The Mech Touch

As soon as Ves and Master Willix struck their deal, they transmitted a large data packet to the Darkbreak module.

Due to the great security of the MTA's private network, there was hardly any risk of third parties intercepting the sensitive data.

That did not mean that Ves could subsequently leak the research data on luminar crystals on his end.

"To minimize the chance of leaks and theft, the files I have sent to you will remain locked within the Darkbreak module." Master Willix's physical projection stated in a severe tone. "One of the functions of this device is to guard the data it stores in its data banks. Every means of directly and indirectly capturing the data will fail. If any of the research files on luminar crystals ever ends up in the hands of others, you will not escape the consequences."

Ves nodded nervously. "I understand, Master. I have no intentions of spreading this data around."

The MTA truly valued the research it performed on luminar crystals and deemed it very undesirable if it spread around! This was why the Association insisted on keeping it to themselves, to the point where the LMC wasn't even allowed to synthesize more advanced versions of luminar crystals!

All of these precautions only heightened his interests. From his brief stay on the Starlight Megalodon in the past, he had become exposed to the CFA's incredibly advanced research activities at the time. Ves had gotten lost in all of the mind-boggling projects involving a lot of high technology.

The MTA shouldn't be any worse when it came to research and development. The Big Two were in constant competition to each other and technology had always been the key to human growth.

Ves looked forward to seeing how much he could elevate the Crystal Lord Mark II Project with this research data!

One additional concern suddenly came to mind. "Oh, Master Willix, about the research data… will Gloriana be able to access it as well? It would be inconvenient for me to be the sole person who can study these files."

"I have already taken this into account." She said. "I will send Miss Wodin a notification informing her that she is permitted to enter the restricted library of the MTA's branch on Cinach VI. She will be allowed to study the same research data that your Darkbreak module has received at her leisure."

That would make the work on the Crystal Lord Mark II design a lot more convenient. With the two lead designers working on the same foundation, Ves wouldn't have to clash so much with his fiance when it came to pushing his design choices.

Mentally, Ves had already elevated the priority level of the Crystal Lord Mark II Project. With some shiny new tech in hand, he became a lot more passionate about turning the second revision of his landbound rifleman mech into a groundbreaking product!

Of course, even if Ves and Gloriana became more involved in its design, the design teams assigned to the project still had to work just as hard.

Once Master Willix's physical projection said goodbye and disappeared, Ves manipulated the interface of the Darkbreak module in order to access the newly-received files.

The large device began to hum before outputting a very strong interference field! Ves blinked as he felt his body becoming ill at ease. He knew that all of his devices, from the comm on his wrist to the Vulcaneye multiscanner on his tool belt, were probably rendered helpless!

"Ahh!" Ves suddenly held his hand over head. "My implant!"

Not only did this powerful localized jamming field interfere with the operation of electronic devices, it also acted like a remote implant limiter!

His blood briefly chilled as he realized the scary potential of this functionality. Despite all of the upgrades and additions to his Archimedes Rubal implant, it was still rendered helpless by this seemingly omnipotent field!

"Even if it doesn't affect my implant directly, it is more than enough to block the interface between my brain and my implant!"

Fortunately, he already experienced what it was like to lose access to the functions of his implant a month ago. He quickly performed the same tricks he used to cope with the loss of his most important mental augmentation and regained his composure.

"Let's see what the fuss is all about."

Once the Darkbreak module's jamming function came online, Ves finally laid his eyes on the coveted research data.

The moment he read the first couple of documents, he instantly became engrossed. Though much of it already referenced knowledge and scientific terms that were beyond his ability to understand, he found out that the data package also contained selective knowledge that briefly summarized the MTA's understanding of certain subjects.

Ves found out that while it was incredibly difficult for him to digest this knowledge, they were just understandable enough for him to slowly build up his systematic understanding of crystals and laser technology.

He couldn't help but erupt into laughter! "Hahaha! I've got more than just a bunch of experimental data on luminar crystals! I've received the context around this research as well!"

In other words, he obtained much of the theoretical background needed to make sense of some of the fundamental aspects of luminar crystals! As Ves quickly skimmed all of the files, he understood that while he didn't receive enough learning material to turn him into a comprehensive specialist in the relevant fields, he should at least be able to elevate all of his existing Sub-Skills on crystals and laser weapons!

He knew this must have been the handiwork of Master Willix. She likely possessed a very good grasp of his current knowledge base by studying his mech designs. It shouldn't be that difficult for her to figure out what he lacked and what he was capable of learning through self-study.

This was a very profound benefit to Ves! Even if he decided not to add any luminar crystals in his other designs, he could still elevate their offensive performance by a small extent.

"In fact, some of the research is also useful in enhancing my understanding of other directed energy weapons!"

This meant that Ves would be able to apply a portion of his gains on the pulse submachine guns of the Valkyrie Redeemerand the positron beam cannons of the Cat's Paw!

As long as he mastered all of the knowledge contained within the data package, Ves would definitely be able to gain as many benefits as spending at least 100,000 DP on various Sub-Skills!

He suddenly frowned as he felt the pervasive interference field subjecting his body to an invisible internal massage. The sudden loss of access to his implant vastly impacted his learning efficiency!

