, especially those who served in the armed forces.

"Miss Ketis! What brings you here?" Joshua turned to the mech designer. "Did the patriarch send you here to tweak the Quint?"

"No." She spoke. "I'm here to instruct your swordsmanship. You may have learned how to wield a blade in that fancy mech academy of yours, but your teachers have never had to rely on their swords as much as the Swordmaidens."

"What? No one told me about this! I don't need your help, Ketis. I'm an expert pilot. I'm beyond human. While I fight at my best when I'm piloting a mech, don't underestimate me. I'm better in every aspect."

Ketis snorted contemptuously at Venerable Joshua. She took no notice of his lively force of will.

"I've beaten people who were 'beyond human' before. There is more to swordsmanship than skill and superhuman reflexes. Come! Accept my challenge!"

Though Venerable Joshua did his best to send her off, she wasn't having any of it. She practically dragged the expert pilot to the nearest sparring ring in the temporary base!

"Piss off!" She shouted to the other mech pilots and soldiers in the training hall. "Expert pilot, coming through! Give him some privacy!"

The other Larkinsons quickly vacated the hall in order to give Venerable Joshua all the space he needed.

After changing their clothes and wearing some high-tech protective equipment, the two faced each other in a sparring ring.

Both of them wielded sword-shaped rods made out of composite materials. Their weight and balance was identical to that of a real sword. The only difference was that they instantly softened whenever it hit somewhere. No matter how much force their wielders employed, they wouldn't even be able to crack an egg so long as the practice weapons did their jobs!

However, upon Ketis' urging, the two sparrers switched the safety setting of their faux-swords to a harsher level. The rods held their stiffness longer before softening up, ensuring that anyone who got struck would receive a painful lesson!

"Ketis, I know you're a Swordmaiden, but isn't this too harsh? I don't want to hurt a fellow Larkinson."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I fought exobeasts and crazy mutants with nothing but my body and my sword! I can break measly expert pilots like you with a hand tied behind my back!"

Before Venerable Joshua could continue his pleas, Ketis swept over as if she was at the forefront of a storm!

She lifted her weapon over her head and struck down with a swift and powerful chop that was too fast for Joshua to dodge!

To his credit, Joshua reacted appropriately and blocked Ketis' strike in a way that caused her weapon to slide to the side.

Yet before Joshua could take advantage of the apparent opening, Ketis rapidly threw out a punch that hit Joshua's thinly-padded stomach!

"Oof!"

Not expecting such a furious assault from a mech designer, Joshua failed to defend himself against Ketis' next attack.

She brutally kicked out at his crotch!

"AHH! That's a foul!"

"There are no rules in combat! Besides, you're wearing a codpiece!"

Every standard sparring uniform provided comprehensive protection against attacks from every direction. The thin but sturdy smart clothing normally remained soft to provide maximum flexibility to their wearers, but stiffened up to the point of being able to withstand considerable force!

Though these training clothes weren't cheap, the Larkinson Clan could easily afford these suits.

When Venerable Joshua finally realized that Ketis was being very serious about beating him, he adjusted his mentality and began to fight back.

He employed his transcendent nature and began to react faster while employing more strength. He took advantage of his greater battle instincts and his uncanny intuition.

However, Ketis still kept up! She turned into a wildcat as she went on the offensive and unleashed continuous slashes.

Even if Joshua was able to keep up with the attacks, he could barely do anything except to block the incoming strikes!

He couldn't overpower her with his strength. While he was a demigod, he was also a baseline human. He possessed no physical augmentations while Ketis had gone through multiple rounds of genetic modification that were mainly geared towards strengthening her physique!

While Joshua was quite good at swordsmanship, Ketis amazingly showed more technical skill! She performed the same moves as he did with much better fluency. She was able to string her attacks with as little wasted movements as possible and she was able to muster up an appropriate response whenever Joshua threatened to turn the tide.

The only advantage he enjoyed was his noticeably faster reaction speed. Their reflexes might be similarly as good, but he possessed an edge in how fast he could think.

Expert pilots didn't need to be strong in body. They only had to improve their minds, because their expert mechs were supposed to be their true bodies!

Yet even if Joshua was able to outthink Ketis, she never fell for his ploys!

"Ouch!"

One of his gambits failed, causing her to whack her rod against the side of his head! While his collar rapidly extended upwards in order to cushion the force, the expert pilot still experienced a hefty tap that caused him to release more sweat.

She was unstoppable!

"Can't you ease me in a bit? You're too good!"

Ketis gripped her weapon with both of her hands and overpowered his block!

Before her could back off, she slammed her horned head against his own nogging!

Though their sparring uniforms shielded both of their heads, Joshua became so overwhelmed that he fell onto his back!

Ketis fell with him, causing her to land on top of his body. Their padding didn't engage, causing both of them to feel each other's body warmth without too many barriers.

"Uhm. Could you get off?" Joshua asked as he huffed his breath.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Do you know how to wrestle?"

Chapter 2526: A New Learning Machine

Lanie Larkinson was puzzled as one of her instructors pulled her out of her training session.

The teenage mech cadet's training results were pretty good, though she was far from matching the best. She brushed aside her brown hair as she waited for the shuttle she had boarded to reach its destination.

It did not take long for the vehicle to land inside an enclosed mech hangar. Her instructor, an older trueblood Larkinson and war veteran, strapped herself off her seat.

"We're here. Follow me, cadet."

undefined"Yes, ma'am."

The straps holding her in her seat retracted as soon as she pushed herself to her feet. She obediently followed her teacher as they entered into a huge but largely empty hall.

They moved forward until they approached another Larkinson.

"You're here. Good. My name is Cherie Tovar-Larkinson. I am an assistant mech designer serving in the Design Department. Is this Miss Lanie Larkinson?"

The instructor nodded. "Yes. I have brought Cadet Lanie as requested."

"I have already studied her academy records. Just to be sure, can you give me your evaluation on her training progress?"

"Cadet Lanie is a diligent mech cadet and never misses class. She gets along well with her fellow cadets but has shown no special aptitude in leading them in battle. While she has performed decently in piloting different mech types, she has shown a greater affinity for ranged combat. She performs a bit better on land than in space, but that is normal for every mech cadet. Overall, her training progress is on par for her genetic aptitude of B-, though she has peers who managed to perform better."

There was an implicit tone of criticism in the mech instructor's tone. Lanie felt a bit disappointed, but she had no one else to blame but herself.

While she was eager to become a good mech pilot, there were other Larkinson potentates who spent their every waking moment training or studying!

Their drive to become an elite Larkinson mech pilot was insane. They tended to be outsiders who joined the clan after their parents got in. Recognizing the golden opportunity in front of them, these new mech cadets worked so hard that the academy had to step in to prevent them burning out too quickly!

The mech designer soon brought up the reason why Lanie was here.

"Cadet Lanie, our Design Department has recently completed the design of a very specific mech. Our Patriarch wishes to invest in the future mech pilots of our clan and has devised a new model that is specifically geared towards improving your training results. We have chosen you to be the first to pilot the completed version of our Chiron!"

Though Lanie hadn't heard about this development, the instructor already guessed the reason. The older woman had already been involved in the testing of the prototypes.

"Miss Tovar, while Cadet Lanie has achieved good results, our academy has other young potentates who deserve this honor."

Cherie shook her head. "This is not a matter of honor. It is a matter of observation. We predict the difference in performance is more drastic if the cadet in question has more room to improve. The Chiron does not make much of a difference if the mech pilot is already good. Besides, the patriarch personally assigned the first production copy to Cadet Lanie."

That finished this little discussion. Lanie moved on to undergo a quick physical before changing into a special piloting suit. Soon enough, a couple of mech technicians guided her to a mech that looked different from any other machine she had witnessed.

"Is this.. the Chiron?" She asked with an impressed tone in her voice.

"Yup." A mech technician grinned. "It's a training mech that is specifically made for kids like you. It has some special features that you'll be testing today."

As she came closer to the prepared mech, she already felt its glow. The feeling the Chiron gave off was very familiar. Her hearts tugged with warmth and her affection for the Larkinson Clan increased. She also thought about hugging cats for some reason.

"Why is it called the Chiron?"

"Beats me. According to the galactic net, this Chiron fellow was a big centaur who taught a lot of heroes. I guess that's as good a name as any for a training mech."

"The Chiron is not a centaur mech, though. It's humanoid." Lanie pointed out.

"You should tell that to the big boss."

Soon enough, Lanie entered the cockpit. She settled into the piloting seat and waited until she received to activate her mech.

"You may activate your mech now, cadet."

She did as instructed. Once she pressed the activation button, she tried to keep her excitement under control as her mind slowly connected to something greater.

It was hard for her to keep calm!

Every Larkinson cadet looked forward to piloting an LMC mech. The adult mech pilots all raved about how pleasant it was to pilot the so-called living mechs. If not for the fact that the current LMC mech models couldn't keep up with second-class machines, the Larkinson pilots wouldn't want to part with their Bright Warriors!

Now, Lanie would be the first one to pilot the completed version of the Chiron.

Though the initial startup procedure was longer than usual, Lanie slowly felt the mech unfold in her mind.

The mech that connected to her mind was truly different from any training mech she interfaced with before.

The other machines were small, weak and limited in strength. In class, she learned that the neural interfaces of training mechs were deliberately constrained in order to minimize as many risks as possible for the mech cadet.

Due to their youth, their minds were more adaptable, but that meant that it was easier for them to be distorted by outside factors.

In order to raise them into proper mech pilots, mech academies tried to make sure they did not get exposed with faulty or extreme mechs.

While the Chiron possessed similar limitations, Lanie perceived something completely different.

The new training mech was warm. The new training mech was alive. The new training mech pulled her in deeper than any other machine!

"Is this what it is like to pilot an LMC mech?"

She finally understood why so many Avatars and Sentinels didn't want to part with their LMC mechs. The experience was so much better compared to other mechs.

Before she interfaced with the Chiron, she had already grown accustomed to piloting training mechs that made her feel as if she was donning a heavy suit. Each movement required her to exert her mental strength.

The worst part was that exercising precise control was a major challenge. If she put in too much effort, her mech would overshoot its movements. If she tried to be more careful, the mech wouldn't move as fluently.

What was even worse was that training mechs often possessed a very difficult body structure from what she was accustomed to. Every parameter was so different that Lanie had to learn how to control a completely different body.

Yet she was about to experience something a lot different this time.

[Cadet Lanie.] Cherie Tovar spoke over a comm channel. [The telemetry suggests that you have successfully interfaced with the Chiron. Are you experiencing any problems of any sort?]

[No, ma'am.]

[Good. Just to be sure, let us go through a checklist and test your initial performance with the current state of your training mech.]

Lanie began to perform some basic tests with considerably more ease than before. Normally, she wouldn't have been able to move so comfortably with a training mech, but this was different. Though the Chiron was still a mech that was fairly difficult to pilot for a cadet, the comforts it provided allowed her to adjust to the mech with remarkable speed.

The mech just felt too good! If she had a choice, she didn't want to go back to the stiff, cold mechs she practiced with before. The difference was like night and day!

Once she performed some basic movements with the Chiron, Cherie Tovar announced the next phase of the test.

[Very well. We have established a suitable baseline. We shall proceed with the body adjustment and archetype switching. We will be initiating this transformation while you are still piloting the Chiron. This may be uncomfortable for you. Make sure to warn us if you ever feel uncomfortable.]

"Wait, ma'am. The mech hasn't been adjusted yet?" Lanie asked.

The Chiron received a command that caused it to initiate some pre-planned procedures. Its entire frame began to morph as numerous mechanical parts began to shift.

The arms began to contract, the legs grew shorter as well. The torso contracted and narrowed. Thousands of adjustments took place at the same time or in quick succession as the Chiron slowly but surely began to conform to Lanie's modest and slender physique!

All the while, Lanie remained connected to her mech. She could feel it changing in a way that caused it to become more synced with her own mind!

This was a magical experience for the young mech cadet!

She experienced no discomfort of any kind. The mech worked exactly as designed and changed shape to such a drastic extent that she felt as if she was back in her own body!

Once the transformation process came to an end, the mech cadet waited patiently until the others confirmed that nothing went wrong.

[Alright. Cadet Lanie, as you have noticed, the mech has transformed to adapt to your physique. Please run through the same tests as before. We need to determine how much your performance has changed.]

She performed the same movements as before.

The differences were obvious straight away. Though the difficulty of controlling her mech hadn't dropped as much as she hoped, the challenges became much more manageable.

Lanie never thought that piloting a mech that matched her physique to a much greater extent would make such an enormous difference! Compared to before, she performed 40 percent better on average!

This was a huge jump, especially when Lanie was just starting to get accustomed to piloting such a sublime training mech!

[We are releasing a laser rifle to you. Please take the rifle and fire at the projected targets.]

She commanded her Chiron to grasp the rifle that was brought in front of her mech. The rifle fit the Chiron's grip in a familiar fashion. It was almost identical to how she held an infantry rifle in her real arms.

Once her Chiron began to shoot some low-powered beams at some static and moving practice targets, she became increasingly more caught up in the activity.

Her accuracy had practically doubled! Firing a rifle with her mech in her current conditions was so familiar that she could replicate her actual technique without worrying too much about inaccurate translations.

"This is amazing!" She gasped.

By the time the test had ended, Lanie begged to pilot the Chiron for a couple more hours. She did not get her wish.

She emerged out of her mech feeling bot satisfied and regretful. She was so addicted to piloting the Chiron that she just wanted to throw everything else aside so she could spend all day with her new training mech!

Cherie Tovar greeted the mech cadet as she reluctantly lowered herself onto the ground.

"Have you been enjoying yourself?" She asked with a knowing smile.

"The Chiron is amazing, ma'am! It's already comfortable to pilot in its normal state, but once it adapted to my body, it's twice as good!"

"That's what this model is all about. We not only aim to make it easier for its mech pilots to perform maneuvers, but also enjoy the sessions while they are at it. As far as I'm concerned, the Chiron is one of the most powerful trump cards of our clan!"

Lanie wholeheartedly agreed. If every mech cadet in the clan received the opportunity to pilot the Chiron, they would probably get addicted as well!

Still, as much as she enjoyed her session, the young potentate still remained sober enough to form some concerns.

"Is it alright to pilot the Chiron further? Don't get me wrong. I like piloting it. I just don't encounter the problems that I regularly face with other mechs. Won't I be able to get accustomed to piloting real mechs if I pilot with a handicap all the time?"

The mech designer shook her head. "It's not that simple. While you are right, don't forget that the Chiron's frame is infinitely adaptable. By adapting its layout to your body shape, you are able to practice many advanced skills such as marksmanship and swordsmanship through targeted training ahead of time. However, once you have to practice other forms of mech handling, the Chiron can automatically adjust to an adult shape or even take on abnormal forms in order to train your adaptability."

Lanie understood what she meant. The Chiron's ability to transform opened up a lot of extra possibilities!

If used correctly, the Chiron could produce an army of excellent graduates!

Chapter 2527: Rise of the Valkyries

The Komodo War raged on with greater intensity than ever!

Though half of the territories of the Carnegie Group and the Vermeer Group fell into the hands of the Hexers, the Fridaymen took them back at a steady pace!

Starships exploded, mechs fell by the thousands and an incredible degree of ordnance was being consumed with each passing second!

The Hex Army fought hard, but the different militaries of the Friday Coalition hit their enemies back with vengeance and desperation!

undefined"Don't let these Hexers catch a breath! As long as we let up, these witches will go on the attack again!"

"Take revenge for Carnegie and Vermeer! Don't let the sacrifices of our brothers be in vain!"

Hundreds of star systems that had become the site of Hexer invasions just months ago suddenly dealt with another wave of invasions.

The Sundered Phalanx and the Oni Guard both advanced relentlessly despite the opposition in their way!

The Hex Army's overreach and the lack of time spent on fortifying the conquered star systems meant that the Fridaymen could take them back on the cheap!

The Fridaymen encountered significantly less resistance in taking them back than their counterparts!

This was a given, as the Hexers pretty much had to dismantle all of the centuries of accumulation spent fortifying the Fridaymen star systems. Once the conquests succeeded, there was no way the female supremacists were able to entrench their new gains in a short amount of time.

Even if they were capable of doing so, they might not even want to do so! To the Hex Army, its resources were better spent on strengthening their main mech units than building up some marginally useful fortifications.

One of the categories of mechs that recently received a lot of attention from the Hexers was the expanded Valkyrie product line!

No longer were the Hexers forced to work with a one-size-fits-all solution. The introduction of five additional variants brought enough variety to the mech divisions of the Hex Army to form Valkyrie mech units with a greater degree of specialization!

While the Blessed Squires still served a very vital role to the Hex Army, the Hexers naturally gravitated towards the LMC mech dedicated to female mech pilots.

The mech just called to these aggressive and bloodthirsty women like no other machine designed by the Hexers had ever accomplished!

Other aerial mechs may feature greater optimization, offer more varied modules and so on, but the truth was that the Komodo War was fought by people, not machines.

The latter only served as an extension of the former!

Therefore, the original Valkyrie Redeemer model had already captured the hearts of many Hexer military mech pilots.

Now, the release of several new variants made the mechs accessible to many more female soldiers!

In an answer to the onslaught unleashed by the Gauge Dynasty and the Konsu Clan, the Hex Army decided to bet big on the Valkyrie product line.

High command had little choice.

"Only the Superior Mother can help us now. We must ask for her blessing to pull us through this war!"

Too many Hexers fighting on the frontlines demanded the powerful new mech models. Restricting the supply of Valkyrie mechs would have a major impact on their morale. Yet as soon as the mech regiments received their new toys, they fought harder and with less complaint!

The Hex Army had also lost the initiative. The Fridaymen constantly pushed them back, causing many plans and movement orders to fall through. The Hexer planners and strategists constantly had to readjust their deployments because the frontlines collapsed faster than they could cope!

What high command noticed about the Valkyrie mechs was that they slowed down the Fridaymen aggressors after deploying them en masse. The mechs were having a very telling effect as they seemed to egg on their mech pilots to do more!

While the Valkyrie mechs succeeded in hindering the Fridaymen forces to an extent, the casualty rates among their mech pilots tended to be higher than usual.

One of the downsides of the mental influence that LMC mechs exerted onto their mech pilots was that they were less willing to retreat and more willing to take risks!

The Valkyrie Redeemer and its variants were offensive mechs by nature. They featured above-average defense for their mech type, but that did not mean their margin of error was huge.

One mistake might doom an entire mech company of Valkyrie Redeemers!

Despite this hefty cost, the Hex Army still went through with deploying the Valkyrie mechs in greater numbers. Slowing down the Fridaymen mattered more than anything else because the Hexers needed time to adjust to the sudden shifts.

Whether on land or in space, the female mech pilots who were lucky enough to be assigned to a Valkyrie unit all fought with the blessing of the Superior Mother!

In one battle above orbit, several hundred Valkyrie Huntresses sped up while firing their modified short-capacity gauss rifles at an incoming formation of Fridaymen mechs.

The Sundered Phalanx deployed a mix of lancer mechs, space knights, spearman mechs and rifleman mechs.

This balanced unit was very hard to deal with, yet the Hexer mech pilots harassing them utilized their mobility advantage to the fullest. The Valkyrie Huntresses nimbly stayed out of the range of the enemy melee mechs while focusing their fire on the rifleman mechs.

It was quite difficult to get through the protection offered by the space knights, but the Valkyrie Huntresses split up into smaller squads and spread out in order to assail their targets from multiple angles!

No matter how hard the Fridaymen space knights tried to cover for their ranged mechs, the Valkyrie Huntresses only had to concentrate their Marked For Death ability on them for an instant to produce an opening!

Hardly any Fridaymen mech pilot was able to keep their cool when being subjected to multiple simultaneous death glows of the dreaded Valkyrie mechs.

While several kilometers of range was fairly short in space battles, it was more than enough for the ranged variant of the Valkyrie Redeemers!

"We're out of ammunition!"

"Pull back and resupply. Don't let these brutes take advantage of us. Our mechs aren't as good up close!"

Their non-standard issue gauss rifles gave the Valkyrie Huntresses a lot of punch, but the mechs weren't able to carry a lot of ammunition. This was fine, as the nimble and mobile ranged mechs all turned around and flew back to the safety of their own lines before the Fridaymen could entangle them in place, leaving over fifty broken Fridaymen mechs behind!

In another part of the battlefield, a different variant of the Valkyrie Redeemer eschewed hit and run tactics and dove straight into the Fridaymen formations!

Hundreds of Valkyrie Interceptors bore their spears and shields with steady grips as they flew into a barrage of enemy fire!

Various auxiliary mechs in the midst of the Hexer elements all projected various shields, ECM and other forms of assistance.

Yet various Valkyrie Interceptors, some of them issued to their mech pilots just days ago, continued to fall off or explode due to the focused fire coming from their targets.

"Don't slow down, sisters! We will pay them back at least three more times for all of the good Hexers that fell. Ready your spears and mark your targets!"

As the Valkyrie Interceptors charged forth, their third eyes all began to shine hundreds of spotlights at the Fridaymen mechs that were in their way.

Though the Sunderers already knew what to expect from the Valkyrie mechs, no amount of preparation could truly prepare them against the sensation of being stared at by a mother who was much greater than they ever thought!

The Fridaymen mech pilots began to quail in their piloting suits.

"I can't hold still!"

On the other hand, the Hexers who piloted the Valkyrie Interceptors each felt as if the Superior Mother blessed them more than usual!

The commander of the Valkyrie mechs felt inspired. She transmitted an order that caused all of the Valkyrie Interceptors to activate the small projection modules built onto their frames.

As the Hexer mechs rapidly closed in, a huge projection began to appear in the middle of their formation.

A giant representation of the Superior Mother came into existence! The projected illusion held a spear and began to thrust the giant weapon into the Fridaymen formation at the same time just before the Interceptors slammed into their targets!

"GIVE THEM DEATH!"

The Valkyrie Interceptors expanded their glows, causing them to overlap across the entire Fridaymen lines!

The Sunderers weren't able to adjust to the sudden changes!

Crash!

Hundreds of silent collisions occurred within a span of a dozen seconds as a succession of Interceptors ran their spears through shields, armor and other delicate components!

A large number of Fridaymen mechs coasted backwards as they were either downed or damaged to the point where they couldn't regain control!

Of course, the Valkyrie Interceptors didn't come out unscathed. Dozens of them got struck by instinctive or lucky counterattacks. Others botched their attacks and collided head-on against an enemy mech, thereby concussing their entire frames!

"Push through their lines! Initiate Shock And Awe!"

Before the Fridaymen could recover and take advantage of the relatively static Valkyrie mechs, the latter simultaneously fired their Starburst grenades which quickly overwhelmed any nearby sensor systems.

"Hah! Did these witches think that would work? Think again!"

Surprisingly, the Sundered Phalanx mechs withstood the Starburst grenades! The Fridaymen had modified and hardened their machines to resist the interference generated by these grenades!

However, at the same time the grenades exploded, the Valkyrie Interceptor mechs also unleashed powerful pulses that never failed to shock the minds of any nearby enemy mech pilots.

Yet despite unleashing these powerful pulses, the Fridaymen mechs seemed to take no notice and continued to launch their counterattacks, if with a little less fluency than before.

Many Valkyrie Interceptors were caught by surprise! They either suffered crippling damage or received blows that would take days to repair.

"Retreat! Shock them again!"

The Valkyrie Interceptors performed the same as they receded, but the Fridaymen mechs continued to stick to them as best they could, downing more Hexer mechs before the two sides finally separated.

"Damn!" The Hexer commander cursed. "The blasted Fridaymen have adapted!"

In order to counter the Shock And Awe Pulse of the Valkyrie mechs, the Fridaymen not only hardened the sensors of their machines, but also added some automation!

Whenever their mech pilots blanked out, the Fridaymen mechs would automatically hand over control to an AI that had been tracking the entire battle in the background. Once the AI gained control of the mech, it could automatically form the correct response in theory!

Though letting AIs take over control was not the most ideal solution, against a measure that often succeeded at incapacitating mech pilots, it was better than nothing!

No longer were the Valkyrie Redeemers able to force the enemy mechs to lose control either.

After a few days of recording successful results, the Fridaymen expanded the scope of this counter to more measures.

Now, even when the Valkyrie mechs managed to paralyze an enemy mech pilot with several focused death glares, the AIs always kicked in whenever a mech pilots lost a certain degree of attentiveness in battle.

As the Hexers increased their use of the Valkyrie mechs, the Fridaymen weren't sitting still. Aside from developing methods to mitigate the latest toys of the Hexers, the Coalition also began to deploy an increasing number of expert mechs in battle.

This was the real killer to the Hex Army!

The more time passed, the more expert mechs the Fridaymen were able to muster. Every third-rate that was at least somewhat aligned to the Coalition were 'persuaded' into lending their expert pilots.

With the Fridaymen Masters and Seniors developing hastily-customized expert mechs as fast as they were capable of outputting, not even glows could dent the increasing damage these powerful mechs inflicted on the Hex Army!

"We can't go on like this! We need to put a stop against these endless enemy expert mechs!"

Chapter 2528: The Protector's Concerns

"When can I start to have babies?"

"Theoretically, you can start this month. However, I would advise against that. It is well worth the wait if you hold off for a year."

"Why?"

Ranya sighed and turned away from her current experiment. "With the current situation between you and your new hubby, we can only fertilize your egg with Ves' baseline human genes. The baby that results from this union won't have any of his advantages. While we can still tailor the genes of your baby before conception and modify the fetus throughout the gestation process, the results won't stand out. Do you want your first children to be average?"

undefined"No! Absolutely not!" Gloriana firmly shook her head.

"Miaow!" Clixie echoed as she sat on a table.

"This is why we need to perform a new research group that is solely dedicated to developing the optimal designer babies based on the genetic material of you and your partner. There is a lot of untapped potential in your genes. I'm particularly interested in understanding how Ves' weird organs and genes actually work."

Gloriana frowned. She was rather impatient to proceed with the next phase of her life. Perhaps other women might wish to take it slow, but she was different!

"What will it take for us to get ready to birth a beautiful and perfect baby girl?"

"I can't do it myself." Her cousin admitted.

"Don't you have hundreds of biotech experts working in your org?"

"The Larkinson Biotech Institute mainly consists of medical doctors and augmentation specialists. While we have expanded our recruitment scope in recent months, we haven't been able to snag the second-raters we need to handle a project as difficult as yours."

"Why are you constantly behind on everything!"

"Hey, it's not my fault! We had to start from scratch in the Larkinson Clan. I think we have been doing quite well for ourselves in so little time. It will take at least a decade for the biotech division of the clan to get up to par with the other divisions."

"That is way too much time! I don't want to start with having my first baby when I'm forty."

"You won't have to wait that long, cousin. Do you remember our first stop after we leave this star sector?" Ranya grinned. "I bet we can hire all of the talented and capable geneticists and pediatricians we need at the Life Research Association. It won't be easy to attract the best, but as long as we put in the effort, we might arguably be able to snap up some of the best biotech experts in the star cluster."

"I see."

Though Gloriana wasn't happy, she knew she had little choice but to wait until the Larkinson Clan reached the LRA and recruited the necessary professionals. Even then, it would take some time for them to figure out how to match Ves and her abnormal genes together to produce a healthy and wonderful baby.

As Gloriana daydreamed about her first daughter, Ranya issued a warning.

"Even if we acquire the necessary experts, don't expect us to produce the perfect outcome. Unlike mechs, living organisms are much more varied in their expression. We can set up the starting conditions and guide their growth along the way, but we cannot change as much as you think. The difficulty of keeping a growing child's development on track is much more complicated when you factor in alien and artificial genes."

"Our children won't be average. I will do whatever it takes to make them special." Gloriana vowed.

The direction she chose for her offspring was fairly controversial. It was much safer, cheaper and more convenient to create a child from the baseline human genes of the parents.

While Ves had left his pure human self behind a long time ago, he still left behind plenty of DNA records for Ranya to reconstruct his past genes.

It was a bit complicated when it came to Gloriana as she essentially started off as a designer baby as well, but the genes from her early life were still 'normal' enough to allow for natural procreation without too many complications.

Of course, this was not the end of the story. There were many other variables at play that parents needed to take into account before they tried to have children.

This was one of the downsides to ubiquitous augmentation and genetic modification. Humans were not only moving further away from their baseline genes, but also ventured into countless unique directions!

This pattern of human gene scattering presented a lot of reproduction problems that ordinary people didn't have to deal with. Even if their genes were modified, as long as the masses all received the same treatment, they still maintained the ability to reproduce naturally without too many messy outcomes.

"Is there any other way we can make my babies stronger and better?" Gloriana queried.

"There are many peculiar aspects about your husband's physique that can't be replicated through genes. His implanted Jutland organ along with some of the abnormalities in his brain are very difficult to pass on. If you want any hope of replicating them and passing them on to your babies, then we need to hire or obtain the services of a top-tier augmentation specialist and exobiologist."

"How hard is it to reach these experts?"

"Very hard." Ranya immediately replied. "People like me can only look up on them. These are the authorities of their respective fields. In the Life Research Association, these doctors have not only earned a lot of renown for their research, but are also part of the ruling class in the state. It will be incredibly difficult to reach out to any of them and lure them over to our side. However, as long as we can recruit at least one of them, the Larkinson Biotech Institute will be able to solve all of your problems!"

A growing intensity burned in Gloriana's eyes. For the sake of her future children, she needed to do her best to poach these senior biotech researchers!

Ranya turned her back to her cousin and resumed her experiment. A small grin grew on her face as she imagined how far Gloriana would go once she had a goal in mind.

Poaching some of the top researchers of the Life Research Association not only advanced Gloriana's child-rearing plans, but also her own ambitions.

She had collected plenty of interesting research material during the Nyxian Gap Campaign, but she and her fellow researchers were unable to make heads or tails of them. As long as her institute obtained someone qualified enough to decipher the alien tissue samples, she would be able to advance a lot of her research projects, including some of her more personal ones!

Her gaze fell on the extraordinary plant life submerged in a special nutrient solution within a containment tank. The shape of its spindly green limbs conformed exactly to a human nerve system!

Elsewhere on Cinach, Venerable Jannzi supervised the live training of her Shieldbearers.

Twelve Aurora Titans attempted to defend against projected attacks launched from every direction. The defense mechs moved like clockwork in space and constantly angled their shields or moved their mechs in a way that mitigated much of the incoming damage and ensured they would last much longer than someone who piloted a space knight without special training!

Though the Aurora Titans were slow, unwieldy and rather outdated, they still made for good training in Venerable Jannzi's eyes. As the mech pilot who was most in tune with this mech model, she had mastered nearly all of the tricks needed to maximize the survivability of this unique mech model.

