Chapter 1201

"You stupid kid! Do you have any idea what you've brought on this planet?!"

This was the first time Ves saw Calabast losing control over her impeccable composure. He didn't have to puzzle or second-guess his judgement to determine that the woman was furious!

What Ves found more alarming was that his mask of innocence failed to work on the astute spy. No matter how clueless he appeared, he couldn't do anything about the clues that Calabast pieced together!

This was a fatal flaw that Ves hadn't fully considered!

Ves tore away his mask seeing as it didn't do him any good. A subtle change in demeanor swept over him. He no longer appeared meek.

"I had to do what I needed in order to design my next mech." He said with little remorse.

"VES!" Calabast raged. "If you wanted to obtain a relic so bad, at least tell me so that we could plan your heist properly!"

Ves crossed his arms. "I already asked you to get me a relic, but you rejected my request, remember? Since you weren't any help back then, I decided that I needed to take matters into my own hands."

"You reckless dimwit! I thought you only wanted to obtain a curiosity to understand Ylvainan culture better! I had no idea you were this desperate to obtain a treasured relic to the point of riling up the entire Ylvainan Protectorate to get what you want! If I knew you were this serious, I would have backed you up all the way!"

Neither of the two understood each other's intentions. Both Ves and Calabast realized that their miscommunication led to a far more dangerous outcome than if they cooperated!

On his end, Ves didn't communicate the desire to obtain a relic clearly enough. In his perspective, a relic connected to a great figure in the Ylvainan Faith possessed real, practical value that he could definitely make use of in order to enrich his upcoming mech design!

To Calabast, his request seemed very outlandish and frivolous. The spy didn't fully understand the specialty and capabilities of her partner. Her ignorance led her to believe that Ves wouldn't gain anything from a relic. Since the price of fulfilling his request was far too grave, she outright rejected it without understanding what it meant!

"What's done is done. Blame me all you want, but now that we've come this far, it's best to look ahead." Ves sighed.

He grew uncomfortable as Calabast continued to stare at him like he was a kid who did something naughty. Even if he acted recklessly, it was her fault for failing to hear him out in the first place!

"You're right, but that doesn't mean I'll forget about your stunt!" She gritted her teeth. "It could have been much worse for the both of us if I hadn't acted as soon as I heard what happened at the grand cathedral. Do you think we would be free to meet with each other if I hadn't covered your tracks?"

"What do you mean?"

Calabast threw up her hands in an exasperated fashion. "You're lucky I'm smart enough to figure out who's responsible as soon as I first received the news! I worked quickly to publish a statement on the galactic net that the True Believers have claimed responsibility for the theft. Not only that, but I've also hacked the security systems of the grand cathedral and wiped out as many logs and recordings as possible. While I haven't managed to erase everything, I've at least made it harder for the authorities to figure out what happened."

Despite her disapproval, Calabast nonetheless backed him up when she figured out the truth. Ves appreciated her help. It seemed that she was very sincere about their partnership.

Deflecting the blame to the New Ylvaine Dynasty was a particular masterstroke. Ves hadn't thought about using them as a scapegoat. They were currently the biggest bogeymen on Kesseling VIII!

By throwing out their name, the Ylvainan authorities instantly adopted the assumption that the living prophet and his lackeys truly took action at the grand cathedral!

Most of the assets allocated to the investigation should be spent on rooting out the True Believers, thereby diverting a lot of attention from Ves. The fact that only a single Protector captain interrogated him in a perfunctory manner showed that they had little reason to suspect that he was involved.

Ves would have been in a much more troubling position if Calabast hadn't taken quick action!

"Do you think your countermeasures worked?" He cautiously asked.

"There is still a chance that some of the more suspicious and skeptical Ylvainans are prejudiced towards us." Calabast grimly replied. "So don't put down your guard. Act like you are constantly being monitored. Even if you activate a signal jammer, don't make use of it too often, or you'll definitely attract suspicion. I'm sure our private conversation has attracted a lot of questions right now from the people who are assigned to monitor our movements."

That was bad news to Ves, but at least the Ylvainan minders shouldn't look at him too closely or care too much about what he was doing.

"Will the high inquisitor pay another visit?"

Calabast shrugged. "Probably. Once the Ylvainans failed to track down their missing relic, they'll cast a wide net. As persons of interests, both of us will receive a lot of scrutiny. Before they rule us out as suspects, we shouldn't do anything that arouses their suspicion. The biggest problem right now is that I'm not sure whether they truly bought the story that the True Believers are behind the theft."

"Oh? Didn't you say that this cover story worked?"

"It's undoubtedly effective to the public and the vast majority of the Ylvainan authorities. The average Ylvainan isn't exactly good at critical thinking, so they have no cause to doubt that the True Believers are responsible. That doesn't mean that the higher-ups are equally as ignorant, especially those who are aligned with the traditionalists. You know what I mean, right?"

Ves tentatively nodded. If the attack on the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr was a conspiracy of their own making, then this incident might lead them to believe that someone was giving them a taste of their own medicine!

Throughout all of this, the actual New Ylvaine Dynasty were unjustly maligned! They must be puking blood when they heard that unknown people ascribed terrible events to their organization!

Why would the True Believers risk turning public opinion against their cult by slaughtering so many innocent Ylvainans?

Why did the living prophet want to steal a discarded nutrient pack wrapper that used to belong to his first incarnation so badly? Such a historical relic was immensely valuable to every Ylvainan except for the purported reincarnation of Prophet Ylvaine!

The average Ylvainan citizen wouldn't think about these gaps in logic. However, it was a very different case when it came to astute officials such as High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco!

"So what will we do now?"

"We lay low for now. The ball is in the court of the Protectors of the Faith and the Attendants of Ylvaine. Due to the seriousness of the theft of a relic associated with the great prophet, the Shepherds of the Flock don't have any sway anymore in the Kesseling System!"

That basically meant that the Curin Dynasty were currently impotent against the indignation of the Kronons and Poxcos! Whatever the latter two wanted, the Curins had no choice but to comply, because all of them desperate sought to recover the stolen relic and track down the culprits responsible for this blasphemous crime!

Calabast shared her thoughts on what might ensue from this event.

"First, the entire Kesseling System will be locked down for the foreseeable time. Martial law will last as long as the relic remains missing or there is no hope of retrieving it anymore."

"Won't the locals object to the measure if it goes on for months?" Ves frowned.

"Don't underestimate the perseverance of the Ylvainans. While the locals will suffer, the Curins won't let them starve. They're forced to spend an enormous sum of money to keep the Kesseling System from collapsing during this period. Another factor that plays a role that the vast majority of Ylvainans want to recover the missing relic as much as the traditionalists. The locals will endure any hardship as long as it helps the investigation!"

That meant that Ves could not do anything that stood out for the next few months!

"What else will happen?"

"The Protectors of the Faith and the Attendants of Ylvaine have already diverted a lot of forces to the Kesseling System." She said. "Some of the best investigators and forensic specialists of the Protectorate are on their way right now! While I'm confident that I've wiped out most of our tracks, we can't rule out anything!"

"With so many troops pouring into the Kesseling System, the situation will become very volatile." Ves judged. "But aside from suppressing the Curins, they won't do anything drastic, right?"

"I'm not sure about that." Calabast shook her head. "I've obtained evidence that the New Ylvaine Dynasty might be heading to the Kesseling System as well!"

"What?!"

"Do you think the True Believers will continue to let others use them as scapegoats? The living prophet is undoubtedly pissed that he and his cult are being unjustly maligned. They'll probably sneak their way into the Kesseling System and perform their own investigations."

Ves started to sweat. He understood now why Calabast was inordinately pissed at him. All of the forces converging on Kesseling VIII was too much for her and the Curins to cope!

If the True Believers managed to smuggle in a considerable amount of mechs to the planet, then a dangerous confrontation might ensue! Ves and Calabast might get pulled into this vortex in the process, which neither of them wanted!

He groaned. "Is that everything, or is there anything else that I need to be concerned about?"

"Unfortunately, that's not the end of it." Calabast shook her head. "Do you remember the Star Faith Collective? They're probably gloating at the misfortunes afflicting the Ylvaine Protectorate. It suits the Star Worshippers if their rival state is mired in factional warfare. You can bet they're attempting to sneak as many operatives as possible into the Kesseling System. These operatives will definitely take action to stir the pot and aggravate the internal division between the leading dynasties!"

Ves understood what she was talking about. It sounded exactly like something Flashlight would do against the Vesians. Shifty bastards like Leland and Calabast would probably be salivating if something as chaotic like this took place in an enemy state!

These foreign elements posed the greatest threat to Ves and Calabast. Unlike the other Ylvainan factions, the Star Worshippers possessed no incentive to restrain themselves and minimize their impact on the locals.

In fact, they would do everything they can to rile everybody up and inflict more damage!

Calabast looked tired all of a sudden. "I hope you realize what kind of storm you caused with your impulsive actions. What I want to know now is whether it is all worth it. Why are relics so important to you, Ves? Don't obfuscate me with nonsense. Since you're so desperate to obtain them, they must bring a concrete benefit to you. What's your secret?"

The question hit very close to Ves. With her deductive ability, Calabast definitely surmised that Ves was hiding something! She was too astute!

He decided to throw her bone. "You're right. I can definitely make use of a relic. The more important the relic, the more benefits I can derive from them. It's difficult to explain why they're useful to me. It's related to my design philosophy."

"What is your design philosophy?"

"Metaphysical Man-Machine Symbiosis."

Calabast blinked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"If you don't even understand that much, there's no point explaining my design philosophy to you." Ves self-righteously stated.

Calabast sent a piercing glare at him. "Don't try to avoid my question. Your rhetorical tricks won't work on me. Tell it to me straight. What are you planning to do with the relic you stole?"

Ves really didn't want to answer this question, but it seemed that Calabast wouldn't let him go if he continued to deflect the matter! Instances like this was why he hated spies! They were too astute to fall for his usual tricks!

Chapter 1202

In the end, Calabast deactivated her privacy screen and her signal jammer and stormed out of the guest compound. Ves waved her goodbye with a brittle smile.

When Calabast insisted on an explanation on what Ves was planning to do with a relic, he explained as vaguely as possible.

As a mech designer, he could be as clear or as opaque with his explanations as possible! It was no trouble for him at all to resort to the most incomprehensible jargon imaginable to throw Calabast in confusion!

As smart as she appeared to be, Ves was pretty sure that she wasn't a mech designer!

However, Calabast wouldn't let him go without at least some satisfaction, so Ves gave her a small hint.

"Everything I've done is for the benefit of my upcoming mech design. There is much more to mechs than meets the eye. I'm sure you've heard about the remarkable nature of my Aurora Titan design. My next design will definitely result in a similar impact, if not greater! By then you'll see that all of this trouble was worth it in the end!"

Since the deed was already done, Calabast had little choice but to let Ves go through with his plan. It helped that she had already heard about the Aurora Titan and its remarkable nature.

Thinking about what many observers said about the mech gave Calabast some clues what Ves was trying to accomplish.

The notion was enough to arouse her curiosity.

Whatever Calabast thought about his work, Ves was glad he finally got the woman off his back.

"I only want to design a mech. Why am I constantly getting pulled into trouble?" He lamented.

Calabast's visit aroused the attention of the Protectors of the Faith assigned to guard the guest compound. While neither of them aroused any suspicion so far, it was unusual for Madame Cecily to take the step to visit Ves instead of the other way around.

Nonetheless, considering their business relationship, it was not entirely unthinkable for Madame Cecily to move with haste. Kesseling VIII entered a very dangerous period right now. Ves needed to be brought up to speed lest he did something that attracted everyone's attention.

The Protectors of the Faith quickly turned their attention back to their guard duties. After the local authorities declared martial law, nobody was on the streets, but that didn't mean they could rule out an attack.

Ves didn't have anything to do for the foreseeable time. He already fleshed out the ranged aspect of his hero mech. He only had to wait for Ketis to finish her own proposal.

At this time, Lucky should have found a deep hole to hide in, so he couldn't process the relic either.

He did find out something he could do in the meantime.

He could make a start with constructing his images.

Truthfully, Ves didn't want to do so yet without coming in touch with the relic and determining its spiritual qualities. It would be bad if his images were incompatible with the spiritual fragment he expected to refine from his spoils.

Since he didn't have anything else to do, he changed and figured it wouldn't hurt to make some strides.

He took stock and determined whether he should still stick to the Triple Division technique to enrich the X-Factor of his hero mech.

The original intention for the Triple Division technique was to introduce more dimensions to the X-Factor of his designs. Ves took advantage of the ease in which he could superimpose multiple images together and create an amalgamation that inherited all of their traits.

In almost all cases, increasing the complexity and adding more flavors to the X-Factor was very beneficial to his mech designs. Average mech pilots would be able to bond closer to their mechs and allow the X-Factor to influence their decisions in a way that subtly increased their performance.

Yet was it in his interest to apply the same solution in this special case?

"Not exactly. Rather than aim for a mix of flavors, it's better for me to stick to a single flavor instead and make it as strong as possible!"

Each mech design had to fit the circumstances and the target audience.

First, he considered his overarching goal. He was not designing a mech for the market. Only six copies would exist at most. While Ves still wanted to accommodate the needs of the elite Kronon mech pilots, the true purpose of his hero mech design was to impress the public!

For this reason, Ves needed to pay more attention to how his mech would be perceived by the public. The look and feel of the mech had to be as majestic and attention-grabbing as possible!

The X-Factor of his mech needed to be both strong and coherent. The purer the X-Factor, the stronger the aura.

If Ves stuck to using a single image as opposed to employing the Triple Division technique, he would be able to improve the performance of his mech pilots at the cost of lessening its impact on the public.

Ordinarily, it was always worthwhile for him to make this tradeoff because his mechs were already sufficiently impressive. Catering to the public did not earn him as much money as encouraging mech buyers to purchase his mechs!

Therefore, Ves decided to forgo using multiple images in order to maximize the strength and purity of the X-Factor of his hero mech.

There was a time and place for the Triple Division technique, but for this special commission he already made up his mind.

Now that he thought about it, the Triple Division technique initially served as a way for him to strengthen his mech design in the absence of other solutions.

He had come a long way since then. Not only had his Spirituality grown stronger since his Apprentice days, but he developed a complete spiritual toolbox! All of these developments opened up a lot more possibilities for him to tailor the X-Factor of his design to his tastes!

As Ves thought about the nature of his current design project, another question popped up. "Should I make all six copies uniform or should I make them a little distinct?"

This was an important question. The commission didn't specify this issue, giving Ves free rein to decide.

"It's easier to produce an identical set."

Ves was short on time so he couldn't spend too much time on individualizing all six mechs. If Ves merely stuck to a single design and produced six completely identical copies, then he'd be able to fulfill the commission faster.

While Ves was slightly attracted to this convenience, he didn't feel much for it. An unknown urge in his mind wanted him to tackle this project in a more distinctive fashion.

Rather than producing six completely identical copies of the same hero mech design, why not add some individual flairs to each of them? Designing such a distinctive set of mechs strongly appealed to his artistic sensibilities.

He never embarked on such a project before. While Ves didn't have the time to add a lot of individual touches to the exterior appearance of his mechs, it was enough to add some little variations.

What Ves truly cared about was whether he could customize the X-Factor of an individual copy.

His usual method was to apply the images he constructed to a single mech design. Each copy produced from one of his designs inherited this X-Factor without any significant deviations.

Normally, Ves aimed to minimize deviations as much as possible. Now, he wanted to accomplish the opposite. How could he customize the X-Factor of each individual copy of a common design?

A solution came to mind. For the shared design, he could implement a single, focused image based off the spiritual fragment he refined off Prophet Ylvaine's holy relic.

This pure image would serve as the design spirit of his finished hero mech design. Only when Ves had reached the stage of fabricating individual copies would he intervene once again.

He planned to make the unprecedented move of manipulating the individual X-Factor of a copy by superimposing it with an individual image!

Each of these images introduced a strong bias towards a distinct aspect of Prophet Ylvaine's spiritual fragment!

Considering the importance of faith to the Ylvainans, Ves decided to construct images based on six abstract values that complimented the individual mechs!

Ves wracked his mind and quickly grabbed the first six virtues he could think of that were aggressive enough to be paired with a mech.

"Courage. Justice. Perseverance. Zeal. Sacrifice. Devotion."

Although he randomly selected these words, saying them put Ves into a solemn mood. He vaguely suspected that if he truly managed to distinguish his mechs with these virtues, he'd be able to produce something incredibly amazing!

"This design project is growing more and more significant." He whispered to himself. "If I don't restrain myself, I might end up biting off more than I can chew!"

The scope of his design project kept growing more and more out of control. While the choices he made would definitely improve the end product, he couldn't afford to lose sight of his overarching goals.

"Enough is enough. There is no benefit to adding another distinctive aspect to my design."

He decided his design incorporated enough innovations. There was no need for him to jazz up his mech design any further.

As Ves locked in his decisions, he let out a deep breath. "I should check up on Ketis. I can't wait all day for her to finish her work."

He visited her room.

"Ah, Ves, I'm almost finished!"

"You don't have to complete your draft." Ves casually waved. "Just introduce me to your design choices."

Ves studied her sketches as she narrated her design choices. Overall, she put a significantly different spin on the melee aspect of his hero mech.

"This mech is supposed to be an offensive mech, right? I was thinking that it doesn't have to be flexible and agile as swordsman mechs. It's much better if it can rely on its superior strength and force to overpower its opponents. I chose to strengthen the limbs and structure of the design at the cost of sacrificing some of its flexibility. While the design is a lot clunkier than your initial draft, as long as the mech pilot possesses a lot of foresight, they'll be able to cope with it by planning his moves ahead."

"So you've fully converted the hero mech into a momentum-based mech." Ves observed with a critical eye.

Although her lack of skill and design experienced resulted in a rough and unrefined draft, he nonetheless perceived its aggressive charm.

"What kind of sword did you choose to pair with the design?"

"I went with a thick saber."

Ves raised his eyebrows at the choice. "A curved-edged weapon? Wouldn't that make it harder for my mech to penetrate armor?"

"Mechs rarely resort to using the tip of their swords to pierce through armor." Ketis shook her head. "Sabers are far more suitable to momentum-based mech combat. Combining momentum with the slashing attacks of a saber can inflict major damage to enemy mechs with ease."

Pairing the hero mech with a saber instead of a straight-bladed sword narrowed down its fighting style, which Ves didn't necessarily oppose. It certainly made his hero mech look more distinct.

All the other design choices that Ketis had made served to strengthen the hero mech's ability to slash and leverage its momentum to its advantage.

Overall, Ves kind of liked it. "It's an inspiring choice. While hero mechs are often associated with straight-bladed weapons, it's not unheard of to pair them with sabers."

Considering the theme of the hero mech, Ves even contemplated whether he should opt for a blunt weapon instead. Many religions seem to have a thing for maces and hammers.

However, Ketis wouldn't be able to contribute to the design project if that was the case. Ves truly intended for her to become involved this time, and that meant that he needed to make some compromises for her sake.

Chapter 1203

Several tense and suspenseful days passed by since the Grand Cathedral of Ylvaine's Mercy lost its holy relic.

Some people from the Bright Republic and other foreign states heard what transpired. They laughed at how the Ylvainans grew distressed about the theft of a mere nutrient pack wrapper!

To them, the nutrient pack wrapper was just a piece of trash. The only reason it was valuable was because Prophet Ylvaine once tore it open and ate its contents. Aside from that, it was just an empty, mass-produced container!

Only the Ylvainans took the loss of the nutrient pack wrapper seriously. Regardless of its unimpressive appearance, anything that had been touched by Prophet Ylvaine was sacred in their eyes!

The authorities intensified their search for the missing relic. Even as Kesseling VIII went under lockdown, the capital city of Krent became host to numerous mech and auxiliary regiments!

There was hardly any street in Krent that was devoid of an armed presence! The extreme measures taken by the Protectors of the Faith suppressed the entire city, turning it into a lifeless and empty ghost city where all of its residents huddled in their homes.

Not a single civilian exited their homes! If anyone was short on food or medicine, the Curins sent out a bot that carried the needed supplies to their homes. No one was allowed to go out unless they received permission!

Even so, none of the Ylvainans objected to the draconian measures. In fact, many of them wholeheartedly supported the authorities in retrieving what they considered to be their most important cultural heritage!

Ves spent his time tweaking his draft design with Ketis while constructing an image of his hero mech.

Considering that he planned to make use of a spiritual fragment that possessed an undeniable relation to Prophet Ylvaine, he adopted the same great figure as the principal image for his mech.

It was easy to obtain information about the prophet. The Ylvainans were more than willing to pass on an entire library's worth of reading materials related to the man.

The only issue was that most of the biographies and other books about the prophet had been authored by the Attendants of Ylvaine. What they wrote about the prophet conformed to their own agenda, and uncomfortable facts often took a backseat.

As a Brighter, Ves developed his own understanding of the prophet before he visited the Ylvaine Protectorate. The Bright Republic always painted Ylvaine as a charlatan and a fraud.

The only reason why he was able to build up a massive following was because he was very charismatic and persuasive when needed. He possessed a strong talent in coming off as sincere whenever he preached to an audience!

In his private life, the prophet wasn't shy about enjoying his life. Not only did he start a harem of more than a hundred wives, he also spent huge amounts of money on luxuries. He wanted to enjoy the most exclusive foods, the priciest jewelry, the biggest starships and so on.

The prophet preached many virtues, but humility and moderation weren't among them. Although the Attendants of Ylvaine scrubbed this aspect about the prophet from their biographies, there was undeniable proof that Ylvaine openly lived a very extravagant life!

Ves favored this interpretation of Prophet Ylvaine over the more flattering portrayal that the revisionists had doctored.

Yet when it came to constructing his image, he realized it would be completely inappropriate to confront the Ylvainans with such a negative opinion of their holy founder.

"My mech is designed to impress the Ylvainans and prove that foreigners are just as good in designing Ylvainan mechs as domestic mech designers."

He would definitely fail in these goals if he wanted to impose his own interpretation of Prophet Ylvaine to the local masses.

"It's not my job to force the Ylvainans to doubt their beliefs." Ves shook his head. "As much as it goes against my Brighter sensibilities, I should do my best to present something that affirms their faith!"

It was very hard for a non-believer like him to design a mech that supported a faith he didn't believe in! How could he possibly work on designing something that he didn't fully agree with? It would be as if he was working with a gun pointed at his head!

Ves began to think of a way to resolve this contradiction.

"Maybe I should don a mask."

If he constructed an image of himself as a devout Ylvainan believer, he could hypnotize himself into designing his mech like a faithful Ylvainan. This solution strongly tempted him because it was the most convenient solution to this problem.

"However, will I want to design a mech while I'm not myself?"

His pride as a mech designer rejected this option. While mech designers needed to be adaptable to an extent, they also needed to stick to their core principles!

If Ves resorted to donning a mask each time he wanted to design an eccentric mech, then he was basically relying on crutches to get what he wanted.

It was better for him to avoid this bad habit and learn how to cope with this problem with his true self.

"I can't lie to myself. I can't fool my design philosophy."

He began to approach the problem from a different perspective. He took a step back and considered the situation as a contract between a mech designer and a client.

"As long as the mech designer accepted the demands of a client, they have the duty to fulfill them to the best of their ability."

Even if Ves didn't believe in the Ylvainan Faith, he should respect the wishes of his client.

In this case, that meant that Ves had to design his mech in accordance to the mainstream interpretation of the Ylvainan Faith.

"I'll have to pretend that Prophet Ylvaine is the real deal and not as self-indulgent as I think."

Could he design his mech with such a contradictory belief in mind?

"Maybe I can. Who knows what the real truth looks like."

Even without donning a mask, it wasn't hard to adopt a different mindset about the prophet. While he wouldn't be able to bring himself to believing in the Ylvainan Faith, to design his mech with the assumption that the prophet was sincere shouldn't be too difficult.

It was a compromise position that didn't satisfy him very much. It was a rather awkward way of resolving this difficult dilemma.

"That's okay. I never intended to design a mech that completely imitates the Ylvainan style."

He wanted to put his own spin on Ylvainan-style mechs. It wasn't all that bad to retain some of his Brighter sensibilities. The spiritual fragment he intended to refine should make up for his lack of piety to the Ylvainan Faith.

To that end, Ves continued to build up a strong but not too detailed image of Prophet Ylvaine. Although he could have added a lot of depth to the image, he didn't want to make it too complex and incorporate too many lies and contradictory aspects.

"It's best for me to stick to the broad strokes of his life and emphasize the virtues ascribed to the prophet."

Ves basically constructed an image of the prophet as a human myth. The depiction he painted in his mental canvas slowly turned into a pure and holy figure.

He hadn't added a lot of color to the image, but that was okay. Once he completed the design and fabricated the individualized copies, he intended to introduce images based around the six virtues to the X-Factor to his mechs.

"Each mech will bear a different color. None of them will be the same."

This was also an unintentional but very welcome form of copy protection of his hero mech.

Even if someone managed to obtain the full design schematics of his hero mech, the best they could do was to reproduce a pale copy that didn't possess the definition of his unique and authentic copies.

The six mechs based on six different virtues would forever be unique and irreplaceable!

No matter how much the Ylvainans begged for another copy, Ves wouldn't accept the request!

"Hero mechs are meant to be limited in the first place. I won't dilute the worth of my design by producing it en masse!"

According to the contracts he signed when he accepted the commission, Ves retained ownership of the mech design once he finished it. The commission only called him to deliver six mechs that met Madame Cecily's demands.

Naturally, without Madame Cecily's permission, Ves wasn't allowed to fabricate any copies. Only when they both agreed would more authentic copies be made.

This point was moot because Ves would never agree to do so. Keeping the amount of copies limited conformed to his stance on hero mechs.

Sometime later in the day, Ves perceived a disruptive field around him. He instantly paused his research on Prophet Ylvaine and smiled.

"Lucky! You're back!"

His cat phased through the wall and gently floated into his lap. His teeth latched on to a bag which contained a very significant object.

Ves immediately activated his Privacy Shield.

"Are you okay?"

"Meow!"

"Did you succeed?"

"Meow!"

He was worried that something awful might have happened to Lucky, but even the best security measures of the grand cathedral never posed a challenge. His cat had practically turned into a master thief once Ves provided the Miniaturized Stealth Generator to him! This object completely blinded the Ylvainan security guards and security systems from beginning to end!

Ves took hold of the bag from a tired-looking Lucky and opened it up. With shaking hands, he retrieved a nutrient pack wrapper.

It looked just like new. Nutrient pack wrappers were made of cheap, composite materials that ordinarily decomposed after someone opened them. The Ylvainans prevented this from happening by treating it with a special compound that kept it fresh!

Touching the wrapper with his naked fingers was a sublime experience to him. Even before he opened the bag, he already sensed the wrapper's spiritual accumulation.

It was strong! Seeing it in his spiritual vision practically blinded him! The nutrient pack wrapper accumulated so much faith that even an expert pilot would take it seriously if they could sense its quantity!

"Not only that, but it's also not as muddy as the spiritual accumulation of the other relics!"

The Ylvainans were much more devout and of one mind when faced with this holy relic. Hardly any Ylvainan would become distracted when faced with something that had been touched by Prophet Ylvaine himself!

Therefore, not only was the spiritual accumulation unimaginably strong, but it was also relatively purer!

The higher the purity, the less waste that resulted from the refining process!

Ves tried to estimate the overall strength of the spiritual fragment that might result. It would definitely be something that was comparable to an expert pilot in quality, but it would fall short of matching that of an ace pilot.

"Ace pilots are incredibly rare. It's not so easy for expert pilots to advance to that height." He sighed.

The nutrient pack wrapper was just a disposable object to Prophet Ylvaine. It didn't carry much original sentiment in the first place.

"Speaking of that, this is the first time I've come in touch with an actual remnant of the prophet!"

He grew curious about the prophet's original sentiment. Touching a remnant of someone's spirituality was like coming into touch with the essence of that individual.

As far as he knew, spiritual fragments didn't lie about the true nature of their owners. Even if they wanted to deceive his senses, it was very hard to do so unless they were as strong as Qilanxo.

"Besides, the original sentiment belongs to someone who's been dead for centuries. After so much time, it must have lost a lot of liveliness. It should hardly be able to summon up the energy to resist my inspections."

Ves believed he would be able to find out the truth behind mythical figure with this probe. Was the prophet a charlatan or a believer?

Chapter 1204

The first half of the Age of Conquest was a glorious time for the human race.

The second half of the Age of Conquest was a time of despair for humanity.

Unrestricted warfare between different human states, polities and trans-galactic enterprises led to the slaughter of trillions of people. Entire planets got blown up for the most whimsical reasons, and power-hungry admirals terrorized entire star sectors with their invincible warfleets.

Every age encapsulated the best and worst sides of humanity.

The Age of Stars exemplified humanity's insatiable curiosity for the stars. Yet they also found out the hard way that curiosity killed the cat.

The Age of Conquest showcased humanity's cunning and ingenuity. Yet they grew so quickly that they began to run wild with power.

Prophet Ylvaine grew up in a time of uncertainty and degeneration.

Higher-ups blatantly subjected their bodies to genetic modification that inserted 'superior' alien genes in their genetic makeup. While these leaders and powerful people largely got what they asked, they neglected the side effects affecting their psyche!

Human commoners throughout the galaxy lost faith in their leaders. Everyone who promoted upwards to a certain extent could not help but join the trend of incorporating the latest and most cutting-edge gene mod templates that they could afford!

Ambitious individuals who rejected this trend would never be able to keep up with their superior colleagues!

This led to a wide scale pattern where the most cautious and sober people stagnated in their careers. Their superiors didn't appreciate cowardly baseline humans who performed poorly.

Instead, those who willingly augmented their bodies with gene mod templates always climbed higher.

Over time, this disparity led to a self-reinforcing pattern where reckless leaders promoted reckless subordinates.

It was no wonder that the lower classes lost faith in the wisdom and judgement of the higher classes.

Prophet Ylvaine grew up during a time where the differences were incredibly stark.

In this time of fear and uncertainty, he rose up one day in the galactic heartland by presenting a vision of hope.

While the Ylvainan Faith he spurred on possessed some wild beliefs, the overall thread of his predictions warmed the hearts of many believers.

Prophet Ylvained claimed that no matter how dark the times had gotten, there was always light at the end of the tunnel.

His message rejected the differences between humans and aliens and humans and humans. The fighting for territory, resources and power in the material realm was as meaningless as two kids fighting over a toy.

One day, he claimed, all life in the galaxy would transcend into a higher existence. The wants and needs that everyone held back then were ultimately meaningless.

Yet the prophet didn't practice what he preached. Rather than set an example by living in moderation, he indulged in many fancies and excesses.

This contradictory behavior led many secularists to believe that the prophet was a swindler who managed to sucker billions of people into opening up their wallets to his cult.

Ultimately, no one really knew what Ylvaine really thought. The sources describing him were all biased.

Perhaps Ves was the first person to come in touch with the true Ylvaine.

As Ves projected his Spirituality and touched the original sentiment that Prophet Ylvaine left behind on the nutrient pack wrapper, he became swept by an inordinately strong emotion.

Absolute faith!

The original sentiment attached to the holy relic didn't carry the full range of Prophet Ylvaine's personality. Instead, it only encompassed the strongest and most defined aspects of his spirit.

What immediately became clear to Ves that the prophet strongly believed in his own message!

He was a man on a holy mission to propagate the revelations he received!

Every sentient being in the galaxy must know what is to come!

"There is no doubt in Prophet Ylvaine's mind!" Ves gasped.

At the very least, his doubts were far too weak to be passed on to the original sentiment he left behind on the nutrient pack wrapper.

There were other facets to the original sentiments. As Ves slowly worked his way around the prophet's blindingly strong faith, he noted a touch of.. weakness.

"Maybe weakness is the wrong word. Mortality?"

The prophet claimed that everyone would transcend to godhood one day, but that time had not yet come. Ylvaine plainly admitted to himself and his worshippers that he was very much a fallible, mortal being who possessed the associated human wants and needs.

Ylvaine hated his mortal shackles. He hated his fragile human shell. He couldn't wait for the Time of Ascension to arrive so that he would be liberated from his body.

Until then, he wasn't shy about indulging in his mortal desires. He never claimed to be a personification of a god.

He was merely a man with a holy message, but still very much a man.

Ves didn't know what to make of the prophet's original sentiment. The prophet's absolute faith paired with a resigned acceptance of his weakness led to a complex individual who was lucky enough to cultivate a receptive audience.

The prophet's acceptance of his own flawed existence led to a distinct lack of desire to undergo genetic modification. Ves already became aware that the Ylvainans frowned upon the practice more than usual.

To the Ylvainans, their mortal shell and minds were inconsequential. It didn't matter how bad or good they were when everyone transcended into something greater one day.

There was another flavor interspersed with faith and weakness.

"Ambition."

The massive growth of his cult inflated the prophet's certainty that his revelations could change the face of the galaxy! In the dark times when he was alive, Ylvaine's message of hope and salvation converted many people to his faith!

While many religions offered hope and salvations to their believers, none were so daring as the Ylvainan Faith. The prophet's predictions were uniquely tailored to the current times and resonated much better to the people than older, more outdated faiths.

A blossoming ambition grew within the mind of the prophet. He wanted to accelerate the growth of his cult, reach more people and sweep over all of human space!

And that wasn't enough. Once he converted all of humanity to his faith, the prophet harbored the even wilder ambition of converting aliens to his beliefs as well!

The Ylvainan Faith didn't discriminate between humans and aliens! Rather than consider different races as adversaries, the prophet regarded them as brothers who shared a common origin!

Ylvaine's controversial belief completely upended humanity's prevailing attitude towards aliens!

Ves didn't find any doubt or duplicity of this belief in Ylvaine's original sentiment. The prophet truly believed that a time would come where humans and aliens settled their differences with each other.

"How does he come up with these prophecies?" Ves wondered.

The man behind the revelations didn't know why he received them in the first place.

Perhaps he received glimpses of the future. Perhaps some unfathomable existence gifted him with a blueprint of what was to come.

No matter what, the prophet considered himself a messenger.

This left Ves with an unanswered question. The prophet sincerely believed in the revelations he received, but didn't know where they originated.

Perhaps a small part of himself didn't want to know the answer.

Therefore, the question whether the prophet was a visionary or a charlaton remained in limbo. Ves couldn't determine from his inspection whether divine inspiration or psychosis was the source to Ylvaine's revelations.

It seemed that Ves wouldn't be able to crack the greatest mystery about the Ylvainan Faith today.

"At the very least, the prophet is sincere." He sighed with relief.

Ves wanted to design a mech that inspired sincere belief.

It would have been bad if the prophet turned out to be an unabashed swindler who cynically took advantage of his gullible worshippers. How could Ves make use of a spiritual fragment of such a detestable man?

Designing a mech that carried the aura of a scam artist and a profiteer would definitely encite the entire Protectorate against him! He'd be dead before he left the planet!

Therefore, Ves became relieved that the prophet's original sentiment possessed the sincerity he sought.

He could use this quality to make his upcoming mech design affirm with the beliefs of the Ylvainans!

As for whether this faith was built upon delusion or divine inspiration, Ves didn't dig any deeper. It wasn't necessary for him to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Meow?"

"Yes, Lucky. You haven't stolen this nutrient pack wrapper in vain." Ves smiled and petted Lucky on his head. "You've done a very good job. I'll be sure to ship in your reward as soon as possible."

"Meow!"

After comforting Lucky, Ves turned his attention back to the holy relic with a heated stare. Its value didn't disappointed him at all!

Of course, its value also turned it into an extremely hot potato! Once someone found out that he possessed the most valuable holy relic on Kesseling VIII, he'd be dead in an instant!

"The entire planet, no, the entire Protectorate is hunting for this relic!"

Ves couldn't spend too much time exploring its original sentiment and surrounding spiritual accumulation. He needed to process it as fast as possible in order to minimize the risk of exposure!

"Let's start!"

He centered himself and focused his mind. He brought nearly all of his concentration to bear as he began to employ his new spiritual techniques.

The first step was to wipe out the spiritual imprints of an uncountable amount of Ylvainans who worshipped the nutrient pack wrapper.

The quantity of spiritual accumulation was daunting, but Ves didn't encounter any significant trouble. The spiritual accumulation looked strong on the outside, but was fragmented from within.

The only concern that Ves faced was that he needed to cover a lot of ground. The sheer quantity of spiritual imprints caused him to spend three hours to clean out every spiritual imprint that didn't belong to the prophet!

"What an exhausting chore!" Ves wiped some sweat off his brow.

He exerted himself as hard as possible to complete this task quickly, but he was forced to take a pause immediately afterwards.

After a short rest, began to take the next step.

All of the spiritual accumulation the holy relic acquired turned into ownerless spiritual energy. If Ves didn't do something about it, the spiritual energy would eventually begin to drift away.

This wasn't what he wanted, so he needed to take action quickly.

To encourage Ylvaine's spiritual imprint to take over the spiritual accumulation, Ves needed to feed it with thoughts and emotions that matched the original sentiment.

Ves already constructed an image of Prophet Ylvaine beforehand. While his depiction of the prophet differed a bit from what he perceived from the original sentiment, they still shared a lot in common.

Ves carefully donned the mask of Prophet Ylvaine.

An entirely different personality swept into his mind and body. Ves hadn't injected any of his spiritual energy in it yet, so the mask didn't overpower his true personality.

However, the strength and detail of this image surpassed any other mask he used before.

He momentarily fell into confusion and doubt before he managed to reconcile himself a bit.

The most important part now was to convince himself that he was an absolute believer of the Ylvainan Faith. Only strong conviction would allow him to gain recognition from the original sentiment!

He adjusted his mindset for at least ten minutes before he became assured that he could proceed.

As his strong but not entirely perfect beliefs swept over the original sentiment, its spiritual imprint became excited.

Despite the many discrepancies, Ves succeeded in fooling the spiritual imprint!

As the remnant of someone who died, the spiritual imprint had long lost its liveness and wisdom. It instinctively sought to feed off the fake thoughts and emotions that Ves provided it without determining if they were authentic!

A huge suction emerged where Ves felt as if the holy relic he was holding became a bottomless existence! The thoughts and emotions it absorbed exceeded his expectations!

"Damnit, its sucking me dry!"

Chapter 1205

The original sentiment of the holy relic hungered to take over the spiritual accumulation surrounding it.

Now that Ves wiped out the latter's spiritual imprints, it became free for the taking, but only if the original sentiment possessed the fuel to sustain the conquest!

After donning the mask of Prophet Ylvaine, Ves continued to generate new thoughts and emotions that centered around the Ylvainan Faith. Although a genuine Ylvainan worshipper would spot the many flaws and shortcomings of his understanding of faith, the dormant original sentiment wasn't as discerning!

A moderate resemblance was enough for the original sentiment to strengthen and expand its spiritual imprint!

While Ves was happy that he succeeded with this step, he quickly regretted it as the drain exceeded his expectations!

He may not be giving away his spiritual energy, but he was giving up the resources that generated it! The loss was so huge that Ves forcibly ended the channeling before he turned into a human-shaped bot!

"Damnit! This relic is hungry!"

He immediately shed his mask and breathed deeply. The short contact heavily drained his mind! It might have dried up completely if the process continued for a dozen seconds!

After Ves regained some of his composure, he carefully inspected the results. The prophet's spiritual imprint encompassed around ten percent of the relic's spiritual accumulation. Right now, the spiritual imprint was in the process of filtering out the spiritual energy with incompatible attributes.

"Just ten percent?" He whined.

He was both happy and disappointed at this level of progress.

The fact that Ves accomplished so little meant that the resulting end product would certainly be formidable.

The downside was that Ves would have to spend days to complete the refining process. He felt so drained right now that the only way for him to recover quickly was to take a couple of hours of sleep.

Once he woke, he'll have to don his mask and divert a lot of thoughts and emotions to the hungry original sentiment again until he reached his limit.

After that, he would have to take another nap.

"I'll have to repeat this cycle over and over until all of the spiritual accumulation is claimed or rejected."

This would definitely take a while. Ves grew concerned that something awful might happen during this time.

The longer he held the relic, the greater the risk of exposure!

Fortunately, Ves wasn't the primary suspect of its theft. The Ylvainans should be focusing most of their attention elsewhere for the time being.

In order to decrease the chances of getting caught, he paused the process and made some arrangements.

He issued assignments to everyone to make it seem that they were all preoccupied. He also sent a message to Calabast informing her that he reached a stage in the design process where he was beginning to exert his specialty.

Someone as astute as her would be able to read between the lines that Ves was definitely doing something sensitive!

She sent a short reply in return.

"Understood."

No more needed to be said. Since she knew what was at stake, she would do her best to prevent or stall the authorities from disturbing Ves at the guest compound.

"A good ally is hard to come by." He sighed.

Although their partnership had gone off on a rocky start, Ves began to see the benefits of their mutual association.

As for Calabast, she must be regretting her decision as she was forced to clean up after the messes he left behind!

Ves chuckled a bit at the thought. Although it wasn't wise to provoke such a formidable individual, he couldn't help but enjoy seeing her miserable.

With all of these matters taken care of, Ves met with one more person before he resumed his refining.

"Melkor."

"Ves." His cousin greeted him. "What brings you here?"

"I want to check up on some matters. How are the Avatars doing?"

"The Avatars I've brought on this mission are uneasy." Melkor frowned. "They didn't expect Kesseling VIII to be a hotbed of trouble."

"Will it affect their performance?"

"No. They know their duty and they know that most of our security is being provided by the Protectors of the Faith. It's making us feel kind of useless."

Their life and death was in the hands of the Kronon Dynasty. While they trusted in the integrity of the Protectors of the Faith, who knew whether all of them agreed with protecting the foreigners.

The attack on the grand church already proved that traitors managed to infiltrate the ranks of the Protectors!

Fortunately, the Kronons should definitely be aware of this problem. They wouldn't allow a rogue Protector to turn their weapons against the foreigners.

It seemed that even when Ves finally ended his military service and gained control over his own life, he still had to entrust his safety to others. At this point in time, there was no way for the Avatars of Myth to meet all of his security needs.

Melkor shared the same frustrations. "It will take years before we can field three mech companies."

"I'm not blaming you for taking your time." Ves reassured him. "I'm sure the Avatars will become a force to be reckoned with in time, but that doesn't address our immediate concerns."

"Do you want to hire mercenaries?"

Ves shook his head. "No need. I think we can count on the Protectors of the Faith. Their integrity has always been the highest among the three leading dynasties. Besides, there's a large chance that any mercenaries we hire will turn out to be less reliable than the Protectorate's military."

They could only hire locals as the Protectorate barred most foreign mercenaries from entering the state. Hiring Ylvainan mercenaries did not sit well with either of them at this moment. Who knew if they were traditionalists who hated foreigners.

"So what is it that you want, Ves?"

"I'm thinking that the Avatars should hire some infantry to act as my guards. Seeing our guard detail in action back at the grand church made me realize that we can't keep depending on other forces to provide for our security. Whether it's Sanyal-Ablin or the Protectors of the Faith, they are all protecting me solely due to the fact that it's an assignment to them. They don't owe us their loyalty."

Melkor nodded in understanding. "I've been thinking about that as well, but no one in the Avatars has any experience with non-mech combat. We'll have to hire an infantry commander. The good news is that there's a lot of them. The bad news is that getting a good one will take a lot of effort."

Unlike mech pilots, humans didn't need to meet any strict requirements to become a trained footsoldier. While they didn't enjoy as much status as mech pilots, a lot of people still became guards or joined an auxiliary regiment.

Many mercenary corps fielded infantry as well in order to perform duties unsuited for mechs. Examples include clearing buildings, guarding indoor facilities and protecting VIPs.

"Do the best you can to hire someone we can trust when we get back to the Bright Republic."

Melkor raised his palm. "We don't have to wait that long, Ves. Although rare, there are some Larkinsons who served in an auxiliary regiment. Some of those old dogs are retired now, but I'm sure they're willing to get back into the saddle as long as we send a message."

The offer intrigued him. Ves rubbed his chin as he contemplated whether he should take advantage of this easy solution.

Though he was loathe to shift more power to the Larkinson Family, he was getting more and more frustrated at the lackluster growth of the Avatars of Myth.

While Ves wasn't willing to let one of the old dogs of the family become the Avatar Commander, it wasn't that big of a deal if he appointed one as an infantry captain.

Eventually, he nodded. "Do it. As long as whoever you bring onboard won't interfere with the other units, I'm fine with your choice."

"I'll get right on it, Ves. If everything goes smoothly, the Avatars should be able to field a fixed bodyguard rotation by the time we return to the Bright Republic."

Once he passed on his request, Ves returned back inside and closed himself off in his room. With Lucky on guard, he had few concerns that he'd get caught with the holy relic.

If someone wanted to barge into his room, Lucky could quickly take the holy relic and activate his Miniaturized Stealth Generator before phasing out of the room!

"I should get back on the job. The relic's spiritual accumulation won't refine by itself!"

Ves proceeded with encouraging the growth of the spiritual imprint. With an incredible amount of free spiritual energy nearby, the spiritual imprint continued to leap forward and engulf more territory.

While he felt very uneasy about wearing the mask of Prophet Ylvaine, he didn't need to maintain his unusual mental state for long. Each session only lasted five minutes or less before he cut off the connection and went back to sleep.

A few days passed by as Ves quietly immersed himself in sleep and donning Prophet Ylvaine's mask.

In his free time, he read up more on Prophet Ylvaine's life, though he slowly realized that it wasn't helpful to know more details.

"The X-Factor isn't meant to resurrect someone who's dead. It's meant to empower the mech and mech pilot!"

The hero mech he planned to design centered largely around unquestioning faith. The details didn't matter all that much. As long as the mech inspired strong belief in the Ylvainan Faith, it was okay if Ves left out some unwanted parts.

This was why he hadn't tweaked the image of Prophet Ylvaine in his mind any further. In its current state, it was already highly compatible with the remnant that the prophet had left behind on the relic.

The more Ves refined the spiritual accumulation, the more holy and inspiring it grew. At some point Ves even feared that some of its holy aura might penetrate past the walls and brush against the minds of the Ylvainans guarding the compound!

However, Ves could hardly go anywhere else to finish the job.

"Even if the Protectors of the Faith feel something unusual, they shouldn't suspect anything without hard evidence."

Ves still decided to hurry up. He ran himself ragged as he drained more and more of himself during each cycle. He wanted to squeeze as much thought and emotion out of him as possible in order to decrease the amount of cycles it took to refine the relic.

After three long days, Ves finally managed to complete the conversion process!

Ves felt as if the air was charged with spiritual energy. The nutrient pack wrapper had outputted a lot of unwanted spiritual energy these last few days because they possessed the wrong attributes.

However, the original sentiment claimed around half of what remained. A very strong and holy aura encompassed the nutrient pack wrapper. It was truly holy now, and Prophet Ylvaine's residual spirituality had grown to a formidable extent!

If not for the rejected spiritual energy dampening the aura of the holy relic, the Protectors of the Faith would have forced their way into his room already!

"This won't last forever, though. The loose spiritual energy is slowly dissipating!"

Ves needed to move quickly before he lost this protective cover. Now that the original sentiment and spiritual accumulation had merged, he wanted to compress it into a spiritual fragment and coax it into his mind.

He donned the mask of Prophet Ylvaine one more time and began to project his Spirituality around the relic's spiritual energy. He loosely touched it, arousing an intimate response, and began to apply force.

"Compress!"

Surprisingly, the cloud of spiritual energy didn't actively resist his measures. As far as it was concerned, Ves was Prophet Ylvaine, and his will had to be obeyed without question!

Chapter 1206

Ves expected a fight. Instead, he was met with cooperation. The holy relic's refined spirituality continued to believe in his disguise.

"It's like interacting with an algorithm. It doesn't have the wisdom and smarts to recognize it's being toyed with." He muttered.

One thing was for sure. Prophet Ylvaine was dead. The residue he left behind had already had already lost support.

Even if the New Ylvaine Dynasty 'resurrected' the prophet by cloning him in the form of an embryo, their new prophet was fundamentally a different person.

On a spiritual level, nothing tied the original prophet to the test tube prophets that the True Believers brought into existence.

"It's too bad none of them will believe me. Their faith has blinded them to the truth." Ves shook his head.

He didn't know if the prophet transcended to a higher existence or reincarnated into a different life. His theories on spirituality didn't offer any answers in that regard.

Right now, he was preoccupied with slowly compressing the loose cloud of spiritual energy in the holy relic into a solid, self-contained form.

While the spiritual imprint mistakingly recognized him as the source of its existence, the sheer quantity of spiritual energy made it very tough to work with! The more he compressed the cloud of spiritual energy, the more force he needed to exert!

Ves grew concerned that his strength wasn't enough to finish the process. What if the resistance exceeded the amount of force he exerted?

"Will I be forced to discard some of the spiritual energy?"

That would weaken the resulting spiritual fragment and waste a lot of valuable spiritual energy. Ves did not want to see some of his hard work go to waste!

Unfortunately, what he feared the most came to pass! At some point, his strength wasn't enough to compress the cloud into a concentrated form!

Although the cloud grew smaller and denser, it was still short of becoming a self-contained fragment that Ves could transfer into his mind without fearing that it might spill into his psyche and contaminate his thoughts!

"I'm stuck at the final step!" Ves cried.

He felt awful that a setback occurred just as he was about to create the end product. He put so much effort into refining the spiritual accumulation to amplify the influence that Prophet Ylvaine left behind. He didn't want to discard any of it in order to obtain a spiritual fragment!

"What should I do?"

Whenever Ves tried something new, he always braved the unknown. Failure could occur at any time.

While Ves was normally fine with encountering a setback every now and then, the situation was growing increasingly urgent! If he couldn't solve this problem quickly, he might get caught red-handed with the missing holy relic!

As Ves wracked his mind for a bit, a clever idea suddenly popped in his mind.

"The spiritual energy I'm perceiving behaves a lot like a gas. Maybe I can approach the problem from an engineering perspective!"

The field of pneumatics employed methods to convert air pressure to mechanical power and vica versa. If he combined it with the concept of mechanical leverage, he could sidestep the problem of insufficient force by taking advantage of a more sophisticated construction.

However, a problem quickly popped up. The only way for him to interact with the cloud of spiritual energy was by employing his own loose cloud of spiritual energy. The two were largely the same aside from their different spiritual imprints.

"The main problem is that loose spiritual energy can't be fixed into a solid form."

Another issue was that loose spiritual energy didn't exactly behave like a gas. For example, if Ves only took a small amount of spiritual energy, he was able to compress it into a solid fragment without a problem. Spiritual energy possessed a lot of other unusual properties that affected its handling.

He needed to find a different way to compress the spiritual energy. The solution needed to be based on his understanding of spirituality instead of physics.

One of the defining properties of spiritual energy was that it was alive. Before Ves refined the spiritual accumulation locked within the nutrient pack wrapper, the original sentiment had been listless and dormant.

Now that he treated it extensively, what remained had regained a lot of its vitality!

"Maybe.. I should just ask?"

When Ves carefully communicated his intention to the cloud of spiritual energy, it accepted his command!

The cloud was compressing by itself without any intervention from Ves!

"It actually worked!"

He spoke too soon. Just like Ves, the cloud of spiritual energy didn't possess the strength to compress itself into a concentrated fragment. However, it had done a decent job at it. As long as it received a push...

"We can combine strengths!"

Ves quickly enacted his plan. He added his strength to the spiritual energy. Combined, they exerted enough force to push past their own limits!

"Compress!"

As the cloud grew increasingly smaller and denser, it emitted a stronger aura that bore the unmistakable mark of Prophet Ylvaine! The spiritual energy grew increasingly more active and energetic as it was being pressed into a more compact form. A lot of processes took place that Ves didn't understand.

The creation of a strong spiritual fragment was much more profound than creating a weak spiritual fragment!

It was as if he was bringing something to life which had already died! The growing holy aura surrounding the nutrient pack wrapper made it feel as if he was resurrecting the prophet!

"Come to life!"

A highly energetic eruption blinded his spiritual senses!

A wave of pure holiness swept through his body! Even Lucky became affected as he arched his back and hissed!

"Damn!"

Whatever happened must have proliferated throughout the entire compound and be surrounding street! Ves didn't know if anyone was spiritually sensitive enough to recognize where it came from, but he needed to move fast if he wanted to avoid getting caught!

As his senses started to recover, Ves quickly observed the nutrient pack wrapper and found that he succeeded in compressing it into a solid fragment!

This was what he wanted from the start!

He projected his Spirituality and firmly grabbed hold of the holy spiritual fragment. He still donned his mask of Prophet Ylvaine this time, so the spiritual fragment didn't resist being taken out of the nutrient pack wrapper.

While the wrapper had been its home for centuries, it was a highly undignified object for such a strong spiritual remnant!

As soon as Ves deposited the fragment in his mind, he instantly turned to Lucky and held out the spiritless relic.

"Eat it, Lucky!"

"Meow!"

"This isn't the time to say no! Hurry up before someone comes!"

Even though Lucky looked at the nutrient pack wrapper with distaste, he knew what was at stake. With great reluctance, the mechanical cat flew over and munched on the relic.

The cat hated every bite! Nonetheless, it kept eating because if he didn't, Ves would get arrested! Once that happened, who would buy him exotics to eat?

As soon as Lucky finished the last bite, the cat resentfully jumped at Ves and swiped at his cheek with unpowered alloy claws.

"OUCH! LUCKY YOU BASTARD! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

Even though Lucky refrained from employing his deadly energy claws, the scratch that Ves incurred bit deeply across his face and over his lips!

Lucky was really pissed this time! Who wanted to eat a centuries-old preserved nutrient pack wrapper?!

After teaching his owner a lesson, Lucky turned incorporeal and slipped through the wall!

Shortly afterwards, a couple of Protector guards forced their way into the room. Evidently, the spiritual eruption earlier discomfited the Kronons stationed at the compound and prompted them to perform a thorough inspection.

When the guards encountered Ves, he had already moved to the bathroom in order to treat his wound.

"What happened, Mr. Larkinson?!"

"Nothing serious. I was just playing around with my mechanical pet."

This was a rather weak excuse as mechanical pets were hardwired not to harm hujmans, but how else could he explain his coagulating wounds? It was far too distinctive to mistake for anything else!

However, the injury successfully distracted the guards assigned to inspect his room. They stopped thinking about the strange feeling that swept through their minds and bodies and instead began to wonder if Lucky had been hacked or something!

"There's nothing wrong with my pet! It's way more sophisticated than you think!"

It took a lot of arguing for the Protectors to lay their hands off Lucky. While his pet could easily run away if he was targeted, that might expose some capabilities that Ves really didn't want anyone else to know!

After almost an entire hour of searching, the Protector guards loosened their vigilance, though they remained on high alert.

Ves tentatively determined that none of them were sensitive enough to associate the wave that swept over them with the holy relic that went missing.

It was very hard to tie the theft to Ves in the first place, so the Kronon guards didn't take any drastic action.

As the alert level among the Protectors went back to normal, Ves became increasingly giddy. He succeeded in making off with the spoils! Incurring a scratch from Lucky was a small price to pay now that the holy relic was unquestionably gone!

Prophet Ylvaine's spiritual fragment rested peacefully in the corner of his mindspace.

Well, peacefully was a relative term. It showed very obvious discomfort in its new surroundings once it realized that it had entered the mind of a non-believer!

The spiritual fragment seemed to realize that it had been hoodwinked!

For now, the fragment didn't resist its new surroundings too much. It had only been recently created and was very weak and unaccustomed to its new strength.

Ves also managed to soothe the hurt feelings of the fragment by wrapping the image of Prophet Ylvaine around it like a comfy blanket that smelled a lot like its source.

The two were already starting to merge. Due to the huge disparity in strength, the spiritual fragment was slowly absorbing the traits that Ves cultivated in the image.

Most of the elements that Ves passed on served to compliment the absolute belief contained within the spiritual fragment. Added details about Prophet Ylvaine's life and experiences also blended into the fragment, which helped define its beliefs and make them more distinctive.

Overall, the merger process would take some time before it finished. Until then, Ves needed to figure out how he could keep it under control.

"I feel like I've implanted a bomb into my mind!"

If Ves didn't address the matter soon, he might end up dying due to his own ingenuity!

"I should have put a lot more thought about this before I embarked on this experiment!"

He regretted not experimenting this step beforehand but it was already too late. Right now, he needed to come up with a solution on the fly.

The Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was not as alive as Qilanxo's spiritual fragment. In the first place, Ves didn't even know if Prophet Ylvaine developed any significant spirituality during his lifetime.

"It might explain why he converted so many people."

Yet if Ylvaine had always been an average in this aspect, then the spiritual fragment he refined was far stronger than its source had ever been!

"The child is stronger than the parent!"

Another relevant factor was that the strengthened spiritual fragment did not encompass the full range of Ylvaine's personality. It only started off as miniscule smudges of his strongest thoughts, beliefs and sentiments. Even after being amplified by a thousand times or more, this still hadn't changed!

While merging with the image that Ves constructed added more complexity to the spiritual fragment, it still possessed a one-track mind.

The only thing the spiritual fragment cared about was maintaining absolute faith! Nothing else was more important than holding on to the beliefs that Prophet Ylvaine held during his lifetime!

Perhaps the key to handling the spiritual fragment was to negotiate with it. Ves and the spiritual fragment didn't necessarily have to be enemies. They could both get what they wanted out of each other!

"It's worth a try!"

Chapter 1207

Everything was negotiable. While the amplified remnant of Prophet Ylvaine's spirituality strongly disliked residing in the mind of a non-believer, it nonetheless possessed its own wants and needs.

Taking advantage of its limited wisdom, Ves showed the spiritual fragment an image of the mech he planned to design and intimated that it would reside in the mechs he planned to make.

The negotiation proceeded largely along the lines he expected. He felt like a parent urging a child to wait before a cake finished baking.

As long as the spiritual fragment waited for a time, he'd be able to reside in a much better home than his mind or Ylvaine's old nutrient pack wrapper.

Although Ves hadn't beautified its external appearance yet, his draft design already looked a thousand times more impressive than anything the spiritual fragment had ever seen!

It took little effort to coax the spiritual fragment to stay put and remain patient.

The successful negotiation lifted a weight off his shoulder. If the spiritual fragment really wanted to, it could have resisted its stay in his mind. With the sheer amount of spiritual accumulation it assimilated, Ves didn't know if he could win such a confrontation.

Nonetheless, for all of its power, the spiritual fragment was as smart as a bot. It didn't possess the complex mind of a complete human. Ves also managed to read the fragment's emotions and impulses like an open book.

He was glad that he managed to convince Ylvaine's spiritual fragment to wait for it to reside in his upcoming mech design. He could tell that the spiritual fragment underwent a huge transformation ever since he compressed it. While the quantity of spiritual energy remained the same, the quality of it constantly increased due to some unknown interactions.

There was a marked difference between a loose cloud and a solid fragment of spiritual energy. Ves never researched the differences in depth before, so he took note of what happened.

He already cataloged one change. The spiritual fragment's aura became significantly stronger but also more controllable. If the fragment didn't chose to restrain its aura, Ves would have turned into a beacon of holiness!

This was really bad because the Ylvainan authorities were still crazily searching for their missing holy relic!

It was a shame it no longer existed. Once it entered Lucky's tummy, there was no way the relic could be restored. Even if the Ylvainans could have fabricated an exact copy of the nutrient pack wrapper, it simply wouldn't hold the same significance as the old one.

He made a conscious decision to destroy the holy relic rather than to return it to the Ylvainans.

Returning it might placate the Ylvainans, but not all of them. The Attendants of Ylvaine, the hardliners and the traditionalists would probably scratch their heads for a second before continuing their vigorous hunt for the culprits.

Giving back the nutrient pack wrapper might also give the authorities some clues on who was responsible. While he trusted Lucky not to leave any traces on the wrapper, who knew what kind of advanced technology the Ylvainans deployed to figure out who touched the wrapper.