If he could activate his implant, then even if he couldn't digest all of the knowledge in a short amount of time, he could still store all of the documents he laid his eyes upon in the vast memory capacity in his mind!

"I'm not resigned to this reality!"

Ves wanted to see if he could circumvent the Darkbreak module's blockade. The Darkbreak module might possess an insanely powerful jamming function, but if there was one thing he learned, it was that no tech was perfect!

Rather than sitting down and learning the knowledge on luminar crystals and laser weapons the honest way, he instead began to pull out all sorts of devices in order to see if he could cheat the process.

Nothing worked, though Ves already expected that. No comm, sensor, scanner or any other device worked properly in the range of the field.

He even tried to open the hatch of the secure chamber in order to stand outside. While he managed to exit the localized jamming field, he could see nothing but indistinguishable colors when he looked at the bubble enveloping the chamber. His sensors only captured static when trying to record the weird phenomenon.

Since normal solutions didn't work, Ves began to employ more esoteric means. He first had the bright idea of bringing in a chunk of B-stone.

Sadly, for all of its amazing potency at blocking and interfering with spiritual energy, it exerted no effect at all. The B-stone acted like a completely normal rock in front of the Darkbreak module.

Though this harebrained experiment failed, Ves nonetheless grew thoughtful at this result.

The B-stone's lack of interaction with the Darkbreak module proved that the latter only acted against technological means.

What about spiritual means? What if Ves came up with a way to record data in spiritual fashion?

A miniature explosion erupted in his mind!

From his theoretical understanding of spiritual engineering, there was no fundamental reason why this was not possible.

Ves had already found out a way to turn spiritual energy into fixed spiritual constructs!

As long as he was able to perform this trick in his own mind, he could leverage his engineering and software abilities to replicate a method to capture and store data in spiritual form!

He slapped his forehead with his palm! "Why didn't I think of this earlier?!"

Ever since he discovered he could 'program' the spiritual foundation of his mech designs, he only thought about using this new approach on his work.

He had yet to turn this insight to improving his own spiritual ability!

For a long time, he engaged in spiritual engineering like an old blacksmith or craftsman who created products through manual labor.

Now, he suddenly realized that he could upgrade himself to a modern engineer and software programmer who could develop much more sophisticated spiritual applications!

He performed a quick experiment on the spot without taking any precautions. He concentrated his mind and began to shape the loose spiritual energy in his mind like clay.

Just like manipulating the spiritual foundation of a mech design, he was able to mold the spiritual energy, though it was a lot more 'runny' and difficult to keep into shape.

It was no different from a temporary spiritual projection at this point. Without turning it into a fixed structure, it would quickly fall apart once he lost his focus.

"The key is to make it fixed."

He already knew the trick to doing that. From his current shallow understanding of spiritual constructs, all he needed to do was to concentrate specific attributes into the projection.

Ves possessed multiple spiritual attributes. Due to his design philosophy, he possessed a pretty abundant mix of attributes related to both mechs and life.

His choice was clear. Compared to the chaotic and changeable nature of life, the mechanical rigidity and precision of mechs was much more suitable to be applied to a software-like spiritual construct!

Though it took some effort, he eventually filled his projection with mech-attributed spiritual energy.

Though the concentration of mech-attributed spiritual energy floating in his mind had decreased by a minute degree, the construct had successfully taken shape!

Even as Ves gradually relaxed his focus, the construct made with the spiritual energy of his mind still exhibited the same properties of the spiritual constructs of his Purgatory Envoy design.

This meant that from today onwards, he could truly embark on developing semi-permanent or permanent spiritual augmentations!

The potential of this single innovation was enough to change his life! In fact, Ves already believed he could also apply this same trick to other people's minds as long as they possessed at least some spirituality!

As Ves cautiously performed more experiments with creating spiritual constructs in his mind, he began to harvest a lot of new insights!

His understanding of the nature of spiritual energy increased by leaps and bounds as he figured more and more rules from the interactions he witnessed.

With each new construct, Ves felt as if he added more and more structure to his mind! Instead of letting most of his loose spiritual energy freeload aimlessly in his mind, he could put them to more productive use and develop all kinds of specific spiritual augmentations!

Yet the more he got caught up with his experiments, the more the proportions of his spiritual attributes became unbalanced. His life domain became more dominant while his mech domain continued to weaken.

As soon as Ves noticed it became harder to draw upon additional mech-attributed spiritual energy, he suddenly snapped out of his research frenzy.

He felt his mind had undergone huge changes in a short amount of time! He looked at himself in horror as he realized he had inadvertently changed his personality.

As soon as he thought about his progress on his various mech design projects, he discovered that he had become a lot less fluent in working on them. It was as if his intuition and familiarity with mechs had suddenly disappeared!

"This is bad!"

He instantly deconstructed all of his experimental spiritual constructs. He did not dare to shatter them apart. Instead, he carefully unravelled them so that the mech-attributed spiritual energy gently flooded back in his mental space.

Ves sighed in relief once he found that his fluency in mech design returned to normal once he unmade every spiritual construct.

"That was dangerous!"