Once the training session wound down, the mechs slowly flew back to their carriers. Venerable Jannzi met the hopeful mech pilots one by one and gave them individual feedback before allowing them to retire.

Her second, Lieutenant Syra Kronon-Larkinson, stayed behind a little longer.

As her name suggested, she used to be an Ylvainan citizen. Unlike the majority of Ylvainans who joined the clan, she was not a part of the Ylvaine Dynasty. Though Syra shared much of the beliefs in the Great Prophet as the True Believers, she did not recognize James as the prophet reborn.

That made her a relatively existence within the Larkinson Clan. James Ylvaine was a very persuasive man. He not only managed to convert many loose Ylvainans into his cult, but also attracted a growing number of clansmen with other backgrounds!

Not everyone within the clan was comfortable with this development. However, the Larkinson Clan did not explicitly forbid the spread of beliefs. While the core of the clan remained secular, there were still members who turned to faith for one reason or another.

"More and more veterans of the Nyxian Gap Campaign have turned to the Ylvainan Faith in recent times, Venerable." Lieutenant Syra reported to the young female expert pilot. "Many mech pilots and other personnel are still burdened by their traumas. The 'Living Prophet' is one of the few people in the clan who can provide substantial answers to these wounded soldiers."

Venerable Jannzi frowned. "Why haven't our soldiers turned to our counselors and medical health professionals? The Larkinson Veteran Foundation offers a lot more help in the past. Director Clinton has done a good job expanding his organization to meet the growing need for help."

The Larkinson Veteran Foundation was the evolution of the Ves Larkinson Foundation for Wounded Veterans.

Now that Ves didn't have to bother with putting up a charitable pretense, the foundation under the lead of Director Clinton reoriented itself to serve the needs of the entire clan.

However, its role had to change yet again as the Larkinson Biotech Institute became the main medical service provider to the clansmen. After receiving a modest cash infusion, Larkinson Veteran Foundation steadily turned into an organization that specialized in mental health.

"The LVF is good, but the Ylvainans are better." Syra stated. "The prayer sessions centered around worshipping the Bright Martyr and the Living Prophet are somehow able to settle the traumatized soldiers. I haven't taken part in these blasphemous sessions myself, but I fear for my devotion should I attempt even once."

"These True Believers are gaining more influence by the day!" Jannzi gritted her teeth.

As the self-proclaimed protector of the Larkinson Clan, she paid attention to any potential threat. Ves was not the only one who caught her attention.

The slow and silent encroachment of the Ylvainans concerned her as well.

"The True Believers may be following a false idol, but they present real solutions." The lieutenant of the Shieldbearers explained. "Unless the LVF or someone else can provide better solutions, the Living Prophet will keep gathering more adherents. Conversions have spiked whenever the clan has gone through a major battle or crisis. This will keep happening until a viable alternative has emerged."

This was easy enough for Jannzi to understand, but the problem was that she had no idea how to offer a better solution. If the Larkinson Veteran Foundation wasn't up to the task, then where else could her clansmen turn to if they required healing?

"Don't tell me we have to start a faith ourselves…"

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to come up with a viable solution, the expert pilot turned to another point of concerns.

"What have the Penitent Sisters been up to lately?"

"The former Hexers have been keeping to themselves for the most part, ma'am. They are avoiding the Glory Seekers by the plague. Instead, they're focused on deepening their worship of the Superior Mother. I think this is one group where the Ylvainan Faith won't find another purchase."

Venerable Janzi frowned even deeper. Her force of will reacted against the mention of yet another potential threat.

She was very wary towards Hexer beliefs!

"Make sure to keep a close eye on both groups of Hexers. Whether they are inside or outside of our clan, their views on boys are detestable. I won't allow our clan to put women above men. Every Larkinson matters!"

Chapter 2529: Unsolvable Problem

Though Ves and Gloriana had fallen into their low periods for a time, that did not make them useless...

The biggest downside to their current states was that they weren't able to design mechs with their usual passion.

That was not a serious problem.

They just had to devote their attention to something else that did not require as much creativity and imagination.

undefinedAside from studying, tutoring their assistants and managing their subordinates, the newlyweds also laid the groundwork of their second round of projects.

They had already made the first decision when they met aboard the Stellar Chaser.

"We should devote all of our time to designing second-class mechs for this round of projects." Ves declared to his wife. "We are way too slow in fulfilling our obligations to the Hegemony and meeting the demand for second-class mechs to our own clan. We need to deliver at least diverse mechs for each target audience within half a year to alleviate the pressure."

Gloriana nodded in agreement. "I approve. The Hegemony truly needs more mechs. As for the needs of the clan, I don't think the pressure is too great. The mech forces have recently ordered large batches of second-class mechs from the mech market, right? Our mech pilots will be fine with piloting commercial mechs. We should devote all of our time on designing as many Hexer mechs as possible!"

"Denied!"

Ves flatly shot down her proposal. He would go crazy if he spent months on doing nothing else but work on Hexer mech design projects. This was a form of torture than no man should go through!

Naturally, Gloriana did not agree with him, but he put his foot down on this issue. For his sanity and confidence in his manhood, he needed to work on some non-Hexer mech designs as well.

Once he managed to get his way, he relaxed. He held Lucky in his lap and tickled his head.

"Meow."

Clixie was present as well. She rested on top of the Larkinson Mandate that was placed on a nearby desk as if she was brooding an egg.

"Miaow."

The Golden Cat hasn't come out at this time. Ever since the LMC started to churn out Chirons, Goldie had become fascinated by the latest mech model that allowed her to form a deeper connection to some of the Larkinsons.

She especially enjoyed exploring her bond with younger Larkinsons!

As Clixie became confused why her 'daughter' didn't show up, Ves and Gloriana shared their thoughts on what their next projects should address.

"I've been thinking about whether to design a successor to the Bright Warrior model." Ves began. "The way my clansmen are using the modular mech platform is now how I originally envisioned. While there is still value in designing a mech that possesses an adaptable configuration, I'm not sure whether it is better than designing a bunch of specialized mechs instead."

Gloriana snorted at him. "You don't have to bother with explaining any further. You've already decided to design a Mark II version of the Bright Warrior, right? It not only solved the urgent need for second-class mechs for our clan, but also provides a comprehensive upgrade framework for the Quint."

She knew him too well.

"You're right. I care too much about the Quint. While we can treat it as a unique mech and upgrade it on an individual basis, that is not what the original Bright Warrior model is all about. At its heart, the Quint is supposed to be the prime example of what a Bright Warrior mech should be. If we want to stay true to our masterwork mech, then we should develop a second-class version of the Bright Warrior and use that as a baseline for the Quint's upgrades instead."

Gloriana did not have too many objections to this plan. The Bright Warrior's modular nature had provided her with a lot of intellectual stimulation during its design process. She looked forward to solving the issues that came up when they attempted to translate the same concept to a higher tech level.

There was one question, though.

"Will you still keep making use of Breyer alloy for this mech model?"

"Probably. I haven't decided yet. I am willing to resort to a more accessible armor system as long as it's resilient enough. The only issue is whether we can afford the alternate materials."

Ves was actually a bit dissatisfied with needing to continue keeping the Bright Warrior model in development. If not for the extreme value of the Quint, he would have felt more inclined to devote his design resources to more specialized mechs.

Against other second-class mechs, the Bright Warrior model's shortcomings became more relevant. A dedicated swordsman mech, lancer mech, rifleman mech or space knight would always be able to deliver a better performance given the same cost and material usage.

This difference in performance might be as big as 20 percent!

Even if Ves did not prioritize performance too much, he couldn't afford to ignore such a big gap.

The Larkinson Clan in its current state could not make full use of the possibilities the Bright Warrior model offered.

The only way to solve this problem was if he raised a large number of mech pilots that were just as multi-talented as Venerable Joshua. If all of these mech pilots were capable of piloting multiple mech types with greater efficiency, then the modular nature of the Bright Warrior line would truly be able to provide a lot of value!

Ves sighed inwardly. This was too much to ask from his mech pilots. They were already working hard to master the basics of piloting second-class mechs. Adding these burdens on top of their current goals would only cause them to collapse.

His mech pilots simply weren't good enough. He might have to wait a very long time before he obtained a batch of versatile elites.

After putting the Bright Warrior Mark II on the list of projects, Gloriana issued her own request.

"If you have been following the Komodo War lately, the Fridayman counterattack is pushing back our side. Our Valkyrie mechs have succeeded in giving the enemy some difficulties, but the overall trend hasn't changed."

Though Ves did not want the Hegemony to lose the war, he couldn't help but feel a bit smug.

"Are you realizing now that the Fridaymen aren't pushovers?"

"The Hegemony will still win this war in the end." Gloriana stated with conviction. She still held on to her delusions! "It's just.. The road to victory will be more painful than I thought. We can't allow the Hex Army to hollow itself out after beating the Coalition forces. We need to find a way to allow our side to regain the momentum it had before. I still miss those early days when our Blessed Squires helped our fellow Hexers run over the Fridaymen."

"It won't be that easy to take advantage of the Fridaymen anymore. They know about our glows and have developed numerous measures to mitigate this feature."

Both of them felt rather frustrated about that. The Friday Coalition took their mechs seriously, so of course they developed means to counter their effectiveness.

While there were some measures that Ves could counter with ease, the Fridaymen Masters weren't idiots. They were capable of developing a lot more solutions.

Right now, the addition of AIs to take over temporary control should a mech pilot become incapacitated was very effective. Though Gloriana informed Ves that DIVA and other Hexer organizations were already trying their best to hack or subvert these AIs, this was not something that would yield quick results. The Fridaymen were too thorough.

Gloriana hadn't given up with trying to help her state in any way she could. She mustered up her determination and shared a bold idea.

"Right now, the Fridaymen are relying on one crucial advantage to turn around the war. All of the guest expert pilots they've invited to fight on their behalf are taking a horrible toll on the Hex Army."

"I know. What do you want to do about it? Short of forcing the Hegemony-aligned states to hand over their expert pilots, I don't think there's an easy way for the Hex Army to address this disparity."

This was pretty much impossible. The Hegemony long treated the lesser states around it with disdain, and most citizens who lived there had no love for the Hexers.

Convincing those stubborn, strong-willed expert pilots to fight on behalf of female supremacy was probably a herculean task!

"From what I heard, our diplomats are still working on that." Gloriana vaguely said. "I think we might be able to pitch in as well. Expert pilots are powerful, but not unstoppable. I want us to design a mech that is specially geared to countering expert mechs."

"..."

Ves stared flatly at his wife. He might love her, but that didn't mean he was willing to entertain her delusions!

"Honey.. expert mechs are powerful. Really powerful. Not only are they made from better materials, their resonance abilities also make them extremely deadly to fight. Their resonance shields can block regular attacks with great efficiency while their offensive capabilities are enough to allow them to take down standard mechs as if they are target practice!"

"I'm being serious about this, Ves." She growled.

"Forgive me, but this is a problem that many mech designers have tried to solve, including Master Mech Designers and Star Designers. The most they came up with was designing some lancer mechs or ranged mechs that hit harder than usual. They're only effective when deployed in large numbers, and inevitably hundreds of them will fall in the process of taking down a single expert mech. I bet the Masters from the Hegemony are already at work in developing something similar, if they haven't already have some suitable in reserve."

Gloriana crossed her arms. "That's not good enough, and you know it. While these mechs may be effective at taking down expert mechs when there are many of them, the most troublesome aspect is that expert mechs are too good at avoiding or escaping envelopment. It's too hard to pin them down."

"Since you know that this is true, how do you think we're supposed to be able to do better?"

"With simple logic, Ves. We need to leverage your mother. She's a Supreme who is greater than any god. Mere proto-gods don't stand a chance against her. Now think about what will happen if she directly squares off against a demigod. Who is the greater divinity in this confrontation? Not the latter, that's for sure. Therefore, the more surefire way to counter an expert mech is by forcing its expert pilot into a direct confrontation with the Superior Mother. This is guaranteed to work!"

"..."

Ves had no words for her 'logical' plan. Was this what Gloriana was like when she was a little more rational than usual?

He coughed. "Wifey…"

"Don't call me that." She hissed.

"Uhm, sweetie, as much as you think highly of the Superior Mother and my design philosophy, we can't just snap our fingers and come up with a mech that just happens to succeed where every single mech designer in existence has failed. The willpower of an expert pilot is simply too strong to get affected by external glows. As for trying to force a direct confrontation.. I'm sorry, that will never happen unless you force a Fridayman mech pilot into the cockpit of one of our mechs."

There was no way something as absurd as that would ever happen.

She grew even more upset. Ves wasn't giving her the right answer. "How are we supposed to beat the Fridaymen and their loathsome guest expert pilots, then? We have to come up with something to alleviate this pressing crisis."

"Look, we might not be able to counter expert pilots in one go, but maybe we can develop some applications that can make battles against them a little less lopsided."

"Oh?" She began to look hopeful again. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Not yet. Let me think about it. I have some ideas, but I need to explore them further before I am sure. Don't expect much from me, though. Expert pilots have reigned over many battlefields for centuries. Their strength is for real and it's very difficult to challenge them without bringing expert pilots as well."

Still, Ves believed it was very worthwhile for him to investigate this topic. Encountering enemy expert mech in battle was only a matter of time, and it would be nice to have an extra option in reserve!

He couldn't help but cast his mind back on the instance where an enemy expert mech was able to fight with impunity. Venerable Foster's Belisarius was so overpowering that the entire landbound contingents of Lydia's Swordmaidens and the Flagrant Vandals essentially collapsed in front of its invincible might!

Ves never wanted to live through such an awful tragedy again!

Chapter 2530: Leveraging Spirituality

Gloriana was delusional if she thought that they could design a standard mech that could fight against expert mechs in a cost-effective manner.

How many mech designers attempted such a feat?

While there were instances where large amounts of regular mechs managed to overcome expert mechs, the circumstances were always special.

First, the attacking side had to bring a lot of mechs. These mechs also had to be fairly good. They needed to be tough enough to slow down the expert mech's attempts at taking them down. They also had to possess enough firepower to wear down the expert mech's defenses.

undefinedEven with these conditions, the expert pilot could always decide to run away. It was very hard to hinder an expert mech's flight. Even the slower mech types such as defensive knights always exhibited above-average mobility due to the immense amount of investment poured into their development.

At the level of expert pilots, mobility was an essential life-saver!

Otherwise, wouldn't it be easy for one side to carpet bomb the coordinates of an expert mech with a couple of hundred artillery mechs?

While it was a bit cold-hearted, if the Hexers or Fridaymen could sacrifice two or three elite mech companies to take down an expert mech, they would take the trade everytime!

This was because a properly-employed expert mech could easily demolish thousands of mechs during a long campaign!

Not only that, but expert pilots also brought a lot of other value to the table. Their presence boosted the morale of their own side and intimidated any enemy in sight. They were invaluable trainers and contributed to a state's prestige.

It was due to their strategic value that research on countering them had never stopped. It was unfortunate that no one had ever come up with a silver bullet that could end their tyranny on the battlefield.

Ves did not have much hope of developing something effective either. From a purely technical standpoint, expert mechs were already cheat-like existences. Their insane build quality meant that they were always bridge mechs by default. Expert pilots were so skilled that it was foolish to expect them to fumble.

Only an insanely huge disparity in numbers could overcome this disparity, but that was not really a solution.

His only choice was to target expert mechs from a different angle. Gloriana clearly had hopes that he could employ his specialty to attack the spiritual qualities of an expert mech.

Was it possible for Ves to come up with a method to disturb the resonance between an expert mech and an expert pilot?

If he could accomplish this amazing feat, then much of the power of the combination would be lost.

An expert mech that leveraged the power of resonance was often invincible against standard mechs.

An expert mech that lost the power of resonance was merely a single super-high quality mech!

However, was it easy to accomplish this seemingly-simple feat?

No!

Expert pilots were incredibly strong in will and spirit. The combination of the two produced a near-tangible force that was incredibly difficult to interfere.

If that wasn't enough, these expert pilots combined their force of wills with their expert mechs.

Even the minds of regular mech pilots became as hard as armor plating once they interfaced with a mech! The melding of man and machine resulted in a combination that leveraged the sentient mind of a living human with the immense processing power of a mech.

Only immensely powerful spiritual entities such as the dark gods and the Temple Protector of the Ruined Temple had managed to overcome this protection!

Glows worked in a similar fashion. They were able to circumvent the protection afforded by the man-machine connection, but their ability to cause direct harm to mech pilots was limited.

Against expert pilots, they basically exerted no influence at all as the interaction was too indirect! Demigods were easily capable of shrugging off both positive and negative glows.

In short, Gloriana's theory was a complete non-starter. Even if Ves designed a mech that was directly capable of channeling the Superior Mother onto an enemy, even she would have a headache trying to defeat one of the most mentally-resilient combinations on the battlefield!

Ves did not entertain his wife's delusions any further. He figured he should just try and find a different way to hinder expert mechs. As for defeating them? No way! That goal was way too far away!

"Let's move on with planning our other projects." He said briskly. "So far, we have come up with two possible projects. For the third one, I want to design a light skirmisher, one that is suitable for the Larkinson Clan. Venerable Tusa has been complaining to me for a long time that we haven't developed a light mech. I think it is time to make up for this oversight."

His wife fell silent for a few moments.

"He's right. We have been remiss in this. However, before you bring up a suggestion, let me make a proposal. Didn't we publish the Ferocious Piranha a short time ago? Instead of coming with an entirely new mech concept, we can save a considerable amount of time and effort by uplifting it into a second-class mech."

"This.."

To be honest, Ves hadn't thought about adapting the Ferocious Piranha.

While second-class mechs were indeed very different from third-class mechs, the concept for the spaceborn light mech was quite good. It utilized the glow of the Doom Guard in an offensive manner without any of the self-harming aspects that plagued the striker mech.

If the clan could pilot a large number of second-class Ferocious Piranhas, then these mechs would be able to terrorize large groups of enemies! Just like the Doom Guard, the light skirmishers that propagated the rapidly-cycling glows of Zeigra and Lufa were simply too intolerable to any but the most firm-minded elites!

This was an incredibly potent ability on the battlefield. The Larkinson Clan simply had to adopt the second-class version of this mech as soon as possible!

"Good idea." Ves eventually nodded. "Let's add it to the list. We'll give it the same treatment as the Bright Warrior."

It was quite clever to look towards upgrading their existing products. They already fleshed out the concept and put it into a form that proved its value. Not only that, but during the design process, the people who took part in the project generated a lot of data. While most of it wasn't relevant, there were plenty of details that remained just as relevant regardless of the class of the mech.

Considering that Ves wanted to tackle six major projects at once, it was vital for him to find any opportunity to save time and effort.

The only point he wasn't sure about yet was whether he should publish the completed mech design.

The Ferocious Piranha should already be quite potent. Ves was afraid he might spark too many waves in the second-class mech market once he released this monster!

Yet… didn't he require more money? Acquiring capital ships wasn't cheap. He couldn't take the Hegemony's generosity for granted. With at least six more capital ships to go, Ves would have to earn trillions of hex credits in order to round out his expeditionary fleet!

Of course, the more, the better. His upcoming factory ship already became a lot more capable after its budget had been raised by 1.2 trillion hex credits!

Therefore, from a business standpoint, so what if he disrupted the second-class mech market? Money solved every problem!

That, and designing excellent mechs. So long as Ves focused his attention on these two aspects, nothing would be able to hinder his path!

Ves discussed some practical issues with Gloriana. A third-class light skirmisher featured so little capacity that they were always barebones without fail.

Once they translated it into a second-class mech design, they gained a bit of capacity, especially if its budget was high enough. By incorporating enough miniaturized components, they might be able to add one or two additional models or weapon systems.

Gloriana waved her hand. "We can explore these options in our own time. Right now, there are too many choices to count."

That was three mech design projects now. The pair was making good speed in filling out the available slots.

This time, Gloriana proposed another Hexer mech.

"I've been thinking about what you've managed to accomplish with your specialty. The properties of the glows of your mechs are remarkable. We have only scratched the surface of what is possible. Since we are turning mechs into gods, our products ought to be capable of doing more. We just have to be imaginative enough."

"What are you talking about, Gloriana?"

"Have you ever thought about using your specialty to establish communication channels?"

"Uhhh.."

Gloriana let out an exasperated sigh. She placed her hands on her hips. "Didn't you work on some way to bind people together? I don't entirely know what you've been doing with these networks, but I'm surprised you haven't paid attention to their most obvious application. Networks are inherently suited for communication. If used correctly, a communications network that is supported by a proto-god can probably circumvent all kinds of technological jamming! Perhaps it can even facilitate communication across star systems!"

He overlooked this angle!

Ves had already used the Larkinson Network in this capacity in the Nyxian Gap. However, so many other matters followed that he subconsciously neglected it. While Goldie had already demonstrated the capability to monitor the minds of other Larkinsons and communicate directly with him, Ves never considered the Larkinson Network to be a communications network!

To him, it was a measure to restrain traitors and a means of reinforcing loyalty.

Even if it was possible to open up viable means of communications through this spiritual network, Ves still wouldn't have considered it. Revealing the Larkinson Network to every clansmen would just expose one of his secrets. It was not worth it to draw so much attention to him once the spiritual network became common knowledge.

So far, most clansmen knew that there was something special going on, but as long as Ves didn't say too much, they could only hold their opinions to themselves.

"I think this is a genuinely good idea." Ves eventually replied. "It's just that implementing it on a wider scale requires a lot of research."

"We can refine this concept in the coming weeks. By then, you can tell me whether it is viable or not. I think our communications mech can help the Hex Army coordinate its units better."

Considering the supportive function of this mech, it was a given that it should be a male mech. Its specs didn't have to be high. It just needed to perform its primary function to the best of its abilities.

Therefore, from a technical aspect, the design of this communications mech shouldn't take much time to complete.

The only issue was that Ves had to work by himself to figure out a complete spiritual communications network.

He did not forget that his previous spiritual networks were all connected to humans. This was not a big problem if Ves personally supervised the formation of these bonds.

Yet this solution was untenable when it came to a mass-produced Hexer mech. It was a lot better if Ves managed to tie a spiritual network to the mechs themselves.

Normally, Ves would dismiss such a ridiculous idea. Spiritual networks could only be accessed by living entities. Dead objects weren't able to establish any connections to them because they did not possess any spirituality!

Or did they?

If Ves changed the object to a living mech, the story might be different. As long as the mechs possessed enough life, they should be eligible to form a connection with a spiritual network!

In fact, he didn't even need to design a new mech to test this theory out. He already had a network and some suitable mechs at hand!

What if Ves bound the most spiritually-developed mechs to the Larkinson Network?

What if he treated living mechs like the Quint and the Shield of Samar more like actual Larkinsons?

Chapter 2531: Weapon of Last Resort

What a radical idea!

For a long time, Ves often stated that his mechs were alive. His design philosophy centered around the premise the mechs were just as alive as humans and should be treated as such.

While it was too impractical to grant them rights equivalent to that of a human, it was already good enough to treat them with respect and pay attention to their needs.

Yet despite sticking to this core principle, Ves hadn't entirely treated living mechs according to his own ideals.

undefinedIt couldn't be helped. Mechs may be alive, but they were also products made to fight. Getting too attached to them was a bad idea for most people as the loss of a living companion was much more hard to stomach than the loss of a piece of hardware.

Another reason why Ves wasn't able to push for better treatment was because he needed to convince a lot of people that it was worthwhile to do so. While many of his clansmen had steadily come around to treating their mechs as if they were alive, only Joshua fully embraced this mindset.

Other Larkinsons were only partially there. Both their hearts and minds had to agree that mechs were alive. Otherwise, these people would continue to treat their mechs as machines for the most part.

This was what their learning and senses told them. They simply couldn't see the potent spiritual foundations of living mechs!

Ves shook his head. This was not the time to investigate this radical idea. He resolutely added it to his to-do list before shoving every related thought out of his mind.

He found it rather strange that he managed to generate several promising new ideas in a short amount of time. In his mentally-exhausted state, his creativity and imagination should have suffered.

Did he misunderstand his low state? Was there more to draining his spiritual energy than what he already ascertained?

Perhaps his current conditions were similar to that when he activated the remote domain fragment in his mind. When he was able to gain access to Gloriana's domain, he was able to view himself in the lens of another person.

By adopting a different perspective, he was able to pay more attention to details that his normal self overlooked.

Ves believed that he might be benefiting from a similar dynamic at the moment!

By draining a significant chunk of his mind, his personality and thinking patterns had changed. Since he hadn't lost too much spiritual energy this time, his changes weren't too severe, but it was noticeable enough to produce a contrast.

Contrast!

This was the key word! By creating contrast, his hidden biases became obvious and the flaws that he never took notice of became extremely eye-catching.

What all of this meant that it was not a waste to put himself in a low state sometimes! As long as he took advantage of his temporary conditions, he might be able to come up with solutions from angles he never would have considered when he was his old self.

Of course, just like every other tangent he came up with today, he intended to explore these ideas later. He still had to brainstorm two more potential mech design projects.

Since Gloriana had just finished her turn, Ves began to dig up another potential mech concept from his mind. As a mech designer, he frequently came up with new ideas for mechs. He stored everything that was interesting and viable enough in his implant. Therefore, he would always be able to push forward a potential mech design even if he wasn't able to invent one on the spot.

"My next proposal is more specifically geared towards the needs of our clan. As far as I'm concerned, the Transcendent Punisher is the foundation of our expeditionary fleet's defense. It is our greatest weapon against a variety of threats, whether it is vast swarms of pirate mechs or smaller numbers of elite mechs. With sufficient numbers, they can even pose a threat against expert mechs or weaker first-class mechs!"

That last part was especially important to Ves. In the Red Ocean, pioneers of all backgrounds mixed together in a relatively small pond.

Even though the Big Two divided the dwarf galaxy into many zones that restricted the conduct of more powerful pioneers, how could anyone possibly enforce the rules at a distance?

Even if some mad Terran and Rubarthan broke the rules and bullied a second-rate fleet, the punishment meted out to them only came in effect after the incident!

By that time, it was too late to save the victim!

The only way to avoid this unfortunate outcome was to present enough of a threat against these powerful parties to deter any hostile actions.

Order was in short supply in the new frontier. The Big Two's authority did not extend far beyond their star systems and the active frontline against the indigenous powers of the dwarf galaxy.

What happened in the already-conquered hinterland of the Red Ocean was hardly a priority to the mechers and fleeters!

This was why Ves prioritized giving his Larkinson Clan some teeth. He added one tooth in the form of the successful development of a powerful heavy artillery mech was one tooth. He planned to add some additional teeth by developing some expert mechs.

Yet that was not enough to constitute an actual threat against first-class fleets.

"What makes first-class mechs so powerful against second-class mechs?" Ves suddenly asked.

His wife looked confused. "Why would you ask such a simple question to me? It's the same as pitting a second-class mech against a third-class mech. The quality difference is so great that the better mech can easily beat several weaker mechs. Of course, there are also other variables such as teamwork to consider, but overall much of the disparity comes from better tech, better materials and better mech pilots.

"The gap between third-class and second-class mechs is quite big, but not insurmountable." Ves added. "In the Battle of Kesseling VII, the Swordmaidens managed to take down some Fridaymen mechs with third-class swordsman mechs."

"I recall that part of the battle. The Fridaymen were too overconfident and brazenly dispatched a squad of knight mechs without sufficient support."

"My point remains. It is difficult but not impossible for third-raters to defeat second-raters. However, everyone says that you can basically forget about second-raters defeating first-raters. Why is there such a difference?"

"That's because the difference in tech and quality is much greater this time. I already know this." Gloriana answered with an annoyed expression. "This is one of the reasons why the cost of our expert mechs can be insanely high. It's too difficult for second-raters to catch up to the power of a first-rater."

"What would you say is the best way for second-class mechs to threaten a first-class mech?"

"Deploy a lot of second-class Ferocious Piranhas?" She replied. "The quality of a mech jumps by a huge margin, but the improvement of the mech pilot is not so drastic. The Piranhas have to get close, though. I don't think the light mechs will be able to survive the approach. First-class mechs are usually equipped with a variety of miniaturized weapon systems. They almost always come with solutions against swarming opponents."

As much as he wanted to deny it, she was right. Throwing large amounts of relatively fragile mechs against a first-class multipurpose mech was no different from sending them to their deaths!

This was also one of the reasons why dispatching lancer mechs might not work.

While these mechs were capable of punching above their weight, their other parameters weren't able to catch up. It was too easy for a first-class mech to snipe the incoming lancer mechs at a distance or dodge aside a lance charge at the last moment.

First-class mechs were just as difficult to beat if not more as expert mech!

And Ves only considered the lowest and cheapest first-class mechs in his consideration. The range of performance between different first-class mechs was huge!

However, different from expert mechs, first-class mechs did not enjoy the power of true resonance. This made them more fallible in Ves' eyes, but that did not mean they were easy to threaten. Their shield generators were much more powerful than that of second-class mechs. This advantage was enough for them to toy with his expeditionary fleet!

"I have had my hands on a first-class alloy for some time now." He said. "I've been thinking about how to integrate them into our expert mechs to ensure the best possible defense. I have also been thinking about how such a mech can be defeated head-on. Do you know what I've concluded?"

"No, but I can tell you that if the rest of the expert mechs are still second-class, then they will be much more exploitable than a simple first-class mech. The difference is just too big."

"You're not wrong, Gloriana. It would be great if we can defeat mechs with strong protection by exploiting their weak points, but I don't think we can do that against first-class mechs. The only way to confront them is to confront them directly."

"Isn't that the stupidest solution?"

"Tricks won't work against first-class mechs. As far as I'm concerned, the only reliable method to threaten a first-class mech is to overpower them the old-fashioned way. We need to attack their shields until they pop, attack their armor until it has formed a hole and attack the internals to disable the functioning of the mech."

His rather basic explanation caused Gloriana to become even more doubtful at his sensibilities?

"Are you kidding me, Ves? Is this the answer you came up with? Even a six-year old could give you this answer. The difficulty does not lie in identifying the right method, it is coming up with the requisite power to accomplish such a feat."

Ves did not speak a word this time. Instead, he raised his finger and projected some very specific archival footage.

The clips he chose all centered around one of his other recent inventions, the so-called battle formation and battle network.

Gloriana became engrossed as she watched a tiny portion of the Battle against the Abyss. It depicted the Swordmaiden mechs entering into a battle formation. Every Swordmaiden mech pilot harmonized with the center of the battle network, which happened to be Venerable Dise!

Once the Swordmaidens united as one, Venerable Dise extended her power to her fellow Swordmaidens, causing them to become an extension of her will!