Both Ves and Lucky physically touched the holy relic! Even if Ves left a tiny skin flake on the nutrient pack wrapper, the Ylvainans would certainly be able to dig it out and record its attributes.

After that, it was a very simple procedure to subject everyone in the Kesseling System to a matching test!

Ves simply couldn't take the risk of returning the relic. Perhaps Calabast would have disagreed and come up with some solutions, but he couldn't afford to wait that long to coordinate with her. Getting rid of the evidence was the simplest, fastest way to cut off the trail!

As far as he knew, none of the Ylvainans suspected that Ves and his companions did anything.

Ketis was working on her contribution to the draft design and cuddling Lucky.

Gavin mostly spent his time on managing their business affairs in the Protectorate and at home.

Leland stopped going out for obvious reasons and simply watched the news broadcasts or read the local news publications.

Perhaps the most suspicious of them all was Ves, who spent much of his time in his room with his Privacy Shield turned on. Since Calabast reminded him that the Ylvainans tracked his usage of sensor-blocking measures, Ves purposely maintained the same pattern despite not doing anything special aside from fleshing out his draft design.

He merely wanted to fool the Ylvainan monitors that he was very touchy and private about his design work.

Perhaps the Protectors of the Faith responsible for guarding the compound suspected that Ves might be up to something.

Still, whatever they thought he was doing, the monitors probably didn't think that Ves had anything to do with the theft of the nutrient pack wrapper. He hadn't met with anyone aside from Calabast and there was nowhere he could hide the nutrient pack wrapper.

Due to the high value of the holy relic, no one would think that he would take the trouble to steal it only to destroy it afterwards!

Ves therefore relaxed and let down his guard a bit. As long as he didn't act suspiciously, the Ylvainans should have no reason to turn their attention to him. Although martial law was still very much in effect, the guest compound turned into an oasis of calm in Krent.

Together with Ketis, he smoothly added more detail to his draft design.

After he obtained Ylvaine's spiritual fragment and merged it with the image he constructed of the same man, he took advantage of its presence. Whenever he sketched out the visual design of his hero mech, he took note of the fragment's reaction.

Even if it largely kept to itself, Ves knew that it was constantly observing his actions.

This was one of the downsides to hosting a spiritual fragment in his mind. It was just like his Mastery experiences, except in reverse. Ves would never feel at ease if he hosted an unfriendly or very sophisticated and intelligent fragment in his mind!

"Why do I feel like it's getting smarter everyday?"

He never worried too much about Qilanxo's spiritual fragment as it originated from an exobeast. It didn't share any of humanity's complexity, duplicity and greed. As powerful as it was, Qilanxo's spiritual fragment had always been friendly.

Ves couldn't say the same for Ylvaine's spiritual fragment. It originated from a very controversial figure in history and inherited at least some traits. He constantly felt as if the spiritual fragment was learning from his observations.

Was this what his hosts felt like when they became aware of his presence in their minds?

What he could do to his hosts during his Mastery experiences, the spiritual fragments could do as well! While his mind and spirit were far more robust, if Ves wasn't careful, his consciousness might be displaced one day due to a moment of carelessness!

It came down to strength. As long as the strength of the spiritual fragment didn't exceed his defenses, Ves possessed some reassurance that he would be able to block any incursions.

He still felt inordinately vulnerable for hosting a foreign entity in his mind. It was like hosting a potential enemy inside his castle!

This looming threat made him consider what he could do to defend himself against a spiritual fragment that had gone rogue.

He came up with two possible solutions.

First, he could build a castle inside his castle. As long as he could wall off his design seed, consciousness and other important parts of his mind, he'd be able to stall a hostile presence long enough to mount a counterattack.

"That still doesn't address the fundamental shortcoming of hosting an enemy inside my castle. My interior defenses will never be as strong as my exterior defenses."

Second, he could create a temporary home for the spiritual fragment. As long as the spiritual fragment no longer sided in his mind, it needed to break through the walls of his castle before it could go inside.

Yet how would he go about constructing a temporary home in the first place? And how could he prevent the spiritual fragment from opening the door and leaving for better pastures?

"As long as it resides within my castle, it won't be able to leave without breaking through the walls."

His mind also served as a secure container for his spiritual fragments. Any other home was an empty shell that it could depart anytime it wanted to, including his own designs!

This made him wonder what would happen once his mech designs aged. Ves had already retired his Marc Anthony models. Both the Blackbeak and Crystal Lord models were up for retirement as well.

While their design spirits would live on in the physical copies that existed in the wild, how long would it take before the last Blackbeaks and Crystal Lords were put in a museum or mech depot?

"Maybe they'll stay. Maybe they'll leave."

The design spirits he helped create were all strongly attached to their mech designs. Perhaps many of them never contemplated leaving. Yet Ves couldn't be sure if all of them wanted to remain loyal until they were dead or forgotten.

Ves wasn't sure if it would be good or bad for design spirits to hop out of a retired mech design. Where would they go? Would they fade away in the imaginary realm or would they seek out other mech designs to become their new design spirits?

The possibility made him grimace. He knew far too little about spirituality and spirits to know for sure.

As a mech designer and an entrepreneur, Ves should have thought about the product life cycle of his mechs. End-of-life management formed an integral part of today's society. While it was easy to recycle an old mech and reuse most of its materials in newer products, the same might not be true for their design spirits.

Was Ves polluting the mech industry with rogue design spirits every time he retired one of his mech designs? Who knew.

He called up the designs of his Marc Anthony Mark I and Mark II and noted that they still possessed the same degree of X-Factor.

"They're still there."

That reassured him a bit. At the very least, his retired designs still provided a comfortable home for his design spirits.

"Yet what happened with the Marc Anthony models aren't indicative of what will happen in the future."

The images he created for his oldest designs all carried his spiritual imprint and were absolutely loyal to him. Starting from the Crystal Lord, Ves began to make use of foreign spiritual fragment to empower the images used in forming the design spirits of his mech designs.

Ves continually had to keep track of the wants and needs of his design spirits.

"The best way to maintain the status quo is to refresh the designs." He determined.

He didn't want to lose track of a design spirit as strong and remarkable as that of the Aurora Titan. Considering its strong bond with Jannzi Larkinson, the best course of action would be to design an Aurora Titan Mark II and so on in order to keep it in his sphere of influence.

That brought to mind another question. Could a single design spirit occupy multiple designs?

For example, could Qilanxo's spiritual fragment become the patron of both the Aurora Titan Mark I and Mark II?

It might be possible, especially if the designs were part of a single product line.

A related question popped up. Could he extend the same design spirit across an entire product family?

Could a single mech design host multiple design spirits?

These questions were very important for Ves because the answers determined his strategy for the Protectorate market going forward. If possible, he wanted every mech sold by the LMC to the Protectorate to carry the influence of devout Ylvainan design spirit.

Ves fell into very deep thought. "I'll have to see if any of this is possible. It will save me a lot of trouble if I can reuse the same thing over and over again."

Chapter 1208

Spiritual fragments were valuable and very hard to obtain. To get Ylvaine's spiritual fragment, Ves not only had to steal a culturally-important relic, but also perform several dangerous spiritual techniques.

Ves did not relish repeating the experience every time he designed an Ylvainan mech or adapted his other mech designs to the local market.

He began to consider if he should turn Ylvaine's spiritual fragment into a communal design spirit. It would be great if it could encompass every mech his company sold in the Protectorate's mech market.

While his understanding of spirituality was too shallow to know the answer, he seriously entertained the notion. The convenience of sharing a single design spirit over multiple designs was too great for him to ignore.

Naturally, this didn't mean he decided to become lazy and reuse his old design spirits all the time. He merely wanted to apply this solution in cases where the costs outweighed the gains.

Cases where the LMC adapted his future mech designs to the Protectorate's mech market definitely applied in this case.

If he couldn't arrange a solution like this, what else could he do? He doubted it was easy to steal another relic, especially if it used to belong to Prophet Ylvaine. One theft already alarmed the Protectorate. Another theft would probably make the Ylvainans go berserk!

"It's just a nutrient pack wrapper." He muttered. "What's the big deal?"

A wave of disapproval emanated from Ylvaine's spiritual fragment.

"Pff."

Ever since the fragment settled in his mind and underwent an evolution, it started to take note of what Ves was doing. Each time he did something that maligned the Ylvainans or their faith, the fragment emanated a pulse of disapproval.

"It's like living with a priest in my mind."

Actually, it was worse than that! Hosting a remnant of the founder of the Ylvainan Faith was probably a dream for most Ylvainans, but Ves hated the experience!

More than one time, Ves contemplated whether he should fabricate a miniature mech or something in order to temporarily house the fragment.

However, if he did something like that, then the object was at risk of getting stolen. Perhaps his Ylvainan guards might confiscate the miniature because they perceived its holiness somehow.

At the very least, hosting the fragment in his mind allowed him to shield most of its aura and keep it within reach if it ever wanted to escape.

"You're not going anywhere."

Another reason prompted him to retain the fragment in his mind. He hoped to develop a bond with the fragment through their constant interactions.

While they held very different beliefs and outlooks on life, Ves hoped that he could earn its respect. As long as the spiritual fragment appreciated Ves, it was much more likely to pay along with what he had in store for it in the future.

This was because Ves wanted to reuse it in other mechs and designs tailored to the Ylvainans.

He originally intended to use it for his upcoming hero mech design, but why should he limit its usage? The fragment was very strong but also very versatile. Ves hadn't specifically limited it to a single mech type or mech design.

Its strongest component was its purity and absolute faith. The fragment didn't offer much else besides that. This made it particularly suitable for augmenting other mech designs with their own design spirits.

As long as they could play along, Ylvaine's design spirit could act as a kind of holy seasoning for every dish he cooked for the Ylvainans.

"This is the best solution."

He was glad that he didn't add too much complexity in the image he formed out of Prophet Ylvaine. He was also glad that he didn't employ the Triple Division technique and attempted to lock the fragment into a specific mech type. Its current universality was an essential trait if Ves wanted to realize his current plans.

When Ves carefully proposed his ideas to the spiritual fragment, it answered with confusion and befuddlement. It didn't understand the context of what Ves wanted to do. It hardly even knew anything about mechs, as Prophet Ylvaine never lived to see the transition to the Age of mechs.

"Maybe I have to present my proposal in a different way."

Ves thought about the essence of Prophet Ylvaine's life. The man believed he received extraordinary revelations and thought he had the duty to spread them. Ylvaine defined himself as a messenger who wanted to spread his gospel to as many people as possible!

His eyes lit up. While Prophet Ylvaine was already dead, the remnant of his spirituality could take over this mission!

"Think about it! The more mechs you encompass, the more in touch you'll be with your originator's followers!"

Ves imagined a future where millions of mechs produced by the LMC proliferated in the Ylvainan mech market. While each of them carried their distinctive traits, they all shared something in common.

They were all connected to the same design spirit!

Not only would the design spirit get in touch with more Ylvainan believers, but it could also spread its influence throughout the Protectorate and beyond!

"The more mechs you are connected to, the more you'll be able to spread your message!"

While Ves didn't know if this was even possible, the vision he presented was compelling enough to earn the spiritual fragment's approval!

Ever since then, the fragment behaved a little more at ease with its current circumstances. As long as Ves delivered on his promises, the fragment would be able to continue the mission of its source.

It continued to cast judgement over Ves, though. Its nature hadn't changed at all.

Ves ignored the constant pulses of approval and disapproval and turned his attention back to his work. At this stage, Ves and Ketis had done all they could to finalize their draft and vision for their hero mech.

They were ready to proceed to the next step in the design process and pick out the parts that best complimented their vision.

"We should proceed to the mech workshop that Madame Cecily has reserved for us." He said. "Although it's rather risky to travel back and forth, it's much better to develop a mech design over there than at home."

Ketis nodded. "Before we go, isn't it about time we name the design? I'm tired of calling it 'our hero mech design' or 'our Ylvainan mech design'."

"You're right. It's about time it gets a name."

That put them both to thought. The name of the mech was especially important to Ves because it helped prime his audience's perspectives.

His hero mech design was meant to be a groundbreaking work that opened up the LMC's access to the Protectorate mech market. Ves intended to prove that even a non-believer could design and produce a fantastic Ylvainan mech.

Refining Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was the most essential step to his plan, and completing it meant he was well on his way to seeing it come into fruition. A good name complimented the effect he wanted to achieve.

"The overall theme of the mech is centered around the prophet the Ylvainans revere." Ves stated. Not only its X-Factor, but also its visual design reflected the mech's dedication to Prophet Ylvaine. "We should pick a name that refers to him but not in a vulgar and disrespectful manner."

Considering that the six hero mechs he intended to make would be centered around the six virtues he selected, Ves wanted to name the design that reflected this set.

Out of all the inspirations that Ves could draw upon, he never expected Ylvaine's spiritual fragment to provide him with a suggestion!

Fortunately, the spiritual fragment possessed at least some sensibility in its suggestion. The prophet named a lot of things over his lifetime.

"Let's call it.. the Transcendent Messenger."

"Sounds decent." Ketis said.

She didn't care about the Ylvainan Faith at all so she hardly paid attention to the meaning and symbolism behind the name.

To Ves, it was a particularly clever and elegant name for what he intended to design. While the name didn't entirely fit with its violent, momentum-based fighting style, the meaning fit its intended design spirit very well.

While Prophet Ylvaine never referred to himself as a messenger in public all that often, the word definitely referred to the prophet without being too direct. By referring to the prophet in an indirect fashion, Ves avoided stepping onto the toes of the more extreme and devout believers. They probably wouldn't like it if Ves 'profaned' the name of their prophet.

Just calling the mech design the 'Messenger' was not enough. That sounded far too generic and conjured up the image of an antiquated courier who delivered packages to people.

"My mech isn't that kind of messenger."

That was why the spiritual fragment added Transcendant to the name. Ves sensed that the fragment seemed to use that word to describe its own remarkable existence.

When you think about it, the spiritual fragment was a living continuation of the prophet! Apparently, it became smart enough to reflect on its its existence and decided that its current state fit the definition of a transcended lifeform!

Ves almost wanted to barf when he figured that out. Did it think that it was immortal or something? It was just a spiritual remnant with delusions of godhood!

'

He shook his head. Sure enough, Ylvaine was just as delusional alive and dead. Even a remnant of the prophet believed his prophecies came true!

Now that they fixed a name for their mech, they proceeded to go out on the streets for the first time in weeks.

The Protectors of the Faith and the Avatars of Myth both geared up their mechs and began to escort the armored shuttle that Ves and Ketis boarded.

The procession moved slowly through the largely-empty streets of Krent. Due to the persistent martial law, the city had been turned into a ghost town where most of its residents locked themselves in their homes. They only met other Protectors of the Faith or government vehicles along the way.

Ves paid little attention to the desolation he caused. Instead, he turned his gaze towards Lucky, who was playfully cuddling with Ketis.

"Hihihi!" She giggled. "You're such a cutie pie, Lucky! Do you want another kiss?"

"Meow!"

As Ketis smooched Lucky's head, to the cat's delight, Ves began to frown.

He couldn't take it anymore. "Lucky, come over here. You love hugs, right?"

The cat ignored his words and continued to snuggle in Ketis' embrace. Both of them seemed to be having the time of their lives while Ves was left aside!

"Come on! Haven't you gotten over my transgression yet? It was an emergency!"

Luck briefly turned his head towards Ves and sent an acid glare while flipping his tail at his owner. The cat turned back to Ketis lidded his eyes in pleasure.

It became clear to Ves that his pet hadn't forgiven him at all!

"Luckyyy..." Ves whined. "I miss you."

"Meow!" Lucky huffed and proceeded to ignore Ves for the rest of the trip.

"What did you do to him, Ves?" Ketis asked as she blatantly enjoyed Lucky's affection.

"I fed him something he didn't like."

She smirked. "Wow, no wonder Lucky hates you. He cares more about food than anything else. It's practically animal abuse to feed him something that he doesn't want to eat!"

"I'm not an animal abuser!"

Ves felt like puking blood. Even Ketis took Lucky's side!

"You know, Lucky's a really great pet." She commented. "Do you think it's possible for me to get a pet on my own? I want something as smart as Lucky."

"Mechanical pets that are as smart as Lucky are extremely hard to come by." Ves pointed out. "You're better off obtaining a biological pet that's been genetically modified to be tame and smart."

Mechanical pets were fine for normal families, but they were too susceptible to hacking for people with means. Ves would have to import a pet from a first-rate superstate in order to obtain a reliable mechanical companion, but the cost was too extravagant.

Ketis showed her puppy eyes at him. "Please, Ves. I really want my own pet! Can't you get me something for my birthday?"

"I'll think of something." He promised.

Chapter 1209

Ves seriously contemplated gifting Ketis with a pet after they finished the design project.

Her contribution so far was very promising. Enlisting a mech designer who possessed a deep understanding of swordsmanship had been remarkably helpful in defining the melee capabilities of their Transcendent Messenger design. What she lacked in technical acumen, Ves could neatly make up for it in spades.

Therefore, rewarding her with a pet would convey his appreciation for her efforts. He invested a lot in taking her under his wing and bringing her up to this level. That that he had reached the point of harvesting the fruit, he needed to make sure he kept watering the tree to keep it pleased.

Adding another pet to their company would also give Ves something else to hug if he pissed off Lucky for whatever reason.

"Meow." Lucky affectionately rubbed his cheek against Ketis while excitingly swinging his tail.

His cat had turned into a total kitten in her embrace! He never acted so cutely in his grasp! Lucky was deliberately taunting Ves!

Ves decided that he should get a biological pet. They weren't as vulnerable to hacking as mechanical pets and they added some much needed variety in their company.

The Komodo Star Sector hosted a large cottage industry of pet designers. Geneticists obtained live specimens of extraordinary exobeasts captured from a wild planet in the star sector or in the frontier and tweaked their genes to turn them into the perfect pets.

Pet designers even had their own association that certified the genetically-modified exobeasts they sold as premium designer pets. These safeguards minimized the chance that pet designers sneakily inserted biological programming in their pets that went against the interests of their buyers.

As Ves studied Ketis for a moment, he decided to obtain a pet adapted from a species in the frontier. A ferocious-looking beast would remind her of her roots and hopefully keep her company often enough that Lucky would spend more time with him instead.

"Lucky is mine!" He jealously declared.

Unfortunately, the cat didn't seem to think so, because he continued to cling on Ketis' shoulders by the time the armored shuttle arrived at the mech workshop.

"We're here."

The pair stepped out of the shuttle alongside their guards. The workshop was situated in the outskirts of Krent. The place appeared to be an independent workshop and design studio suited for a small mech company.

It reminded him of his first workshop when he just started out. The biggest difference was that the current site offered a lot more space for hosting mechs and storage containers.

All of this room was being put to good use as the Protectors of the Faith and the Avatars of Myth settled in. The Protectors already upgraded its security systems beforehand.

As Ves, Ketis and Lucky walked out of the landing zone of the complex and neared the entrace, they looked up at the recently-installed sign.

LIVING MECH YLVAINE CORPORATION

"This place belongs to that joint venture you're talking about, right?" She asked.

"Yup."

"Doesn't seem like much."

The place was completely empty and desolate. Aside from automated bots that cleaned and maintained the complex, not a single living being could be found that didn't belong to the Protectors.

Ves smiled. "This is just the start. The LMYC will certainly become a household name in the Protectorate. We'll have to work very hard these next couple of months in order to make that happen."

The foreign entity residing his mind radiated a strong pulse of approval. Projecting unflinching hope and confidence in the face of difficult circumstances strongly aligned with its values.

Lately, Ves felt as if he was a dog being trained by Ylvaine's spiritual fragment. Through expressing its approval and disapproval, it continually tried to steer Ves towards a different pattern of behavior.

Most of the time, he ignored the opinions of the spiritual fragment. He wasn't an Ylvainan and had no desire to convert to the Faith.

However, Ves didn't relish racking up a constant stream of disapproval from the rigid spiritual fragment either. The constant irritation of being told he was doing something wrong irked him so much that he basically threw up his hands and altered his behavior to stop the nagging.

"Geez. You're not my mother." He quietly muttered.

Ves intended to step up the pace. Not only was he in a hurry to meet his self-imposed deadline, he also wanted to get rid of Ylvaine's spiritual fragment as fast as possible!

"Let's enter."

They entered the empty workshop and settled in. Both designers took the time to explore the facilities and inspect and familiarize themselves with the workshop and lab equipment.

Meanwhile, Lucky wandered by himself to see if there was any minerals for him to munch.

Ves shook his head. "You don't have to scavenge for something to eat, Lucky. Remember my promise? I'll let you order all the minerals I've promised. It will take some time to ship them all to the workshop though."

"Meow!"

Lucky temporarily forgave him when Ves activated a terminal and began to browse a virtual marketplace that offered a huge variety of raw materials to mech designers.

Together, they ordered a large mix of low and medium-grade exotics worth roughly a billion bright credits. As soon as Ves finalized the order and transferred the credits out of his personal bank account, the cat immediately ditched his lap and sought out Ketis' company!

Ves felt sick. "Lucky! You traitor! Am I just a food dispenser to you?!"

Lucky flippantly swung his tail at Ves before he ran out of sight.

Even Ylvaine's spiritual fragment radiated its disapproval at Ves.

"Not you too?!"

He sullenly pushed his strained relationship with his pet aside and went to work.

Both Ketis and Ves found a design room that had been stocked with wide projectors and terminals with advanced design software.

"Let's proceed with selecting the parts." He said. "I'll allow you to select the saber model and other components related to the Transcendent Messenger's close-combat abilities. Do you think you can do that?"

She nodded. "I know what to look out for, Ves. I can read a spec sheet a lot better now that I've read up on all the related theories."

The two proceeded to seek out the parts they wanted. Their vision for the hero mech guided their search through the extensive component library provided by the Curin Dynasty.

While Ketis flicked through a huge list of mech sabers, Ves turned his attention to the more fundamental components.

The budget that Calabast had set for the commission was very generous. Ves had an opportunity to design a mech that was at least two to three times more expensive than the Aurora Titan!

Fortunately, most of the parts that the Curin Dynasty licenses had been designed by foreign developers. Ves recognized some of the names and brands in the catalog and they were all up to regional standards.

"That's a relief."

He carefully made his selection according to the criteria he set beforehand. Mobility and momentum formed an integral part of the Transcendant Messenger, so Ves started with the power reactor and mech engine.

For the selection of both, he slightly emphasized raw power over efficiency.

Normally, he prioritized the latter, but a bodyguard mech wasn't meant to slog it out in a hostile battlefield for days. Most battles of this nature were opportunistic, hit-and-run attacks.

Whether the assault had failed or succeeded, the assailants never stuck around for long. There was no advantage to be gained by entering into a battle of attrition. Reinforcements could arrive at any moment!

For this reason, Ves picked out premium power reactor and mech engine models out of the catalog. Both of them came with fancy names and high material costs if Ves ever wanted to reproduce them, but their performance was very stellar.

"As long as a battle doesn't drag on for more than thirty minutes, the Transcendant Messenger can overpower practically any standard mech!"

The selection of the artificial musculature system not only affected a mech's mobility, but also their mechanical strength. Both of these factors determined the amount of damage a mech could inflict with a melee weapon.

For this reason, Ves and Ketis both sought out an artificial musculature system that was marked by strength. However, this strength came at the cost of flexibility, agility and reaction speed.

"It's fine." Ves told Ketis. "A hero mech simply can't wield its weapon in the same way a swordsman mech does. They split their power between their melee weapon and ranged weapon and employ them both in combination."

If everything else was equal, a hero mech could never match a rifleman mech in marksmanship and a swordsman mech in swordsmanship. They were never designed to fight on their opponent's terms!

If faced with a rifleman mech, it would best for the hero mech to use its prodigious mobility to charge closer and force the enemy mech into a close-quarters brawl.

If faced with a swordsman mech, the hero mech should instead maintain distance and kite the other mech while peppering it with a constant barrage of premium explosive shells.

In practice, Ves didn't envision this scenario happening all the time. Sometimes, the sheer difference in quality was more than make up for the hero mech's shortcomings!

Ves still reserved most of his budget towards the armor system. The Transcendent Messenger was supposed to be a high-mobility, high-impact mech.

On the surface, both priorities contradicted each other.

A high-mobility mech was best paired with a lighter armor system. They should be as thin as weight-efficient as possible to minimize their impact on a mech's speed, acceleration and agility.

A high-impact mech on the other hand was best served with heavier and more robust armor systems. As long as the mech had the time and space to build up a charge, the heavier armor would serve the mech well in absorbing and negating the damage it incurred upon impact.

Heavier armor also meant that any collisions that ensued would have a higher chance of destabilizing the opponent's mech instead of the hero mech!

Think about it. How ridiculous would it be if a light skirmisher attempted to collide against a heavy knight? The smaller mech would bounce right off the larger and heavier mech's shield!

Due to the high performance of the mech engine he selected, Ves opted to go for a heavier armor system.

After a bit of searching, he eventually settled on an armor system designed for medium striker mechs.

Striker mechs were regarded as close-combat ranged mechs. They were meant to counter quick and agile light mechs with wide-area weapons such as shotguns and flamethrowers.

Their armor was fairly heavy, but not to the point of matching that of a defensive medium knight.

From all the parts they selected so far, Ves estimated that the Transcendent Messenger's total mass should be equivalent to that of the Blackbeak. This was in line with his criteria as both of them bore some resemblance in their mech concepts.

At least when it came to their melee capabilities, they were both designed to close in to the enemy and use their frightening momentum to deliver a powerful impact upon arrival!

Ves didn't face any difficult choices after he made this selection. While the cockpit, sensors, energy cells and other components were just as important to the hero mech, any decent model would do the job.

On her part, Ketis had already settled for the saber model and various internal auxiliary components meant to strengthen the mech's ability to exert force.

Once they completed their shopping list, Ves nodded in satisfaction. "That's it for our selection. Now, we have to piece them all together in a coherent design."

Ketis and petted Lucky's head. "I can't wait to turn this mech into a saber maniac."

They had a long couple of months ahead of them. Ves hoped that the inherent complexity of hero mechs wouldn't pose too much of a hindrance.

Chapter 1210

A lot of time went by as Ves and Ketis fell into a quiet routine. Each day, they commuted to the mech workshop and worked on the design.

If Ves had to estimate their relative contribution to the mech design, then he was responsible for about ninety percent of the design while Ketis took care of just ten percent.

Ketis didn't bear that much responsibility. She mainly spent her efforts on assisting in the design of the heavy saber, weapon arm and artificial musculature. She also helped design the overall body shape of the hero mech in order to make sure it could leverage as much mechanical power as possible to assist in its melee attacks.

Due to her inexperience and relative lack of knowledge, she worked a lot slower than Ves. Stil, the large amount of practical insight she lent to the design project owing to her in-depth mastery of swordsmanship was enough to elevate her to the status of contributing designer.

Just because Ves was a Journeyman didn't mean that a Novice like Ketis played no role. Any mech designer could offer valuable contributions as long as their specialty covered an area in which he hadn't paid too much attention.

At her current stage, Ketis couldn't express her design philosophy in an extraordinary fashion. What little influence she imprinted onto the Transcendent Messenger design was so miniscule that Ves would have to use a spiritual microscope to sense.

"That will probably change in the future." He muttered.

His collaboration with Professor Ventag already showed him the potential of working together with stronger mech designers. As long as their design philosophies didn't clash or occupy the same ground, they could compliment or in some cases even synergize with each other!

This especially seemed to be the case with a design philosophy that encompassed a single aspect of an entire mech. Mech designers like Ves possessed a rare advantage in that he could collaborate with nearly every other mech designer.

The only instance where he couldn't do so is if he encountered a mech designer who also specialized in X-Factor and spirituality!

Of course, those were concerns for the future. Right now, Ves took responsibility for the bulk of the design work on the Transcendent Messenger.

"Working on a hero mech is a whole new dimension."

While he already possessed prior design experience with hero mechs, the Ouroboros was a very different beast compared to the Transcendent Messenger.

Not only did he design the Ouroboros in a day with the help of an auto designer system, but he also made ample use of Terran high technology. Any first-class mech could still defeat hundreds of Transcendent Messenger without breaking a sweat!

Ves felt as if he had fallen from heaven after having a taste of Terran design principles. The premium, third-class mech parts he selected may enjoy a lot of regard in the Bright Republic and Ylvaine Protectorate, but they were worse than trash in a first-rate superstate!

Each part was at least three times bigger but performed at least ten or a hundred times worse! The vast discrepancy in power and capability rudely dragged Ves into the realities of third-class mech design.

Inferior technology, inferior materials, inferior fabrication methods, inferior mech pilots and inferior mech designers all resulted in mechs that seemed like toys compared to the apex war machines of the Terran Confederation.

He sighed. "I'm suffering from tech envy again."

He learned a lot from his latest Mastery experience, but reminiscing about all the advanced tech he witnessed only fueled his tech envy.

Just like after he returned from the Starlight Megalodon, Ves had to adjust his mindset and forget about most of the wondrous tech he came in touch with. Only by letting go was he able to liberate himself from the poisonous influence of tech envy and concentrate on making the Transcendent Messenger the best hero mech he could design at this time.

Once he embarked on designing a hero mech without the use of a cheat-like auto designer system, Ves experienced first-hand the enormous challenges of incorporating two completely different weapon systems on a single mech.

Fortunately, his prior experience with designing hybrid knights prevented him from getting lost.

"The key to mechs with multiple weapon systems is their internal architecture." Ves lectured to Ketis at the start. "We've selected a lot of great parts, but it's going to be a challenge to stuff them together in a mech frame that only offers a limited amount of space. A good internal architecture design will be able to encompass more parts with the least amount of channels and internal support structures."

This was far harder to do with mechs that employed multiple systems. Ves felt constrained by the limited internal volume at his disposal.

If that wasn't enough, he also struggled with the inherent asymmetrical nature of his hero mech design. A mech that wielded a saber with one arm and a ballistic rifle with the other arm would always be skewed.

This problem needed to be addressed in a comprehensive fashion when he designed the internal architecture of his mech.

The simplest way to describe his solution would be to say that he fought asymmetry with asymmetry.

Was there too much mass slanted towards the saber side of the mech? Then Ves would just place more heavy structures towards the rifle side of the mech.

Although this sounded simple, the actual solutions were extremely complex because Ves seemingly juggled more than a hundred parameters at the same time!

If Ves was still an Apprentice, then he doubted that he could do a good job by himself. The amount of calculations he needed to perform and the intricate, interconnected trade offs he needed to make were too much for any mortal to bear.

"It's a good thing I'm no longer constrained by human limitations."

His superhuman mental attributes and his optimized genes already helped him bear the burden he placed on his shoulders.

However, what was new was the influence of his design seed. Ves already knew that its presence holistically boosted his mech design capabilities. Yet only until he worked without an auto designer did he realize its potential.

His design seed acted like an internal auto designer in some ways. It accelerated his calculations, provided frequent heuristic shortcuts and strengthened his intuition for mech design.

While his design seed wasn't as capable as an auto designer, it didn't feel like an external aid. The design seed originally came from Ves, and it always possessed a strong connection to his mind.

Perhaps the best way to regard the design seed was that it carved out a significant portion of his Spirituality and specialized it towards mech design.

While the effects hadn't reached the potency of the auto designer he used, its reach was incredibly wide. It enhanced a lot more processes, some of which were very vague and esoteric.

No matter how closely he observed the workings of his design seed, Ves never believed he uncovered all of its depths.

Ves scratched his chin. "It's more than an internal auto designer."

Perhaps his upcoming visit to the MTA's sector headquarters might shed some light on this area. Ves doubted that the MTA was ignorant to the existence of the design seed, even if they could only observe its workings indirectly.

"No matter what exactly is going on here, there's no question that it's beneficial towards my manual design work!"

It was hard to estimate how much help it provided, but Ves roughly determined that his effective productivity practically doubled! He got twice as much work done than before he advanced!

All of his worries about not being able to complete his design in time faded away. The speed in which he shredded through various design problems astounded him again and again. It reminded him again of the instance where he designed the Ouroboros with the help of Axelar's auto designer.

A guess cropped up in his mind. "Perhaps.. the auto designer is modeled after the design seed."

This was a rather disconcerting implication. If his guess was right, someone wanted to imitate the functioning of a design seed!

The ultimate goal of developing the auto designer was to automate the work that high-ranking mech designers currently performed!

Although this goal posed a huge threat to his profession, Ves merely scoffed at the thought. With his deeper insight into how spirituality tied with mech design, no artificial system would ever be able to encapsulate the complete functions of a design seed.

For now, mech designers should be able to breathe easily.

He turned his attention back to the Transcendent Messenger and continued to build it up along the lines of his vision.

Ylvaine's spiritual fragment played a substantial role in guiding his design choices as well. It had grown increasingly smarter over time. Ves noted that while the fragment initially knew nothing about mechs, it gained a good understanding of what they represented after constantly observing Ves engaging in his work.

While it didn't assist him in improving his design work like his design seed, the fragment nonetheless offered occasional guidance on the look and feel of the mech.

The fragment played an especially substantial role when Ves completed the basic layout of exterior of his hero mech and began to add Ylvainan touches to its appearance.

"The Ylvainans love turning their mechs into moving bastions of faith."

That didn't mean they liked to turn their mechs into walking churches. Having engaged in this custom for several centuries, the Ylvainans managed to come up with various different ways to make their mechs express their faith.

For his hero mech, Ves decided to keep it relatively simple and went for a holy paladin look. The hero mechs he designed were meant to be ceremonial bodyguard mechs. They needed to look impressive and capable so that their presence deterred any trouble before it even started.

"They also need to be able to attract attention in a way that enhances the stature of Madame Cecily."

These were very complex priorities. However, together with Ylvaine's spiritual fragment, Ves managed to make the Transcendent Messenger look as if it carried a holy mission to protect its charge and spread Ylvaine's gospel at the same time.

"It truly looks like a holy warrior." Ves smiled in satisfaction.

He added a couple of distinctive visual flairs to the design. First, he draped a white tabard over the torso of the Transcendent Messenger. This was a purely cosmetic addition that strongly harkened back to the ancient knight orders of Old Earth.

The cloth consisted of a sophisticated composite material that was extremely resistant to dirt and routine wear and tear.

"Well, if it gets damaged somehow, it's not a big deal to replace it with another one." Ves shrugged.

Ves depicted a couple of sigils and heraldry on the front of the white tabard. The main sigil represented Prophet Ylvaine, while the heraldry stood for the Protectors of the Faith and Madame Cecily Curin.

After finishing the visual design, Ves took a step back and regarded its appearance. "I feel like I'm missing something here."

It came to him after a short moment of thought. "I forgot about the particle generator!"

Ves quickly fitted in the Rescue Particle Generator to the design. It was the only component license he made use of that he didn't borrow from the Ylvainans.

In order to enhance the holy quality of the Transcendent Messenger without overdoing it, Ves decided to place tiny modules all over the frame of the mech. From the bottom of its feet to the top of its head, the mech was riddled with tiny Rescue Particle Generators that hardly took up any space.

When activated, they surrounded the entire frame with glowing white particles that made it appear as if they were surrounded by an aura of pure holiness.

Together with the other aspects of its visual design, the Transcendent Messenger looked more resplendent in its expression of faith than the vast majority of Ylvainan mech designs in the market!

"It's practically a work of art!"

Chapter 1211

With the help of his design seed, Ves managed to complete the first iteration of the Transcendent Messenger design in less than three months.

Ordinarily, Ves considered three months of design work to be a rush job. The Aurora Titan design required twice as much time.

Yet now that he advanced to Journeyman, he worked roughly twice as fast as before without any negative impact. While the Transcendent Messenger still needed to go through a couple of rounds of prototyping before Ves was ready to finalize the design, he at least had something to show after all of these months.

Both Ves and Ketis took a step back and admire the full-scale projection of their work. Although it only existed in a virtual form for now, the Transcendent Messenger already carried an air of power, aggression and faith!

"I really didn't think we'd get this far so fast." Ketis said while she idly petted Lucky who draped himself on her shoulders.

"Meow."

While Lucky's hard feelings towards Ves subsided a bit over the last couple of months, the cat still preferred to cuddle with Ketis!

The only times when Lucky drifted over to Ves was when he fed his pet exotics as snacks. Outside of that, the cat taunted Ves with a swish of his tail and drifted elsewhere!

Ves shook his head and ignored his traitorous pet. "It still lacks a lot of optimization though. Getting the internal architecture to work the way I wanted to took a lot more effort than I thought."

Designing a hero mech was never a simple task. Ves spent a lot of thought on how to balance the design. It needed to engage in both melee and ranged combat at the same time without unduly compromising them both.

He admittedly drew some inspiration from Lord Javier's Loquacious Raphael. As a custom high-quality hero mech, it bore the most resemblance to his Transcendent Messenger.

Although Ves looked down on blindly copying from someone else's design, he couldn't avoid getting inspired every now and then. Ves made sure to fully understand and put his own spin on anything he adopted from other influences.

Ketis continued to admire the form of their design. "You really have a thing for appearances, Ves. You're the only mech designer I know who invests so much in making your mechs look pretty."

"It's warranted this time." Ves retorted. "As a ceremonial bodyguard mech, appearances matter. The Ylvainans already have a fetish for turning their mechs into expressions of faith. Their customs are actually a lot more amenable to me than the functional style that is prevalent in other states."

To most mech designers, all of the extra cosmetic additions added to the maintenance burden of the mech without providing any concrete performance improvements.

Many mech designers didn't possess that much artistic ability anyway. Rather than invest so much time only to make their mechs look kitschy and the work of an amateur, they would rather stick to clean and functional forms.

It was different in states like the Ylvaine Protectorate. Every competent mech designer needed to invest in the visual design of their mechs in order to sell more mechs. Driven by profit and cultural norms, the Ylvainan mech industry became very developed in this area.

Ordinarily, this meant that Ves needed to meet very high standards to gain the approval of the local Ylvainans.

This stumbling block may have tripped many other foreign mech designers before, but Ves was a clear exception. He was not only accustomed to spending a lot of effort on the visual design of his mechs, but he also had the benefit of hosting an amplified remnant of Ylvaine's spirituality in his mind!

The spiritual fragment heavily influenced the artistic direction of the Transcendent Messenger. Ves still possessed a shallow understanding of the Ylvainan Faith. Much of the symbols and motifs the Ylvainans incorporated into their mech designs flew right over his head.

Having a piece of the founder of the Ylvainan Faith in his head neatly compensated for this shortcoming. In fact, Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was probably the most authoritative source on the faith in the Protectorate, and it happened to be fully at his disposal!

Of course, hosting a remnant of the prophet wasn't all that great. Its nagging expressions of approval and disapproval steered Ves into adjusting his behavior to conform to Ylvainan sensibilities.

"Before we fabricate the prototype, I should report back to the client." Ves stated. "I haven't met with Madame Cecily for a while."

"That woman..." Ketis began. "There's something about her that's.. odd. I get the feeling she's always hiding something from us. Aren't you supposed to be her business partner or something?"

Both of them had interacted with each other before. Only Ves was aware of Madame Cecily's true identity. For Ketis to sniff out something odd about Madame Cecily signified that her intuition was very sensitive in this area.

Ves ruefully smiled at her. "People like Madame Cecily are always more than they seem. We'd be fools to trust them at their word. The reason why I partnered up with her is that we can both further our goals by banding together. She can gain a lot more from me by joining hands rather than stabbing me in the back."

"That doesn't sound like a very stable partnership."

"I disagree. A transactional relationship that is purely based on mutual benefits is probably more reliable than a relationship that is largely based on sentiment and trust. The latter will always be at risk whenever one side suffers from a mood swing or doesn't like the other side anymore."

Ketis frowned. "Is this what business relationships are supposed to look like?"

"Personal relationships are different from business relationships. A marriage involves very different dynamics from a business alliance. Don't confuse the two, Ketis. I'm not married to Madame Cecily. I'm a business partner of hers. Know the difference."

Ves decided they spent enough time gawking at their mech design. He shut down the projection and tidied up their workplace. The two mech designers along with Lucky exited the mech workshop and boarded their regular shuttle to travel back to the guest compound.

Just like before, a large escort of mechs from the Protectors of the Faith and the Avatars of Myth surrounded the armored shuttle. They had become a very common sight on the streets of Krent these past few months. So much so that the Protectors of the Faith feared that troublemakers might lay a trap on their route.

For this reason, the Protectors randomized the route each time, adding a bit more time to the daily commute. All of the detours lengthened their daily commute, but Ves bore with the necessity.

Ketis was less patient, however. "How much longer will martial law last? The Ylvainans still haven't found their stupid nutrient pack wrapper. The thief probably sneaked out of the Kesseling System months ago. There's no point to locking down this place any further!"

"No Ylvainan wants to be the first person to propose a return to normality." Ves sighed. "The holy relic might not look like much, but it represents the great prophet of their faith. Even though it's common sense that martial law isn't doing anything useful at this point, the first person who stands up and suggests that they should lift martial law will be crucified by the rest!"

He didn't come up with this analysis on his own but learned it from Calabast during their period meetings.

Compared to when Ves first arrived on Kesseling VIII, the planet seemed utterly desolate now. Industries and many businesses had shuttered or went dormant due to the permanent imposition of martial law. While some of the restrictions had been relaxed, the very broad curfew times stifled any attempts to revive the planet's economy.

At this point, the Curin Dynasty basically bore the cost of allowing the theft to happen by covering the cost of emergency aid and supplies to the homebound citizens of Kesseling VIII.

While a lot of citizens still made do by working from home, not everyone found gainful employment.

Perhaps these restless, unemployed citizens would have rioted if they lived in a state like the Bright Republic or the Reinald Republic.

The local Ylvainans showed very little signs of discontent. Constant propaganda broadcasts and other measures strongly encouraged the locals to hold strong to their faith and pray for the return of their missing relic.

For these reasons, the city of Krent and the rest of Kesseling VIII remained remarkably calm throughout these tense couple of months.

Yet Ves strongly suspected that this was a false peace. Through Calabast, he learned that many different forces had converged on the planet.

The Kronon Dynasty diverted several mech regiments to the star system. Their spaceborn mech regiments tightly patrolled the inner system in order to stop any clandestine smugglers from conveying illegal cargo in and out of Kesseling VIII.

On the surface, the Protectors of the Faith heavily reinforced the city of Krent and a number of other strongholds on the planet.

The presence of all of these additional forces stifled the overall mood on Kesseling VIII despite being on the same side of the citizens.

While the Poxco Dynasty didn't bring in nearly as much assets and manpower to the Kesseling System, their impact was much more significant. Under the lead of High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco, the Ylvainan Inquisition embarked on a grand mission to dig up all the dirty laundry they could find!

Ostensibly, they were merely following up on leads that might result in the recovery of the lost relic. In truth, the Poxcos simply wanted to mess up the many cozy business arrangements the Curins have made with all of the local companies!

The Curins took exception to the brazenness of the Attendants of Ylvaine. Rooting out corruption and shady business dealings didn't fall within the mandate of their inquisition!

The growing tension between the Curins and the Poxcos impacted Ves as well. Occasionally, an inquisitor subordinate to Xefin Lin Poxco paid a visit to him at the guest compound or at the mech workshop and had a 'friendly' chat with him. While they never had cause to suspect anything about him, he didn't appreciate their probes.

Still, as much as Ves disliked it, all of these concerns only encompassed the official authorities of the Protectorate.

More unscrupulous threats hid in the background. Both Leland and Calabast found signs that both the New Ylvaine Dynasty and intelligence operatives from the Star Faith Collective had smuggled their way onto the planet somehow.

The Ylvainan Inquisition even caught a handful of their agents!

Yet despite definite proof of their presence, the authorities made very little headway in tracking them down.

The bad actors spent a lot of effort to hide their cadre and core assets. For months, they played cat-and-mouse with the authorities as they continued to build up their strength while remaining out of the reach of the Protectors of the Faith and the Ylvainan Inquisition.

They were so effective at remaining out of reach that Ves guessed that traitors among the authorities may have had a hand in helping them hide.

Ves didn't know what was going on anymore. He was the only person who knew that the holy relic that everyone was searching for had long been disintegrated in Lucky's stomach.

To everyone else, they could only guess at the true state of the relic. This lingering ambiguity caused everyone to keep to themselves and refrain from making any drastic moves.

Still, something had to change.

Maybe one of the leading dynasties decided that drastic action was in order and took unilateral action.

Maybe someone would have the courage to stand up and state that the relic couldn't be found anymore.

Maybe the Ylvainans completely turned against foreigners and forced Ves to leave the Protectorate.

Ves didn't know how long it took for something to change, but he hoped to finish the commission and get out as soon as possible! He wanted no part of any trouble that was looming on the horizon!

Chapter 1212

Ves smiled with pride as Calabast looked gobsmacked when he presented his design to her in her office.

The unsettling jamming field disrupted the functioning of the projector systems in her office. Yet the noise and haziness surrounding the three-dimensional depiction of the Transcendent Messenger only enhanced its divine air!

The first iteration of the design resembled a giant holy paladin with an anachronistic weapon loadout. Its powerful one-handed ballistic carbine packed a significant punch while its heavy saber was robust enough to chop through any chest armor without breaking!

The weapon loadout was the least remarkable aspect about the hero mech. Its symbolic and inspirational aspects hogged the entire limelight.

From its matte white tabard to its aura-like particle emissions, the mech imparted a strong impression of a holy warrior who would fight to the ends of the galaxy to uphold the faith!

After a minute of silence, Calabast finally regained her wits. "I have to admit, when you claimed you could design a mech that can impress the Ylvainans, I didn't expect you would come up with something like this. It's amazing what you've been able to accomplish in only three months."

"This is just the first iteration. It will only grow more perfect in the coming weeks as I'll test and perfect the design. If you think it already looks impressive so far, wait until you see the final product. It will definitely be remarkable as my famous Aurora Titan design by the time I've added the final touch!" Ves confidently grinned.

While Ves invested much of his attention to his current design project, Gavin made sure to keep him up to speed with what was happening back at home.

The LMC and NORA Consolidated were selling Aurora Titans like hotcakes. Just when the analysts expected that demand had reached its peak, more and more customers came along and placed orders for the notoriously expensive mechs.

The high price tag for its editions had turned from a discouragement into a mark of exclusivity! Although sales continued to be hampered by critical reviews that magnify the many shortcomings of the Aurora Titan design, the super-medium space knight still managed to sustain its trend several months after its introduction!

Even the Ylvainans heard a lot of buzz about the Aurora Titan. If not for their aversion to foreign mechs and strong skepticism towards the feasibility of super-medium mechs, the Protectorate might have imported more than a dozen copies during this time!

Calabast performed a lot of internal deliberations. "Initially, I wasn't too hopeful about our chances of overturning the stagnant Ylvainan mech industry. I've changed my mind now that I see your mech design. Even though it's still an unfinished design, I can already say that its already remarkable enough to jolt the entire Ylvainan mech community!"

All of the praise only made Ves more smug. "I told you I can do it. When it comes to mech design, there's hardly any challenge that I can't overcome!"

"Whoa there kid, hold your horses. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Failure is still very much on the table."

"Why do you keep calling me that? I'm almost thirty!" Ves whined.

"Ever since you pulled off that stupid stunt, you'll always be a kid to me, I'll stop calling you that when you actually grow up."

"You're not that much older than me, Calabast."

"Even if I'm not old enough to be your mother, I might as well be. I can't count the number of times I've been forced to wipe your butt."

"I don't mind if you keep doing that."

"Get your head out of the gutter, kid! This is no time for jokes! Just because you're on track to design a great mech doesn't mean we're in the clear!"

That caused Ves to frown. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just think about it. Who doesn't want you to succeed?"

"The traditionalists. The hardliners. The conservatives. The Poxcos."

Calabast nodded. "There is a lot of overlap between those groups you've mentioned. However, they are all united by their xenophobia and their dislike of foreign elements entering their sphere of influence. Now think of what we are doing. We are planning on opening up the Ylvainan mech market by showing that a foreigner like you can design a great Ylvainan mech. With how good your Transcendent Messenger design appears, our chances of success has risen considerably. Do you think the groups you've mentioned will let us go about our business?"

"Ah." Ves realized. "Can they do anything, though? You're the Director of Strategic Mech Management. You've got the backing of the highest elders of the Curin Dynasty. There's nothing they can do to stop me from completing the commission."

Calabast chuckled. "You're too naive, kid. With how much is at stake, do you truly believe the traditionalists can refrain themselves from playing dirty? This isn't the Bright Republic, Ves. While the mech designers of your state are accustomed to fair competition, the Ylvaine Protectorate is not as stellar in that regard."

"This..."

While Ves always took this possibility into account, the months of inaction lulled him into complacency. Now that Ves came close to completing his design, the traditionalists probably wouldn't dismiss the threat of a foreigner who might very well be capable of out-Ylvaining the Ylvainan mech designers!

"It depends on whether the traditionalists and extremists are informed of how remarkable your design has become." Calabast stated with a frown. "With how many Protectors of the Faith are surrounding you every day, you can bet the traditionalists have definitely been warned. I've been working hard to keep the security systems of your mech workshop secure, but it's hard to hide the quality of your design once you fabricate your prototypes."

To Calabast, it was easier for her to hide the design when it merely existed as virtual collection of files and documents.

It was a different story when it came to physical mechs. They were so large and imposing that it was nearly impossible to keep them out of sight from any snooping eyes.

Ves frowned. "I can't finish my design without gathering lots of data on how the prototypes perform in realspace tests. I need an extensive testing ground that can showcase both the ranged and melee capabilities of my prototypes."

"Is it possible for you to skip this step?" She requested. "Testing grounds are often large spaces that are very difficult to secure entirely. Even the huge, enclosed facilities can't block every observation method."

"No. Absolutely not. As a mech designer, I'll bear the blame for any major problems emerges as a result of insufficient realspace testing. I've already performed quite a bit of simulations but they will never be able to model the Transcendent Messenger accurately."

She sighed. Calabast knew that Ves was very stubborn when it came to mech design. "Alright. I'll look for a suitable testing ground that's private and remote enough to minimize the chance of leaks. However, you'll have to take into account that any testing ground that meets my criteria will likely be far away from Krent."

"No problem. I don't mind a longer excursion."

They moved on to some matters. While their partnership hadn't gotten off to a good start, enough time had passed for them to become accustomed to each other.

At the very least, Ves made peace with the fact that Calabast would butt her head into his business every now and then. At the same time, Calabast became familiar with his traits and his priorities.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it, kid?"

"I've been thinking about what you said during our initial meeting. When I asked you what you want out of our partnership, you said you wanted to achieve greatness."

"That's right." She nodded. "That hasn't changed."

"There are many ways for someone to achieve greatness. They can become the ultimate authority of a state. They can promote to an admiral in the CFA. They can advance until they become a god pilot of Star Designer. What I'm wondering is what kind of greatness you're pursuing. Where do your ambitions end?"

Calabast chuckled. "It's still too soon to set my ambitions. However, I don't mind sharing one of my dreams. If you think what the fabled Metal Scroll represents, it's a ticket to climb to the very apex of human civilization. To you, your ultimate ambition is to become a Star Designer, right? I don't have an affinity in mech design nor do I have the aptitude to pilot mechs."

"Most people in the galaxy aren't involved in the mech community. Just because you don't work with mechs doesn't mean you're invisible."

"True. My dream is therefore a lot more fanciful than you think. With how large and all-encompassing human civilization has grown, I don't dare set this dream as my ambition. It's simply too difficult to fulfill even if I'm riding a Holy Son to the top."

"Don't tease me, Calabast. Can you tell me your dream?"

The spy crossed her arms and smirked. "Do you really want to hear it? Very well. My dream is to become the galactic empress."

"...What?"

"You heard that right. I want to become the ultimate ruler of the galaxy! I want to be the head of a sweeping empire that encompasses the entire known galaxy. Hundreds of thousands of light-years all fall within in my rule! Even the first-rate superstates and the Big Two have to bow their heads to me! The aliens that have surrendered to me will also submit to my rule!"

What a wild dream! Forget about uniting human space into a single galactic nation, Calabast wasn't content with that and wanted to subjugate every alien civilization as well!

"And I thought my ambition is hard to fulfill." Ves muttered with wide eyes.

"Don't take it seriously. It's just a fantasy to keep me entertained in my dreams. I know that even Holy Sons aren't capable of uniting humanity and subjugating the entire galaxy. I don't even know if I really want to be the head of such a humongous galactic empire in the first place. It's much more practical for me to be the power behind the throne."

"That fits much better with who you are."

"You have no idea who I really am." Calabast shook her head. "You only know me as an intelligence operative. While this is a large part of who I am, there is more to life than my job."

Ves always had the notion that she possessed a sophisticated identity. If she was a Vesian, then she would certainly be a noble!

"When will I get to hear your background?"

"Not now. My actual identity is very complicated. It doesn't really matter, anyway. For now, my cover identity as Madame Cecily Curin is my new life. Unless the entire Protectorate is upended one day, I won't return to my old life."

"So you've completely cut yourself from your past?"

"I wouldn't go that far." Calabast sardonically. "I still make use of my connections. It's impossible for me to completely divorce myself from my past. Take it from me, Ves. No matter how far you run, you'll never be able to escape your roots."

That sounded rather ominous. Ylvaine's spiritual fragment even pulsed in his mind. It seemed to think that Calabast was making a prediction.

Ves gently suppressed the nosy spiritual fragment. "Well, whatever is going on, I hope it doesn't affect me and my business."

"That's difficult to say. My association with you is highly unusual. For what reason would I want to enter into a close business relationship with a random Brighter mech designer? I've already been deflecting a lot of investigations from my personal rivals."

"Do I have to pay attention to my surroundings?" Ves asked.

"I'm already handling it. You should probably pay more attention to threats closer to home and on this planet. The Ylvainan traditionalists will definitely make a move at some point."

That was rue. Ves began to frown as he thought of what the traditionalists might do in response to the threat he posed to their political agenda.

Chapter 1213

Ves stepped out of the shuttle in a massive underground parking hall. He looked around and saw a considerable amount of mechs from Protectors of the Faith moving to secure the entire site.

A specialized mech transport had already arrived at the parking hall. The cargo hatch opened up, allowing a very distinctive mech to be lifted out of the vessel.

Almost every staff member or Protector paused for a bit.

This was the first time they saw the prototype of the Transcendent Messenger!

Although the mech hadn't donned its tabard or activate Rescue Particle Generator modules integrated in its frame, the mech already looked unusual.

Even when Ves hadn't infused his design with a design spirit yet, just the fact that he poured months of work into it already imparted it with a primitive spiritual quality.

This phenomenon signified that even if mech designers didn't employ the same methods as Ves, they could still infuse their designs with their spiritual energy.

He found out that he didn't even need to focus too much on his work for this process to happen, because the design seed was already single-mindedly focused on mech design!

He made a very important conclusion after he observed this phenomenon. Journeymen were able to alter the performance of their designs unconsciously with their design seeds!

It was an automatic process that did not require a mech designer's awareness or control to take place!

When Ves recalled all the mech designs he witnessed and all the lessons he learned so far, he made another guess.

The improvements the design seed made to his mech design didn't necessarily have to do anything with the X-Factor. While his own design seed seemed to channel all of its efforts into improving the X-Factor of his mechs, that was only because of his design philosophy.

If Ketis ever advanced to Journeyman, it was likely that her design seed would expend all of its effort on improving the sharpness of the weapons carried by her mechs.

Ves already observed that the Aurora Titan's internal architecture contained a lot of abstruse parts that didn't entirely conform to reality. As a Senior, Professor Ventag's design seed was definitely stronger than that of a Journeyman, so its effects were significantly stronger.

This meant that as a mech designer advanced, the phenomenon became stronger!

Ves suspected that this was one of the key functions of design seeds.

He already theorized that high-ranking mech designers imparted their mechs with extraordinary qualities. Now, he personally experienced this phenomenon in his own work, proving that mechs designed by high-ranking mech designers were simply better if everything else was equal.

No wonder mechs designed by high-ranking mech designers captured the bulk of market share in every mech market. The only advantage that mechs designed by Apprentices and lower brought was that they were more affordable.

What this meant right now was that even if Ves hadn't done anything special to the prototype, the mech already possessed a weak X-Factor by itself.

What made the mech more remarkable was that while Ves provided the bulk of its spiritual quality, a small portion happened to carry the spiritual imprint of Ylvaine's spiritual fragment!

Ves designed the Transcendent Messenger in full view of the fragment. On its part, the fragment learned that the design would be its first home.

How could it not be emotionally invested in the design?

For this reason, the design already carried a hint of what Ves had in store. This was reflected in the prototype which already possessed a faint shadow of absolute faith!

This effect fell flat on Ves. He didn't believe in the Ylvainan Faith. He also hosted a spiritual fragment of the prophet in his mind all the time, so he was already numb to its sacred aura.

Yet to the Ylvainans around him, the prototype seemingly touched their hearts in an indescribable manner. The early iteration of the Transcendent Messenger was like a beacon that glowed in the dark. No other mech aside from the prototype ever came close to the perfect mech in their thoughts!

Ves grimaced a bit as the Ylvainans kept staring at the mech as heavy-duty lifters slowly brought it deeper into the underground facility.

"Why so glum, Ves?" Ketis said as she stood next to him while idly petting Lucky's back. "You wanted the Ylvainans to gawk at our mech, right? Looks like we did a good job!"

"I'm not sad about that." Ves replied. "I'm just concerned of what might happen by revealing our prototype to so many Ylvainans. I really don't want the details of our mech to be leaked ahead of time. Even if Calabast promised that the Protectors of the Faith are all loyal and that this subterranean testing ground is one of the most secure places on the planet, I'm still afraid that some traditionalist sympathiser will spill the beans."

He wanted the Transcendent Messenger to debut on his terms. The longer its design remained confidential, the lower the chance that some nefarious organization decided that it was time to do something drastic.

As the prototype left the parking hall, Ves, Ketis, Lucky and their bodyguards moved into the facility as well.

The subterranean testing ground offered expansive obstacle courses and damage-resistant dummies to test the capabilities of a mech. Because it all took place deep below the surface of the planet, it was difficult for spies and spy bugs to infiltrate the facility.

This was a testing ground that excelled in maintaining secrecy. Its security suite was constantly being updated by a dedicated team of virtual security experts. Its staff were all Curin loyalists who had been vetted since the moment they were born.

For Calabast to recommend that Ves test his prototype in this facility said much about its ability to keep a secret.

Ves met with the director of the testing ground and had a perfunctory chat with the fellow. He expected a cold response due to his foreign roots, but the director was very enthusiastic about the prototype.

"I can already tell your mech will perform admirably, Mr. Larkinson! This is a mech that will spark a revolution in the Protectorate!"

"Thank you for the compliment, but the Transcendent Messenger design is nowhere near completion. Let us not be too hasty in our judgement." Ves responded with a strained smile.

Even before the prototype showed off its capabilities, it already managed to charm some of the Ylvainans! The design touched their faith in a way that no other Ylvainan mech had accomplished before!

After some technicians performed a cursory inspection of the prototype, it was ready to be activated for the first time.

Ves and Ketis moved down to the prep area where the test pilot readied himself for this pivotal moment.

While the testing ground offered many skilled test pilots, none of them possessed the ability to pilot a hero mech proficiently. For this reason, Ves requested Calabast to put one of her elite bodyguard mech pilots forward as a volunteer.

Test pilots normally required special training in order to bring out the most out of a newly-developed mech.

They had to be trained to recognize many danger signs as they often piloted flawed and unpolished mechs. Major weak points and fatal flaws posed a very realistic risk to mech pilots who piloted early prototypes.

For this reason, many test pilots also studied the fundamentals of mech design. With this knowledge, they gained a basic understanding of the functioning of mechs and the many ways it could fail.

Aside from that, test pilots also needed to be capable of piloting a wide variety of mechs. Even if a test pilot only piloted knight mechs, this type came in so many different shapes and sizes that normal mech pilots wouldn't be able to adapt to them as fast.

Because the live tests needed to be performed quickly, test pilots didn't have the time to familiarize themselves with the prototypes. As a result, they developed the ability to become proficient with any new mech they came in touch with. No matter how steep the learning curve of a new mech, as long as it wasn't completely unreasonable, test pilots always manage to perform decently during the tests.

Yet for all of their adaptability, a hero mech was a very different beast. Only the elites among mech pilots had a chance of piloting this mech type proficiently. All lesser mech pilots could forget about making a hero mech soar!

Ves called as he stepped close to the young, bald mech pilot's side. "Are you prepared to pilot the prototype?"

Taon Melin solemnly nodded. "I did my homework. I've studied the documentation you passed me and memorized the essentials. To be honest, I didn't think you'd be able to design an Ylvainan mech. We've heard great things about your Aurora Titan model, but none of us believe a non-believer like you can understand our faith, but now..."

The Kronon mech pilot fell silent. Standing so close to the prototype allowed him to experience its remarkable nature up close. Although it only carried a weak X-Factor, it nonetheless synced with his faith!

Ves observed the reactions of many Ylvainans to the prototype. In particular, the Kronons were more impacted by the mech than the Curins!

He guessed that those that seem more devout and dedicated to their faith reacted stronger to the Transcendent Messenger than others. Although Taon Melin followed a different interpretation of the Ylvainan Faith, Ves had no doubt that the Kronon elite was very pious about his beliefs!

"I'm glad you like the mech." Ves eventually replied. "If you ask me, the Ylvainans focus too much on the origin of the mech designer and not enough on their capabilities. For example, does a mech designer need to be an excellent marksman to design a good rifleman mech? Not necessarily. The familiarity helps, but it's not the only factor that makes a mech fit for a specific purpose."

Someone like Ketis possessed an advantage in designing sword-wielding mechs, but Ves could still design something better due to his superior skills.

"What is the Transcendent Messenger based upon?" Taon asked while keeping his eyes fixated on the mech.

"The name of the mech already makes it clear that it's inspired by your prophet. My intention is to make every mech pilot feel as if they embody the prophet's faith and virtues if they pilot this mech. If you are devoted to the faith and worship the prophet, you will find that piloting this mech is very rewarding."

That was all Ves could afford to say about the mech's X-Factor. He kept his words vague enough to put Taon on the right path without revealing any of his trade secrets.

Ves left Taon to his mental preparations after issuing some practical advice on how to pilot the mech. The Transcendent Messenger was a mech that needed to fight in a certain way to make the most out of its capabilities.

Fortunately, Taon hadn't lied and read all of the documentation that Ves provided to the mech pilot.

"Alright, Melin!" A chief technician yelled after stepping away from the mech he inspected. "It's time!"

"Understood. I'm on my way."

The mech pilot lifted up to the cockpit and hopped inside. As the cockpit closed and the mech technicians distanced from the machine, they waited with bated breath for its activation.

"It's coming online!"

Ves moved over to a nearby control panel and read the telemetry of the mech.

The readings all fell within his tolerance. The mech he fabricated at the mech workshop booted up flawlessly!

The eyes of the mech glowed like white suns as other lights came online as well. Each of these were indicators that the prototype of the Transcendent Messenger had truly come to life for the very first time!

"What a mech!"

Every Ylvainan in the prep area couldn't help but be impressed by the mech yet again. Even though it only just came online, its aura of absolute faith had already grown sharper!

Chapter 1214

The difference was rather subtle, but the aura of the prototype definitely shifted when Taon Melin interfaced with it for the first time.

According to his theories on the X-Factor, Ves believed this was because of a strong compatibility between the mech and mech pilot.

Because the X-Factor of the Transcendent Messenger was unusually pure and one-dimensional, the changes a mech pilot introduced to the X-Factor became very obvious.

To Ves, it seemed that Taon Melin's intensity carried over to the mech through the man-machine connection.

It was like a drop of color fell into a clear glass of water. The edge added to the hero mech's X-Factor was a combination of both the mech and mech pilot.

As the newly-activated prototype proceeded to perform basic actions to test the integrity and range of motion of its frame, Ves thought of the implications of his latest observation.

Normally, mech pilots didn't exhibit a lot of focus. They contributed very little to the expression of X-Factor to their mechs.

In contrast, both the mech and mech designers exhibited very strong spirituality together.

For this reason, Ves always considered his mech designs as a means to impose their X-Factor to their mech pilots.

The theory he developed so far was that mech pilots needed to conform to the values and principles embedded that Ves had imparted to the mech through its X-Factor. The greater the resemblance, the greater the expression of X-Factor.

A calm and methodical mech pilot wouldn't gain much benefit out of a mech with an aggressive and impulsive X-Factor.

The differences were so great that the opposite of synergy might happen. The mech and mech pilot might fight against each other, thereby impacting the machine's effective performance!

If the mech and mech pilot were completely in sync, then the best result would happen. At least, that was what Ves always believed.

Now, he wasn't so sure anymore. As Ves discreetly activated his spiritual vision and observed the changes in the X-Factor of the prototype, he became fascinated by the possibilities it opened up in his mind.

Taon Melin's influence on the X-Factor of the prototype was miniscule due to his dull and negligible spirituality.

Yet what if the mech pilot was stronger? What if he was an expert candidate or expert pilot? With greater spiritual strength, the mech pilot earned a right to have a say in the expression of X-Factor!

This realization meant that Ves was able to achieve different effects with his mech designs as long as they are piloted by higher-ranking mech pilots.

Each X-Factor would mutate and take on a different emphasis depending on the traits of the individual mech pilot. As a result, each individual mech diverged from the template of their design and became something novel and unique!

"Total compatibility isn't the only solution." Ves whispered to himself.

He long believed that the X-Factor would only be able to reach its full potential if there was a hundred percent sync between a mech, mech pilot and mech designer.

The complete resonance he witnessed beforehand in Eloise Pelican's mind strengthened his belief in this theory.

If Ves could design a mech that managed to achieve unity between man and machine, then he would feel an unprecedented amount of satisfaction!

Yet what if there wasn't a perfect sync? What if the beliefs and principles of the mech, mech pilot and mech designer differed a little bit?

A different form of resonance might occur, one based on synergy rather than unity.

Ves came up with a very bold speculation. If the mech, mech pilot and mech designer all amplified each other's strengths, something even more powerful than complete resonance might occur!

Yet even if synergistic resonance or whatever he decided to call it didn't exist, just the changes the mech pilots brought to the X-Factor opened plenty of new doors to Ves. Now that he knew that an effect like this existed, he could experiment with it and see what benefits it brought when he designed an expert mech in the future.

Overall, the main lesson he learned today was that there were multiple roads to greatness!

The next couple of days hit this lesson home to Ves. The prototype tackled the tests while radiating an aura that blended absolute faith with a quality that Ves best described as zeal.

Taon Melin was a mech pilot that not only exhibited strong faith, but also became very enthusiastic at the prospect of spreading it through his piloting.

"Looks like he's a close fit to the virtue of zeal."

For his current design project, Ves didn't plan to delve into this matter any further. Once Ylvaine's spiritual fragment became the design spirit of the Transcendent Messenger, the spirituality of the mech would definitely minimize the influence the elite Kronon mech pilots exerted on the X-Factor.

In the face of such a wide disparity of spiritual strength, the differences didn't matter. It was best for Ves to aim for compatibility rather than synergy.

"The Transcendent Messenger is designed to embody the different aspects of Prophet Ylvaine's faith. The mech pilot plays the role of a willing vessel in this dynamic."

Right now, Taon became more and more accustomed to the nuances of the prototype. His hesitation lessened and his decisiveness grew stronger. He piloted the mech with confidence through various tests.

From shooting projected dummy targets with its ballistic carbine to sparring against a practice mech with its heavy saber, the Transcendent Messenger fought with zeal and enthusiasm under Taon's control!

"What an inspiring mech." The director of the testing ground sighed. "I've seen a lot of Ylvainan mechs over the years. Some have come close to looking as impressive as your mech, but it truly surprises me that a foreigner is able to accomplish this much. What's the secret?"

Ves smiled politely as he kept an eye on the telemetry readings of the mech. "It's simple. I'm simply good at designing mechs that leave a powerful impression on people. This is one of the reasons why Madame Cecily Curin commissioned me to design her ceremonial bodyguard mechs."

"Yet you are not a worshipper of the Ylvainan Faith. How can you possibly design a mech that appears to be more devout than our homegrown mech designers?"

"While I'm not a believer, I've taken the time to learn about your faith. I have dived into the scriptures of your faith and familiarized myself with its central beliefs. I have gained a strong respect for your faith and carried that over in my work."

The director frowned at the hidden implication in that response. "It is rather odd that your respect is stronger than our earnest belief in our faith."

"I don't mean to belittle the devoutness of your Ylvainan mech designers. Besides, according to the tenets of your faith, everyone is an Ylvainan, right? No matter if someone is an atheist or an adherent to another faith, we are all destined to be reunited as brothers and sisters during the Time of Ascension. The citizens of the Protectorate seem to be obsessed with drawing a line between themselves and foreigners, but is this truly Ylvaine's will?"

What Ves just said put the director and any eavesdropping Ylvainan into an introspective mood.

In the Bright Republic, Ves grew up in a culture that believed in the ideals of the state but also opened their doors to others as long as they weren't Vesians. While many of their neighboring states were weirdos, they nonetheless learned to be a little tolerant if they wanted to conduct business with their closest trading partners.

When Ves visited the Reinald Republic for the first time, he experienced what it was like to live in a state that took their openness and tolerance to foreigners to an extreme. The Reinaldans gleefully attracted as many tourists and visitors as possible in order to milk them of their money.

In contrast to those states who fully integrated into the galactic community, the Ylvaine Protectorate maintained the opposite. They closed their borders and restricted the movement of trade goods and people.

They had a good reason to do so, at first. At the founding of the state, the Ylvainans were defeated refugees who suffered enormously at the hands of non-believers. They needed some time to recover and heal their wounds.

Yet even after they recovered, the Ylvainans became so used to isolating themselves from the rest of the star sector that they continued to to close themselves off.

The central struggle between reformers and traditionalists centered around what was best for the Protectorate.

Should the Ylvaine Protectorate stick to their old ways and risk getting further behind on the prevailing trends?

Should the state welcome foreign influences at the risk of diluting their religious fervor?

The reformers believed the latter served the Ylvainans best.

The director of the testing ground worked for the Curin Dynasty, so he ought to believe in the same ideals.

Yet he still looked uneasy at the prospect that Ves might overshadow their domestic mech designers.

"If respect is enough to express our faith, what is the point of being devout?" He asked with doubt.

"I think Prophet Ylvaine once stated that faith is not a competition." Ves spoke, referring to one of his sayings recorded into scripture. "We are all connected regardless of our beliefs. The rewards of being devout are not immediate and will only be given later."

The spiritual fragment in his mind pulsed in approval.

The prophet had been rather tolerant of other faiths early on. Though he made sure to claim that they all fell under his own in the end, he never compelled someone to convert to his faith. That the Ylvainans grew more intolerant to non-believers was an inevitable development that resulted from the faith's explosive growth.

"There is still value in belief. Perhaps this isn't necessary reflected to mechs."

"This is due to their primary function." Ves replied.""Mechs are designed to fight. They are first and foremost war machines. They aren't meant to be altars of faith. This is one of the reasons why most mechs look flat and generic despite how many references to the faith your domestic mech designers have embedded into their designs. If you want to inspire the faithful and convert the unenlightened, then you're better off building a church rather than a mech."

Ketis spoke up from the side. "I don't agree, Ves. Mechs can certainly convert a lot of people into believers. I've seen it happen plenty of times in.. where I used to live. I've witnessed cases where mechs piloted by cultists invade a settlement and force the villagers to convert to their beliefs at gunpoint. Let me tell you, when there's a huge mech pointing its enormous rifle at your body, you'll be begging and crying to convert!"

"How uncivilized!" The director became aghast. "We would never do something like that?"

"Really?"

She was right to be skeptical. From what Ves read of the history of the Ylvainan Faith, the believers used to be quite militant in spreading their beliefs. They grew more and more violent and unrestrained in their attempts to increase the reach of their faith.

This was also why the states affected by this growing threat moved quickly and decisively to assassinate Prophet Ylvaine and wipe out his entire dynasty.

Of course, Ves would never mention this out aloud. The Attendants of Ylvaine made sure to erase this part of the history of their faith.

"I think the greater point here is that mechs are tools that are inclined towards specific usages." Ves said in an attempt to blunt what Ketis had said. "When you cut a steak, you have better luck using a knife than a fork. While it's still possible to cut a steak with a fork, it's not the best application for this tool."

"That is unless you press your fork onto the neck of someone who holds a knife." Ketis said. "You can threaten the other person to cut the steak for you or simply take the knife for yourself."

That left both Ves and the director speechless.

Chapter 1215

The tests largely proceeded without too many surprises. Aside from shocking the Ylvainans with its X-Factor, the prototype of the Transcendent Messenger showed no significant deviations in its realspace performance. All of the readings matched the parameters obtained from the simulations that Ves performed beforehand.

This outcome didn't surprise him very much. Working on the Aurora Titan design taught him that the discrepancies between simulated tests and realspace tests mostly came down to the inability for the former to model metaphysical phenomena.

Even if Professor Ventag's developed his own mathematical models to take his specialty into account, the actual influence of his design philosophy couldn't entirely be quantified.

Therefore, it became necessary for mech designers to fabricate a prototype and test its actual performance in the field.

This particular problem didn't haunt Ves as much because his design philosophy primarily affected the mech pilot instead of the mech.

With how much care and effort he spent on designing his mech, he already optimized the mech to a fair degree. The chance of any mistakes or major deviations cropping up was very low.

The Transcendent Messenger design shouldn't exhibit any major discrepancies when it came to its technical performance for this reason.

Any mistakes that the tests uncovered was a mark of failure and carelessness on his part.

The only real wildcard was design philosophy, but even then its influence didn't alter the parameters of the mech.

Perhaps if Ketis advanced in the future, that might change, but for now the hero mech performed almost exactly as he expected.

Taon Melin brilliantly showcased both the ranged and melee capabilities of the mech. He earned a lot of respect from the other Ylvainans for his comprehensive mech piloting skills.

Elites were truly a different breed of mech pilots!

The data he gathered so far indicated that Ves didn't have to make too many adjustments to complete the next iteration of the design. If all went well, then Ves would be able to move on to the production phase of the commission after completing tests on the second or third prototype.

While that still felt a bit too hasty to Ves, he didn't have the luxury of time on his side. He needed to get a move on to wrap up the commission quickly to gain the MTA's recognition.

The Ylvaine Protectorate was just a foreign market to Ves. He did not intend to stay here any longer than he had to in order to further his business interests. Once he dazzled the Ylvainans with his mech design, he intended to pack up his backs and return home as fast as the Barracuda could carry him away!

Near the end of the testing period, the prototype underwent increasingly more arduous stress tests. It always hurt Ves to see a mech getting abused or pushed over its limits, but this was a necessary process to see how much strain the mech could withstand.

During a test where Taon piloted the prototype into dodging live projectiles shot by automated turrets, Lucky suddenly meowed in alarm and rose up from Ketis' grasp.

"Meow! Meow!"

"What is it, Lucky?"

"Meow!"

"Incoming threats?"

The director standing next to Ves looked at the meowing cat and frowned. "What is the matter, Mr. Larkinson?"

"My pet believes that this facility is about to come under attack! You should sound the alarm and warn the Protectors of the Faith!"

"Let us not be hasty." The director replied with skepticism. He moved to a console and referenced some figures. "According to our perimeter sensors, there aren't any threats in the vicinity."

The director didn't believe that Lucky possessed the ability to detect danger! Ves outright ignored the director and turned to Ketis.

"Suit up. There's trouble on the way."

"Alright." Ketis seriously nodded. "You two there! Go hand us our suitcases!"

While most of the guards and the testing ground staff looked perplexed, Ves and Ketis calmly received their custom suits of armor from their bodyguards and unfolded it to encompass their entire bodies.

Once Ves donned his Sparous Vize and Ketis adorned her Rising Red Dragon, they turned from mild and friendly mech designers into dangerous-looking warriors!

While the director and the other civilians still remained confused, the Protectors of the Faith weren't as complacent. Regardless of whether they could trust a mechanical cat to detect danger, it was better to be safe and sorry.

One of the Protector officers in the control room stepped up to the director. "Suspend the test and put the facility on high alert. Please pay attention to the perimeter sensors and perform a remote sweep of the entire site."

"I can stop the testing of this prototype but there are more mechs being tested at the moment! I can't suspend all of those tests! That will delay the completion of our contracted obligations and force us to incur a significant penalty fee for each mech that is returned late!"

As the director and the Protector officer argued with each other, Ves readied his Silent Repose while Ketis activated her Udor. Both of their pistols formed very stark contrast, but each enhanced their dangerous air.

"Meow!"

"According to Lucky, this facility is about to get breached! There are several tunneling machines that have come close to boring through the walls!"

"What?" The director frowned. "But that's impossible! According to all of the seismic sensors, absolutely nothing has come close to racking up a disturbance!"

"Check if those sensors are reliable. They might have been compromised!"

Although the director still didn't look convinced, he ordered some specialists to double-check the seismic sensor system.

After a minute of digging, one of the specialists noticed something fishy. "Director! The output of the seismic sensors doesn't make any sense! Their readings are slightly off compared to how they should be after their latest calibrations!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means the readings from our seismic sensors are fake! This isn't supposed to happen! We last inspected the readings three hours ago, and they should have been completely fine at the time!"

A realization dawned upon the director. "Our monitoring system has been tampered with! More systems may be compromised!"

The specialists and security experts attempted to reverse the tampering. They succeeded after reverting the software to an older backup that had been kept in isolation. This process took three minutes despite their best efforts.

As soon as the newly-rebooted seismic sensors began to capture any tremors transmitted from the surrounding soil, they immediately spiked!

"The seismic sensors have detected six distinct tunneling machines within range! All of them are very close and close to breaching the walls!"

The director widened his eyes in fright. "Sound the alarm! Suspend all the tests! Inform the Protectors of the Faith and follow the evacuation plan!"

"Too late." Someone said.

All the lights in the control room flickered off. The consoles and projections all shut off as well, causing the entire area to descend into darkness!

Almost immediately after the lights went out, someone opened fire!

BANG!

"The director has been shot!"

More gunfire sounded out as the Protectors of the Faith immediately killed the assailant, which turned out to be one of the specialists!

Torchlights mounted onto the armor of the Protectors flickered to life, casting strong directional lights throughout the entire control room. The Protectors immediately swept over everyone in order to determine whether they were armed.

Ves looked to his side to see that the director had been shot in the head. There was no way he survived.

"A pity. He was very friendly."

Although sabotage cut off power to the control room, the frightened staffers quickly managed to engage the backup power system. As soon as their consoles came back to life, they connected to the other parts of the facility in order to see if anything happened.

"We've been breached!" Someone yelled. "Enemy mechs are pouring in from the tunnels! Over twenty mechs have entered so far and more are pouring out!"

Ves grew alarmed when he heard that. Only a single mech company guarded the subterranean testing ground! He hadn't been able to bring along the Avatars of Myth this time, so he was entirely reliant on the Ylvainans to defend himself against enemy mechs.

He moved closer to a projection of one of the feeds. "Do we know who these mechs belong to?"

"That's the old emblem of the Ylvaine Dynasty! It's the True Believers!"

True Believers! Ves inwardly cursed when he heard that. Whether they were imposters or the real deal, anyone who claimed to be a part of the New Ylvaine Dynasty almost always acted like suicidal fanatics!

The enemy mechs continued to pour out of the tunnels and immediately fought against the Protectors of the Faith.

While the Protectors put up a good fight, the attackers had the initiative on their side! The True Believers largely caught the Protectors of the Faith off-guard.

"Our Protector mechs are being repelled!"

The tunneling machines all breached close together so that their mechs didn't have to cross a lot of distance to back each other up. They quickly formed into squads that turned them into tough opponents to defeat.

In contrast, the mechs of the Protectors of the Faith had spread themselves across the entire underground facility. This was so that at least one mech could respond to any emergency anywhere in the facility as fast as possible.

If external threats did arrive for someone reason, the Protector mechs would at least be able to reposition themselves after receiving advance warning from the seismic sensors.

Sadly, the defenders hadn't detected the intrusion until it was too late! Even though the Protector mechs were desperately trying to form into squads of their own, the mechs stationed at the parking hall had all been overwhelmed by the ferocious attack of the newcomers!

"Ylvaine lives!"

"The great prophet has made a decree!"

"We must end the travesty that is taking place here!"

The mechs openly transmitted the words of their mech pilots. Even as the mech pilots verbally advanced their agenda, they began to breach through the various obstacles in their way.

The enemy mechs intruded further into the subterranean testing ground!

As the enemy mechs moved towards the core of the facility, Ves wondered if they were attempting to kill or kidnap him. The route the True Believers were taking would put them very close to the control room!

Ves gripped his ballistic pistol tighter with his armored hand. If a mech actually came close to breaching the control room, then he didn't stand a chance unless he pulled out the Amastendira.

However, even the Amastendira couldn't take out every enemy mech!

As Ves wondered if he needed to take Ketis and Lucky and sneak away under the cover of stealth, the vanguard of the True Believer mechs made a small detour. Their direction didn't take them to the control room anymore.

Instead, they were heading towards the testing chamber which held the prototype of the Transcendent Messenger!

Faster than Ves expected, the mechs barged through the gates of the testing chambers and immediately began to fight his prototype!

"What are the True Believers up to?" Ketis worriedly asked. "Why are they fighting against the prototype?"

"I don't know, but the prototype has already gone through several intensive stress tests! Its armor coverage is damaged and compromised and its energy reserves are almost empty!" Ves stated with alarm.

The enemy mechs seemed to know that and tried to corral and pressure the prototype. Despite Taon's best effort, the elite mech pilot couldn't do anything when he was being mobbed by the twenty mechs that had poured into the testing chamber in quick succession!

Even before its energy cells ran out of juice, the True Believer mechs managed to mob and tear away the weapons wielded by the prototype!

The mech had been completely neutralized!

What happened next astounded Ves even further. Once the True Believers pinned the prototype down, they forced Taon exit the mech!

Even though the armor of the prototype was very tough, it wouldn't last very long against the focused attacks of more than a dozen mechs!

As soon as Taon evacuated from his mech, the True Believers no longer bothered with him and instead lifted the prototype and brought it out of the testing chamber.

It was only at this point that Ves, the staff and the Protectors of the Faith realized what the True Believers were after.

"They're stealing our prototype!" Ketis gasped. "How dare they?!"

Chapter 1216

"The True Believers sacrificed twenty-three mechs and two tunneling machines just to capture my prototype?" Ves asked with disbelief.

The Protector officer assigned to question him nodded from his open-faced helmet. "We managed to capture some of the mech pilots alive. We're interrogating them right at this instant and we will know more at the end of the day."

This had been an awful day for Ves. Just when the prototype nearly completed all of the tests, the New Ylvaine Dynasty launched a sudden, perplexing attack on the subterranean testing ground.

Wasn't this facility supposed to be secure? Hadn't all the personnel been vetted all the time? How could the Protectors of the Faith allow the True Believer to take over his prototype and successfully make off with their spoils?

"It's clear that the operation is premeditated and targeted." The Protector explained. "Their only goal was to obtain your mech prototype for reasons that isn't clear to us. When they initially tunneled into this facility, we assumed they were targeting you. We deployed our mechs and other defenses around the control room you were in and bunkered down to meet the oncoming intruders."

"And then the True Believers suddenly turned to the testing chambers and absconded with my prototype." Ves summed up what happened next.

"Our forces harried their rear as they attempted to make off with your prototype, but they prioritized its retrieval above everything else. Their rearguard constantly entangled our pursuit force and fought without regard for their lives in an attempt to stall us as much as possible. While we managed to defeat a lot of mechs and disable two strategically-important tunneling machines, we failed to overcome their determination to extract with your mech."

Neither of them knew why the True Believers engaged in this awful trade. The value of a single beaten-up prototype of an unfinished mech design could never match up to the mechs and tunneling machines they lost.

No sane person would make this tradeoff unless they valued the prototype as much as an expert mech!

However, in the Ylvaine Protectorate, perhaps no one was more insane than the New Ylvaine Dynasty!

Ves tiredly rubbed his face. "I really have no idea what they are after. While my Transcendent Messenger is a great design, it's extremely hard to pilot and not that much of a terror on the battlefield. It's not worth losing seventeen mid-range mechs."

He was convinced the actual True Believers were responsible this time. Only people with no common sense would be willing to lose so many assets to obtain a single mech.

During the attack, he got a good glimpse of the mechs employed by the attackers. Unlike the cheap, bargain bin mechs deployed to attack the Church of the Grand Martyr, the mechs this time all cost around 400 million Ylvainan dollars or 32 million bright credits!

The tunneling machines cost even more as they were designed to be difficult to detect and fast. The True Believers must definitely be hurting to lose two of these expensive and extremely useful assets. Their loss directly affected their future operations on this planet!

"Do you think they want to take credit for our mech design?" Ketis suddenly asked from the side. "If they publish the mech under the names of one of their mech designers, then all of our work would be for nothing!"

"That's not possible." Ves shook his head. "I've maintained extensive logs of the design process and any knowledgeable mech designer will realize that the Transcendent Messenger completely conforms to my design style. No plagiarist will succeed in taking credit for our work."

Incidents like this happened every now and then. Sometimes, the plagiarists got away with it, but most of the time the truth eventually came out. Each mech designer possessed a very distinct design style, which was like a fingerprint.

Ketis frowned while she idly scratched Lucky's chin. "Maybe the living prophet predicted the future and saw that we were developing a great mech. Maybe he wanted to obtain a copy himself and saw that this was the best opportunity for him to obtain a Transcendent Messenger."

This sounded so ridiculous that both Ves and the Protector officer scoffed.

"Stealing the Transcendent Messenger just to make use of it is antithetical to their extremist standpoints." Ves pointed out. "As far as I know, they've always been strong believers of Ylvainan supremacy. They're even more radical than the traditionalists in this regard. How could they possibly be seen piloting a mech designed by a foreigner?"

A sardonic smile appeared on her face. "You don't know how duplicitous these cultists can get. I've seen plenty of cults selectively break their own rules whenever it's convenient for them. Who knows what their living prophet was smoking when he decided he wanted to steal our prototype."

Did the living prophet himself order his subordinates to steal the prototype? That sounded very unlikely. What would he do with a hero mech?

"Is the living prophet a mech pilot?" Ves asked suspiciously.

"No." The Protector officer shook his head. "According to our files, he doesn't possess the right genetic aptitude. He has never been seen piloting a mech in his life."

Then what were the True Believers doing with the prototype? No one knew, and that made Ves more unsettled. He guessed that the fanatics definitely intended to put the prototype to use for their own purposes. Depending on what they did with his mech, their actions could be very damaging for his business prospects in the Protectorate.

After answering some questions about the mech, the Protector officer took Ves, Ketis and Lucky down to the security center.

The Protectors of the Faith managed to take quite a number of True Believers captive. Not only did they capture the mech pilots of the mechs they disabled, but they also captured the crews of the tunneling machines.

Right now, the Protectors were desperately interrogating them en masse before the Ylvainan Inquisition and other factions took them away.

The Protector officer requested a status update. After receiving a quick rundown of the progress the interrogators made so far, the man shook his head.

"None of our men have succeeded in prying open the mouths of the captives. I'll let you see for yourself."

They moved over to an observation chamber that monitored all of the ongoing interrogations. All of the screens and projections showed True Believers ranting madly at their interrogators?

"What is the purpose behind stealing Mr. Larkinson's prototype mech?" One of the interrogators asked.

The deranged fanatic mech pilot. "HAHAHAHAHA! The Ylvaine Dynasty will rise again! The Second Calamity will soon be upon us, and its tides will sweep over the entire star sector!"

"Answer the question! What is the reason for stealing the prototype?!"

"The prophet is reborn! The true Ylvaine Dynasty will sweep the rot that has festered in the Protectorate! The Ylvainan Faith must stand strong and stay true!"

The Protector officer cut the feed. "Every captive True Believer is like this. None of them are coherent enough to answer our questions because they are all hooked on a cocktail of stimulants. Any truth serums we inject will either result in no effect or push them over the edge. It will take weeks or months of specialized treatment to detoxify their bodies sufficiently to interrogate them while they are coherent."

That meant Ves likely wouldn't be able to obtain the answers to his questions anytime soon. Even if the mech pilots they captured this time appeared to be part of the New Ylvaine Dynasty's cadre, the way the cult was set up, they likely wouldn't be able to tell all that much in the first place.

Hours went by as the Kronons and Curins continued to deal with the aftermath. Ves and Ketis faced repeated questioning, but they were just as befuddled about the raid as the Ylvainans.

At some point, the dreaded Ylvainan Inquisition arrived at the subterranean testing ground. A team of robed inquisitors and staff moved into the security center to take some of the captives away.

Ves met a very familiar figure at this time.

"Mr. Larkinson. You just can't stay out of trouble, can you? It is rather peculiar that you are involved yet again with the True Believers."

"Unwillingly, Your Excellency. I don't want anything to do with those terrorists." Ves replied with a strained smile.

High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco studied Ves and Ketis with his very sharp pair of eyes. "Your presence in the Protectorate is a security risk and a disaster to this planet. If it were up to us, we'd expel you from our state right this instance. Unfortunately, the Curins don't think so. Please do us all a favor and return where you came from before you provoke the True Believers into taking action yet again."

"I do not have a habit of giving up once I've accepted an assignment. As long as Madame Cecily hasn't canceled her commission, I'm committed to seeing it to completion."

After a bit of chitchat, the high inquisitor marched off in order to supervise his men. Ves continued to maintain his smile until the old man walked out of sight.

"What a creepy bastard." Ketis muttered. "He knows he can't do anything to us, so he resorts to puffing himself up in order to intimidate us into leaving."

Ves lightly smacked her head. "Don't talk like that in a place like this. The esteemed high inquisitor is a very influential figure among the Attendants of Ylvaine. Don't give him an excuse to take us into custody."

Obviously, the only reason the high inquisitor refrained from doing so was because Ves still enjoyed the backing of Madame Cecily and by extension the Curin Dynasty.

However, with each incident he became involved in, the more pressure the Curins endured. If Ves kept getting swept up in major incidents, then the Curins would no longer be able to protect him. At that point, he'd be forced to leave the Protectorate, which he really didn't want to do before he completed the commission.

His pride as a mech designer compelled him to fulfill his promises.

Now that the Ylvainan Inquisition had arrived to take over a part of the follow-up investigation, Ves and Ketis glumly departed the subterrean testing ground.

Perhaps the only consolation was that they managed to return with a secure data chip containing all the data the facility gathered from the tests of the prototype. Only the final stress tests on the agenda had been skipped, which meant that Ves almost got all of the data he needed to improve his design for a second iteration.

After a long shuttle ride back to the guest compound at Krent, Ketis and Lucky went off to cuddle and play in private.

Meanwhile, Ves met with Leland and explained what happened after the latter activated his signal jammer.

"It's a shame that the ongoing curfew makes it difficult for me to get in touch with my informers." Leland sighed. "While I'm aware that the True Believers have built up a strong presence on this planet, I never heard any indications that they were aiming to obtain one of your prototypes."

"Can you think of any reasons what the True Believers plan to do with my mech?"

He shrugged. "I can't say for certain. Perhaps they wish to discredit you somehow by employing your mech in outrageous acts such as attacking the grand cathedral or laying waste to a school. It would be the crudest and most direct method to turn the Ylvainans against you. After all, the attacks wouldn't happen if you weren't designing such a deadly mech!"

This reasoning sounded crazy, yet as long as it advanced their agenda, Ves could see the True Believers doing it. As long as the media aligned with the traditionalists exaggerated the role of the stolen prototype in any violent acts it perpetrated, then Ves would definitely receive a lot of blame!

However, as crazy as the True Believers appeared to be, Ves wasn't entirely convinced of this possibility.

Chapter 1217

Ves took a few days off to get to terms with the latest setback. He felt devastated about the theft of his prototype.

The thought of those fanatics taking the prototype back to one of their hidden bases in order to repair and pervert the mech galled him to no end.

If the True Believers subsequently employed the prototype in one of their terrorist attacks, then everything that Leland described would definitely come to pass!

Ves would suffer the blame for arming the True Believers with such a prominent mech! The fact that he was the victim here and wasn't responsible for the misdeeds the extremists performed didn't matter! The traditionalists would rile up the Ylvainans until everyone wanted him gone!

To be honest, Ves didn't feel very indignant about this possibility. He sold so many mechs to so many buyers that some of them had definitely used his mechs for nefarious purposes. He indirectly became responsible for an untold amount of deaths and property damage.

As a mech designer, if Ves obsessed with the morality of every mech pilot that used one of his products, he'd be driven insane!

Therefore, from a moral standpoint, Ves didn't find it all that repugnant that a bunch of religious extremists planned to make use of one of his mechs.

When Ketis checked up on Ves, Ves revealed the true reason why the theft left him indignant.

"The prototype is an unfinished version of my design!" He yelled. "These True Believers have no respect for the design process! Even though it's already a fantastic mech, that still doesn't change the fact that it's the first iteration of my design! There are so many flaws and imperfections that impact its performance that it's shameful if the True Believers plan to make use of the prototype in its current form!"

Ketis widened her eyes. "You.. you're pissed at the True Believers because they stole a copy of an incomplete design?"

"YES! The prototype is never meant for actual use! If they wanted to steal one of my mechs, I'd rather they wait until I complete my design and fabricate the final copies! The mechs I produce at that time will definitely be able to showcase the full potential of our Transcendent Messenger design!"

How could he tolerate such a travesty? Ves wanted to wring the neck of the living prophet himself for daring to make use of his prototype! The mech they obtained didn't represent his actual work!

While Ves wanted to rage, Ketis had already gotten over the theft. It was just a mech, so what? They at least received most of the test data they set out to gather. After the prototype finished its stress testing, it was destined to be dismantled and recycled. At least now the prototype gained a new life.

Her nonchalant attitude towards the theft reflected her background as a pirate. Ves knew that everyone engaged in robbery if they could get away with it. The side with the strongest fist had the most say. Victims who lost their valuables only had themselves to blame for being so weak.

Still, that didn't mean that Ketis forgave the True Believers for their act. While she didn't possess the same level of pride in her profession as Ves, she disliked being taken advantage of! If she was still in the frontier, then she would definitely retaliate somehow!

Unfortunately, the rules were different in civilized space. Not only that, but they were guests of the Curin Dynasty in the Protectorate, so they were heavily restricted in their actions.

However, just because she couldn't go out on her own didn't mean she could do nothing. She suddenly grinned and gazed down to Lucky who was enjoying her continued ministrations.

"Maybe you can help, Lucky."

"Meow?"

"You can sneak out of the compound, right buddy? What do you say about exploring the city. There's bound to be underground hidey holes where the True Believers stashed their stuff. Why not go and ruin them? I'm sure we'll be able to pay back the True Believers for all of the damaged they caused!"

"Meow.."

"Why are you so reluctant? Aren't you a glutton for exotics? The True Believers are maintaining their own stockpiles for the stuff in order to service their mechs and other machines. That's free food for you as long as you can sneak inside without getting detected!"

"Meow..."

Lucky seriously contemplated the suggestion. With the new toy he received, his ability to sneak in and out of highly-guarded places improved considerably!

Yet just because he can, didn't mean he should!

"Don't think about it, Lucky." Ves scoffed. "The True Believers are incredibly dangerous. Their stockpiles aren't so easy to steal, especially if you come back for repeats."

"Meow!"

While Lucky didn't entirely agree with Ves, the cat eventually thought better of it. Scouring the city for the hideouts of the True Believers was a lot of work. Rather than spend so much time and effort to comb the entire city, he would rather stay with Ves and eat his daily dose of exotics! He still hadn't consumed the enormous reward he gained for stealing the holy relic from the grand cathedral!

"Keep an eye on Lucky, Ketis. Don't allow him to run off."

"I'll try." She promised.

Because of the recent incident, Kesseling VIII entered into a state of heightened alert yet again. After months of fruitless searching, the Ylvainan authorities were pretty desperate to root the True Believers from the planet. Now that the fanatics finally made a move, the Protectors of the Faith and the Ylvainan Inquisition tried their best to follow the trails before they grew cold.

A lot of mechs and vehicles moved around the city for the next few days. The authorities tightened the curfew and barred all non-essential traffic. They showed a lot of determination to ruining the plans of the New Ylvaine Dynasty.

Ves didn't have much hope that they could stop the True Believers. The True Believers had spies and informers everywhere. The sympathisers would definitely tip off the extremists if the authorities were close to uncovering one of their cells.

He spent his time analysing some of the raw data the testing ground recorded in his room. While he would have been able to process the data much faster at the mech workshop, for now he had no choice but to work from his temporary home.

The tests revealed many different issues that needed to be addressed. Ves continually optimized the design on the basis of his analysis of the test data. None of the problems posed much of a challenge to him at his current ability.

As Ves made a lot of progress in optimizing his design, he was forced to halt his work when a special visitor arrived at his guest compound.

He walked down to the foyer to an unusual sight.

"Charmed to meet you, Leland." Calabast gently shook the man's hand.

Leland responded with a gentle smile. "Likewise, Director Cecily. We appreciate everything you have done to accommodate our stay in the Protectorate. Without your help, we would have never been able to resist the demands of the Ylvainan Inquisition."

"Mr. Larkinson is an admirably young and dynamic mech designer. The Bright Republic is lucky to have him. He's exactly what the Protectorate needs in order to revitalize our stagnant mech market. Although the theft of your prototype is regrettable, the fact that the True Believers desire the mech in the first place speaks volumes about the quality of its design."

"We aim to please, madame. This setback hasn't affected our ability to fulfill your commission. Your mechs will definitely be ready and delivered on schedule!"

As the two amiable spies chatted with each other, Ves tried his best to keep his composure.

Although both of them belonged to the same kind, Ves had a feeling that Leland was completely clueless who he was dealing with! Calabast had already revealed she knew that Leland was working for Flashlight!

Yet during this polite conversation, Calabast maintained her role as an influential member of the Curin Dynasty to perfection. Her gentle and aristocratic demeanor exposed no flaws at all.

As observant as Leland could be, he probably had no idea of the monster he currently faced!

"Madame Cecily." Ves greeted her as he approached the two. "You can speak with my staffer later, but let's discuss some business first."

The woman smiled coyly at Ves. "Very well."

The two headed up to his room at the top floor of the compound. Once they left their bodyguards behind the door, Calabast activated her jamming devices before she dropped her mild facade.

"Leland is an interesting fellow. He's quite good in his spycraft for his age. If he grew up in a more advanced state, then he might be able to give me a run for my money."

"Please don't string him along. If anything happens to Leland, I'm on the hook." Ves sighed in exasperation.

"Do you know why Flashlight assigned him to accompany you?"

"No, and as long as it doesn't interfere with my goals, I don't care."

Calabast nodded in approval. "That's a prudent mindset to take. While I'm aware that Leland is engaged in a number of activities on this planet, he's merely furthering the interests of his state. He's relatively harmless all considered."

"I'm glad you think so."

He had to admit that ever since Ves struck his deal with Calabast, he was worried that she would but heads with Leland. Both of them were spies who posed a threat to each other if they managed to sniff out their secrets.

That didn't happen, to Ves' relief. Calabast was so superior to Leland that she could keep him blind and deaf as much as she wanted without the latter growing any wiser.

It depressed Ves a bit that someone as sneaky as Leland stood no chance against Calabast. He couldn't rely on Leland and Flashlight to constrain Calabast if she ever acted unreasonably.

The power balance in their partnership was heavily skewed towards Calabast. Ves couldn't get rid of her no matter what, but Calabast could easily cut ties and stab him in the back if she ever decided that she didn't need him anymore.

Ves needed to find a way to achieve parity with Calabast. At the very least, he needed to have more say in their partnership.

"Let's discuss the recent incident." She said, getting down to the main reason why she wanted to meet with Ves. "From what my sources have determined so far, the True Believers who raided the testing ground aren't fake. There's too many evidence that suggest that they are authentic adherents to the New Ylvaine Dynasty, from the mech models they employed to the type of conditioning administered to the fanatics in order to strengthen their loyalty."

That concurred with his own speculation. "I thought that might be the case. It's strange how well they planned this operation. From the sabotage to their routes, they knew exactly where to go. Didn't you say the personnel of the testing ground had been vetted?"

"No precaution is perfect, kid. You should know that." She admonished him. "Just because I expressed confidence in the security of the testing ground doesn't mean I can guarantee that nothing is amiss. So far, the investigations have found out the pivotal reason why the raid had been so successful. The director is the main culprit responsible for allowing the True Believers to sneak up on the testing ground."

"Didn't he get shot by a fanatic?"

"That was merely to silence him. He knew too much."

Ves didn't know what to feel about this revelation. It sounded small compared to everything else he experienced recently.

"I always thought the director was a bit too reluctant to express his support for the reform agenda. It turns out he's a hidden sympathiser." He muttered.

"There's something else we found out after interrogating the captives. While they aren't exactly the most coherent bunch, there are still ways to squeeze useful information out of them. It's just that we aren't sure yet if they are speaking the truth."

"What did you find out, Calabast?"

"We're not certain yet, but there's a chance that the living prophet himself has arrived at Kesseling VIII!"

"What?!"

Chapter 1218

What possessed the living prophet of the New Ylvaine Dynasty for him to enter the Kesseling System? Why would he risk sneaking onto the surface of Kesseling VIII?

There was nothing on the planet that should have merited the attention of the leader of a vast terrorist organization!

"Mind you, Ves, the authorities aren't certain yet if the living prophet is actually here. This intel hasn't been corroborated yet. For all we know, these are merely the mad ramblings of stimulant-addled fanatics." Calabast cautioned.

The sources were far too unreliable. No one should take their words seriously.

However, Ves didn't necessarily think so. For Calabast to relay this intel despite its dubious origins meant she might know something more.

"Do you think it might be true?"

"There is a chance the madmen haven't been lying. The only problem is that the living prophet is taking an immense risk by sneaking onto this planet. This doesn't match his elusive and risk-averse nature. He usually spends his time on a hidden vessel floating in deep space issuing orders to the various cells of his organizations. For him to abandon his caution means that there is something important going on here that warrants his presence."

"Is he after my prototype?"

"That doesn't make much sense. The living prophet isn't a mech pilot. Even if he was, he has plenty of sympathisers in the mech industry to draw upon if he requires a personal mech."

If the living prophet wanted to obtain the prototype, he could have issued some orders and let his subordinates take care of the rest. It didn't warrant a personal visit to the planet.

For what reason did the living prophet himself descend on Kesseling VIII?

"Don't wrack your head over it, kid." Calabast said and shook her head. "For now, leave these matters to me and the Ylvainans. You should get back to work and complete your design as fast as possible. Aside from losing your prototype, it's running along quite well, right?"

She was right. There was no use for him to puzzle over this matter. These events went largely over his head. He much preferred to turn his attention back to his work.

"The Transcendent Messenger is almost finished, but it will still take some time for me to optimize the design to a point where I'm satisfied with declaring it finished."

"Is there any way you can accelerate your work? At this point, it's better if you complete the commission as fast as possible. The longer you delay, the greater the risk that something might happen that puts us all at risk. No matter whether the living prophet is on this planet or not, the True Believers will definitely make use of your mech in some way."

Ves grimaced at the suggestion. "You do your work and I do mine. Even if you're the client, don't tell me what to do. I won't rush my mech design. It's unacceptable and I will never tolerate such a demand unless I have no other choice."

"Ves, I think we've already reached that point." She said with a tired expression. "With all of the interests converging on this planet, the vortex has become too dangerous for us. Perhaps all of the factions are aware that the future of the Ylvaine Protectorate is at stake. There are many extremists who are willing to do something drastic if that means securing the future they want."

For all of her prowess, Calabast was only a single woman. She could no longer exert any control over the events happening on Kesseling VIII. The Curins, Poxcos and True Believers had all converged on this unremarkable planet in significant numbers.

Gathering so many forces together was like stuffing a keg with powder. At some point, a single spark was enough to blow it all up!

Still, Ves stuck to his principles.

"I am not willing to compromise on my stance. Every mech I've designed must represent my best efforts. If I'm being asked to design a mech for a competition or a design duel, then it's fine if I rush my design process. But that's not the case. I only have one time limit, and I still have a decent amount of time left to go before I turn thirty."

No matter what Calabast said, Ves stubbornly insisted on completing his design on his terms.

The recent theft of his prototype traumatized him so much that he wanted his finished product to be distinctly better!

The greater the differences, the more he was able to devalue the prototype! The mech the True Believers stole must always be inferior to the authentic copies of his finished design!

This did not sit well with Calabast. "I really want to smack your face, you now. You're being unreasonable here. Are your principles more important than your life?"

"I don't think we've reached that point." He said. "With all of the security in place, it isn't easy to attack me. The only reason why I was at risk earlier was because I went on an excursion to the subterranean testing ground. I don't plan to go out again when my subsequent prototypes are put to the test."

Although Ves recognized that he was still at risk, he didn't think it warranted a premature end to the design project. He really wouldn't be able to stand it if he was forced to complete the design in a matter of days! He would rather let Lucky scratch his face with his energy claws than endure the torment of publishing a bad and incomplete mech design!

Calabast crossed her arms and shook her head. "You're way too obstinate for your own good. How did your mother ever raise you to become such an obstinate brat?"

"She died, you know." Ves replied flatly.

"I know. Shouldn't you respect her more by behaving properly? She'd probably be aghast at your reckless decisions. She didn't bring you into this galaxy only for you to throw away your life so early."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You don't know my mother."

It didn't appear that Calabast was aware of the mysteries surrounding his mother. For all of her vaunted ability to root out secrets, there were some that remained beyond her reach. The secret surrounding his mother was far more difficult to penetrate than anything else.

A part of him even wanted Calabast to succeed in tracing his mother's background. At the very least, she would probably share her findings.

They discussed some other matters before Calabast left. She failed to persuade him to rush his design project, so she didn't want to stick around any longer. The sooner she left, the sooner Ves went back to work.

As Calabast left, Ves didn't immediately return to work. Instead, he went back to the ground floor of the guest compound and visited a side building that he had never gone to before.

He entered a small Ylvainan chapel and sat down at one of the pews.

Anyone who was observing Ves right now would think that he had gone mad or converted to the faith. Why would he visit a place of worship?

Ves didn't care what other people thought. He merely wanted to find somewhere quiet to center his thoughts. He also wanted to communicate with Ylvaine's spiritual fragment, and what better place to do so than a chapel dedicated to his faith?

"Do you know why the living prophet stole my prototype?" He mentally asked.

The fragment pulsed in contentment as it appreciated the chapel.

"Is the living prophet aware of your existence?"

The fragment didn't respond.

"Is the living prophet capable of predicting the future?"

This time, the fragment pulsed. Ves tried to process the feeling the fragment wanted to convey, but couldn't figure it out. The pulse was too ambiguous!

"Can I even get any clear answer out of you?!"

The fragment pulsed again. This time, it responded with disapproval, as if Ves was overstepping his boundaries!

He became frustrated at the spiritual fragment's lack of cooperation. It used to be relatively simple when Ves initially refined it, but as time went by, it grew more intelligent.

It was like a bot evolved into a sentient AI! The transformation happened gradually, but proceeded continuously without any signs of stopping!

Ves didn't even know what was happening anymore. He might have been too reckless with refining such a powerful spiritual fragment. Right now, the strength of Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was identical to that of a seasoned expert pilot!

Both expert pilots and Journeyman Mech Designers were special compared to the rest of humanity. The main reason for that was that both developed their spirituality to the point where they surpassed a certain threshold and transformed into a higher state!

There was something remarkable about this higher state of spirituality. Whether it was expert pilots, Journeyman Mech Designers or spiritual fragments, each entity with spirituality that exceeded this threshold had become something extraordinary.

Ves thought that Qilanxo's spiritual fragment was smart because its strength vastly exceeded anything he witnessed before. He assumed that Ylvaine's spiritual fragment wouldn't be able to grow this smart because it originally consisted of a tiny remnant of Ylvaine's spirituality.

Now, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Are you.. Prophet Ylvaine come to life?" He mentally asked.

He didn't know what possessed him to ask such a ridiculous question. The dead were dead. They shouldn't be able to come back to life, let alone rebuild themselves from a tiny spiritual piece of themselves!

Well, his mother was kind of weird, but that didn't count!

The spiritual fragment didn't respond with a pulse. Instead, it emanated an aura that was several times stronger than its last exertion! The aura radiated a strong and unflinching faith in its beliefs!

What this meant, Ves didn't know. Did the fragment consider itself as a reincarnation of the prophet or was it merely telling him in its own way that it didn't care?

Whatever the case, getting any solid answers from the fragment seemed hopeless. It had become just as cryptic as the actual prophet back when he was alive!

"What do you think about my mech design, then? Are you satisfied with what I've developed so far?"

This time, the fragment pulsed in plain approval. It liked the design very much.

This response didn't surprise Ves as the spiritual fragment had a lot of say in how the Transcendent Messenger took shape.

"Don't you feel pissed that a genetic impostor of yours has stolen my prototype?"

The fragment answered with another ambiguous pulse. It was being deliberately mysterious again for some reason.

"Really. Aren't you afraid the so-called living prophet will tarnish your name with my mech?"

This didn't elicit any response from the fragment. Either it didn't understand the implications, or it didn't want to comment on what was happening.

Ves was already familiar with the silent treatment. The System almost never answered his inquiries.

He understood why the System kept its mouth shut. There was no reason for it to entertain Ves and satisfy his curiosity. As long as Ves furthered the System's agenda, it could sit back and relax.

What disturbed Ves a bit was that Ylvaine's spiritual fragment had grown sophisticated enough to adopt the reasoning. The fragment turned from a passive spiritual entity into something smart enough to develop its own agenda!

Ves regretted hosting the spiritual fragment in his mind. He should have fabricated a miniature mech or some other totem to serve as its temporary home. At least then it wouldn't snoop so much in his mind and learn some of his traits.

He knew very well that someone with his personality was very hard to deal with! Just like him, the spiritual fragment was probably looking out for itself!

"Don't learn from me." He belatedly told the fragment. "I'm not a believer. You should stick to your own values."

He didn't know whether his words had any effect or not. Hopefully, he would soon be able to complete his design, whereby he could finally get rid of the spiritual fragment from his mind!

"Soon, you won't be my problem anymore!"

Chapter 1219

Life went on. Although the loss of the prototype impacted his mood considerably, Ves knew he shouldn't dwell on it too much.

"The most important task right now is to finish the design." He whispered to himself.

He cast away as much distractions as possible and let go of his concerns about his volatile surroundings. The contradiction between the reformers and traditionalists still raged on, but his role was set in stone.

Completing the design of the Transcendent Messenger mattered more than anything else. His plans and Calabast's plans hinged on its success.

When Ves and Ketis finally returned to the workshop, they went back to work. Ves already analyzed a good amount of test data, but the processors at the guest compound were too weak for his purposes. The mech workshop offered much more capable processor banks that specialized in performing mass calculations typical to engineering projects.

"When the design process has reached this stage, the time for second-guessing and major revisions has passed." Ves explained to Ketis as he showed her the preliminary changes he made to the design. "All of our design choices are set. The changes we can afford to make at this stage should not impact any of them negatively. Our goal is to work away the flaws while perfecting what is already good about the design."

Ketis nodded. "I know. If we go back on our design choices at this point, we'd be designing a variant instead of the base model."

Mech designers needed to be decisive in their judgement during the earlier stages of the design process. If their hesitation on some of the choices grew more serious by the time they received the test results of their first prototype, then they didn't do a good enough job.

"This is important, Ketis. A lot of mech designers get hung up over 'what-ifs' or magnify the negative aspects of their comprise solutions. They'll go back to their design and shift the very nature of their mech into something else. That's not good. You need to have the confidence that you can make your mech great from the decisions you've already made. Look forward instead of gazing back at the past."

While Ves already learned this at school, Ketis never entered one. These kinds of suboptimal traits afflicted many mech designers despite receiving plenty of warnings. Perfectionists particularly exhibited this pattern of behavior, causing them to take several times longer to complete their mech designs.

Fortunately, neither Ves nor Ketis exhibited too much tendency to turn back to their designs. Both of them were decisive people and they didn't worship quality on a pedestal.

Ves wanted his mechs to be as good as possible, but only as far as practical concerns allowed him to. Due to the deadline he imposed on himself, he didn't have much time left to optimize the Transcendent Messenger. He would just have to make do with one or two more prototypes before he finalized its design.

"Let's get to work."

Ves performed the bulk of the work this time. Each change, no matter how small, affected a myriad of parameters of the mech. This was very delicate work and required a deep and comprehensive understanding on mech design in order to juggle all of the tradeoffs he needed to make.

At this time, Ketis still lacked this depth and breadth of knowledge, so she could only perform an assisting role by supervising the simulations and such.

The optimization work he performed was like solving puzzles. There were countless ways to solve each problem, but only a small number of them actually led to an actual improvement in the design.

One solution always introduced another problem. The key to improving the design was to make sure the new problem that resulted was smaller or less significant than the old problem. While Ves could never obtain a perfect solution, at the very least the mech design achieved a net gain in performance.

The more he optimized the mech, the harder it became for him to find a solution that resulted in clear improvements. It felt like he needed to make use of a microscope in order to determine whether it was worthwhile to implement his solutions.

Nonetheless, the Transcendent Messenger design became increasingly more polished over the next days. His design seed worked wonders at this stage. He could judge the best solution for many problems without resorting to time-consuming calculations and simulations.

Naturally, his design seed only helped him come up with a solution that he would have been able to figure out on his own.

In other words, his knowledge base formed the foundation of his design seed. If he hadn't studied too much in a particular field, then his design seed had very little to go on. It possessed the same biases as him and could never come up with a solution based on knowledge that he lacked.

"It's not an auto designer."

Nonetheless, even if his design seed couldn't automate everything to perfection, the boost it provided to Ves was just right. He still needed to wrack his brains and perform some manual calculations in order to solve particularly difficult problems.

His design seed only came in handy when he faced easier but extremely tedious problems.

All in all, Ves initially expected that he needed at least two weeks to complete the second iteration of the design.

Yet by the time a week had gone by, he no longer found any issues that needed addressing!

"That was fast." Ketis commented after Ves declared they completed the second iteration. "I remember that Mayra worked just as fast when optimizing her designs. You Journeymen are beyond human in this aspect! I can't even keep up with your problem-solving pace!"

"It's a convenience, I admit, but it's not a panacea. You still have to do the most important work yourself. If you want to get to this point, make sure to keep up with your studies and accumulate more knowledge."

"I don't even know how many books I have to read to match your mind. How come you know so much but never spend much time on studying?" She suspiciously asked.

Ves only smiled coyly in return. "I'm a fast learner."

"Yeah right. I know you're good at that, but your learning speed is too fast!"

He shrugged off her questions as best he could, but the suspicion lingered. Ketis worked alongside Ves for many months now. She wasn't blind to the oddities surrounding him. Perhaps the only reason why she didn't inquire any further was because they were all benign.

As Ves declared the second iteration of the design to be complete, they proceeded to fabricate the mech at the workshop. He had already ordered several batches of materials beforehand, so they could immediately proceed with fabricating the mech.

Several days later, they produced the second prototype.

"It doesn't look very different from the first one."

"That's the point, Ketis. To optimize a mech is to achieve the best gains while making as little changes as possible. If the iterations looked distinctly different, then that is a sign the first iteration shouldn't have stopped at that point in the first place. Whoever decided to end the design process prematurely at that point is lacking in judgement."

Over and over, Ves emphasized the importance of judgement. Good judgement not only helped with making the best design choices, but also made sure that the mech design drew out its potential.

Each mech designer optimized their mechs in a different way. Two different mech designers working on the same iteration of a mech design would produce two subtly-differed optimized mech designs.

In most cases, the mech designer with the better judgement achieved greater improvement. It didn't matter if the other mech designer possessed a greater knowledge base.

"Building up your knowledge base only expands your options. The more you know, the more you're able to come up with advanced solutions to tricky problems." Ves lectured to Ketis, who looked to be a little tired at getting talked down to all the time. "However, all that knowledge will go to waste if you don't possess the right judgement. Learning how to utilize your existing knowledge is important, and it can only be done when you design your own mechs."

"I get it, I get it. Being nerdy isn't enough. You have to possess the wits to compliment your smarts."

She understood the importance of the lessons, but sometimes she felt like she was being treated like a kid.

"What do you think about the Transcendent Messenger so far?" Ves asked.

"It's already really good. Better than the Aurora Titan in many ways because it's so versatile. However, there's something about your last design that's really special that isn't present in our prototypes."

"That's related to my design philosophy. The true magic can only be felt once I complete the design. Trust me, the Transcendent Messenger will fully live up to its name once the finished products roll off the production line."

She nodded in understanding and didn't say anything further. She knew it was pointless trying to ask any further.

When it came time to pack off the second prototype for testing, he handed it over to the professionals employed by the Curin Dynasty.

Due to the theft of the first prototype, the Curins became aware that the mech that Ves was designing must be something remarkable. They pulled a lot of strings and managed to convince the Kronons to beef up the security around the subsequent prototypes.

Three full mech companies escorted the transport containing the prototype to a specialized testing ground a small distance away from Krent. The Protectors of the Faith pulled out all the stops in order to prevent a similar incident from occurring again.

Ves did not accompany the prototype this time. He trusted the staff of the testing ground to know what they were doing and obtain the test data he needed to see whether his judgement was sound.

A different elite mech pilot in service to Calabast volunteered as the test pilot for the second prototype this time. As for the first test pilot, the man personally arrived at the guest compound in order to meet with Ves in private.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Larkinson. I failed to stop the True Believers from stealing your mech."

Taon Melin appeared much different from before. He looked devastated. His confident demeanor was nowhere to be seen and the bags in his eyes showed that he wasn't sleeping well lately.

"I don't blame you, Taon. Near the end of the stress testing, the prototype you piloted was already beat up. Against the sudden intrusion of so many mechs at a time, your mech stood no chance of repelling them. This isn't an action dramas where damaged hero mechs often win against overwhelming odds. The conditions simply weren't right back then. We can only blame the True Believers for their great timing."

Informers like the director of the testing ground assisted the True Believers in their planning and preparation. The Protectors of the Faith were completely caught off-guard and hadn't learned the true purpose of the raid in time. There was nothing Taon could do to stop the True Believers from making off with the prototype.

He still blamed himself, though.

"I have been reflecting on myself, and I think it is best for me to resign my position as one of Director Cecily's ceremonial guard mech pilots. It's a position that conveys great honor, but it's one that I don't deserve!"

Ves frowned. If Taon withdrew, then who piloted the Transcendent Messenger in his place? He didn't wish to deviate from his plan of designing a set of six mechs. This mech pilot needed to get his head back together!

"Man up, Taon! You're an elite, right? You're still young! Failure is normal! I don't know why you're so hung up on what happened. You couldn't have done better in that situation."

"That doesn't change the fact that I've failed! If the great prophet saw me now, he would shake his head in disappointment! I'm unfit to be a mech pilot!"

Ves grew alarmed. Taon was taking his failure way too seriously!

However, something else happened in this time. Just after Taon mentioned the prophet, Ylvaine's spiritual fragment began to stir.

It seemed to be reacting to Taon. Just as Ves wondered what the spiritual fragment was up to, it spontaneously blasted out of his mind!

The fragment left his mind so abruptly that Ves hadn't been ready to block its escape! It broke through the passive barriers of his mind and entered into Taon's mind in an instant!

The elite Kronon mech pilot gasped before he rolled his eyes and fainted!