In a situation where Venerable Dise had just broken through to expert pilot, her overflowing power was immense. In truth, it was too much for her to harness!

However, by sharing some of that excess power to the other Swordmaidens, Venerable Dise was able to lighten her burden while at the same time spread out her force of will over multiple minds.

The result was that the Swordmaiden battle network managed to form a giant greatsword that literally scythed through large amounts of pirate mechs!

This wasn't the only battle network in play.

The Penitent Sisters entered into a battle formation as well! The battle network centered around the Superior Mother all caused the Hexer mech pilots to borrow some of her power and manifest her silhouette!

Gloriana instantly became more attentive. "Isn't this what I've just talked about? This is exactly what the Hex Army needs to defeat the Friday Coalition's expert mechs."

He knew that she would react in this fashion.

"Don't be foolish. This is a very sensitive invention. We can't share it with the public. Besides, the conditions to make this happen are simply too onerous. I don't think most Hex Army units are qualified to activate this power."

"Says who?"

"Says me, the inventor of this method!" Ves patted his chest. "Look, I'm too afraid of what might happen if more people find out the power of my battle formations. It should be reserved as one of the trump cards of our clan. I'm only putting it on the table today because I want to design an affordable solution against first-class mechs. It is a weapon of last resort. Under normal conditions, we should never reveal we possess this capability. Understand?"

Gloriana did not look convinced.

Chapter 2532: Overlooked

Compared to his lack of interest in turning the Larkinson Network into a true communications network, Ves was much more interested in making greater use of battle formations.

The power of battle formations was too attractive to him! Even in his low state, his heart pumped faster at the thought of designing a mech that specifically took advantage of the advantages that battle networks brought!

Unlike his other applications, battle networks gave him the greatest hope of being able to leapfrog challenges. It was one of the few ways in which Ves was able to make his mechs utilize the strength of a powerful individual, whether it was an expert pilot that had just broken through or a powerful design spirit like the Superior Mother!

Still, this application had many flaws. Aside from finding a group of highly-aligned mech pilots and choosing a compatible source of power, this seemingly-magical application was also very draining!

undefinedNormal mech pilots did not have much spiritual load-bearing capacity. They could only sustain the pressure for so long until they were unable to maintain their position in a battle formation.

Once the battle formation broke up, the mech pilots were usually at the end of their rope! Mentally, they could hardly fight any longer!

This only reinforced his determination to treat it as a weapon of last resort.

Its disproportionate power was too good for Ves to pass up! As for all of the practical problems surrounding this method, he could deal with them. After all, battle formations played a considerable role during the Battle against the Abyss.

The only issue right now was that Gloriana insisted on imparting the power of battle networks to the Hex Army.

Ves had to argue with her a lot. Eventually, he managed to cut her inquiries by coming up with a somewhat valid excuse.

"It won't work, Gloriana. Battle networks are principally connected to mech pilots, not mechs. It works for us because I can manually forge these connections to the individuals in question. It's not possible to do so to the Hexers fighting against the Fridaymen because there is no way we'll be in the same room. Just forget about it and focus upon what works, okay?"

That basically settled the matter.

Once the discussion went back on track, Ves began to explain the concept of his mech.

"There are three potential candidate groups for battle networks. The Penitent Sisters, Battle Criers and Swordmaidens are all highly homogenous and unified. They're also incredibly close to each other and can get in sync easily. I've already tested my battle networks on them and confirmed they are suited for this application."

"Who will you choose to focus on this time, Ves?" Gloriana asked with an unenthused voice.

She took his refusal hard. She had to grab Clixie in order to comfort herself.

"Miaow." Clixie glared resentfully at Ves for making Gloriana unhappy.

Ves paid no mind to the Rubarthan Sentinel Cat.

"For now, I am focused on gaining immediate battle effectiveness. I don't anticipate meeting any overpowering enemies in the near future, but it's best to have our weapon of last resort ready sooner than later. The Penitent Sisters are the best candidates in mind. They are true second-class mech pilots and the source of their strength happens to be the strongest out of all of the options. With the Superior Mother feeding them strength, I have no doubt their battle formation is the strongest!"

Gloriana looked up again. "The Penitent Sisters are also Hexers! Why can't we design this mech for the Hex Army as well? We have permission to use its tech."

That was exactly what he did not want to do! Ves wanted to decrease his entanglement with the Hexadric Hegemony!

"Don't dream about it. Also, you're wrong. The Penitent Sisters are no longer Hexers. They're Larkinsons. The Hegemony has stripped them of their Hexer citizenship, remember? Even if they have a lot in common with orthodox Hexers, they will slowly turn into something else. There is no stopping their change."

His Larkinson Network might not be versatile, but it was quite good at performing its core functions. Ves did not believe the Penitent Sisters were able to succeed where Ranya failed!

Perhaps the only Penitent Sister that would be able to resist the Golden Cat's influence was Juliet Stameros. As a Journeyman she was just as difficult to influence as Gloriana!

Wait a second.

Ves just realized he overlooked another important detail.

"Uhm…"

"What is it, Ves?"

"Do you know our Larkinson Clan has three Journeyman Mech Designers instead of two?"

Gloriana tilted her head. "Of course I do. The Penitent Sisters possess a lot of pride in their head designer."

He grimaced. "Why didn't you remind me?"

"I'm not your personal assistant, Ves." She sneered.

"What do you have against Miss Stameros? She's a Journeyman!"

"She's also a criminal. An exile. A heretic!"

Ves had the feeling that Gloriana only cared about the latter. Nonetheless, the vehemence in her voice was very real!

"Our Larkinson Clan doesn't waste talent. Don't you think it is stupid to neglect a bonafide Journeyman? As far as I know, Miss Stameros is just as capable of designing mechs as us. Adding her to the Design Department will increase its productivity by half. The difference she can make is immense!"

"She's a harmful presence, Ves. Why are you thinking about designing mechs with someone who revels in killing boys? The Penitent Sisters should have never been redeemed!"

"That's not fair to her! Look, as far as I know, the Temple of Hexism outright executed all of the boy-impaling priests and their lackeys. The cultists who were spared from this fate weren't culpable for these crimes. They're just brainwashed victims for the most part. The Hegemony forced them to become the Penitent Sisters as a more appropriate punishment. In the service of our clan, these exiles have fought bravely by our side. I would have died in the Nyxian Gap if they weren't there to lend their strength. In my opinion, they have atoned for their crimes and should be treated as such."

He truly owed a lot to the Penitent Sisters. Their contribution in the previous battles were undeniable. Despite their heavy losses, the former Hexers never issued a word of complaint.

As for any concerns about their extremist views, Ves no longer worried about that problem. Aside from relying on the Golden Cat to mellow them out, he had also distributed enough idols of the Superior Mother to them to convert them to a less extreme interpretation of hexism!

It was unfortunate that Gloriana shared none of his sentiments. She hadn't taken part in the Nyxian Gap Campaign, so she never experienced the hardships he went through. She also did not acquire any gratitude to the exiles.

"I am not designing a mech with Juliet Stameros, and neither will you." She hissed.

"You're going too far. She's a Journeyman and a Larkinson."

"I already spoke with her a few times. She is content with her current lot. She just wants to keep serving the Penitent Sisters in her current capacity of head designer."

Ves grew increasingly more annoyed with his wife. "You are just saying that. Who knows if that's what she really wants? After all, it seems you have a different agenda."

"I don't want her anywhere near you. I'm your wife, Ves. I need to defend my territory!"

"Do you think we're animals? I'm faithful to you. I have no attraction towards Miss Stameros at all. Just because she has a Hexer background doesn't mean she poses a threat to our marriage."

His wife grew more intense. "You don't know anything about women, especially Hexer women. There is no way that Stamoros is disinterested in the son of the Superior Mother."

This was ridiculous!

"I think she's professional enough to treat me as a colleague."

"You're a fool if you think that. I will not allow her to get anywhere close to you. Just leave her to rot with the Penitent Sister like she deserves!"

Suffice to say, neither of the two came to an agreement regarding this matter.

Ves was not willing to let go of another Journeyman! Regardless of what Gloriana thought, the Design Department was too short on high-ranking mech designers!

While Ves had high hopes for Ketis and Miles Tovar, it would probably take years before they advanced. This was too long considering how many mechs he wanted to design.

While it wasn't impossible for the Larkinson Clan to recruit a competent Journeyman, Ves did not even consider the option.

It was too risky. Any Journeyman could be a spy or hold nefarious intentions. With their solidified design seeds, assimilating them into the Larkinson Clan was much more difficult.

In fact, Gloriana and Stameros were in the same boat. It was just that they were more acceptable in his opinion.

The former was his wife.

The latter had gone through several life-and-death crises with his clan. Juliet Stameros had proven her courage and earned the trust of the Larkinsons. Because of this, Ves actually felt compelled to defend her honor!

Since Ves and Gloriana were at loggerheads over the Penitent Sister's head designer, they ended their discussion without concluding their list.

Gloriana glared at Ves and left the room while hugging Clixie.

Ves looked a bit annoyed as well. Dealing with someone as volatile as her was really frustrating sometimes.

He turned to his own cat. "Why did I marry her in the first place?"

Lucky shrugged. "Meow?"

"Well, thanks for that."

Ves took his cat and departed from the Stellar Chaser. He didn't want to stay on the ship for one minute longer.

He needed to talk to Juliet Stameros in person. He had to find out why she never contacted him about taking on a greater role in the Larkinson Clan and see if he could invite her into the Design Department.

Though Ves truly wanted to respect Gloriana's opinion, sometimes she was wrong! Some matters were too important to allow emotions to override his good sense.

His shuttle flew towards one of the few Penitent Sister ships that was still intact. Of course, the vessel was just a logistics ship, not a combat carrier.

The Penitent Sisters received word of his arrival. Many former Hexers lined up as Ves, Lucky and Nitaa stepped aboard.

"Patriarch, we did not expect your arrival today." Commander Valerie Chancy remarked after she saluted him. "Is there something you need from the Penitent Sisters?"

"Please allow me to speak with Juliet Stameros in private. I have some very important matters to talk about with your resident mech designer."

The Penitent Sister Commander sent a silent command through her implant. "Done, sir. Follow me, please. I will guide you to the upper decks."

As they began to walk through the hallways, Ves entered into a discussion with Chancy.

"I'm sorry about neglecting your group. After we returned to Cinach, I had to deal with a lot of issues. My wedding, the talks with the Cross Clan and finalizing my mech projects all took priority."

"We understand, sir. We are content with our lot. Our situation is not much different from that of the other mech forces. We are all waiting to receive our new mechs and combat carriers. We don't particularly require any special attention."

Ves sighed in relief. At least the Penitent Sisters didn't suffer from his lack of attention.

"That's good to hear. How is Miss Stameros doing, by the way?"

"Oh, she is keeping herself busy." Commander Chancy replied. "She has been helping us decide which commercial mechs we should buy in order to restore our battle effectiveness. There is quite a lot of choice, even if we limit ourselves to Hexer mechs."

"I see."

It sounded as if Stameros was truly engaged in her current responsibilities. While that was good, Ves still thought it was a waste to leave her with the Penitent Sisters. She could do so much more for the Larkinson Clan if she contributed to his design projects!

While Ves knew he was playing with fire by disregarding his wife, Ves did not give up on his current course of action. One way or another, he wanted to add another Journeyman to the Design Department!

Chapter 2533: Unredeemed

Ves had been in the company of a Journeyman for more than half a year without realizing it. For some reason or another, he mentally diminished the status and importance of Juliet Stameros.

It was as if he thought she was just another unimportant Apprentice!

How could he make such a colossal oversight? Why hadn't Gavin or any of his staff reminded him of the potential value that Miss Stameros held?

The former was a bit stupid on his part. He lived an incredibly busy life and work constantly occupied his mind. He spent most of his thoughts on planning his grand expedition, thinking about what capital ships he should acquire and what mechs he should design next.

undefinedThe Penitent Sisters rarely occupied his thoughts. Though the Larkinson Clan operated several different mech forces, Ves did not exactly treat them equally.

For example, he openly favored the Avatars of Myth. It was originally 'his' mech troop, and even when it shifted towards serving the clan as a whole, Ves still showered it with attention such as bestowing it with the Bright Warrior design.

Of all of the mech forces under his command, Ves knew the most about the Avatars!

In contrast, the Living Sentinels earned very little attention from him. As the only non-elite mech force of the Larkinson Clan, he wasn't really interested in investing in them. Ves simply trusted Major Verle and the Sentinel Commander to run this large mech force.

The only reason for Ves to pay more attention to the Sentinels was when he wanted to design a mech that was specifically targeted to them. As the 'militia' of the Larkinson Clan, it was not suitable for the Sentinels to pilot the most advanced LMC mechs. He knew that he needed to design a more general purpose mech for them sooner or later.

Of course, that might take some years. There were other mech forces who were much more deserving of his attention such as the Flagrant Vandals and the Swordmaidens.

In a way, his unequal attention wasn't necessarily a problem. He was simply overlooking too many people and organizations. Forming biases and playing favorites was unavoidable.

What Ves really should have done was to split responsibilities. For example, since he hardly cared about the Living Sentinels, why not let Gloriana supervise their mech needs?

Sadly, that didn't really work as Gloriana was rather unsuited for this role. Her specialty made her much more suited to supervise the custom mechs and future expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan.

As a result, the Penitent Sisters fell through the cracks.

To be honest, Ves still wasn't used to having them. They were an unexpected and somewhat unwanted addition to his clan. He only agreed to let them in because of their loyal service and their exemplary behavior on the battlefield.

One of the principles he valued was to be fair to people who fought on his behalf. Just because the Penitent Sisters possessed a Hexer background was not a reason for him to mistreat them. The fact that the Hexer exiles had mellowed out a lot and shed their dislike towards him and the Larkinsons helped a lot in accepting them into the fold!

Yet even then, Ves was still trying to adjust that they were a part of his clan rather than a bunch of barnacles on the hull of his ship.

For these reasons and more, Ves essentially overlooked the value of Commander Chancy, Commodore Evern, Head Designer Stameros and the rest of the Penitent Sisters!

Luckily, less than a month had passed after Task Force Predator returned to the Cinach System. During this span of time, Ves truly became far too occupied to pay special attention to the Penitent Sisters. The women shouldn't hold it against him for neglecting their situation.

Once they reached a small meeting room aboard the logistics ship, the main mech designer of the Penitent Sisters was already present.

"Patriarch."

"Miss Stameros. It is good to see you again. How are you dealing with the changes to your life so far?"

"Are you inquiring about my professional or private circumstances?" Juliet frowned.

"Both. I've come to make some decisions concerning you and your sisters. I don't mean to pry, but it will help if you are willing to share more details."

As a mech designer, Juliet understood the importance of gathering lots of data in order to make the most informed decisions. Ves left it up to her to decide how much she was willing to say. He believed she was clever enough to be earnest towards him. Withholding accurate information would only hinder her opportunities.

Ves briefly turned his head to Commander Chancy. "Could you give me a private moment with Miss Stameros? I would like to talk to her as one mech designer to another."

The Penitent Sister Commander gazed at him for a few seconds before nodding. "If that is what you wish… sir."

She did not kick up any fuss as she turned about and marched through the exit. The hatch closed when she passed through, providing Ves and Juliet with a modicum of privacy.

Of course, Ves was pretty sure the monitoring system was still recording everything, but he did not bother to activate his signal jammer. His main purpose to send Commander Chancy out wasn't to ensure confidentiality, but to give Juliet some space to speak about herself outside of the presence of her direct superior.

"I am a Penitent Sister." She began.

When she didn't say anything else after a few seconds, the room turned awkward. Even Lucky, who had crawled onto Ves' lap, looked confused.

"...Okay?"

"I believe you have failed to comprehend what I said."

"Some clarification may help." Ves gently suggested.

Juliet crossed her arms. "For most of my life, I grew up in the presence of Hexers who believed that boys like you are abhorrent and should be punished for being born this way. My fellow sisters and I became damned because of this. Do you know the pain of being treated this way by the state and people you trusted and put your faith in? Do you know how much we suffered for realizing that we were the ones who turned out to be wrong?"

"I don't claim to have lived through these pains, but I have suffered similarly when the Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate sold me out to please the Friday Coalition. I trusted these states and the people that govern them to cover my back."

Both of them shared a distinct glance. They held the eyes of someone who suffered from deep betrayal. This shared identity brought them a little closer to each other.

Juliet continued with her story. "After the Temple of Hexism determined our guilt and forced me and my surviving sisters to earn our redemption, we had already given up on our lives. It was already made clear to us that it is enough to repent by fighting the enemies of the state. We needed to fight until none of us were left."

"Then the Penitent Sisters fell into my hands."

"Indeed." She ruefully smiled. "We originally prepared to be deployed to the frontlines of the Komodo War. To be frank, many of my sisters looked forward to this deployment. Despite our shabby mechs and our older combat carriers, we would at least be allowed to fight against the Fridaymen. There is hardly any better way for us to earn our redemption. Being stripped of the opportunity to die a noble death in order to cater to a foreign boy of all people brought a lot of despair to us. No one, not even myself, looked forward to becoming your slaves!"

"I never treated you as such."

"And I thank you for that." Juliet replied earnestly. "I have to admit that many of us treated you and your Larkinsons coldly due to our unwillingness to be deprived of the opportunity to take part in the Komodo War. We were also unused to the outside galaxy."

After that, Juliet began to explain some of the changes she and her sisters went through after becoming attached to the Larkinson Clan. Their experiences during the Nyxian Gap Campaign caused them to continually adjust their views.

For one, they no longer held any ambitions to return to their home state.

"It is best for everyone involved if we don't return." She spoke with a determined voice. "We aren't welcome there, and we don't particularly like the Hexers there either. We will always be tainted in their eyes."

"Our clan thinks differently of your people."

Juliet shook her head. "Not really. There are plenty of Larkinsons who try to distance from us whenever we show up in public. To them, we are still Hexers and extreme ones at that. Don't deny it, patriarch. We don't deserve your pity. We deserve all of the contempt that we can get. You may have persuaded the Hegemony's government to redeem us and put us under your care, but that is mainly on account of your merits, not ours. In our hearts, we have yet to redeem ourselves. We are committed to serving you for as long as it takes to earn our repentance."

That sounded rather troubling to Ves. He did not want these new additions to the Larkinson Clan to act as if they were lesser than other clansmen!

Yet what could he do? He knew what fanatics were like. These Penitent Sisters may have changed some of their ways, but they carried too much cultural baggage for them to get rid of them all. Their former cult and the other Hexers around them had constantly instilled them with values meant to keep them under control.

Now that Ves essentially inherited the Penitent Sisters, he could work towards reducing their sense of guilt, but not immediately. This was going to be a long-term project.

He pulled his thoughts away from the Penitent Sisters as a whole. He did not come here with the intent to reform this group. For now, he just wanted to sound Juliet out and find out whether it was possible to pull her into the Design Department.

"Miss Stameros, thank you for sharing your views with me. I will definitely make sure your sisters will have ample opportunities to earn whatever redemption they seek in the future."

She looked pleased at his promise. Even if he sounded rather vague, it was the thought that mattered.

"We are grateful for any support that we can get. We don't expect to receive the best treatment, but it is already enough if the clan can meet some of our needs."

Ves leaned forward. "Do you want to have more control over how the clan treats your sisters?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"You are a Journeyman Mech Designer. That puts you on the same level as Gloriana and I. With your status, you can easily gain a much bigger say in our governance structure. With more power, you can make sure that the Penitent Sisters are properly represented at the highest levels of our clan. Of course, with power comes responsibility. You must perform your duties if you wish to enjoy the benefits."

"Are you asking me to become a politician or something?" Juliet dubiously asked.

"No. I'm asking you to take on an even better role. Come join the LMC's Design Department. As the third Journeyman Mech Designer of our clan, your talents are wasted elsewhere. If you join our Design Department and help us design new and better mechs, your standing within the Larkinson Clan will skyrocket. While I can't promise you will become as powerful as Gloriana or myself, as one of the main contributors to the earnings of the clan and the strengthening of our mech forces, our people will never neglect your interests."

His offer overwhelmed her. She never expected him to invite her into the prestigious Design Department.

This was where all the miracles took place! The true foundation of the Larkinson Clan did not rest in its mech pilots or expert pilots. It was actually the mech designers who ensured everyone's continued prosperity and growth. Without designing all of their great mechs, Ves and Gloriana would have never earned so much recognition!

"This… I don't think I can accept." The head designer reluctantly answered. "I don't deserve this honor. My only goal is to serve my fellow sisters. I can do that best in my current position. If I go somewhere else, who will ensure the mechs assigned to my sisters are working properly?"

As someone who always viewed herself as damned, tainted and burdened with guilt, Juliet simply did not feel comfortable with taking on a greater role!

Besides, she had another reason to reject his offer.

Her eyes looked strangely at him. "Your wife also made it abundantly clear I'm not welcome in the Design Department. I don't want to antagonize her or provoke any discord between your relationship. I don't think either of us can ever collaborate on the same projects."

Damn!

Chapter 2534: The Third Designer

"Don't worry about what Gloriana thinks. While I cannot deny that she dislikes you, don't let this stop you from stepping up. Our Design Department needs more Journeymen. She is not in charge!"

"That is not what she has said towards me." Juliet hesitantly responded. "She had mentioned many times that she doesn't want me to take part in any design projects. Your wife has made it abundantly clear that she will respond very negatively if I ever trespass her territory."

"The Design Department is not her personal castle! She is merely a lead designer in the LMC's hierarchy, while I am the boss! Nothing in the rules allows her to override my wishes! Listen, Miss Stameros. Just ignore what Gloriana told you and come with me. She'll be pissed, no doubt, but she'll get over it once she realizes that you're not a threat to her. In cases like these, we just have to show her the hard way that her fears are unfounded."

The entire situation sounded bizarre to Juliet. As a woman, she understood quite well why Gloriana told her off. It was just that the Penitent Sister designer did not wish to cross such a powerful woman.

undefinedNo matter what Ves claimed about the limits to Gloriana's power, she was still his wife! Her influence and soft power in the Larkinson Clan was very considerable despite her Hexer background!

Ves was able to read what Juliet was thinking about as well. He grew more and more exasperated at what his wife had done behind his back.

Instead of recognizing Juliet's value as an indispensable design asset, Gloriana only saw her as a threat!

This was unfair. Why did his wife have so little faith in his loyalty towards her? He never looked at Juliet as anyone other than a Penitent Sister and a Journeyman mech Designer during this meeting!

"Patriarch Ves, it is not that I am unwilling. I just don't want to aggravate your relationship with your partner. If my entry causes your relationship with her to deteriorate, then I fear that my sisters and I will suffer from the fallout."

Ves cut the air with his palm. "Nothing of the sort will happen! Look, as long as you turn into a powerful contributor in the Design Department, you will gain enough clout in the clan to protect the Penitent Sisters. In fact, you will be able to resist any of her attempts to make your lives difficult. If you remain as you are, your importance to the clan is pretty much trivial. Any competent Apprentice Mech Designer can fulfill your current role."

"I understand that, sir. You have already made that clear. I just can't accept your generous invitation. You don't understand the rivalry that goes on between women like us. Back in the Hexadric Hegemony, competition between Hexers can get quite nasty. From what I have learned about Miss Gloriana, she's a lot more ruthless than you think."

His heart sunk. Though he did not want to acknowledge what he heard, in his heart he knew that Juliet was right. Ves had personally fallen victim to Gloriana's scheming, after all. Though he didn't take it to heart anymore, he still recognized that his wife was anything but an innocent wallflower!

So what, though? The Larkinson Clan belonged to him. He put in all of the hard work of founding it, nurturing it and helping it ascend to its current height. Though Ves had the help of many other Larkinsons, it was undeniable that his will trumped over hers! The Design Department was not her turf, and he had no reason to allow her to engage in sordid court scheming!

His determination hardened. The clan would miss out on too many benefits if it allowed a Journeyman to remain suppressed in the Penitent Sisters. What Gloriana had done was no less than to sabotage the interests of the clan she was a part of. This firmly put her in the wrong!

"Let's not mess around anymore." He stated in a firmer tone. "Accept your new position and embrace your new responsibilities. I will make sure our administration processes your transfer by the end of the day. Tomorrow, I will personally bring you to the Design Department and introduce you to all of our lovely assistant mech designers. While they might not know how to deal with a Penitent Sister, they are already used to working under Hexers."

He did not give Juliet the illusion of choice anymore. While he did not wish to resort to coercion in order to get her to cooperate, it was clear that she would remain reluctant if the choice lied with her. Rather than allow Gloriana to dominate her decision-making, Ves decided to take matters into his own hands.

This way, if Gloriana blew up, she would direct most of her ire towards him, not Juliet. As someone who had taken plenty of punches from different people, Ves was confident he could handle an angry wife!

Still, just because he issued a command did not mean that others were willing to play along.

"This.. does not sound entirely appropriate, sir. I cannot see how Miss Gloriana will be able to tolerate my presence."

Ves banged his fist against the armrest of his chair!

"Meow!"

Lucky jumped from his lap!

"Who is in charge of the Larkinson Clan?"

"The Patriarch, who happens to be you." Juliet replied.

"Who is in charge of the Living Mech Company and every department?"

"Uhm, I haven't studied the corporate governance structure of the LMC as of yet. Are you the CEO?"

Ves nodded and grinned. "I am the founder, chairman and CEO of the LMC. Even though I let others manage all of the tedious business operations of my mech company, I am still the absolute majority shareholder. This means I don't have to give a damn about what other people want."

Juliet looked impressed at him. "How much stock does Gloriana possess?"

"Nothing. I own 59 percent of the LMC. The Larkinson Clan owns 24 percent. The Larkinson Family, who you must have heard about, owns 1 percent."

"That does not add up to 100 percent. What about the remaining 16 percent?"

His face darkened for a brief moment. "That's not important. I'll be taking back those shares back in due time. Anyway, as a Journeyman, as long as you earnestly put your design capabilities to good use in my mech company, then I will not skimp on your rewards. You will get what you deserve, and you can use your gains to help your fellow Penitent Sisters in many ways. This is the greatest opportunity that you can grasp in the Larkinson Clan."

She started to look interested. Though the shadow of Gloriana still loomed over her shoulders, Ves slowly pulled her into his rhythm.

"What sort of rewards can I expect to gain?"

"Let's start with the intangibles. Becoming the third lead designer of the LMC already puts you at the same level as the expert pilots of our clan as far as I'm concerned. This neatly solves the lack of high-ranking mech pilots among the Penitent Sisters."

Juliet looked swayed by that argument. "I can see how that can be useful."

"There is more. As a lead designer, you gain a say in determining which mech design projects we should start and how to shape the design of our mechs. Our assistants have no choice but to follow someone else's arrangements, but it is different for you. As a Journeyman, you should already be worthy of our trust when it comes to leading design projects. Am I wrong?"

Juliet couldn't help but puff her chest. "I graduated with a degree in mech design at the Artemis Institute! While my alma mater is not as prestigious as Kelma University, the gap is quite close. I can design most types of standard mechs!"

"According to your record, you have a Class IV design philosophy, correct?"

Now that the conversation turned towards her qualifications, Juliet exhibited a lot more confidence.

"That's right."

"The description of your design philosophy doesn't go in-depth of what you can actually do. It merely describes your specialization as 'high-mobility flight systems'."

Ves was already accustomed to vague and unhelpful labels that mech designers used to describe what they excelled at. Maybe they wanted to hide something. Maybe they wanted to be as open as possible.

It turned out that Juliet had another reason to keep her specialization vague.

"My design philosophy is not as mysterious as it sounds. It accurately describes what I can do. It is just that the emphasis is not entirely obvious. The key word is high-mobility. I excel at designing flighting systems that feature powerful movement characteristics. I constantly have to juggle between prioritizing, acceleration, top speed, agility, responsiveness, and so on to design aerial and spaceborn mechs with great maneuverability."

That did not sound specific enough to Ves. He felt that Juliet may be holding back a critical aspect that tied what she said together and clarified her ambitions.

There was no need for him to pry too much. He would learn about the essence of her design philosophy in due time once they began to collaborate on some mech design projects.

All he needed to know was that her relatively broad specialty was a useful addition to the Design Department. Many of the mechs he planned to design in the future were supposed to be multi-environmental mechs that could fight effectively in space and in atmospheric conditions.

Pairing these flexibility mech designs with excellent flight systems that were capable of enduring many different environments was very important!

The amount of help that Juliet could provide in this aspect was already worth it! In fact, she would probably be able to contribute much more to mech designs that conformed to the high-mobility aspect of her specialty. This meant she was highly suited to take charge of every light mech design project!

"Can you show off some of your past works to me? I need to gauge your overall skill and gain an impression of your design style." Ves requested.

She did as instructed. A few projections came to life. Ves immediately poured over the dozens of light and medium designs.

Each of them were fast. Some were faster than others, while others possessed significantly better evasion characteristics.

Overall, Juliet's mech designs were not that much worse than the mechs that Ves and Gloriana designed. This was already good enough.

The only problem was her design style. Each and every mech she designed shared one very notable trait.

"These are all female mech designs." He flatly stated.

"Yes."

"Have you ever designed a male mech?"

"Why would I do that?"

"..."

Of course she would say something like that. She was still a Hexer.

"If I order you to design a male mech, will you be able to fulfill my expectations?" Ves asked.

"Uhm… I.. suppose I can.. It's just… I could use some help…"

Her answer did not give him a lot of confidence.

Oh well. No one was perfect.

Ves proceeded to explore her work in greater detail. He asked her to explain her design choices and how her design philosophy empowered her mech designs. He learned more details about her design style. He even learned her signature look consisted of shaping the flight systems of her mechs as prominent pairs of wings coated in red.

Juliet Stameros passed all of the tests that mattered. While she possessed numerous shortcomings, they did not detract from her overall value as a Journeyman.

She was usable!

Ves wrapped up the meeting. "I have no more questions for now. The body of work you showed me along with the insights and understanding you have shared has given me enough confidence that you will be an excellent addition to our Design Department. I suggest you spend the remainder of this day on making arrangements for another mech designer to take over your current position. The Penitent Sisters must still have a head designer, but it shall not be you anymore. If your group lacks a capable Apprentice who can fill your big shoes, then you can always turn to me. There are plenty of mech designers in the clan who can fulfill this role."

He stood up and turned to leave the room without letting her voice any rejection.

However, just before he passed through the hatch, he stopped and turned. He pointed his finger straight at the symbol on her face.

"By the way. You can remove this mark of shame. A proud Journeyman of the Larkinson Clan should never carry such a disgraceful sign!"

Chapter 2535: Repulsed

Strangely enough, Juliet Stameros refused to remove the rather eye-catching symbol on her face.