Chapter 1220

Ves had no idea what was going on!

In one moment, Taon was blaming himself for his failures, and in the next, Ylvaine's spiritual fragment suddenly jumped into his mindscape!

The Protectors of the Faith instantly moved into the room after their monitoring system detected something amiss. They immediately took Taon away to the infirmary when they realized that he had fainted for some reason.

"What happened here, Mr. Larkinson?" One of the Protectors asked.

"I don't know. I was just talking with Taon when he suddenly went out cold. I didn't do anything. Maybe his exhaustion and his depression got the better of him. He wasn't in the best shape when he arrived."

While Ves talked to Taon in private, he hadn't activated any signal jammers or ECM this time. The Protectors should have assigned some men to monitor their conversation, so the Protectors already knew that Ves told the truth.

The Protectors quickly dismissed their suspicions towards him. As they studied Taon's condition, it became clear that he hadn't slept for a couple of days and didn't eat right.

Even though his body was in excellent condition and shouldn't have fainted so suddenly, perhaps his psychological conditions aggravated his neglect.

As Ves stopped by the infirmary, he resident doctor frowned at the readings scrolling through his console.

"What's the matter, doctor? Is there anything amiss?"

"Mr. Melin is showing some unusual brain activity for someone who has fainted. It's as if he is still conscious in a way." The man in Protector uniform said. "I can't make any solid conclusions on what is afflicting this young man. The database hasn't found a match either. It's rather fascinating to see something new taking place."

"So you don't know what's happening?"

The doctor hesitated a bit. "It shouldn't be harmful, I think. None of the signs have exceeded their safety margins. It could be that Taon is experiencing an unusual vivid dream. I'll continue to monitor his state, and if it appears the situation is growing dire, I'll request that he be brought to a military hospital."

Although the doctor didn't know what was happening, the fluctuations in his brain activity weren't extreme enough to elicit serious concern.

As the doctor continued to puzzle over the data, Ves discreetly employed his spiritual vision.

He perceived something very different from Taon when he switched over his senses. The mech pilot's head appeared to be surrounded by a radiant glow!

That was the aura that belonged to Ylvaine's spiritual fragment! While Ves was able to contain the aura in his mind, Taon lacked the strength to do so. The spiritual fragment freely radiated its aura beyond the boundaries of the mech pilot's mind!

As Ves projected his spirituality and attempted to brush against Taon's mind, he encountered a wall.

Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was blocking his senses from extending into Taon's mind!

What was it doing in Taon's head? Why did it prevent Ves from taking a look?

Although Ves could probably chip a hole in the wall if he attacked it with his Spirituality, he refrained from doing so. He needed to maintain a friendly relation with the spiritual fragment and it didn't appear that it was doing something bad to Taon.

To many Ylvainans, it was a blessing if they could get in touch with the great prophet!

Though Taon Melin joined the Ascensionists, he was still a devout believer of the Ylvainan Faith. For Ylvaine's spiritual fragment to bestow its attention on the elite mech pilot should be good.

After thirty minutes had passed, the glow around Taon's mind ceased. Ylvaine's spiritual fragment shuttled out of the unconscious mech pilot's mind and zipped back into Ves' mind as if it returned home after a good day of work!

Upon the fragment's return, Ves hesitated whether he should allow it to come back. If he wanted to, he could put up his defenses and bar the fragment from entering unless it launched an attack.

He quickly shook his head and voluntarily widened up a gap for the fragment to slip back into his mind.

Although he grew more and more unsettled with the fragment, he still wanted to maintain control over it. While the fragment had already shown that it could break out whenever it wanted to, Ves still preferred to keep it within his reach.

It would be devastating to Ves if the spiritual fragment disappeared!

"What did you do in Taon's mind?" He mentally asked.

The spiritual fragment didn't even deign to answer his question. Instead, it reduced its activity level and entered into a dormant state again.

Seeing that he couldn't prod the fragment into providing answers, he gave up on it and directed his attention to Taon instead.

Had the fragment done something to him? Ves curiously extended his spiritual senses to the mech pilot's mind.

This time, he encountered no hindrance. However, he hadn't encountered anything remarkable either. Most of Taon's mind was still formless and insubstantial, which made it difficult for Ves to perceive and interact with. It was like they existed in different dimensions that barely overlapped.

"No changes?"

The limitations didn't stop him from judging the overall state of Taon's mind and spirit. What his probes had found was that neither of them drastically changed. Perhaps the only difference from before that much of the unrest in the mech pilot's mind had disappeared.

Instead, Ves perceived that Taon's mind was currently at peace with itself. This was a very substantial divergence from before! Back when Taon first lamented over his failures, his distress and his self-loathing was so strong that Ves could feel the emotion behind his words.

Yet now, none of that was present. A single visit from Ylvaine's spiritual fragment washed away the mech pilots doubts.

Was this all the spiritual fragment had done?

Ves hadn't found anything else. Taon still retained his single-minded focus and faith, but his spiritual energy was too weak for him to develop his own force of will.

Taon hadn't turned into an expert candidate all of a sudden. This relieved Ves a bit because it would have been too inexplicable for the young elite to advance after suffering such a huge blow recently.

Ylvaine's spiritual fragment wasn't as powerful as Qilanxo's spiritual fragment.

If Ylvaine's spiritual fragment wanted to elevate Taon into an expert candidate for some reason, then it needed to donate a significant amount of its own spiritual energy.

It also needed to employ the right methods. Qilanxo might be familiar with it, but Ylvaine's spiritual fragment wouldn't know where to begin.

When the spiritual fragment left Taon's mind and returned, Ves didn't perceive any changes in its strength level. It still possessed the same strength as before, which meant that it was highly unlikely that it gave any of it away.

As Ves continued to puzzle over what the spiritual fragment had been up to, Taon finally woke up half an hour later.

Taon calmly opened his eyes and showed no confusion at all as he took in his surroundings. "It appears I'm in the infirmary."

"How are you feeling, Mr. Melin?" The doctor asked as he approached his bed. "You abruptly fainted while you were conversing with Mr. Larkinson."

"That's my fault. I didn't take care of myself due to my restlessness."

"It's good that you're aware."

The doctor proceeded to advise Taon to mind his health and pay attention to his needs. The advice was rather generic and Ves ignored it in favor of studying the mech pilot's condition.

The calm in his mind reflected the calm in his demeanor. The differences from before were very significant!

"I promise I'll pay attention, doctor." Taon nodded. "I'll be returning now."

As Taon left the infirmary, Ves walked alongside him on the way out.

"You scared us quite a bit. I'm glad to see that you're okay. You look a lot calmer now as well."

"I think I experienced a divine revelation!" He stated with sudden fervor. His eyes lit up and his mood grew more excited. "It's difficult for me to describe what I felt. It was as if the great prophet himself has descended to our realm and gifted with a vision!"

Ves almost tripped. What the hell? Did Ylvaine spiritual fragment really enter Taon's mind just to communicate a vision to the mech pilot?

"What did you see? It must have been very remarkable for you to be so relaxed right now."

Taon gazed upwards as he recalled what he saw. "It's difficult to describe. I felt like I was dreaming, but more. I can tell you that it's a vision of the future. The revelation showed me what I could become if I got my act together. It was a glorious vision of six of your amazing mechs standing together and fighting against a great threat! This vision is a warning of what is to come! It was exactly what I need to find my purpose again. My prayers have been answered!"

Ves wanted to puke out blood. What revelation? What vision of the future! Taon merely experienced a fantasy conjured up by Ylvaine's spiritual fragment! In fact, this vision of six Transcendent Messengers fighting in unison was something he frequently fantasized about himself!

With all that he knew, Ves didn't believe that Taon experienced anything divine. He had obviously been manipulated by Ylvaine's spiritual fragment. It was just that the mech pilot mistook it as a miracle due to his beliefs.

Although Ves wanted to douse Taon with the truth, he refrained from doing so. Not only would he have to reveal some very sensitive secrets, but he would likely face rejection as well.

Taon expressed a lot of confidence in what he experienced. Since the 'divine revelation' cleared away his doubts and stopped him from blaming himself, there wasn't any harm in letting him believe his prayers had been answered.

At the very least, Ves could probably count on him to pilot the Transcendent Messenger without any further drama.

As for what else Ylvaine's spiritual fragment had done in the mech pilot's mind, Ves didn't bother guessing any further.

Once the mech pilot boarded his shuttle and left the guest compound, Ves pushed the matter aside.

Instead of worrying about what Ylvaine's spiritual fragment had done to Taon, he rather preferred to think of a way to prevent it from leaving his mind again.

Unfortunately, Ves couldn't come up with a solution. The spiritual fragment was too strong for him to restrain. Much of the spiritual accumulation the holy relic used to contain had turned into its own strength.

This incident reminded Ves that spiritual fragments that belonged to other entities possessed a will of their own. It was great if they agreed with Ves, but that wasn't always the case.

The only consolation to Ves was that Ylvaine's spiritual fragment didn't exhibit any hostility to Ves. Despite his lack of belief, Ves managed to convince the spiritual fragment into empowering his mech designs by becoming their design spirit.

The cooperation between him and a spiritual fragment reminded him of his partnership with Calabast. In both cases, mutual interests ensured that both sides stuck together.

This sounded great when he dealt with a friendly or neutral spiritual fragment, but what if it was hostile?

Ves wasn't confident in his ability to control a rebellious spiritual fragment, especially if it exceeded the extraordinary threshold. His mind wasn't set up to be an effective prison for spiritual fragments.

"Maybe I need to place them somewhere else."

As a mech designer, he was used to solving problems by building something. Could he design a prison that could keep a hostile spiritual fragment in check?

"It won't work. Not unless I do more research."

Ves would have to find a material or exotic that possessed a strong restraining property against spirituality. Otherwise, he could forget about developing a spiritual prison that could operate independently.

Still, the idea had a lot of merit. With the huge variety of materials available in the galaxy, Ves strongly guessed that at least some of them restrained spirituality.

"Such a material can be put to other uses as well."

His eyes shone as he thought of the many possible applications. From shielding his mind from spiritual invasions to making himself invisible to spiritual detection methods, there was a lot he could do with such materials!

"I'll have to visit a materials wholesaler sometime!"

Chapter 1221

Ves quickly pushed the incident with Taon Melin to the back of his mind. After making some plans about searching for materials that reacted to spiritual energy, he turned his attention back to his work.

Some time passed until the second prototype completed its barrage of tests. This time, nobody came and stole the mech. The mech endured the last test as best as it could before it broke during the last and most arduous stress test.

The testing ground immediately disassembled the broken prototype and put it through some crushers in order to prevent anyone from reconstructing the mech. Only then did they send it out to a specialized recycling facility in order to extract its valuable materials.

Confidentiality was an important requirement for any testing ground. As the previous prototype went astray, this time the Curins made sure to handle the mech properly.

A courier brought back the data chip with all of the test data to the mech workshop. As Ves and Ketis took in the summaries, they both looked pleased.

"There are less deviations from the simulations." She said. "There aren't as many flaws either."

Ves smiled at the results. "While not all of the results are good, the second iteration is nonetheless a lot closer to completion than the first one. I don't think we have to implement too many changes to finalize the third iteration of our mech. It might even be the last one before we finish the design!"

Despite the inherent complexity of hero mechs, Ves knew his limits and hadn't incorporated any additional gimmicks in his design. The main challenge was to mitigate the severe imbalances in the mech and to make sure that both its ranged and melee combat capabilities remained in harmony.

It took a lot of effort to find the right balance. However, once he found it, he only had to make minor adjustments to keep the mech design in balance.

Everything went so well with the design process that Ves strongly considered whether he should finish his work when he completed the third iteration.

While there was always more optimization work he could do, the law of diminishing returns had already gone into effect. The more he iterated on the design, the less he was able to improve.

If Ves wanted to maintain his high quality standards, then he wanted to be a bit more assured and design a fourth iteration.

Yet that might take too much time. Adjusting the design didn't take a lot of time, but fabricating the mech and sending it over for testing ate up at least ten days.

Could he afford to delay this much? Maybe not. He reminded himself that he still needed to reserve at least two weeks to fabricate the six copies of his design.

He'd be cutting it awfully close if he delayed the completion of the design project because he wanted to develop a fourth iteration.

After weighing the costs and benefits, he decided to make his next iteration the last one. Even though it will still carry some imperfections that could have been addressed if he put more time into it, he already had another solution in store.

For the second time ever, he planned to make use of the System's Superpublish function. The comprehensive improvement it bestowed to the Transcendent Messenger should be enough to elevate it above what Ves could achieve with his optimization work.

Superpublishing came at a steep cost. In exchange for improving the overall performance of a mech by ten percent, it stopped him from earning any DP from the Transcendent Messenger.

"So what? It's not like I intend to mass produce it in the first place."

Only recently did he realize that the Superpublish function was tailor-made for custom mechs. A commission for a custom mech like the one he was currently working on would never earn him a lot of DP.

At most, he received a small lump sum of DP and a handful of DP for each copy he made.

For mech models intended for the mech market, the latter could accumulate to a frightening amount of DP. The Aurora Titan was already a good example of that as its virtual sales flooded him with Design Points before it reached a cap!

The Transcendent Messenger design would never proliferate that much. Ignoring the stolen prototype that didn't really count, only six physical copies would be made. There were no plans to publish a virtual version of the design. Any virtual versions of his design would only be made available during training simulations, which didn't earn him any DP at all.

In short, since Ves earned so little DP from the Transcendent Messenger design, he might as well Superpublish it and maximize its impact!

After he made this decision, he became a lot more relaxed. No matter how many flaws and inadequacies he missed, the Superpublish function would definitely sweep over them and smoothen out the wrinkles.

He still felt a little bad about it, though. It was as if he was running a marathon and reached the final stretch, only to step into a shuttle and blaze past the finish line without expending any further effort!

"It's a bad habit to cheat all the time."

He missed out on the problems he could have solved, thereby depriving him from the experience and lessons that he could have used to design an even better mech next time.

However, the Superpublish function was only available to him once a year. Such a frequency ensured that Ves would be forced to design plenty of mechs without the temptation that he could press a single button and level up his mech design all of a sudden.

"It's for a good cause as well."

A better mech meant he'd be able to make a greater impact with his work. The more he impressed the Ylvainans, the greater the chance he would be able to tip the momentum back to the reformers.

An entire week went by after Ves received the data chip. Together with Ketis, they processed and analyzed the data. They identified the remaining shortcomings of the mech that had become evident during the testing and addressed them as best as possible.

An invisible momentum built up in Ves. As he came closer and closer to completing the third iteration, he increasingly sensed his mech design possessed the capability to transform the Ylvaine Protectorate.

It was a ridiculous notion! How can a single mech design change the course of history of an entire state?

Yet no matter how much he tempered his expectations, each time he studied his mech design, his hopes couldn't help but inflate!

He might have been able to manage his emotions if that was all that happened, but Ylvaine's spiritual fragment made it worse!

Each time Ves envisioned how his mech design might spark a huge culture shift among the Ylvainans, the spiritual fragment radiated strong waves of faith, certainty and anticipation!

The spiritual fragment probably thought that this vision would definitely come to pass!

Although Ves had high hopes for his mech design, he didn't dare rest on his laurels at this point. A lot could still go wrong!

Yet the momentum that built up within his spirit became more and more formidable. His entire mind and spirit seemed to resonate with his design. Although that was just a figure of speech and not an actual metaphysical phenomenon, Ves couldn't help but get caught up in his growing euphoria!

A frenzy of passion and inspiration overtook his mood, and even Ketis fell to the wayside as she watched with widened eyes as Ves made a lot of small adjustments to the design.

"Is Ves always like this, Lucky?"

"Meow."

She shook her head. "You know, why am I even asking? Unlike Ves, I can't tell what you're trying to say."

"Meow."

The two of them quietly enjoyed the show as Ves frenetically perfected the design. At some point, his passion blended with his design seed and Ylvaine spiritual fragment. Three different sources mingled together and connected into one, causing Ves to enter a miraculous mood that motivated him into working even harder!

While this hyperactive inspired state didn't help him solve the problems any better, it imbued the design with a lot more spirituality! The passion he felt passed on to his mech design, elevating its meaning to a greater height!

In his state of total concentration, only a small part of his mind was aware that he had created a work of fervent passion!

It was his most passionate mech design to date!

Did this mean that his other mech designs lacked in passion? Perhaps. The circumstances of their development were different.

Ves never thought he was lacking in passion. He cared about almost all of his mech designs, especially the ones he designed for the market or for a client. As a mech designer who constantly improved, it wasn't difficult for him to maintain his love for the craft.

Yet only now did he feel as if he surpassed a new threshold in passion!

He could feel that the Transcendent Messenger transform under his ministrations despite the limited scope of his adjustments. It constantly gained more meaning as he adjusted its shape.

The weight behind the Transcendent Messenger even seemed to be on track to surpass that of the Aurora Titan!

The most remarkable trait about his famed super-medium space knight design was its exceptionally powerful design spirit. Its X-Factor was by far the strongest he had ever imparted in a mech design!

Yet if Ves stripped this asset away from the Aurora Titan, what was he left with? An overweight mech that moved extremely slowly in space and fought like a tub of lard. Its only merit was that it could absorb a lot of energy damage in the right conditions.

He realized now that the Aurora Titan would never be able to enjoy its current degree of success without its remarkably strong X-Factor. Strip that away, and the mech model would have been destined for failure!

The difference right now was that Ves didn't regard the Transcendent Messenger the same way. While hero mechs were notoriously difficult to design, his abundant knowledge, his design seed, his prior exposure to hero mechs, his latest Mastery experience and the inspiration he received from Ylvaine spiritual fragment all helped him design a great Ylvainan-style hero mech!

None of this would have been possible if he hadn't advanced to Journeyman! His design seed provided him with an enormous amount of help, bridging many gaps and accelerating the design process.

His strengthened Spirituality also helped him refine the spiritual fragment he needed to design a mech that not only conformed to the Ylvainan Faith, but embodied it to the highest degree!

Ves judged that it would be fine if he completed the design without imparting it with a design spirit! Its technical, visual and spiritual design aspects were already strong enough to make the Ylvainans speechless!

Of course, he still intended to proceed with his original plan anyway. Designing a good mech already sounded nice, but he would never miss the chance to make it even better.

"It's close. Just a few more finishing touches before I'm done." He whispered to the spiritual fragment.

At this stage, the spiritual fragment's aura had broken past the boundaries of his mind and radiated outwards.

Ketis frowned as she sensed something unusual in the air. "What's going on? Is gas leaking from somewhere?"

"Meow!"

The cat in her embrace sensed what was going on and grew excited as well! As long as Ves grew more successful, Lucky could look forward to eating better exotics!

The awareness that something unusual was happening extended to the guards and Protectors stationed at the mech workshop. They looked at Ves with amazement as they had the illusion that the great prophet had descended into the mech designer's head!

To the Protectors of the Faith, it seemed as if Ves had been overtaken by divine inspiration! He was doing the great prophet's work!

Chapter 1222

Ves looked up at the statue of Prophet Ylvaine in the chapel of the guest compound.

While exhaustion suffused his body, his mind was content.

He completed the third iteration of the Transcendent Messenger design.

Not only that, but at the final leg of the journey, he entered into an exceptional state.

His entire mind spirit synchronized with both his design seed and Ylvaine's spiritual fragment, uniting their thoughts and desires into a singular purpose.

"That is, to make the Transcendent Messenger a great mech design."

Ves could hardly understand this exceptional state. How did it come to be? Why did it come to him at the very end of the design process?

These questions and more dwelled in his mind, but there was no point obsessing over them. Inspiration followed no rules. It came and went on a whim. Certain actions and mindsets encourages the onset of inspiration, but it was not servant that could be called upon command.

The elusiveness of inspiration didn't make it any less valuable. When an artist or mech designer became inspired, their decision-making reached the pinnacle of their ability. They became hyper-focused on their work and fashioned wondrous creations without any doubt, hesitation or fear!

Ves entered inspired states before. When his passion for his design project became fiery and the stakes were high, he designed his mechs like his life depended on them! None of the mechs he designed while struck by inspiration were found lacking!

Yet his earlier state felt much greater than that. When he got caught up in putting the finishing touches on the Transcendent Messenger design, he felt unprecedentedly powerful, as if none of the limitations applied to him anymore!

It was as if he held the power in his hands to Transcendent Messenger into a mechanical god!

"Of course, that was just an illusion."

He recognized that some of his mindset had been affected by Ylvaine's spiritual fragment. Its personality exhibited absolute faith, and Ves somehow became affected by it as well. His confidence swelled and his certainty in his decisions became absolute!

Even now, when he thought back on his finished product, he was still convinced that it was the right iteration for the Transcendent Messenger.

It may not be the best or the most optimized iteration he was capable of designing, but Ves strongly felt that this was the design he should settle on. The design brought him a strong sense of fulfillment that was difficult to describe.

Perhaps the best way to describe the current state of the Transcendent Messenger as a design that radiated completion.

Some of the Protector guards stationed at the mech workshop muttered something about divine inspiration or whatever, but Ves dismissed their guesses as nonsense.

The holy sensation that struck a chord in the hearts of every Ylvainan did not originate from a god or anything. What actually happened was that the aura from Ylvaine's spiritual fragment broke through the barriers of his mind.

Even so, many of the Protectors presented regarded him like a man possessed by god after he completed the third iteration and came out of his exceptional state.

Now that he returned to the guest compound, a strange impulse compelled him to visit the quiet chapel located in the courtyard.

Although he still didn't believe in the Faith, he enjoyed the peace and tranquility that suffused the chapel. Its sober, solemn and slightly darkened interior momentarily separated him from the hustle and bustle, allowing him to descend from his high and calmly process his gains and experiences.

Perhaps the most important realization was that he shouldn't mystify his earlier state too much. While it supercharged his judgement and brought forth his full mech design potential, the truth was that he hadn't exactly exceeded his boundaries.

"Even without entering this exceptional state, I'm still able to design a great mech."

Mech design involved both art and science. What happened earlier was definitely related to the art component of mech design.

Perhaps the most valuable benefits he gained was that he managed to enhance the native X-Factor of his design and that he tweaked its aesthetics to better fit his vision.

"It is more than a mech. It's a symbol. The Transcendent Messenger is a mech that inspires faith and devotion."

Perhaps it was more appropriate to call it an idol instead, but Ves did not dare to say so. As a non-believer, he did not wish to claim that the Transcendent Messenger design was a product of a god.

"No god designed this mech! It's all me!" Ves stubbornly affirmed. "Anyone who claims that I only managed to design such a good mech should be smacked in the face!"

If a god took credit for his design, then he will kill the god! If Buddha took credit for his work, then he will butcher Buddha!

Overconfidence was bad, but so was excessive modesty. The design was mostly his work so he deserved the bulk of the credit. Ketis helped out as well. While her contributions weren't all that much, the Transcendent Messenger carried some of her influences.

"She's worthy enough to be credited as a contributing designer."

As for Prophet Ylvaine? While it was true that Ylvaine's spiritual fragment provided a lot of guidance to Ves, it mainly served as his muse. The fragment fed his creativity and issued plenty of advice and suggestions, but it wasn't actually capable of designing a mech.

Therefore, to Ves, it didn't deserve any actual credit for designing his mech. He selfishly refused to share the credit to anyone other than himself and Ketis.

The tranquil chapel quickly calmed him down. It was hard to remain agitated when its solemn interior with its judgemental statue of the robed figure of Prophet Ylvaine stared down at you from above.

As a mech designer, he understood the purpose of its interior design. This was a place for introspection. As long as anyone spent enough time inside the chapel, they would be forced to lay bare the truths buried into their minds.

"Maybe I should build something similar back at the Mech Nursery."

One of the reasons why he came here to sober himself up was because he needed to make a decision.

Should he declare an end to the design process and make the third iteration the definitive version of his design?

Logic and emotion warred against each other.

From a logical standpoint, Ves hadn't even fabricated a third prototype and subjected it to testing yet. More problems might have cropped up that still needed addressing. Perhaps a fourth prototype needed to be tested as well before the design reached an ideal state of optimization.

Yet his heart, spirit, intuition and emotion all urged him to settle for the design as is. The design may not have reached a technically perfect state, but who cared about those minor details?

It wasn't as if he was designing a mech for the mass market anyway. His only client was Calabast, who was firmly on his side.

Still, for someone who cared a lot about designing a mech to the best of his abilities, it felt like he was cutting corners at the end of the design process. He had been so meticulous in designing his mech beforehand. Why not continue the same careful approach?

"Maybe it's because the mech design doesn't need any further attention."

Ves faintly felt that if he adjusted the design too much, he risked spoiling its remarkable nature. It was a product of inspiration that incorporated many small design nuances that he couldn't fully justify. They were products of his unconscious design instincts.

Even though he couldn't rationally explain all of his choices, he didn't feel they were wrong. Messing with them basically implied that he doubted his design ability.

His internal struggle grew more divisive as he contemplated whether he should go ahead and Superpublish his design.

Once he activated this function from the System, the Transcendent Messenger would definitely change. Ves expected many of its parameters to grow stronger as the System used knowledge that was far beyond his means to implement many improvements.

The System promised that the overall performance of any Superpublished mech would increase by ten percent. Although Ves only made use of this function once with his Crystal Lord design, he knew the System wasn't exaggerating.

The Transcendent Messenger already performed well at its current state. Improving its performance by ten percent would definitely push it to the level of mechs designed by Seniors!

Yet Ves couldn't exert any control on how the Superpublish function improved his design. It was an external aid that didn't draw on his knowledge or design style to improve the design.

Would the Transcendent Messenger still retain its essence after he Superpublished it? Or would the function dilute the qualities that turned it into such an inspirational mech?

Ves recalled what happened with the Crystal Lord. The laser rifleman mech design still held on to its identity.

Therefore, Ves guessed that even if he Superpublished Transcendent Messenger, it's X-Factor shouldn't weaken.

"The problem is that I don't feel that it's the right choice."

Whenever he felt tempted to activate the Superpublish function, he became plagued with doubt. Even his intuition faintly warned him that he might regret his choice.

"Why is it so important for the mech to retain its current shape?"

Rationally, he knew it was best if he Superpublished the mech. It readily improved the performance of his mech. Yet would it still be the same Transcendent Messenger?

"Yes and no."

He wouldn't be able to acknowledge the mech as his creation anymore. He still deserved much of the credit for its design, but was it truly representative of his own design skill?

The answer to that question would be no.

While a ten percent difference sounded small, to mechs at this level, the difference was huge! Perhaps many mech insiders would guess that Ves approached a Senior or a Master in order to tune-up his mech design. They wouldn't be too far from the truth.

From an artistic standpoint, the violation was even worse. Ves had just fully invested all of his heart and mind into completing the third iteration of his mech. Each time he imaginated the Transcendent Messenger, he felt proud of what he accomplished.

It would be a shame if he sacrificed his pride for convenience.

Therefore, after a very long internal struggle, he decided to listen to his heart and intuition. No matter what might result from his choice, he no longer questioned his decision now that he settled this issue.

"The third iteration of the Transcendent Messenger will be the final one."

A sense of relief suffused his body. A weight lifted off his shoulders. If he decided to go through with Superpublishing his design, then the weight might have grown heavier instead!

"Whatever. I don't know why I feel this way, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts."

Now that he settled this issue, he acted decisively. He activated his comm and called up a small projection of his design.

"It's time for you to take up your new home. Go." He whispered.

After spending months inside his mind, Ylvaine's spiritual fragment could finally depart from his mind.

The fragment seemed to be ready for this moment ever since Ves entered the chapel. It was as if it predicted the result beforehand, because the instant Ves spoke his words, the fragment immediately zipped through the hole that Ves opened up in his mental defenses!

The spiritual fragment immediately arrived at the projection of the Transcendent Messenger and seemed to phase to a different dimension. Once it entered the conceptual space of the design, it settled in and established an enduring connection!

The design grew more holy and austere in his spiritual senses. Its aura grew richer and livelier as its fundamental attributes blended with the qualities of its new design spirit, resulting in a mech that appeared sacred and inviolable!

"The Transcendent Messenger is complete!"

Chapter 1223

He began to consider what he should do next. He couldn't avoid fabricating a prototype and send it off to testing. Even though he had absolute faith in his design, as a responsible mech designer he should always verify the performance of his designs.

"It's a matter of principle. Mech designers should not deliver untested mechs to their clients."

However, while the prototype went off for testing, that didn't mean he should stay idle. He could immediately proceed with fabricating the set of six copies of the design, each exhibiting small variations in their visual and spiritual design.

It was easy for him to make cosmetic adjustments to his mechs. "I don't need to touch the contours of the mech. I can just add some variety to the tabards instead."

The white tabard added a splash of brightness over the plain gunmetal gray armor plating of his design. It didn't take much effort for him to add some color and a symbol that represented one of his six chosen virtues.

"Why does it have to be a symbol?" He scratched his chin. "Maybe it's best to be a little more straightforward and use words instead."

Symbols might convey more depth, but not everyone interpreted them the same way. The Transcendent Messenger was already suffused with so much depth that adding some clarity would help the Ylvainans make sense of his mechs.

Ever since he came up with a plan to vary the X-Factor of his copies, he thought long and hard on how to achieve this change.

He eventually decided to go through with augmenting the X-Factor of his mechs with his images.

While the images didn't have to be strong, he nonetheless wanted to empower them a little bit. For this reason, he intended to empower them with a tiny portion of his spiritual energy, just enough to make them a little more substantial.

Over the next couple of days, Ves and Ketis proceeded to fabricate the prototype first and send it off for testing. The prototype differed substantially from the last two prototypes because it fully conveyed the majesty of its X-Factor!

While nothing special happened when he completed its design, Ves nonetheless felt that the magnitude of its aura came very close to that of the Aurora Titan!

"You weren't kidding when you said the Transcendent Messenger will be as good as your previous design!" Ketis uttered in admiration as she beheld the finished mech. "It's a shame it's such a prototype. It's too precious to be wrecked!"

"Precious or not, I still need the test data to verify that it's safe and performs according to our expectations. Even if I'm assured that everything will be right, others won't necessarily take us at our word. We need hard proof that the mech is capable of delivering what we've promised."

Ves handed the prototype to the staff dispatched by the Curins. They loaded the prototype in a transport and sent it off to the same testing ground as the last time under heavy guard.

For some reason, the Protectors of the Faith dispatched three landbound mech companies and two aerial mech companies to escort the transport! That was an extremely extravagant treatment for just a single mech prototype!

Ves watched with puzzlement as the Kronons seemed to treat the prototype with twice as much care as before!

When he approached a Protector guard officer and asked what had changed, the man offered a surprising reply.

"It's simple, Mr. Larkinson. Our higher-ups have decided to raise the priority of your work. Many of us have reported back to headquarters that your mech is really something special. They must have listened and dispatched more reinforcements to make sure nothing will go wrong this time. You have to be aware that designing a better mech will alarm the extremists even more. We've already observed some irregularities in the vicinity of this mech workshop."

The Protectors of the Faith suffered several losses on Kesseling VIII. This came on top of the setbacks they suffered when they skirmishes against the border forces of the Star Faith Collective.

These high-profile failures not only shamed the Kronon Dynasty, but also called their competence into question. Failing against foreign enemies was one thing, but failing against domestic terrorists implied that they weren't good at anything!

Ves occasionally heard that the Kronon Dynasty instituted some changes behind the scenes. At the very least, they didn't take anything for granted and transferred several mech regiments to the Kesseling System.

The trouble looming over Kesseling VIII wasn't necessarily a threat to the Kronons. It was an opportunity to redeem themselves.

They wanted to fight and win. As long as they secured a single victory, they could put an end to their losing streak and reverse their declining momentum!

Naturally, the Protector officer didn't say all of this, but Ves had already heard enough analyses from Leland to know that the Protectors of the Faith were spoiling for a fight!

Ves didn't want to get caught up in any of that!

He shrugged off the conspiracy theories that crept up in his mind in favor of focusing upon the task at hand.

He was about to perform another experiment. He wanted to see if he could customize the X-Factor of his design by coloring it with a specific focus that deviated from its original vision.

Right now, the X-Factor of the Transcendent Messenger mainly conveyed Ylvaine's absolute faith. It possessed such a high degree of purity towards this sensation that Ves could hardly anything else in its X-Factor.

"It's very pure in this regard."

His previous mech designs conveyed more complex and dynamic X-Factors, so the Transcendent Messenger seemed very one-dimensional in this regard. While it looked very inspiring, it didn't fit with the aggressive mech concept of the design.

A high-impact mech should carry an aggressive X-Factor!

The Transcendent Messenger wasn't supposed to be a priest who knelt on its knees and pressed its palms together to pray in front of its opponent!

Instead, Ves wanted to portray them as holy paladins who fought for their beliefs!

In order to accomplish this effect, he came up with a simple approach. He would design his mechs with two images in mind.

The first one would be the design spirit of the mech. This was easy, as the design practically radiated its influence.

He imagined it as a clear glass of water.

At the same time, he would also hold another image in his mind that represented one of the six virtues.

The addition of this weaker image was akin to infusing the glass of water with one of six different tea flavors.

The water would still be water and retain all of its properties, but the slight tea flavor resulted in a very different taste!

While he hadn't tested out his theories, he felt confident enough about them that he didn't hesitate to put them into action.

"Courage, Justice, Perseverance, Zeal, Sacrifice, Devotion. Six virtues. Six mechs."

Ves began to start with the fabrication of Courage, the Transcendent Messenger mech that embodied this virtue.

It wasn't difficult to construct an image based on this virtue. Ves knew what courage meant and he could draw on several experiences in his life.

However, he wanted Courage to exemplify the courage within the hearts of the Ylvainans. Using his own brand of courage wouldn't be appropriate.

For this reason, he spent an hour browsing the galactic net. He references the stories, parables and myths of the Ylvainan Faith. The First Calamity and the Great Flight that happened hundreds of years ago offered many examples of Ylvainans stepping up to the plate while driven by courage.

"The Ylvainan refugees wouldn't have survived the flight to the Komodo Star Sector without courage. They never gave up or cowered against adversity."

This was the kind of inspirational courage that Ves wanted to convey in his first copy. Immersed in stories showcasing exceptional courage, Ves began to construct an abstract image that carried the essence of Ylvainan courage.

He infused it with a tiny portion of his spiritual energy, which strengthened the image by a very noticeable degree. Although Ves could have made it even stronger, he didn't believe it was necessary.

"It is only a catalyst to effect a transformation."

Only after he formed the image of courage did he proceed with fabricating the first production model of the Transcendent Messenger.

Ves was unusually solemn during the fabrication process. Ketis, who assisted his work, quickly noticed the difference as well.

"Your mood has changed." She said. "You've always been intense when you handcraft a mech, but it's different this time."

"This mech we're making right now is called Courage."

"So?"

"Don't you think a mech designer's feelings matter when they handcraft a mech?"

"We're just following the blueprint of its design." Ketis said in an uncertain tone. "Whether we're sad or happy shouldn't matter as long as our mech matches the design, right?"

"On the surface, that's true. However, I believe that the intentions and feelings of the craftsman matter. You might not be able to sense the love and passion they pour into their work, but I think that they definitely make a difference. The emphasis they put into their work can also make a difference as well, hence why I am thinking about courage while I'm designing this mech."

Ketis eventually shrugged. She had witnessed several inexplicable wonders from Ves and became used to his vague and esoteric explanations. Even if she didn't understand everything, she got the gist of it at least.

"Maybe I should try it out as well." She muttered.

Once they resumed their work, Ves indeed noticed that Ketis tried to concentrate on courage. As a former Swordmaiden, Ketis didn't need any help to come up with examples of courage.

Her efforts were very minimal, however. Not only did she lack the spiritual strength to imprint her thoughts on the mech, she also didn't clear her mind of distractions.

Although her concentration improved enormously ever since he fed her with candy, old habits died hard. Ketis was still Ketis and even when she was working, her mind still drifted off every now and then.

It took three days for Courage to take shape. When Ves finally stepped back and beheld the finished product, he was satisfied with the result. The tall hero mech with its ballistic carbine and its heavy saber felt just as strong and pure in its faith as the last prototype!

The white tabard that he synthesized from a specialized machine had been draped over the mech. Hanging from its shoulders, the cloth covered both the front and the back of the mech.

Ves placed the word COURAGE just underneath the sigils on its chest area. The bold words instantly conveyed the meaning of the mech.

There was a snag, though. He couldn't sense the aspect of Courage in its X-Factor. Whatever courage it possessed was drowned out by the Transcendent Messenger's absolute faith!

"It needs more flavor."

He began to enact his experiment and sent out the abstract image of courage from his mind. He attempted to infuse it into Courage.

Surprisingly, the image was attracted to the mech. The tiny portion of courage that Ves had already imprinted on the mech acted like a beacon that called the image home.

The empowered image blended into the X-Factor of the mech with remarkably little fanfare or complications. It complimented the absolute faith that dominated the X-Factor and began to influence it slightly.

Only now did Ves feel that Courage was worthy of its name.

During the entire process, Ketis watched Ves staring silently at the mech for several minutes while holding Lucky. She somehow sensed that Courage had changed during this time and grew suspicious.

"Is Ves a wizard or something, Lucky?"

"Meow."

"What does he even specialize in? I used to believe his design philosophy is a bunch of esoteric mumbo jumbo, but now I think he's definitely on to something. Does magic exist, you think?"

"Meow!"

Chapter 1224

Courage largely validated his guess on what would happen if he blended an additional image into the X-Factor of existing mech. His experiment to see if he could alter this aspect despite its strength was largely a success.

Ves strongly perceived the differences between Courage and the final prototype. It was like comparing a glass of water with a glass of tea. They were largely the same, but the insertion of a distinct flavor shifted Courage's emphasis.

"Too bad it's not applicable in every case." He sighed.

The reason why his weak image of courage achieved such a strong shift in emphasis was because he deliberately designed the Transcendent Messenger to be influenced in this manner.

If he wanted to achieve the same result in another mech, then he would basically have to narrow the scope of the X-Factor.

This might be fine when it came to custom mechs where he was responsible for only a handful of copies.

However, if he tried to do the same to his mass market mechs, then the overwhelming amount of copies his company sold would basically be crippled mechs. The mechs wouldn't live up to their potential because their X-Factor was incomplete!

Mechs designed for the market needed to accommodate the needs of the many rather than the few. Ves would never cripple the mech experience for 99.9999 percent of his regular customers just to make the remaining 0.0001 percent happy.

"Another issue is that the courage component is weaker than I thought."

Even if Ves empowered the abstract image of courage with a tiny portion of his precious spiritual energy, it still didn't match up against the spirituality of Ylvaine's spiritual fragment. The design spirit exerted a very strong influence on the mech.

If not for the complementary nature of the virtue of courage, the design spirit would have never allowed the image to fuse with the X-Factor of the mech!

The courage component was fragile. Whether it grew stronger or diminished into irrelevance depended on the usage of the mech and the mentality of its mech pilot.

If paired with a cautious and risk-averse mech pilot, Ves foresaw that the courage aspect of the mech would starve or even flip into cowardice!

Ves knew very well that the X-Factor of the copies of his mechs were not entirely rigid. He designed each of his mechs to accommodate changes and growth.

Mostly, this was good, as he expected the X-Factor to grow in strength after accumulating a lot of experiences.

However, not everyone grew up to be a model citizen. Many people in the galaxy degenerated into pirates.

"If people can be corrupted, mechs can be corrupted as well!"

He couldn't help but recall the first prototype. While its current design didn't match the final version of the Transcendent Messenger, it still shared a solid connection.

When Ylvaine's spiritual fragment became the design spirit of the Transcendent Messenger, did this mean the X-Factor of the first prototype grew in strength as well?

"Ah hell. I'll be damned if something like this happens!"

Due to the purity of its X-Factor, the first prototype could easily be corrupted into a black sheep of the family!

"Godamnit. What kind of depravity is my prototype suffering at the hands of the True Believers?"

This was the nature of X-Factor. The mech pilot played an integral role in the future direction of the X-Factor of their mechs.

This phenomenon was particularly strong when it came to the Transcendent Messenger. It's X-Factor basically consisted of a blank canvas of faith. Aside from the mech's devotion to Ylvaine's beliefs, it left plenty of room to accommodate other influences!

"Well, it's not like I'm responsible for what happens after I deliver my mechs." He eventually shrugged.

Overall, Ves was content with the result of this experiment. While its technical specifications remained exactly the same as that of the prototype, its air of courage mixed in with its faith resulted in a completely different perception of the mech!

He began to tackle the remaining virtues one by one. Each time he embarked on another copy of the Transcendent Messenger, he spent a couple of hours to familiarize himself with the virtues from the perspective of the Ylvainan.

Even Ketis imitated his actions, believing that she was able to help in this area as well.

The virtue of Justice came next. It was another easy virtue for him to comprehend, he thought. Justice existed in every society.

The only complication was that the Ylvainans intersected their justice with their faith.

Was it justice to imprison an Ylvainan citizen for becoming an atheist? Was it justice to condemn a mother to death if she wanted to bring up her children as non-believers?

As a citizen from a secular state, these examples sounded extreme and anything but just. Yet from the perspective of the Ylvainans themselves, their faith was an integral role to their identity and the identity of their state. Weakening their religion was akin to launching an attack on their distinctive culture and society!

"Justice isn't absolute." He remarked.

Ketis snorted from the seat next to him. "Justice is whatever the strongest people want it to be. The believers hold all the power in this state, hence why they are right to outlaw blasphemy and heresy."

While Ves objected to this argument, Ketis was only stating a simple truth. The one with the biggest fist set the rules. The followers of the Ylvainan Faith obtained this right as soon as they founded a state that explicitly accommodated their beliefs and nothing else.

Therefore, the Ylvainan version of justice strongly emphasized religious purity. It was fine if an Ylvainan believed in an off-kilter interpretation of Ylvaine's sayings like the Ascensionists, but dropping the faith or converting to another one was a severe act of injustice to the other Ylvainans in the Protectorate!

Maintaining religious purity among the citizens of the Ylvaine Protectorate fell within the mandate of the Ylvainan Inquisition. The splinter group of the Attendants of Ylvaine made it their holy mission to preserve the integrity of the Ylvainan Faith by hunting down blasphemers and apostates!

While many people found them scary, the inquisition actually enjoyed a lot of support among the Ylvainans! The traditionalists practically considered them as the true protectors of the faith!

As a citizen of the Bright Republic, Ves almost couldn't bring himself to adopt such an extreme perspective.

"It's hard!"

Ylvainan justice completely went against the values he had been brought up in the Bright Republic. The two were so opposited on this matter that Ves resorted to wearing the abstract image of Justice over his mind like a mask!

The instance he donned the mask, his cognitive dissonance became muted. While he still felt uncomfortable, at the very least he was able to tolerate this viewpoint.

"Urgh. I still feel like I'm betraying the Bright Republic somehow."

Ketis needed little adjustment. Though she felt very little for the Ylvainan Faith, her frontier values taught her that might was right. Fairness didn't fit in her concept of justice.

After this mixed adjustment process, the two proceeded to fabricate Justice, the second copy of the Transcendent Messenger design. Ves repeated all of the steps with Courage and managed to produce a mech that distinctly radiated a different aura!

The differences were especially stark when Justice was placed next to Courage!

While much of their auras overlapped and reinforced its other due to their common faith, they still retained their unique personalities. It was as if a young and brash warrior stood next to an old and stern inquisitor. Both of them believed in the same religion, but both of them expressed and served their faith in different ways.

"Are you sure the second mech represents justice?" Ketis asked as she admired the two mechs. "If you ask me, self-righteousness."

Ves shook his head. "Justice and self-righteousness are two sides of the same coin. What is just and what is unjust? It's not our job to answer this question. Just like any piece of art, not every mech has to provide an answer. Sometimes, raising a question is sufficient to provoke the minds of our customers."

The next virtue was a lot easier for them to adopt. Perseverance was one of the most important virtues of the Ylvainan people.

The First Calamity was an enormously damaging attack on their faith.

The Great Flight that happened afterwards tested the perserverence of the fleeing survivors.

The three leading dynasties, left leaderless after the complete annihilation of the original Ylvaine Dynasty, had to persist through many setbacks and adversities in their long trek to the edge of the galaxy!

Only by reaching the newly-opened Komodo Star Sector would the remnants of the followers of the Ylvainan Faith be able to carve out a star territory of their own!

For this reason, the Ylvainan records and historical footage contained plenty of examples of perseverance. No matter how many blows the Ylvainans suffered, they never gave up trying to find a new home for their people!

Ves became inspired by all of the stories of stoic perseverance. Their stubbornness and conviction that they needed to hold to their beliefs echoed with his heart.

Even Ketis exhibited a lot of enthusiasm for this virtue. In the past, she depended on her perseverance to last through the grueling training that every Swordmaiden was subjected to. In the present, she relied on perseverance to carry her through all of the knowledge she needed to learn in order to catch up to Ves!

Their strong affinity for perseverance therefore resulted in a smooth and enjoyable fabrication run. Ves could already tell that Perseverance was definitely his favorite copy of the series!

When Ves moved on to Zeal, he adopted a complex expression. "This is Taon Melin's mech."

The Kronon elite bore the shame of losing the first prototype. Yet when Taon visited Ves to confess his failings, Ylvaine's spiritual fragment randomly decided to invade the mech pilot's mind!

Whatever the spiritual fragment had done, Taon came out as a changed man. The abrupt shift stank of indoctrination. The only reason why Ves didn't exhibit too much alarm was because Ylvaine's spiritual fragment acted benignly.

Ever since then, Ves could feel the zeal oozing from Taon's determined eyes.

Zeal was an essential component to the Ylvainan Faith. The zeal exhibited by its most ardent followers kept the faith alive and dynamic. The traditionalists and the extremists exemplified this virtue well, perhaps too well in some cases. Yet there was no doubt that their boundless enthusiasm to dedicate themselves to the Ylvainan Faith insured that it continued to stay strong even after several centuries of persecution and self-imposed isolation!

"Aside from that, zeal always carries a special meaning to me." Ves whispered.

Zeal also happened to be closely related to passion. Whenever Ves was passionate about one of his mech designs, he expressed great zeal to turn it into a great product!

Therefore, despite the religious connotations of the word, Ves didn't find it hard to grasp this virtue.

He only needed to adopt the Ylvainan version of zeal instead of his own. Because it conflicted strongly with his Brighter upbringing, Ves found it necessary to wear the mask of Ylvainan zeal when he fabricated the mech.

He managed to complete Zeal without any further complications. In fact, Ves put extra care in its fabrication because of its intended mech pilot. Since Taon thought he could redeem himself through his zeal, then Ves wanted to accommodate his desires as much as possible!

The last two virtues he wanted to tackle were sacrifice and devotion.

"Sacrifice, huh?"

Ves entered a strange mood when his thoughts turned to this particular virtue.

If he was being honest with himself, he didn't particularly exemplify this virtue. In fact, he mostly exhibited the opposite instead!

He had no qualms in admitting that he was a selfish person. Even though he rationalized his selfishness with the excuse that he often didn't have a choice, in his heart he believed that he would never voluntarily sacrifice himself for the benefit of others.

Yet was this truly the case?

"Am I truly a selfish bastard?" He whispered to himself.

"Yup!" Ketis vigorously nodded.

"Meow!"

Even Lucky agreed!

Chapter 1225

Sacrifice seemed to be an alien word for Ves, but in fact he had seen plenty of examples of this virtue.

"Remember the decisive battle against the Vesians back then?" Ves commented solemnly.

He referred to the battle between the Flagrant Vandals and Lydia's Swordmaidens against the Hostland Warriors and the Meandering Monkeys.

Ketis nodded. "Almost every mech pilot sacrificed themselves. The Silver Valencia pilots blew themselves up to give the rest of us a chance."

They failed. If not for the presence of Venerable Foster and her indestructible Belisarius expert mech, the Vandals and Swordmaidens might have stood a chance of winning. Unfortunately, the sacrifice of so many mech pilots only bought a handful of surviving support personnel some time to escape to the Starlight Megalodon.

"Even if those brave men and women died in vain, their intentions were noble." Ves noted. "They completely gave up all sense of self-preservation to give us and everyone else at the rear a chance to live and retain their freedom. Even if they are bastards and scoundrels against everyone else, they are completely willing to sacrifice themselves to save their brothers and sisters. I think that proves that even the most black-hearted pirate can exhibit altruism in the right circumstances."

"The Swordmaidens were family." She said. "We developed a sisterhood. No matter where we used to come from, once we became Swordmaidens, we all regarded each other as family."

Family. This was the pivotal word. Many people would hesitate if they were asked to sacrifice themselves to save a stranger, acquaintance or friend. Yet once it concerned family, the equation changed.

To Ves, sacrifice was intermingled with his family. The Larkinson Family as a whole sacrificed many of their mech pilots in order to uphold their duty to the Bright Republic. Several young Larkinsons had already fallen during the recent war, and several more would have died if the war hadn't ended prematurely.

Yet to him, the sacrifices of the Larkinson Family paled in comparison to that of his father.

In order to grant Ves the best opportunity of his life, his father went into exile and cut himself off from the rest of the family. The trail of his father already went cold in the vast and inscrutable Nyxian Gap, which was considered to be just as dangerous as the frontier!

A parent's love for their child was one of the strongest forces in existence. Each time Ves enjoyed success in his mech design career, he had his father and perhaps his mother to thank for giving him this incredible opportunity in life.

Even if the gift they bestowed him came with its own issues, Ves could not deny that he wouldn't have come so far without it. While he was living a fantastic life as an exceptional mech designer, his father must be fighting for his life in the cold and unforgiving Nyxian Gap.

Thinking about his father's sacrifice reminded Ves of one of his goals in life. The reason why he worked hard to advance his career and become more prominent was because he wanted to save his father.

Without becoming powerful enough to protect himself against the threat of the insidious Five Scrolls Compact, Ves could forget about saving his father!

If he moved prematurely, he would just put himself in the crosshairs of this extremely powerful cult instead!

It frustrated him that even after five years of hard work, Ves still had a long way to go before he could save his father.

Each day that went by was another day in which his father might suffer a mishap in lawless space. The pirates and dark mercenaries of the Nyxian Gap were all known for their cutthroat ruthlessness. How could a straight-laced Larkinson like his father survive among the most ruthless degenerates in the star sector?

"If you had kids someday, you would sacrifice everything for them I think." Ketis remarked while eying him with an odd expression.

"Any parent would do so. Humanity wouldn't have reached this point if we didn't want our offspring to live a better life."

Still, having children and raising them was a distant prospect for him right now. Still, if he ever had children, he would probably shower them with as much love as his parents once did to him. Would he sacrifice himself for their wellbeing?

Definitely.

"Let's turn our attention back to sacrifice the way the Ylvainans understand this virtue. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for more than just their family. They're willing to die for their beliefs."

Much of the early history of the Ylvainan Faith was suffused with sacrifice. Again, the First Calamity and the Great Flight offered many examples of this virtue.

Entire starships filled with refugees stayed behind to stall their hostile pursuers in order to buy time for the rest of the refugee fleet to transition into FTL!

The Great Flight was basically one huge saga that was littered with both tragedy and sacrifice!

Billions of Ylvainan worshippers died over the years as they fled to the outer reaches of the galaxy. Many of them died unwillingly, but they could have escaped this fate if they renounced their faith.

Whether they were misguided or not, Ves acknowledged their determination to hold on to their beliefs.

He possessed his own principles and beliefs, but whether he was willing to die for them was still in question.

It was better if he could avoid this choice entirely!

"I think we've developed a good understanding of sacrifice. Let's get to work."

They proceeded to fabricate the fifth copy of the Transcendent Messenger. Ves constructed the image without donning a mask because it wasn't very hard for him to imagine himself dying for his principles.

Whether he would actually do so if pushed into a corner, Ves didn't know. As long as it remained a theoretical possibility, it was easy for him to act tough in his imagination.

In any case, Ves was proud of Sacrifice when he completed the mech and infused it with the abstract image of the Ylvainan concept of Sacrifice. It took on a solemn holiness as if it had made peace with itself.

The Sacrifice was the most grave and serious mech of the series.

Whereas the other five copies of the Transcendent Messenger pursued victory, Sacrifice focused mainly on staving off total defeat.

"It's really different from the rest." Ketis remarked as the five finished mechs stood side by side. "The other mechs offer a ray of sunshine while Sacrifice looks like it has already brought an umbrella to block the rain."

"Each mech represents a different aspect of the Ylvainan Faith. Despite its despondent nature, Sacrifice is the most noble of the six."

While each mech exhibited their unique points, the main feature of the hero mech design had always been its ability to inspire faith! A horrible accumulation of faith had gathered in the section of the workshop where they temporarily stored their mechs.

The five finished Transcendent Messengers each reinforced each other's auras.

Aside from reinforcing their common faith, Ves discovered to his surprise that the different virtues also resonated with each other!

This was a completely unexpected development!

Courage reinforced Sacrifice. Perseverance reinforced Justice. Justice reinforced Zeal!

This was just a handful of the web of connections between the five mechs! Each virtue mutually reinforced the other virtues!

Their common foundation based on their absolute faith in Ylvaine's beliefs paved the way for this intricate and fascinating interaction.

If five mechs already resulted in such a complicated web, then adding another one would surely be even better!

"Let's move on to Devotion."

Ves considered this to be the virtue that tied the Ylvainan Faith together. Prophet Ylvaine managed to convert many different people to his beliefs during his lifetime.

He possessed a quality that inspired devotion in everyone!

Devotion lay at the heart of every religion, and the Ylvainan Faith was no different. Despite its weird and eclectic beliefs, the faith had always managed to unite its worshippers under a single banner due to the enduring devotion it roused!

"Becoming devoted to a faith is more than paying lip service to its rituals and beliefs." He stated. "You need to be sincere and surrender yourself to something greater than yourself."

He witnessed many people dedicating their entire lives to their faith. The worshippers of Haatumak and the Cursed and Blessed People of Aeon Corona VII all devoted much if not all of their time in service to their gods.

It was something very alien to someone like Ves. Even if a higher existence akin to a god was truly out there, why should Ves devote his life to such a being?

If a god demanded his devotion, then Ves better get something in return!

Other people may be content with freely giving away their devotion, but that was wasteful to the extreme! Devotion was a scarce good, and that meant that it should come with a price!

"Devotion is just a nice way of describing blind fanaticism." Ketis critically remarked.

Ketis showed a lot of nonchalance towards devotion due to her experiences in the frontier. She recalled the depravities that many extreme cults got away with by indoctrinating their worshippers into mindless sheep.

"There are both good and bad connotations to devotion." Ves replied, not entirely agreeing with her stance. "Sure, in many cases it's taken advantage of, but devotion also helps many people find their meaning in life."

Humanity's enduring entanglement with religion even after they advanced to the stars showed that devotion was an intricate part of their civilization. In fact, many aliens also exhibited a varying propensity towards devotion, proving that devotion was something that transcended race!

Despite his mixed views towards devotion, the Ylvainans were relatively benign their devotion to their faith.

The Ylvainan Faith was not a closed-off entity that demanded their worship while giving only scraps in return.

The faith intertwined itself in the lives of every Ylvainan. It stayed relevant outside the church. As the state religion of the Protectorate, the Ylvainan Faith was present in every school, every store, every street and so on. Even the mech community wasn't exempt from this pervasiveness!

"The entire Ylvaine Protectorate is devoted to the faith!"

This was an example of devotion to the highest extent!

Ves ran with these concepts of devotion and embarked on fabricating the final Transcendent Messenger of the series. He repeated many of the same steps and finished the mech in less than three days.

Once infused with the image of the last virtue that remained, the mech called Devotion fully came into its own!

As loaders placed the newly-fabricated mechs next to its siblings, an awe-inspiring sight came into being.

Ves, Ketis, Lucky and all the Protectors of the Faith that stood guard in the mech workshop couldn't help but stop and stare at the collection of mechs.

"Courage. Justice. Perseverance. Zeal. Sacrifice. Devotion." Ves recited the names affixed on their tabards. "Six virtues. One mech model. All united for a single cause."

The insertion of Devotion resulted in a qualitative difference in his perception of the mechs. Although it only sparked a minor increase into the common foundation of their auras, the addition of this latest virtue amplified the interconnectedness of every virtue!

Ves couldn't help but describe what he saw. "Devotion is the glue that binds the virtues! None of the other virtues can exist without devotion!"

The auras of all six mechs constantly pulsed and shifted as the virtues constantly sparked against each other. Each of the mechs seemed so sacred and divine that a number of Protector guards spontaneously lost control and bent to their knees in prayer!

"I can feel it! These mechs are the works of Ylvaine!"

"Not even the grand cathedral is as majestic as this sight! These mechs are divinely touched!"

"We have witnessed a miracle in the making!"

The abnormal behavior of the normally-stoic Kronon guards proved that Ves had succeeded! All of the risks he took had been worth it if he could accomplish such an exceptional emotional response from the Ylvainans!

Just as Ves basked in the glory and satisfaction of producing a profoundly compelling series of hero mechs, the doors leading into the mech workshop slammed open!

Ves and some of the other Protectors instantly turned around and saw that a delegation of inquisitors had arrived without announcement!

High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco strode forward with strong and determined steps despite his advanced age. He ignored the mechs entirely and focused his burning eyes solely on his target.

"Your Excellency, to what do we owe your visit?" Ves guardedly asked as he abruptly came off his high of completing his goal.

"You are under arrest, Mr. Larkinson! We have proof that you are involved with stealing the holy relic from the Grand Cathedral of Ylvaine's Mercy!"

What?! Ves widened his eyes! How did they find out!?

"In addition to that, your efforts in designing these deceptive mechs in order to corrupt our beliefs is blasphemy! This reason is enough to take you away!"

What kind of excuse was that?!

Chapter 1226

The high inquisitor was completely serious when he charged Ves with the crimes of sacrilege and blasphemy!

Even if the latter stood on shaky grounds, the former was already serious enough to condemn him to death!

His status as a foreigner and a guest to the state wouldn't protect him from the death penalty in case the Ylvainan Inquisition found him guilty. Any foreigner and non-believer who voluntarily entered a religious state implicitly or explicitly accepted their house rules!

If foreigners objected to these unfair rules based on religious rather than legal grounds, then they shouldn't have visited the state in the first place!

Therefore, even if his status as a de facto Journeyman afforded Ves some protection, he could not count on the MTA to bail him out of his own stupidity!

The inquisition didn't target him this time due to his status as a mech designer. Instead, they approached him as a faithless foreigner who nefariously wanted to damage the religious institutions of the Ylvaine Protectorate!

Ves grimaced as he stared right back at High Inquisitor Poxco's glowing eyes. He was reminded of the Ylvainan spin of justice, and how it could easily go astray.

He learned enough about the Ylvainan Inquisition that nothing good would happen once they took someone into custody. Almost no one escaped punishment once they fell into their clutches as they were very effective in extracting 'confessions' out of their captives.

As long as Ves ended up in their dungeons, he would definitely undergo a lot of torture in order to force out all of the secrets he possessed!

This was completely unacceptable to him! Nevermind stealing the holy relic and whatever else the Ylvainans accused him of. If he was forced to reveal his deeper secrets, then that would definitely spell the end of him and his entire family!

Seconds passed as Ves contemplated a way to avoid falling into the custody of the inquisition.

"Does Director Cecily Curin know of this?" He asked.

"She knows." The high inquisitor smirked. "I'm afraid that there is nothing she can do against the magnitude of the charges arrayed against you. The proof we've gathered has given us sufficient grounds to take you away. Will you surrender to us peacefully or are you going to launch a last-ditch attempt to escape?"

Ves knew his chances of escaping was extremely miniscule. Xefin Lin Poxco came highly-prepared this time. Not only did he bring five well-prepared junior inquisitors, but he also brought along over thirty guards who were loyal to the inquisition!

It was impossible for him to eliminate them all with a single blast of his Amastendira. The forces of the inquisition weren't stupid enough to clump together and had already spread out over the entire workshop. Not only did they cover every angle, they also sealed every possible exit.

Even if Ves somehow overcame the entire inquisition, who knew how many infantry and mechs of the inquisition waited outside the mech workshop!

Ves glanced towards the Protector guards. Many of them wore full-face helmets, but those who exposed their faces showed obvious hesitance. They weren't on the inquisition's side, but neither did they have the obligation to defend Ves against their persecution.

As for the Avatars of Myth, while they came with a handful of mechs, they would never be able to survive once they opened fire. That would make them enemies of the entire planet, star system and state! There was no way they could get away with helping Ves resist arrest!

The grimace on his face deepened as he realized he possessed very few options to extricate himself from the inquisition. The Sparous Vize and the Rising Red Dragon were still in the hands of the Protector guards, so Ves and Ketis wouldn't be able to suit up before the Inquisition forces peppered their bodies with rounds and laser beams.

Perhaps the only reasonable way he could escape this predicament was by activating his Full Stealth augment on his System comm. As long as he sneaked out of the mech workshop and entered the city, he'd be able to switch to his Privacy Shield and remain out of sight of electronic surveillance while he escaped further.

Yet this was still not an ideal solution. As long as he resisted arrest, both the Ylvainan Inquisition and the Protectors of the Faith were compelled to hunt him down no matter the cost. Ves would find no safe haven on the planet and trying to smuggle himself out of the star system was incredibly difficult!

More than that, resisting arrest would also invalidate everything he worked for during this business trip!

How could he abandon his goals just when he was so close to making them come into fruition? He already completed the mechs he set out to design and produce! He just needed to hand them over to Madame Cecily or the Curins in order for them to showcase the foreign-designed mechs in public!

The high inquisitor coughed. "As much as it amuses me to see you denying your guilt, we don't have all day. We have a missing relic to return and you are our primary suspect."

Time was almost up. Just as Ves blinked to Lucky in order to help him with his escape, another group of Ylvainans entered the workshop!

"STOP, Your Excellency!" Calabast shouted in her identity as Madame Cecily! "While it is within your right to charge Mr. Larkinson with sacrilege and blasphemy, the Curins will not allow the inquisition to obtain sole custody of the accused! No matter the proof you've gathered, he is an esteemed guest of the Protectorate, and the handling of his case must proceed with utmost fairness!"

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" High Inquisitor Poxco frowned. "Your presence here changes nothing. The law is on our side."

Calabast offered a smile. "That may be true, but the Attendants of Ylvaine have been persuaded to take a lighter hand in this case. I believe you should get in touch with your superiors."

The high inquisitor frowned deeper but followed her suggestion. A minute later, he looked angry.

"Director Cecily! What is the meaning of this!? What bribes did you Curins offer to stay our hand?!"

"It's not just us who object to the rough treatment you have in store for the accused." She spoke. "The Kronons have expressed an interest in treating Mr. Larkinsons fairly as well."

Ves turned his attention to the Protector guard captain who stood at the side. He seemed to be holding a private comm call with his superiors. After the call ended, the man stepped forward.

"Director Cecily is correct. I have been informed that the Kronon Dynasty wishes to ensure that Mr. Larkinson is to be treated with dignity and respect!"

The underlying meaning was obvious. Both the Curin and Kronon Dynasty threw their support behind Ves. While the Ylvainan Inquisition could still ignore their objections due to the severity of the accussations they brought forward, their own mother organizations reined them in! High Inquisitor Poxco just learned that he lost much of his power!

"Let us discuss what will happen with Mr. Larkinson and his work while he is taken into custody." Calabast suggested.

The three representatives of the three leading dynasties gathered together to hash out the messy situation. Ves tried to listen in but Calabast had already activated her signal jammer.

Five minutes later, the three separated. Xefin Lin Poxco looked as if his entire day had been ruined as he turned his attention back to his target.

"Mr. Larkinson. Please come with us. You will be taken to a secure villa that is jointly guarded by the Ylvainan Inquisition and the Protectors of the Faith. There, you will wait until your case is brought up to the local tribunal."

Ves looked at Calabast, who nodded. "It's okay. The Protectors of the Faith will make sure that nothing will go amiss."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Trust me on this. The inquisition aren't allowed to bring out their thumb screws while you're in custody. Just surrender quietly and don't give them a reason to curtail the privileges I've secured for you at great cost."

This compromise solution sounded a lot better than ending up in the sole custody of the inquisition.

"Very well, director. I will trust you this once."

Upon High Inquisitor Poxco's nod, the junior inquisitors stepped forward and strip-searched Ves. Their hands and their sensors swept over his business attire, sniffing out his comm and the handful of tools and gadgets he stuffed in his pockets.

Once they became assured that Ves no longer carried anything on his body but his clothes, they shackled his wrists together with solid manacles made out of compressed alloy.

The Ylvainan Inquisition really didn't want Ves to escape!

A handful of Protector guards joined the inquisitors as they calmly escorted their captive to their shuttle.

As Ves was being guided out of the workshop, he turned around and saw to his relief that Ketis and Lucky had been entirely neglected during this whole spat.

Calabast stood close to Ketis and whispered some words to her. Ves counted on the spy to keep the younger woman safe and out of the reach of the inquisition.

The shuttle took him to a guarded villa in the outskirts of Krent. Ves saw a couple of mechs bearing the colors and markings of the Inquisition surrounding the entire site.

Mechs dispatched by the Kronon Dynasty were also arriving. They walked in from several directions and seemed to crowd out the mechs of the inquisition!

With the Protectors of the Faith out in strength, the Ylvainan Inquisition wouldn't dare act improperly!

As Ves settled inside the plain and largely-empty villa, he waited for someone to give him an explanation. A few hours passed by until Calabast arrived at the villa and managed to force the inquisition to allow her to meet with the captive.

"You're in a lot of trouble, Ves." She said while raising her finger in a strange gesture.

The gesture warned him that the entire villa was under constant monitoring. Everything they said and every reaction or fluctuation in their bodies would be scrutinized by the inquisition. They would definitely use the evidence they gathered to reinforce their accusations!

Understanding this, Ves decided to don the image of innocence as his mask. Although it wasn't flawless, at least it suppressed his unconscious body language from giving away his guilt.

"I'm innocent!" He said emphatically. "Whatever the inquisition accuses me of, it's false!"

"I know." Calabast lied. "You were nowhere close to the grand cathedral while the relic went missing. However, the Ylvainan Inquisition claim that even if you haven't yanked the relic from the grand cathedral, they are convinced that you are definitely related to the theft."

"What is their proof?" He asked.

"In order to justify your arrest to the Curins and Kronons, the Ylvainan Inquisition has revealed they have found microscopic particles that used to be part of the holy relic during a routine search of your room at the guest compound. The particles they found underwent multiple lab tests owned by different factions. Each of them have matched the particles to the nutrient pack wrapper that went missing."

Damnit! Ves didn't think the inquisition would snoop around in his room so thoroughly! Even though Lucky ate the entire holy relic, some minute portions must have spilled out of his mouth or something!

Next time, Lucky should close his mouth while he chewed! And he should also use a plate while eating! Letting remnants of his food spill onto the floor was bad hygiene!

Ves maintained his innocent act. "I don't know where those particles came from, madame. For all I know, someone or something sneaked into my room and dropped a few crumbs. I'm being framed!"

"I believe you, but proving that will be difficult. You should be aware that this is the first clue we've found that could lead us back to the missing relic! Many Ylvainans will side with the inquisition, giving them ample support for them to find you guilty regardless of the questions we raise in front of the upcoming tribunal!"

In other words, regardless of whether the proof was adequate or not, the inquisition could still condemn Ves as long as they had the public on their side!

Chapter 1227

According to Calabast's take on the situation, the Ylvainan Inquisition came up with a plan to neutralize the opposition from the Curins and the Kronons.

The two leading dynasties both stood behind Ves and ensured his safety. Yet they were only able to lend their support to a foreigner so long as their core interests weren't at stake.

The three leading dynasties jointly ruled the Ylvaine Protectorate for centuries without falling out, but that didn't mean they lived in harmony with each other. Each of them emphasized a different vision of Ylvainan society.

Of the three dynasties, the Poxcos were the most fervent in their faith. This meant that even as the other two dynasties slowly drifted towards the reform agenda, the Attendants of Ylvaine firmly remained in the camp of the traditionalists.

Logically speaking, for a splinter organization of the Poxcos to preside over Ves' case was highly improper. The inquisition implicitly stood up for the interests of the Poxco interpretation of the Ylvainan Faith, which basically meant that they were highly inclined towards the traditionalists!

It was too bad that much of the Ylvaine Protectorate didn't care about the inherent conflict of interest in the inquisition. As long as they found sufficient 'evidence', they could accuse anyone of damaging the interests of the Ylvainan Faith and sentence them to death!

Normally, this should have been a real cause for concern, but the Ylvainan Inquisition acted with a considerable amount of restraint most of the time. It also helped that they showed a lot more care when accusing a Curin or a Kronon of a crime.

This was also the reason why Ves had been moved to a villa instead of a cramped cell. The backing of the Curins and the Kronons was crucial to his safety while he was under house arrest!

"It's because of the backing of both the Curins and the Kronons that your tribunal will also proceed more fairly than is usually the case when the Inquisition charges someone with a crime." Calabast emphasized. "Ordinarily, three judges from the inquisition will preside over your case, which is very bad because they rarely acquit the accused who have been put forward."

Ostensibly, the inquisition only charged a heretic or blasphemer with a crime when they gathered sufficient evidence to determine their guilt.

Ves was very skeptical of this explanation. He was more inclined to believe that the inherent conflict of interest within the inquisition turned their tribunals into show trials!

He could already see the result if he was being brought up in front of High Inquisitor Poxco's own colleagues!

Fortunately, Calabast offered a ray of sunshine to him. "You don't have to be afraid that the tribunal will rubber stamp the high inquisitor's charges. Now that both the Curins and Kronons have butted in, the Ylvainan Inquisition has been forced to take a step backwards. Only one of the judges is an inquisitor. The Curins have dispatched a respected judge from Kesseling VIII's highest court. The Kronons on their part have put one of their military judges forward as the third member of the tribunal."

"How are these other two judges inclined towards my case?"

"In the interest of fairness, the Curins and Kronons have dispatched what they consider the fairest judges they can push forward in a short timeframe. Both of the judges I've mentioned have excellent records. Personally, I think the high court judge dispatched by our dynasty will be the most sympathetic to your predicament. The military judge sent by the Kronons won't be as friendly, but will definitely be the most objective and impartial out of the three judges."

"In other words, the military judge will likely be the swing vote. My acquittal will hinge on his judgement."

While Ves had been surprised with the support he received from the Kronons, they were known for their integrity. Even if some of their higher ups liked him, they wouldn't bend the rules just for his sake.

This raised his curiosity of what happened earlier. "Why did the Kronons back me up at the mech workshop?"

"They like your mechs." Calabast replied. "The Transcendent Messengers that you've finished have made quite a splash among the hierarchy of the Protectors."

That was a very welcome piece of news, though it probably wasn't enough to sway the military judge they assigned to his case.

"So what happens now, madame?"

"The Curins have already prepared a team of lawyers to handle your case. They'll make the necessary preparations and will represent you in front of the tribunal that is scheduled to start after a week. The Inquisition always moves fast, so we don't have a lot of time to prepare your defense."

"A week?! That's way too fast!"

"That's the inquisition for you. They're completely different from the Protectorate's civil, criminal and military court system." Calabast sighed.

The Ylvainans were still very backwards in a lot of matters!

"So what do you think of my chances at the upcoming tribunal?" He asked.

"Not good. The problem is that the Ylvainan Inquisition has already started to rally public opinion against you. While that doesn't directly affect your trial, their true goal is to erode the protection that the Curins and Kronons are currently providing to you. With all the hysteria that ensued when the holy relic went missing, many Ylvainans are deeply indignant that it hasn't been returned after several months."

"So even if I'm innocent, as long as the entire public is convinced that I'm culprit behind the theft, the Curins and Kronons won't support me anymore?"

"While I can state with confidence that the Curins won't change their minds, the Kronons might not be so inclined. They have always considered themselves to be guardians. If they see that public indignation towards you has exceeded a certain point, then they'll realize that the only way to return peace to the Protectorate is if they bring forth a scapegoat who can satisfy the Ylvainan desire for retribution."

"And that means?"

"If the Kronons swing over to the side of the Poxcos, the Ylvainan Inquisition will have enough power to run their tribunal in any way they see fit! Instead of presenting your case in front of three different judges, you'll instead be dealing with three inquisitors who hold the power of life and death in their hands!"

Obviously, that was a really bad outcome for Ves! His guilt would practically be a given if the situation had reached that point!

As Ves tried to figure out a way out of his predicament, he noted something important.

"If we want to avoid the worst-case scenario, we need public opinion on our side, right?"

"Right."

"Why not show off the Transcendent Messengers? You were at the mech workshop earlier today. You saw how fantastic they were, right?"

"You did not disappoint in that area." Calabast replied flatly. "Yet I'm not sure whether that matters at this point."

"Why not?"

"Because the second charge the Ylvainan Inquisition has arrayed against you is blasphemy. They are essentially accusing you of profaning the great prophet and our entire faith by developing corrupting mechs!"

"What kind of nonsense charge is that?!" Ves angrily burst out. "Just look at my mechs! They're far more sacred than even the most piously-designed Ylvainan mechs! There is not a single blasphemous aspect about them even if you disassemble them into individual parts and use a deep scanner to scour their entire makeup!"

"I agree with you on this. This charge is on very shaky grounds. However, don't think the Ylvainan Inquisition is throwing this accusation at you for no reason. By presenting your mechs as a threat to the Ylvainan Faith, they have the right to lock down your mechs and destroy them on the spot!"

"What?! My mechs are innocent!"

"Whoah there, Ves! It hasn't come to that point!" Calabast raised her palm in an attempt to calm him down. "The Protectors of the Faith are aware of the value of the Transcendent Messengers. With their help, we managed to force the inquisition to move the mechs to a depot for storage while the trial is underway. However, this is probably what the Ylvainan Inquisition tried to accomplish in the first place. As long as they can force your mechs to remain under lock and key, we can't make use of them to influence public opinion."

Even if the argument for accusing Ves of blasphemy was nonsense and would definitely be dismissed in a fair trial, the goal of the inquisition had already been met. The six Transcendent Messengers would not be able to make use of their extraordinary X-Factor to charm the Ylvainans into supporting Ves and the reform agenda.

"What a dirty trick! This kind of manipulation would never happen in the Bright Republic!"

Calabast ruefully shook his head. "I'm not so sure. Shenanigans happen in every state no matter how clean they appear to be. Even your Bright Republic isn't exempt from miscarriages of justice."

"Yeah, but at least that happens behind closed doors. Your inquisition on the other hand is too brazen with their manipulation! It's obvious that they already decided to crucify me! How is that just?!"

"There's no use lamenting over the flaws of our justice system. This is the way the Protectorate has always been run. It's tradition."

Ah yes. Tradition.

Ves scoffed. "Alright, I get it. So if my mechs are locked up, what can we do? Can you instruct some mech companies to fabricate some copies of the Transcendent Messenger?"

"That won't work. The blasphemy charge not only targets the six finished mechs, but also their design. No mech company is allowed to use a design while their purity is in question. Only when the tribunal acquits your design of blasphemy will we be able to use it, but by then you'll already be executed!"

The inquisition truly prepared well this time! Ves had always felt weird about them when High Inquisitor Poxco dropped by for a chat a few months earlier. He expected the inquisition to follow up with another visit, but they had laid low all this time until Ves practically finished the commission!

"Okay, so now what?"

"I'm already working on the problem of public opinion." She spoke. "While the Ylvainan Inquisition has blindsided us with their sudden moves, the Protectorate is not their playground. The highest elders of the Curin Dynasty are very aware of your significance. We will do our best to hinder the inquisition from swaying the entire Protectorate."

Although she maintained a lot of confidence, Ves wasn't entirely sure the Curins would be able to prevent the Ylvainans from becoming outraged at him. He wasn't exactly the most likable person in the state due to his status as a foreigner.

"Anything else?"

"We are trying lots of different solutions. Your upcoming case is anything but a foregone conclusion." Calabast encouragingly said. "I know it's frustrating that you aren't able to do anything while you're in custody, but you are not without friends."

That reminded him of the people he left behind. "Are the others okay?"

"They're fine. The inquisition hasn't targeted them because they're not as consequential as you. Just to be certain, your staff and your Avatars of Myth are all confined at the guest compound."

That was good news to meant that Lucky should be free to sneak around.

"Okay. Please keep protecting them. Even if the tribunal sentences me to death despite my innocence, I don't want to drag down my friends." Ves said with relief. "One more thing. Is the tribunal public or private?"

"They always take place behind closed doors. Because of the abhorrent charges arrayed against the accused, the inquisition doesn't want to expose the average Ylvainans to lurid stories."

"Is there any way you can convince the trial to go public?"

"No. The Ylvainan Inquisition has never publicized their tribunals. It's simply not done."

"Well, this isn't a regular tribunal. Since the Curins and Kronons managed to force the Poxcos to accept their judges, why can't they force out this concession as well?"

This put Calabast to thought. "It's possible, but you'll need a good reason."

"I want some parity. Since the inquisition has turned towards the court of public opinion, shouldn't I have an opportunity to defend myself at that very same court? Making the trial public will also ensure that it will proceed fairly. I think this should be enough of a reason to make an exception for me. I'm sure the Ylvainan public will be glad to witness the trial of someone who is accused of stealing their holy relic."

"That.. might actually work!"

Chapter 1228

A few days went by as Ves remained under house arrest under the watchful eyes of the Protectors of the Faith and the Ylvainan Inquisition.

He didn't dare do anything funny such as pulling out his System comm from his Inventory because such acts were far too conspicuous.

After meeting with the lawyers that Calabast assigned to him, Ves understood that aside from guiding him through the formalities, they weren't very helpful.

"If Calsie was here, she'd probably suffer a stroke when she sees how awful the Ylvainan Inquisition conducts their trials." Gavin noted during his visit to the villa. It took a lot of effort to grant him permission to meet with Ves in the first place. "The inquisitors who drag people to trial have already judged them guilty. The tribunal is just a safeguard in case the evidence brought forth is too flimsy to pass the smell test. In practice, the inquisitors on the tribunal almost always side with the inquisitors who accuses someone of damaging the Ylvainan Faith."

Ves nodded. "I've read up on their history. The inquisition and their kangaroo court is a relic of the First Calamity and the Great Flight. Back when the Ylvainan Faith was under constant attack, the fleeing refugees suffered many betrayals from their fellow Ylvainans. While there are many devout believers among their number, some of them weren't as eager to die for their beliefs. While plenty of cowards renounced their faith and fled from the refugee fleets, a small number of them stabbed the Ylvainans in the back by sabotaging the ships or passing on information to their pursuers."

"Traitors need to be dealt with quickly."

"Yup. With how desperate the Ylvainans were trying to flee those star sectors, they couldn't afford to hold proper trials. That is when the Ylvainan Inquisition came into being. They received a strong mandate to protect the Ylvainan Faith by rooting out traitors by any means necessary. And to their credit, they were remarkably effective, mostly due to the broad range of power at their disposal."

"And that has hardly changed after they settled down in the Komodo Star Sector." Gavin noted.

"The Poxco Dynasty turned the inquisition into their militant arm after the founding of the Protectorate. With such solid backing, the other factions in the state failed to diminish the power of the inquisition even after they were no longer as necessary as before."

This resulted in an anachronism that was the Ylvainan Inquisition. The conservative, tradition-bound citizens of the Protectorate really disliked rapid changes. Institutions dominated by the traditionalists virtually remained the same even after several centuries had passed!

"How is public opinion shaping up, Benny?" Ves asked.

He didn't have access to the galactic net during his house arrest. He became completely dependent on others for outside news.

"Well, as we predicted, the traditionalist media outlets have turned most Ylvainans against you." Gavin shook his head. "The citizens of the Kesseling System are particularly furious at you. The holy relic that went missing is one of their most valuable cultural treasures. With the proof the inquisition has presented, the public is pretty much convinced you're the mastermind!"

"Because I'm a faithless foreigner, right?" Ves asked sarcastically.

"The Ylvainans can't imagine that one of their own would dare to desecrate the great prophet's possessions. It's much easier for them to believe that a foreigner who has no respect for their faith is responsible instead."

This was what the Ylvainan Inquisition wanted to publicize. As long as they succeeded in demonising Ves, the Curins and Kronons wouldn't be able to back him up anymore.

However, the court of public opinion was a double-edged sword. In the right circumstances, the monster that the inquisition had unleashed might very well turn against their benefactor!

Ves smirked. "Have we succeeded in shifting public opinion."

"We have. The Curin Dynasty did everything possible to stoke the public into demanding the tribunal proceedings be made public. Even if most Ylvainans are indignant at you, the Curins took advantage of their fury by channeling that into demanding that your trial be broadcasted live! Right now, the inquisition is still sticking to their guns, but we expect they'll cave within a day."

"Hehehe." Ves deviously chuckled. "Since the Inquisition tried so hard to turn my trial into a witch hunt, we might as well run with it and blow it out of proportion!"

Both of them saw a lot of advantages to shining a light on the usually murky tribunals of the inquisition.

While Ves cared more about the opportunity to present his case to the public, Gavin and the others on his side realized another advantage to holding the trial in public.

A smile appeared on Gavin's face. "Now that the tribunal is on track on becoming public, the Ylvainan Inquisition can't pull off their usual shenanigans. All their other tribunals took place behind closed doors, so they easily got away with any irregularities and miscarriages of justice. Together with replacing two of their inquisitors with real judges, your trial will probably be the fairest the Ylvainan Inquisition has ever held in their history!"

"That doesn't necessarily mean I'll be able to walk away, though." Ves sighed. "The 'evidence' they presented is extremely compelling."

Gavin dropped his smile. "That's true. The microscopic particles they found in your room have been verified more than a dozen times. They even matched it with samples taken from similar nutrient pack wrappers that the Attendants of Ylvaine kept in their collection. All of the findings point out that the particles definitely belong to the holy relic taken from the grand cathedral."

"I'm innocent!" Ves exclaimed for the umpteenth time! He was constantly wearing his mask of innocence during his stay in the villa. He wanted everyone who monitored his life signs to receive the impression that he wasn't involved. "Why in the galaxy would I want to steal a nutrient pack wrapper of all things? I can get millions of them by ordering a container worth of nutrient packs!"

"The relic that went missing isn't a normal nutrient pack wrapper."

"Nutrient packs should at least contain their original contents in order to be collectible." Ves peevishly muttered.

He still found it ridiculous that a worthless object turned into a priceless cultural heirloom because it used to belong to a great figure.

Yet Ves shouldn't complain. He took advantage of the Ylvainan propensity to worship every object that was tangitably related to Prophet Ylvaine in order to refine a powerful spiritual fragment.

Not that he saw anything wrong with that right now. He was innocent!

While Ves and Gavin didn't discuss their defense strategy because the inquisition was listening in on their conversation, they both knew that their chances weren't great.

Three judges decided Ves' fate. One of them was a Curin and would likely be on his side. The other one was an inquisitor who would definitely side with High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco.

Therefore, the only judge that mattered was the military judge sent by the Kronons.

While Ves and his lawyers intended to cast a lot of doubt on the evidence the inquisition had gathered from his room, just yelling at everyone that he was being framed likely wouldn't be enough.

The entire guest compound was under constant monitoring. Hardly anyone could have sneaked in to drop a few particles in order to frame Ves of a crime he didn't commit.

There was a very big chance that the military judge might side with the inquisition due to the weight of this evidence!

This was also why Ves didn't put his faith in his lawyers and the legal proceedings. No matter how much they leveled the playing field, the inquisition were old hands at this. Their meticulous and extensive preparations prior to taking him into custody proved that they weren't complacent.

For this reason, Ves wanted to flip the table and make a personal appeal to the public.

"How are the rest holding up so far, Benny?" He idly asked.

"I've been in touch with the LMC, but they can't really do anything on their end. Leland has been more helpful to us. He managed to get the Ministry of Foreign Affairs involved. The Bright Republic's embassy in the Protectorate has already stood up on your behalf. It's only..."

"They don't have any power in the Protectorate." Ves summed up. "The Ylvainans don't regard foreigners very highly, and their long-standing isolation hasn't helped the Bright Republic establish a strong presence in this state."

Most Ylvainans really couldn't care less about what the Bright Republic thought of their treatment of Ves. So long it became clear that Ves deliberately desecrated one of their great prophet's relics, they couldn't wait to tear him to pieces!

If the tribunal found him guilty and sentenced him to the only penalty in consideration for such a grave violation, then Ves didn't intend to put his head on the chopping block.

If this worst-case scenario came to pass, Ves would instantly be ready to summon both his System comm and the Amastendira.

His Inventory was one thing the Ylvainans weren't able to rob from him. With these two objects, Ves stood a decent chance at fighting or sneaking his way out of the tribunal.

He could count on Lucky to help bail him out as well. Ves hadn't seen his cat ever since he was taken into custody, but there was no way that Lucky would stay on the sidelines.

Still, once he used these means to escape captivity, it was hard to put the genie back in the bottle. Not only that, but he'd also be making an enemy out of the entire Protectorate and vindicate the Ylvainan Inquisition that he posed a threat to their state.

The staff he brought along would also suffer. Ves knew very well that the reason why Ketis, Gavin, Leland and the Avatars of Myth remained stuck on Kesseling VIII was because the inquisition implicitly treated them as hostages.

As long as Ves behaved, the inquisition didn't have an excuse to target his staff.

Still, if it came down to it, Ves would definitely take action to preserve his own life regardless of the repercussions of his actions.

He really didn't want to be forced into that corner, though. Until the situation had reached that point, he would do his best to escape from his predicament.

"Has there been any news about my mechs?"

"The Curins are doing all they can to get your mechs out of the depot. It hasn't worked. Surprisingly, the Kronons lent their support behind the Curins. They're pretty adamant about releasing the Transcendent Messengers to their rightful owner."

"Unlike the Poxcos, the Kronons appreciate my mechs." Ves smiled. "Support from the military will be very helpful in counterbalancing the Poxcos."

"It's not enough, though. Even if the Kronons are apparently huge fans of your mech, the inquisition hasn't made an exception to its rules this time. They're really determined to keep your Transcendent Messengers buried."

Ves knew that his six hero mechs were fantastic enough to sway public opinion. Sadly, the inquisition knew that as well and became incredibly obstinate about keeping them out of sight so they wouldn't 'corrupt' more Ylvainans.

"Since the Protectors of the Faith are well-inclined towards my mechs, have they offered any other support?"

"Plenty, but mainly by ensuring that the tribunal will proceed as fair as possible. To the Kronons, designing a great mech does not excuse the theft of a holy relic. The higher ups want the truth to come out so that they can admire your mechs without feeling any guilt."

"That sounds fair enough."

The support from the Kronons had been critical in restraining the inquisition. The Curins alone wouldn't have been able to stop the inquisition from acting with impunity.

In a way, Ves liked the Kronons the most due to their honesty. Even if the Curins were on his side, Ves didn't like the way they bent the rules and played favorites. He much preferred to be treated fairly.

"It's too bad that fairness appears to be a foreign concept in the Protectorate."

Chapter 1229

The Ylvainan Inquisition initially planned to hold their tribunal in some dark and underground facility. However, that changed when they were forced to make a lot of concessions in order to ensure the trial could proceed fairly.

For this reason, the trial took place at Kesseling VIII's high court. While the venue was situated in the heart of Krent, the wide-open plazas and avenues around the court building offered enough space for an entire mech regiment.

The Protectors of the Faith came out in force this time. Not only did they assign an entire mech regiment around the court, they also deployed many other units in the neighboring districts. They took security so seriously that they evacuated all of the surrounding buildings beforehand!

The Ylvainan Inquisition deployed their own mechs and troops, but their numbers paled in comparison. They were only there to show the flag at this point.

Ves exited the shuttle with his hands free but his arms held in place by two heavily-armored Protectors. His guards didn't think Ves would be able to pull off anything by himself, so they skipped the manacles this time.

That was good news for him. If his hands were shackles while he attempted to escape, it would have been much harder for him to do so if he was restrained!

No crowd of protestors stood outside to jeer at Ves while he was being guided into the court building.

However, once he entered the courtroom sometime later, the people sitting in the gallery immediately jeered at the foreigner!

"Foreign devil! Your end has come!"

"Blasphemer!"

"Return our relic!"

All of the Ylvainans in the gallery were local citizens. Many of them even lived in this very city and possessed a deep sense of ownership towards the holy relic that resided in the grand cathedral.

Since the tribunal had to be public, the inquisition insisted on an audience. The reactions of the crowd served as a useful backdrop to condemn Ves for his alleged crimes against the Ylvainan Faith.

Ves inwardly smirked. The live broadcasts were already useful. Having an entire gallery of people just a stone's throw away from the counsel table.

As he took his seat, his counsel attempted to advise him on how to conduct himself, but Ves dismissively waved his hand.

"It's too late for that." He said. "We've already prepared as best we could in the limited time available."

His attorney was a slick-haired high flier in the service of the Curins. He was one of their best lawyers on their payroll, but the tribunal being held right now was something very new!

To even call this proceeding a trial was a mockery of the word. Only a couple of hours determined the life and death of Ves. He would either be able to walk out of the courtyard as a free man or sneak out after causing a lot of mayhem and confusion.

Either way, he was determined to get out one way or another.

After a bit of delay, the judges finally entered the courtroom. They took their places at the bench, which had been modified to accommodate the tribunal.

Sitting to the left was Judge Okin Fillis, the high court judge who was in the pocket of the Curins. Despite his allegiance to the Shepherds of the Flock, he didn't carry the Curin surname, which lent some credibility to his impartiality.

While the average Ylvainan didn't know any better, anyone in power would easily see that Judge Fillis would definitely acquit Ves as long as there was even a scrap of doubt.

Sitting to the right was High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco. She was a middle-aged woman with a severe face that looked as if it could scare ghosts to death.

Ves knew it would take a miracle for High Inquisitor Ixef to disagree with her fellow inquisitor.

Perhaps even many average Ylvainans didn't believe she would side with Ves. And that was okay! Ves was the great blasphemer and devil! He deserved to be condemned by the inquisition!

Therefore, even if she was partial towards the prosecution during the trial, no one cared. She merely had to adopt a neutral facade in order to maintain the dignity of the inquisition during the broadcasts.

Perhaps deliberately arranged to sit in the center was the only true neutral judge worth mentioning.

Lieutenant Colonel Kelber Kronon differed from the other two judges by his direct connection to the main branch of the Kronon Dynasty. This esteemed pedigree afforded him a lot of respect. As a main branch member of the Kronon Dynasty, he was definitely instilled with all of their core values.

Every Ylvainan placed a lot of expectations on the main branch members of the family.

While they received a lot of privileges and could easily obtain a cushy job, the expectations on them were high.

Those who failed to live up to their family names would be withdrawn from their positions and be sent somewhere far away so that their failure wouldn't stain their dynasties!

Obviously, Judge Kelber Kronon shouldn't be one of them. The old man gazed at the surroundings with evident irritation.

He struck the gavel on the bench. While this simple act only released a single striking sound, it also activated a hidden command. The courtroom exerted an invisible wave of pressure on the gallery, forcing many of them into silence.

While they could still talk, none of them dared to do so at this moment.

"The tribunal is in session." Judge Kronon declared.

What happened next pretty much ran on autopilot as far as Ves was concerned. The only people who spoke out were the judges, his counsel and a very familiar high inquisitor.

Xefin Lin Poxco wore his hood down this time to present an amiable face to the gallery and the broadcasts. He presented the key evidence that tied Ves to the theft of the holy relic with excruciating detail.

"As you can see from the conclusions of over fifteen lab results, the microscopic particles we've found in Mr. Larkinson's accommodations are definitely related to the missing holy relic!"

"Analysis of surface debris attached to the particles revealed that some of them are unique to the environment of the shrine at the grand cathedral."

"Radiation analysis..."

"Frequent jamming and signal blocking..."

On and on, the high inquisitor elaborated on how thoroughly the inquisition had analysed the particles they found in Ves' room.

Almost an hour into his spiel, Xefin Lin Poxco presented his most egregious finding!

"After extensive analysis by some of our best forensic scientists, we have concluded that these particles had only spilled onto the floor of Mr. Larkinson's room for one reason. If our worst fears are right, then it is likely that he has destroyed the holy relic in his possession! There is no other explanation for these particles to separate from the main body of the relic!"

"SACRILEGE!"

"DEFILER!"

"You are Ylvaine's worst nightmare!"

Ves pressed his lips and ignored the outrage from the gallery. The people who were hurling insults and abuse at him were just a tiny sample of the countless number of Ylvainans who were echoing these thoughts from their homes!

He had to hand it to the high inquisitor. He sure knew how to rile up the crowd. The high inquisitor was pretty much addressing the gallery from the start, knowing that public opinion was the most important variable in this unprecedentedly public tribunal.

Judge Kelber Kronon didn't want the proceedings to turn into a circus, though, so he quickly struck the gavel and forced everyone to pipe down.

Aside from presenting an excruciating analysis on the evidence the inquisition had gathered on what had happened to the holy relic, the high inquisitor also spent some time on disparaging Ves' mechs.

"Look upon the face of this foreigner." High Inquisitor Poxco theatrically swept his hand towards Ves. "Despite his seemingly harmless facade, there is only greed and malice in his heart! This black-hearted mech designer is the vanguard of an invasion of foreigners who are determined to destroy our Ylvainan way of life and to hollow out our faith! His motives couldn't be any clearer when he designed his blasphemous mechs for the Curins!"

A noisy and distorted projection of the Transcendent Messenger design came into view. The projection was so hazy and messed up that none of its majesty and X-Factor could be felt!

Ves' counsel stood up. "Objection! This projection is not an accurate depiction of my client's work!"

"Overruled." High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco immediately stated. "Projections of objectionable materials are regularly censored in order to protect everyone from viewing obscene material."

Ves gripped his hands into fists. How dare this biddy call his mech design obscene! If not for being put on trial, he would have punched her in the face for insulting his work!

Xefin Lin Poxco continued as if he already expected this result. "The so-called 'Transcendent Messenger' is a travesty of a mech design! You can already tell its blasphemous purpose from its name! Calling his creation by that name is an indirect way of claiming that these mechs are a higher incarnation of Prophet Ylvaine!"

Gasps of shocks emanated from the crowd.

"Think about what this means!" Xefin yelled. "Mr. Larkinson is essentially alluding to us that the great prophet lives on as his mech design! That is a bald-faced mockery of our faith and our belief that Prophet Ylvaine has reincarnated elsewhere in the galaxy or already transcended to a higher state ahead of time!"

The crowd grew more and more outraged as the high inquisitor painted the meaning of the mech in the worst possible light.

"Perhaps Mr. Larkinson is misguided. Perhaps he concedes that the great prophet may have reincarnated after his death. Yet his answer to this mystery is that Prophet Ylvaine has reincarnated into a lifeless mech design! Either he has the biggest misunderstanding of our beliefs, or he thinks he can use our prophet for commercial gain!"

The outrage that erupted forced the judges to call the gallery in order! Even after multiple waves of pressure engulfed the onlookers, their rage hadn't subsided!

While the judges were able to employ a more drastic measure to mute the voices, they were reluctant to do so.

Eventually, the excitement died down as High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco raised his palm. This indicated that his control over the gallery exceeded that of the judges!

"Brothers and sisters of the faith, the fate of the Protectorate is at stake. The great deceiver who sits there is but the first among many. There are thousands more nefarious mech designers like him in the Bright Republic and countless more in the rest of the star sector. In their boundless greed for power and wealth, they will not hesitate to profane our faith like Mr. Larkinson had done in order to sell their mechs! We must slam the door in the face before they barge into our holy state and butcher our beliefs!"

Although it should have been highly inappropriate to veer into politics, it was still allowed. Tribunals often dealt with cases which had the potential to upset the entire Ylvainan Faith.

In a way, the high inquisitor was correct. Ves did wish to sell more mechs and open up the Protectorate. Yet his intentions weren't as malicious as Xefin Lin Poxco described.

Ves firmly believed that his business dealings with the Protectorate had always been mutually beneficial! Even though the traditionalists had the most to lose, the rest of the state would definitely be able to enjoy a lot of prosperity as they caught up to the rest of the galaxy!

Unfortunately, no one believed him right now. The picture that High Inquisitor Poxco painted was remarkably similar to the nonsensical accusations the True Believers yelled at Ves at the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr.

This only worsened his impression of the Ylvainan Inquisition. The high inquisitor went too far in painting Ves as a blasphemer and a devil!

Ves became increasingly more dour. His eyes burned as he bottled up his fury. Right now wasn't the time for him to strike.

Chapter 1230

Ketis, Leland, Gavin and Melkor all sat in one of the living rooms of the guest compound. Their eyes glued onto the huge projection that depicted the tribunal proceedings in lifelike detail.

The four of them would have preferred to be present in the gallery themselves, but the Protectors of the Faith denied their requests.

In this volatile time, it was better for the associates of the accused to stay put!

For this reason, the people that Ves brought to the Protectorate had no choice but root for Ves at a fair distance from the court building.

"What a blowhard!" Ketis yelled. "How can this old inquisitor come up with so many lies and exaggerations? They're all false! Ves would never be so disrespectful to the Ylvainans! He has always treated their beliefs with respect!"

The defense did attempt to fight back against High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco's lurid characterization of Ves. They brought forth numerous witnesses, from Leon to various Protector guards, and had them state their impressions.

Overall, the witnesses all had something good to say about Ves and his mechs. The Protector guards especially showered Ves with praise.

"Even if he's a foreigner, he has always acted as a model guest in our state." One of the Protector captains said without reservation. "While I cannot make any judgement of Mr. Larkinson's moral character, his conduct and his work has never posed any threat to our faith. In fact, his mechs has reinforced my belief and every other Protector who enjoyed the privilege of witnessing his creations in person!"

All the positive character witnesses helped counteract some of the bad impression against Ves, but that did not change the public's determination that he had likely defiled their holy relic!

This crime alone was so severe that almost no Ylvainan citizen wanted Ves to walk free from the court right now!

Gavin looked around the room for a moment. "Where's Lucky, Ketis?"

The woman shrugged. "Beats me. Lucky has been in an awful mood ever since the inquisition took Ves away."

"This is a volatile time for him to be running free. What if he's racing across the city to reunite with his owner?"

"Don't worry, Gavin. Lucky is smart enough to know what he can and can't do." Ketis confidently stated.

All of them were used to Lucky coming and going, so they didn't worry too much about where the mischievous cat went. In fact, Ketis even thought it might be good for Lucky to go to the courtyard.

So far, the trial was not going well for Ves. As Ves continued to sit quietly while his counsel did all of the talking on his behalf, he discreetly observed everyone's attitudes with his spiritual senses.

The gallery was easy to read. Most of them wore their emotions on their sleeves.

Some of the Ylvainans were slightly different, though. Ves sensed a lot of calculation when he brushes his spiritual senses against their intangible minds. This signified that they were plants who had deliberately been placed in the gallery to incite the others.

Of course, as much as the people in the gallery loathed Ves, they only indirectly affected the verdict.

The real decision makers sat behind the bench. Judge Okin Fillis remained passive and inscrutable throughout the tribunal session, presenting the illusion that he was detached and therefore impartial.

Only the sheep were fooled by the Curin judge's act. Everyone else knew that Judge Fillis would definitely acquit Ves as instructed by the elders of the Curin Dynasty.

High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco presented a reasonable front as a judge. That didn't mean she came off very sincere in her act. Ves could sense the seething hatred underneath her skin. She shared the same intensity against Ves as High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco!

Only Kelber Kronon remained calm, both outwardly and inwardly. He listened to the high inquisitor with a critical mind as the man painted Ves as a great deceiver.

It was as if the judge could smell all the nonsense that the prosecution was flinging towards Ves.

Still, Ves sensed that though the Kronon judge didn't like the inquisition and how they ran their tribunals, Kelber didn't regard the defendant fondly either.

The hard evidence that Xefin Lin Poxco presented was extremely compelling. Several Protector guards stationed at the guest compound have also testified that nothing funny went on as the inquisition arrived and conducted their inspections.

All of this meant that Kelber became inclined to believe that Ves was indeed involved with the theft of the holy relic. The military judge even became swayed by the possibility that Ves destroyed the relic!

This was a very serious charge that spoke to his heart! Kelber could hardly keep his calm when he contemplated that Ves might have done something so severe!

Ves inwardly shook his head. He shouldn't have been surprised by the worsening sentiment against him. Even though he was completely innocent of whatever the inquisition accused him of, his defense had little recourse to fight back.

While it was possible that someone may have framed Ves, the defense did not present any evidence to support this argument. Casting doubt on the origin of the microscopic particles basically amounted to a conspiracy theory which the Kronon judge didn't take very seriously.

The tribunal already lasted several hours and the time for arguments was about to come to a close. At this point, everything had been brought up. There was very little chance that the defense could say anything that could change the minds of the judges.

This was bad, Ves realized. Judge Okin Fillis may be on his side, but he needed the support of at least one other judge.

Yet Judge Kelber Kronon, his only potential savior, felt more inclined to support High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco than acquit Ves of the charges!

Ves couldn't say he expected anything different. The evidence to support the first charge was too solid.

Was the worst-case scenario about to happen? As soon as the tribunal issued their verdict, Ves would definitely move into action.

While he hadn't seen any sign of Lucky, he knew him well enough that his cat should be ready to help in his own way.

That wasn't all.

With how much Calabast knew about Ves, she would definitely do everything in her power to save him from the inquisition. Ves didn't know how much resources she could bring to bear in order to save his life, but she was definitely hiding something under her sleeve.

As for Flashlight or the Bright Republic, Ves didn't put much hope in their help. Their influence was minimal in the Protectorate.

Even though it seemed that Ves wasn't alone, he still didn't want to resort to this option. There was still a chance he could save his hide without burning all of his bridges.

As the two sides prattled on and on, Ves closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.

He had restrained his fury and his spirituality throughout the entire tribunal so far.

He let everyone else say their piece while he kept his mouth shut.

He let High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco take advantage of the trial by espousing his traditionalist political agenda in front of the entire Protectorate.

"Now it's my turn." He whispered to himself.

Although he had been divested of his ordinary comm, he could still call up his impression of his designs in his mind. As the lead designer of the Transcendent Messenger, there was no way he forgot its contours and its design specifications.

A true mech designer could always recall their mech designs by heart!

Right now, Ves did so by projecting the Transcendent Messenger design in his mind. He vividly recalled all of its lines and curves and technical specifications. As Ves created an accurate image of the Transcendent Messenger design in his mind, he pressed his mind to it, seeking an even deeper connection.

The mask of innocence he donned for the entire week was becoming a hindrance. Therefore, he decisively shed it from his mind, allowing himself to establish an unobstructed connection to the image of the Transcendent Messenger.

Eventually, he managed to commune with the design spirit of the Transcendent Messenger. Just because Ylvaine's spiritual fragment had moved out of his mind didn't mean it was gone forever!

Ves guessed that he was able to communicate with the design spirits of his finished mechs, and he was right. He managed to establish a distant and shallow connection to what used to be Ylvaine's spiritual fragment.

He mentally communicated to the design spirit.

"I need your help."

A pulse of doubt flowed across the connection.

"There are Ylvainans who are maligning me and the design you are inhabiting in. If this goes on, I'll be declared guilty and the Transcendent Messenger will be tarnished as well."

Another uncertain pulse flowed from their connection.

"Do you know what that means? The Ylvainans will turn against the Transcendent Messenger! The Inquisition will not only outlaw the design, but also destroy all of the mechs derived from it! Your existence will become meaningless!"

This time, the design spirit transmitted an alarmed pulse.

"Help me! Lend me your power so I can teach these Ylvainans what their great prophet truly wants! Lead these lost sheep back to the flock!"

A small moment passed as Ves waited for the design spirit to digest his words. After thirty seconds of silence, Ves finally perceived a reaction from the connection.

"Ahg!" Ves held his head as a sudden headache spiked in his mind.

Ylvaine's spiritual fragment decided to respond for his call to help by temporarily shuttling out of the Transcendent Messenger! It forcefully squeezed its way through the narrow connection until it emerged back into Ves' mind!

Immediately upon arrival, Ves mentally transmitted his intentions to the fragment, and it only hesitated for a short moment before agreeing with the plan.

Ves was about to do something he had never done before.

He was donning the spiritual fragment like a mask.

It was dangerous, it was stupid, but it was the most effective solution he could think of. How better to confront the devout Ylvainans by doing so while embodying a part that used to belong to the prophet? It was brilliant!

The fusion between his mind and the fragment was anything but easy. The spiritual fragment was far more powerful than any image he had previously donned as a mask. The only reason why the fusion managed to take place at all was because both of them had lowered all of their defenses and actively wanted to merge!

Various unknown and incompatible thoughts, emotions and other impulses flooded his mind! The spiritual fragment was way too energetic! It was corroding his mind and impacting his design seed!

Yet despite all of the strain, Ves tried his best to resonate with the spiritual fragment. It was hard. They were two completely different individuals. Ves had to force the process until something akin to a partial fusion took place!

When Ves next opened his eyes, his eyes seemed to glow. He lowered most of the barriers in his mind, allowing the strong spiritual fragment to radiate its sacred aura in full glory!

"ENOUGH!" He boomed.

This forced High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco to shut up.

Everyone else sat rooted in silence as they turned their attention from the inquisitor to Ves. Somehow, he appeared much different all of a sudden!

Ves stood up. "This farce has gone long enough!"

"Please sit down, Mr. Larkinson." High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco warned from the bench. "You are speaking out of turn!"

"It is you who are speaking out of turn, Your Excellency!" Ves boldly declared. "All of you here have been carried away by this travesty of a tribunal that goes directly against your great prophet's will!"

Ves amped up the spiritual fragment's aura, causing everyone present to regard him completely differently! The aura was so strong that it even transcended distance as the broadcasts conveyed a fraction of it to the viewers watching the tribunal proceedings at home!

When he determined he caught everyone's attention, he released a shocking declaration.

"Let's get the truth out of the way. The crime that High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco accuses me of? I'm guilty! I planned the theft! I obtained the nutrient pack wrapper that you consider as a relic! I held it in my hands moments before I had it destroyed!"

The entire gallery gasped in shock at the bold admission! Even the three judges couldn't help but lose their composure for a moment!

"Has Ves Larkinson gone mad?!"

Chapter 1231

Even though Ves made a startling declaration, some of the inquisitors realized that letting the situation proceed any further would not be good!

At the very least, the lack of control being exhibited by the inquisition might paint them as weak!

"Security!" High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco yelled from the bench as she shook off her inexplicable fascination. "Lock down the courtroom! Separate Mr. Larkinson and shut him up! He is grossly speaking out of turn!"

Indignation crept up inside Ves as both he and Ylvaine's spiritual fragment refused to be muffled! How dare an Ylvainan try to stifle the voice of their prophet?!

"You dare, Your Excellency?!" Ves exclaimed as his resonance with his mask suddenly peaked. "The Ylvainan Inquisition is supposed to protect the faith! Since when did that change into stifling it in your grip? Your organization has gone astray!"

"What gives you the right to admonish the inquisition! We have protected the Ylvainan Faith for centuries! Without our efforts, our faith would have been diluted by secularists such as you!" High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco shouted from the side.

Ves turned his gaze at Xefin Lin Poxco, causing the high inquisitor to pale as his conviction quivered for some reason!

Although Ves knew that he was doing something extremely reckless right now, he exhibited no doubt at all. The absolute faith that Ylvaine's spiritual fragment granted him had boosted his confidence to untold heights!

The aura he radiated was absolutely remarkable! While it wasn't as focused as an expert pilot's force of will, it combined the strengths of both Ves and the fragment!

Although the two entities were completely different, right now their interests and some of their opinions aligned. This alignment resulted in a peculiar outcome in which the partial fusion between Ves and the spiritual fragment resonated to a strong degree!

It was so strong in fact that Ves managed to enthrall everyone in the courtroom like his mechs! Not onl that, but everyone watching the tribunal proceedings from a live broadcast were caught in his spell as well!

Spirituality was a wondrous medium which possessed the remarkable power to disregard distance! Practically the entire Ylvaine Protectorate tuned in to the broadcast in order to watch the trial as it happened!

Now, almost every Ylvainan became affected by the aura emanating from the foreigner! Right now, the faith in their hearts and mind minutely resonated with this oddly attractive and compelling aura!

The judges sitting on the bench, the people in the gallery and the Protectors of the Faith that kept the peace all stared at the accused in a manner that was completely different from normal!

Although none of them could explain why they regarded Ves differently, the faith in their hearts demanded that they listened!

The stronger and more ardent their faith, the stronger this impulse warred against their minds!

All of the inquisitors and the Attendants of Ylvaine frowned and gritted their teeth as they sought to break themselves out of their spells!

They failed! Their faith was too strong! The more they worshipped the great prophet, the greater their inability to resist!

Practically everyone in the courtroom had been vetted extensively for their devotion to the faith!

This meant that almost no one at the court could bring themselves to stop Ves from speaking!

Although it seemed that Ves had the entire Protectorate under his thrall, his mind was under incredible strain right now! Wearing a spiritual fragment that was as strong as an expert pilot as a mask was a very dangerous act! The two were constantly corroding each other! If not for the growing resonance between them, the forceful merger would have already ended!

That wasn't all. The empowered aura he radiated right now did not come without a cost. Ylvaine's spiritual fragment somehow employed a drasted technique that amplified their aura by consuming both of their spiritual energy!

The longer the spiritual fragment maintained this consumption, the greater their losses!

In short, Ves was on a time limit! He needed to make the most out of this extraordinary state while it lasted!

Although High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco was constantly warring against his faith, he still summoned up the strength to open his mouth.

"You foreigner.. what are you doing to us?! What sorcery have you employed to paralyze us all!? You won't get away with this! Not only did you destroy our holy relic and attempt to corrupt us with your mechs, now you have resorted to dark magic! The Inquisition will burn your body to a crisp to purify it of its evil spirit!"

Ves peered at the high inquisitor with contempt. The man looked more and more sick! "You call me a sorcerer, but do you truly believe that in your heart? The truth cannot be hidden! Ask your heart of who I am! What answer will it provide?"

The inquisitor bit his lip but stayed silent.

That didn't stop some of the people from the gallery expressing their current sentiment!

"My faith tells me we should listen to the foreigner!"

"He is a transcendent among men!"

"How come I feel I'm looking at a sacred figure? That shouldn't be possible!"

Every devout Ylvainan possessed a high affinity to Ylvaine's spiritual fragment. This made a lot of sense, as Ves originally refined the spiritual fragment from a considerable amount of spiritual accumulation from the worship of countless of Ylvainan worshippers!

Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was practically the embodiment of their collective devotion!

When confronted by this collective devotion that was centered around the great prophet, they had no choice but to submit in the presence of someone who exhibited a shadow of Ylvaine himself!

Ves swept his arm towards the raptured gallery. "Do you hear them, Your Excellency? Do you hear the judgement of the faithful? Right now, I am not a foreigner. I am not a defendant. Right now, I speak with the voice of the prophet, and I demand that you listen!"

That last word seemed to echo in the courtroom and press into the hearts of every Ylvainan. They had all been taught from young that when the prophet spoke, everyone should listen!

The act of listening carried a special meaning in the Ylvainan Faith for that reason!

"Ylvainans!" Ves loudly addressed the public. "After more than four centuries of isolation, the great prophet is no longer among you, but even if he is, he would feel ashamed! He is ashamed because his followers have lost sight of the purpose of his teachings!"

The tone of condemnation that he adopted struck a powerful blow against the faith of the Ylvainans!

"When the prophet was alive, the Ylvainan Faith was a prosperous and dynamic movement! The faithful numbered in the many trillions, many of which constantly traveled outward to continue to enlighten the unenlightened! Why has this missionary drive disappeared? The prophet has always advocated for spreading his gospel! How can you do that when you wall off your state and drive away almost every foreigner who wants to explore your faith?!"

The two high inquisitors looked incredibly furious! They wanted to say something, but Ves cut them off!

"Do not speak, inquisitors! You of all Ylvainans have perverted the great prophet's intentions the most! Rather than assist in spreading the faith, you would rather obsess over purity and mindlessly persecute anyone who offends your sensibilities! Is the Ylvainan Faith so feeble that some careless cursing poses an existential threat to it? Have you no confidence in the strength of your beliefs?!"

While the high inquisitors remained firm against this attack, their subordinates were not so firm! The tirade struck straight at their beliefs, magnifying the doubts they hid within!

Ves raised his hands in a dramatic fashion and clenched them into fists! "The faith is as strong as its devout! It is the people who matter, not the institution! Treating the citizens of this great state as children who need to be shielded from the dangers of the galaxy is a great disservice to them, and by extension their faith! Centuries of perpetuating the insecurity of your forebears has hollowed out your conviction! The great prophet has always fought back against despair by offering hope, so why is the Protectorate gripped with fear of the new and unknown? You have forgotten the fundamental meaning of our faith!"

This time, the words managed to open a crack in the indomitable defenses of the high inquisitors! Both Xefin Lin Poxco and Kelly Ixef Poxco looked mildly stricken as they couldn't summon up a counterargument against this point right now!

"The great prophet is disappointed! He is disappointed that your faith has flipped his intentions!"

"Instead of expanding the faith, you narrow it by refusing to interact with foreigners!"

"Instead of bearing a message of hope to cast away the darkness encroaching the galaxy, you douse the torch and huddle fearfully in the dark!"

"Instead of furthering the development of the church and state, you have become content with freezing everything in time, thereby depriving the Ylvainans of progressing history!"

It was as if the tribunal put the Ylvainan leadership on trial instead of Ves! His accusations viciously jabbed at their scars, causing them to bleed!

"The fault in this lies in each of the leading dynasties!" Ves swept his arm all around, encompassing Curin, Poxco and Kronon in the process! "Every leading dynasty has failed to nurture the inheritors of Ylvaine's will! Each of you have taken your roles to such an extreme that you have failed to step up when the Ylvainans needed better guidance! The leading dynasties have become so narrow-minded that none of you are capable of stepping into the void left behind by the passing of the great prophet!"

None of the Ylvainans listening in right now felt good about themselves. They hated what Ves had said and wanted to dismiss his accusations, yet their faith kept compelling them to listen! They had become prisoners to their own beliefs!

The aura radiating from Ves burned with even greater fury as he got caught up in his own tirade!

"No greater example showcases how far the Ylvainan Faith has fallen by your obsession over trivial relics! Who in their right minds would revere a discarded nutrient pack wrapper as a holy relic? What would Prophet Ylvaine think of you by valuing a piece of trash over someone's life? He would be ashamed of you all! Rather than do something useful like spreading the gospel, you would rather enshrine the prophet's trash!"

"The holy relic is a representation of the prophet!" Xefin Lin Poxco managed to resist the pressure. "We do not revere the object itself, but its owner! The faithful need proof that the prophet existed!"

Ves shook his head in evident disappointment. "Your excellency, have you listened at all to me? How insecure are you that you don't have the confidence that the citizens of the Protectorate can remain devout from Ylvaine's teachings alone? Valuing material objects over your people is misguided!"

"The holy relic you destroyed is an indispensable cultural treasure!"

"The Ylvainan Faith has never advocated for the worship of idols!" Ves furiously retorted! "It is the faithful and the exemplary among the Ylvainans who deserve to be revered! Ever since the First Calamity and the Great Retreat has passed, has any great figure emerged since then? No! No figure among the faithful has ever come close to matching the brilliance of Martyred Followers!"

This was true! Although many prominent Curins, Kronons and Poxcos have emerged from the leading dynasties, none of them had managed to elevate themselves into becoming the spiritual leaders of their people!

Perhaps the expert pilots and handful of ace pilots in the Protectorate came close, but most of them were Kronons who were bound by the restrictions of their dynasty!

Ves turned around and swept his gaze over the entire gallery. "Is there anyone here who knows someone that can equal the likes of the Grey Martyr or the Battle Martyr? So many brilliant followers of Ylvaine had emerged during the time he spread his beliefs! How come not a single Martyr has emerged ever since the founding of the Protectorate? It is because your leaders have led you astray!"

This was not an attack on the inquisition alone. It was an attack aimed at the entire leadership of the state! Ves didn't want to drag in the other institutions at first, but his bond with Ylvaine's spiritual fragment became so strong that he no longer paid attention to restraint!

Chapter 1232

"I admit it. I stole the trash you considered a holy relic and tore it apart. I did so for a good reason, and that is to put the leading dynasties to the test. I wanted to see if the three surviving dynasties are discharging their responsibilities. And what did I learn? All of them have gone astray!"

Ves turned from the gallery and focused his attention on the bench. He swept his arm towards Okin Fillis.

"First, the Curin Dynasty! As the shepherds of the flock, your responsibility is to lead the Ylvainans to prosperity! Although you are on the right track, you are too complacent! You wield so much power over the lives of so many Ylvainans, but why are you so reluctant to share it? Does anyone even have a chance to run the state if they don't share the Curin surname? The lack of diversity in the government has led to enduring stagnation! How can the Protectorate grow strong if it lacks the dynamism to sustain its development? Shepherds are only good at their job if the flock grows larger and stronger!"

As the highest-ranking representative of the Curins, Judge Fillis lowered his head under the weight of these accusations.

He had seen enough of how the Curin Dynasty hated sharing their existing responsibilities. They maintained the same government policies for centuries and agonized over every change, no matter how much the Protectorate needed it. The Curins had grown too comfortable in the status quo that they no longer saw anything wrong with stagnation!

If not for the emerging threat of the Star Faith Collective, the Curins would have probably kept the Protectorate stuck in time forever!

"The Shepherds of the Flock must act more like their namesake! Guide the people instead of controlling them! Don't limit their ambitions and don't rob them of the opportunity to develop themselves! I hope that you will begin to figure out ways to make the Ylvainan Protectorate stronger and more prosperous in the future instead of remaining content with keeping everything the same barring some minor, half-hearted advancements!"

He had plenty more to say about the Curins, but they weren't worth his time to expound upon at this moment. Ves couldn't forget that he was burning more and more spiritual energy while he donned Ylvaine's spiritual fragment as his current mask! This was not the time to treat the courtroom as a lecture hall!

His gaze shifted to the right until they landed on the stoic and remarkably self-controlled eyes of Judge Kelber Kronon. His self-control was a lot more solid than the others!

"I see much good in the Kronon Dynasty. It is similar to the Larkinson Family that I'm apart of. Yet it is due to my familiarity with your military heritage that I see the rot lurking from within! The problem with you is that you are too focused on serving the people in a military capacity that you have forgotten what it's like to be one of them! Your intense devotion to your duties has turned your dynasty into an insular sect that stands apart from the people! Even if you are soldiers, you shouldn't forget that you are also people!"

"Service requires sacrifice. I thought that you of all people knew that, Mr. Larkinson. Isn't that what your family is known for in your state?" Judge Kronon replied with only mild unease.

"Sacrifice must have meaning!" Ves retorted. "What is the point of entrusting the protection of the church and state to emotionless Kronons who know nothing but how to fight? The Protectors of the Faith might as well replace all of their mechs and guards with appropriately-sized bots! While the mission of the Protectors of the Faith is noble, that does not mean you Kronons have to evolve into a different species that stands apart from the rest of the people!"

"It is because we are devoted to our duty that we have remained strong!"

Ves sharply shook his head. "Wrong! Your strength is an illusion! It is strong from afar, but brittle up close! Your pathetic performance against the Star Faith Collective already proves my point! While part of that is due to your weak mechs, the grit of your mech pilots also plays a role! Do you know why I have more confidence in the Bright Republic's Mech Corps? It is because they care! Certainly, they are neutral in most matters, but when it comes to something that threatens the state or its citizens, they are not afraid to stand up for what is right!"