"We Penitent sisters do not wear this mark with pride." She stated firmly. "It is a mark of shame, as you said. It reflects our guilt and reminds us that we are not finished yet for atoning for our crimes."

"But.."

"Do not make this request again! Not a single Penitent Sister will voluntarily remove this mark! If you help us to get rid of this sign, then help us earn our redemption faster!"

undefined"You have already done enough in my eyes. You don't owe any debt to anyone."

Juliet stiffened her back. "I'm sorry, but that is not for you to decide. We are more than capable of making this determination ourselves. Not you, Miss Gloriana or any Larkinson Clan can make this judgement."

He didn't understand her stubbornness. This was yet another quirk of the Penitent Sisters that they still held close to their chests.

Ves reluctantly dropped the matter. There was no reasoning with the Penitent Sisters when it came to their core beliefs.

"I am afraid your mark of shame will attract too much attention when I attempt to introduce you to the Design Department tomorrow. Can you at least cover it up or something?"

"That would defeat the purpose." She immediately replied. "While I do not wear this mark with pride, it is essential for others to see me who I truly am. Don't make this request again."

His control over the Penitent Sisters wasn't very extensive. As long as he touched anything sensitive, the women immediately became prickly!

Ves let the issue slide. It was just a cosmetic mark that looked rather embarrassing. If Juliet and her sisters were tough enough to endure the shame of bearing it, then he was fine with letting them have her way. The mark played an important symbolic role in their subculture.

After he left the room and informed Commander Chancy of the imminent transfer, her reaction wasn't as bad as he feared.

"I see." The older woman spoke. "I had a hunch that you would come for her. I am glad for her promotion. She deserves more, and we are all grateful that you are willing to grant her the opportunity to develop herself again. Perhaps she will be able to smile again like old times."

"I am not taking her in because I take pity on her. As a second-class Journeyman, she can make significant contributions to the clan by contributing to our design projects. It is through designing new mechs that our clan is able to field more powerful mechs and earn enough money to afford new starships. No matter how you look at it, every Journeyman that joins our Design Department will have a direct effect on our growth trajectory."

This was also why Ves was so adamant about bringing Juliet Stameros aboard! With just one extra Journeyman, he could easily earn another trillion hex credits due to her effect on the productivity of the Design Department. This meant he would be getting a lot of good stuff sooner than he projected!

"I hope you will be treating her fairly, sir." Commander Valerie Chancy spoke. "If I recall, it is customary for Journeymen and higher to receive a stake in the mech company. While her design capabilities are not as strong as yours, she can still make a difference."

Ves suddenly regretted heaping so much praise on Juliet. Increasing her importance also raised her bargaining position.

"She still has to prove herself. Even if she has successfully integrated into the Design Department, it is still a question whether it is appropriate to award her with shares. The LMC is a much bigger mech company than the ones led by other Journeymen. My design philosophy plays a key role in its success. Any latecomers like Miss Stameros are essentially taking advantage of all of the effort and resources I invested into the LMC. She is also a lot more dispensable to the success of the mech company than myself. If I am gone for whatever reason, you can bet the LMC will collapse in a matter of years!"

This was undeniable. As Commander Chancy wasn't a mech designer, she did not pursue this argument further.

"I hope you won't shortchange her. I will be watching."

"I'm not a scumbag, commander. Every Penitent Sister is a Larkinson in my eyes. It is just that for the good the company and the clan, it is best not to split or dilute the shares of the LMC."

He just didn't want to give up anymore shares. While Commander Chancy was correct that Journeymen were usually entitled to at least some stock in the company they worked for, Ves vehemently objected to the practice.

No one was allowed to pry a single share from his hands! The 59 percent that was currently on his name all belonged to him and him alone!

Therefore, he hoped to hoodwink and distract everyone who was eligible for this reward. Even if they deserved it, Ves would not hesitate to employ his Devil Tongue to the fullest in order to dissuade his high-ranking mech designers from requesting shares.

In fact, if Ves really wanted to be fair, he should have given some shares already to Gloriana.

He did not do so.

He might love her, but some possessions were too precious to give away, even to his wife!

With all of the trouble he experienced about the ownership of his mech company, Ves was incredibly sensitive about any further giveaways.

He vowed that his ownership in his mech company would never drop below 59 percent ownership for the rest of his life! In fact, it would be great if he could get back the 16 percent owner that had fallen in the hands of the Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate. He would probably launch a party when that happened!

After successfully brushing aside the matter of awarding Juliet with some stock, Ves discussed one more topic with the Penitent Sister Commander.

"Do you remember how your Penitent Sisters fought in the previous battle?"

"Of course." Pride filled her face. "The Battle against the Abyss is one of the greatest battles of our lives. While it is regretful that many of our sisters have fallen, they have not died in vain. Defeating evil is one of the noblest ways to earn our redemption."

"Well, one of the factors that allowed your Penitent Sisters to exert so much power during the battle is the battle network I've implemented."

"We are very grateful for allowing us to receive the Superior Mother's blessing. You are truly her son for being able to convince her to give us a chance! We are unworthy. Each time we enjoy her blessing, our debt increases."

That was a very interesting detail. Perhaps their self-determined redemption wasn't getting closer over time. If the Penitent Sisters thought that every blessing from the Superior Mother cost something, then they might be laden with debt over time!

How did that even work? Did these crazy Hexers even accept the concept of bankruptcy, or would they just continue to allow their guilt to approach infinity?

Whatever. It was not exactly bad if the Penitent Sisters maintained the silly delusion that they were still damned. From what he had seen so far, they were remarkably obedient and open to compromise in their current state. Ves should cherish this advantage!

Besides, if Juliet Stameros thought the same way, Ves had even less reason to reward her with company stock.

In her current mindset, Ves could probably keep her happy by rewarding her with nothing but nutrient packs!

Of course, he wouldn't take advantage of her to this extent. As long as he threw enough scraps at her, he wouldn't invite criticism from the Penitent Sisters and the rest of the clan.

As Ves left the Penitent Sister ship, he began to inform some important people about his latest arrangements for Juliet Stameros.

He left it to Gavin to process the administration and make Juliet's new appointment official.

"Boss.. uhmm.."

Ves grew annoyed at the projection. "Just spit it out, Benny."

"Did you.. discuss this move with your wife, perchance?"

"GLORIANA DOESN'T RULE MY CLAN!" Ves angrily barked! "There is no reason for me to consult her about this move."

Gavin panicked. "You're acting too quickly, boss. I highly advise you to slow down. Let us get to know Miss Stameros better and ascertain whether she is a good fit for the Design Department. Just because she is a Journeyman doesn't mean she automatically fits in with your other mech designers."

"Every mech designer in the Design Department is subordinate to me." Ves replied with gritted teeth. "Their opinions don't matter. My orders are absolute."

"I can think of at least one mech designer who may have words about your choice!"

Ves glared at his assistant. "ENOUGH! Your job is to execute my will, not to hinder it. Right now, it is my will to transfer Miss Stameros to the Design Department and promote her to our third lead designer. Now stop getting in my way and make it happen!"

He immediately closed the communication channel, causing Gavin's projection to fizzle out. He took a deep breath and settled into his chair.

"Why does everyone think that Gloriana is in charge?"

Lucky heard his question and rolled his eyes as he floated around.

"Meow."

"That's slander!"

"Meow meow!"

"You're wrong! I can teach Gloriana who is truly in charge! Just wait for me to get back home!"

Adding a third Journeyman to the Design Department wasn't a simple matter. Ves had to spend the rest of the day informing the most important stakeholders of the drastic and sudden change.

People such as Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson and Ketis each reacted with shock at his decision. He had to explain himself over and over again before they acknowledged that he was being serious.

He also had to make some personal arrangements at the Design Department in order to make room for Juliet. He needed to ease her in as soon as possible so that he could briskly embark on his next round of mech design projects.

At the end of the day, Ves finished with his preparations. After considering his options, he reluctantly returned to the Stellar Chaser.

Fortunately, Gloriana's personal ship did not bar his way.

He took Lucky and slinked back to her stateroom. Once he entered, Gloriana was already lying in her bed. She directed a grumpy expression at him as she clutched Clixie against her chest.

"Did you have fun today?" She asked.

Ves moved to the attached bathroom but kept the hatch open as he changed his clothes and prepared for bed.

"I did not revel in the decision I made. I did what was necessary to strengthen our clan and bring us closer to our goals."

"Hmph! I bet you had an enjoyable time talking about mech design with our 'latest' lead designer."

"Gloriana… I love you. I would never hurt you by pursuing other women. You think too little of me. I take my vows seriously."

"I know you, Ves. You are ruled by your passions and emotions. Who knows what you have been thinking as you have been exploring her design philosophy today. Will you explore something else about her tomorrow?"

"Don't put words in my mouth. I am fully in control of my own actions. I have never lost control!"

Once Ves finished his evening routine, he emerged from the bathroom and approached the queen-sized bed. Just as he was about to slip in, a repulsive antigrav field emerged from the bed and pushed him away!

His body soared in the air and landed a short distance away. As his back smacked against the deck, he couldn't believe what had happened.

He rose to his feet and approached the bed yet again.

The antigrav field arrived yet again and slapped his body back!

"Gloriana. Let me in! I'm your husband!"

"No." She huffed. "You can sleep on the couch or go back to your stolen Fridaymen vessel. Whatever you choose, you are not sleeping in this bed tonight."

Ves tried to approach the bed several times, only to be repelled again and again. After the fifth time, he stopped and attempted to hack the device that was responsible for keeping him away.

Unfortunately, Gloriana's arrangements were too good! He couldn't hack her programming unless he borrowed his cat's CFA-derived hacking abilities.

"Lucky. Where are you? Help me beat this stupid repulsion field."

"Meow?"

"Miaow."

To his astonishment, Lucky had curled up next to Clixie. Both cats were lying comfortably on what was supposed to be his pillow!

"Wake up and help me already!"

"Meow!"

"Arrgh!"

Chapter 2536: Design Department Changes

Aboard the Scarlet Rose, a tense atmosphere settled over the design lab. The Braves and Erudites that entered the compartment each walked with nervous gaits as they took their regular seats behind the terminals and work stations.

Only a handful of mech designers took less notice of the ambiguous mood in the design lab.

"What's going on?" Ketis asked as she sauntered over to Miles Tovar. The satisfied smile on her face was completely at odds with the grave expressions of the other low-ranking mech designers. "We're finally about to design some mechs again. Isn't this great?"

The former Brighter mech designer raised his palms in a sussing motion. "Quiet down. Don't attract too much attention today?"

undefined"Why?"

"Because there is trouble on the horizon?"

Ketis looked confused. "Huh? What trouble?"

The man leaned forward until his lips came close to her ears. "The marital kind."

"Oh."

The Swordmaiden mech designer still looked clueless.

"Haven't you been paying attention to the messages on the internal net?"

"No. I am preoccupied with something lately. I've been… ahem.. training some personnel over at the Hall of Heroes."

She couldn't help but smile in a mischievous manner as she said that. Venerable Joshua rapidly improved his swordsmanship after he began to follow her high-intensity training program.

Alas, she couldn't spend as much time with the expert pilot as before. Her duties to the Design Department came first, and she also had to spend enough time on her own projects in order to progress her design philosophy.

Her improvement never stopped. Though the prospect of advancing to Journeyman was still fuzzy to her, she continued to work diligently in order to get closer. She had already completed all of her early mech designs and had begun to design another wave of swordsman mechs.

Perhaps other mech designers might go bored or crazy after designing one swordsman mech after another, but Ketis was different.

She loved swords! She loved mechs! She loved combining the two! As long as she had enough time, she could design an infinite variety of swordsman mechs!

This was how a hyper-specialized mech designer worked! The more restrictions they imposed on themselves, the more they were able to expand their options in the areas they excelled at. There was never a case where Ketis would run out of ideas!

As she and Miles spoke in low tones to each other, the entrance to the design lab slid open again.

Everyone sat up straighter.

The air became even tenser.

Gloriana did not pay attention to the nervous expressions of her assistants. She marched over to the front of the lab. Her white coat billowed as she advanced like a woman possessed.

"Miaow."

Clixie dutifully followed the mech designer while keeping a close eye on the other mech designers.

A number of Glory Seeker bodyguards had entered as well. They hardly attracted any attention as they took position around the design lab.

No one spoke as Gloriana quietly sat down at the seat reserved for her. Clixie jumped up and perched on her lap. A delicate hand soon began to stroke her fur.

A few minutes passed as every mech designer tried to keep themselves as still as possible. No one wanted to be the one who attracted Gloriana's ire!

Rather than sticking their necks out, it was better to stay still and act like statues. After all, Gloriana didn't have a problem with them. Only one person was responsible for putting her in a foul mood!

The hatch slid open yet again. Everyone turned to face the entrance.

Several people passed through. The assistants automatically dismissed the presence of Nitaa and the other Larkinson bodyguards.

Lucky attracted a bit more attention. The eye-catching mechanical cat floated forward as if he served as a scout for the people who were just about to pass through.

"Meow."

Two more people passed through.

One of them wore a familiar red-and-white uniform that possessed some ornate touches. This was the Larkinson Patriarch uniform that Ves wore on a daily basis.

The woman next to him wore a very different uniform. Only one mech force issued the fairly distinctive black and orange outfit.

The logo on the front of the uniform attracted even more attention. The very distinctive orange symbol surrounded in a black circle left no doubt to the identity of the mech designer walking next to the clan patriarch!

An invisible storm seemed to form around Gloriana as the pair of mech designers approached.

The intensity of her barely-restrained fury caused one of the two newcomers to falter in her steps.

Ves turned his head to his companion. "Stiffen up. You're a soldier, aren't you? You're a Journeyman, just like her. The Penitent Sisters have fought against pirates mechs and warships without flinching. Will you shame your sisters by showing cowardice in front of another woman?"

The Penitent Sister's body froze. Ves was right. The Penitent Sisters had shown undaunted courage and valor throughout the Nyxian Gap Campaign. No matter how many sisters perished, none of the exiled Hexers ever broke!

Yet defying Gloriana was easier said than done. If there was one weakness the Penitent Sisters possessed, it was that they were never able to show strength towards other Hexers.

The Hexadric Hegemony held the power of life and death over them once. Though Gloriana wasn't an extension of the Hexer state, she was the closest thing to a proxy in this situation. She even had the Glory Seekers at her beck and call!

Right now, aside from the Cross Clan, the Glory Seekers possessed the greatest might in the Cinach System. On the other hand, the Larkinson Clan wasn't able to exert that much strength anymore as it was in the process of drawing down its third-class assets.

How could the Penitent Sisters hold their heads high in this situation? Despite their common origins, the Glory Seekers did not regard the Penitent Sisters as their own! In fact, it was the opposite!

Every Penitent Sister knew that if they made one wrong move, the Glory Seekers might take the initiative to wipe them out, their affiliation to the Larkinson Clan be damned!

Though Ves was vaguely aware of this dynamic as well, he didn't think the situation could deteriorate to this extent. Relations between the Wodin Dynasty and the Larkinson Clan would instantly sour and his marriage with Gloriana might fall apart as a result.

The Wodins would never let such a disaster come to pass!

Therefore, Ves bet that no matter how he interacted with the Penitent Sisters, Gloriana and her guard dogs wouldn't do anything.

The Penitent Sisters may possess a troubling history, but that was in the past. As far as he was concerned, the former Hexers were Larkinsons now. Since they were his clansmen now, Ves had an obligation to treat them as warmly as his own kind.

Once the pair of mech designers approached the front, Ves turned around to face the assistants.

He gestured to the woman he brought into the Design Lab.

"This is Miss Juliet Stameros, a Journeyman Mech Designer from the Hexadric Hegemony. She is a graduate of the Artemis Institute in her former state. That means that she is a real second-class mech designer. Her specialty is high-mobility flight systems. Given these qualifications, I have decided to appoint Miss Stameros as the third lead designer Design Department, effective from today."

He really went through with his intentions! Despite Gloriana's darkening expression, Ves pretended as if his wife didn't exist at this time as he began to unveil some procedural and administrative changes as a result of the latest addition.

The sudden changes to the hierarchy of the Design Department necessitated a lot of new rules! No longer were Ves and Gloriana able to command their assistants as casually as before. They needed more structure in place so that the department would continue to run smoothly even if some irregularities took place.

"We will be adopting a different project schedule for this round." He announced. "Due to our growing need for second-class mech designs, we will temporarily stop working on minor design projects. For the next round, we will all be working on six major design projects. Since the workload is much greater for all of us, I've decided to raise the time limit from four months to six months. Within half a year, I expect us all to complete six different second-class mech design projects!"

Six second-class mech designs!

Just half a year of time!

Many assistants couldn't help but gasp when they heard the news. The challenges were much greater this time! None of the Braves or Erudites were truly up to the task of designing a second-class mech as of yet. Even if they were relegated to an assisting function, they needed to work much harder and draw on a much greater body of knowledge in order to perform even the most trivial of tasks!

Sure, the Design Department had two more months to complete the design projects, but the magnitude of work was much greater.

With just two Journeyman Mech Designers at the helm, it was extremely doubtful whether the mech designers of the LMC could complete so many projects at the same time.

This was when everyone began to shift their gazes to Juliet Stameros.

Only the addition of a third Journeyman would allow them to finish their projects within the time limit!

Ves smiled in satisfaction as the Braves and Erudites began to look at Juliet in a more positive light.

Through applying pressure, he easily manipulated his assistants into regarding Juliet as their savior and helper instead of an interloper. Whatever negative influence Gloriana exerted to them became a lot less effective.

One of the lessons that every Larkinson learned was that they should always aim to complete their assignments! If they were late or failed to performed their assigned tasks, they might miss out on earning precious Larkinson merits.

No one wanted this to happen!

The Larkinson Merit Exchange that Ves had set up added more and more valuable goods and services to its redemption list. There was definitely something for everyone!

Ves clapped. "As you can imagine, designing six second-class mech designs at once is quite cumbersome. This is why Gloriana and I will share ultimate responsibility for the design projects with Miss Stameros. While she is still unaccustomed to working here, I have high expectations for her. Every lead designer will soon be in charge of leading two design projects each."

This meant that Ves, Gloriana and Juliet would only have to pay attention to two projects instead of all six. Of course, this did not mean that they were supposed to isolate their projects from each other.

An LMC mech was not an LMC mech if it did not possess any life. Ves played an essential role in applying his design philosophy to all six upcoming mech designs.

In the same fashion, Gloriana was indispensable when it came to optimizing and elevating the performance of the mech designs.

As for Juliet, her role was a bit more specialized. It was her task to empower and maximize the performance of the flight systems of every mech design. In fact, her specialty actually encompassed some smaller mobility systems as well such as modular thrusters and boosters.

Since every second-class mech including the landbound kind possessed at least some form of extra propulsion, Juliet could still play a role in the design of mechs devoid of flight systems.

Even if that somehow wasn't possible, the fact that she was a Journeyman meant that she could already handle many other aspects of a mech. It was just that the areas that fell outside of her specialty wouldn't be as remarkable.

That was okay. The third lead designer wasn't supposed to excel in every area. What mattered more was how much value they could impart in a mech design when they pooled their respective specialties together.

Ves truly looked forward to how much faster and more agile his next products would be! With the addition of Juliet, it was the perfect time for the LMC to develop a lot of new light mechs!

Chapter 2537: Second Round

Throughout the entire announcement, Gloriana did not speak a single word.

Usually, Ves and his partner jointly handled these matters. They were used to sharing power and responsibilities on an equal basis whenever they were on duty.

In practice, Ves handled more responsibilities on some days while Gloriana took charge on other days. It mostly depended on what mood they were in and how preoccupied they were.

Yet no matter who took the lead, Ves and Gloriana basically supported each other's decisions by default. Even if they didn't agree with something, as long as the issue was small enough, it wasn't worth kicking up a fuss.

undefinedNow, this dynamic would no longer hold. The insertion of a third Journeyman meant that it became a lot harder to keep everyone aligned. This was especially when two of them were antagonistic towards each other.

To be honest, this situation was anything but ideal to Ves. If he didn't manage the situation properly, then the next six months might end up in disaster!

However, as Ves laid his eyes on Juliet, he believed it was worth the risks to integrate her into the Design Department. The benefits she brought were too great for him to pass up. He just had to placate his wife and find some way to prove that her concerns were unfounded.

For now though, he had to address their goals for the current design round.

He raised his hand, summoning a projected list.

"As I've stated earlier, we will be starting six new design projects. For the next couple of weeks, you will be put on exploration duty. Depending on the nature of your assigned project, you will have to gather as much relevant information as possible. We need you to explore which criteria and requirements we must set, which tech and components we should use and so on. For our Larkinson mechs, I need you to interview our mech pilots and find out what they wish to see in their mechs."

Performing market research was essential to designing the right mech. It didn't matter how good his mech was if it did not conform to the needs of his fighting forces.

After explaining these basic matters, Ves moved on to explaining the focus of the six mech design projects.

"Three projects will be oriented around designing Hexer mechs for the Hex Army. The other three projects are centered around designing commercial mechs or mechs that are exclusive to the Larkinson Clan."

Someone couldn't help but raise his hands.

"Yes, Mr. Ringer?"

"How many commercial mechs will we design this time?"

"Just one."

"Isn't that rather small?" Moltar Ringer frowned. "Why aren't we designing any commercial mechs this time? Shouldn't we focus on increasing our revenue?"

Due to his poor and debt-laden background, the former Reinaldan citizen was very sensitive towards money. One of the reasons why he loved the Larkinson Clan was because it excelled in earning lots of money!

Ves sent a disapproving glare at the eager assistant. "In fact, I'm not certain yet whether we will publicly release the mech with commercial potential. It is an uplift of one of our recent third-class mech designs, but its value and utility is on a whole other level when it becomes a second-class design."

He did not want to disrupt the mech market too much! Even with his rising prestige, Ves knew that competing against second-class mech companies was a lot more dangerous than competing against third-class mech companies.

Even if the LMC stole half the market share of the latter, what could they do? Aside from performing some small tricks, those inconsequential mech companies could never affect the LMC's dominant market position in many foreign states!

It was different once the LMC stepped in a second-class mech market. The competitors there were not inferior to the Larkinson Clan. In fact, many of them were far more powerful by virtue of their strong physical presence!

The LMC was foreign to every state. In every second-class state, its subsidiaries had to keep their heads down and avoid attracting too much attention from the local tyrants.

If the domestic mech industry of a given state all joined hands, the LMC would definitely lose its foothold!

For now, Ves did not feel that the LMC and his clan were strong enough to set up a strong foundation in those powerful foreign states. There was not that much sense in selling a powerful second-class LMC mech at this time.

Since his assistants were all curious about this potential commercial mech, Ves simply decided to unveil it first.

He waved his arm, causing the projection of a very familiar mech design to dominate the design lab.

"That's the Ferocious Piranha!"

Ves grinned. "I'm sure you can guess it already. One of the projects will be centered around translating our successful Ferocious Piranha design to second-class standards. In the interests of saving time and effort, we will be borrowing heavily on the data we have generated when designing the original version."

"Who will lead the project, sir?"

"As the Ferocious Piranha is a light skirmisher that relies heavily on its flight system to perform its role, it is most appropriate to hand over this project to Juliet."

Everyone switched their gaze towards Juliet, who Ves had referred to on a first name basis in order to bring her closer. To her credit, she did not exhibit any nervous tension.

The lack of any hostile action from Gloriana made Juliet feel more secure about joining the Design Department. Though she still didn't feel very comfortable here, it was enough to avoid the other Hexer as much as possible.

She knew what to do now. She took a step forward.

"While I have not taken part in the development of the original design project, the patriarch.. Ves.. has filled me in. I possess a different understanding of light mechs. In my eyes, the Ferocious Piranha Mark I is an adequate light skirmisher design with some very interesting properties. However, when you leave out its glow, its performance characteristics still have room for improvement. These openings will grow larger when we translate the mech concept to a second-class design, so there is room to add some extra modules to the mech depending on the budget."

She looked towards Ves, who paused before answering her implied question.

"We will set an exact budget for each project after we have completed our preliminary research. It has to be high enough to make it useful to our clan, though. I don't want to assign any budget mechs to our clansmen. They deserve better."

This meant that the Ferocious Piranha was definitely going to cost a lot compared to other second-class light skirmishers.

Ves moved on to announcing Juliet's second design projects.

"In addition to supervising the second-class version of the Ferocious Piranha, she is also responsible for designing a mech with a narrower focus. For various reasons that I won't explain to you, the Penitent Sisters require a new mech model that is geared towards resisting very powerful individual opponents."

He gave the word to Juliet again.

"We are still exploring the basic properties this mech must possess in order to fulfill this difficult goal." The Penitent Sister spoke. Despite her unconventional background, she possessed genuine leadership ability, which was good. "At the moment, I am inclined to design a rifleman mech that can combine its firepower with identical mechs. This mech must be fairly mobile but also possess sufficient protection to defend against area attacks."

They could have chosen to design a melee mech instead, yet Ves did not favor this plan. It was far too easy for a powerful mech to wipe out an entire mech company up close. While such a powerful opponent also posed a threat against distant targets, the attack power might not be as great.

Once Juliet finished outlining her thoughts on the Penitent Sister mech, Ves called up the projection of another familiar mech design.

It was the Bright Warrior design!

"I am sure you are familiar with this bridge mech design. While our clan has not deployed this model in greater numbers, the Avatars of Myth fought well with the few Bright Warriors they possessed. The model is also responsible for facilitating the rise of heroes such as Venerable Joshua. While there are various shortcomings to the Bright Warrior concept, it is worth it for us to reimagine it as a second-class mech design!"

"Will the armor system still be made out of Breyer alloy?"

Ves shook his head. "I have no plans to do so this time. While I have not finalized this decision, from a logistical viewpoint it is much more convenient to design an armor system that does not rely on any overly-scarce materials. In fact, every material we incorporate in our mech must be commonly available in many regions. This is how we can keep building them no matter where we travel."

This was a rather complicated matter. Not only did Ves have to account for the distribution and availability of lots of exotics, he also had to look ahead and adapt his work to the materials available in the Red Ocean.

Fortunately, this was what staff and assistants were for. He did not have to waste his time on performing this tedious but essential research.

"The Bright Warrior Mark II will be the true successor to the original version. I have no intentions to design another third-class Bright Warrior. The Mark II will largely adopt the same principles and design choices of the original. I doubt there will be any room for additional modules, but if there are opportunities, then we might be able to add some extra functionality."

Catherine Evenson raised her arm. "Sir, what is the purpose of the Bright Warrior Mark II? How long do we intend to keep it in our mech roster?"

Ves looked sharply at the former noble Sentinel. She understood the objective of this project right away.

"The Bright Warrior Mark II is another transitory mech. The Mark I has succeeded in its goal of serving as a bridge between third-class mechs and second-class mechs. Now, due to the shortage of clan-exclusive designs, the Mark II is intended to give as many of our mech pilots an opportunity to pilot a second-class LMC mech as possible. Once we complete its design with four different configurations, its modular nature ensures that our clan will effectively receive four powerful mech models at once. This will largely alleviate our critical lack of second-class LMC mechs!"

In other words, the Bright Warrior Mark II probably wouldn't last very long! Once the Design Department designed a comprehensive set of different mechs, the performance of the Mark II shouldn't be able to keep up with the Larkinson Clan anymore.

At that time, the clan might dump the Bright Warrior Mark II's to the Sentinels or simply recycle them to reuse all of the expensive materials used to make them. As much as Ves valued living mechs, it simply did not make sense to keep them around once they served their primary purpose. There was no way that Ves was willing to give them a second life by selling them to third-party clients.

If possible, there might be a case for passing them on to the Larkinson Family, but that depended heavily on whether his clan would still be in the Yeina Star Cluster!

After he introduced the Bright Warrior Mark II Project, he also moved on to detailing his second design project.

"I can't say much about the other project I'll be taking charge of. For now, it is meant to be an exploration of a Hexer mech that may be able to restrain the rampant Fridayman expert mechs on the battlefield. Don't put your hopes up, though. A lot of people have tried to figure out a way to counter expert mechs without relying on any of their own. None of these attempts succeeded as far as we are aware of. Even if an amazing solution exists, it's probably in the hands of the MTA."

Given how much the Mech Trade Association values high-ranking mech pilots, it made no sense for it to publicize a method that could easily take down their extraordinary mechs.

In fact, Ves had a hunch that if he somehow developed a killer mech against expert mechs, the MTA might come knocking on his doors to prohibit its deployment!

Chapter 2538: Conflict of Interest

To be honest, Ves had no idea how he should go about designing a mech that restrained expert mechs.

He only dared to come up with a mech that restrained expert mechs. Countering them was out of the question. It was too unrealistic to design a mech that could actually threaten these powerful killing machines. Just hindering them was already worthwhile enough for the Hex Army.

In fact, a mech that was powerful enough to act against an expert mech would definitely have a much greater effect against weaker machines! This meant that even if this design project failed in fulfilling its primary goal, it could still meet its secondary goal.

Ves held the attitude of trying it out. Succeed or fail, he would at least learn some valuable lessons. Since he intended to add some expert mechs to the clan as well, he needed to know how they coped with various situations. They were powerful, but not invincible!

undefined"We have introduced four out of six design projects so far." He addressed the crowd of assistants. "Juliet and I will supervise two projects each, so that leaves two more. Gloriana, would you like to introduce them to our design teams?"

She glowered at him. Just because she maintained her composure throughout the session didn't mean she was happy with how Ves handled the situation!

Unfortunately, this trend could not be stopped. Ves had gone through with his intentions, signalling that he was not abiding by her stance.

It was unseemly for her to express her dissatisfaction to Ves. She had an image to uphold and she could not air her dirty laundry in public. How could she possibly face the mech designers who looked up to her after showing her ugly side?

Besides, even if she argued with Ves, she knew in her heart that he would not budge on the matter. He was too materialistic for his own good. The moment he realized the Larkinson Clan possessed a third Journeyman was the moment he was determined to expand the Design Department!

Given this unpalatable situation, Gloriana had to make a difficult decision. Every viable choice was a bad one. She could choose between the least-bad solution or the most catastrophic solution.

She still possessed enough logic and good sense to choose the lesser of two evils.

She stood up and took a few steps forward. She composed her face and pressed down her anger and resentment as much as possible.

"I will be in charge of leading two Hexer mech design projects. The first one is centered around the concept of a light communications mech. Through taking advantage of some of the unique properties of my husband's glows, we believe it is possible to design a mech that can transmit and receive data without becoming affected by conventional ECM and jamming."

Several mech designers looked up when they heard this. These individuals were aware of how much such a mech could affect the course of major battles.