The criticism he laid against the Kronons was a lot more abstract than most Ylvainans could follow. However, as a main branch descendent of the Kronon Dynasty, the military judge keenly felt this blow.

Ves was right! The Kronons were becoming more and more distant from the civilians they were supposed to protect!

After he addressed the Kronon, Ves finally turned to the representative of the Poxco Dynasty. High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco continued to glower at him, but the fervor in her eyes had slowly begun to dim!

"While the Curins and Kronons share part of the blame for letting the Protectorate stagnate, the Poxco Dynasty has failed to live up to your prophet's intentions! You are far too focused on history and tradition to the point of forcing the present to conform to the past! While there are many places where tradition remains useful, prioritizing it to this extent will only strangle the Ylvainan Faith under your merciless grip!"

The two high inquisitors present in the courtroom were mad! Yet when they attempted to draw on their faith and conviction for strength, they found it even harder to move!

Why did the very thought of opposing Ves became so difficult all of a sudden?!

Ves grinned sardonically at the paralyzed inquisitors. "How much did the Ylvainan Faith grow when the prophet first started proselytizing his beliefs? The population of entire states fell under his sway in just a single decade! Has the Attendants of Ylvaine ever come close to converting so many people since the founding of the Protectorate? No! The fact that the faith hasn't spread beyond the borders of the Protectorate is proof that it has grown too weak under your care!"

This was an especially fatal attack against the Poxco Dynasty! Many times, the great prophet sought to expand his following during his lifetime! He was never afraid of stepping on the toes of established factions and powers in order to enlighten the masses!

"You regard yourselves as the handmaidens of the great prophet, is that right?" Ves continued. "For those who are ostensibly the closest to Ylvaine, why are you the most eager to trample over his grave? Your fear of diversity and of others who don't share your beliefs is crippling you all! Since when has the Ylvainan Faith ever wavered against those who scorn or dismiss its tenets? Even during the darkest days of the Great Flight, the fleeing Ylvainans never gave up on converting new believers along the way!"

While this sounded quite impressive, the reality was that few people in the star regions that the refugee fleets passed through actually converted to the Ylvainan Faith. To most people who saw them pass through their space, the Ylvainans came off as crazy cultists who received their just deserts. Only the most desperate and poverty-stricken bystanders hitched a ride on the Ylvainan refugee ships!

Even so, the attempts to gather new believers even when they were at their lowest point was still a point of admiration for the Ylvainans of the time. The Ylvainan Faith still possessed a missionary drive back then! The followers of the great prophet still dreamed of a day when their beliefs swept throughout the entire galaxy, uniting both humans and aliens under a common faith!

Ves turned his back to the high inquisitors in order to face the gallery in the rear of the courtroom.

"The Poxco Dynasty pride themselves on being the most devout, but this is nothing but a fantasy that obscures how far they've deviated from Prophet Ylvaine's will! While it is fine for the inheritors of his legacy to adapt his ways in order to better fit the circumstances, they have gone too far! The trauma of the First Calamity and the Great Flight has scarred the Attendants of Ylvaine to such an extent that they listen to their fears rather than their hopes!"

One of the central messages that the great prophet tried to convey was hope! Hope for an end to endless war and slaughter! Hope for different races to embrace each other as fellow brothers and sisters! Hope for a time where everyone would transcend into a higher state where hunger, death, war and deprivation no longer existed!

Every Ylvainan learned of the great prophet's hopes from seminaries and classes when they were young, but how much of it was left in the modern Protectorate?

Ves forced his listeners to recognize this painful disparity!

It was so painful in fact that the shells around the high inquisitors finally broke! Both Xefin Lin Poxco and Kelly Ixef Poxco looked devastated!

Although they did not believe they acted wrongly, they recognized that the Attendants of Ylvaine exerted too much of their efforts on the wrong activities!

As much as they wanted to deny this conclusion, the words that Ves forced into their ears forced them to question their conviction! Had they truly advanced the will of the great prophet, or were they merely perpetuating the power of the Poxco Dynasty?

Ves was glad that he managed to crack open the high inquisitors, because he knew that his time was short. The strain was eating up his mind and his spiritual energy was constantly diminishing! He needed to wrap up his speech!

Ves waved his hand back towards the three silent judges. "This tribunal may have come into being in order to judge my supposed crimes, but make no mistake, it is not me who is on trial today! It is the three leading dynasties who should actually be judged!"

He closed his eyes in a theatrical fashion. "I believe the Ylvaine Protectorate still has a chance to return to the light. The great prophet may no longer be with you, but as his inheritors you bear the opportunity to decide whether to follow in his footsteps or walk a different path!"

To many Ylvainans, this was the first time they heard someone say that the Ylvainans had deviated from Ylvaine's will! Such a thought was completely unimaginable for them because they had been taught from birth to revere the prophet!

His eyes opened up and seemingly flared into the eyes of the people in the gallery.

"Right now, your path has been deviating too far from Ylvaine's footsteps. What's worse is that your people have done so for all the wrong reasons! You can't have it both ways! If you want to make a mockery out of the great prophet's beliefs, then don't pretend you revere him to the point of turning one of his nutrient pack wrappers into a priceless relic!"

Essentially, Ves tore down the illusion that the Ylvainans could be both devout while deviating from many of the core beliefs that the prophet once held!

Causing such a schism in the minds of many believers caused them to feel highly uncomfortable! Hardly anyone was equipped to solve the turbulence in their hearts and minds!

Ves couldn't take it any longer. He gradually and carefully drew back his mask. His exhausted mind and spirit couldn't sustain the partial fusion any longer.

What he said was enough. The tired and muted spiritual fragment in his mind had expressed everything it wanted to say through Ves. Now that it said its piece and helped Ves out, it quickly drilled out of his mind and flew back towards the conceptual space of the Transcendent Messenger in order to rest and recuperate!

As for Ves, he might have lost his sacred and awe-inspiring aura, but that did not lessen most people's admiration and astonishment for him! He calmly sat back down to his seat and smiled.

"Pardon me for the interruption, Your Honors."

A tense and awkward silence ensued.

Eventually, Judge Kelber Kronon filled in the void. "This tribunal is adjourned. It will convene again in two hours."

The judge struck his gavel, causing every Ylvainan present in the courtroom and those who followed the broadcast to be released from their spell!

"What have we witnessed?!"

Chapter 1233

Ves nursed his aching head as he sat alone in a waiting room in the courthouse building. Protector guards were placed both inside and outside the room in order to keep him apart from anyone else.

This protection was quite necessary, because he just shocked the entire Protectorate!

Now, he was paying the price. He expended quite a bit of spiritual energy when he got caught up in his extraordinary rant.

He didn't mean to say all of that much to the Ylvainans! He just wanted to use their blind faith against them in order to turn black into white and get them to lay off on stealing and destroying one of their relics.

Instead of doing that, he went far beyond the pale and exorcirated the entire Ylvaine Protectorate! Not only did he admonish the Poxco Dynasty, he also torched the other two dynasties whose backing he depended upon to go free!

How could he be so stupid to directly disparage his own backers?!

"It's because I wasn't myself back then." He whispered to himself.

Some of what he said reflected his inner thoughts, but the bulk of it definitely came from Ylvaine's spiritual fragment. During the time it rode in his mind, it had observed enough to the Protectorate to develop a very good idea on its strengths and shortcomings.

It turned out that the spiritual fragment had bottled up a considerable amount of fury due to all of the shortcomings it found in the modern Protectorate!

The fragment's fury blended with Ves' fury, causing them to become way more indignant than before!

Ves regretted that he had lost control over himself to such an extent. The reckless abandon that the spiritual fragment showed was both a reflection of its absolute faith and its nonchalance towards its own safety.

The Ylvainans didn't know the fragment existed, and even if they did, they would never be able to bring themselves to kill something that had been derived directly from the prophet!

What this meant was that it didn't matter how far Ylvaine's spiritual fragment went. It wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of its actions!

Due to donning the spiritual fragment as a mask, Ves adopted some of the fragment's recklessness. That and other traits caused him to act way beyond the pale, so much so that Ves was already itching his hands for his System comm and the Amastendira.

Should he make his escape now or later before an enraged mob of Ylvainans wanted to tear him apart?

"Maybe it won't come that far."

While Ves definitely went too far, he succeeded at what he set out to do. Who would ever look at the prophet's nutrient pack wrappers the same after this day?

It was too shameful for the Ylvainan Faith to continue to idolize such worthless pieces of trash! While they still held a lot of historical value, they were too absurd to be used as vessels of worship!

"What would Ylvaine want?"

He'd probably laugh or scorn the practice. It was one step away from putting his excretions on a pedestal.

As Ves struggled to decide whether he should make a move to free himself, the door to the waiting room opened. A Protector guard captain motioned him to stand.

"Two hours are up. The tribunal is reconvening. Please follow me back to the courtroom, Mr. Larkinson."

""Very well. Lead the way."

Though Ves felt remorseful and exhausted, he tried not to show any of his feebleness right now. Presenting a strong and confident image to the judges and the public would help give the impression that he was still the man who dared to confront the entire Protectorate!

As an excessive number of guards surrounded Ves as they left the waiting room, he wondered whether the trial would still continue. Two hours was a rather short time to digest what had happened. Perhaps the judges wanted a quick end to this abnormal situation.

Whatever the case, Ves wanted to put this ordeal behind him as well, preferably alive and free.

A few minutes later, he finally returned to the courtroom.

Surprisingly, the judges and the authorities hadn't vacated the gallery, nor deactivated all of the recorders broadcasting the tribunal proceedings to the rest of the state.

When Ves noticed the reaction of the average Ylvainans, he quickly found out why.

"Look! The speaker has returned!"

"Mr. Larkinson! Please enlighten us more! Bestow us with your wisdom!"

"You idiots! Why are you idolizing this foreigner?! He's a blasphemer who has led everyone astray! He should be shot this instant!"

"What are you saying?! The Bright Martyr must not be taken away from us! He is the first person in centuries who has been possessed by Ylvaine himself!"

"That's nonsense! There's no proof that Ylvaine has descended! The foreigner must have released something in the air to hypnotize us all! We are all being deceived!"

"The Bright Martyr is an enlightener, not a deceiver!"

"Bright Martyr! Bright Martyr! Bright Martyr!"

The handful of skeptics in the gallery were quickly drowned out by the sheer amount of people chanting the moniker they came up with for the foreigner who had touched the very essence of their faith!

When Ves heard them call him by this name, he almost collapsed on his feet. Why the hell did he suddenly become the Bright Martyr?! He wasn't even a real convert to their faith!

Yet as Ves sat down at the counsel table and turned to regard the gallery, he saw that many of the people there saw him in a profoundly different light!

Witnessing his earlier state up close was a lot different from watching the proceedings from a broadcast! The sacred aura emanating from Ylvaine's spiritual fragment affected them directly in person, causing them to experience its profound conviction at close range!

Some of the enthralled Ylvainans had raised their comms in order to rewatch his earlier tirade. The prior effect wasn't there as Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was no longer radiating its aura. None of the footage that recorded his speech could ever fully convey the spiritual aura and pressure he exerted on everyone.

It was a unique moment that could only happen once. Ves already knew that these kinds of shenanigans couldn't be propagated through recordings. When he previously watched the product reveal for the Aurora Titan, Ves did not sense much of the extraordinariness of the show models."

However, he did find out back then that a remnant of the remarkable impression still remained. Those who witnessed the event live would be able to recall some of their sentiments at the time from memory.

Those who hadn't witnessed the event as it happened would not feel much different. The effect was weakest on these people.

Even so, Ves managed to charm a lot of Ylvainans earlier, so much so that some of them even started calling him the Bright Martyr, which was very crazy to Ves! How could a single rant put him in the same company as the Grey Martyr and the other esteemed followers of the prophet?!

In any case, the fanatic support exhibited by the people in the gallery made it difficult for the authorities to remove them. The fanatic Ylvainans were convinced they witnessed the birth of a new Martyred Follower! They wouldn't miss such a pivotal event even if the entire galaxy was burning down!

When Ves finally turned his attention away from the gallery, his lawyer looked at Ves with a very odd expression.

"Mr. Larkinson.. what happened earlier.. have you been really touched by the prophet?"

Ves groaned. "Not you too. Shouldn't you be focusing on representing me rather than entertain some superstition?"

"Forget about the tribunal! I was sitting next to you during the entire time you stood up and addressed us all. I could feel it in my bones that you were different at that time! I'm convinced that you were possessed by the great prophet! It is an incredible honor for you to become his chosen vessel!"

"Goddammit!" Ves palmed his face.

His counsel kept mooning over Ves until the judges finally entered the courtroom and took their places on the bench.

"This tribunal is convened." Judge Kelber Kronon spoke in an odd tone. It was as if the judges were the accused, while Ves was the actual judge! "I believe that many of us are in turmoil due to the drastic revelations that Mr. Larkinson has spoken. While it might be prudent to postpone this tribunal, the rules must still be followed. A single outburst, no matter how remarkable, should not be a reason for us to descend into anarchy."

This was typical to the Kronons. They were the most rule bound out of all of the Dynasties.

High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco spoke up next in a slightly shaky voice. "Before we issue our verdict, we would like to emphasize that even if this is an extraordinary day, we are still Ylvainans. No matter how many questions you are harboring, the Attendants of Ylvaine will always be there to ease your doubts. Please speak to your fellow Ylvainans and visit your local churches if you are in need of spiritual guidance. Together, we will all grow stronger in our conviction!"

That was a bit milder than Ves expected. He would have thought the high inquisitor wanted to take the opportunity to push back against Ves, but perhaps the current climate didn't make that wise.

Judge Okin Fillis spoke up last. "Whether you are taken in by Mr. Larkinson's outburst or not, please do not dismiss his words just because of his origins. Sometimes, the most insightful criticism comes from those who are looking in from outside. If the prophet's grace has touched him, then this may be an indication that Mr. Larkinson may have a point. Otherwise, why would the great prophet descend on a Brighter instead of an Ylvainan?"

Ves liked what Judge Fillis said. Each of the judges expressed their own sentiment on what happened. As a loyal Curin, Judge Fillis made sure to put Ves in a good light.

High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco spoke again. "We do not see any use in letting the tribunal proceed any longer. My colleagues and I have already decided our judgements. In the interests of transparency, we will reveal and explain each of them in turn. Judge Fillis?"

"Mr. Larkinson should be acquitted on both charges." Judge Fillis stated. "I should not have to explain my reasoning for the inquisition's charge that the mech that Mr. Larkinson has designed are blasphemous. As for the charge of sacrilege, it is of my opinion that Mr. Larkinson has acted with good cause and mayhap divine providence. A nutrient pack wrapper, even if it belonged to the great prophet, is worth nothing compared to the enlightening we have received!"

While the reasoning of Judge Fillis sounded a bit dubious and way too inclined towards divine meddling, Ves nonetheless breathed a sigh in relief while the gallery erupted in cheers.

One judge let him off at least. Even if it was the only judge which he was sure would acquit him from his charges, it nonetheless put him at ease now that his guess was confirmed!

Judge Kelber Kronon struck the gavel in order to quiet the gallery. "I have deliberated on the charges, and I agree that the second charge is groundless. Mechs are mechs. Not a single surface of Mr. Larkinson's design contains any sacrilegious elements."

Of course the judge wouldn't buy the nonsense the inquisition tried to sell.

"However, by his own admission during this tribunal, Mr. Larkinson is guilty of sacrilege! No matter whether it is appropriate for Ylvainans to worship a nutrient pack wrapper, that does not change the fact that it is a revered relic of inestimate historical, cultural and religious value during the time of its theft! Whether Mr. Larkinson acted due to divine providence or not shouldn't change anything! The law is the law, and even if Prophet Ylvaine came back to life and stole the holy relic in person and set it on fire, we would still find him guilty!"

This judgement completely shocked everyone! The entire gallery immediately erupted into boos and objections!

Meanwhile, Ves felt a chill in his heart. The most neutral judge, the one he placed all of his hopes upon, had declared him guilty! He was only one step away from a guilty verdict!

Chapter 1234

This was an unforgettable day for the Ylvaine Protectorate. Most of the Ylvainans present in the courtroom and watching the live broadcasts had been thrown in confusion.

In that fateful moment where Ves stood up and and spoke those words, all of them felt compelled to listen.

The more devout they were, the more difficult it became to resist the impulse to listen!

This was because the words struck right at the core of their faith!

Many Poxcos were deeply affected by the attacks on how the Ylvainan Faith developed during the Age of Mechs. Compared to the unsurpassed glory it enjoyed while the great prophet was alive, the faith only encompassed a single third-rate state in a remote star sector!

Where was their missionary drive? Why was the faith still confined in a single state? How much courage did they really have left after closing themselves off from the galaxy for so long?

Whereas most of the other states in human space moved on from the trauma of the latter days of the Age of Conquest, the Ylvaine Protectorate was still in its grip!

For centuries, the Ylvainans had grown more and more insular. Even though the upper levels still stayed in touch with foreigners, if only by necessity, the rest of the population had become more and more focused on themselves.

Was this Ylvaine's will? For an extremely long time, very little Ylvainans thought about this question. Compared to trying to survive and lay low in a hostile galaxy, they didn't have the luxury to consider whether they were expressing their faith in the right direction.

What Ves had done was to force the Ylvainans to confront this long-standing contradiction. Even if he didn't benefit from the sacred aura emanated by Ylvaine's spiritual fragment, Ves would have still been able to throw much of the population into a crisis of faith!

Ves singlehandedly opened up a Pandora's box in the Protectorate! It was too late to close it now that the horrors flowing out of the box afflicted the conviction of many devout Ylvainans!

Perhaps the Ylvainans aligned to the reform agenda would not feel that much of a crisis, since they had already accepted the argument that they needed to open up their state.

Yet the traditionalists suffered a much more severe crisis of faith, as the criticism laid out by Ves struck right at their heart!

The traditionalists always believed they were the most devoted worshippers of the Ylvainan Faith! Their zeal drove them to become more militant in their beliefs, yet they focused most of their energy on maintaining their purity in isolation, which was in great opposition to the intentions of the prophet they worshipped and idolized!

As the Ylvainans began to come to terms with the wounds that Ves had opened up, several of them began to rationalize the strange and alarming mood that swept over everyone.

This unreplicable phenomenon sent many Ylvainan doctors and scientists into a tizzle!

They couldn't explain why everyone felt compelled to listen!

Some turned hostile and accused Ves of being a black magician. Others guessed that Ves was in the possession of super-advanced high technology that enabled him to brainwash every human by taking advantage of their psychological vulnerabilities!

Yet the skeptics were in the minority as the sensation sweeping over every watching Ylvainan resonated with their faith!

This was incredibly strange! It was so remarkable that a large number of Ylvainan had already made up their minds on what had happened!

When the foreigner addressed the Ylvainans, he spoke with the voice of the prophet!

No one knew who came up with this rumor first. Perhaps some savvy Curin saw an opportunity to elevate Ves from a sinner who was facing the death penalty into a blessed figure who would continue to benefit their dynasty as long as he was alive!

Yet once this rumor started spreading around, it immediately caught fire in the vast swathe of the Protectorate! No matter whether they were Curins, Kronons or Poxcos, at least a third of every Ylvainan took this rumor as fact!

They all believed that the transcendent prophet had spoken to them this day!

It was both a great honor and a very deep shame for the prophet to have emerged in this manner.

It was an honor because the prophet hadn't forgotten about the descendants of the survivors of his cult!

It was a shame because the prophet chose to convey his words through a foreigner rather than an Ylvainan!

A very strange kind of stubbornness therefore crept up to these ardent Ylvainans. No matter how much the other Ylvainans cast doubt on what had happened, the more superstitious Ylvainans deeply wanted to believe that the great prophet had spoken to them in person!

No matter if they were aligned to the reformers or the traditionalists, their desire to feel special caused them to become extremely defensive about this rumor!

For this reason, the rumor quickly acquired a life of its own, to the point that even the most senior figures among the Attendants of Ylvaine couldn't suppress it anymore!

Compared to Brighters who had always been taught to regard supernatural phenomena with skepticism, the Ylvainans as a whole were much less capable of critical thinking!

Ordinarily, this was good for the Attendants of Ylvaine as they would be able to dictate the beliefs of the citizens of the Protectorate. Discouraging critical thinking and encouraging them to accept the existence of miracles allowed the Ylvainan Faith to remain strong and relevant long after the great prophet had died.

Yet now this policy backfired on the Attendants of Ylvaine! The impressionable sheep all believed they witnessed an embodiment of the prophet!

Since the Attendants of Ylvaine weren't quite sure of what had happened, they hadn't moved to stifle this interpretation of events in time! Now, it had spread throughout the entire Protectorate, and as time went by, more and more Ylvainans settled their doubts by accepting this explanation!

Throughout this vortex that affected the entire state, these Ylvainans started to regard Ves in a very different light.

Some called him the voice of the prophet. More extreme Ylvainans even claimed that Ves was the second prophet who inherited Ylvaine's holy mission!

Then someone started calling him the Bright Martyr. This new moniker happened to fit very nicely with the narrative adopted by many Ylvainans!

Although the core leaders within the Attendants of Ylvaine deeply disliked referring to Ves with this honored name, they couldn't stop it from spreading either! Even if the traditionalists media outlets didn't broadcast the name, the reformer media outlets mentioned it at least once every thirty seconds!

They went all out to propagandize the new name for Ves!

Even though the courtroom fell into silence as the judges spoke, the people in the gallery all looked at Ves as if they completely accepted him as the Bright Martyr!

Ves didn't have to guess who was responsible for making all of these Ylvainans accept this favorable interpretation.

Only someone as astute as Calabast could have pulled it off so quickly and effectively! Her profession and her outsider's perspective of the Ylvainans enabled her to find the best way to manipulate the citizens of the Protectorate!

Now, as two of the judges had already issued their judgement, Ves deeply hoped whether his extraordinary speech and the interpretations that gained wider acceptable managed to sway the last judge!

With one judge declaring him innocent and another judge finding him guilty, only the third judge who presided over this tribunal would be able to break the tie!

High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco looked sternly at the gallery, forcing them to contain their excitement. She then swept her gaze towards Ves, meeting his calm and resigned eyes without displaying any of her earlier conviction.

The Ylvainans who were present in the courtroom during the time that Ves spoke out faced the full brunt of his aura!

Those who watched the tribunal proceedings many light-years away simply couldn't imagine how those who were physically present basked in the glory of that sacred glow!

Yet Ves still doubted whether he managed to change the heart of the most hostile judge in the tribunal. He targeted the Ylvainan Inquisition directly, meaning that the high inquisitor could react in two different ways.

The most hopeful outcome would be that High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco experienced a change of heart! If she accepted the criticism that Ves and Ylvaine's spiritual fragment had expressed, then she might absolve him from his crimes!

Yet Ves knew that humans were not always so open-minded. Inquisitors happened to be the most narrow-minded Ylvainans in the Protectorate, so they possessed a strong tendency to dig into their heels despite being told they were wrong!

No one in the courtroom had ever imagined that the judge from the inquisition became the deciding swing vote of the tribunal!

Judge Kelber Kronon received a lot of backlash for his judgement! The entire Kronon Dynasty entered into deeper turmoil as they struggled to balance their strong adherence to the rules to the extraordinary event they witnessed!

In fact, the judge's comment that he would even declare the prophet guilty of a crime had thoroughly tarnished the Kronon Dynasty's halo!

Kelber Kronon's rigid judgement thoroughly echoed the Bright Martyr's accusation that the Protectors of the Faith were caught up in their own circle and had become wildly out of touch!

Even if many Kronons hated Kelber Kronon for single-handedly ruining the reputation of their dynasty, the damage had already been done!

Aware that the entire Ylvaine Protectorate hung on her words, High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco carefully issued her judgement.

"This has been an eventful day. I agree with the opinions of both of my fellow judges on the bench. Perhaps the Ylvainan Faith may have gone astray in fetishizing trivial objects, but Mr. Larkinson has still done wrong. I have thought long and hard these last two hours, and I still find myself no closer to a decision than before. Is Mr. Larkinson guilty? If this was a regular court session, then maybe I have no choice but to say yes. Yet this is an Inquisitorial tribunal! We do not decide upon our verdicts by mindlessly following law and precedent!"

Many people in the gallery held their breaths. Was the high inquisitor trying to paint the Ylvainan Inquisition in a good light?

That was very encouraging to Ves! With how much support he enjoyed from the public, the Ylvainan Inquisition should definitely be reluctant to earn their ire!

"The Inquisition has always endeavored to find the truth." She continued while maintaining as much calm as possible. "While most fellow Ylvainans believe that we are preoccupied with hunting down heretics, blasphemers, traitors and other enemies of the faith, our holy mission encompasses much more than that. We find the truth behind every claim of a miracle. We determine whether a witness truly experienced divine providence or if they were just hallucinating while overdosing themselves on stimulants."

If not for the stakes, Ves would have scoffed. As if he would believe such drivel!

"It is due to our mission that this tribunal doesn't necessarily have to cast a narrow judgement Mr. Larkinson's actions. To the question whether an extraordinary event has occurred, I cannot bring myself to answer it. I am still in doubt and I believe the rest of the Inquisition is the same. Reviewing the footage and studying the analyses written by many experts during this time, it is clear that no conclusive answer can be given for what has happened. For this reason and after much thought, I choose to abstain from issuing a judgement!"

Shock swept through the entire gallery and all the other Ylvainans watching the proceedings! The third judge refused to break the tie!

As everyone tried to figure out what would happen next, someone realized something very important!

"In the event an Inquisitorial tribunal is deadlocked in a tie, the final verdict will always favor guilt!"

"Ves Larkinson is declared guilty by the tribunal!"

What?! Ves widened his eyes! How could the Ylvainan Inquisition follow such a ridiculous rule!?

Chapter 1235

The Ylvainan Inquisition tried many heretical Ylvainans over the centuries. Some of them openly defied the Ylvainan Faith. Others were exceedingly careful in expressing their deviant beliefs.

When the inquisition caught on to the heretics and dragged them to their tribunals, it was quite hard to know for certain if someone was guilty. While many tribunals generally issued a unanimous judgement of guilt, sometimes an extreme case would appear where it was truly difficult to be sure of someone's guilt.

In cases where an inquisitor was deeply conflicted about someone's guilt, they could choose to abstain from issuing their judgement.

This was a rare event, but fairly problematic. These kinds of edge cases might also prompt another inquisitor to take the rare step of acquitting the accused!

This resulted in a tie, whereby the tribunal became stuck between two verdicts!

After a lot of thought, the Ylvainan Inquisition decided that if a tie ever occurred, they would gravitate towards the guilty verdict!

The argument for this policy was that it was better for the Ylvainan Inquisition to be safe than sorry! Letting a potential heretic go free meant letting a potential threat return to society! In the interest of public safety and the integrity of the Ylvainan Faith, the inquisitors couldn't take the chance that they were releasing a monster!

Of course, whether Ves deserved to be treated in this fashion was still in question. Many Ylvainans in the gallery and watching the broadcast thought it was deeply unfair!

Yet while the Ylvainan Inquisition caught a lot of flack for following this rule, it was better than outright declaring Ves guilty!

Judge Kelber Kronon still attracted most of the blame! If not for judging the Bright Martyr guilty, the tribunal wouldn't have fallen into such an awkward situation!

Ves couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile at how this tribunal developed. He immediately came up with a guess for why High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco refused to issue her judgement.

She wanted to have it both ways! She wanted to declare Ves guilty but avoid most of the blame for condemning a potential Martyred Follower! By abstaining from the decision, she elegantly preserved most of the reputation of the inquisition while still ensuring that Ves would no longer be a problem to their interests!

What a dirty move! If Ves hadn't been the target, he would have applauded the shrewd woman for coming up with this brilliant solution!

"Outrageous! The Bright Martyr is innocent!"

"The rules shouldn't be applied anymore!"

"Kill this devil before he bewitches us again!"

The controversy that erupted from this result threw everyone into disarray yet again! Those who were inclined against Ves celebrated this result, while those who deeply believed that he was the Bright Martyr found it to be a travesty!

Yet no matter how they regarded the process, it didn't change the fact that the tribunal essentially declared Ves guilty of sacrilege!

While the judges hadn't even addressed the sentencing yet, there was really only one possible sentence they were allowed to make. For the vast majority of the crimes the Ylvainan Inquisition enforced, the punishment was death!

This was why despite Kelber Kronon's repeated strikes with his gavel, the Ylvainans in the gallery simply wouldn't stay still!

"Order! Order!"

Through a variety of technological means, the audience in the gallery experienced increasingly greater suppression!

Even though the Ylvainan observers felt stifled, the most fanatical among them had to be dragged out by the guards before the entire gallery subsided!

Just as a tense and forceful silence descended on the courtroom, a Protector captain suddenly stepped out and approached the bench from the side!

The captain whispered something to the judges. The news was so alarming that none of the judges managed to maintain their composure!

"Ahem! A highly unusual disruption is taking place outside the court building!" Please remain seated while the Protectors attempt to reassert order!"

The Ylvainans seated in the gallery frowned. They raised their comms and attempted to access the galactic net to see what was happening, but their connections had forcefully been cut off!

Several uncertain minutes passed by as the judges became preoccupied with what was happening outside.

It must be something incredibly serious to prevent the judges from moving onto the sentencing! Ves glanced around and saw that the Protectorate guards increased their alertness. They were gearing up for a fight!

Was someone trying to rescue Ves? But how? The Protectors of the Faith deployed an entire mech regiment around the court building, and placed a lot of units around the city district in order to guard every direction! They even took precautions against both aerial and underground threats!

Yet for some reason, the Protectorate guards looked increasingly more tense as they acted as if a great force was about to descend upon the court!

Ves felt it first. Despite his exhaustion and his spiritual depletion, his spiritual senses hadn't turned entirely numb. He felt a very familiar sensation approaching him from the direction of the main entrance of the court building.

He doubted it at first, but as the sensation slowly grew stronger, his eyes widened as he realized what was approaching!

"My prototype is back!"

He sensed the pale but incredibly strong X-Factor of his prototype! He knew it was his prototype and not one of the authorized copies of the Transcendent Messenger because its X-Factor hadn't been affected by a virtue! The mech radiated a strong sense of absolute faith that was incredibly similar to the aura that he emanated during his extraordinary tirade!

The Ylvainans in the gallery, the Protector guards on duty and the judges on the bench all began to sense something familiar in the air.

Their sensitivity towards spirituality wasn't as good as Ves, so it took quite some time before they realized the similarities!

"The prophet has returned! He is outside the courtroom!"

"Is there another Martyr outside?!"

"Let us see! Let us see!"

Something incredibly significant was happening, but the courtroom was completely isolated right now. Yet despite the attempts of the inquisition and the Protectors to calm everyone down, the aura that continued to resonate with their faith made it increasingly more difficult to tamper everyone's excitement!

Ves knew more than most. He knew that the True Believers made off with the prototype while the Transcendent Messenger design was still incomplete.

Its aura wasn't very strong back then, but now was different! Now that the Transcendent Messenger gained a design spirit, the prototype's pale X-Factor seemed to have gained a lot more strength!

It was enough to affect the entire court building while standing outside!

What Ves wondered right now was whether the True Believers were responsible, and why the Protectors of the Faith allowed the prototype to approach without halting it. Were they afraid to bring their weapons to bear on the mech for fear of harming the great prophet's will or something?

Eventually, the three judges came to some sort of consensus after a furious discussion with the Protector captain!

Judge Okin Fillis spoke up. "While this is highly irregular, the event that is taking place outside the court building has forced us to adjust this tribunal. Please remain calm as we project the scene of what is happening outside."

A wide projection came to life. It depicted a stupendous scene of the prototype standing in front of a humongous mob of Ylvainans!

Hundreds of thousands of residents of Krent stepped out of their homes in clear violation of martial law! They outright ignored the warnings of the patrolling Protectors of the Faith and marched towards the court building!

This was not a spontaneous act! Instead, the presence of the prototype made it clear that it was orchestrated by the New Ylvaine Dynasty!

Even as hundreds of thousands of Ylvainans arrived at the court building, millions more became inspired by the sight and exited their homes as well! The entire city appeared to be converging on this location, much to the Kronon Dynasty's consternation!

They might be able to contain and subdue a mob of millions by employing a variety of crowd control measures, but the entire star system was under the control of the Curins! They would make sure that the heavy-handed suppression of the mob would be broadcasted to the entire Protectorate!

After suffering a heavy blow to their reputation due to the rigid judgement issued by Kelber Kronon, the Protectors could hardly afford another blow to their reputation! Their legitimacy would take a nosedive if they were seen as suppressing the very people they were supposed to protect!

This consideration also held the Kronon forces back from attacking the prototype. Regardless of how much reluctance the mech pilots exhibited against a mech that touched their faiths, the prototype was too close to the mob!

If the Protectors started to fight the prototype, then the collateral damage that ensued would definitely kill tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of innocent bystanders!

All in all, while the Protectors of the Faith still possessed a decisive edge in military might, they were rendered impotent in fear of harming so many Ylvainans!

The people outside the court building already knew what went on outside. Only now did the people inside the courtroom catch up to this alarming event!

"This mech...!"

Ves realized that he wasn't under any suppression, so he couldn't help but stoke the fire!

"That mech is my work! It is an early prototype of my Transcendent Messenger design that went missing at the hands of the True Believers! It is a rough copy of the same design that High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco has accused of being a blasphemous design!"

The high inquisitor in question looked sick at this revelation, but the Ylvainans who had joined the mob or watched the broadcast all gasped in shock!

The mech that made them feel close to their faith was anything but blasphemous to them! Not even the greatest churches and cathedrals of the Ylvainan Faith made them feel this intimate!

"It is a holy mech!"

"If the inquisition thinks this mech is blasphemous, then they are the true heretics!"

"What are you guys thinking?! Don't you see that this mech is brainwashing us all! It's the same thing that its designer has done!"

Although some Ylvainans were dubious about the nature of the prototype, they were outnumbered by the Ylvainans who were convinced that the mech was something holy!

Although the leaders of the Ylvainan Inquisition and the Attendants of Ylvaine deeply wanted to suppress the news, Kesseling VIII was a stronghold of the Curin Dynasty! The Shepherds of the Flock gleefully broadcasted everything that was happening inside and outside the court building as long as it favored their agenda!

Due to the inaction displayed by the Kronons, there was no stopping this procession!

Once the people in the gallery started to subside in their rapturous excitement, the prototype began to activate its forward projectors.

The mech projected one of the most notorious figures in the Protectorate!

The projection depicted an old man dressed in a very accurate replica of an iconic robe. His face shared a lot of similarities to the face that adorned many statues and other religious artwork!

Ves was shocked at the sight as well, because there was only one living Ylvainan who wore that face!

"Many of you know who I am." The projection spoke. "I am Prophet Ylvaine come to life. I am the head of the Ylvaine Dynasty that many of you believe has committed terrible terrorist attacks. I would dearly like to dispute that, but I've made an agreement not to go into that at this moment."

A lot of mixed feelings emerged from the spectating Ylvainans. While they enjoyed the backing of many sympathizers, the majority firmly regarded the True Believers as terrorists! They believed that the figure who possessed the same DNA as the prophet should have never existed in the first place!

Yet now, under the influence of the aura emanating from the prototype, the Ylvainans didn't exhibit any of their disgust towards the self-proclaimed incarnation of the prophet right now!

The living prophet smiled. "It is presumptuous for the Curins, Kronons and Poxcos to cast judgement on my Martyred Follower without asking the true leading dynasty of the Protectorate!"

Ves felt like he wanted to puke. Who the hell was his Martyred Follower!? Ves didn't even agree to his latest title, but now even the living prophet accepted this interpretation!

Just as everyone in the courtroom was glued to the projection, the courtroom doors suddenly opened!

Escorted by a number of very tense Protector guards, the living prophet himself entered the room in the flesh!

"For this reason, I have forced the inquisition to accept a deal!" He spoke. The voice from his body echoed with the voice from the projection! "In exchange for letting me enter the courtroom and join the bench, I will place myself at their mercy! I do this for the good of my people and my beliefs!"

What?! Ves and every Ylvainan experienced yet another shock!

Chapter 1236

Ves didn't know what kind of deal that the living prophet had struck in order to be allowed to enter the courtroom.

Even though he claimed to be the current incarnation of Prophet Ylvaine, the authorities all considered him to be a terrorist leader and a menace to society!

He should have never been allowed to walk in the open like this, let alone barge into the courtroom of an incredibly sensitive tribunal!

To the Ylvainan Inquisition, the living prophet was their biggest enemy! The New Ylvaine Dynasty he headed was responsible for leading many Ylvainans astray! His very existence as an organically-grown clone of the true prophet was a walking violation of the orthodox faith!

Yet as the living prophet calmly entered the courtroom and approached the bench, none of the Protectors or the inquisitorial staff on guard moved to halt the terrorist.

They received instructions to leave him alone!

Both High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco and High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco glared at the living prophet. Their hands were itching to strangle the bogeyman of the Protectorate. Yet their superiors already issued their orders! The living prophet was allowed to join the bench!

As for Ves, he couldn't even fathom why the supposedly risk-averse living prophet decided to expose himself all of a sudden. He heard that the living prophet was delusional, but this was something else!

Every Ylvainan remained silent as the living prophet finally took his seat. His presence contrasted starkly against the other three judges.

The sight was so incongruous to many Ylvainans that they even forgot about the prototype for a moment!

The living prophet benevolently smiled. "My fellow Ylvainans. While I have many things to say to you, I have promised to keep this short. I am here today to issue my own judgement. I have already predicted what would come to pass this day. I cannot allow my Bright Martyr to be subjected to persecution by my own flock!"

Many people doubted his claim. Ves momentarily expressed some doubts as well. Did the living prophet really predict the tribunal would proceed in this fashion? It might explain why the living prophet smuggled himself onto Kesseling VIII ahead of time! It also explained why the True Believers exerted so much effort into stealing the first prototype!

Perhaps the living prophet truly foresaw the need to intervene in this fashion!

Yet Ves quickly shook his head as his habitual skepticism asserted itself. There was no way this delusional clone could predict the future!

Ves wasn't gullible enough to buy this story. He suspected that the living prophet moved to Kesseling VIII and stole the prototype for other reasons. Yet once the tribunal took place, the living prophet must have seen an opportunity to make a splash and spontaneously decided to join the fun!

This possibility sounded much more likely than the claim that the living prophet foresaw everything!

The living prophet continued with his speech. "My will to be defied! The Ylvainan Inquisition is doing their best to stifle the revelations spoken by my chosen vessel, but I cannot allow them to proceed with their transgression! Let me be clear. The Bright Martyr is innocent! I acquit him of both charges!"

This judgement didn't surprise anyone. His attitude towards Ves already expressed his inclination! As long as the tribunal accepted the living prophet as its fourth judge, then that meant that the majority was in favor of acquitting Ves!

Ves would be allowed to walk out of the court building alive and free!

Yet would the Ylvainan Inquisition really accept the judgement of a terrorist leader without doing anything to stop it? Ves and many Ylvainans continued to listen with rapt attention as the living prophet commanded everyone's attention!

"The Bright Martyr may have admitted to taking away and promptly destroying the object enshrined in one of my cathedrals, but as far as I am concerned, he has not committed any sacrilege! What the Bright Martyr has confessed to was something that really should have been done in the first place! As much as all of you revere me, it is absurd of you to worship my trash! As far as I'm concerned, the nutrient pack wrapper should have been destroyed a long time ago!"

Many Ylvainans looked at the living prophet strangely as he offered this explanation. To those who weren't sympathetic to the living prophet, they truly became astonished by how deeply the clone believed he was the actual prophet!

Part of the reason why most Ylvainans hadn't become swayed by the living prophet's claims was that the man lacked the sacred aura emanated by the prototype.

While the living prophet was an excellent speaker and knew how to handle a crowd, he didn't exhibit any of the gravitas carried by Ves during his tirade.

It was like watching a clown wearing the costume of the prophet! If not for his current role in saving the Bright Martyr's life, most Ylvainans would have hurled insults at him already!

"As for the second accusation, I think the Bright Martyr's work speaks for itself! Does the inquisition truly dare to declare the mech that is standing outside this courtroom to be a blasphemous existence?"

High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco kept his head down and did not offer any reaction to the living prophet's attack.

He really didn't dare to speak against the Transcendent Messenger design when a copy of the mech made many Ylvainans feel as if they were in touch with Ylvaine's will once again!

"The Ylvaine Protectorate has entered into dire straits." The living prophet grimly warned. "Even as my children continue to bicker amongst themselves, you are all blind to the threats outside our borders! The Star Faith Collective is the least you should be worried about!"

Many Ylvainans expressed a lot of surprise when they heard this. Ves himself thought that the living prophet was one of the most extreme proponents of the traditionalist agenda. Who knew he was actually more inclined towards the reformers!

"Mechs are the ultimate weapons of war! This age is defined by them, and the ages following it will always offer a place to them! It is my will that the Protectorate should learn how to harness this weapon better. As the Bright Martyr is also a mech designer, I have tasked him with a holy mission to enlighten you all to what mechs our people truly need! Take a good look at the mech standing outside, and you will know the difference!"

Ves didn't know whether he should appreciate the free advertising or not. Having a terrorist promote his mechs was a mixed blessing!

Still, even if most Ylvainans didn't believe in the living prophet, they accepted his acknowledgement of the mech. It truly appeared as a blessed creation!

At this time, High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco couldn't help but interrupt. "Your time is almost up."

The living prophet smirked at her. "Impatient, are we? It is insulting for the inquisition to regard me with so much skepticism. While I truly want to teach you all a lesson, I do not require nor demand your obedience. I have never forced anyone to become my follower and I never will! Unfortunately for you inquisitors, while I have agreed to place myself at your mercy, I did not specify in which state!"

High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco's quickly suspected what was about to happen. "No! Protectors! Restrain this terrorist!"

It was too late! Even before the high inquisitor reached out to grab the madman, the living prophet cackled madly as he pressed a button on his comm!

"Hahahaha! Do not be afraid, my children! I will return to you once again!"

His entire body lit up in flames! The fire that engulfed the living prophet was so hot and scorching that the other judges on the bench immediately jumped away as best they could!

The hand of High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco suffered an awful burn as she hastily drew it back! If she hadn't reacted faster, her arm and the rest of her body would have gone up in smoke as well!

The accelerants the living prophet carried burned the clone so thoroughly that even the fastest fire suppressant couldn't do anything to save the terrorist's life!

The self-proclaimed incarnation of the prophet and the delusional head of the New Ylvaine Dynasty sacrificed his life without any hesitation!

As the Protector guards tried to assert control over all of the unrest that ensued, Ves and many of the Ylvainans watching the proceedings didn't know what to think anymore!

Ves was thoroughly confused. The moment the living prophet entered the courtroom, he was already destined to fall into the hands of the authorities. His subsequent treatment in their hands would definitely be awful, because despite his many claims to innocence, the True Believers were still terrorists who killed many Ylvainans over the years!

From this perspective, Ves understood that the living prophet would rather die than suffer through the indignities that the Ylvainan Inquisition had in store for him. Since he would definitely die in their custody, he might as well make another point and die on his own terms!

Yet why did the living prophet feel the need to sacrifice his comfortable life on the behalf of Ves? Did the living prophet delude himself into thinking that standing up to Ves would help him and his forbidden dynasty?

"There's little point in guessing the motives of a madman." He whispered to himself. "The living prophet is too crazy to comprehend!"

Regardless of the reason why the living prophet behaved so altruistically, Ves shouldn't look at this holy gift horse in the mouth! He directly benefited from this selfless and seemingly benign intervention!

Ves glanced towards the judges.

High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco looked pained and furious. She glanced at the pile of ashes that used to be the most infamous Ylvainan in the state as if she wanted to burn it again!

However, the living prophet was already dead, and there was no way she could extract any information out of the man. She currently looked back at her severely-burned arm as Protector medics applied emergency treatment to triage the wound.

The other two judges looked uncomfortable, but they didn't do anything else. While Judge Kelber Kronon quietly conferred with the Protector guard captain, Judge Okin Fillis quietly exited the courtroom while everyone else was distracted!

The lawyer sitting next to Ves jerked. "Now that Judge Fillis has left, the tribunal is over! The verdict it has issued should be final!"

Ves looked hopeful. "Does that mean.."

"The vote is two against one in favor of acquittal! Congratulations, Mr. Larkinson! You are free!"

The word quickly spread among the Ylvainans in the gallery. Many of them stood up and cheered!

"The Bright Martyr is saved!"

"The living prophet redeemed himself before he died!"

"This is absurd! Why should we accept the judgement of a terrorist?! The foreigner is guilty! He deserves to be executed!"

Although not every Ylvainan supported the narrative that Ves was a vessel of the prophet, the ones who believed in the Bright Martyr enthusiastically supported this result!

The entire city district that hosted the court building erupted into festivity as the millions of citizens who took to the streets celebrated the outcome of this epochal tribunal!

The Ylvaine Protectorate would never be the same from this day onwards!

No matter how much the stubborn inquisitors, Poxcos and traditionalists opposed this development, they could hardly reverse the verdict.

Too many people believed the Bright Martyr! With one of his mechs continually allowing everyone to bask in its sacred presence, the amount of people who sided with Ves continued to grow!

It was no longer possible for the Ylvainan Inquisition to invalidate the living prophet's judgement and change the verdict!

"You should be free to go now, Mr. Larkinson!" The lawyer happily declared as he regarded Ves with an increasingly more intense stare. "Or should I say the Bright Martyr? It is an honor to represent the newest Martyred Follower!"

Ves became increasingly disturbed by his counsel! It was as if the laywer couldn't wait to kiss his shoes!

"Aren't the Martyred Followers regarded as such posthumously?" Ves asked. "You Ylvainans only started calling them that after they died one after another during the First Calamity and the Great Flight."

A martyr was someone who died due to their beliefs! Ves valued his life to an incredible degree, so he would rather not be called by this ridiculous name!

Unfortunately, his lawyer and many other Ylvainans disagreed!

"Even if you die today, you will still be the Bright Martyr to us! You have already made your contributions!"

Chapter 1237

Practically no one expected this day to end in this fashion.

No one except the living prophet perhaps.

Through this rollercoaster of a tribunal, Ves turned from the biggest enemy of the state into a revered figure!

Naturally, not every Ylvainan thought the same of him. There were plenty of Ylvainans who maintained their skepticism against him.

Those who hadn't watched the broadcasts believed that Ves had used some kind of sorcery or technological gadget to charm the more gullible Ylvainans into believing he was a saint!

The upper levels of the leading dynasties also exhibited a lot more reserve. Unlike the average citizens, the leaders of the Protectorate possessed a higher vision. The shepherds weren't as impressionable as the sheep.

Nonetheless, enough people bought the story that Ves became the Bright Martyr that there was very little anyone could do to dispel this belief!

As Ves looked out from the opaque windows at the upper level of the courtyard building, he beheld the monster that he had inadvertently unleashed!

"BRIGHT MARTYR! BRIGHT MARTYR! BRIGHT MARTYR!"

In front of his stolen prototype, a crowd of millions religiously chanted his new moniker. The authorities feebly tried to maintain order over the spontaneous mob, but there was very little they could do to stop the masses.

Viewing the masses with his own eyes and feeling the collective euphoria they exhibited was extremely scary to him. Ves had kicked up a much bigger fuss than he intended!

"To think that the citizens of Kesseling VIII used to hate me the most." He muttered.

Due to the machinations of the Curin Dynasty, almost every Ylvainan managed to follow what had happened inside and outside the court building. Even if the media outlets aligned with the other two dynasties shut down the broadcasts, the enthralled Ylvainans merely switched over to the media outlets operated by the Curins!

This enabled the reform-minded dynasty to shape the opinions of a much wider audience than before!

If not for this proactive media manipulation, this crowd of millions wouldn't have emerged!

While the Ylvainans who lived on other planets didn't spontaneously leave their homes to celebrate on the streets, the enthusiasm there was just as euphoric!

Many citizens of the Protectorate shared the sentiment that they were witness to a new page of history!

After centuries of isolation and stagnation, a new Martyred Follower had emerged! Not only that, but many Ylvainans received a deep shock to their systems as they witnessed the Bright Martyr speak the voice of the prophet!

This pivotal moment in the courtroom invigorated the faith in the hearts of many Ylvainans!

Although the Bright Martyr mostly expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction, the belief that Prophet Ylvaine himself had descended to the mortal realm to do so made the pain all too bittersweet!

The prophet was alive! The prophet still cared! The prophet expected more from his children!

These beliefs and more propagated in such a swift fashion that the Attendants of Ylvaine failed to shape the narrative in their favor! The hysteria that had erupted all over the Protectorate was like a beast that couldn't be tamed!

As one of the principal instigators of this collective, state-wide hysteria, Ves gained a very different status after his acquittal.

"At the very least, no one cares about the holy relic anymore."

He originally intended to weasel his way out of a guilty verdict. He managed to accomplish that and more!

A Protectorate guard officer entered the room. With a case in hand. Once he arrived in front of Ves, the case opened up, revealing the belongings confiscated by the inquisition.

Ves took back his Peaceful Repose, his toolbelt, his regular comm, his shield generator and some other odds and ends. It felt good to have some actual protection on his body again.

"Mr. Larkinson, your transportation has been arranged. Due to safety concerns, we will bring you out of Krent through an underground evacuation route. We'll escort you to a secure facility under the management of the Curin Dynasty."

At least this Ylvainan didn't call him the Bright Martyr for once.

"Very well. Let's go."

None of the authorities wanted him to step outside the court building to address the crowd. Not only couldn't his safety be guaranteed, but they were also afraid that Ves would use his new status as the Bright Martyr to influence public opinion further!

Under the lead of his escorts, Ves boarded a heavy-duty shuttle escorted by several companies of mechs and set off towards his new accommodation.

Due to all of the unrest in Krent, the Protectors arranged for him to be moved out of the capital city. All of his staff and Avatars had moved from the guest compound to the new location ahead of time.

He arrived at the highly-guarded villa reserved for esteemed guests with a small amount of fanfare!

"Ves! You're finally back!" Ketis cheered while waving Lucky in her hands. "Look! Lucky missed you too!"

The cat limply meowed.

Ves chuckled. "I missed you too, Lucky."

"You worried us all today, cousin!" Melkor said with evident relief at Ves' return. "I have no idea what possessed you to steal that stupid relic, but please don't do something like that again! The entire Larkinson Family is depending on you to rise to a higher station!"

"Haha, don't worry Melkor. It takes more than that to kill me, you know!"

"I don't know how you managed to convince so many Ylvainas in believing that you're divine, but it's practically pandemonium out there!" Gavin exclaimed with both panic and excitement in his eyes. "Regardless of how you did it, the popularity of your mechs has surged! The orders the LMC has received from the Protectorate has quadrupled! The demand for the Transcendent Messenger has broken into a higher dimension!"

"Benny, I know you're excited at all of the business opportunities that opened up, but let's not be too hasty. Besides, I'm not going to change my mind about the Transcendent Messenger. It's a commissioned design that has never been intended for the market."

After he finished greeting all of his friends, Ves entered the villa and settled down.

Just as Ves wanted to have a moment for himself, Ketis came up to him with a coy smile while hugging Lucky.

"I want to talk to you about something. Lucky, can you activate that ECM field of yours?"

"Meow."

The field quickly took shape around them. Ves found it curious that Ketis found out that Lucky possessed this ability.

"I figured out your superpower!" She proudly claimed.

"Meow!"

"You see? Even Lucky agrees!"

Ves directed a questioning glance at her. "I don't have any superpowers. I'm just a mech designer."

"Don't lie to me, Ves! I've followed in your footsteps for several years, and I've seen your power in action several times!"

"This must be good." He chuckled good-naturedly. "Okay then.

"Your superpower is charm! You're an incubus!" She proudly declared!

This guess caused Ves to be taken aback. Charm? Incubus?

"Ridiculous! I'm not an incubus!"

Ketis huffed. "Hmph! Whatever! I still nailed your superpower! Don't lie to me! Remember when you defeated the Blind Men by ranting at them? Remember when you burned that heckling professor during the Aurora Titan's product reveal? Now you've managed to charm half the Ylvaine Protectorate!"

This was ridiculous! Ves continually shook his head. "The only reason the Ylvainans were so taken in by my arguments is because the Curins went all-out in propagandizing my words. They deserve the bulk of the credit for causing this storm. I'm just—"

"—a mech designer." Ketis finished before she widened her eyes. "Maybe that's the source of your superpowers! Mayra was kind of weird in a way as well, but she hid her powers a lot better than you! Do you think that I'll develop my own superpower when I advance to Journeyman?!"

"Don't be silly, Ketis! Mech designers aren't superheroes!"

"Do all of you high-ranking mech designers decided to keep your powers a secret? Don't worry, Ves, I won't tell anymore! I'll be joining your ranks soon when I develop my own superpower! When I advance to Journeyman, I want my superpower to make my weapons sharp! Sharp enough to cut through anything!"

The fantasies that Ketis entertained right now grew wilder and more unrealistic by the second! If every high-ranking mech designer could express their design philosophies into a superpower, then they wouldn't be known as cowards!

Her anticipation grew stronger! In her mind, she was already imagining herself as a swordswoman who could cut through mech armor with a single swing of her weapon!

Ves swatted her head in admonishment, deforming the poofy beret on her head. "While I like the drive you exhibit, you shouldn't entertain these crazy fantasies of yours. Superpowers don't exist."

"What do you call the stuff that expert pilots can do with their expert mechs?"

"There's an explanation behind their abilities. We just haven't fully figured out the metaphysics behind their workings."

"Metaphysics is just another word for superpowers!" Ketis fiercely stated. "High-ranking mech pilots are already capable of subverting natural laws. I used to believe that mech designers aren't capable of imitating their powers, but watching you in action changed my mind! Your design philosophy basically gives you the ability to charm people through your mechs, right? It's not that big of a leap to believe you can apply your design philosophy to yourself! That must be the secret behind your superpower!"

Ves had to admit that Ketis developed a very logical chain of arguments. Even though Ves wanted to dismiss her speculation, in truth she came uncomfortably close to explaining the mechanics behind the operation of his design philosophy and some of his spiritual techniques!

Even though she ultimately missed the mark, Ves found it disconcerting that Ketis was so astute!

"I think you're misunderstanding something here, Ketis. Journeyman Mech Designers and higher aren't in some kind of conspiracy to keep our superpowers hidden. The truth is much more modest. Our understanding of our respective specialties allows us to harness and manipulate certain metaphysical phenomena and interactions. Since my focus is mainly aimed towards the mech pilot, I've become quite skilled at manipulating audiences."

"You can downplay your superpowers all you want, but I'm not blind! Even Lucky possesses his own superpower! I've seen how he can phase through stuff. If a mechanical pet can develop superpowers, then so can I! I'll show you what I can do once I advance to Journeyman myself!"

Was Ketis always this headstrong? Nothing Ves could say would change her mind on this point!

In the end, he just threw up his hands. "Fine! I'll wait until you advance before you show off your so-called superpower. Don't be disappointed when your sword is just as sharp as before!"

It didn't do much harm to entertain her delusion. She looked more passionate and motivated about advancing her profession than ever! As long as her aspiration encouraged her to work harder, then Ves was more than willing to entertain her suspicions.

By the time she advanced to Journeyman and found out that her 'superpower' was actually a whole bunch of nothing, she would at least be able to console herself with her improved mech design abilities!

Ves ignored her ramblings and turned his attention to Lucky. "Did you have a good time while I was gone?"

"Meow!"

"Pff! You don't have to sound so ungrateful! I won't feed you with awful stuff anymore, I promise!"

"Meow meow!"

"Oh come on, am I that untrustworthy?"

Lucky hissed at him before squirming his body around to hug Ketis tighter.

Even though Ves had just survived a crisis, Lucky still hadn't forgiven him yet!

"By the way Ves, now that this whole circus is behind us, will we go home soon?"

Ves nodded. "I'll just have to formally hand over the mechs to Madame Cecily and wrap up my business before we go. This place is too crazy!"

Chapter 1238

Hours after Ves arrived at his secluded villa, a heavily-guarded shuttle passed through the strict security perimeter.

An important guest had arrived.

Moments later, Calabast entered his room and activated four different signal jamming and shielding devices! The amount of precautions she took this time was double than before!

"Aren't you getting a little overboard?" Ves raised his eyebrow.

"I see you don't fully understand your new situation, kid. If you think that I'm being excessive, then you're severely underestimating how many people are interested in you right now! This entire villa is stuffed with sensors and recording devices! I'll leave you with some of my jammers, because you'll need it if you want to enjoy any measure of privacy."

Ves frowned when he heard that. "Is it that bad?"

"You're the most scrutinized person in the Protectorate right now. There is an army of thousands digging up your record and your history. As the 'Bright Martyr' who emerged in a spectacular fashion today, the amount of influence and soft power you possess is extremely huge!"

"You don't sound happy with that. Aren't you the person who came up with this stupid monikor in the first place?"

Calabast smiled deprecatingly at him. "Ah, at least you understand the efforts I've made on your behalf. While it's true that I prepared a number of plans depending on how the tribunal plays out, I didn't expect you to be so charismatic and so compelling to the Ylvainans! Your impact on the locals exceeded my expectations! Do you think that's good? It's not! The emergence of the Bright Martyr has disrupted the existing power balance that has long held sway in the Protectorate!"

The severity of her words finally hit home to Ves. "Are the leaders of the Protectorate afraid that I'll take over or something?"

"You should know how significant the Martyred Followers used to be. They served as the standard bearers and figureheads of the Ylvainan Faith during their lifetimes! They enjoyed Prophet Ylvaine's trust, giving each of them a very wide latitude on how to lead the faithful!"

Ves understood the severity of her words. "That time is over. The great prophet and his dynasty are gone while the Martyred Followers only exist in the history books and scriptures now. The Ylvainan people only look up to the Curins, the Kronons and the Poxcos for leadership these days."

"And they aren't very keen on giving up the power they've gained over the years. Even if half of the common folk believe that you're the Bright Martyr, that doesn't mean a consensus has emerged. The elders of the leading dynasties are only a couple of decisions away from ordering you killed in order to prevent a foreigner from taking over the Protectorate!"

"How absurd! What do they think I am? They're basically treating me like the living prophet, but with a lot more open support!"

"That's a good comparison to make. You already know how the leading dynasties abhor the living prophet. Now that a more credible figure has emerged who has taken advantage of the beliefs of the common folk, your threat surpasses that of the living prophet!"

"I think it's best for all of us if I leave the Protectorate, then." Ves concluded. "My job is already done here anyway. There's no reason for me to stick around."

"Agreed. The Ylvainan Inquisition has already released the set of six mechs into my care, but..."

"But what?"

"Their ownership is a matter of contention."

"What do you mean, Calabast?"

"The impact your prototype has made on the public has surpassed everyone's expectations, my own included! Now that many Ylvainans have learned that there are six other mechs that are almost exactly like it, all of the factions in the Protectorate want to own a Transcendent Messenger!"

"I didn't make my mechs for those bastards!" Ves said with indignation.

"I don't have any other choice." Calabast said helplessly. "The six mechs you've named after virtues are so special that it's impossible for me to retain possession of them. Offering them up to the leading dynasties will at least allow us temper their greed and ease some of their fears towards you. Right now, the plan is to donate two of your mechs to each of the three dynasties as a peace offering."

This didn't sound very fair to him. Ves had done nothing wrong. Why should he be forced to bribe the leading dynasties to ensure his safety? Shouldn't his status as a Bright Martyr afford him more respect?

Sadly, no matter how much he objected to this concession, Ves had no choice. He attracted too much heat!

"How are the mechs going to be allocated?"

"The three dynasties already hashed the allocation themselves. The Poxco Dynasty demands both Justice and Zeal."

That caused Ves to frown. "I understand why they want to obtain Zeal. It's the most zealous of the six mechs. But Justice? Really? After the travesty of their tribunal?"