One of the most troublesome aspects about planetary campaigns was the sheer amount of jamming and interference set up by both sides!

While it was possible to maintain short to medium-ranged communications depending on the proximity to the enemy, it was difficult to keep in touch with units at the frontlines!

This meant that requests for reinforcements, warning messages of enemy reinforcements, footage recorded by scouts and other forms of crucial data weren't able to reach their intended destination!

Out of all of the assistants, Moltar Ringer and Mayer Torto possessed the greatest interest in this design project!

Mayer Torto was one of the youngest and most junior mech designers among the assistants, but he had made great strides towards expanding his expertise in communications, command and control systems.

If he was able to participate in a design project that made use of a communication system based around entirely different principles, he might be able to make a considerable harvest!

In contrast to Mayer, Moltar was interested in the opposite. His specialty lay in signal disruption. In his opinion, no foolproof communication system existed. As long as one mech transmitted a signal to another mech, there should be a way to disrupt this exchange!

He wanted to take part in the design of this Hexer communication mech as well. He wanted to understand what made it tick and how to break it. While that sounded rather counter-productive, it was actually very valuable to LMC to learn what could interfere with the transmissions of this unusual Hexer mech.

What they didn't know was that Ves did not think highly of their chances. If the unique communication system of the Hexer mech was based around spirituality, then how could a pair of spiritually-dull Apprentices be able to perceive what was happening?

"This is not the most exciting mech design." Gloriana warned everyone. "As an auxiliary mech, it is not necessary to add additional functions to this mech. It merely needs enough mobility and survivability to last on the battlefield."

While auxiliary mechs sounded rather boring, they were still vital to many larger mech units. Trying to command and coordinate several different mech companies over wider areas was quite challenging. Any decent opponent would try its best to set up a lot of interference.

The consequences of neglecting this vital step were very dire!

Perhaps a group of mechs might get surrounded by enemies from all sides.

Perhaps some scout mechs on the ground were accurately able to transmit coordinates to mechs in orbit which were able to launch precise orbit-to-surface attacks.

Whatever the case, stopping the enemy from communicating with other elements was very much worth it, even if it hindered friendly communication attempts!

As Ves played a very vital role in the design of this mech, he had to say something as well.

"The core communication principles behind this Hexer auxiliary mech will largely be based around my design philosophy. This is an experiment to see whether it is possible to establish a communication system that is not counterable by ordinary technological means. If this design succeeds, we may start a follow-up design project to design a Larkinson-exclusive scout mech that takes advantage of the same system."

This was a good attempt to pioneer a new application of his design philosophy. If the concept delivered on its promises, Ves would be able to refine it until it turned into a second-generation implementation. Through all of this maturing, the scout mech exclusive to the Larkinson Clan should be able to perform even better in this regard!

Once he had his say, Gloriana turned to the second mech design project she intended to lead.

Ves had briefly spoken to Gloriana about this before. He gave most of the decision-making power concerning this last project to her. It was his way of soothing her anger. He hoped that by being able to dictate the overall form of the sixth design project, she would no longer be preoccupied with driving Juliet out of the Design Department.

"The sixth mech design project that we will be working on is another Hexer mech design." Gloriana announced. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time to specify what exactly it should be. For now, I have some ideas which I will share in private with the design teams assigned to this project. The Komodo War is continuing to tilt in the favor of the Friday Coalition. While we aren't the only ones who seek to turn this situation around, I believe we can play a vital role in helping the Hex Army regain the initiative."

Everyone carefully composed their expressions as they listened to Gloriana.

To Ves, their actual feelings were poorly hidden. Hardly any of his assistant mech designers harbored any sympathy for the Hexers. In fact, some of them were probably looking forward to seeing the Hegemony collapse!

It was not easy to figure out why this was so. Many of the new hires came from states aligned with the Hegemony. This included people like Catherine Evenson who still had a lot of relatives in the Sentinel Kingdom.

If the Hexadric Hegemony vanquished the Friday Coalition, the Hexer culture would probably spread throughout the rest of the star sector!

In contrast, if the Fridaymen defeated the Hexers, the Sentinel Kingdom would probably continue to be business as usual.

This was because the Coalition didn't possess an abnormal culture!

Sure, every Coalition partner developed some quirks. The Carnegie Group was filled with merchants, the Gauge Dynasty was too full of itself, the Konsu Clan obsessed too much over hierarchy and so on. Yet compared to the galactic standard, they were pretty much within the range of normality.

Ves suddenly realized that this might become a serious problem. Even though people such as Catherine Evenson pledged to sever all of their former ties, it was hard to get rid of their sympathy and sense of belonging to their former states or the people they grew up with. Why should people like her contribute to a mech design that might very well plunge her former family and friends into a society where people like Gloriana were considered normal?

This was a massive conflict of interest!

The worst part about it was that Ves had no easy way to solve this problem. He understood people's reluctance to contribute to a potential Hexer victory. Yet for the sake of his mother and his wife, Ves had to ensure that his clan assisted the Hexers as much as possible.

He paced around the lab. "Before we go any further, let me just say something else. Each of you are Larkinsons. Each of you have pledged an oath to put the interests of the clan above the interests of any third-parties. While I don't expect you to disregard your own interests, it is best if you remember your current allegiance."

He pointed at Catherine and some other assistants. "Each of you come from the Sentinel Kingdom, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Will you assist in the design of our Hexer mechs knowing that your efforts will help the Hegemony defeat the Coalition?"

The mood in the design lab changed yet again. Both Gloriana and Juliet became more attentive as they figured out what Ves might be doing.

"We.. will perform our jobs as long as it furthers the interests of the clan." Catherina glibly answered.

As a former aristocrat, she understood she needed to express a firm stance. The sooner, the better!

The other Sentinel assistants followed suit. Once Felicia Slenn affirmed her duty as well, Ves began to grin.

"I am glad you know what you are supposed to do, but knowing is not enough. You must stick to your words and act according to our expectations. If you ever feel troubled by what you are doing, you are welcome to visit me in private. This is the only time that I will show sympathy to any moral dilemmas or conflicts of interests you might harbor."

His grin grew cruel. "However, if you keep your feelings to yourself, then you must bear the consequences of doing so. If any of us ever find out that you are hindering our design projects, we will treat you according to the rules and regulations of the LMC and the Larkinson Clan. If you haven't read them already, then I suggest you skim over them. If you ever run afoul of them, don't say I didn't warn you. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

No one dared to stick their necks out. They weren't stupid. Even though Ves knew that plenty of former citizens of the Komodo Star Sector still harbored very mixed feelings about assisting a Hexer mech design project, he did not need their approval. He merely requested their compliance.

This was how reality worked. Employees rarely got to choose how they worked. Situations might arise where they would be working on behalf of those they feared or detested.

So what?

All of his assistants worked for him now! Ves had the final say here, and his interests trumped over theirs!

If these mech designers wanted to choose their own design projects, then they should have started or continued to run their own mech company rather than joining his clan. Once they became a Larkinson, they lost the right to speak on these matters!

Chapter 2539: Dysfunctional Department

Several weeks went by as the design teams received their preliminary assignments.

The LMC was a very different company from just a year or even half a year ago. While Ves and Task Force Predator dove into the Nyxian Gap, Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson slowly beefed up the overhead of the company.

This not only resulted in the growth of the Marketing Department, but also led to the formation of the Product Research Department.

When Ves confronted the COO of the LMC about this surprising addition, Raymond supplied his reasoning.

undefined"The Design Department is purely focused on designing mechs while the Marketing Department is mainly oriented towards marketing our existing products. " He explained while he stroked the back of Freddie, his grey Persian cat. "Certainly, the latter is also engaged in researching market trends and such, but the analysts who work there do not possess a good grasp on the technical side of mechs."

"Then why not add some low-ranking mech designers to the Marketing Department?" Ves asked in puzzlement.

"We've tried. It doesn't help. The mech designers assigned to the Marketing Department are too disconnected from the Design Department. There are physical, organizational and information barriers keeping the two departments apart."

"Then why not drill a hole through those barriers?"

"That is what the Product Research Department is for, Ves. It may be a bit more elaborate than a simple channel, but it is the best way to connect the Design and Marketing Departments without leaking too much sensitive data. It is becoming increasingly more vital to keep the core operations of the Design Department confidential. It is easier to do so if we keep it relatively small. For now, it only consists of mech designers. You haven't even hired any secretaries."

Raymond's explanation started to make more sense to Ves.

"I see. You want to keep the departments focused on their primary missions. If the Design Department has to split its focus between designing mechs and performing market and product research, then it may become too muddled."

"I know that time is precious to you and your fellow mech designers. While some aspects of technical market research can only be performed by a mech designer, there are many other forms of research that don't require such an individual. The Product Research Department is filled with analysts of various different backgrounds that select the most suitable mech component licences, discover the availability of specific exotics that play a key role in producing your mechs, identify specific cultural norms or local laws that allow or prohibit certain types of mechs and so on. These are tasks that used to be carried out by your assistants but can now be off-loaded by people who are dedicated to this research."

Ves recognized the greatest benefit of the Product Research Department. "One of the advantages of using this model is that we can easily hire hundreds of analysts without caring about their mech design qualifications. They can be basic Novices or not know anything about mech design at all, thereby sparing my assistants in the Design Department a lot of needless effort!"

He became sold on the idea. The time of mech designers was too precious. Each day, each hour and each second that went by should ideally be spent on work, studying, essential body maintenance and occasional leisure activities. Ves felt increasingly more pressured to to increase the proportion of the former and reduce the proportion of the latter.

Of course, humans weren't machines. It was inhumane to live a life that completely revolved around working as much as possible. Just like overstressed machines, humans tended to break when pushed to the brink so many times.

The Design Department did not go so far. Ves had implemented a fairly generous work schedule. As long as his assistants put in enough work hours, they were free to do what they wanted for the rest of the day.

Rather than forcing his assistants to work more hours, Ves instead implemented a lot of incentives. Those who worked harder, longer and achieved more results would always be rewarded with Larkinson merits, more attention and other benefits.

By driving the competitive spirit of his underlings, they voluntarily increased their output without feeling exploited.

It was rather tasteless to whip their backs. Not only would Ves tire out his arm, his assistants would all build a lot of resentment towards him. Subordinates who began to hate their own bosses might become prone to acting irrationally. Aside from that, they wouldn't put their all into their work.

As someone who believed in the power of mutual interests, Ves was much more inclined to appeal to someone's greed and desires. While it was rather expensive to satisfy the constant needs of so many people, the LMC was already doing well. There was no need to skimp on salaries and other benefits.

After Raymond fully explained the role of the LMC's latest department to him, Ves began to ask for a lot more data. He wanted to obtain broader and more detailed market research. He wanted to know the habits and preferences of the mech pilots of each of his mech forces.

He also wanted the Marketing and Product Research Departments to set up subgroups that were specifically geared towards the Red Ocean. Ves wanted to obtain some reports on how the mech and material markets of the new frontier were shaping up. As his future playground, he needed to master the rules in advance.

Once he entered, he needed to know straight away which kinds of mechs were in high demand and what materials he could build them with. Knowing this early would allow Ves to design Red Ocean mechs prior to passing through the beyonder gate!

As every mech designer and the related departments of the LMC paved the way for the next round of design projects, Ves tried his best to manage his two other Journeymen.

"Don't bother me." Gloriana warned the other Journeyman. "Ves may have let you in, but that doesn't mean we're friends."

Juliet grimaced. "I will stay in my own corner of the design lab. If you need anything from me, you can pass your request through Ves."

"As if that would ever happen!"

Neither women liked each other. Gloriana put herself above Juliet in very obvious ways. There were four reasons why she acted high and mighty towards Juliet.

First, Gloriana came onboard the LMC a lot earlier. She played a considerable role in the design of many of the company's bestsellers, such as the Desolate Soldier and the Doom Guard. The Ferocious Piranha and the Crystal Lord Mark II, which were only just catching on to the mech market, also brought a lot of credit to her name!

While Ves was the most central mech designer of the Design Department by virtue of his indispensable design philosophy, the quality of his products would have never been good enough to sell in so many foreign markets if Gloriana hadn't boosted this aspect.

Second, there was a difference in status between the two women.

In the Hegemony, Gloriana firmly belonged to the upper class. As the granddaughter of a matriarch and a member of a prominent dynasty, she was pretty much a noble in her former society.

Of course, her official status wasn't so noble in the Larkinson Clan. The hierarchy was a little flatter and more casual, and that was largely by design. Even so, Gloriana managed to build up a formidable reputation by virtue of being Ves' wife and lover.

In contrast, Juliet was a criminal and an exile. Worse, she was damned.

Not just Gloriana, but also Juliet herself recognized their difference in status.

"I still don't know why you accepted one of the damned in our ranks." Gloriana grumbled to Ves without bothering to lower her voice. Not just Juliet, but every other assistant in the lab heard her words! "In the past, the cult that Juliet belonged to performed deeds that were too awful to even the most conservative Hexers."

Ves sighed for the umpteenth time. "I know. I've heard that already. That is all in the past and peripheral members like Juliet were never materially involved in these sordid rituals. While I don't like the Hegemony, I see no fault in how it judged the guilty."

His wife only became more pissed when she heard this answer!

Third, the addition of a third Journeymen messed up the collaboration between Ves and Gloriana. What made this cooperation so great was that they both complemented each other without encroaching on each other's territories.

Ves was in charge of the spiritual design of the mech while Gloriana dictated its technical design. Simple.

Now that Juliet had joined the team, the situation for Ves didn't change. As someone who held a monopoly on spiritual components, he did not have to worry about anyone displacing his role.

It was different for Gloriana. Her broad Class I specialty covered entire mechs in a holistic fashion. Her influence ran through every physical part of a mech.

Did this prevent her from collaborating with mech designers who delved into the same parts? No. Gloriana was fully capable of ceding ground and letting someone more specialized take care of a specific aspect. Otherwise, no mech designer other than Ves or some other Class IX weirdos would be willing to work together with someone so demanding.

It was just that Gloriana loathed the prospect of ceding every ground related to flight systems and other mobility systems. It was as if she used to own an entire house, but suddenly had to give away the kitchen to a stranger.

Even if the newcomer was a much better cook than Gloriana, the latter found it very difficult to recognize this basic truth.

Ves let out an exasperated breath. "Just accept it, honey. You may be better in designing the other aspects of a mech, but Juliet remains the undisputed authority when it comes to flight systems, thrusters, boosters and other movement modules."

Fourth, Gloriana was afraid that Juliet would steal Ves from her. She exhibited much more paranoia than her husband when it came to this touchy subject!

"I already told you a thousand times, I'm not going anywhere! Why can't you just trust me when I say I would never cheat on you? I'm a man of my word!"

His wife looked contemptuously at him. "I failed to be on guard when that boy-stealing Fridayman snatched you from my grasp. After almost losing you to Aisling Curver, I promised to myself that I would never dismiss the threat of another woman!"

And she did. With each passing day, her vigilance towards Juliet remained intact.

Still, it was difficult for her to remain on high alert. Her work was a heavy burden and she couldn't spend all day on staring at Juliet in person.

Ves and Juliet always interacted professionally to each other. Even without his overprotective wife, he would have acted in the same decent fashion.

As for the third lead designer, her main motivation was to contribute to the Larkinson Clan in order to provide more benefits to the Penitent Sisters. Juliet did not do anything that could jeopardize this process.

Over time, Gloriana became less tense. Ves and Juliet both acted so carefully that she genuinely couldn't find fault in either of them. Since her fears didn't come true, she eventually dropped most of her guard and put most of her attention on her work.

The needs of the Hex Army were very important to her. She needed to flesh out the sixth design project all herself, and that was not very easy. She needed to come up with a good mech concept and vision that complemented the mech lineup of the Hex Army.

She couldn't do it alone. As a specialist in custom mechs, she needed to consult frequently with Ves. She even had to seek Juliet's input in order to set the requirements of the flight system of her design project.

If she wanted to design the best possible mech under the current circumstances, Gloriana had little choice but to accept the latest changes. She did so grudgingly and with gritted teeth.

That was good enough for Ves.

Chapter 2540: Bright Warrior Mark II

The collective efforts of the Design Department, Product Research Department and the Marketing Department yielded a lot of results.

Each day, Ves gained access to a flood of new reports and other data. It was excessive for him to go through all of this reading material, but fortunately he didn't have to. He merely had to quiz the assistants responsible for managing a specific task or order them to write a summary of their findings.

With so many people dedicating themselves to so many different tasks, Ves gained a lot more pertinent information and insights than in the past. Every additional detail lit up the darkness that was ahead of him, allowing him to stop groping in the dark.

Rather than guessing something, Ves could simply dig through the constantly-expanding database for the right proof. By backing up his decisions with solid data, he gained more confidence in his design choices.

undefinedThe chances that his assumptions were wrong were much smaller, though he was careful to allow for at least some room of error.

After all, not every data was accurate. Ves also had to account for the shortcomings and biases of the people who provided, collected and interpreted the data. With each additional step in between, the data became more distorted.

It would have been a significant burden to keep track of every detail concerning the six design projects, but that was exactly why he split them up. While Ves regularly discussed the direction of every project with the other two Journeymen, he mainly focused his energies on fleshing out the concepts for the two projects that fell under his purview.

The Bright Warrior Mark II Project was the most straightforward of the two. On the surface, it was nothing more than converting a third-class mech design to a second-class mech design.

Of course, it was a lot more complicated in practice. A lot of changes took place during this conversion process. Design choices that made sense for lesser mechs became suboptimal if he attempted to apply them to greater mechs.

Before Ves specified anything else, he first had to set a budget for the mech design.

He couldn't set the budget too high because it would be a waste to invest too much in a second-class mech he only intended to field for a few years.

On the other hand, he couldn't be too stingy either. The Larkinsons needed to pilot something better than the second-class commercial mechs that were already being shipped to the Cinach System. Otherwise, what would be the point of switching mechs?

"I think aiming for a production cost of 200 million hex credits per copy is reasonable."

This was fairly generous but not too luxurious in Hexer standards. The highly-successful Blessed Squire design also cost the same amount to produce.

However, it was not appropriate to make a straight comparison between the Blessed Squire and the Bright Warrior Mark II.

Their roles were completely different.

The former was a purely supportive mech that was designed to be nothing more than a projectile sponge, a moving battery and a glow dispenser.

The latter was initially meant to become the mainstay fighting machine of the Larkinson Clan. Ves wanted as many of his mech pilots to switch to a Bright Warrior Mark II once he completed its complicated design.

This was quite easy to accomplish as the Mark II catered to many different mech pilots, just like its predecessor!

The Mark I version came in four different configurations.

The second design choice that Ves had to make was determining whether he wanted to keep the current configurations.

Gloriana happened to have an opinion about this topic. She sought him out and explained her views.

"We can do more with the Bright Warrior concept this time."

Ves raised his eyebrow at him. "Explain."

"A second-class mech isn't as limited in terms of capacity as a third-class mech. Components can be smaller as long as we invest more money into them. What I suggest is to make more room in the basic configuration of the Bright Warrior so that there is more room for customization. This way, we don't have to stick to choosing between a rifleman mech, knight mech, lancer mech and swordsman mech."

Though her argument was sound, Ves did not immediately accept her suggestion.

"Just because we can doesn't mean we should. The four configurations already cover 80 to 90 percent of every medium mech pilot. Sure, there are other mech types absent from this list, but will their inclusion truly matter to our mech pilots? I think not. Even if some of our mech pilots specialize in piloting striker mechs or auxiliary mechs, almost all of them are proficient in piloting the four basic configurations. In fact, all we really need is the rifleman mech and knight mech configurations."

Every mech pilot first learned how to pilot those two basic mech types before choosing their specialization. Even if a mech pilot didn't score well in piloting them, they should at least be decent enough.

Adding the swordsman mech and lancer mech configurations added a lot more practicality to the modular mech platform. Ves already thought it was more than sufficient to leave it at that, but Gloriana thought differently.

"You're treating the new Bright Warrior like the old one. It doesn't have to be like that, Ves. I think there is untapped potential in the concept. As long as you increase its scope, it can become a truly useful asset to the Larkinson Clan, just as you envisioned."

Ves shook his head. "It's not possible. Our mech pilots are too specialized. They don't want to switch mech types according to the situation. I still think the Bright Warrior Mark II is best suited to serve as a stopgap mech and a reference for upgrading the Quint."

"You don't understand! As long as we free up enough capacity, we don't have to spend a lot of effort in adding at least four more configurations. We can turn the Bright Warrior Mark II into a platform that can become a striker mech, a cannoneer mech, a construction mech or even a stealth mech!"

Her list of suggestions did not impress him at all. He stared flatly at his wife.

"It will take too much time to design these extra configurations. Our clan can't wait that long. Also, the overall design will have to give up a hefty chunk of its budget in order to incorporate all of these miniaturized components. That means we have less money to spend on its armor system and the configuration-specific parts. In other words, the performance of the entire design will drop."

He decided to retain the original mold as much as possible. Not only did it save a lot of time and effort, it also ensured that its performance of the Bright Warrior was reasonably up to standard relative to its cost.

Perhaps the biggest deviation to the original design was the switch to another armor system. Ves wanted to implement armor plating made out of materials that were widely available in the Yeina Star Cluster and elsewhere. He didn't want to resort to using Breyer alloy anymore because its supply was too limited and Ves had much better uses for this material.

This led to a very strange situation. Almost all of the specs of the Bright Warrior Mark II exceeded the original, but its defensive attributes were actually worse!

No matter if it was impact resistance, thermal absorption, electric insulation and other relevant properties, the successor of the Bright Warrior was actually easier to destroy!

It couldn't be helped. Ves intended to fabricate thousands of them from his own factory ship. There was no way that the constant cycle of melting down Cassandra Breyer's escape pod could output so much Breyer alloy in so little time. This was especially because Ves already reserved much of the current and future output to armoring and decorating the prow of his flagship!

As Ves steadily absorbed a lot of reports and other data concerning this design project, he began to sketch a draft design.

Overall, the modular mech platform with its four configurations looked fairly basic. Ves made a deliberate design choice to leave less room for optional modules.

The mechs didn't really need too many fancy functions. The Bright Warrior Mark II might be an average performer in the eyes of other second-raters, but Ves treated it as the bottom model of his clan. This was the mech that every Larkinson mech pilot should start with before moving on to more powerful machines.

Therefore, Ves didn't want to make it too complicated. He wanted to keep the configurations as dedicated to their primary functions as possible.

"A rifleman mech should be a rifleman mech. There is no need to issue a sword to this machine. The only way for this configuration to keep itself safe is to use its superior mobility to kite its pursuers. At most, I'll add a knife. Anything more will just slow down the mech."

"A swordsman mech should be a swordsman mech. A sword suited for chopping through mechs is all it needs. Okay, maybe I can throw a small shield and a pistol in the mix, but they are only there for emergencies."

"A lancer mech should be a lancer mech. It should do fine with a lance and shield. Whatever capacity is open should be put into increasing the shock and impact resistance of the mech. If there is still room left, I'll throw in a collapsible spear."

"A knight mech must definitely be a knight mech and nothing else. A tower shield is indispensable. As for the other weapon, it doesn't matter if it's a sword or spear. Aside from that, a pistol is all I'm willing to add."

While there was still room for additional weapons and modules, Ves merely filled them up with various auxiliary functions.

For example, the rifleman mech received an upgraded sensor system and some ECCM and anti-jamming systems.

The other configurations received some goodies as well, but they all augmented the primary functioning of the mech.

Perhaps the only other major change from the Mark I was its much-improved flight and maneuvering characteristics.

When Ves approached Juliet and asked her to complete his draft design, she went to work. Ves had purposefully left out the flight systems and other mobility systems from the incomplete draft.

This was a small test to see if Juliet was able to achieve greater performance than him. What he didn't tell her was that he had already completed the draft design himself.

Once Juliet did what he asked, Ves briefly admired her work and began to compare the current draft design to the one he made before.

The differences were clear. While Ves noticed that the techniques and solutions selected by Juliet were not too advanced, she achieved considerably better results!

The Penitent Sister designer exhibited a deep sense of understanding and proficiency in drafting the flight system of the Bright Warrior Mark II. Compared to his own work, the difference may be as much as 20 percent!

This might not sound impressive to some people, but in an instance where Ves would have to work for months to squeeze out an extra percent of performance, this was quite impressive!

Of course, only a few parameters received such a huge boost. The acceleration of a mech and the other parameters received much more modest boosts in comparison.

The only variable left out of the draft was the effect of Juliet's design philosophy. This was something that Ves would have to explore very carefully once he moved to the actual design process.

"Thank you for your input, Juliet." He said softly to her. "I know it's been difficult to work with my wife staring at you all of the time, but I could have never imagined that my Bright Warrior Mark II could be so nimble."

Juliet shrugged. "I am only fulfilling my obligations."

"Has my wife annoyed or harassed you in any way this past week?"

"Not quite." Juliet shook her head. "Aside from glaring at me, she is content to ignore my presence. This makes it difficult to coordinate with her. It has gotten better as of late."

Ves grinned. "Reality is dawning on my stubborn wife. There is nothing she can do to stop our collaboration. The sooner she accepts this change, the sooner she'll get back to normal."

"Has she ever been normal, sir?"

Chapter 2541: How To Counter An Expert Mech

To be honest, designing the Bright Warrior Mark II was rather boring to Ves. As someone who enjoyed coming up with unique and creative visions for his mech designs, this design project felt too much like a retread.

He was adopting many of the same design choices as before. While there were plenty of challenges in trying to design a second-class version of the Bright Warrior, none of them were particularly stimulating to him.

It was as if designing the original was a rehearsal for the current project. Since Ves and his partner already overcame most hurdles, they didn't have to spend as much effort in jumping through the same hoops.

Even though the passage of time slowly pulled him out of his low state, his creative juices simply weren't flowing. His passion remained cold as he approached this project with the mindset of going through the motions.

undefinedIt was too hard to get excited for an achievement that he had already accomplished. Designing the original Bright Warrior stimulated him a lot. It took quite a lot of thinking and ingenuity to design a base platform that was compatible with four different mech types.

Now that he had solved these interesting problems, there was nothing left to maintain his interest. His passion for the Bright Warrior Mark II Project never lit up beyond the size of a candle flame for this reason.

Was this bad? In some ways yes.

Was this enough of a reason to scrap or overhaul the project? No.

"Even if designing this mech is a chore, it's still necessary for the Larkinson Clan to obtain a versatile mech platform."

Designing the Bright Warrior Mark II was the same as designing four different mechs at once. Of course, the downside was that the four mechs in question were destined to be boring, mediocre and lacking in features.

It even lost the main redeeming feature of the original, which was its class-transcending armor plating. There was no way Ves was willing to clad the Mark II with Unending alloy or other first-class materials. Fabricating just a couple of mechs would probably bankrupt him outright!

"I need to save all of the best materials for my upcoming expert mech designs."

That was another area that Ves needed to address. Since he had started up six design projects, there was no room for any expert mech design projects.

Master Willix had to call him in person about the delay.

"The longer your expert pilots go without an expert mech, the longer they stagnate. It is very difficult to sustain their progression if they are continually constrained by their mechs."

Ves looked helplessly at her physical projection. The Darkbreak module continued to serve as his private channel to his new patron within the MTA.

"I want to do it right the first time, and that takes time." He answered. "I am not confident yet in my ability to design high-performing second-class mechs. I need more practice in order to become proficient in all of the quirks surrounding these kinds of mechs. Also, I have to obtain more high-quality materials first. Due to their rarity and difficulty in procuring them, I don't think it is wise to design an expert mech first. Who knows if we end up with a design that I can never build."

Master Willix actually looked approvingly at Ves. "You are quite prudent. This is good. My earlier words are still valid, however. When an expert pilot emerges, there is a certain window of time where they continue to grow their resonance strength. This will continue for a year or a couple years depending on the genetic aptitude and the potency released by the breakthrough. However, once this natural growth runs out…"

"The expert pilot can no longer grow that easily." Ves answered. "I'm familiar with this rule."

"Then you should know that your expert pilots are on the clock."

"Six months. Please give me half a year. I am confident that my team and I are ready to begin with designing not one, but multiple expert mechs."

This was quite a lot of time, but not too much considering the current situation. Master Willix carefully weighed his answer and faintly nodded.

"Very well then, Mr. Larkinson. Six months it is. Please be ready to take part by that time. My time is limited and I should not be at your beck and call. The sooner I complete my obligation, the better."

If Ves was in her place, he would feel annoyed as well. He wouldn't think about making life difficult for her if she was a faceless Master from the MTA, but it was different now. While they weren't quite friends, they were bound by mutual interests. She was not going to break their deal just because he wanted to delay his homework.

They began to discuss some preliminary matters about their upcoming expert mech design projects. She pointed out some areas that he needed to pay special attention to such as the need to include resonating materials.

Since Ves was already talking to a Master, he felt he might as well take advantage of the situation. While Master Willix was fairly open as a teacher, her patience wasn't endless. He rapidly thought over the questions that he might want to ask. He selected two which he really wanted to hear an answer from someone high in the hierarchy of the MTA.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but if it isn't too much trouble, can I ask you whether the MTA has ever succeeded in developing a method that allows standard mechs to defeat expert mechs?"

Though Master Willix's demeanor and posture hadn't changed, Ves instinctively felt more pressure from her projection. As someone who was very sensitive to life, he guessed he must have touched a nerve.

"What an interesting question to ask." She slowly drawled. "Are you asking this question because you wish to develop a solution to the Hexadric Hegemony's predicament in the Komodo War?"

Ves coughed. "I know it is unlikely that I will be able to succeed in designing a mech that can cause significant harm to an expert mech, but I'd like to know what others have accomplished."

Master Willix frowned. "First off, while we have extensively explored these ideas, I cannot tell you the results. Such research is highly confidential. You are welcome to perform your own original research, but don't think about obtaining any tips from us. Secondly, too many mech designers have tried to accomplish this. I think you know quite well how little they achieved. The only feasible way to defeat an expert mech without one yourself is to field a mech of a higher class."

A first-class multipurpose mech could easily demolish a third-class expert mech. There was absolutely no doubt about this outcome. As for smaller gaps, the answer was still in the air. It depended on the strength of the mechs and the strength of the mech pilots.

Her answer and attitude fell in line with his expectations. The MTA certainly poured a lot of research in this subject. Whether they succeeded or not, they did not want these methods to spread. The importance of high-ranking mech pilots to the Association was too great!

As for allowing Ves to research this topic on his own, this was only because Master Willix held no confidence in his ability to find a solution. Even if he somehow did, Ves bet that the MTA would come knocking on his doors to take away his research data and forbidding him from disseminating his results.