"It's exactly because the Ylvainan Inquisition has tarnished their reputation that the Poxcos prioritize Justice. They want to repair and redeem the reputation of the inquisition, and what better way than to adopt Justice as their totem?"

"This is absurd!" Ves exclaimed. "The inquisition wanted to kill me! Now they suddenly want to take advantage of one of my prized mechs, something which they accused of being blasphemous! Have they no shame?"

"They don't. The inquisition is in such a bad state that they have set aside their shame in order to regain public trust. Before you object any further, you should look on the bright side. If the inquisition plans to make use of your mechs to repair their reputation, they are indirectly reinforcing your legitimacy as the Bright Martyr. This means that they'll be very reluctant to touch you again!"

"...Ah. You're right."

The Ylvainan Inquisition couldn't denounce Ves if they proudly paraded two of his custom mechs. While Ves detested the inquisition, he really didn't want to tangle with them again!

Calabast moved on. "The Kronon Dynasty has accumulated their own grievances against you. The lower ranks of the Protectors of the Faith are very supportive of your viewpoints, but the higher ranks are displeased that you've painted them as stodgy and out of touch."

"It's the truth."

"Even if it's the truth, the Kronons didn't like it when you aired their dirty laundry. Even now, they are catching a lot of flack from the public due to Kelber Kronon's controversial judgement. In order for them to regain their high esteem, they requested that we hand over Courage and Sacrifice."

"Well, at least they have good taste." He commented. "Courage fits best with the military, and Sacrifice is a mech that stands for their most important ideals."

Despite his criticism, Ves did not detest the Kronon Dynasty. They reminded him of the Larkinson Family but at a much greater scale. Their faults were rather mild as their intentions had always been good.

"This leaves Perseverance and Devotion to the Curins. The virtues that stand for these mechs may not be the most exciting, but they are very useful in helping the Shepherds of the Flock control the masses. The elders are pleased that they receive these two mechs as payment for all of the support they've given to us. We're pretty much even now."

Ves snorted. "How generous of them. As if my contributions to the reform agenda isn't enough. With everything that happened today, the traditionalists can't do anything to stop the reforms!"

"While that's true, the Protectorate will always remain divided." Calabast retorted. "While I'm sure the reform agenda will be able to ram through some impactful policy shifts, the Ylvainans are very conservative as a whole, so I'm sure the traditionalists will eventually bounce back. The gains you've made on behalf of the reform agenda aren't as big as you think."

He understood that he would be able to make more gains if he took advantage of his new status as the Bright Martyr, but that would ruffle too many feathers. It was better for him to step off the stage and let the Protectorate return to normality.

As Ves made peace with the distribution of mechs, he suddenly remembered an important detail.

"There's also the prototype." He recalled. "Please tell me it's back in our possession. Even if the True Believers did a good job of repairing it, it's still an incomplete mech! It has to be destroyed as soon as possible!"

Calabast looked reluctant all of a sudden, which wasn't a good sign. "About that, Ves..."

"What's the matter?"

"Part of the agreement the living prophet has made with the three leading dynasties is that they are allowed to take your prototype away from the Kesseling System!"

"What?! How could the authorities let the terrorists get away with my mech!?"

Even if the living prophet did him a huge favor for some inexplicable reason, Ves would not forgive them if they wanted to continue to make use of his prototype! It wasn't representative of the Transcendent Messenger at all! Its design contained too many flaws and weak points!

"We have no choice, Ves. When the living prophet made his demand, he threatened to order his men to attack the crowd that had gathered outside the courtroom! A river of blood would have flowed through the streets if the True Believers let loose on the crowd without any reservations!"

That was indeed a very serious threat. Ves understood why the authorities conceded the prototype to the fanatics. Although the decision left an awful taste in his mouth, he liked it even less if hundreds of thousands of Ylvainans died just because the True Believers didn't get to keep their new toy.

Still, the idea of terrorists parading the purest if primitive incarnation of the Transcendent Messenger around really did not sit well with him! If not for their extreme beliefs which put much credence to their threats, Ves would rather wish the authorities called their bluff.

"Do you know why the living prophet personally came and vouched for me at the tribunal?" He asked. "There shouldn't be any reason at all for him to stick up for me. I haven't done anything to advance the interests of the True Believers."

Calabast shrugged. "It's a mystery to us as well. The living prophet has always been erratic. That's what happens when you raise a pampered designer clone who has been taught that he's the living incarnation of a great historical figure. I don't have access to any intelligence on the New Ylvaine Dynasty, so it's hard to say what their calculus is. Personally, I think that the living prophet was already reaching the end of his life."

"Is that all?"

"Some of the analysts I've contacted believe the True Believers already prepared a successor. A newer, younger clone of the prophet has already been groomed to take over the organization."

"I see."

That explained why the living prophet disregarded his life in order to grandstand and advertise for the True Believers.

"Wait a minute, does that mean that two living prophets existed at the same time? How the hell do the True Believers justify something like that?"

"They are both the same person as far as the True Believers are concerned. The great prophet is infinitely powerful. Who says that he can only occupy a single body?" Calabast smirked.

Those fanatics could come up with any explanation to justify their odd decisions.

Although Ves and Calabast shared some of their guesses, neither of them could make up their mind why the living prophet purposefully stood up for Ves. For all they knew, the living prophet truly foresaw something in the future.

Of course, Ves did not put much stock in this possibility.

The two moved on. Calabast handed over a data pad to Ves to address some formalities. As Ves signed all of the documents, he officially completed the commission.

"Hopefully, this will put an end to all of the recent excitement." She said after taking back the data pad. "While you're a free man, I suggest you depart from the Kesseling System tomorrow. Staying any longer here will expose you to a lot of risks. I'll help take care of your future business on this end."

Ves nodded and smiled. "I get it. I'm looking forward to leaving the Protectorate as well."

This wild adventure finally came to an end. Ves could not wait to return to the Bright Republic! At least the people there were sane!

Chapter 1239

During the evening, Ves watched the news broadcasts in order to get an idea on the overall sentiment of the Protectorate.

The excitement hadn't died down at all. Billions of Ylvainans were convinced that Ves was the Bright Martyr!

This was a frightening amount of people, and this estimate only encompassed the most ardent believers!

"The Ylvainans have always revered the Martyred Followers." Gavin commented from the side. "Each Martyr was a personal companion of Prophet Ylvaine. Accepting you as the Bright Martyr implies that you possess a personal connection to the most revered figure in their faith. It's a way of convincing themselves that their dead prophet is still watching over them through your eyes."

"I know. It's human psychology at work. Even if they aren't comfortable about foreigners, they're willing to pretend that I'm the Bright Martyr if that means they can feel great about coming into touch with the prophet himself during the tribunal."

Even now, many scientists, priests and theologians puzzled over what exactly happened when Ves spoke out at that moment.

They could scratch their heads all day. The longer the mystery remained unsettled, the longer the belief in the Bright Martyr settled into the minds of the Ylvainans.

By now, Ves was pretty much resigned to his awful nickname. Even Calabast who came up with it couldn't do anything to rein it in anymore.

"What does the Bright Republic think about what happened in the Protectorate, Benny?"

Gavin adopted a weird expression. "Well.. not a lot of Brighters paid attention to the events that took place here. It's only when you managed to upend the entire Protectorate that a lot more foreign news portals started to report on the matter. While they aren't as gullible as the Ylvainans, they're very amazed at your ability to cause such a huge change. I don't know what the other states think about you, but the reaction from the Bright Republic is rather mixed."

Ves sighed. "Getting involved in this religious mumbo jumbo hasn't done my reputation any good, right?"

"You already built up a considerably controversial track record. Adding this crazy incident on top of your previous famous moments has pretty much solidified your image as a celebrity mech designer."

What?!

"That makes it sound like I'm famous because I'm an attention grabber rather than a good mech designer!"

"I'm sorry, boss, but no other mech designer can come close to the amount of controversies you've incited in recent times. I think what has happened here in the Protectorate put the final nail in the coffin."

"Goddammit!" Ves let out a frustrated grunt.

"It's not all that bad, boss. You're more famous than several Senior Mech Designers. You don't have to exert too much effort to attract a lot of publicity. This can be very useful whenever you want to promote a new mech model!"

"That's true, I guess. I still prefer to be known for my excellent mech designs. Can't I at least enjoy some respect?"

"Celebrity mech designers sell a lot more mechs than regular mech designers, boss. A lot of mech designers want to be in your shoes. There's only one problem."

Ves narrowed his eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Famous mech designers are often referred to by a nickname. While some of the Brighter media outlets started calling you the Bright Martyr, in general that has fallen flat. Our people aren't superstitious like the Ylvainans. Therefore, the gossipers reporting on our stories tried a variety of nicknames before they all came to a consensus."

From Gavin's reluctance, Ves had a feeling that his new nickname wasn't very flattering.

"Get out with it, Benny."

"They decided to call you the Devil Tongue."

"..."

Ves froze for a couple of seconds. If the Brighter publications wanted to come up with a nickname for him, they could at least emphasize his strengths as a mech designer!

Calling him the Mech Artist or the Pilot Whisperer or something at least gave his customers a good impression of his products!

A name like the Devil Tongue did nothing to help him promote his mechs! Ves thought that being known as the Bright Martyr was bad enough, but being known as the Devil Tongue was worse!

Who wanted to buy a mech designed by a mech designer called the Devil Tongue!?

"At least the Skull Architect sounds classy!" Ves loudly lamented. "Why the hell did the publications settle on this stupid nickname? It doesn't represent who I am at all!"

Gavin shrugged. "From what I've learned, the journalists focused on the times when you verbally scorched your opposition. The times when you defended yourself against Professor Pendleton and berated the Ylvainans were so remarkable that you've gained a reputation as the worst person to get into an argument! No one is able to win a debate against you! It seems that everyone who tried got burned!"

"And that's the reason for calling me the Devil Tongue? That makes it sound as if I'm evil!"

"To some Brighters, you are. Not only did you verbally humiliate a Senior in his face, but you also managed to manipulate the beliefs of the Ylvainans and swindled them into believing that you're their Bright Martyr! Calling you the Devil Tongue is quite generous compared to the other nicknames they've bandied about. Be glad they didn't call you the Great Deceiver!"

Okay. From a marketing perspective, being known as the Great Deceiver was a lot worse, Ves had to admit that at least!

"So what does this mean for the LMC's business prospects? Are people still as eager to buy my mechs when it's led by someone who is known as the Devil Tongue?"

"As I said, your status as a celebrity mech designer is very valuable. No matter how many controversies you're involved in, you'll always be able to sell more mechs than your peers. As long as your mechs aren't awful, I don't think you'll have any difficulty outperforming competing Journeymen."

It turned out that the public didn't take the moniker too seriously. Everyone treated it in a playful fashion, as if Ves was just a little devil instead of a big devil.

Most people could avoid the scorching ire of the Devil Tongue as long as they remained friendly. Only his enemies suffered the brunt of his tirades!

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad." Ves muttered.

"It's a great development. Your public persona is a very powerful asset as long as you manage it properly. Celebrity mech designers enjoy a lot of advantages. It's too bad that most of your fame is confined to the Bright Republic and Ylvaine Protectorate."

Overall, the fame or rather infamy he gained cemented him as a fire spitter in person, but didn't change the perception of his mechs. Ves felt a small amount of relief at that. It meant he wasn't pigeonholed into a certain style of mech design.

"What do you think about what happened here, Benny?"

"Me?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm..." Gavin paused for a bit as Ves idly watched the muted local media broadcasts. "I think you did everything you could to beat the accusations. If I was in your place, I wouldn't have been able to do anything to prevent the inquisition from executing you. One of the reasons why the journalists from the Bright Republic have started calling you the Devil Tongue is that you managed to reverse an impossible situation by opening your mouth! One of the underlying ideas behind it is that only a devil can distort the faith of so many devout believers!"

That still painted him as evil!

"I hope this trend will fade." Ves whispered.

"I don't think you'll be able to get rid of it. A lot of mech designers who received unflattering nicknames were stuck with them for life. You might as well embrace it and take advantage of the notoriety it conveys. You don't have to worry about facing any hecklers anymore in your future announcements and product reveals."

That didn't amount to much. Ves was always confident in his mech designs. Even if a heckler tried their best to disparage his products, they would always be useful to someone.

"What do you think about our business prospects in the Protectorate?" Ves asked.

"You've definitely opened up a lot of business opportunities in the Protectorate. So much so that I don't think we should take advantage of all of them. I think at this time it's better to show some restraint."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "Why?"

"First, as great as your mechs currently are, you don't offer anything close to a full range of products. A lot of Ylvainans want to buy your mechs, but they don't fully realize what they're actually getting. The mechs you've designed so far are only applicable in very specific situations. Some of the customers who are caught up in the hype might end up regretting their purchase when they obtain a mech they don't actually need."

"What else?"

"You're just a recently-advanced Journeyman. While that puts you on top of the vast majority of mech designers, it doesn't give you a distinct advantage against other Journeyman and Seniors. While the Ylvainan mech industry is rather peculiar, they are very entrenched in the local mech market. If we grow too quickly and eat up enough market share to threaten their dominance, we'll be making a lot of enemies in the process. Bright Martyr or not, some of the Ylvainan mech designers will be so dissatisfied that they might resort to drastic action!"

Ves chuckled when he heard that. "Some mech designers can be like that. I think the local mech designers are even willing to kill Prophet Ylvaine himself if he threatens their market share!"

"Please don't make those kinds of jokes, boss."

The two returned to business. They discussed the plans to develop the joint venture owned by Ves and Calabast.

Now that his reputation in the Protectorate had been redeemed, the joint venture possessed a lot of promise!

Gavin noted something important. "Madame Cecily has been very proactive about recruiting staff for the joint venture. While this will help us lift the subsidiary from the ground, it also means that our local partner will be able to exert a disproportionate amount of control. If we don't want the joint venture to become immune to our control, then we should really hire a number of Brighters and preside over the joint venture."

"I trust you to take care of this matter." Ves dismissively waved his hand. "I don't care who the LMC assigns to the joint venture. If there are any visa problems, you can contact Madame Cecily or her staff to sort it out. She's got enough pull in the government to solve these kinds of problems."

After passing on his instructions concerning the joint venture, Ves focused his attention back home.

"Has anything remarkable happened to the LMC while I was indisposed?"

"Sales have spiked since your exploits here became known." Gavin reported. "Your new celebrity status is already showing its value. While our production lines are already running at full capacity, the extra orders provide the company with a lot more certainty for the future. It would be even better if we offer a greater variety of mech models."

"Soon, Benny, soon. It takes time to design a good mech. I don't plan to rush my designs, especially when we are so close to the next mech generation."

Now that he advanced to Journeyman, Ves began to realize that he should really do something about his anemic mech catalog.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered something." Gavin recalled. "Calsie told me that a 'mysterious' visitor had arrived at the Mech Nursery a month ago. The man insists on meeting you in person in order to pass along a confidential message. Calsie has reason to believe this isn't something trivial."

A mysterious message?

"What makes Calsie believe that this message is worth my attention?"

"The visitor is supposedly a 'friend' of yours from the frontier."

"Ah. I understand."

Chapter 1240

Ves and his entourage finally departed from Kesseling VIII after boarding the Barracuda. Melkor and the Avatars of Myth had already boarded the Greenfeather in orbit ahead of time.

This time, the Ylvainans pulled out all the stops to escort the Bright Martyr out of Protectorate space.

An entire Kronon spaceborn mech regiment served as their honor guard as the two ships directly charted a course back to the Bright Republic.

Such a luxurious lineup of combat carriers hosting over two-thousand mechs was unheard of in the Ylvaine Protectorate!

The fleet encountered no threats at all along the way. It wasn't easy for an enemy to muster up the forces to overcome all of the escorts protecting the Barracuda.

The Brighter vessels eventually crossed the border without incident.

The mech regiment stopped there, as it was wildly inappropriate for the Protectors of the Faith to operate in a foreign state.

Some Ylvainans suggested that the Bright Martyr deserved a permanent guard of Ylvainans, but Ves himself rejected any such solutions.

He didn't want to be surrounded by superstitious Ylvainans who worshipped him as a vessel of the prophet! Although he felt a bit flattered to be the subject of their worship, in the end Ves was not an Ylvainan!

His new status as their Bright Martyr gave him mixed feelings.

On one hand, the high regard it afforded him would practically open up the Ylvainan mech market wide open for the LMC.

On the other hand, the crazy Ylvainans would definitely attempt to pull him deeper into their faith and force him to participate in all kinds of stupid rituals!

Ves did not feel he deserved such exalted treatment. His identity of Bright Martyr was not as important as his identity as a mech designer. The former threatened to displace the latter, which was something he really didn't want to see.

Therefore, Ves was fine with going along with the intentions of the powers that be. As long as he left the Protectorate, his prominence there would slowly fade, allowing the three leading dynasties to reassert their leadership.

Naturally, the Bright Martyr would still be present in the hearts of many Ylvainans. A cult had already been formed around him, but Ves did not wish to have anything to do with those fanatics!

"You made a lot of gains from this business trip." Gavin reported to Ves in his stateroom. "You established a business relationship with an important member of the Curins, you delivered a set of fantastic mechs that the Ylvainans adopted as their national treasures, you turned into an object of religious hero worship and you completed your initial objective of designing your fifth original mech in order to qualify for recognition as a Journeyman Mech Designer."

Ves calmly nodded. "As far as I'm concerned, that last one is the most important gain. Let's not get too excited about all of those other gains. If there's anything we've learned about the Ylvainans, it's that they're volatile and erratic."

"Yeah, the Ylvainans are really something else. You would never see Brighters acting this extreme."

"Have you already submitted my application of recognition to the MTA?"

"Yes. The MTA has acknowledged your application and are in the process of inspecting your records and your mechs. It will probably take a couple more days for them to complete your background check and issue an invitation for you to visit their sector headquarters at Centerpoint. They're being really thorough because you claim to have advanced to Journeyman before you turned thirty."

A Journeyman who advanced before he turned thirty years old was very rare, even in the galactic center. The earlier they crossed this threshold, the more promise they held.

Although a Journeyman was already quite valuable, they were not irreplaceable. What the MTA truly valued was the potential for even greater advancement.

What kind of benefits this status afforded Ves still remained to be seen. That was the entire point of visiting the MTA's sector headquarters.

In the perspective of the Big Two, Ves was no longer a space peasant! Once the MTA officially recognized his Journeyman credentials, he could call himself a proper galactic citizen!

What that actually meant, Ves didn't know, but it sounded a lot better than being called a space peasant!

"My thirtieth birthday is coming up." Ves noted. "Maybe I should throw a birthday party for once. It's been a while."

Gavin suddenly perked up. "We can turn it into a company-wide event! It's a great opportunity to celebrate our recent successes and paint a bright picture for the future. With a Journeyman like you at the helm, the LMC will definitely climb to greater heights!"

"I don't know, Benny. I don't want to turn my birthday into a spectacle. I'm already tired of all the attention that I've received in the Ylvaine Protectorate. I don't want to turn my workforce into my personal cult as well!"

"I think you're overestimating their reactions, boss. Most of the company's employees are Brighters, not Ylvainans. Their admiration towards you won't exceed into obsession. That's not who we are. We know better!"

"Don't turn my birthday into a public spectacle." Ves firmly ordered, no longer willing to entertain a public spectacle. "Turn my birthday into a private family event. Send an invitation to my friends and the Larkinsons. I doubt many of them will travel all the way to Cloudy Curtain to attend, but it's good to spend some time with family."

If only he could invite his father to his birthday. Sadly, Ves didn't even know where to send his invitation card.

Once he finished celebrating his birthday, Ves planned to depart to Centerpoint in order to be initiated into the ranks of Journeyman. No longer would Ves hold the awkward title of de facto Journeyman. With official recognition, he could truly take his steps into the ranks of high society!

As Ves and Gavin planned his itenary for the next couple of months, the Barracuda and the Greenfeather finally arrived at their destination after an uneventful journey.

It took less than two weeks to return to Cloudy Curtain. Although Ves felt tempted to stop by Bentheim, he preferred to return to a familiar environment.

"Home sweet home." Ves said as the Barracuda finally descended on the landing zone of the Mech Nursery.

"Welcome home, boss." Calsie greeted Ves as he stepped out. "Congratulations for your achievement. The local MTA branch has just informed me that they completed your background check."

"Did I pass?" He asked.

"Of course, boss. Why would you ever doubt yourself? Someone as brilliant as you is guaranteed to pass!"

Ves awkwardly chuckled. "Ah, maybe I was a little too concerned."

He had a lot of skeletons in his closet that could disqualify him from receiving official recognition. Perhaps his most objectionable crime was when he designed a gamma laser rifle from forbidden research notes he salvaged from an abandoned clandestine production facility.

The System practically coerced him into violating one of the MTA's taboos.

Back then, he was frightened out of his wits. He would always carry the worry in his mind that the MTA might someday find out that he ran roughshod over one of their sacred rules.

Nevermind that it was a rather ridiculous and loosely-enforced rule!

The amazingly destructive high technology he witnessed during his latest Mastery experience showed that humanity possessed boundless creativity in weapons development. A simple positron weapon released a lot of lethal radiation in the air or on impact by its very nature, yet the Terran Confederation was able to get away with using this weapon system!

A meager gamma laser rifle was nothing serious compared to a high-powered positron rifle!

Of course, the setting mattered a lot. In the galactic rim, most states didn't possess the ability to protect a mech, ship or city from penetrating radiation.

While treatments existed that could neutralize the destructive effects of radiation, they weren't cheap and couldn't be applied to entire crowds of people at once.

It was a different story in a prosperous state like the Terran Confederation. The weapons there may be more destructive, but shielding and treatments were a lot more ubiquitous and effective.

After Ves made this comparison, he felt very silly for bearing any guilt for his crime. Ves had taken so much care in developing the gamma laser rifle that the MTA shouldn't have been able to find out!

Even if they somehow did, they might not even care all that much! Ves may have designed and fabricated a forbidden weapon, but he quickly destroyed it afterwards, ensuring that his work would not be put to nefarious ends!

He still felt relieved his background check passed without issue.

As Ves and Calsie slowly walked to the headquarters building, the woman addressed another matter.

"By the way, the visitor from the frontier has grown rather impatient. As soon as he heard that you've returned, he insisted on meeting you this instant. Currently, he's waiting outside your office."

Ves nodded in understanding. "I'll meet with him right away. Do you know who sent this person?"

"No." Calsie shook her head. "I'm guessing that he represents someone shady, because he employed a lot of precautions in order to keep his identity and his origins a secret. If a messenger is already so cautious, then the people behind him must be very unwelcome in civilized space."

"Ah." Ves grimaced. "I think I know who dispatched this messenger. I hoped he would have forgotten about me after a few years."

"Is it someone dangerous?"

"Very. It's best if I don't say anything else. Some matters are truly too dangerous to expose."

"Do we need to put security on high alert?"

"No need. I'm just receiving a message, nothing more."

Once they arrived at the headquarters, Ves took the elevator up to his penthouse office by himself. Once he arrived at the top, a robed and masked figure awaited his arrival at the double doors.

"Mr. Larkinson." A distorted voice uttered from the black face wrappings that enveloped the stranger's head. A low-intensity interference field surrounded his body, making him appear even shadier than his outfit already suggested. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Let me introduce myself. I am a Shadow Courier. An esteemed individual has tasked our organization with delivering an important package to you in person."

"A Shadow Courier?"

"We are one of the most premier messengers and couriers in the frontier and in the surrounding star sectors. We offer complete reliability and confidentiality no matter the identities of the sender and the receiver."

In other words, the Shadow Couriers were pretty much the black market equivalent of a regional packet delivery service. Whether they were truly trustworthy or not remained to be seen.

The two entered the office.

Ves took his seat behind his imposing desk.

The Shadow Courier remained standing, but retrieved a modestly-sized metallic cube from his voluminous robe.

The handover happened without incident. The Shadow Courier only performed a perfunctory identity check before placing the package onto the desk.

"Is that it?" Ves raised his eyebrow.

"I've also been tasked with passing on a verbal message from my client." The Shadow Courier added. "His exact words are as follows: My expectations are higher now that you have advanced to Journeyman. Do not disappoint me. You won't like what I have in store for your bones!"

Ves shuddered a bit. Although the flat, distorted voice of the Shadow Courier didn't convey any emotion when he recited those words, Ves keenly felt the threat behind the words!

"Understood. Please tell the sender that I've acknowledged his message."

The Shadow Courier gestured with his arm. "My job here is done. Before I go, I would like to inform you that whenever you are welcome to make use of our services when you wish to send a package back to the sender. We offer guaranteed delivery or your money back."

Once he finished his spiel, the Shadow Courier quietly departed from his office after he finished his job and passed on some contact information.

This wouldn't be the last time that Ves met with a Shadow Courier.

Chapter 1241

Ves materialized his System comm from his Inventory and activated his Privacy Shield before he picked up the cube.

He studied it for a moment before realizing that it was actually an engineering puzzle. Ves retrieved his Vulcaneye multiscanner from his toolbelt and thoroughly scanned the cube.

"I was right! It's a lock!"

The cube was made out of extremely sensor-resistant materials. The fact that it managed to thwart the scans of the multiscanner he bought from the System spoke volumes about its quality.

"This is very expensive packaging!"

If Ves could melt it down and shape it into something else, then he could repurpose the alloy cube into a more useful object.

"However, it's not that easy to do so."

If his guess was correct, the cube was rigged to melt or blow up if Ves handled it improperly. If he wanted to open the cube, then he needed to go along with the arrangements of its maker and solve the puzzle.

Although the puzzle would have stumped the vast majority of humans and AIs, it didn't hinder Ves for long.

"Any decent Journeyman Mech Designer can solve this puzzle."

The mechanisms of the cube essentially presented him with a design challenge. He needed to rearrange its mechanisms into a specific configuration that disarmed the trap and unlocked its contents.

"Easy." He said as he put the final piece into place with the help of a precision tool.

The box began to whirr and transform as the locks slowly disengaged. A few seconds later, the box unfolded into a flat surface.

The contents of the box turned out to be a single secure data chip.

When Ves picked it up and inserted it into a slot in his System comm, he found out that it contained three different sets of files along with a prerecorded message.

Ves played the prerecorded message first. As soon as he selected this option, a projection of one of the most notorious Senior Mech Designers in the frontier appeared into view.

"Mr. Larkinson, congratulations on your advancement to Journeyman." The pirate designer began. "I must admit I am pleasantly surprised by this achievement. As a Journeyman, I've already seen some promise in your design philosophy, but it is still a very big question whether you are able to advance to Journeyman with such an unusual ambition. Entering your new rank signifies that your design philosophy is not completely groundless!"

The Skull Architect looked ecstatic in the projection. His exaggerated smile and his savage pirate-style adornments constantly radiated danger to Ves!

"Your growth has surpassed my expectations! However, even if you are a Journeyman, our deal is still in place. I won't let you off until you design fifteen variants of my mechs! Included in this data chip are the design specifications of three of my recent mech designs. Please develop a variant for each design. Make sure you incorporate your design philosophy in your work. The research value of such works is exceedingly valuable to me, so don't even think about fudging your work!"

"Damn." Ves quietly cursed.

Due to his recent exploits, Ves already became known for designing mechs with a remarkable impact on people. To paraphrase Ketis, his mechs possessed an undeniably strong charm.

If Ves put his full effort into developing variants of the Skull Architect's existing mech designs, then they might one day proliferate throughout the frontier!

It would be really bad if the MTA or others found out that Ves collaborated with a pirate designer! Especially one who was crazy enough to kill an expert pilot and incorporate the dead man's skull into a mech!

The Skull Architect continued with his instruction. "Since you've already collaborated with another Senior Mech Designer recently, you should have a good idea on how you can contribute to my work. Our design philosophies do not overlap, so you should not encounter any problems adding your distinctive strengths to my existing designs."

That was true, at least. His joint design project with Professor Ventag taught him a lot of lessons. A collaboration between mech designers always centered around compensating one designer's weaknesses with another designer's strength.

Ves already knew that the Skull Architect was obsessed with efficiency and technical performance. His design philosophy was pretty much the polar opposite to that of Ves, who never obsessed that much about maximizing raw performance.

This was also the reason why Reno Jimenez stagnated in his progression. His mechs were too difficult to pilot! While the fugitive Senior was very good at designing high-performing mechs, hardly any mech pilot could make use of their full potential!

Even though the Skull Architect recognized his shortcomings, he was too obsessed with efficiency to change his ways. His design philosophy had already locked him into a certain direction, and there was no way he could bring himself to neuter his designs in order to accommodate the badly-trained mech pilots of the frontier!

This was where Ves came in. His design philosophy perfectly complimented that of the Skull Architect. If the latter wasn't a notoriously unhinged pirate designer, then Ves was even tempted to form a long-term design partnership!

"I expect you to return this data chip with your variants to me within nine months. Don't be late, or else!" The recording warned.

The message ended, leaving Ves with mixed feelings.

"Since the Skull Architect is crazy as hell, I should complete my end of agreement as fast as possible." He decided. "The longer this is hanging over my head, the greater the risk he'll pull me into his vortex!"

Collaboration offered a lot of benefits in the right circumstances. Ves realized that his design philosophy should be extremely valuable to the Skull Architect.

So valuable in fact that the Skull Architect might want to extend their transaction!

"I can't allow that to happen!" Ves determined.

Even though the Senior threatened him to do his best, Ves did not intend to utilize his full strength!

"It would be over for me if the variants I design for the Skull Architect are as strong and distinctive as my Aurora Titan and Transcendent Messenger designs!"

After a few minutes of consideration, Ves decided to aim for a modest C-grade X-Factor when he fulfilled the Skull Architect's demands. C-grade X-Factor should be strong enough to exert a modest amount of influence to mech pilots, but wouldn't flaunt its aura so blatantly like his most recent designs.

"It does the job. That's all that matters."

Of course, the Skull Architect expected Ves to contribute more than that to his high-performance designs. Ves also had to adjust the technical aspects of the design in a way that made them easier to pilot without sacrificing too much performance.

"This will be the most difficult and time-consuming part of my assignment." Ves muttered.

If he was still an Apprentice, then Ves would probably have to allocate much of his time to develop a variant that added value to one of the Skull Architect's designs.

Now, Ves possessed a lot more confidence in his abilities. With the help of his design seed, he didn't think he would have to close himself off all-day in order to finish his work within the nine-month time limit.

"It's a good thing I don't have any ongoing design projects on the agenda. Even if I do, I can just squeeze some time on this assignment in my free time."

Once Ves determined his basic approach, he began to inspect the three designs that the Skull Architect expected him to improve.

"Hm. One landbound mech design and two spaceborn mech designs."

In general, pirates heavily depended on spaceborn mechs. Many pirate gangs didn't even field any landbound mechs in the first place. They were not as applicable in the frontier as in civilized space.

This was also why Lydia's Swordmaidens were special, as they invested significantly in their landbound mech contingent.

After he skimmed through the three design schematics, Ves decided to start with what he considered to be the simplest choice.

"Although the Caskar Pike looks simple, it's really not." Ves shook his head. "None of the Skull Architect's designs are simple."

The Caskar Pike was a medium spaceborn missileer. Its primary armament consisted of its large, integrated missile launcher launcher system, which encompassed much of its torso and shoulders.

This turned the mech into a rather unwieldy machine. Combined with its abysmally weak armor system, the mech was extraordinarily vulnerable to close-ranged attacks.

A single light skirmisher could make mincemeat out of a Caskar Pike!

Evidently, the Skull Architect wasn't resigned to designing such a one-dimensional mech. He attempted to enhance the Caskar Pike design by pairing it with an extremely powerful flight system that boosted its acceleration and speed.

While this addition indeed increased the mobility of the Caskar Pike, the missileer became a lot more clunkier to pilot! All the compromises the Skull Architect was forced to make in order to accommodate the oversized flight system introduced a lot of problems.

"A skilled mech pilot should be able to manage the missile launcher system while dodging enemy fire and pursuit."

While missile weapon systems were constrained by their capacity, they offered the greatest amount of versatility compared to more straightforward weapons such as laser rifles and ballistic rifles.

Mech pilots adjusted the programming of the missiles loaded into the launcher system according to the situation at hand.

For example, the payload could be programmed to time their salvos to arrive at the target at the exact same time. The missiles could be programmed to fan out and arc around the target in order to attack it in multiple directions. Their evasion pattern and countermeasures could be adjusted as well in order to minimize their interception.

While some settings didn't take much time to adjust, such simple instructions didn't add much versatility to the missiles.

The more complicated instructions took a decent amount of time to implement. While a mech pilot would be able to accomplish this at rest, during a hectic a mech pilot was constantly expected to multitask.

Piloting a mech with enhanced mobility like the Caskar Pike meant that its mech pilots needed to devote way too much attention to keeping the flight of their mechs under control. This detracted from the amount of attention they could devote to configuring the missile launcher system.

As a result, the Caskar Pike underperformed in the frontier. From the additional documentation that the Skull Architect added to the data chip, Ves found out that the pirates who piloted the Caskar Pike displayed sufficient mobility but grossly inadequate hit rates.

Either their opponents intercepted too many missiles, or the missiles missed the mark!

"That's because the pirate pilots aren't capable of devoting their full attention to both!"

The mech pilots of the Caskar Pike had to make a choice. Either they devoted the bulk of their attention to keeping their mech mobile or ensuring that their missiles inflicted damage.

The pirates overwhelmingly focused on staying elusive and dodging enemy fire. This was because they valued their lives over the mission!

Ever since many mech pilots exhibited the same pattern of behavior, the Caskar Pike thoroughly lost popularity. Although it offered a powerful and affordable offensive package to frontier outfits, its design hadn't taken the mentality of its target audience in mind!

"This seems to be a recurring problem to the Skull Architect." Ves judged.

Although this problem sounded somewhat thorny, Ves was confident he could lighten the burden on the mech pilot. He considered this design to be the simplest out of the three designs he received.

"There's not much I can improve on the hardware of the Caskar Pike." He muttered as he analyzed its design schematics. "If I want to make the mech easier to pilot, I'll have to focus on its interaction to its mech pilots."

In other words, Ves could simplify the operation of the mech by automating some of its functions. This was fairly simple and only required him to do some programming work.

"Yet.. isn't that too easy?" He frowned.

There must be something special about the Caskar Pike. Maybe the Skull Architect wanted to offer Ves an easy start, but this was unlikely considering the Senior's extremely demanding personality.

Ves narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Everything he has given to me so far is either a test or a trap. There's definitely something fishy about this spaceborn missileer mech."

Chapter 1242

Ves had the impression that the Caskar Pike design was a wolf in sheep's clothing. It adopted a simple mech concept, but it probably hid a lot more nuances under its hood.

For this reason, Ves spent an entire hour studying the design schematics in greater detail.

In the past, whenever Ves attempted to study the work of a high-ranking mech designer, he faced a significant amount of danger. When he was an Apprentice, his design philosophy was still in a nascent state, which meant it was highly malleable.

While this malleability allowed Ves to constantly adjust and improve his design philosophy, it also made it vulnerable to outside influence!

Before, the Skull Architect deliberately tortured Ves by exposing him to designs and information that threatened his design philosophy.

If Ves did not possess a stronger-than-average Spirituality, then he might have succumbed to outside influence.

"Fortunately, that didn't happen."

He knew his limits and properly paced his information intake.

Now that Ves once again came in touch with the Skull Architect's work, he found that he didn't have to bother with those precautions anymore.

His design seed solidified his design philosophy, making it much more resistant against outside influence. While that didn't guarantee that Ves was immune to very strong attacks against his design philosophy, at the very least he could face the work of a Senior without fearing contamination.

"No wonder the Skull Architect placed higher expectations on me. He knows exactly how much better my design abilities have become now that I'm a Journeyman."

Even though he was no longer an Apprentice, Ves still failed to figure out the secret behind the Caskar Pike. He spent a lot of time in trying to study the abstruse portions of the spaceborn missileer's design, but other than enduring a moderate amount of strain, he did not notice anything problematic.

Ves set aside the design. "I have plenty of time to tackle this problem. Right now, I've just returned. I'm in no mood to work on a mech design right now."

He stowed away the data chip into his toolbelt before returning his System comm back into his Inventory.

"What a convenient function." He sighed in admiration. "It should have come with this ability from the start."

Once he returned everything to normal and tidied up his desk, Ves nursed his head for a moment.

"Ugh. I'm still suffering from my earlier loss."

The main reason why he wasn't in a mood to work on a mech design was because of his depleted spiritual energy. He expended way too much of his reserves when he attempted to fuse his mind with Ylvaine's spiritual fragment and supercharged its aura.

Although his mind would eventually replenish what he lost, Ves expected that it would take months for his spiritual energy levels to return to its former glory.

Now, Ves constantly suffered from the illusion that his mind was empty. Although he could still work on a mech design, he couldn't summon any of his usual passion and vigor towards his craft.

"It's like I'm suffering from the mech designer's equivalent of a writer's block!"

Although Ves did not have any ongoing design projects on his plate right now, he did not wish to remain in this listless state while he tackled the Skull Architect's designs.

"I need to recharge my tank somehow. There should be a way to accelerate my recovery."

Ves folded his fingers into each other as he considered how he could accomplish something unheard of like this. He knew that spiritual energy was quite valuable and hard to come by.

His excursions into the imaginary realm and his exposure to the holy relics of the Ylvaine Protectorate provided him with two possible avenues to plunder spiritual energy.

"Yet it's never simple as that."

Spiritual energy came in many different attributes. Ves didn't know what his own attribute was, but it was probably related to mechs.

Ves had no way of knowing if his spiritual energy encompassed mechs in their entirety or a specific type of mechs. Perhaps his spiritual energy attribute was wholly unique to his mind and his design philosophy.

If this was the case, then it was impossible for Ves to replenish his spiritual energy from other sources without converting their attributes.

Not even Qilanxo's spiritual fragment attempted this conversion process! This showcased how difficult it was to accomplish such a thing!

In any case, Ves did not even know if it was safe or wise to resort to external sources in the fist place. While he witnessed the likes of Eloise Pelican and Jannzi Larkinson breaking past their limits with the help of an external boost, the side effects were quite severe!

At least in the case of Jannzi, her mindscape had been forcefully expanded to the point where some holes opened up that caused her to leak out her force of will!

Right now, Ves didn't know how much she recovered during the months she advanced to expert candidate. Because of her enlistment into the Apocalypse Heralds, Ves couldn't call her up or request her current status.

"Well, I haven't received any alarming notifications so her recovery is probably going smoothly."

Considering that Jannzi was likely okay, Ves figured that it was an acceptable risk for him to supplement his spiritual energy with an external source

The question was where he should get it. The most straightforward source would be to plunder the mind of another mech designer, but Ves had attempted it before. What if his target found out? What if he encountered fierce defenses?

"I shouldn't underestimate mech designers. They're equivalent to expert pilots."

While they were completely different in many ways, on a spiritual level they possessed an equivalent amount of strength. It was just that their professions caused them to diverge in their application of spirituality.

On a basic level, a Journeyman like Ves possessed a very solid and concentrated design seed which was very difficult to crack. Surrounding that was a thin cloud of loose spiritual energy.

Ves was very short of the latter right now. Although it didn't appear to be as important as the design seed, their absence really hampered his enthusiasm to design a mech!

On the surface, this model indicated that it shouldn't be too difficult to steal some portions of this loose spiritual energy in the mind of another mech designer.

Yet Ves suspected that the mind of a mech designer will surely offer a lot of resistance.

The primary reason why he thought so was because he felt the design seed was a lot more complex than he thought. It was like a sleeping giant that mostly kept to itself but roused when something intruded into its domain.

"Maybe I should take the safer option instead."

Rather than intruding in the mind of a mech designer, Ves would rather plunder an inanimate source instead.

Yet that brought forth its own issues. Where could he find the equivalent of a holy relic that incited people to revere a mech designer instead of some holy figure?

After a bit of thinking, Ves suddenly made an important realization.

"This is the Age of Mechs! Most people today worship mechs!"

Ves thought back to when he visited the mech museums and exhibition halls in Bentheim. The noteworthy mechs on display in these prestigious venues attracted billions of visitors every year!

Even if the visitors were predominantly Brighters who didn't believe in a higher existence, they were still very religious when it came to mechs!

"Some mechs inspire their own worship! They're that amazing!"

What was even better was that Ves happened to excel in this area! Each new mech grew stronger and stronger in their ability to inspire worship and admiration from the public. While this effect had grown to the point of attracting a lot of scrutiny and suspicion, it was undeniable that Ves would have no difficulty in attracting countless worshippers!

"Pff!" Ves suddenly shook his head. "Why am I suddenly imagining myself as a cult leader?!"

It took hundreds of years for devout Ylvainans to build up a significant amount of spiritual accumulation to a holy relic that was tied to the great prophet himself.

Ves could not expect any of his mechs, including the copies of his astounding Aurora Titan and Transcendent Messenger designs, to match this degree of accumulation in a couple of months or years.

Most people did not possess anything but a microscopic amount of spirituality, and only a fraction of that passed on to the object they worshipped.

This meant that Ves could not rely on his own mechs to plunder their spiritual accumulation to replenish his own shortfall.

"Still, knowing this is useful for the long term."

For now, Ves would have to rely on older mechs designed by other mech designers as a potential source of replenishment.

There were plenty of impressive and historically-significant mechs on display throughout human space. Ves merely had to take a trip to Bentheim to view hundreds of them. Yet did their spiritual accumulation really match his own attribute?

"I don't have enough information. I can only try and see if it works."

Ves decided to plan a trip to Bentheim after he celebrated his birthday on Cloudy Curtain. It would be his first stop to the Centerpoint System which was home to the sector headquarters of the MTA.

For now, Ves set aside any further speculation. He had worked long enough and didn't enjoy a single rest since he returned to Cloudy Curtain.

Once he took a good night's rest, he woke up the next morning and felt a bit more refreshed.

Leland, who had kept his head down throughout the entire business trip, suddenly requested a meeting with Ves in the morning.

They met in his office.

"Leland." Ves said with a mild tone of voice. "What can I do for my favorite spy?"

While Leland hadn't particularly made himself useful during their stay on Kesseling VIII, that was mostly because Flashlight held little sway there.

Now that they returned to the Bright Republic, Leland possessed a much more confident air around him. This was his old stomping ground!

Leland activated his signal jammer.

"I've reported back to Flashlight on the events that took place on Kesseling VIII. They've already been following the news reports from the Protectorate, so they have a good idea on what has happened."

"Of course." Ves pressed his lips in a thin smile. "What do they want? If they expect me to take over the Ylvaine Protectorate by abusing my status as the Bright Martyr, then they should really get their heads checked."

"We do not harbor any such intentions." Leland innocently replied. "We merely believe it may further both our interests if you keep developing a close relationship with the Ylvaine Protectorate. As you know, the Bright Republic always ignored this state in favor of concentrating most of our attention to the hostile Vesians."

Ves nodded. "Now, that's in the process of changing. The Ylvaine Protectorate is slowly opening itself up to the rest of the galaxy, and as its neighbor the Bright Republic can ill afford to ignore them any longer."

"I'm glad you understand, Ves. Considering your unique connection to the Protectorate, we would like you to continue to cultivate your ties to the state and especially Madame Cecily Curin. She's a remarkably friendly and open-minded Ylvainan. Flashlight believes that she can be an invaluable partner for our attempts to cultivate a positive relationship between our two states."

"I think you shouldn't focus too much on Madame Cecily." Ves tried to suppress the ridicule threatening to engulf his face. "Neither of us are diplomats. We're merely business partners."

"Fostering greater trade between our two states is a high priority to the Bright Republic. I'm sure you can assist us in facilitating larger business deals through your connection with Madame Cecily. Her jurisdiction covers the entire Ylvainan mech market, after all."

Leland's insistence on this matter told Ves that Flashlight and the government cared a lot about this. Perhaps the Tovars directly issued instructions on this matter.

"Let's just say I'll do what I can, but don't expect much of me. You're better off approaching the the Ylvaine Protectly directly than rely on a backdoor." Ves sighed in exasperation.

He was just a mech designer. Since when did he turn into a diplomat and a dealmaker?

Chapter 1243

Ves really couldn't be bothered with facilitating relations between the Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate.

After receiving Leland's request, Ves handed it over to Calsie and told her to take care of it in his stead.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to use us as a bridge to build up relations between our two states. Just do enough to keep them happy."

After taking care of that matter, Ves addressed some other matters as well. One of the most important one was to pay a visit to the base of the Avatars of Myth in order to meet with Coyin Larkinson, a retired infantryman.

The man looked as if he was getting on in his years. Despite his age, he still possessed a tough and fit body.

"So you're the brat who needs my services, right?" Coyin asked when Ves entered the room with Melkor.

Ves did not look amused. He stared at the man and applied some pressure.

That caused Coyin's face to color a bit. The old man began to stand up straighter. "Looks like it's true. You do have some of the air of an expert pilot around you! As expected of the Devil Tongue!"

"Please don't mention that awful name." Ves said with a grimace.

"Why not? You should be proud of it! It shows that you're a fighter! Let it not be said that us Larkinsons are cowards!"

After talking a bit with Coyin, Ves quickly got his measure. He was typical to retired Larkinsons, always harping on about their past glory and how well they fought in the previous wars.

Aside from an intense hate for the Vesians, the old Larkinson seemed capable enough to lead the first guard infantry company of the Avatars of Myth. The man may be stody, but he knew his business and he possessed a lot of actual battle experience.

"Not every Larkinson who doesn't possess the right genetic aptitude wants to remain a civilian." Coyin said with his gruff voice. "Although guard duty and infantry combat isn't as exciting as piloting mech these days, they're just as essential. It's a noble calling."

"I'm not arguing with that." Ves said. "That's also why I need you to set up a guard force that is ready to guard me and other important people working at the LMC. Although I already have a very extensive security contract with Sanyal-Ablin, they aren't able to accompany me everywhere."

Coyin recognized the name. "SASS is really good. Expensive too, but good. However, I heard that the main reason why they're so spread around the Komodo Star Sector is because they extend the influence of the Konsu Clan of the Friday Coalition. Why go through the trouble of inserting spies and risking all kinds of trouble when you can just establish a security company and send them out openly as security experts?"

"I know that's a possibility. That's why I want the Avatars of Myth to slowly take over the responsibilities of SASS. Whether it's mechs, guard infantry or virtual security, I want the Avatars of Myth to offer the full gamut of all the services a regular security company offers."

This comprehensive list of demands caused both Melkor and Coyin to be taken aback.

Melkor shifted pensively on his feet. "That's a very serious effort, Ves. Covering virtual security is a whole other field. We'll have to set up a dedicated department just to provide the minimum level of protection."

"Take your time. For now, SASS is sufficient to cover this responsibility."

A mech company like the LMC constantly accumulated a lot of sensitive internal data. It would be bad if others managed to get access to them, but it was not that big of a deal.

The most valuable data was stored inside the heads of the mech designers of the company. This was also why Ves prioritized his personal safety before the safety of the LMC's databases.

Once he finished instructing Melkor on what he expected from the Avatars, Ves left the base and returned to headquarters. He tracked down Ketis and Lucky at the company's living area.

"You know, Ves, you should get a house or a villa like the ones we stayed at in the Protectorate." She said as she was eating a meal by the dining table.

Lucky was eating his lunch as well, as Ketis served him a bowl of low-grade exotics. The cat blissfully munched the minerals on the table.

"I thought you didn't care about homes, Ketis."

"I used to live on starships, so I never really saw the point of houses. It's different now that I don't necessarily have to sleep in the same place where I work. I think it would be nice to live in a place of my own perhaps. You got lots of money, right? Why not spend some of that to build a nice home?"

Now that she brought it up, Ves did indeed miss living in his own home. The last time he truly lived in a proper home was his father's house in Freslin.

He still owned the modest middle-class dwelling, but it was wholly inadequate for a mech designer of his stature. The security risks alone made it unsuitable for his use.

"You know what, you're right. I do need a new home. I think it's best to keep it close to the Mech Nursery for security reasons, but they don't need to be within sight of each other. Can you take care of it? Coordinate with Calsie or Gavin to help organize the construction of a new villa."

Ketis looked surprised. "Really? You're letting me take charge of the construction project?"

"I don't have the time nor interest to manage this project. It's just a home. Just make sure to prioritize safety. I've become very prominent lately, so you need to make sure that my accommodation is secure."

Just like before, Ves delegated a responsibility to someone else. Since Ves did not have any new design projects in store for the foreseeable future, he needed to keep Ketis busy somehow. Putting her in charge of constructing a new villa should occupy her for a couple of months.

"Now that you're here, there's something else I wanted to talk about, Ves. I want to start earning my own keep."

That sounded serious enough for Ves to pay full attention. "You sound very determined."

"I've been thinking about why I'm here, Ves. I've been enjoying your help and attention for a long time, but I've hardly paid you back for all the favors you've done."

"You are thinking about designing your own mech?" Ves guessed.

She nodded. "I think I'm ready to do something on my own. Even if it's designing a variant, I want to learn how to design a mech without your help. This is something I need."

"You're right. A mech designer ought to be able to design a mech by themselves." Ves agreed, though he felt very apprehensive about letting Ketis off on her own. "Are you sure you're up for the challenge?"

"I'm more than ready. The experience I've gained from helping you with the Aurora Titan and Transcendent Messenger designs is enough for me to manage my own approach."

She was ready. Ves could feel it. Now only did she overflow with passion and enthusiasm, she also prepared well.

However, even if her intentions were good, the time may not be right.

"Whatever mech you design won't sell well in the current market environment." He cautioned. "Not only is everyone waiting for the next mech generation, a variant designed by a novice generally don't sell very well. Even if you make your mech so cheap that its product margin is razor thin, it won't have any impact on the mech market."

Ketis shrugged. "I know it's tough for Novices like me to get a start. Didn't you start small as well? You can't baby me forever, Ves! I have to advance so that I can develop my own superpower!"

"Not that again." Ves groaned. "I can't believe you still take that delusion seriously."

Her stubborn face showed that his argument didn't take hold. "I'll find out by myself when I advance to Journeyman. Until then, I need to have a lot more practice and design experience under my belt. Helping you out in your designs is great, but a girl has to stand up on her own sometimes, you know?"

"Is there anything else behind this decision?"

"Yeah. Remember the Swordmaidens? I got back in touch with them lately."

Ves looked interested. "How are they doing?"

"They took an awful beating. You know how bad it got at the end. The worst thing about it is that their backers only handed over a single lump sum of money for all of the stuff they did. Commander Dise thinks the Swordmaidens outlived their usefulness in their eyes."

"I would have thought that their backers would have appreciated your old outfit because it's led by an expert candidate."

Due to an extraordinary event on Aeon Corona VII, both Captain Orfan of the Flagrant Vandals and Commander Dise of what used to be Lydia's Swordmaidens advanced to expert candidates.

While this did not guarantee that they would be able to take the next step and advance to expert pilot, the possibility of it alone was very valuable! To Ves, a single expert candidate was worth as much as the Swordmaidens in their prime!

"Commander Dise didn't tell our backers anything about her recent advancement. Most Swordmaidens who knew about it died on the planet. Aside from sharing her secret to the highest-ranking Swordmaidens, she's been keeping her improvement under wraps."

That sounded wise. Expert candidates were extremely attention-grabbing, especially in a depraved region like the frontier. If it became known that the Swordmaidens harbored an expert candidate, then the Dragon Alliance or the Ravienne Alliance would quickly come and 'invite' them to be a part of their pirate group.

"Still, it must be tough for the Swordmaidens to rebuild their strength after such a devastating loss."

"They're managing for now. It takes years to train up new Swordmaidens, so they're laying low." Ketis said. "The only issue that's becoming increasingly more pressing is that their bag of money will eventually run out. They will need some money in order to sustain their recovery, and they're looking at us to supplement their income."

Ves still remembered the deal he made with Commander Dise. "I'm willing to lend a hand, but not for free."

"I know. That's also why I want to design my own mechs. I don't have any use for the money. I might as well pass it onto the Swordmaidens."

This must be the main reason why Ketis wanted to strike out on her own. While Ves was still apprehensive whether her first design would be any good, at the very least she gained some very necessary experience.

He also thought about how to approach cases like this when his subordinate mech designers wanted to design their own mechs.

He began to explain his scheme. "If you happen to design a new mech, I can offer you several options upon finishing it. You can hand it over to me to uptune your design and elevate it to my standards. This is a lot of work, though. So in exchange for this service, you'll have to cede a proportionate amount of ownership of the design to me for fairness sake."

"I don't like this option. It sounds as if most of the effort I put into my designs is pointless since you're just going to override most of my design choices."

"The other option I can offer you is to publish your design under a different brand name. Your work will still belong to you, but it won't be associated with my main brand. Instead, I'll think up a different but related brand for designs that don't meet the LMC's quality standards."

The LMC built up a considerable amount of reputation, but that mostly rested on its quality designs. If the company started selling mechs designed by Novices all of a sudden, its reputation would quickly nosedive!

However, without the direct backing of the LMC, Ketis would have a tough time trying to sell her mechs. Even so, it sounded like a better prospect for her to develop herself.

"The mech market is a tough place, but I'm a big girl. I can handle myself." She confidently stated. "Just wait. In six months, I'll have my first variant ready. I already have a good idea on what I want to design."

"I'll look forward to your work."

Chapter 1244

Ves didn't forget about the gold label Aurora Titans he promised to fabricate. As soon as he caught up on his paperwork, he rushed their fabrication.

While he wasn't in his best state, it hardly affected the fabrication of mechs. Just thinking about how each gold label Aurora Titan sold for 150 million credits a piece was enough to motivate him into working faster.

Even if the quality of his work slipped a bit, the difference was within his tolerance. Ves really wanted to finish this commitment as fast as possible so he delayed his journey to Centerpoint System until he emptied out his backlog.

The only minor complication was that Ves needed to spend some time to design a customized look for each of the fifteen gold label Aurora Titans. With his current design ability, this wasn't a challenge, but he had to admit that he wasn't in the most inspired mood right now.

Working while he was in a spiritually-depleted state annoyed Ves a bit. He realized that he had become quite dependent on his Spirituality in order to perform at his best.

"It's not wrong to depend on inspiration, but I should really learn how to manage without it. A mech designer shouldn't be rendered helpless just because they're in a bad mood."

Ves treated Spirituality as a stimulant. He was addicted to it like Axelar used to be addicted to his formulas.

Just like the privileged Terran, Ves didn't want to stop his addiction.

"The difference between me and a junkie is that my addiction is productive."

He began to see the silver lining behind his suboptimal condition. As long as he could train himself to bear with this handicap, then his consistency would grow. No matter if he was in a good mood or a bad mood, he'd be able to put out consistently good work.

Just waiting for the times he was inspired or fired up was a rather unreliable way to approach his profession. While Ves was quite proficient in getting into the right mood, who knew if he failed one day?

Time began to pass as Ves seriously started to explore how he could cope with his work during his low periods.

While it wasn't easy, Ves persisted in it, knowing that he was dealing with his condition a bit better every day.

One area in which he didn't make any progress was his relationship with Lucky. The cat only allowed himself to be pampered by Ketis lately!

"Come on, Lucky. Who's your owner, me or Ketis?"

"Meow!" Lucky turned his head and flipped his tail.

"Don't you think you're being too excessive here? When will you finally forgive me for feeding you that nutrient pack wrapper?"

"MEOW!"

Lucky jumped from his perch and phased through the wall, leaving Ves behind.

"Damn." He muttered. "I better order a more expensive batch of exotics. He can't stay pissed at me forever."

During his off time, Melkor visited him to inform him of a major development.

"Do you remember when I told you that the Larkinsons plan to set up shop on Cloudy Curtain? Well, they've just started constructing a new compound in Freslin."

"I'm aware." Ves sighed. "I don't think it's necessary for them to build a second retreat here. I don't want to involve the family in the running of my business too much."

"Your importance and the importance of the LMC to the Larkinson Estate is way too significant for the rest of us to ignore. Even if you haven't attended any of the steering committee gatherings lately, your shadow still looms over them. More and more Larkinsons believe that devoting the family solely to the Mech Corps is not enough anymore."

Ves knew he couldn't do anything to change this trend. The Larkinsons used to be satisfied with their lot because they didn't possess any exceptional entrepreneurs in the family. Now that a cash cow like him came along, the ambitions of the family finally found fertile ground to grow.

Expert pilots may be powerful, but their service to the Mech Corps meant that they didn't actually earn any money! It already cost the military billions of credits to develop and maintain an expert mech for each of them. The privilege of piloting an expensive mech that was tailored to their needs was pretty much the extent of their remuneration!

Mech designers faced different circumstances. Although they didn't enjoy as much privileges and protection, they could make all of that up on their own due to their ability to generate lots of revenue.

When Ves was still an Apprentice, the Larkinsons still held out their judgement on whether he'd be able to survive in the long-term. Now that he advanced to Journeyman Mech Designer, most of that uncertainty had been cleared away.

Not only would Ves be able to earn vastly more money, but he would definitely get to live long enough to provide steady shelter to the Larkinson Family for the next two centuries!

"There's more to this decision than providing a common home for all of the Larkinsons joining the LMC or the Avatars." Melkor continued. "Right now, the family is completely dependent on you to prop up the LMC. What happens if something happens to you? While the elders want you to find a girlfriend, they want backups in place in case something happens to you and your offspring."

It was never a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket. Ves understood this point, so he could pretty much predict what Melkor tried to say.

"The family wants me to help raise more mech designers, right?"

"Yup. They know it's very hard to raise a proper mech designer who can survive in the business, so they've been combing through the younger generation of Larkinsons for promising seeds. They've already identified a few, and they've been putting some of the money they've gotten to good use by prepping them to study mech design."

Was it difficult to study mech design? Yes. Was it impossible, no. As long as someone with a decent degree of intelligence put enough time and dedication in their studies, they could gain a sufficient amount of mastery in the fundamental sciences required to design a mech from scratch.

Yet there was so much more to mech design than learning the sciences.

The top schools for mech design such as the Ansel University of Mech Design and the Dorum Center for Technology and Innovation went far beyond theory. They placed most of their emphasis on practical lessons. The ability to design depended a lot on both practice and proper guidance by teachers who knew what they were talking about.

It sounded like the Larkinson Family was aware of this difference.

"What does the family expect of me? Babysit a bunch of brats?"

"That's essentially what they want." Melkor confirmed. "It will take some time to finish the construction of the new compound and to arrange the relocation of the promising seeds and their families. Once everything is set up, the family would really like it if you can let some of the kids follow you around while you do your work."

The prospect of his peaceful design sessions being disturbed by the nagging and antics overactive teenagers did not sit well with Ves.

Even so, he did not completely reject the offer. He needed to build up a design team, and it was better to hire a mech designer who he shaped from the beginning.

Ves only started mentoring Ketis for a couple of years and the results already satisfied him. Repeating the same process at an earlier stage with his family at least gave him a lot more confidence in their loyalty.

Whereas other subordinate mech designers might eventually decide to leave the LMC in order to start their own companies, the LMC would always remain as the definite home to Larkinson mech designers.

"How many seeds does the family want to foist upon me, Melkor?"

"Not much. Two to four. No more. We don't have a tradition of studying the sciences in our family, so our choices are limited."

That sounded manageable. If nothing else, Ves could apply his usual solution to something he didn't want to be bothered with by foisting the brats to someone else, which in this case would be Ketis.

The thought of Ketis mentoring a bunch of impressionable Larkinson kids sent a shiver through his back for some reason. Who knew what kind of lessons they would really learn from her tutelage!

If only he had someone saner like Carlos. Too bad Ves hadn't heard a word from him in months.

"Alright, I can accept that. I'll make sure to give them some guidance, but that's it. I won't pamper them or hold their hands. Mech design is a tough profession and everyone who aspires to be one has to put in their earnest effort."