Even after receiving the answer he expected, he wasn't done yet. Ves asked a follow-up question.

"What if I take a step back. Instead of threatening an expert mech, what if there is a way to hinder or inconvenience them. For example, if it takes an extra second for them to destroy an enemy mech, then that can already change the results of the battlefield!"

"There are proven methods that can hinder expert mechs." Master Willix relaxed. It seemed that Ves had steered her towards a safer subject. "There are mech designers with abnormal specialties that can develop products that minutely affect some of the functioning of powerful machines. There are very abnormal exotics that can be used to disturb or weaken some of the functions of expert mechs. There are even a number of universal approaches that any mech designer can employ."

"Can you give me a specific example?"

"You will have to figure this out for yourself, Mr. Larkinson. I have already revealed too much. If you cannot extrapolate a viable method given the information I provided to you, then perhaps I overestimated your ingenuity."

Damn!

The communication session ended soon after that. Once Master Willix's projection disappeared, the Darkbreak module went dormant again.

Ves turned around and returned to the design lab. He ignored his assistants and fellow lead designers. They were all absorbed in their own work anyway.

Once he sat down behind his own terminal, he began to call up a document that contained all of the specifications for his second mech design project.

Since the Bright Warrior Mark II Project was such an uninspiring chore, Ves hoped that his other project might inflame his passion. He did not want to spend the next half year like a zombie!

"Let's see. How can I design a Hexer mech that can materially hinder the performance of an expert mech?"

He wracked his brains for ideas. None of them sounded very good. For example, he had already witnessed what would happen if he designed a mech that was meant to dogpile an expert mech to the ground.

"The designers of expert mechs have already taken these common situations into account. I need to find a trickier angle!"

Several minutes went by as he tried and failed to come up with a good angle.

Eventually, a different idea came to mind.

"Wait a minute. Why do I need to do all of the thinking myself? The galactic net must have considered this question a lot! There are bound to be some good suggestions!"

Though he despised gaining inspiration from the galactic net, he allowed it this time.

The key here was to find the right platform and source to gain his information. The galactic net united an unimaginably huge amount of humans, but that simply meant they uploaded an unimaginably huge amount of nonsense every day!

Ves first needed to identify a channel for quality information. It had to come from verified and reputable sources such as other mech designers.

"Browsing Commbook doesn't cut it." He muttered.

He came up with two different choices.

First, he could enter a closed club that gathered a lot of mech designers such as the Rim Exchange.

Second, he could browse the forums frequented by mech fanatics.

"Let's go with the latter for a change." He chuckled.

Aside from mech designers, mech fanatics knew the most about mechs. These nerds and fans of mechs could recite entire spec sheets by memory and boast about viewing hundreds of thousands of different mechs in person.

The mech fanbase was indisputably the biggest collective in human space!

Forget about religion. Forget about states. Forget about ideologies. No matter whether someone was a Rubarthan or a Brighter, chances were both of them shared the same passion for mechs!

As was usual with fans like these, they tended to talk endlessly about their love for mechs. They also came up with a lot of theories and swapped very odd ideas with their fellow compatriots.

Due to their lack of technical and engineering knowledge, most of these ideas were too unrealistic or impractical.

However, that also meant that mech fanatics were free from the mental blocks that constrained the thinking of actual mech designers.

Since they didn't know what was possible, mech fanatics simply sprayed out all of their ideas no matter how stupid they sounded!

As Ves frequented a random forum, it didn't take long for him to come across a viable idea!

[Expert mechs are much more powerful than normal mechs. Every part and every material is better. However, have you ever considered that the leap in performance is different for every element? Take defense for example. Expert mechs are notoriously hard to kill because their makers stuff them with the toughest materials they have. Can any other aspect be improved as much? No! Think about the specs that can't be improved that much, such as limb strength, power throughput, heat management and so on. In order to debilitate a mech, target these weaker aspects.]

[Pix or it didn't happen!]

[You fool! You fail to comprehend the majesty of expert mechs! They are invincible and inviolable. No mortal can ever hope to defeat a demigod!]

[You can blind them! Unless the expert mech utilizes sensors that are an entire class higher, they're not so easy to harden and improve. The resonance shields of expert mechs can negate a lot of attacks, but I doubt it can do much to stop against ECM attacks!]

Ves sat up straight in his chair. "That's it! ECM!"

In other words, the answer he might be looking for was to blind the enemy expert mechs!

His enthusiasm suddenly faded.

"It can't be that easy."

If some random mech fanatic could think about it, then the designers of all of those expert mechs could come up with the same possibility. They would definitely do everything possible to equip the best possible sensor systems onto their expert mech designs!

Was there a way for him to accomplish this feat without designing the most expensive electronic warfare mech in the star sector?

Chapter 2542: Electronic Warfare Mechs

Was it easy to blind an expert mech?

"It's possible." Ves guessed.

It almost never happened. Confrontations between expert mechs took place every day in the Komodo War, but Ves had never heard of a story where a bunch of electronic warfare mechs managed to interfere with the sensor systems of a powerful mech.

As Ves gained more interest in this train of thought, he began to research this topic more seriously.

undefinedOf course, he did not research this topic by himself. He commanded his new Product Research Department to deploy some manpower to study this topic.

With an army of analysts at work, Ves only had to wait a few days to obtain a comprehensive report. The document he received distilled everything he wanted to know without any superfluous data. If he wanted to dive deeper, he could easily follow up on the references.

As it turned out, blinding expert mechs was possible.

It was just hard. It got harder with each subsequent generation.

Sensor tech became more sophisticated over time. Competition relentlessly drove innovation. Component developers constantly sought to raise resistance against ECM, jamming, interference and other strange effects. Those who failed to keep up would not be able to sell their sensor systems anymore!

There were immense trans-galactic corporations who investigated every exotic, every tech and every combination to see if they could harden sensor systems more.

The most important criteria to judge a sensor system wasn't precision or range, but resilience!

"There is too much jamming on the battlefield!"

Weapons fire already made it difficult for sensors to resolve accurate readings. When thousands of mechs fired their positron beams at once, how could such an enormous discharge of energy not mess up any sensors that were sensitive to electromagnetic emissions?

On top of these chaotic discharges, a lot of modern mechs possessed at least some ECM functionality.

Most of the time, they were fairly weak and basic, granting them some ability to hide against long-ranged sensors.

However, once a large amount of mechs grouped up, the interference they generated overlapped, forming a stronger field that frustrated targeting systems, spoiled precise readings and generated other effects.

There were mechs that were designed to do more than throw up an interference field for self-protection.

These auxiliary mechs carried or integrated powerful directional arrays. Designed for electronic warfare, these machines were capable of projecting interference across a distance!

It was similar to how a person across the street waved at Ves before shining a very bright flashlight in his eyes. It was annoying as hell and disturbed his vision!

At the level of mechs, this flashlight actually consisted of very sophisticated components that operated along principles that were countless times more complicated than projecting a simple beam of light in someone's eyes.

What Ves found curious was that electronic warfare mechs constantly faded in popularity.

In the earlier mech generations, they were quite a regular sight on the battlefield. It was worth fielding them because they truly did interfere with the aim of long-ranged mechs.

However, as the Age of Mechs progressed, sensor development continued to overtake electronic warfare development.

It made less sense to deploy mechs dedicated to electronic warfare.

They weren't necessary in small-scale combat. Mercenaries almost never bothered with them as it made more sense to field an extra mech that possessed actual teeth.

If a hundred electronic warfare mechs all focused on disturbing the sensors of an enemy mech company, then they might be able to disturb most but not all sensor systems.

"This makes no sense. It is much more straightforward to deploy a hundred combat mechs and wipe out the enemy mech company the old-fashioned way."

After all, electronic warfare mechs dedicated most of their capacity towards their interference capabilities. There was hardly any power or space left for self-protection.

Only larger organizations such as mech armies fielded these kinds of mechs as only deploying them in greater numbers allowed them to achieve substantial effects.

To be honest, Ves wasn't too well-versed in how mech militaries fielded these auxiliary mechs. There were major differences in third-class and second-class EW mechs that strongly affected their use. There were also a lot of different tech and methods that targeted specific sensor systems.

"There are too many variables!"

A mech contained at least several dozen different sensor systems. Was it easy to blind all of them at the same time? No! An EW mech simply didn't have the capacity to accomplish such a feat by itself.

The story was a bit more complicated when there were more mechs in the equation, but generally most combatants on the battlefield considered EW mechs to be a nuisance. It was already good enough if these unassuming machines were able to reduce an enemy's sensor range by 10 percent or drop their resolving power by 15 percent.

"These effects hardly make a difference in small-scale battles." Ves shook his head in disappointment.

Of course, these results mainly applied to situations where both sides maintained technical parity, which wasn't always the case.

"The Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony are roughly equal in this regard."

He was sure the truth was more nuanced, but he was just an outsider. Perhaps some mechs designed by specialists in electronic warfare achieved more stellar results, but Ves didn't have access to this kind of information.

What he did know was that no Hexer electronic warfare mech ever succeeded in blinding a Fridayman expert mech.

"It's futile!"

When Ves read this part of the report, he learned the main reason why expert mechs were so darned hard to interfere with. It was not necessarily their tech.

A second-class sensor system was still a second-class sensor system. No matter if the tech and materials cost 10 million hex credits or 10 billion hex credits, they were still inferior to first-class sensor systems.

Just because the more expensive system was 1000 times more expensive didn't mean it was 1000 more effective. Diminishing returns played a very important role!

"It's actually just 10 or 20 times stronger or something." Ves muttered.

He didn't have enough information to know the exact disparity.

Whatever the case, if it was just the quality of sensor systems alone, then it should have been possible for 100 EW mechs to heavily interfere with the sensor systems of an expert mech.

Yet this didn't happen. If it worked, then the Hexers wouldn't have hesitated to employ this solution!

"It's energy!" Ves uttered. "Expert mechs have too much energy!"

Expert mechs were incredibly powerful machines, but that wasn't solely due to resonance. In order for a high-performance mech to hit hard and move fast, it was essential to supply enough energy to sustain these exertions!

With their incredibly luxurious power reactors, expert mechs were able to supply an abundance of power to every function. Their flight systems were able to accelerate a lot faster. Their rifles unleashed much more devastating beams. Their swords hit several times harder!

Sensor systems also enjoyed this bounty. When they were designed with elevated power supplies in mind, they became so effective and so resistant against interference that only thousands EW mechs could ever hope to hinder their performance!

Who would ever be so extravagant to deploy so many EW mechs at once? It was impractical!

It didn't matter if one form of electronic warfare was a little more effective than another form. Specialties didn't matter either. An expert mech's resonance that was infused with force of will naturally resisted a range of harmful effects.

"In conclusion, blinding expert mechs is not cost-effective."

The Hex Army either had to field thousands of EW mechs or deploy a single first-class EW mech.

This was a galaxy-wide consensus. Perhaps there might be exceptions such as luring expert mechs into pockets of warped or anomalous space, but such instances simply didn't happen in the Komodo War.

"The Hex Army is in a real bind." Ves grimaced.

It was truly difficult to overcome the disparity in expert mechs. Ves wasn't sure how much additional foreign expert pilots the Coalition managed to pressed into action. Estimates ranged from 10 percent to 30 percent.

What was worse was that difference was widening over time!

With their superiority in numbers, the Fridayman expert mechs were able to defeat more Hexer expert mechs!

If 1 Fridayman expert pilot died for every 2 Hexer expert pilots, then the Coalition would occupy an unstoppable advantage in just a couple of years!

Ves already read reports that the Hexers were adjusting how they deployed their expert mechs. While their survival rates increased when they grouped up in greater numbers, they weren't able to cover enough units anymore.

The absence of just a single expert mech exposed thousands of regular mechs!

"In other words, the Hex Army is trying to keep as many of its expert pilots alive by trading the lives of many more ordinary Hexer mech pilots."

This was a painful and unsustainable trade! No matter how much assistance the Blessed Squire and Valkyrie mechs provided to the Hexers, they were only effective against mortals!

The Hex Army already attempted some experiments where hundreds of Valkyrie Redeemers activated their Marked For Death abilities against a Fridayman expert mech.

The sight was exceptionally grand. The third eyes of the Valkyrie Redeemers projected hundreds of beams in the direction of the enemy expert mech!

Unfortunately, the enemy demigod did not pause. Instead, it soared forward until it entered into the midst of the Valkyrie Redeemers and proceeded to slaughter them with unrelenting sword strikes!

Not even unleashing simultaneous Shock And Awe Pulses managed to do more than cause the expert mech to pause for a fraction of a second!

Ves looked dismayed when he learned of this disastrous trial. "My products simply aren't designed to confront expert mechs."

There was no shame in admitting this fact. It wasn't as if other mech designers achieved anything better. Not even dignified Masters solved this problem!

This was why the Hexadric Hegemony continued to lose the advantage in the Komodo War. The Hexer Masters must all be wracking their heads over the Friday Coalition's crucial advantage.

What about him? What power did he possess to affect this unfavorable situation?

"Regular glows don't affect expert pilots.. do they?"

Ves didn't actually know the answer. He became so intrigued by it that he left the design lab in order to perform a study.

While his expert pilots did not have any expert mechs, it was enough for him to conduct some simple tests on Venerable Joshua while he was piloting the Quint.

"What do I have to do, sir?" The expert pilot asked while his Quint was standing in the middle of a giant test chamber.

"Just stand still."

A number of different LMC mech models approached the Quint. Ves had already unlocked the restrictions of their glows so that they were able to act against a friendly Larkinson.

What he found out was that expert pilots weren't actually immune to glows. Their willpower was just too strong. Fear and other emotions simply weren't strong enough to shake their convictions.

"It's like stopping a battleship by putting a frigate in the way. There's no way the latter can slow down the former!"

Yet the fact that glows weren't blocked at the gates gave Ves an opening.

Was every glow ineffective against the Quint?

As LMC mech after LMC mech attempted to influence the masterwork mech piloted by an expert pilot, Ves perceived no noticeable drops in performance in either of them. Not even the Sanctuary managed to dampen Joshua's lively will!

Ves had already lost hope at this point. When the first production copy of the Crystal Lord Mark II marched forth, he hardly paid attention to the proceedings. His mind was already following another tangent.

"Sir!" Venerable Joshua called over the communication channel. "I think I'm feeling something. It's faint, but this new Crystal Lord makes me feel as if I'm looking at a sparkling gem."

"What? Please confirm that, Venerable."

"It's not enough to interfere with my perception, but there is definitely something strange about this Crystal Lord!"

Ves sat up straighter in his chair. Was there more to the Crystal Lord Mark II than he initially thought?

He felt a bit absurd. As the lead designer of this recent mech model, how could he be ignorant of this interaction?!

Chapter 2543: Blinding Mech

His excitement didn't last long.

The Crystal Lord Mark II's effect against Venerable Joshua's was incredibly weak. It was the equivalent of parading a shiny gem in front of the expert pilot's eyes.

Ves retrieved one of Lucky's gems from his hidden pouch. He swung it around and allowed its facets to shine in the brightness that illuminated the observation room.

These twinkles might be able to distract an expert pilot in certain situations, but truthfully the effect was negligible.

undefinedVes could perceive much more hindrances just by walking on a street on a sunny day!

The Crystal Lord Mark II's glow wasn't harmful enough to be considered a weapon. Let alone regular mech pilots, there was no way that expert pilots would let themselves get distracted by some spiritual glinting!

In order to explore the exact effects of the Illustrious One's glow, Ves began to perform more tests.

He continually changed the Quint and the Crystal Lord Mark II's settings in order to explore the rules of this newly-discovered phenomenon.

He discovered a couple of interesting rules.

First, the Illustrious One's ability to affect Venerable Joshua's perception somehow acted on a spiritual level.

In other words, the design spirit affected Joshua's spirit, not his eyeballs.

The exact consequence of this remained unknown as the glow was too weak to produce a concrete result.

Second, the luminar crystals incorporated in the Crystal Lord Mark II played an essential role in enhancing the effects of the Illustrious One's glow.

Ves already knew that luminar crystals amplified the Illustrious One and vica versa. Their synergistic relationship was so clear and obvious that he couldn't help but mess with the crystals.

He brought some bots and tools and carefully removed them whenever possible. He then performed the same test over again.

"It's weaker now."

"It's weaker than before."

"I don't notice anything anymore."

It was too bad that the current testing environment only allowed Ves to remove or disconnect the luminar crystals embedded in the Crystal Lord Mark II. It did not allow him to add more luminar crystals because that would require him to modify the design. The crystals needed to be connected to the systems of the mech.

Once Ves dismissed Venerable Joshua and the Quint, he fell into thought.

"According to my observations, the Illustrious One can definitely affect an expert pilot, bypassing both the mech and the man-machine connection. This is the greatest and most hopeful sign that I can fulfill my goal of designing a mech that can debilitate an expert mech on the battlefield.""

He thoughtfully rubbed his smooth-shaven chin.

Lucky floated around his head and landed on his shoulder.

"Meow."

"Yeah. It's no use if the effect is not good enough. The Crystal Lord Mark II failed to affect my test subject's combat effectiveness for two reasons. First, the mech's isn't designed with a blinding function in mind. Second, its glow is too weak in this aspect."

The Illustrious One used to be a weak design spirit until Ves forced it to merge with the spiritual remnant of the Blinding One.

Not only did the design spirit of the Crystal Lord line gain a massive power boost, it also inherited much of the properties of the fallen dark god.

"Blinding One…"

Weren't the names of the dark gods indicative of their greatest or most defining strengths?

The naming scheme of the Hallowed Abyss Temple was hardly a mystery. Ves could tell or guess what a dark god was capable of just by studying their labels.

As ancient alien entities that had lived for many eons, their actual names were probably incomprehensible or lost in history. The Watchers who named the dark gods could only come up with simple descriptive names in order to make sure they prayed to the right entity.

After all, wouldn't it be embarrassing for a Grey Watcher to ask for help from the Unending One only for his prayers to reach the Blinding One due to translation errors?

In these cases, simple but straightforward descriptions worked best!

Having witnessed three of the dark gods in battle, Ves could easily understand their labels.

The Unending One likely referred to the tentacled whale's endless hunger. His label was a bit more abstract than the other ones, so Ves wasn't completely sure the 'Unending' part referred to the dark god's appetite, bulk or something else.

The Inexorable One was easy to explain. Ves accessed the dictionary stored in his implant and called up a definition.

[Inexorable - impossible to stop or to prevent.]

The huge avian exobeast was not only fast, but difficult to slow down. Ves found it curious that the Hallowed Abyss Temple chose this particular strength to describe the Inexorable One. Did this mean that speed wasn't its forte, or that some other dark god had beaten the big bird in terms of speed?

Compared to the labels of the aforementioned dark gods, the Blinding One couldn't be simpler.

This dark god's very presence was too bright!

Bedecked with crystals and shining with bright, white light, the Blinding One seemed to defy the stereotype that evil creatures needed to be surrounded by a gloomy, dark aura.

With a name like this, Ves did not doubt the ascended luminar alien's ability to blind those looked directly at him. Of course, the Blinding One was capable of doing more than that. The light beams he released possessed enough strength to threaten starships!

Yet at the root of their existence, luminar aliens appeared to be masters in manipulating light, or more precisely electromagnetic radiation.

The luminar race developed a civilization based around distinctive crystal technology that allowed them to do a lot with light. For some reason, any light unleashed by a luminar crystal possessed additional properties that increased their lethality in unfathomable ways!

"It's not gamma radiation!"

If luminar technology was based around raising the frequency of electromagnetic radiation, the MTA would have never allowed Ves to publish his Crystal Lord models. What actually took place when a luminar crystal became excited and released a light beam even caused the MTA to scratch their heads!

According to the classified research files that Master Willix once transferred to him, one of the principal reasons why the MTA studied luminar technology was because of its potential to qualitatively improve directed energy weapons.

If a regular laser weapon outputted 100 points of damage, then one that incorporated the principles of luminar tech might be able to output 200 or 500 points of damage!

It was too bad that the alien crystals the luminars left behind were too complex! The MTA only deciphered the most basic portions of their incredibly complicated internal circuitry at this point.

While it was possible that Master Willix hid the MTA's success in reverse-engineering luminar technology, but Ves had a hunch that the MTA researchers were not too far ahead.

This was because Ves discovered that luminar crystals were spiritually reactive!

The crystals were much less impressive if they hadn't come in touch with spiritual energy.

Ves also achieved modest improvement gains with the Crystal Lord Mark II for this reason. By letting its luminar crystals get in touch with the mech's spiritual foundation, the crystals were able to absorb more energy and unleash slightly stronger light beams.

The more the Crystal Lord Mark II grew over time, the greater the amplification!

The reverse relationship also held true. The greater the luminar crystal, the stronger the glow. The quality of the crystal also played a very significant role.

"Unfortunately, Master Willix didn't give me the good stuff."

Frankly speaking, the luminar crystals integrated in the Crystal Lord Mark II were equivalent to third-class components.

If the MTA passed on its research on stronger luminar crystals, then Ves would readily be able to embed them in his counter against expert mechs!

He scowled. "I'm still in trouble. I have no choice but to work with fragile third-class crystals. Fridaymen mechs can easily break them with casual attacks, especially if they employ physical force."

Yet Ves had very little alternatives. While he could seek out other ways to hinder expert mechs, he would merely be following up on solutions that were already proven to be bad. The costs were simply too great to make them viable.

Ves spent hours thinking over whether he should follow up on basing his anti-expert mech around luminar crystals.

"Fragile or not, I have several unique advantages when it comes to implementing luminar tech."

He bet that the MTA probably hadn't been able to arouse the full potential of luminar technology due to their limited expertise in spirituality.

He also bet that combining the Illustrious One and luminar crystals in a more targeted fashion might deliver greater results.

Maybe Ves might succeed in drawing out the Blinding One's strength over the course of the design project!

"It won't be easy, though."

The glow of the Illustrious One was sparkling and beautiful, but its offensive properties weren't apparent. Ves would have to transform it just like he did with the Valkyrie Redeemer.

Without its ability to narrow its glow into a narrow beam, the Valkyrie mechs would never have been able to affect enemy mechs at range!

Ves hoped that a similar concentration attempt might be able to cause someone like Venerable Joshua more discomfort.

This was one direction of strengthening the main effect of his anti-expert mech.

The other direction was to integrate more crystals onto the mech frame. The Crystal Lord Mark II was far from saturated when it came to this aspect. Back when he designed it, there was no need to increase its production cost and unbalance the mech by piling on an excessive amount of crystals.

Now that Ves wanted to do the opposite, how would his anti-expert mech look like?

His imagination immediately conjured up the image of a mech bedecked in crystals. Its entire chest glittered in the light as the crystals embedded on its surface were impossible to ignore!

The imaginary mech carried a powerful energy rifle that integrated numerous crystals.

Yet before this mech was able to discharge a light beam with the aid of all of its crystals, a single enemy rifleman mech fired its gauss rifle at the attention-grabbing machine.

A powerful gauss round immediately punched the chest of the obvious, glittered target! Almost a hundred different crystals shattered as the incredible kinetic energy transferred by the projectile was too much for them to cope!

"This is not good!"

Then what if Ves adopted a more defensive design?

The ruined mech disappeared from his mind. In its place was a bigger, fatter knight mech. While it did not show many crystals on the surface, its internals were filled with them! Ves also made use of special cushioning materials and shock-absorbing systems that mech designers usually employed in lancer mech designs.

If these systems were able to protect the mech pilots and the delicate internals of a mech from impact damage, then they should also be good enough to protect the fragile luminar crystals!

The knight mech held no weapon. Instead, it carried a single, broad tower shield.

When the same enemy ranged mechs fired a couple of gauss rounds at the defensive mech, its sturdy shield withstood the blows while only incurring a couple of dents!

Once the ranged mech stopped firing, its target began to activate a setting.

The surface layers of the tower shield parted to reveal an entire surface of luminar crystals!

Like a giant mirror, the crystal-encrusted shield projected the Illustrious One's powerful, focused glow at the enemy!

The ranged mech instantly froze as the mech pilot closed his eyes and moaned in pain!

"I can't see!"

The illusion ended after that. When Ves pulled himself back to reality, he evaluated the ideas he just considered.

"Can this even work?"

The mech he just imagined looked so silly and impractical that Ves didn't have much in the concept. Yet according to understanding, the mech might be able to affect an expert pilot.

"Maybe not by itself, but what about a couple of hundred?"

Ves briefly imagined a majestic shield wall consisting of hundreds of mechs.

As an enemy expert mech swaggered forward, the shield wall suddenly turned bright as the tower shields all revealed their crystal surface!

So much light poured in a single direction! Even if the shields didn't precisely land on the expert mech, at least it left the target with few escape routes!

The expert mech stumbled and dropped altitude for a few seconds. Though the expert pilot quickly managed to recover from the unexpected disturbance, the blinding effect continued to hammer at his mind!

Chapter 2544: Reconciliation

The design he codenamed Blinding Mech was one of the most unusual mechs that Ves had ever come up with. It depended so heavily on strange and alien principles that Ves felt as if he had entered the rabbit hole.

On the surface, it sounded ridiculous. Whether he designed it as a rifleman mech or a knight mech, the entire concept of stuffing as many luminar crystals into a mech as possible made him feel ashamed!

Yes, ashamed!

What self-respecting mech designer would ever develop such a silly-looking mech?

undefined"Still.. If it actually works, who cared how stupid it looks?"

Ves actually held a bit of confidence in this mech concept. The Crystal Lord Mark II may have failed to affect Venerable Joshua in any meaningful way, but that was just a limited test.

What if he deployed a hundred Crystal Lord Mark II at once?

What if he replaced the Crystal Lords with his Blinding Mechs?

He did not believe the Illustrious One's glow was easy to shrug off in this instance!

Once he embraced this mech concept, he became more passionate about trying to make it work. He did not need to achieve drastic results. As long as 100 to 200 Blinding Mechs were capable of interfering with the perception of an expert pilot, this was already good enough for the desperate Hex Army!

"In fact, according to my existing understanding, the Blinding Mech's effects should be quite mixed towards weaker mech pilots!"

The majority of humans, mech pilots included, were spiritually weak. Their spirits were so small and weak that they were in a permanent elusive state. They weren't able to affect reality, but in turn it was very hard for reality to affect them in turn. This was for their own protection.

Therefore, if his Blinding Mechs all tried to 'light up' a random mech, chances were the mech pilot in question would only experience a bit of brightness.

"It's like looking into the direction of a sun on the surface of a planet. You just have to squint your eyes and shade your eyes in order to cope with the light."

Yet what if the targeted mech pilot happened to possess spiritual potential? What if the pilot just happened to be an expert candidate.

Ves shivered. Without the strength of an expert pilot, they were much more vulnerable against spiritual attacks!

He had no idea how much the spiritual illumination effect would impact mech pilots. He had too little data to make an educated guess.

At best, allowing some Blinding Mechs to shine on a mech pilot might reveal whether he or she possessed spiritual potential.

"This is quite a handy invention if this is the case."

While Ves already possessed the means to identify spiritual potential, he was just one person. If this particular capability could be reproduced with a simple standard mech, then he didn't need to use his perception in person!

His clansmen might be able to discover this quality among themselves with the help of a Blinding Mech.

In fact, the Hex Army could employ the Blinding Mech in this fashion as well! As long as the Hexers knew which particular mech pilots possessed the capability to rank up, they would be able to nurture them in a much more targeted manner.

This would definitely help them produce more expert pilots over time!

"There is another possibility."

What if Blinding Mechs could do more than agitate mech pilots with spiritual potential? What if the Illustrious One's glow was strengthened and concentrated to such an extent that it was able to harm these promising mech pilots?

Perhaps it might be possible to kill the future expert pilots of the Friday Coalition by lighting them up with hundreds of Blinding Mechs!

This was a very frightening possibility! Even though Ves believed it was unlikely that a glow could directly kill anyone, he reminded himself that the Illustrious One assimilated some of the strengths and techniques of the Blinding One.

A highly-developed dark god who lived for a very long time should have definitely sublimated its spiritual existence. Such an entity was on a whole other level than his design spirits.

Not even Qilanxo came close!

"She hasn't lived long enough." He muttered.

If his design spirits grew naturally, then they might catch up to Qilanxo's level of strength.

Yet how long would it take to grow to the point of matching a dark god?

A thousand years? A million years? A billion years?

That was way too long! The Age of Mechs would probably be a vague historical record by the time his design spirits ascended to that level.

To Ves, the only way to hasten their growth was to rely on spiritual feedback. Ever since the Nyxian Gap Campaign came to an end, a couple of design spirits such as Qilanxo and the Golden Cat grew considerably stronger.

The Larkinson Clan may have lost thousands of clansmen from the gruelling battles, but the overall quality of mech pilots had risen!

To his design spirits, this exchange was a net positive. The spiritual feedback supplied by an expert pilot such as Venerable Jannzi was at least a billion times more valuable to a powerful spiritual entity such as Qilanxo.

As long as the mech pilots of his clan continued to progress, it would only be a matter of time before his design spirits attained the strength of a dark god.

Naturally, he wouldn't be so crass to call them by that nefarious-sounding moniker.

"Should I turn the name around and call them bright gods?"

His face immediately turned ugly.

This was a bad idea!

Design spirits weren't gods! Everyone who equated them to such were completely delusional, his wife included!

"I'll have to come up with another term." He muttered.

In any case, it would probably take decades before any of his design spirits reached this point. Even the Illustrious One had a long way to go, though Ves guessed that his path to ascension might be smoother because of his better foundation.

Ves put down his research on the Blinding Mech for the moment. He devoted enough time on this problem. Now that he obtained a solid direction, he was no longer when it came to this tricky project.

He stood up from his chair and decided to check up on Gloriana's progress.

"Let's go, Lucky."

"Meow!"

When he dropped by Gloriana's office at the design lab, she looked up from her terminal in irritation.

"I'm working, Ves."

"I know. That's why I came. "Ves smiled and sauntered forward. "Can't I visit my own wife?"

She gritted her teeth. "This wife of yours is very upset at a certain insensitive husband."

"Hey, don't misunderstand my intentions. I'm only looking out for our interests and the interests of our clan. It was inevitable that we would expand the Design Department this way. Juliet truly isn't as bad as you think she is. At the very least, she doesn't pose a threat to our marriage."

They both talked about this several times already. Gloriana was not in the mood of retreading the same arguments.

She sighed. "Do you love me, Ves?"

"I do. Do you know how much it pains me to be so apart from you? We are only married for less than a month, but already we're sleeping in separate beds. Do you want the rest of our marriage to proceed in this pattern?"

A bit of regret showed on her face. "No. This isn't what I've hoped from our perfect marriage. It's just.."

Ves moved closer. He walked around her desk and put his hand on her head. "Gloriana. I know you're upset with me, but can we get back to how we used to be before? Where is the trust we had for each other? Where is the joy that we used to feel?"

"I want to return to those days too, Ves."

"Then why are you hesitating? Just throw aside all of your concerns. They aren't helpful at all. Can you do that?"

"I'll try."

The two spent some private time together. Both of them left for the lounge in order to cuddle up against each other.

While their cats were chasing each around the compartment, Ves and Gloriana hardly spoke as they reveled in each other's scent and body warmth.

Though they hadn't fully hashed out their differences, they grew more comfortable in each other's presence.

Ves no longer felt as if Gloriana was one step away from exploding. She visibly calmed down as she continued to enjoy his presence.

"Are you better now?" He gently asked as he rubbed her shoulder.

"I.. don't know. I think so. I enjoy these times."

"That's because we aren't talking much." He explained. "We have a lot of differences, but as long as we don't voice them, we won't enter into a conflict."

She sighed. "We've been getting into more and more arguments. That's not good. We both need to adjust if we want to keep our marriage intact."

Ves pressed his lips. He did not mention that their recent problems were largely her fault. If she wasn't so paranoid and irrationally afraid of Juliet, she wouldn't have stirred up so much tension!

Still, he was confident this issue would blow over. Time seemed to work quite well in calming Gloriana down. He didn't dare to approach her like this a week ago. He only tried to reconcile with her now because he judged she was in a more receptive mood at this time.

"Let's talk about something we are more aligned with." He suggested. "How is your mystery Hexer mech project going? Have you determined some more criteria for our sixth mech design project?"

She nodded. "I've studied the Komodo War and identified several opportunities for us to influence its course by introducing a new mech. To be honest, the Hex Army's mech roster is quite rounded and already covers every essential role. Even with your glows, it's hard to come up with a vision that can add unique value to the Hex Army's lineup."

"There is more to my design philosophy than glows, you know."

"I know. You've explained that to me already. It's just that in a war situation, glows have the most immediate effect. All of those other benefits such as growing a living mech or increasing the compatibility between mech and mech pilot just isn't fast enough. By the time those other benefits come online, the Fridaymen may have taken over half of the Hegemony by then! We need to focus on delivering immediate benefits to the Hex Army."

"So what is your best idea? What Hexer mech do you think can revitalize the Hexers?"

A devious grin appeared on her face. "I want to design a stealth mech."

Ves blinked. "A stealth mech? Uhmm.."

"Are you about to say that stealth tech is classified? You aren't wrong, but it's not a problem for us. With how much the Hegemony adores us, we can easily gain the right permissions as long as it is for a good cause. Let me tell you that my cause is definitely worthy."

He scratched his head. "I don't know, Gloriana. How can a stealth mech designed by us be more useful than the Hegemony's existing models? We don't specialize in stealth tech and glows are kind of the opposite of what you want. Any invisible mech that emits a noticeable glow will doubtlessly be detected before it can get close!"

"That's the thing, Ves. Your glows have a variety of effects. As you say, most of them draw attention. What if you can achieve the opposite? What if you can develop a glow that causes people around it to avoid attention instead of drawing it? As long as we implement such a glow into a serviceable Hexer stealth mech, it can probably sneak into more sensitive areas!"

"The idea sounds impressive. It's just… most if not all forms of stealth detection purely relies on tech. It's the sensors that trip the alarms, not people. A glow doesn't act on equipment."

"Are you sure about that?"

Chapter 2545: Incoming Shipment

As Ves and Gloriana slowly patched up their relationship, the Design Department almost completed the preparations for the second round of design projects.

He knew that the Braves and Erudites had to work harder than ever this time. All of them were just third-class mech designers not too long ago. Though they had prospered greatly after gaining access to the abundant learning resources of the Larkinson Clan, they had yet to receive any significant augmentations.

This meant that the assistant mech designers wouldn't be able to provide as much help as before. With their insufficient knowledge and judgement, their design choices simply couldn't be trusted.

The three lead designers who were qualified to design second-class mechs had to take on a much more hands-on approach as a result. Not being able to delegate a lot of challenging work to their assistants meant they had to commit a lot of time in order to complete the projects within the deadline.

undefinedWhile Ves wanted to obtain some great mech designs, he did not want to sink an excessive amount of time in their development. Designing mechs was not just about coming up with the best products. It was also about completing their designs in a timely manner. Every mech designer had to make compromises in order to balance these two priorities.

This time, he prioritized haste. He was lagging behind schedule when it came to designing second-class mechs. His mech forces urgently needed some second-class LMC mechs and he was very keen on completing his obligations to the Hexadric Hegemony as soon as possible.

"Attaining the greatest possible quality is not a big concern this time." He muttered.

Lucky, who was lounging on his shoulder, issued a warning.

"Meow."

"It's fine. It won't hurt as long as I don't say anything to Gloriana."

He knew his new wife would not be pleased if she found out that Ves intended to rush his projects. This was why he was determined to stay mum and pretend to design his mechs as usual. Once the deadline came close, he would keep urging her on and force her to end her work.

No matter how much she wanted to perfect her work, she always surrendered to his persuasion in the end. This was because he always held more say when it came to designing mass-produced mechs.

However, once they started to design some custom mechs and expert mechs, Gloriana would certainly insist on spending more time to optimize them. This was fine to Ves as it was very important to achieve the greatest possible quality for these high-performing machines.

"That's something to consider for the future."

Once he completed the current round of projects, he intended to design his first expert mechs. With the help of Master Willix, Ves had very high expectations for his first batch or projects.

In the meantime, he tasked the LMC's Procurement Department to be on the lookout for exceptionally valuable materials that conformed to the criteria he set. Many of the exotics Ves was looking for were regarded as strategic materials by states, so obtaining them was anything but trivial. The chances of any of them showing up on the open market or semi-open venues such as auction houses were too slim.

Still, as long as there was a chance, there was hope of obtaining enough materials in the next half-year. The Procurement Department hired or dispatched agents throughout the Yeina Star Cluster in order to approach various states and institutions for their strategic materials. Perhaps it was possible to make some private deals with them. The Larkinson Clan possessed a lot more clout these days.

With the establishment and expansion of several new departments, Ves felt assured about delegating more tasks to others. It was completely unnecessary for him to waste his precious time on performing market research or begging for strategic materials. The LMC hired plenty of professionals who could do a much better job of performing these tasks.

Ves and his fellow mech designers just needed to design their mechs, and that suited everyone fine.

Speaking of procurement, the Larkinson Clan's initial batch of purchases finally arrived. Large amounts of starships entered the Cinach System and flew to the inner system.

Many of them were massive cargo haulers. Their large, cavernous cargo hulls stored rows and rows of large-sized containers.

When the cargo haulers delivered them to a large civilian space station, Ves and his mech commanders eagerly visited one of the warehouses to inspect the new goods.

Large teams of mech technicians were already crawling over the containers. They inspected the goods and began to open some of the containers.

Soon enough, the mech technicians swiftly assembled the mechs stored inside. Several different mechs stood before the Larkinsons.

These were the imported products that the Larkinson Clan had ordered. The initial shipment brought over a thousand second-mechs, which significantly alleviated everyone's security concerns.

"So these are our next fighting machines." Commander Melkor observed as his visor continually scanned the hastily-assembled mechs. "No offense, Ves, but they look a bit more basic than I expected."

"The mechs of the Cross Clan are at least four times as impressive." Commander Cinnabar grunted.

Ves helplessly spread his hands. "These are stopgap mechs. We're just using them until my Design Department completes some suitable second-class mechs that you can use. Once you get your Bright Warrior Mark II's, we'll have to dispose of these mechs in some way. Whether we resell them, recycle them or hand them down to someone else, we won't be able to recoup the cost of procuring them in the first place. It's best to go cheap under these circumstances."

The newest mech commander nodded. "I believe it is good to start with basic models. The high-end mechs used by the Cross Clan, the Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony are challenging to control. Most of our mech pilots won't be able to utilize more than a fraction of their potential. We might as well make use of something easier and get accustomed to piloting second-class mechs before we move up to better models."

Commander Sendra snorted. "Don't equate your Living Sentinels to the rest of us, Casella. The Swordmaidens don't need training mechs. We are more than ready enough to harness real battle machines!"

The argument continued for some time until Ves raised his palm. "Quiet down. The choice lies with me. While I am aware of your requirements, it simply isn't possible to fulfill all of them, especially since I have opted to purchase these products in bulk this time. Be patient and wait for some time. Once we have freed some design capacity, I will start some projects that are tailored to the needs of your troops."

That shut them down. Each mech commander knew that a mech designed in-house was the ultimate product they could get their hands on. With all of the advantages they conveyed, the Larkinson Clan would definitely soar in strength once it obtained more LMC mech models.

The newly-released Transcendent Punisher model already gave them a nice preview! The Larkinson Clan's new artillery mech might be incredibly unwieldy and difficult to fabricate, but its power and functions were undeniable!

In the initial test run of the first production copy, the mech was capable of tracking even the trickiest practice targets!

Its uncanny 'Ylvainan' targeting and aim assistance allowed it to nail distant light mechs with a surprising degree of success.

If the other LMC mechs possessed similar features, then the continued rise of the Larkinson Clan was assured!

Of course, all of that took time. For now, the mech forces had to settle for what passed for budget mechs in the second-class mech market.

The first model that Ves and his commanders inspected was a rather slim swordsman mech.

"This is the Princess Jecka AR-0005-PMSE." Ves presented to the others as he called up a projection of the model's spec sheet. "It's designed and produced by Merrin Systems, which is based in Vicious Mountain. Its performance is moderately slanted towards offense. Its armor system isn't very impressive, but that is also the reason why it is priced at 59 million hex credits per copy."

Everyone turned to Commander Sendra. As the new leader of the Swordmaidens, she would be relying heavily on these foreign-made mechs.

"They look.. usable." The tall and athletic woman stated with a hint of reluctance. A grimace formed on her tanned face. "I've seen better second-class mechs. I give credit to Merrin Systems. The mech designers there truly know what swordsman mech pilots want to see in their machines. It's just that these Princess Jecka mechs are too damned cheap!"

Compared to the mech models of her dreams, the Princess Jecka model possessed lackluster armor, average mobility and a lack of interesting modules. Its budget was simply too small to accommodate more features.

It still had a few good upsides, though. Otherwise, Ves wouldn't have spent his money on this particular model.

Just like many of the other mech models he procured, the Princess Jecka was cheap, easy to maintain, easy to pilot and possessed surprisingly high arm strength. The offensive power of this spaceborn swordsman mech model allowed it to burst out a considerable amount of damage.

That last bit barely placated the Swordmaidens. The other mech forces would also be making use of the Princess Jecka, though to a lesser degree.

The commanders inspected another model.

At 48 million hex credits per copy, the ANX Corp Vima Sun RT-556L was even cheaper than the Princess Jecka.

The Vima Sun was a classic second-class spaceborn rifleman mech model. It boasted high firepower, above-average mobility but very poor defense.

The ranged mech excelled in wielding laser weapons. Its high-powered laser rifles boasted high alpha damage, allowing it to vaporize or melt through tougher obstacles.

The tradeoff was that the Vima Sun's energy reserves drained quickly when the rifles fired continuously at their highest setting. The rifleman mech's shape did not offer that much capacity, and its affordable energy cells weren't known for their abundant storage.

The heat management of this model was also rather poor, especially in open space. The only mitigating factor was that the Vima Sun was fairly good at shunting its excess heat into any starship hull, asteroid or other solid object it came into contact with. Therefore, these Vima Suns were destined to take cover behind combat carriers in most combat situations.

"These Vima Suns are completely inadequate for Avatars of Myth." Melkor distastefully frowned. As a rifleman mech specialist, he had a better feel for ranged mechs. "Their defense is so poor that their good mobility doesn't matter."

"They are serviceable to the Living Sentinels." Commander Casella Ingvar judged. "While I agree with the Avatar Commander, the needs of my Sentinels aren't as high. We can make due with the Vima Suns."

Ves already expected to hear such answers. "You don't have to settle for the base model. If your men have enough spare time, you can tell them to upgrade or modify your new mechs as you wish. Part of the reasons why I chose to procure the Princess Jecka and the Vima Sun models is because they're easy to modify and improve. Their relatively simple and uncomplicated designs lend themselves well to extensive upgrades."

That mollified the mech commanders a bit more. Personally, Ves felt it was a waste of time to upgrade these stopgap mechs, but he did not forbid it. The mech forces each needed to keep themselves busy somehow. Upgrading the new products also allowed the maintenance departments of the different mech forces to accrue more practical experience.

The third important model they checked was a space knight model.

"This is another product of Merrin Systems." Ves introduced. "I took a fancy to the Tamris Stellar

TR-1013-TLAZ because it features the same clean and basic design style as the Princess Jecka. It's a generic offensive mech model that boasts relatively high defense, decent mobility for a hefty mech and poor offensive capabilities."

"Is there anything special to this space knight?" Commander Abis Firelight asked. The Flagrant Vandal Commander was not impressed by the model. "Its shield looks rather thin."

"That's why it is priced at just 67 million hex credits. That's a bargain in my eyes. There are no gimmicks to this mech worth noting. If you aren't satisfied with its shield, then you can easily replace it with something better."

Every mech commander knew that their troops had a lot of work on their hands. Even if they wouldn't be using these affordable mechs for a very long time, none of them felt assured by their factory specs!

Chapter 2546: Ves the Cheapskate

The Larkinson Clan obtained a number of other mech models, but they were just as disappointing as the first three ones.

"Why so glum?" Ves frowned as he turned around. "The commercial mechs I've ordered may not be impressive compared to other second-class mechs, but they are solid, reliable products with proven track records. Don't forget that each of them perform far better than any of the third-class mechs we are getting rid of. You can finally say goodbye to your paltry and outdated Desolate Soldiers, Doom Guards, Deliverers and Aurora Titans."

His mech commanders grew even more morose.

"We may have outgrown those mechs, but they're special to us." Melkor voiced. "I know we don't have room for them anymore, but it feels wrong to part with them. They're living mechs, are they not? Shouldn't we treat them better?"

undefinedVes responded with a rueful smile. "In an ideal reality, I would like that as well. It's not possible, though. Carrying capacity is one of the scarcest and most precious resources of any fleet. Each additional starship we acquire increases our burdens and slows us down. We cannot justify bringing along too much junk. I'm willing to retain retired mechs that are either exceptionally valued or possess a lot of historical significance. Everything else must go. You should at least be grateful that most of the mechs we are parting with will have a second life under another owner."

As long as the mechs weren't exclusive to the Larkinson Clan, Ves was willing to put them up for sale. The second-hand mech market was willing to accept any used products as long as they were in decent shape.

"It's a shame the performance of these mechs can't match up to your existing second-class mech models. Why can't we use some of them instead?"

"Do you want your Avatars to pilot Hexer mechs?" Ves raised his eyebrow at the Avatar Commander. "As long as your men are willing to pilot Blessed Squires, I'll supply as many as you want."

"Uhm, no thanks." Melkor quickly replied.

He would rather remove the visor from his face than to force any of his men to pilot such an insulting mech model!

Besides, the Blessed Squire was primarily a landbound mech design. It was troublesome to adapt them for space combat.

"Sir, we are still slated to receive our Valkyrie Redeemers, correct?" Someone asked.

Ves nodded to Commander Valerie Chancy. "Correct, but it will take some time. Every mech company in the Hegemony is running at full capacity. They're busy churning as many mechs as possible to replenish the Hex Army's losses. From what I've been told, the Hegemony will bundle the shipments of Valkyrie mechs with the delivery of our starships."

Both the Penitent Sisters and the Glory Seekers were allowed to field the Hexer mechs he designed for the military. Both of them had already approached him in the past about procuring the highly-acclaimed Valkyrie mechs.

Since both of them wanted to obtain hundreds of them, Ves was forced to order them from the Hegemony. Without his factory ship, his fleet simply didn't have enough production capacity to make so many mechs. The Valkyrie Redeemers were high-end military mech models that boasted incredibly complexity for their size.

These problems only increased Ves' yearning for his factory ship. Though the additional upgrades he recently ordered made his future flagship more impressive, they also delayed her completion by a couple more weeks.

It was worth it though! With 20 high-end production lines, his factory ship could spit out 20 Valkyrie Redeemers every 3 days once they fully ramped up. If Ves added in the mech workshops, then his new industrial vessel was capable of outputting even more products!

Of course, it took a lot of effort to get to this point. His mech technicians had to be retrained to operate the advanced second-class production machines. His fleet also had to procure all of the raw materials needed to produce so many mechs.

To be honest, his clan still lacked too much qualified manpower. It would be great if the LMC managed to activate 10 production lines within the first month of receiving the factory ship. This was only possible by relying on the trainers supplied by the Hexers and by borrowing the mech technicians hailing from the Penitent Sisters and the Glory Seekers.

Ves was already satisfied if he could operate his factory ship at half or even quarter capacity. He not only wanted to produce more Valkyrie mechs, but also a lot of very crucial Transcendent Punishers.

As the primary fleet defense mech of the Larkinson Clan, Ves would never contract its production to another mech company. It wasn't all about keeping the design schematics confidential. While it was important to hide the weaknesses of the artillery mech, Ves had a more important reason to rely on internal production.

Only his own production crews were able to produce better LMC mechs. While the LMC stopped using its label system as much, that did not mean it had become irrelevant.

Ves was a bit dissatisfied by the impersonal and efficiency-oriented production approaches adopted by many third-party manufacturers. The LMC wasn't able to force them to change their methods just so that they could output slightly better LMC mechs. The tradeoff simply wasn't worth it for many companies.

Only the mech technicians and production workers of his own clan abided by his standards. As long as they followed his methods, the Transcendent Punishers produced by his factory ship should come with stronger spiritual foundations, thereby giving more play to its distinctive spiritual qualities.

This meant that The Transcendent Punishers became drastically more accurate as a result! The difference might save the lives of hundreds if not thousands clansmen down the line.

During the remainder of the inspection, Ves explained some of these logistical considerations to his mech commanders. They needed to know that it would take time to supply their troops with excellent mechs.

"You don't have to wait that long to get some better mechs. In half a year, the Bright Warrior Mark II will become available. With our factory ship, we should quickly be able to supply each of your forces with the new backbone of our clan. Just remember that the Mark II's role is different from the Mark I. Its standing is lower than that of specialized mechs."

Melkor frowned. The Avatars of Myth adored the original Bright Warriors. Many of them even owed their lives to its amazingly strong defense.

"I get why you did that, but won't this shift go against the original purpose of the Bright Warrior model?"

"You can make an argument for that." Ves admitted. "It's inevitable that the role and purpose and a mech will change when classing them up. It's folly to keep everything identical."

"Still, you're turning what used to be the most premier mech of the Larkinson Clan into a version that is only one or two steps up from the Princess Jeckas and the Vima Suns. You'll be breaking the hearts of many of my mech pilots."

"They won't cry for long once my Design Department starts rolling out more specialized mech designs. Right now, we are about to design a very good light skirmisher. All of the light mech pilots in our clan will stop complaining once we complete it. The Penitent Sisters can look forward to something even better."

Commander Valerie Chancy was very pleased to hear that. She may have lost her former head designer, but she gained a very powerful supporter in the LMC's crucial Design Department. With Juliet in charge of the design project, the Penitent Sisters shouldn't have any worries!

The round of inspections finally ended. Major Verle had already divvied up the shipment of mechs. Each mech force received a variety of mechs depending on their force makeup and mech doctrines.

For example, there was no need to transfer any Vima Suns to the Swordmaidens. Commander Sendra was already content with receiving a lot of Princess Jeckas.

The Living Sentinels obtained the most mechs because they had the most mech pilots, each of which needed hands-on training. Showering them with second-class mechs would also do wonders in repairing their damaged self-esteem.

Commander Melkor acted like a spoiled kid who got an apple from his mother when he actually wanted to eat some sweets. The Avatars of Myth was supposed to be an elite mech force. Piloting the second-class equivalent of budget mechs did not conform to its style!

The remaining mech forces were just as dissatisfied, though it was hard to argue that the new shipments represented a downgrade from what they had before.

Overall, the strength of the Larkinson Clan started to rise again. Shipments continued to trickled in in the coming days. While the trading companies charged a hefty fee for importing mechs across star sectors, the Larkinson Clan saved a significant amount of money by taking advantage of bulk discounts.

A lot of people were secretly dissatisfied with Ves. He was the main driver behind procuring so many budget mechs. There wasn't a single decent second-class mech in any of the shipments!

"The men aren't shy about complaining about the disappointing specs and lack of features of their new second-class mechs." Gavin reported to him during a routine briefing.

Ves leaned back in his office. "You can't please everyone, Benny. I thought you should know that since you're a marketing expert. There are good reasons behind our frugality. Aside from reserving our funds for the production of LMC mechs, we also have to build up our war chest for some big expenditures."

"Meow meow."

On his desk, Lucky pounced on the Larkinson Mandate and tried to draw out the Golden Cat.

Nyaaaaa.

For some reason, Goldie didn't want to come out today. When Lucky became a little too insistent, the Larkinson Mandate unleashed a strange kinetic blast!

"MEOW!"

The gem cat soared across the stateroom and slammed straight into the bulkhead!

Gavin spoke up once this distraction passed.

"We know you are prioritizing the future, boss. There is nothing wrong with that. It's just that some of us believe you're going overboard with hollowing the present in order to accomplish your ambitious goals."

Ves leaned forward. "I don't like to be wasteful. We need to make the best use of our resources. Know that we will be getting rid of many of our ships and mechs once we reach one of the beyonder gates. The Gate Consortium only allows a limited amount of ships to pass, so it's impossible to bring everything. We will be in the best position to start our adventure in the Red Ocean if we focus mostly on building up our capital ships and expert mechs."

"Is that safe? I heard the stories about the Nyxian Gap Campaign. A lot of mech pilots and other personnel lost their lives because their mechs weren't up to the talk."

"You don't have to worry about that, Benny." Ves chuckled. "Our mechs might not amount to much, but we've ordered a lot of them. Being able to field thousands of mechs is already intimidating enough. If that's not enough, we can borrow the strength of our upcoming allies."

"You mean the Cross Clan, sir."

"Correct. Do you have a problem with them or something?"

"We know too little about them. They're foreigners and they have their own ideas. They're also stronger than us. The quality and quantity of their mechs are much greater than ours."

"The Crossers won't do anything. There is hardly any benefit. If their new guest designer is able to exert enough influence, then I am pretty sure the Cross Clan will cover our backs."

It was a bit of a gamble, but one he was willing to take. The negotiations between the Larkinsons and the Crossers had reached the final stages. The two clans formed an elaborate treaty over the past few weeks.

What was remarkable about this treaty was how many opportunities it opened for cooperation.

The Larkinsons agreed to make some of their formidable production capacity available to their allies.

In turn, the Cross Clan promised to dispatch some highly-experienced mech instructors and trainers to the Larkinson Clan.

These were just two of the exchanges stipulated in the treaty!

Chapter 2547: Purplefeather

Soon after the shipments of mechs arrived, the Larkinsons received another delivery.

Dozens of combat carriers and logistics ships transitioned out of FTL. The emergence of so many second-class ships initially alarmed the local authorities, but soon they relaxed once it became clear the vessels were Hexer-built.

The Larkinson Clan already expected their arrival. Their Hexer architecture did not dampen the enthusiasm of the clansmen.

It didn't matter whether these vessels used to be owned and operated by Hexers. After some thorough refurbishment and applying some brand-new coating, the incoming second-class starships ought to be just as serviceable in the hands of the Larkinsons!

undefinedAs the Hexer crews of the arriving ships handed over command to the Larkinson Clan, they didn't leave immediately. The Larkinson spacers that entered the vessels and touched the elaborate controls quickly became overwhelmed by all of the advanced functions.

It took time for the mariners to become accustomed to operating these advanced vessels. Second-hand or not, Ves already knew from ships such as the Barracuda and the Scarlet Rose that it was at least five times more difficult to control them! Certain ship components such as the FTL drives were so much more complex that the Larkinson Clan had to contract some Hexer chief engineers on a long-term basis.

The thought of having Hexers in charge of the most critical parts of the starships made many Larkinsons nervous. While the chance of anything going wrong was small, it was best if the Larkinson Clan's own chief engineers got up to speed as soon as possible!

As Ves was more preoccupied with working on his new mech design projects, he only spared some time to inspect a couple of new ships.

He first headed over to the newly-christened Purplefeather. As his shuttle landed in the busy hangar bay, Ves and Lucky stepped out and took in the frenetic activity taking place inside.

The Hexers may have delivered their starships with complete loadouts, but the Larkinsons still had to bring their own supplies and other equipment. Various shuttles and small transports continually delivered different goods.

"What a busy ship." Ves remarked to Commander Melkor.

"Breaking in a ship is a momentous effort. It will take months before we're comfortable with running our new flagship. I'm just happy that we're finally obtaining second-class ships of our own. Do you know how much I envied the Penitent Sisters during our journey through the Nyxian Gap? The ships we had before hardly provided us with any sense of security!"

Ves smiled as he reminisced about the past. "It hasn't been a lot of years since we initially procured the Redfeather and the Greenfeather. Do you know how much it pained me to spend a few billion bright credits back then? All we could afford was a pair of light carriers."

"Yeah, I remember. You were too much of a cheapskate to supply my Avatars with a proper combat carrier." Melkor grumbled.

"Hahaha! Don't kid me. You wouldn't have been in favor of buying a combat carrier either. They were just too damned expensive. Back then, we only guarded ourselves against pirates, gangs and Vesians. We never thought we would get pulled into a conflict against the Friday Coalition and a powerful Nyxian pirate alliance. We have come so far to get to this point. Be proud of that, Melkor."

"I don't feel very proud. Too many of our brothers and sisters have lost their lives to secure all of this prosperity. We all feel a little guilty for being among the survivors."

Ves frowned. That sounded rather troubling. "Hey, that is what counseling is for. It is absolutely not your fault."

"I know, I know. I have been talking to a counselor from the Larkinson Veteran Foundation as of late. It has helped, but.. it's harder to set aside responsibility when you are a commander. How do you cope with the guilt of leading some of your men to their deaths?"

"By not feeling guilty at all." Ves answered.

"...Are you serious?"

"Ahem, I know that sounds rather insensitive, but really, don't get too hung up over the past." Ves quickly coughed. "While the dead deserve your regards, don't let your obligations towards the slain override your obligations towards the living. If your guilt negatively affects your judgement and performance, then it is best to relinquish your command. The Avatars of Myth pursue excellence in all forms. You'll only hold your own men back if you let them get affected by your moping."

Melkor's body shook a bit. Ves had given him quite a shock. Not even his counselors dared to be so direct!

"I.. can't do that yet, Ves. It's too callous. While I agree with your logic, the dead must be remembered. Didn't you say that in one of your speeches?"

"Well yes, but.. that is mostly meant to keep everyone moving forward. Don't take it too literally. It's much more important to keep your productivity high. You need to stop any behavior that goes against that goal. The Avatars who are still alive are all counting on you to lead them with a sober mind."

This was not something that Melkor could easily accept. To him, what Ves was asking of him was tantamount to forgetting the sacrifices of the dead. This did not conform with his sense of honor!

It was too bad that Ves was unsympathetic towards Melkor's attitude towards the dead. He was chiefly responsible for all of the recent losses. While he felt a bit regretful about the thousands who died, he did not allow himself to go any further.

As long as he felt any guilt, his efficiency in designing mechs would definitely drop! This was self-defeating behavior in his eyes.

The simplest solution to this problem was to wipe away all of his guilt. He did so. Problem solved.

Ves and Melkor exited the hangar bay and inspected some of the compartments. They toured the engineering bay, the mech stables, the mech workshop before ending up at the bridge.

An engineer was already affixing a large plate that proudly declared the name and serial number of the combat carrier.

"The Purplefeather, huh? Your naming sense is as bad as ever."

Commander Melkor chuckled. "It gets the job done. I'm saving up the Goldfeather for when our Avatars finally receive our fleet carrier. Speaking about capital ships, how long will it take to receive a proper vessel?"

"Don't be too impatient. The Purplefeather is already impressive enough to tide your men over."

The Purplefeather was a large-capacity combat carrier that was able to hold up to 60 mechs. She featured moderate armor, moderate mobility and terrestrial landing capabilities. She also contained a dedicated command center that was suitable for coordinating large amounts of mechs.

The combat carrier once served as the flagship of a Hexer mercenary corps a few decades ago. He didn't go through a lot of combat back when she sailed the stars under a different name. This meant that her condition was still excellent for a ship that was over half-a-century old!

What Ves especially valued about the Purplefeather was that she boasted 12 highly-reinforced bunkers. The combat carrier's former owners upgraded their plating so that they did an even better job of protecting mechs hunkering inside!

The Purplefeather was actually quite an impressive vessel even among modern Hexer combat carriers!

Ves hadn't skimped too much when it came to investing in his sub-capital ships. He fully recognized the value of strong and defensive ships after seeing how well the Penitent Sisters fared with them. Without their tough and resilient combat carriers, his task force would have never been able to damage the Gravada Knarlax!

"You don't understand, Ves. It's one thing to wait for a fleet carrier. It's another thing to wait for a fleet carrier while we have a good view of the Antonio Cross and the Hemmington Cross!"

"Ah. I see."

Even Ves envied the fleet carriers of the Cross Clan sometimes. Though both of them were quite flawed in his eyes, that did not stop him from desiring them for himself!

Luckily, his factory ship would soon be on the way. Ves didn't have to wait long before he obtained his biggest toy.

"When?" Melkor asked in a more insistent tone.

"I really can't say. There are too many variables at play."

"Can you at least tell me if my Avatars are at the top of the list?"

"I can't tell you that either. It depends on the fleet carrier we are able to procure and the needs of our clan. Don't worry too much. Even if your Avatars don't get the first turn, your troops will definitely obtain something soon."

Ves was actually thinking about granting the first fleet carrier to the Living Sentinels. They fielded the most mechs and possessed a higher demand for a large and solidly-armored capital ship.

The Avatars of Myth were already doing well enough without a capital ship. Ves did not expect their confidence and fighting spirit to rise once they received their own fleet carrier.

Of course, Ves didn't tell any of this to Melkor. It was enough to give his cousin some hope.

As they continued to chat, Melkor eventually brought up something personal.

"So, Ves. I hate to sound impatient, but when are you prepared to design a custom rifleman mech for me? Will it be after you've completed your current projects?"

Ugh. Not this again. The pressure on Ves didn't abate after half a year. He already promised Master Willix to begin with the development of some expert mechs and he also had to design at least 3 more Hexer mechs to close out his current commission.