Melkor nodded in agreement. "The family knows. Otherwise they wouldn't be dealing with such a limited selection. The elders aren't expecting you to bring up someone as talented and exceptional as you. It's enough to turn them into decently mech designers who can sustain your legacy and keep the family involved in the mech industry."

The Larkinson family firmly decided to pivot their focus in this direction. Ves was uncomfortable with this change because a part of him didn't want to change the family. They were doing just fine before he came along.

Now, he felt as if his very existence corrupted the family into chasing after wealth and powers.

"Is that all you want to inform me about, or is there more?" Ves wearily asked.

"Well, it's not directly related to you, but there's discussion among the elders to give some of the retired Larkinsons who want to move into the new compound something to do. A proposal has come up for some of our retired mech pilots to work as mech instructors at Freslin's basic mech academy."

That sounded very significant. "I don't know if that is going to work, Melkor. The quality of mech cadets from Cloudy Curtain is very low."

"That's why our mech instructors will likely be very welcome at the local mech academy. There's even another proposal on the table that suggest we outright take it over!"

"Whoah there! Take it over? Are the elders back at Rittersberg crazy?! Running a mech academy is a big responsibility!"

Melkor smirked. "I think we can do it. A lot of our mech pilots who retire from the Mech Corps often move on to become mech instructors or mech tutors. An instructor with the Larkinson name is very popular, you know. It's just that most of the Larkinsons only get to work for others in this capacity. It's a nice change to be able to set their own curriculum and teach the mech cadets according to their own methods."

These proposals hint at something greater to Ves. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Melkor. Unfortunately, his cousin's huge visor always made it difficult to get a read on him. Ves even thought of wearing one himself seeing how useful it was in throwing other people off.

"This sounds to me as if the family is intending to entrench themselves on Cloudy Curtain." He eventually said. "A mech academy isn't particularly profitable, especially in a desolated place like this planet."

"Times are changing, and the family is changing as well. The New Larkinson Family is just as stagnant as the Ylvaine Protectorate. It's time we crawl out of our shells and make something of ourselves."

"That's a very unfortunate way of putting it, Melkor. The New Ylvaine Dynasty degenerated into terrorists and extremists."

"If the family wants to get ahead, we're bound to take some risks. It's no different from what you are doing."

Ves had to admit that his cousin got him there.

Chapter 1245

As his birthday got nearer and nearer, the mood in the company had grown more jubilant. Even though Ves refused to turn his birthday into a company event, every employee saw it as a milestone.

Their boss was one of the youngest Journeyman in the Bright Republic! Not only that, but he became a saint of the Ylvaine Protectorate!

The repercussions of the latter slowly dawned upon the leadership of the company as they saw a lot of new opportunities in the neighboring state.

"It's kind of crazy how far demand has outstripped our supply." Calsie reported in his office. "The hype for our products has become so high that some savvy owners of our existing mechs are beginning to offer them up to the Ylvainans in the second-hand market."

That did not sound good to Ves. "Second-hand mechs aren't as good as first-hand mechs."

"There's no choice. Even with our fancy new production lines, our production capacity is wholly insufficient to service the massive amount of demand that has flooded our sales channels. If there's one bright spot, it's that the Ylvainans have learned to appreciate the differences between our labels. The gold label mechs are being resold at insane markups! Even our silver label mechs are being resold as if they are new."

The hype around his mechs was crazy, but Ves didn't expect it to last.

"A spike in demand never lasts very long." Calsie said. "According to our marketing analysts, once the Ylvainans get back to their lives, demand will subside, but it will always be several times higher than the old levels. The more we exploit our partnership with Madame Cecily, the more we can build up demand that is grounded in reality and that we can sustain."

There was a difference between the two. Hype was always something that only lasted for a short time. Ves couldn't bank on his status as the Bright Martyr to sell mediocre mechs. The LMC needed to convert the short-term advantages of hype into a long-term advantage that ensured its continued success in the Protectorate.

Ves was glad that the LMC were already developing plans of that nature. "The Marketing Department has done a good job, but I don't think they fully understand the Ylvainans. Tell them to hire some experts that can advise us how to market our products to the Ylvainans. They're really different compared to Brighters or Reinaldans."

"Will do, Ves. We've already started hiring some managers and experts to represent our interests in the joint venture in the Protectorate. Once we got some of our people on the ground, we'll be able to obtain a better read of the local mech market."

"Keep me in the loop." Ves commanded. "We need to be careful to pursue gradual growth. As long as we don't threaten to take over the mech market, our Ylvainan competitors are more inclined to accept our place in their midst."

"Sounds like you got a good handle on the politics."

The higher Ves and the LMC climbed, the greater the role of politics and cross-border relations. It frustrated him a bit that he needed to pay attention to these kinds of issues in the first place. It was a lot simpler to deal with fair competition than political compromises and backroom deals.

"How do the developments in the Ylvaine Protectorate affect our operations in the Bright Republic and other markets?"

"We mainly produce the Blackbeak and Crystal Lord at the Mech Nursery." She reported. "We've pretty much saturated the domestic market with those two mech models. While the celebrity effect that Gavin told me about has caused a surge in demand, it's not enough to flood us like the Ylvainans are doing at the moment. This is why the surge in demand from the Protectorate is like a timely rain after a drought. It keeps our production lines running at full capacity for the next year or two at the very least."

Ves nodded. The LMC already sold thousands of Blackbeaks and Crystal Lords in the Bright Republic alone. The mech buyers who wanted to obtain one of these mechs already bought them by now.

It was different in the Ylvaine Protectorate. The mech buyers there only bought a couple of hundred of his mechs so far, but now that he and his company suddenly became prominent there, thousands of mech buyers wanted to try out the Blackbeak and the Crystal Lord models!

"What about the Aurora Titan?'

"As you know, apart from the gold label editions, NORA Consolidated is responsible for producing most of them. They've reported to us that they've received a surge in demand for the Aurora Titan as well, but not as extreme as we are seeing. It's a niche mech model, and an expensive one at that. Even so, Professor Ventag's mech company has allocated several more production lines to the production of the Aurora Titan in order to meet this additional demand."

"NORA Consolidated is much bigger than the LMC. They have the production lines to spare, unlike us."

The LMC still benefited from the surge in demand. Even if the LMC was only entitled to twenty-five percent of the profits from the sale of the Aurora Titan, the model was so expensive that it still amounted to a generous sum of money!

Talking about their bottleneck in production prompted Calsie to make a suggestion. "Considering the considerable surge in demand, perhaps it would be a good idea to expand our production lines again. Our cash flow is abundant and the money we're accumulating isn't doing any good in our accounts."

If it was before, Ves wouldn't consider this option. He originally planned to accumulate a warchest in order to obtain the new licenses that would be released at the start of the mech generation.

That wasn't necessary now. The deal he made with Senator Tovar and Professor Ventag gave him easy access to future component licenses. The LMC could invest its proceeds into other investments.

He made a decision. "I'm not opposed to expanding our production lines. Draw up a plan and perform an analysis on how much we can afford to spend and how much future demand the LMC expects to meet. I want to make a decision based on our circumstances instead of my gut feeling. We also have to get the board of directors to agree with the expansion."

Even though he could simply order Calsie to expand the production capacity of the Mech Nursery by twenty production lines, would the LMC really need that much extra capacity? Perhaps in ten years maybe, but not necessarily sooner.

After Calsie noted all of the decisions he made, she left his office and made sure to get the ball rolling.

"It's amazing to see how far I've come since I founded the LMC." He whispered to himself while he leaned back against his padded office chair.

The LMC was on the right track. Aside from its tiny mech catalog, his company was doing better than ever before, which was very remarkable considering the economic malaise that was just starting to subside.

To Ves, the company operated like a 3D printer. Although it looked like a single entity from the outside, it contained a lot of moving parts inside, each of which performed a different role.

While he was a lot more hands-on at the start, he continually upgraded the 3D printer's automation to the point where it could perform its job without any input from him apart from making major decisions.

How many thirty-year olds can boast of leading such a prosperous company?

"This is the power of a Journeyman."

Of course, a company only served as a means to an end. Ves already knew that Journeymen would need to invest a lot of money into research. Advancing to Senior made it worse, as the money he was required to fund his research ballooned!

"What kind of research are Seniors performing in the first place to make them spend so much money?" Ves frowned.

It probably involved a lot of exotics. Perhaps they were seeking breakthroughs of their design philosophies by trying to see of certain exotics enhanced their effects. Perhaps they were performing some sort of alchemy by combining several remarkable exotics to achieve the effect they desired.

Whatever the case, even Master Mech Designers still spent a stupendous amount of money to further their research!

Soon, Ves would join this race as well. He guessed that his upcoming visit to the sector headquarters of the MTA would answer many of his questions related to how a mech designer progressed after reaching Journeyman.

After he daydreamed for a while, Ves decided to study the Caskar Pike design before he resumed his fabrication work.

The spaceborn missileer mech was based on a simple concept, but the Skull Architect executed it very well. He did his utmost into maximizing every component he included into its design without leaving much room for waste and inefficiency.

"To be honest, I can learn a thing or two from his design choices."

Although the promise of designing fifteen variants for the Skull Architect sounded like a heavy burden, the opportunity to study fifteen different annotated and well-documented design schematics was a hidden benefit.

As long as Ves took care not to absorb any lessons that was incompatible to his design philosophy, he foresaw that he could apply a lot of the Skull Architect's crafty solutions in his future mech designs.

"Just by studying this missileer design gives me the confidence to design my own missileer mech."

Naturally, learning like this had its faults as well, as Ves would still allow himself to be influenced by another mech designer.

"My growth needs to be sustainable."

That meant he should take just enough notes to help him develop his own solutions instead of copying them directly from the Skull Architect's own designs. The moment he relied on someone else's work as a template for his own solutions was the moment he stopped innovating and developing his own solutions.

Considering that higher advancement placed a very high demand on innovation, Ves could not afford to lose his will to fight if he wanted to advance to Master one day.

"Perhaps this is the real trap." He realized. "Aside from its control problems, the Caskar Pike is so powerful and efficient that I'm really tempted to design my own missileer."

If he truly followed this impulse, then the ingenious design choices he observed from the Caskar Pike would definitely be applied to his own design. The resulting work would share many similarities.

"What a devious trap." He quietly cursed.

The Skull Architect was the true devil among mech designers!

For some reason, he liked to torment other mech designers by seducing them to abandon their ways!

Perhaps this was the pirate designer's means to recruit subordinate mech designers into his design team. Since he wasn't a university professor anymore, he didn't have access to a large body of mech design students who he could nurture into his assistants.

"Even so, why can't he just recruit mech designers openly?!"

There were lots of desperate mech designers like Ketis who requested to be mentored by an esteemed Senior!

Instead of adopting a normal selection process, the Skull Architect instead resorted to blackhearted tricks that inevitably ended poorly to the mech designer in question.

Once a young mech designer failed to resist the Skull Architect's allure, they would be dependent on him to advance further on a path that wasn't their own.

The Skull Architect was the most morally bankrupt mech designer he had ever met! Ves could hardly fathom a mech designer who was more despicable than someone who thought that murdering an expert pilot was a good idea!

The sooner Ves got rid of the Skull Architect, the safer he would be! Who knows what kind of plans this crazy mech designer had in store!

Mech designers like the Skull Architect illustrated that only a thin line separated genius from madness.

"With all of the ordeals I've experienced lately, I don't even know how ragged my own line has become."

Chapter 1246

The subject of his age was a complicated question. Due to the effects of relativity and anomalies that distorted the passage of time, one person's age was not always clearly defined.

Ves spent a lot of time on Aeon Corona VII. The heavy gravity planet and its time-warping environment physically aged him past thirty years quite some while ago.

To put it simply, his body already celebrated its thirtieth birthday. Only now did the standard Terran calendar belatedly caught up to this fact.

The difference didn't matter too much. The discrepancy between his physical and his official age was less than a year. This was a lot different from the more extreme cases in the galaxy where fifty-year olds were still teenagers on their record!

He didn't feel too different when he woke up on his bed. He yawned and stretched his arms, only to feel a weight on his chest.

"Meow."

"Lucky? Did you forgive me now?"

"Meow."

His cat lightly swatted his cheek before turning intangible and phasing away.

"Well, at least I made some progress." He muttered.

He figured that this was Lucky's way of expressing that he hadn't quite gotten over the incident yet. Still, some change was better than nothing. After weeks of acting like he didn't exist, Lucky finally acknowledged his existence again.

After he freshened himself up, he looked through his wardrobe. He didn't buy his own clothes anymore, letting Gavin take care of those trivial issues.

His wardrobe also included several sets of smart clothes preconfigured in elegant and luxurious looks. Because they were imports from the Friday Coalition, Ves wasn't sure about wearing them. They looked a bit gaudy, as if their wearers eagerly wanted to rub their wealth in the faces of the lower classes who couldn't afford such an outfit.

"Well, I'm a Journeyman now." He realized. "That's a step up from many well-off citizens of the Friday Coalition."

Citizens of third-rate states always thought of themselves as inferior to a citizen of a second-rate state.

That didn't mean that a receptionist from the Friday Coalition could smack around a CEO from the Bright Republic, but there was always a sense that someone's birthplace determined their ultimate station in life.

Ves shook his head. "Now that I'm a Journeyman, there's no reason for me to feel envious of Fridaymen. In fact, they should feel envious of me! I'm a galactic citizen!"

A Journeyman enjoyed high regard wherever he went. The prestige of this title guaranteed good treatment wherever he went.

After some thought, he decided to dress like he acted, and chose to set aside his preference for understated clothing and picked out some smart clothes configured in a rich green formal suit.

As Ves viewed his appearance in a mirror projection, he had to admit that he exuded confidence that he didn't have before. If he was still an Apprentice, then he would have unconsciously thought that he was being pretentious.

As Ves headed up to his office in the LMC's headquarters, he received many congratulations and well wishes from his employees.

"Happy birthday, boss!"

"Happy birthday, Mr. Larkinson!"

Ves smiled as he took in the optimistic mood that had spread over the entire complex. Every worker in the LMC felt lucky to be working for a mech designer who made so many achievements when he was still young.

When he arrived at his office, Gavin expressed the main reason for their optimism.

"The LMC is too small for a company led by a Journeyman." He said. "Didn't you visit the facilities of the now-defunct Kadar-Neyvis Group once? That's where the LMC is heading towards in a couple of years. There are already plans in the works to expand our presence, and to do that we need to hire a lot more workers who need to be managed somehow."

"And who better to manage them than our existing employees?" Ves guessed the rest.

"Indeed. While we won't promote a cleaning bot technician into the head of maintenance overnight, as long as it isn't too extreme, many of our workers will move on to become team leaders or managers to manage the influx."

The existing workers of the LMC may not be necessarily better or more qualified than the newcomers. Yet the company valued them more because they had proven themselves to be loyal, trustworthy and aligned with the company's values.

The latter was especially important for the company to maintain its cohesion and identity. By letting the old hands propagate the company culture to the newcomers, the latter would eventually become indistinguishable from the former.

"I hear there are plans in the works to open up a second site." Ves mentioned.

"There is a lot of consideration for opening up a second manufacturing complex on Bentheim, boss. I don't know what your issue is with setting up shop on Bentheim, but you should really consider it. Right now, the logistics of operating a manufacturing complex on Cloudy Curtain is manageable, but that's only because our products are mainly premium mechs. What if you design a cheaper mech one day? The logistical burden of mass-producing so many mechs will perpetually strain our supply chain."

Ves understood Gavin's point. It took an increasing amount of transports and cargo haulers to ship the raw materials from Bentheim to Cloudy Curtain. The time and money being wasted on this channel was growing increasingly more significant.

They would definitely balloon once the LMC began to offer cheaper mechs with lower margins. This was because a mech valued at 20 million credits used up almost the same amount of materials as a mech valued at 100 million credits!

While the quality and price of materials differed drastically, the space they occupied usually didn't differ too much. This essentially meant that producing high-volume mechs on Cloudy Curtain would disproportionately impact the company's profitability!

Although Ves always felt leery about expanding the LMC's presence on Bentheim, he was no longer as afraid as before. The local gangs that ran rife on that hectic planet generally respected the properties of high-ranking mech designers.

Even if they didn't, his friendly relations with the Blood Claws insured adequate protection.

"Draw up a plan." Ves replied, giving out his usual response to major decisions like this. "While I'm not too giddy about it, I do think it's time to diversify our production sites. I still want the Mech Nursery to be the primary site of production for our premium mechs. It's safer, quieter and more secure here. That's worth the burden it imposes on our supply chain."

After they discussed some other business matters, Gavin finally smiled. "Your birthday party is scheduled to start in the evening. We've tried our best to keep it small, but we had to expand the venue because of the arrival of some surprising guests."

"Oh? Are there any names I should take note of in the guest list, Benny?"

"I'll let that be a surprise for tonight, Ves. Suffice to say, there are some very esteemed guests among the people who have come to celebrate your birthday."

"I wanted my birthday party to be a family event." Ves stated flatly. "How come we're suddenly entertaining esteemed guests?"

Gavin shrugged. "It's hard to say no to some of these people. They see a lot of promise in you and want to establish closer ties while you're still approachable and not fully adjusted to your new status."

"So they're essentially betting that I'll reach Senior one day."

"Right."

Even if it sounded as if these guests came with ulterior motives, Ves didn't mind. As a mech designer and businessman, he learned the importance of establishing an extensive network. He could obtain many conveniences that he otherwise wouldn't be able to obtain by trading favors.

Coming to celebrate his birthday was just an excuse for his guests to forge closer ties.

"How many Larkinsons have come?"

"Not too much. It's not that they don't respect you, but it's difficult for them to set aside their responsibilities and obligations."

"I understand. It doesn't help that I live in the Bentheim region. It takes too much time for the Larkinsons from Rittersberg to reach Cloudy Curtain. It takes even more time for them to get back."

Time passed by as Ves took it easy. Aside from making some business decisions or checking up on the state of his company, he didn't do anything too strenuous.

In the meantime, Cloudy Curtain saw an uptick in traffic in recent days as various starships and shuttles descended from orbit and touched down onto the expansive landing zone of the Mech Nursery.

Guests from Bentheim, Rittersberg and elsewhere diverted all the way to Cloudy Curtain for only one reason, and it wasn't for its cloud rice.

The evening finally arrived. Ves finally left his office and leisurely walked across the campus to a newly-refurbished banquet hall situated next to the auditorium. One of the gold label Aurora Titans that Ves recently fabricated stood proudly in front of its terrace.

Its strong aura of love and protectiveness instantly surged the moods of many visitors and drew admiration from each of them. The opportunity to witness a mech handcrafted by Ves was becoming increasingly rarer.

Yet once anyone witnessed his works up close and in person, they recalled why they valued Ves so much! Only he could design and produce such compelling mechs!

"Ves!" Ketis called and waved her hand. She scurried over to him. "Come on! Let's head inside!"

As she dragged him past his Aurora Titan and the mob of admirers, Ves glanced at her current outfit.

Ordinarily, she dressed in trendy clothing that made her look disarming and nothing like a pirate. It made her look like an average student studying at a good university.

This time, she dressed up. Not only did she have her hair styled in a curly way that conveniently hid her horns, but she also shed her casual ensemble for a modest red dress that exposed her lean, muscular limbs.

"You look very.. feminine, Ketis."

She grinned at him with a face that looked even lovelier in makeup. "It's your birthday, silly. Of course I'll dress up for the occasion!"

Once she led him inside to the foyer, Ves came across a dozen or so Larkinsons spanning multiple generations.

From elders such as Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson to members of the younger generation such as Lanie Larkinson, a small slice of the family had come all the way to celebrate the birthday of one of their most prominent members in recent years.

To Ves' surprise, his grandfather Benjamin arrived in person!

"Grandpa, I didn't expect to see you here!"

"How can I forget about the birthday of one of my grandsons? It's easy enough for me to schedule a working visit to Bentheim and set some time aside to attend your birthday."

Ves felt very warm, and not just because of the Aurora Titan in the vicinity.

"Thank you for visiting."

"It's the best I can do for you. I would have loved to see your father and mother here as well, but..."

"Yeah." Ves said lamely.

The mood between them dipped for a moment.

Benjamin shook his head. "Let's not linger on unpleasantries for tonight. I'm sure your father is happy for you and wishes to be here. Here's my present to you. It's nothing much to someone who is worth billions of credits, but it's the love that counts."

His grandfather gestured with his hands, causing a floating gift-wrapped box to hover over to the birthday boy.

Although Ves felt a little awkward, his grandfather encouraged him to open it on the spot.

After carefully tearing apart the wrapping, he opened the box and picked up a small potted plant.

"This is...?"

"It's a young prosperity tree. It grew out of a seed from the original prosperity tree at the Larkinson Compound. Do you remember that big tree in the back? You might not know this, but the Larkinson Ancestor personally brought that prosperity tree with him when he packed up his bags and left for the Komodo Star Sector. From where he came from, the prosperity tree represents good fortune. They're very hard to grow naturally so make sure to take care of it attentively."

Although Ves felt a little bit underwhelmed by getting a miniature tree of all things, it was the thought that counted. "Thanks. I'll treasure it and hope it will one day grow as tall as the original tree."

This was a present that carried a lot of symbolism. His grandfather essentially sent the message that the Larkinsons placed high expectations on him. Just as how the Larkinson Ancestor fought to make his descendents enjoy a good station in life in the present, Ves might be able to pull the Larkinsons even further.

Chapter 1247

Ves passed on the young prosperity tree to Gavin. In turn, Gavin passed it on to a bot to place it on a display.

Afterwards, Ves greeted the other Larkinsons who each congratulated him and presented him with gifts, most of which consisted of forgettable trinkets.

It was very hard to come up with a good present to someone who could outright buy the total assets of the Larkinson Estate several times over!

Still, they needed to express their sincerity in some way, so they decided to follow the same strategy as Benjamin by gifting presents that carried a symbolic or sentimental meaning.

The only problem with this was that Ves only cared for the sentiments of those he cared about in person. Just because he shared the same family name as them didn't mean he particularly liked them or appreciated their company.

Perhaps the most odious Larkinson Ves had met tonight was Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson.

After gifting Ves with a shard salvaged from an old expert mech wreck, the elder in charge of the trust fund eagerly patted his back.

"You've heard of my grandson Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson, yes? He's an expert candidate just like Jannzi. He served admirably during the recent war, and right now he's placing all of his efforts into breaking through to expert pilot."

"I'm sure he'll succeed one day." Ves politely responded even if he wanted to swat away the slimy old man's hand from his back.

"The Mech Corps and other institutions offer many training programs that increase the chance of breakthroughs. While I'm sure that Tusa doesn't have to rely on them, the faster he breaks through, the sooner our entire family benefits from the addition of another expert pilot in our ranks. If you lend a hand to him during this time, I'm sure he'll reciprocate the favor."

After several minutes of babbling, Ves eventually learned the true reason why Raymond was buttering him up so much. He wanted Ves to invest several hundred million credits into Tusa's training.

"While the Mech Corps is a fine place to seek a breakthrough, the Friday Coalition offers even better training programs." Raymond explained. "As long as my grandson can pay the entry fee, he can benefit from the wisdom of a second-rate state, not only increasing his chances of breaking through, but also allowing him to absorb some of the skills of a second-class mech pilot!"

While Ves maintained his polite smile, he inwardly cursed Raymond for being a greedy old bastard.

Of course, he couldn't ruin the festive mood by uttering something like that aloud.

"I think the family should make this decision collectively, Raymond." He said in a mild but slightly warning tone of voice. "The ample dividends the Larkinson Estate receive should be more than enough to cover these kinds of investments. It's not fair for me to openly favor one Larkinson expert candidate over another."

Raymond knew he couldn't make any further progress when he heard that so he stopped insisting. "You've raised a good point, Ves. I was merely thinking that since you're so wealthy, you don't mind spending this trivial amount of money."

"A few hundred-million credits is not trivial. Whatever you think of my wealth, my business ventures eat up most of what I earn." Ves lied.

In truth, Ves was flush with more money than he knew where to spend it on. While he reserved quite a bit to fund the expansion of the Avatars of Myth, the rest of his money was essentially sitting in the bank.

Even if he wasn't hurting for money at the moment, Ves did not want to make it a habit to lend or give away his cash whenever a Larkinson held out their hand and begged.

Therefore, after shutting down Raymond, half of the Larkinsons who wanted to chat with him further all declined to say anything more than pleasantries.

Perhaps the most lighthearted Larkinson he greeted was Lanie Larkinson.

The little girl had grown into a big girl. Ves remembered meeting her shortly after he embarked on his career. After five years of growth, the girl was approaching ten years old, which meant she would soon find out whether she possessed the right genetic aptitude to pilot mechs.

Ves generously smiled at Lanie after she gifted him with a handknit shawl. "Did you make this yourself?"

Lanie eagerly nodded. "I don't know if I want to become a mech pilot or mech designer, but I've been practicing my handicraft in case I decide to follow in your footsteps!"

"It's very hard to become a mech designer, Lanie. While being good with your hands is useful, it's more important to have a knack in science and engineering. Even then, you still have to study hard in order to graduate."

The young girl didn't look fazed at all. "I'll surely succeed! By the way, where's Lucky? He's so fun! I miss him so much!"

"She might know where my cat has gone." He said while gesturing at Ketis. "If you have any questions about mech design, feel free to ask her as she's also a mech designer."

"Okay!"

The girl enthusiastically scampered off to Ketis, causing Ves and the other Larkinsons to chuckle.

"Kids are precious, Ves." His grandfather remarked in a goodnaturedly fashion. "They liven up your life and help you remember the joys of your own life. Children are the best gifts that you can have."

The implicit message was that Ves should hurry up and marry so that he could have kids of his own.

After he finished greeting the Larkinsons, Ves greeted his other guests. With Gavin's help, he was instantly able to greet some of the unknown faces by name, which easily earned him some of their appreciation.

"Yoni Ricklin. What an unexpected surprise to see you here." Ves politely shook the middle-aged man's hand.

The Ricklin generously smiled at Ves. "I came to convey Madame Catelyn Ricklin's well wishes. Unfortunately, she couldn't be here herself, but she wants to make sure you are aware of her good intentions."

"That is welcome news. I thought that you Ricklins were rather irate at me for being involved in Vincent Ricklin's defection."

How could Ves forget about his first custom job where Vincent insisted on adding a codpiece to his mech?!

"What happened that day was a tragedy. Many elders of the Ricklin family lost their lives." Yoni firmly shook his head. "However, now that five years have passed, Madame Catelyn is no longer hysterical whenever she recalls this incident. She realized that it's unfair to blame you for supplying Vincent with the weapon that slew many of our lineage. Any mech could have done the same."

"I'm glad to hear that. None of us thought that Vincent would be so crazy to join the Bentheim Liberation Movement. How is he, by the way?"

Yoni sighed. "Vincent is still at large, to our entire family's shame. From the scattered intelligence we've gathered, our wayward family member has slowly climbed up the ranks and has become one of their side leaders. It doesn't appear he'll get caught anytime soon."

That was a small but persistent worry to Ves. Still, the BLM shouldn't have any reason to target him directly, so he quickly threw his concerns aside.

After receiving Yoni's present which turned out to be a small but highly-suspect processor chip, Ves moved on to greet another notable figure.

"Alistair Cordwraith." Ves greeted the executive assistant. He didn't need Gavin's help to recall the unassuming but sharply-dressed man's name. "I did not expect to see you here myself."

The man shook hands with Ves. "Senator Tovar wishes you well. He has paid a keen amount of interest in you ever since you returned from the Ylvaine Protectorate. It has always been one of his dreams to forge a friendship with our isolationist neighbor. Now that you single-handedly opened up a major opportunity, our diplomatic corps has been hard at work ever since."

"The Ylvainans may hold some odd beliefs, but they are quite friendly once you get past their shells."

The gift that Alistair handed to Ves turned out to be a data pad that contained a bunch of official documents.

They mostly came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Development. While it took some effort for Ves to figure out the legalese, he figured out that they essentially authorized him and his company to engage in greater foreign activities with less bureaucratic oversight.

Alistair explained what they meant. "There is a lot of red tape involved whenever a domestic mech company begins to expand its operations in other states. The senator believes your company has a lot of promise catering to foreign markets. Your stunning achievement in opening up the Protectorate attests to that. For this reason, he has lobbied on your behalf to make it easier to do business across borders."

While Ves didn't completely understand the conveniences these authorizations provided to him, he accepted them nonetheless. He passed the data pad to Gavin who eagerly began to read the documents right away.

"Please convey my thanks to the senator for his consideration."

It seemed the senator still paid a significant amount of attention to him. Whether this was good or bad, Ves didn't know.

Aside from meeting officials and representatives, Ves also met some acquaintances who were remarkable by themselves.

Ves happened to meet another old friend from the start of his career.

"Charlotte Hoffmeister!"

"You still remember me, Ves." She smiled back.

"How can I forget the mech pilot who piloted my first competition mechs?"

"It's been a long time since we competed at the Young Tigers Exhibition." She said. She looked calmer and more mature since they last worked together to reach the finals. "Both of us has come a long way since then, though I never expected you to explode to Journeyman this soon. That's really significant to MTA, I can tell you that."

"You would know, since you're a part of them now. It's really impressive that you managed to catch their eye!" Ves sincerely complimented.

Indeed. While Charlotte was among the younger of the guests, she was like an elephant in the room due to wearing an MTA mess dress uniform!

Not only that, but her uniform bore the insignia of the association's Compliance Department, which was their most feared enforcement unit!

Charlotte nonetheless shook her head. "I'm not as impressive as you think I am. I'm still a low-ranking trainee mech pilot in the MTA's hierarchy. I have a lot more to go before I enter their ranks in earnest."

"I'm sure you'll be able to distinguish yourself in time."

It was nice to catch up with an old acquaintance and see what they made of themselves since they last met. Even though Ves had taken a huge leap forward, Charlotte shouldn't feel sorry for herself because she managed to join the most powerful mech fighting force in the galaxy!

Even if the MTA's branch in the Komodo Star Sector didn't equal the branches closer to the center of the galaxy, Charlotte could still expect to pilot some great mechs in the future.

She would also be eligible to receive the latest gene optimization treatments that her rank afforded her! That alone caused her to attract a lot of hidden envy from the mech pilots in the hall!

Once they finished exchanging pleasantries, Charlotte passed her present to Ves. The present was rather peculiar. She gave him an invitation card.

"You've recently advanced to Journeyman, right? That means you'll visit the Centerpoint System soon. While I haven't been there myself, you can use this card to an exclusive club on Centerpoint V. You won't regret the visit once you get inside."

"Sounds mysterious."

Charlotte grinned. "I don't want to spoil the surprise."

This was his second invitation card. Ves still recalled that he still hadn't used his invitation card to the Angel's Wing Foundation.

After carefully stowing away the card, Ves greeted one more acquaintance.

"Patricia. I must say I did not expect to see you here as well." Ves said while offering his most charming smile to someone he used to look up to during his student days.

The mech designer apprenticed to Master Null elegantly offered her hand, which Ves gently shook. Patricia Schneider looked as elegant and inscrutable as ever.

"We both came a long way since we graduated from Rittersberg University of Technology and competed in the Young Tigers Exhibition, Ves. You've managed to make a stunning achievement by advancing to Journeyman so soon. I'm still an Apprentice." She sighed.

"You've always been talented, Patricia. I'm sure you'll catch up in no time."

"We'll see. Mech design is not a race."

"So what brings you to the Bright Republic?"

"I'm picking up my parents so that they can attend my wedding." She said. "I'm engaged to a mech designer from the Vermeer Group. We decided to tie the knot this year."

"Oh." Ves said while he tried to maintain his best smile. "Congratulations. I'm very happy for you, Patricia."

"Thank you, Ves."

Chapter 1248

Five years was a lot of time for people to change, Ves realized. Meeting some of his old acquaintances made it clear that life moved on for everyone.

While Ves experienced unimaginably perilous adventures and advanced to an enviable height in his career, other people haven't been slacking off either.

Although Charlotte made it sound as if she hadn't achieved anything at all, Ves knew that she was already set to ascend to an unimaginable height as long as she worked hard.

As for Patricia, while she made it sound as if she was just an Apprentice, Ves did not believe that a mech designer as exceptional as her would remain obscure forever. She had always been surrounded by mystery ever since she showed off her amazing competence in mech design. That had only increased ever since she mixed up with the even more mysterious Master Null in the Friday Coalition.

Once he received her present which turned out to be a data chip that contained a rare textbook, Ves calmly stepped away from Patricia. Gavin, who was following a half-step behind, patted his back in an encouraging fashion.

"Buck up, Ves. Even if one ship has sailed, plenty more are still anchored in port."

Ves swatted away his assistant's hand. "Stop kidding around. It's not like that."

"Sure, boss. Whatever you say."

In order to take his mind off meeting several old acquaintances, he greeted the only Larkinson who stood alone.

In fact, his grandfather the rest of the family tried their best not to acknowledge their black sheep!

"I see you haven't repaired your relations with the family at all, Raella."

"Hmph! Those old coots took one look at my clothes before shaking their heads in disappointment." Raella huffed. She gestured towards her outfit, which made her Blood Claw allegiance abundantly clear. "I could hear them telling Lanie and the other kids that they shouldn't follow my example. That's the only value I have left to the Larkinsons."

"Don't talk down on yourself like that, Raella. Everyone has a different station in life. You should be glad that you found your own calling."

"Whatever. I haven't come here to talk about my family issues. Today is all about you, Ves. Congratulations for growing up. You're a bigshot now. Some of the senior cadre of the Blood Claws even glowingly mentioned you a few times in my presence. They appreciate the things you've done for them and Walter's Whalers."

"I'm glad to hear the Blood Claws hold me in high regard." Ves smiled a bit thinly. He would rather prefer he didn't catch their attention. "Has anything changed lately?"

Raella proudly nodded. "I finally promoted to Blood Champion Captain! You could say I'm part of their cadre now!"

"Congratulations, Raella. That's a big achievement!"

"Any mech pilot of my skill can climb this far. This is just the start!" She boasted. "I have to admit, my family name and my ties with you is a big reason why I promoted so quickly."

"Do you feel like you got promoted solely due to those advantages?"

"Nah. The Blood Claws aren't silly. They don't put useless people in charge. I've proven myself for several years. Once my bosses realized that I'm here to stay, they've steadily increased my responsibilities. I'm in charge of a lot of underground mech duelists now."

"That sounds very impressive."

The Blood Claws could have given her a grand-sounding title that possessed little actual substance.

Instead, they actually put her in charge of something that allowed her to accumulate valuable leadership experience. It meant that they were really serious about investing in Raella despite her potentially problematic family name.

"By the way, Melinda wanted to attend your birthday party as well, but a captain of the Planetary Guard can't just up and run to Cloudy Curtain. I brought her present along with my own."

Ves received a handcrafted mug bearing an evil caricature of his face from Raella. In his opinion, plastering the words 'Devil Tongue' underneath the cartoonish image wasn't even necessary.

"Wow." He uttered goodnaturedly. "Whoever created this caricature is good."

"I just commissioned a random artist from the galactic net to paint your face this way." Raella dismissively waved her hand.

"I'll definitely place this mug on my desk." He said before passing it over to Gavin to be placed on the central display.

Next, he opened up his present from Melinda next, which turned out to be a small scale model of a Planetary Guard mech. In fact, she piloted this exact same mech model!

Raella grinned at the sight of the miniature mech. "Melinda figured that since you're a mech designer, you'd appreciate a mech. She remembers that you used to play with mech figurines all the time when you were a little kid! You'd cry like a baby whenever she held one of your toys out of your reach!"

Ves lightly whacked her stomach while he tried to hold in his embarrassment. "Please don't pass around stories like that, especially now."

"Ooof! What have you eaten these days?" She moaned while rubbing her tummy. "Have you no sympathy for a girl?"

"You're a Blood Champion Captain. I know you can take it, Raella."

"Heh. At least you acknowledge that I'm the big sister here."

Even though Raella and Melinda's presents didn't amount to much, Ves appreciated them anyway. These gifts may be ordinary objects, but they carried their sincere sentiments.

This was exactly what Ves wanted to experience during his birthday party.

Before Ves moved on to the sumptuous banquet, he greeted a surprising guest who arrived fairly late to the party.

The man's robed figure was extremely striking to Ves, since he had seen the same style of garments from many Ylvainans!

"Welcome to my birthday party." Ves politely greeted the latecomer. "Cloudy Curtain is a long way from the Ylvaine Protectorate. What brings you here?"

"Not every Ylvainan is afraid of the dark." The young man said with a smooth voice that exuded youth and strength. "Ever since I stepped into the Bright Republic, I found that there is plenty of light. It is an honor to meet the Bright Martyr. Ah, where are my manners? My name is James Immel. I'm currently on a business tour to experience the many diverse cultures this star sector has to offer."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "It must be quite difficult to obtain permission to travel abroad. Not every Ylvainan is as open-minded as you. Are you a Curin?"

"Not exactly." James shook his head underneath the hood of his robe. "I'm not affiliated with any of the three dynasties. I lead a modest company that is looking to take advantage of the opportunities that are opening up. I'm very charmed with the words you've spoken that day. My people should be looking outwards, not inwards. I've always held these thoughts in my heart, but after you revealed yourself, you gave all of us a chance to express our thoughts in the open."

"Ah, I'm glad to be of service to open-minded Ylvainans like you. Please enjoy the party and don't take offense to the other guests if they bother you about your faith."

James nonchalantly shrugged. "I take no offense at the inquiries of the unenlightened. In fact, I appreciate the insatiable curiosity of your fellow Brighters. They possess so many misunderstandings about our faith that it is always a pleasure to make them see our beliefs in another light."

This James sounded like a very magnanimous figure if he was telling the truth. Even though he obscured most of his body with his voluminous dark robe, there was a sense of ease around him that made Ves relax.

"With an attitude like that, I'm sure your company will enjoy much success when it enters into other markets."

When it came time for Ves to open the present he received from James, he momentarily lost his composure.

"This is... a very familiar-looking nutrient pack."

James released a smile. "It is a replica of the nutrient pack that used to be consumed by the prophet himself. Products like this have been circulating in the Ylvaine Protectorate ever since you were acquitted by the tribunal. It is our way of saying that there is nothing holy about nutrient packs."

Ves held the nutrient pack with a mixed expression. Its packaging was an exact match of the nutrient pack wrapper he stole from the Grand Cathedral of Ylvaine's Mercy.

He underestimated their humor. He couldn't imagine the Ylvainans would feel okay with mass producing this style of nutrient packs.

"It's a very accurate replica." Ves whispered.

He could tell, since he actually held the original.

"Even if it is just a replica, it is not worth any less than the original." James remarked while gesturing with his hand in a ritual fashion. "The original nutrient pack once fed a prophet and a visionary. Who knows if the nutrient pack in your hand will serve the same purpose one day?"

With those sagely words, the Ylvainan stepped back and faded to the sides to mingle with some of the other businessmen.

Ves looked down at the deceptively simple nutrient pack before passing it over to Gavin. "Put this nutrient pack in the list of sentimental gifts that I want to display in my office, Benny."

"Really, Ves? It's just a nutrient pack!"

"It's a nutrient pack with a story. That makes it more valuable than ninety percent of the gifts I received so far. It's worthy enough to be placed in my office."

Once Ves and Gavin made sure they greeted everyone of importance, Ves loudly clapped his hands.

"Alright, folks! Let's enter the banquet hall! I've been told that we've been hiring cooks from all over the star sector to sample the specialties of every state!"

Everyone filed into the expansive banquet hall that was capable of holding hundreds of guests with plenty of room to spare.

The interior design intrigued Ves a lot. The overwhelmingly white interior had been interspersed with artificial indoor pools upon which remarkable plants floated on the surface. Alien fish leisurely swam underneath the clear surface, giving everyone a dazzling view of the variety of species living alongside each other in harmony.

Ves hadn't been involved in designing this interior. In fact, he didn't know who the architect was in the first place.

"Calsie hired an architect from Moira's Paradise for the interior design." Gavin responded when he asked. "Since life is a recurring theme of yours, she wanted the banquet hall to incorporate a living element without being too intrusive."

"She certainly hired the right architect for the job. I'm very satisfied with this design. It's clean and elegant while remaining unpretentious."

The artistic principles behind the interior design differed from his own, but Ves appreciated it nonetheless. While Ves showed a clear preference towards grandeur and bombast, the architect focused more on class and elegance.

"The architect is probably a woman." He muttered.

Everyone slowly took their seats. Ves sat at a table next to Ketis, who eyed Raella with some guardedness.

Both women seemed to recognize each other as warriors. They exuded the same kind of air.

"Who is this woman, Ves? Your new girlfriend?" Raella asked.

Ves almost spewed the champagne he just sipped. "Ketis is a mech designer! She assists me in my design work!"

Fortunately, before this conversation could go any further, Lucky hopped onto the table and dropped an object onto the surface.

Because of the public setting, Lucky didn't expose his capabilities. To most of the visitors attending the party, Lucky was just a very attractive-looking mechanical cat.

"Meow."

"Is this my birthday present from you, Lucky?"

"Meow!"

The gift that Lucky dropped onto the table was very.. strange. It was a full-sized plushy doll modeled after Lucky himself!

Gavin tried to stifle his laugh when he saw the present. "That's a souvenir from the LMC's gift shop! Lucky is a very popular mascot to the company. Our gift shop sells various different plushy versions of your cat."

Ves picked up the cheap plushy with a dubious expression. "Come on, Lucky. A doll can never replace you! Hasn't it been long enough? It's my birthday!"

"Meow!" Lucky thumped his tail against the table.

He sighed. "Fine. You win. I'll take you on some tasting tours once we visit Bentheim and the Centerpoint System."

Chapter 1249

Ves stood up when everyone had taken their seats. Although the plushy doll of Lucky in front of his table made for an unusual sight, the birthday boy himself looked unusually solemn at this moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending my birthday party. It gladdens my heart to receive the appreciation of so many people. Even though I wanted to keep this occasion modest, it's still a welcome surprise to me that so many of you insisted on coming."

All these people hadn't necessarily come because they were friends with Ves. Aside from Raella, Charlotte and a few others, the overwhelming majority chose to come because they wanted to forge a closer relationship with a young and promising Journeyman.

That was okay. Ves knew that aside from celebrating a turning point in his life, his birthday party had also turned into a networking opportunity of sorts. The peace offering from Madame Catelyn Ricklin showcased how much his value rose due to his advancement.

Ves always suspected that the Ricklin Family sent assassins after him. Now that they deliberately sent a representative to his birthday party, his suspicion grew stronger.

For what reason would the Ricklins want to convey the intention to make peace after so many years of no contact?

While he didn't like the Ricklins at all, there was no point for Ves to pursue them any further. He lived in a different world now, and he knew that intensifying hostilities against one of the largest producers of affordable processors and chips in the Bright Republic was a bad idea.

"Five years ago when I started on this career, I never thought I would come this far. As many of you are no doubt aware of, I have not excelled very much at all when I studied at Rittersberg."

He couldn't help but glance towards Patricia, who nodded faintly at his words. His unremarkable performance back then contrasted sharply against her exceptional grades. No matter what kind of challenges they encountered in their studies, Patricia always seemed at least three steps ahead.

"However, nothing in life is set in stone. Through chance, hard work and a lot of risk taking, I've managed to seize several opportunities to climb ahead. Reaching Journeyman so soon is a gratifying result, but that had never been my end goal! From the very start, I have always set my sights higher! Journeyman is not the end of the road!"

Everyone clapped as they agreed with his words. Ves already demonstrated his potential, causing everyone to treat him as a future Senior rather than just a Journeyman.

As for reaching Master? No one except for maybe Ketis seriously believed he could reach that height. Almost no Master emerged from the Bright Republic since the founding of the state.

"Today, we are not only celebrating my birthday, but also celebrating the founding of the LMC. I am gratified to see my mech company ascend to the height it has achieved today. I believe it has been successful in helping me spread my principles concerning mechs. With its promising growth prospects, I am confident that my mechs will spread in every corner of the star sector and beyond!"

That aroused another round of clapping. Compared to the mechs designed by other mech designers, the products sold by the LMC were very distinctive. Not only did Ves exhibit a flair for designing a visually distinctive mech design, but all of his mechs also contained a remarkable quality that inspired courage and passion!

His designs slowly became known for this seemingly unique ability! Although it didn't enhance the battle performance of his mechs in a material fashion, the effect it had on morale was very outsized!

The mech pilots and their allies all gained more confidence and assurance in his products. Those on the opposite side often dreaded facing the mechs!

Due to these abnormal reactions from both sides, the side which fielded the LMC's mechs sometimes managed to pull off a victory they ordinarily wouldn't have won! Stories like this began to circulate through the galactic net in an increasing frequency, showcasing how much the LMC's customers appreciated their mechs!

All of this led to a lot of gratification to Ves. To see thousands of mech pilots begin to change their mentality towards mechs so that they fell more in line with his overarching principles meant his mission to change the mech landscape was slowly making progress.

"When I initially embarked on this career, I felt that mechs were not being appreciated enough. They are too ubiquitous and though we call this era the Age of Mechs, I saw that mechs could use a lot more appreciation from their mech pilots. For this reason, I founded the Living Mech Corporation. Since the very start, I aimed to design and sell mechs that came alive in the hands of my customers. Considering my company's explosive rise and glowing testimonials of its products, I think I'm well on my way to providing fantastic machines to everyone who agrees with my principles!"

This aroused a loud round of cheers! Most people present saw a lot of promise in the LMC. They were jealous of the people and entities who owned shares in the company, because the value of the company was set to balloon in the coming years!

Ves wrapped up his speech to allow everyone to dig in. The tables had been filled with exotic dishes featuring various specialties of different states. Some of them were so rare that the guests couldn't help but grab at them first!

While others like Ketis immediately began to pig out, Ves leaned back on his chair and took it easy. To an unsophisticated eater like him, he was already content with eating nutrient packs.

As the man of the hour, he instead spent most of his time engaged in conversation.

"So what exactly is your position within the MTA, Charlotte?" Ves curiously asked.

"I'm a probationary recruit of sorts." She answered. "The MTA is different from the CFA in that the former is much more open to diversity within their ranks. Whereas the CFA wants to transform everyone into what they consider to be ideal spacers, the MTA embraces the differences between star sectors and galactic regions. This is also why they are more open about recruiting mech pilots from the Bright Republic. The CFA would never do something like that. They strongly believe that your starting point already determines your upper ceiling."

In other words, the CFA rigidly adhered to class differences while the MTA were more proactive to offering opportunities towards the disadvantaged. This was just one aspect in which they clashed.

Ves himself already encountered the strong bias against space peasants when he initially tried to get inside the Starlight Megalodon. He learned first-hand that the CFA mainly recruited from the families of existing CFA personnel or from the elite spaceborn clans who eschewed living on planets entirely.

Those who didn't enjoy such a heritage had to pass an inhumanly high bar of tests to even be considered by the CFA!

If the MTA adopted the same recruitment standards as the CFA, then they would have never recruited Charlotte.

"Are there many mech pilots like you in the MTA?"

She nodded. "A lot. They're probationary recruits like me who are being intensely trained. In order for us to qualify for first-class mechs, we need to undergo rigorous training, several augmentation procedures and other stuff that I can't mention. Suffice to say, most probationary recruits can't keep up and wash out. Those who persevere will eventually become a proper member of the MTA. Once that happens, they'll be able to stand equal to mech pilots born from the galactic center!"

"You seem pretty relaxed for a probationary recruit." Ves noted her confident and relaxed demeanor. That was not the attitude of a struggling mech pilot. "You even have the time to catch up to my birthday party."

Charlotte smirked. "I've already gotten over most of the hurdles. I'll probably be promoted from my probationary status soon. The MTA doesn't recruit mech pilots at random, you know. They keep tabs on every mech cadet and mech pilot and employ a sophisticated analysis to find out which ones can adjust well to their training program."

It sounded as if the MTA deliberately recruited from a wider pool of people because they were aiming for something specific.

"To be honest, the MTA suggested that I catch up with you today." She continued. "I originally didn't hear about your celebration at all before my instructor approached me during training. The Bright Republic's branch of the MTA is quite interested in you. From what I can guess, your design philosophy is something really radical."

Ves looked up sharply at that. He had always been rather secretive about his design philosophy.

Yet as he began to grow stronger in his abilities, the special nature of his specialty became increasingly more prominent. Perhaps many people would still have doubts about the Blackbeak and the Crystal Lord, but there was no ambiguity at all when he designed his last two mechs!

In hindsight, Ves had definitely overdone the X-Factor of his Aurora Titan and Transcendent Messenger designs!

Yet even if he exposed more than he initially intended, Ves really didn't like to restrain himself. In order for him to develop his design philosophy, he constantly needed to explore and expand his limits. He couldn't do so if he deliberately crippled the X-Factor of his mechs all the time!

"What does the MTA specifically think about my design philosophy?" He asked.

Charlotte shrugged. "The MTA has a way of categorizing the huge variety of design philosophies that mech designers come up with. For example, a Class II design philosophy is offense-oriented while a Class III design philosophy is defense-oriented. Yours is rather unusual because the Association's mech designers tentatively judged that your design philosophy falls into Class IX."

"What does it mean for my design philosophy to be categorized into Class IX?"

"Class IX is pretty much the leftover category. That's where design philosophies end up if they don't fit into the more conventional classes. The common theme of every Class IX design philosophy is that they are embarking on something so unusual that they are much tougher to realize. That means that mech designers like you are much less likely to advance to Master!"

It was quite a shock to Ves to hear these theories!

Yet after he thought about it, this perspective made a lot of sense. Mech designers who developed plainer design philosophies such as Master Olsen and Professor Ventag could depend on a vast body of research on related subjects to advance their own understanding.

As for Ves, he was pursuing something so strange and unique that he was completely dependent on performing his own research and experiments to progress! This was the disadvantage of pioneering a completely new field!

He quickly calmed down, though. "Even if my path is harder than the alternatives, I don't believe I'll fail. I will do my very best to push my design philosophy to a greater height!"

"The MTA is hoping for that as well. Although Class IX design philosophies are the least likely to reach Master-level, the few that do often lead to pivotal changes. The fact that your mechs are already very strong in expressing the unique qualities of your design philosophy is a very encouraging sign. That's all I know. I'm sure you'll get to hear more when you visit the sector headquarters."

Ves nodded in thanks to Charlotte for informing him about the MTA's interest in him. Although he felt slightly concerned that the MTA might want to ask some uncomfortable questions about his design philosophy, he was confident he could deflect them. He wasn't called the Devil Tongue for nothing!

The banquet proceeded with a lot of mingling. Aside from talking to Charlotte, Ves also made sure to spare some attention to his other guests such as the Ylvainan businessman and even Yoni Ricklin.

Chapter 1250

The rest of the evening proceeded harmoniously and without any incident. By the time the celebrations came to a close, Ves stepped outside the banquet hall and stood next to the immense feet of the Aurora Titan installed as a temporary display model.

Standing in such close proximity to his impressive mech left a strong and profound impression to the visitors who were about to depart.

Ves greeted and shook hands with each person who left.

"Thank you for the mug, Raella. I'll be sure to return the favor! Tell Melinda I love her and her present!"

"It's nice to get in touch with you again, Charlotte. Good luck with your career within the MTA!"

"I hope you enjoy your stay in the Bright Republic, James. Ylvainans like you are the future of the Protectorate."

After the long row of guests each received some well wishes from Ves, his grandfather finally received his own turn.

"You've grown a lot, Ves." He smiled in a way only a grandfather could towards his grandson. "I'm so proud of you, and your father would be proud of you as well."

"One of the reasons why I'm working so hard is to save my father. I still have a long way to go before I'm powerful enough to make a difference."

Both of them sighed and looked sad. Their mood always plunged when they talked about the missing Larkinson.

"Ves.. please don't take this the wrong way, but slow down. Don't take too many risks. You've already achieved a lot of success, but it's only going to get harder from here. Your father wants you to be happy and safe. He would never want you to wear yourself out and ruin everything you've achieved just to save his life. If it comes down to it, he would definitely sacrifice his life in order to protect you from the dangers you've incurred!"

Although his grandfather's advice was very pertinent, Ves already threw it out of his mind. Slow down? Take less risks? As if!

"I will be sure to keep your words in mind." Ves lied.

"There's also something else you should know, Ves. The previous war ended early for a very good reason. While I don't know much and I'm not at liberty to divulge what little I do know, I think the Bright Republic might get swept up in something very dangerous in the future. In light of this, I think you should prepare for the worst and prepare a number of contingency plans in case your facility here on Cloudy Curtain is destroyed."

Ves frowned. He hadn't put much thought about this looming threat. The few people that knew more all kept their knowledge to themselves.

"Is it that bad, grandpa?"

"I don't know. It might be something that can ruin the Bright Republic, but it can also be something that will sweep past us without paying us any mind. All I can say is that it is best to have a Plan B in reserve so that you won't end up starting from scratch in case your assets are ruined."

Ves tapped the side of his head. "Don't worry, grandpa. My most valuable asset is my ability to design mechs. As a Journeyman, its value has skyrocketed. As long as my mind is sound, I'll always be able to rebuild no matter where I end up. Even so, the LMC already has some plans in mind to diversify its operations."

Aside from investing in the joint venture based in the Ylvaine Protectorate, the LMC might expand to other states in the future. Ves did not want to be limited to the Bright Republic and had always insisted on expanding his reach.

With the authorizations and permissions he received from the Tovar Family, the LMC faced fewer hurdles than before.

Before his grandfather left for the shuttle that would take him back to orbit, he shared one more word of advice. "One more thing, Ves. Although you're old enough to decide on how you live your own life, don't pour every moment of your life into work. Although you've achieved a lot of success, what is the point of working so hard if you don't get to enjoy it? Take it easy and find a girlfriend! I hope to meet my great-grandchildren at some point!"

His grandfather chuckled as he left Ves with those words. For his part, Ves didn't dismiss them as readily as Benjamin's previous advice.

"I really should get a girlfriend maybe." He sighed as he watched his grandfather and the others board their shuttles and depart from the Mech Nursery.

His brief reunion with Patricia made him realize that other people were already taking their next steps in their lives. His work was no excuse for him to avoid his love life.

The only problem was that he didn't have a woman in mind right now. If Ves wanted to pursue a serious relationship, he really needed to find someone who he clicked with. For someone as paranoid as him, he wanted to share his life with someone he trusted.

Although he didn't insist on it, he wanted his partner to be a mech designer as well. If the two of them shared the same profession and rank, they could open themselves up to each other on a deeper level.

Where could he find a woman like that in the galaxy?

"Ves!" Ketis walked up to him in her lavish red dress while hugging Lucky. "This was a nice evening. I think your birthday party is a definite success!"

"Meow."

"See? Even Lucky agrees!"

Ves smiled sardonically at her. "Lucky is merely reminding me of my promise to him. Exotics is all he cares about."

"Really? How can you even tell that? All I hear from Lucky are meows!"

"I just have a way with animals I guess. Perhaps that's my true superpower."

Ketis slapped his side with her palm. "Oh, you! Don't joke about that! I'm sure that Journeymen like you are hiding something good from us lesser mech designers. I'll find out the truth myself when I advance!"

"It's hard to become a Journeyman, you know. Don't take me as a typical example. I'm a very big exception to the rule."

Although exceptions always existed, the majority of mech designers who advanced to Journeyman had already reached their middle or later years.

That wasn't as bad as it sounded like, because once they reached this height, their ability to make money increased drastically. Once they worked hard for a couple of decades, they could afford to extend their lives by a century, giving them a lot more time to bloom.

Even so, Ves did not want Ketis to turn old when she reached that point. Journeyman who advanced in their later years often didn't exhibit the amount of enthusiasm and drive towards becoming a Senior.

"I've always told you not to treat me like a kid anymore." Ketis whined. "I'm constantly catching up to you. I'm already making brisk progress in designing my new variant."

"Oh? Which base model is your variant based upon?"

"It's a secret." She grinned.

Ketis refused to divulge the details of the variant she had in store, so they quickly moved on to another topic.

"You're about to go on a really important trip soon, right?"

"Yep." He nodded. "A Journeyman is a lot more significant than a Novice or Apprentice. That's why it's not enough to visit their smaller branches in the Bright Republic. For a mech designer like me to visit the sector headquarters is both a pilgrimage and an implicit oath of subservience."

No matter how great mech designers thought of themselves, the MTA wanted to make sure they didn't forget who was truly in charge.

"About this visit, Ves, I'm thinking of sitting out this time."

"Oh?" Ves raised his eyebrow. Although he hadn't addressed this topic with her, he always assumed she would tag along. "I thought that you'd be interested in seeing the sights. The Centerpoint System is one of the most prosperous star systems in the star sector."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely interested." She said with a serious expression. "However, seeing you celebrate your success today made me realize that I really need to step up my game. You work so hard all day and rarely take the time to relax and enjoy a day off. How can I do any less if I want to reach Journeyman within a decade? I think I need to devote all my time to my design work in order to make a lot of progress."

He hadn't expected such a strong level of dedication from Ketis. Although he was slightly concerned that she would wear herself out by engaging in mech design all day, he was very gratified at her dedication.

"If that's your choice, then by all means stay. Just make sure to pace yourself." He said encouragingly.

Ves and Ketis craned their heads upwards as they witnessed all the shuttles lifting off into the air. The Aurora Titan behind their backs enveloped both of them with its homely and welcoming aura.

The birthday party came to an end. As an army of cleaning bots descended from the ceiling to clean up the entire banquet hall, Ves began to cast his gaze beyond the present.

"What is next?"

Aside from visiting the sector headquarters, Ves also remembered that he promised to pay a visit to Master Olson.

"She'll probably expect me to accept an assignment."

As long as it didn't take him away from home for too long, he was fine with whatever she had in store for him.

Even though he hadn't derived that much benefit out of his apprenticeship to Master Olson, he always enjoyed the implicit protection of this status. Although the umbrella he was taking shelter under wasn't very big compared to the ones she bestowed to her core disciples, it was better than nothing.

The more he enjoyed her appreciation, the greater her support. Ves already understood Master Olson adhered to the principle of equal exchange.

This meant that if Ves wanted to expand his umbrella, he needed to work for it. Right now, Ves possessed too many sensitive secrets such as his design philosophy. If he wanted to fend off the MTA's inquiries into his specialty, then being able to invoke Master Olson's protection was a big convenience.

"Heh. I'm basically treating my Master as a shield at this point."

He couldn't help it. With the System, Ves didn't have much use for Master Olson's tutelage. Even the access to additional sources of knowledge that she provided hadn't been very relevant to him lately.

"Well, I'll see what my Master has in store once I meet her again."

Night fell over the Mech Nursery as Ves turned in for the night.

The next day, Ves woke up refreshed and content. After wearing his smart clothing in a different but still luxurious configuration, he entered his penthouse office.

Some of his presents he received last night now resided on his desk. Ves filled up his Devil Tongue mug with coffee as he admired his grandfather's prosperity tree placed next to Melinda's Planetary Guard mech figurine.

"This tree is a little weird."

It looked similar to a bonsai tree. When Ves read up on prosperity trees, he found out that they originated from an odd planet in the New Rubarth Empire.

Prosperity trees emerged from a mutation due to the anomalous circumstances of its origin. They were very difficult to grow as most seeds failed to sprout.

The few that did experienced incredibly slow growth. If nothing exceptional happened, the prosperity tree on his desk would never be able to grow large enough to overtake his desk.

"However, there's an exception."

On rare occasions, a prosperity tree might enter into a sudden growth spurt! Although many exobotanists tried to figure out the cause behind such an abrupt switch, they still hadn't been able to explain the reason for this transition.

As a result, the Rubarthans started to consider prosperity trees as a symbol of fortune.

"Is this really true?" Ves frowned at the tree while holding his steamy mug.

He sensed nothing remarkable about this tree. His senses didn't detect any remarkable spirituality from the little growth.

"Perhaps it's all superstition." He muttered.