Aside from that, Ves didn't have an existing base to design Melkor's ideal custom mech. He had to design a dedicated rifleman mech first.

"Your custom mech will come in time." He perfunctory replied. "The longer you wait, the better it will be. I promise you the end product will absolutely blow your mind."

"I'm getting older, Ves. We're not as young as we used to be. We're both over thirty years old. I'm afraid I'll be nearing forty when I finally receive this promised custom mech of yours. Do you know how much of a difference that makes to mech pilots? We age faster than you mech designers."

Designing mechs was a purely intellectual occupation. As long as a mech designer's mind remained sharp, it didn't matter if his body grew wrinkled and his hair turned white.

It was different for mech pilots. While the use of neural interfaces allowed soldiers to pilot mechs with their minds, a strong body was still essential for certain reasons.

Not only that, but piloting mechs inherently stressed the brains of their pilots. Ves once learned a dark secret about mechs. Mech pilots gradually accumulated brain damage as they interfaced with their mechs. In most cases, this damage was irreversible. It could only be slowed, but never stopped.

This was one of the reasons why it was a lot more troublesome to extend the lives of mech pilots. Without any biological augmentations or treatments, a mech pilot's peak gradually declined over time.

Though Melkor and many other mech pilots didn't know that much, they were still aware of the gradual decline in performance. They just chalked it up to the loss of youthful vigor or something.

Ves placed his hand on Melkor's shoulder. "You don't have to wait until you're a grandpa before you get your custom mech. I promise you that. Just be patient. The demand for other mechs are too great to address your needs. You don't want to leave our expert pilots hanging, do you?"

Commander Melkor bent his head. "You're right. I'm being too selfish. It would be bad if the completion of one of our expert mechs is set back just so that I can obtain my dream mech."

Despite saying that, he still yearned to pilot a mech as impressive as the Quint. He sacrificed so much to lead the Avatars of Myth to this point. When would he ever be able to reap his cherished reward?

Chapter 2548: Consumable Starships

The Purplefeather was but one of many starships arriving from the Hegemony. Batches of second-class combat carriers and auxiliary ships kept pouring into the Cinach System at regular intervals.

The Avatars of Myth, Living Sentinels and other mech forces embraced the presents and eagerly unpacked them. Though the Hexer-built vessels were far more advanced than anything the Larkinsons had ever touched, they had made plenty of preparations.

Aside from pre-training the ship crews, the clan also solicited the help of the Glory Seekers and the Penitent Sisters. Both Hexer forces graciously loaned their engineers and specialists to help the underqualified crews make sense of the new systems.

Together with the trainers supplied by the Hegemony, the Military Bureau believed it wouldn't take more than a year before the Larkinsons no longer required any external aid.

undefinedIt wasn't necessary for the Larkinson spacers to master their new vessels from top to bottom. They only needed to achieve enough proficiency to control the ships under normal operation and be able to react to the most common emergencies. They could slowly learn the ins and outs of the new ships later on through gradual study and practice.

Fleet Coordinator Ophelia Kronon became incredibly busy as of late. As the most senior naval officer in the clan, she needed to sort out the incoming vessels and juggle the demands of every mech force.

The Living Sentinels developed a preference for sturdy and well-armored combat carriers.

The Flagrant Vandals desired vessels with better FTL travel characteristics and superior sub-light propulsion.

The Avatars of Myth wanted to obtain both fast and resilient combat carriers and did not want to settle for less.

There was no way for Ophelia to please everyone. When Ves paid a visit to her office, he immediately sensed a lot of stress from the former Ylvainan officer.

"We're getting some fine ships, but they're not good enough for the Avatars." She complained.

A small turtle emerged from an aquarium placed on her desk. The clever little reptile climbed out of the top and passed through a gate that blasted all of the water from his body. The turtle vigorously waddled up to his owner's hand and tried to offer some comfort.

"Blub blub."

"Thanks, Foba."

Sadly, her new pet couldn't wave all of her problems away.

"Tell me honestly." Ves began as he crossed his arms. "What do you think of the vessels we are receiving from the Hegemony."

"As I have said, they are fine second-class vessels. While these used goods are not up to par against their state-of-the-art equivalent, to be honest the differences are not that concerning. In the field of naval development, real generational differences are measured in centuries instead of decades. A starship commissioned over a hundred years ago is still competitive. What truly matters is the value of the vessel. More expensive ships not only feature better tech, but also better materials."

An old but expensive starship could easily crush a new but cheaper vessel. Ves was already familiar with this premise as the same largely applied to mechs as well. It was just that mechs never lasted that long.

"In terms of price, where do our combat carriers lie?" Ves curiously asked.

"The price we paid for our combat carriers range from 2 billion to 5 billion hex credits. There are a couple of outliers such as the Purplefeather, but the bulk of our vessels fall into this serviceable category." She explained. "From my understanding of the Yeina Star Cluster's starship market, this price range is below average."

"So our combat carriers are rather flimsy compared to the vessels of other second-class outfits?" Ves frowned.

"Not exactly, sir. The quality of our vessels are quite satisfactory if we bought them new, but we didn't. They have all been used for decades. While the Hegemony has been nice enough to service the mothballed starships, there are still many areas left which exhibit a considerable amount of wear-and-tear. Repairing these parts is too difficult without putting the vessels in drydocks."

"So essentially, the performance of our vessels is good, but their longevity is questionable."

That sounded similar to what the Penitent Sisters used to deal with before they sacrificed all of their combat carriers.

Ophelia nodded, pleased that Ves understood her point. "As a mech designer and an engineer, I believe you are aware of what this means for our clan. The vessels are older and more temperamental. Parts will break down at higher frequencies and emergencies will happen more often. These incidents can ramp up quite quickly the longer the ships operate without undergoing deep maintenance."

Starships were no different from giant machines. Just like other machines, their conditions degraded over time. While it was a lot more troublesome to fix their various issues, the better-built vessels were usually capable of operating without receiving any serious maintenance for decades.

Yet this couldn't go on forever. While starships came with a huge amount of redundancy, some ship components such as FTL drives still represented single points of failures. As long as any of these ship components broke down, the ship in question would end up in a lot of trouble!

"How is the outlook of our vessels in a span of five years?" Ves inquired. "Will we have to take this problem seriously in the immediate future?"

Ophelia paused for a moment. "Only the Great Prophet can say for sure, sir. According to my judgement, we will certainly have several major breakdowns and failures in the coming years. This can't be avoided considering we have procured hundreds of vessels. What I can tell you is that these isolated incidents are manageable provided we are not in hostile space or being pursued."

If a ship just happened to suffer a crippling breakdown, then the Larkinson Clan had several options.

Repairing the vessel took too much time and effort. It might take months to restore the damage.

"It's better to abandon any ships that break down along the way." Ves decided after contemplating his options. "None of our sub-capital starships are worth retaining. We are only making use of them so we can reach a beyonder gate safely. We can also train our clansmen in the use of second-class hardware. The core of our fleet consists of our capital ships. They're the only vessels that are worth bringing to the Red Ocean."

The fleet coordinator agreed with his sentiment. "Treating our sub-light vessels as transient, consumable assets is the right choice to make. However, the premise is that we are able to bear the cost of doing so. Every major breakdown means we will be losing a lot of value. At best, we are able to find a buyer who will take the crippled vessel off our hands at a hefty discount. At worst, we might have to write off our losses entirely."

Ves had already made his choice. Despite reserving more and more money on various priorities, the profitability of the LMC was able to bear the burden.

The Crystal Lord Mark II and the Ferocious Piranha were already building up momentum.

The latter especially began to catch on due to its incredibly useful glow. Sales of the Doom Guard had actually cratered as many mech buyers preferred to obtain the more user-friendly alternative!

The discussion continued for some time. Ves gained a better insight on the state of his fleet upon the moment of departure. While the starships the Larkinson Clan obtained wouldn't impress any second-class power, their performance was not weak.

That was enough.

It didn't matter if they became more troublesome a decade later. By the time the Larkinson Clan reached a beyonder gate, Ves intended to sell every sub-capital ship without exception.

The Barracuda, the Scarlet Rose, the Stellar Chaser, the Purplefeather and so on would no longer be a part of the Larkinson Clan's story. Despite memories that Ves and his clansmen formed with the starships, they had to go. The clan would either find new owners for them or have them scrapped to recoup some of their value.

The future of his clan no longer lay in these smaller vessels. While his clan would definitely acquire a lot of new sub-capital ships on the other side of the inter-galactic beyonder gate, there was no way that any of the new purchases would resemble the older ones in price, quality, features or looks.

The Red Ocean was a hodgepodge of many different human cultures and customs. Ship and mech builders from every corner of human space in the old galaxy had converged in a very tiny area in the new dwarf galaxy.

This resulted in continuous collisions between different design philosophies and product styles!

The combat carriers put for sale in the Red Ocean were very different from the combat carriers sold in the Yeina Star Cluster. The latter were simply too shabby and basic to perform well in the new frontier.

This was why Ves was not sorry to say goodbye to ships like the Scarlet Rose. They simply couldn't keep up with his demands.

Once Ves finished his fruitful discussion with Ophelia, he left her office and paid a visit to Major Verle.

"Hello. How is it going, major?"

"You're giving me a lot of headaches."

Ves chuckled. "I've been hearing that a lot."

"Don't misunderstand me, sir. It's great that our clan is finally building up our strength again. Once we are able to take control over our new assets, we will gain enough strength to protect ourselves as we travel from star sector to star sector."

"That sounds good, because we'll have quite a journey ahead of us. Have you and your staff already charted some routes to the nearest beyonder gates?"

"We did. Let me show them to you." The major answered.

Some projections came to life. They showed off several star charts centered around the Komodo Star Sector.

Ves could easily observe the colorful translucent borders that delineated different star sectors and star clusters.

Animated dotted lines extended from Komodo and began to follow several different curving paths.

The galactic rim was a sparse and underdeveloped region. The Gate Consortium couldn't justify building a lesser beyonder gate in every single star cluster. This meant that the Larkinson Clan had to cross through at least several different star clusters in order to reach any gate.

"This one." Ves pointed towards a specific chart. The projection grew larger while the others shrunk in size. "We'll take this route."

Verle was alarmed!

"Let's not be too hasty, sir. We still need to discuss the merits of each route with the Larkinson Assembly and some other relevant leaders. We also need to consult with the Cross Clan to find out whether they have any objections to our choice. This is not something that we can decide in a short amount of time."

"Then make it happen." Ves crossed his arms. "I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. I won't accept any other route."

"Can you at least tell me why?"

"I'm not choosing this route on a whim. I'm familiar with some of the star sectors along the way. They're all worth paying a visit. I don't want to spend the next months and years cooped up in my factory ship."

"Very well, then. We will explore this route further and check whether there are any hazards along the way. Total safety can't be guaranteed in space, but we can minimize the risks by avoiding unstable regions."

The route that Ves prematurely settled upon threaded through four different star clusters. It started from the Yeina Star Cluster and passed through the Bardo and Fermi Star Clusters until it finally reached the center of the Antilla Star Cluster.

The latter hosted one of the new-fangled beyonder gates developed by the Big Two and managed by the Gate Consortium.

The mysterious Temple Protector might have passed through this very gate!

To be honest, this wasn't the shortest or fastest route. Yet Ves did not want to travel in any other direction for one important reason.

The Smiling Samuel Star Sector was part of the Fermi Star Cluster!

Chapter 2549: Catching Up

"If we follow this route, it is challenging to estimate how long it will take to reach the beyonder gate at the end." Major Verle. "The more stops we make along the way, the more time it will take to traverse our route. Our fleet composition also affects our speed. The larger our fleet, the more unwieldy it becomes."

"A group of ships is only as fast as the slowest among the bunch." Ves commented.

"Exactly."

Ves smiled. "It's good that we're getting rid of all of our third-class vessels. Keeping them will only drag our feet."

undefinedThird-class ships with cheaper FTL drives couldn't even pass through the gravitic barriers separating star sectors from each other.

Even if they could, their FTL drives possessed shorter ranges, thereby forcing any fleet that included these vessels to undergo more downtime.

In contrast, second-class ships with decent FTL drives could aim for more distant star systems. At a minimum, the range was doubled. Their speed in FTL travel was higher as well, which meant that they reached their destinations in half or a third of the time.

Faster vessels were vitally important to reaching a beyonder gate in a timely manner. The Red Ocean developed rapidly as the pioneers who arrived early were picking up treasures left and right.

While Ves might have cheaped out a bit when it came to procuring the starships of the Larkinson Clan, he did not cut too many corners when it came to their FTL drives!

"What are the FTL characteristics of our fleet once we set off?" Ves asked. "I need to know the minimum and maximum cycling times."

Major Verle activated another projection. It listed out all of the starships that the Larkinson Clan ordered. Some of them had already arrived while others were still on their way.

"The list is ranked by tonnage. As you can see, a small vessel such as the Barracuda can cycle her FTL drive as fast as 3 hours, while our largest logistical ships need at least 6 hours. In fact, the FTL drives of our upcoming factory ship actually require 18 hours to cycle a heavy-duty FTL drive, and that is only when it operates at peak condition!"

That was way too long! Fortunately, the situation wasn't as bad as it sounded.

"My factory ship comes with three FTL drives." Ves smirked. "It doesn't matter if it takes an entire day to get a spent FTL drive up and running again. We can just switch over to another one in an instant."

This actually resulted in the strange situation where a gigantic capital ship was able to traverse more distance than a swift corvette!

While the range of the Barracuda was better than that of his upcoming factory ship, the differences weren't decisive. The quality of FTL drives mattered a lot more.

In that aspect, none of the second-class ships of his fleet came up short. Insisting on this demand was actually one of the reasons why it took so much time for the Hegemony to prepare the used starships. Some of their FTL drives had to be replaced because their condition was too poor or their quality did not meet his standards.

"Don't confine your vision to our own vessels." Verle warned. "We also have to account for the Crossers. Their ships will also factor in how fast we can reach the beyonder gate in the Antilla Star Sector."

"Oh. You're right. What do you know about their fleet?"

"The Black Cats have sniffed out quite a lot of details by tracking the flight of the remnant fleet. What I can tell you with certainty is that their current fleet almost entirely consists of their faster vessels. Any ship that couldn't keep up would have fallen into enemy hands. You don't have to worry about any of their ships dragging us down, at least in the short term. Many of their vessels accumulated significant damage and their engineers may have overstressed their FTL drives by cutting short their cycling times."

Ves dismissively waved his hand. "This is not important. Just like us, the Crossers can just throw aside their sub-capital ships if they ever become impaired. I care more about their capital ships. They should have at least two FTL drives each, right?"

"Correct, sir. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to outrun their pursuers. Their characteristics are fairly interesting. While the Cross Clan doesn't publicize any specs, it is easy enough to make some estimates based on the historical movements of the two fleet carriers. There is enough data on the galactic net to tease out the approximate FTL travel characteristics of the Antonio Cross and the Hemmington Cross."

The major activated yet another list of specifications. Though there were many question marks and vague estimates, the document nonetheless gave Ves a better understanding of his future allies.

The Hemmington Cross was a big and fat fleet carrier. Her FTL drives had to exert a lot of effort to move the metal giant across the stars.

The cycling time of her FTL drives likely lasted around 32 hours!

Ves felt like vomiting when he spotted this detail. "This is way too long!"

"It's not that much of a problem if both of her FTL drives are functional. We will only start to feel the consequences if one the two FTL drives of the Hemmington Cross gets knocked out. While we cannot tell if the large fleet carrier possesses a third FTL drive, the possibility is very slim. Her existing FTL drives already cost a fortune for being able to act on a ship that is more than 3 kilometers."

This meant that the Hemmington Cross was only a single point of failure away from crippling the traversal speed of their combined fleet.

This was not a big deal if the critical breakdown took place in a safer region.

However, if the two clans attracted a powerful enemy or ended in the middle of a warzone, then the Hemmington Cross' excessively long timeout would certainly pose a serious threat!

If such a calamity ever took place, the Cross Clan would have to make some very hard choices!

"What about the smaller fleet carrier."

"Ah, the Antonio Cross. While her mech capacity is quite underwhelming, we know where most of her value lies. Some of her traversals are so far apart that only long-range FTL drives are able to accomplish such distant hops. These drives are not only powerful, they can cross considerably greater distances in the same amount of time. In fact, if you really care about reaching a beyonder gate as fast as possible, then you should travel aboard the Antonio Cross. No other ship can compare in this aspect."

That was a surprising detail. Ves was very impressed by the FTL drive parameters of the smaller fleet carrier. Her existence fully made sense to him now. The Crossers would definitely be able to obtain a lot of advantages in the Red Ocean as long as they made clever use of the Antonio Cross.

Ves even felt a bit jealous. It would be great if the Larkinson Clan possessed a fast capital ship as well. Still, he knew that it was unlikely that his fellow Larkinsons would agree. They paid much more attention to the total mech capacity of a larger fleet carrier.

He began to discuss some other related matters with Major Verle. They discussed the state of their growing fleet as well as the potential stops they could make along the proposed route.

While there were many interesting states, star sectors and star clusters along the way, it was not worth it to linger too long in each of them. The Red Ocean was much more interesting than some local regions. Ves had to restrain his urges and keep his fleet moving forward as much as possible.

That said, they also needed to plan their stops so that their crews could get a breath of fresh air every once in a while.

After some quick investigations, Ves casually selected several random star sectors that he wished to experience.

The Smiling Samuel Star Sector happened to be one of them. Yet just as Ves brought up the name, Major Verle immediately frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Have you read up on Smiling Samuel?"

"Uhm, I'm doing that right now. It has an interesting name."

To be honest, Ves had overlooked the star sector shortly after he completed his latest Mastery experience. Since it would take at least a couple of years to reach the Smiling Samuel Star Sector, there was no immediate hurry to get up to speed on the current state of the region.

After all, only a couple of decades since Ves entered the mind of Rion Aaden. The local situation shouldn't have changed that much, right?

He began to have a bad feeling.

Just as Ves began to read some articles on the galactic net, Major Verle briefly summarized what he knew.

"The Smiling Samuel used to be a fairly unremarkable star sector. It was just that some sort of unknown incident took place that caused the native dwarf populations there to rise up and fight against the normal humans who used to call the shots in this region."

Ves snorted. "What can a bunch of dwarves really do? They're perennially repressed and their numbers can't catch up to that of humans."

While there were actually a fair amount of heavy gravity planets in the galaxy, it wasn't cheap to exploit them. Any mining initiative had to invest a lot of funds to get started. Every exertion expended a lot more energy in heavy gravity environments. The minerals offered by these planets had to surpass a certain threshold to justify a mining operation.

For this reason, the population of humans heavily outnumbered the population of dwarves!

While it wasn't unheard of for the latter to rebel or lash out against normal humans, they always ended in failure.

"The dwarves succeeded in toppling the human states of the star sector."

"What?!"

"The story is quite remarkable actually. While the early history of the dwarven rebellion is mired in myth, rumors and disinformation, the dwarves somehow became unprecedentedly united. The so-called Dwarven Justice Movement somehow managed to rally many other dwarves across many nearby star sectors and star clusters. As long as any dwarf heard the call, they dropped everything and attempted to travel to Smiling Samuel as fast as possible."

"Even so.. these migrations shouldn't have been able to overwhelm the native humans."

"You would think so, sir, but what happened is simply astonishing." Major Verle replied. There was genuine admiration in his tone! "The dwarves did not collide against the human states right away. Instead, they kept to a certain corner and steadily attracted more compatriots. Meanwhile they also stirred up discord between rivalling human states. As the normal humans became embroiled in destructive conflicts, the dwarven revolution finally erupted!"

The tale sounded incredibly outlandish to Ves. How could the dwarves possibly succeed in pulling off their schemes against their human enemies? Were the humans of the Smiling Samual Star Sector that ignorant?

"What is also interesting is the reason why the dwarves managed to unite under a single banner. They formed a new religion based around Vulcan, who is supposedly the God of Dwarves, Mechs and Craftsmanship."

The major projected some historical footage.

Rows and rows of uniformed dwarves stood before a plaza. On a high podium, a robed priest-like figure ascended into the air and raised a very familiar-looking banner.

"Vulcan!" The bearded priest shouted.

"VULCAN!" The crowd roared back!

Ves could sense the energy and fanaticism from the crowd. His heart sank as he recognized how deeply the heavy gravity variant humans embraced their faith.

Each of them believed wholeheartedly in Vulcan!

"Vulcan has blessed dwarvenkind. The Paramount Kingdom lies in ruins. The tall folk are driven away. Now, their planets belong to us. More and more dwarves throughout the neighboring star clusters continue to arrive in order to fulfill our dream of creating a dwarven sanctuary. We are ascendant! We are blessed! We are the chosen people! From now on, these conquered territories will henceforth belong to our new dwarven state. Let us celebrate the founding of the Vulcan Empire!"

"Vulcan!"

"Vulcan!"

"Vulcan!"

Chapter 2550: Abnormal Star Sector

Ves awkwardly scratched his smooth-shaven cheek.

The footage that Major Verle displayed had given him a great shock!

The dwarves not only succeeded in conquering the Paramount Kingdom, but also went on to defeat every other state in the star sector!

While it was true that the states in the Smiling Samuel Star Sector were more impoverished and decadent than others, they were still formidable institutions. How could the dwarves possibly overcome all of their disadvantages and win against the established powers in so little time?

undefined"While it sounds like a fairy tale, the Vulcan Empire truly succeeded." Major Verle said. "Oday, the Vulcan Empire is the only dominant power of its star sector. While it is not that strong compared to other dominant states, it is highly entrenched in Smiling Samuel, thereby making it difficult for its neighbors to dislodge the dwarven state."

The Dwarven Justice Movement rose up rapidly from its humble beginnings. It remained quiet while it began to accumulate followers. Once its numbers and strength grew formidable enough, the dwarves launched their attacks with great force.

The Paramount Kingdom did not account well for itself. Its rotten nobles and corrupted officials responded very poorly to the dwarven incursion.

In fact, the human rulers actually looked down on the dwarves! It took many painful defeats for the ruling houses to recognize that the dwarves actually had the power to depose them. By that time, it was too late, and the Paramount Kingdom eventually made way for the Vulcan Empire.

Even then, the rest of the Smiling Samuel Star Sector still did not recognize the threat posed by the dwarves.

It was normal for individual states to rise and fall. Despite its domineering name, the Vulcan Empire was actually in a pretty bad shape upon its founding. The Paramount Kingdom's industries had suffered a lot of damage due to all of the fighting and a huge brain drain took place as many humans who were able to afford passage on a starship had fled the conquered state!

Yet despite all of these problems, the Vulcan Empire grew incredibly fast. The moment the dwarven rebellion succeeded in founding a state dedicated to heavy gravity variant humans, the amount of dwarves pouring in from outside multiplied by ten!

Even the more skeptical and cowardly dwarves became swayed by the dwarven dream. Short-statured humans throughout the surrounding regions emigrated to the Vulcan Empire with much greater urgency.

The Vulcan Empire rapidly grew in strength. As it carefully picked its battles and continually accomplished victory after victory, the dwarven state's momentum rose.

As the momentum of the Vulcan Empire rose, even more dwarves abandoned their old lives. They traveled to the Vulcan Empire no matter the cost and integrated in the rising state remarkably quickly.

"The Vulcan Faith contributed a lot in uniting all of these foreign dwarves." Major Verle noted.

Ves couldn't help but grimace even further. This faith was based on a sham!

Yet no matter how stupid it was for the dwarves to believe in one of his disguises, he had to admit that religion was one of the strongest ways to bind different people together.

No dwarf was the same. Their origin largely defined their norms and values. Different dwarves embodied different cultures depending on the planet, state or star sector they came from. Randomly mashing them together in a single state shouldn't have worked if not for their belief in Vulcan glueing them together!

"These dwarven believers certainly look.. enthusiastic."

"That's an understatement." Major Verle shook his head. "All of the records state the Vulcan people are highly xenophobic towards other human variants. The majority of the 'tall folk' who used to reside in Smiling Samuel were either wiped out or transferred elsewhere. The immigrating dwarves all took over the lands, jobs and possessions of the original citizens. Nowadays, only a handful of planets still host a majority of baseline humans, and they are usually closed off and inaccessible."

This sounded quite cruel to Ves! The dwarves must have displaced trillions of normal human citizens over the years. The sheer amount of tragedy that took place in Smiling Samuel likely exceeded that of the recent Sand War!

At the very least, humanity managed to stop the sandman race a relatively short time after the invasion started.

Yet no one managed to stop the tide of dwarves. How could these vertically-challenged humans possibly get away with their excessive actions?

It was one thing to conquer a state and oppress the conquered locals.

It was another thing to drive those locals from their homes!

The sheer amount of people the dwarves kicked from the star sector must have come to the attention of the MTA.

While the Association normally did not pay attention to local conflicts, there was no way the mechers remained ignorant of the brutality the dwarves engaged in. It was as if Smiling Samuel went back to the days of the Age of Conquest!

Strangely enough, the galactic net did not provide any solid answers. Ves only encountered lots of speculation, guesses and analyses.

Yet not once had the MTA issued any official statement. The Big Two remained completely impassive throughout the rapid takeover.

Major Verle voiced his opinion.

"The most accepted explanation is that the MTA is secretly supportive of the formation of a dwarven star sector. The more radical theories even state that the MTA has actually been supporting the Vulcan Empire from the dark, but only crackpots believe in them. If you ask me, the fact that the MTA did nothing to stop the rise of dwarves means the Big Two tacitly consented to this development. Maybe they're tired that dwarves are constantly being oppressed throughout the galaxy. Letting them take over one of the poorest star sectors might be a way to compensate these variant humans for their suffering."

Ves had a different perspective on the matter. From his understanding of the MTA, the high-level leaders liked to see some variety. By allowing the dwarves to take over a star sector, the Association's research groups could probably engage in all kinds of comparative studies between societies.

This was what scientists desired the most! Some studies simply couldn't be performed if the samples were too homogeneous.

Dwarves were still humans in some aspects but very different in other aspects. Their distinctive identity, different physique and other traits turned them into very useful test subjects!

As expected of the MTA. Whereas Ves only experiments on hundreds of test subjects at most, the Association performed studies on entire star sectors worth of people at a time!

To Ves, it made a lot of sense to foster the rise of dwarves. Perhaps there were moral reasons to stop the dwarves from killing or displacing so many innocent humans, but who cared about those. Getting more experimental data was much more important!

Ves coughed. "Alright, let's not talk about how the dwarves took over the star sector. Now that they're in charge, are normal humans even allowed to enter?"

"The Vulcan Empire can't stop all human traffic. The Big Two's headquarters and outposts are still staffed by normal-sized humans. There are also other exceptions such as the aforementioned isolated planets. The baseline humans who live there are pretty much caged there for the rest of their lives. Some dwarves even go on tours in order to see the tall folk in their supposed natural environment."

Ves pressed his palm against his face. Was this what he had wrought in his last Mastery experience? The Vulcan Empire sounded terrible!

"Do the dwarves respect any humans at all?" He feebly asked.

"No." Major Verle ruthlessly crushed his hope. "The Vulcanites are as dwarf-centric as Hexers are towards women. The dwarves are actually worse as they can't even tolerate the idea of living alongside the tall folk. Despite living in a galaxy that is dominated by humans that are taller than them, the dwarven supremacists constantly talk about killing the tall folk."

"Is there no faction of dwarves that are slightly more sympathetic towards normal humans?"

"I can't say, sir. We'll have to perform in-depth research in order to be certain. According to the galactic net, the dwarves only really respect one human."

"Who?"

"Their god. Despite being styled as the God of Dwarves, Mechs and Craftsmanship, the Vulcan Faith actually depicts its god as a human with normal proportions. This has always been controversial to the Vulcanites. With how superior they feel about themselves, more and more dwarves simply can't understand why they should worship a normal human god."

"Oh no…"

Ves could already predict what happened next.

"In recent years, it has become increasingly more apparent that a schism has formed within Vulcanism. The majority still believe in the orthodox interpretation of Vulcan as a human, but there is a rising faction that believes that Vulcan must be a dwarf. These radicalists have gained much more sway over the years. There are even rumors that the two sides have already come to blows against each other. The old guard continue to cling to the belief that Vulcan is a human god while the younger generation seeks to take them down."

What a disaster. Ves groaned as he considered how his careless lies and deception spiraled out of control.

"Forget about entering Smiling Samuel." Major Verle advised. "While it is certainly different from every other star sector, the locals are too hostile against humans with normal proportions. Every dwarf will do their best to kill us once they see us travelling through their space."

"There has to be exceptions, right? How can the dwarves even trade if they kill off every trading vessel?"

"The Vulcan Empire has exempted certain individuals and organizations from persecution, but those are exceptions. They don't give any exemptions to tourists and passerbys like us. Just skip this star sector. There are no reasons for us to dive into this dwarf-centric region."

The major was right. There were way too many reasons why entering Smiling Samuel was a very bad idea. Ves wouldn't be able to convince any of his clansmen to enter this star sector because that would only invite endless trouble!

Still, there had to be a way for him to enter. He had no intentions of visiting any dwarven settlements. He just wanted to stop by a desolate star system and excavate the Timpala Steel that he had buried in an unassuming asteroid belt.

As long as he obtained his treasure, he would leave right away!

"Is there ANY way for normal humans to move freely through Smiling Samuel?"

Verle shook his head. "Not without an exemption. Maybe you can ask the MTA for help. Don't you have a good relationship with Master Moira Willix? She can probably arrange a pass for you. Still, my advice remains the same. Even with an exemption, we would not be safe. According to the recent news from the Vulcan Empire, the 'Dwarven God Cult' has been launching attacks on trading convoys operated by normal humans. As long as the vessels don't belong to the Big Two, they are fair game to the radicalists."

Damn. These deranged dwarves were truly going overboard!

Worst of all, Ves was largely responsible for fanning their hatred. If he hadn't attempted to rally the dwarves by shouting 'death to the tall folk' all the time, they may have been able to tolerate normal humans!

"Oh, there is another way for you to enter Smiling Samuel."

"And that is..?"

The major summoned another projection. It displayed an advertisement for a physical morphing procedure.

In the ad, a human entered a sophisticated-looking clinic. After being met by a doctor and put through some tests, the man paid some money and entered some kind of treatment chamber.

An instant later, a different-looking human exited from the chamber.

The normal-looking human had become a dwarf!

"You can turn into a dwarf." Verle smiled. "Smiling Samuel accepts any converted dwarves with open arms. As far as the Vulcanites are concerned, normal humans are lost and live in sin. Only by embracing the dwarven form will they be worthy to receive Vulcan's blessing!"

"..."