The Mech Touch

Several minutes passed.

The crisis situation prompted Ves to change into a suit of combat armor. Since he did not want to get caught flat-footed a second time, he also retrieved his B-stone lockbox from his vault.

Absent a suit of armor lined with a layer of B-stone, wearing the lockbox over his head was better than nothing!

During this time, the dark sphere surrounding the battlefield wasn't weakening.

In fact, the opposite happened. The abnormal sensor readings may largely be incomprehensible, but their fluctuations and energy levels kept rising on a steady basis.

If this trend remained constant, then the anomaly would grow four times stronger after an hour!

This was very alarming news. Even though some of the Larkinsons guessed that this constant strengthening was not good news to the pirates, since this move was targeted against their own mechs, letting this anomaly persist was one of the worst outcomes possible!

Back on the Scarlet Rose, Ves no longer obtained any useful information from Calabast.

Her intelligence gathering wasn't entirely at fault. Even though she discovered his biggest secret, she didn't know anything about spirituality. She was only capable of investigating what was in the realm of her understanding.

Against unusual organizations with very odd capabilities such as the Hallowed Abyss Temple, Calabast and the rest of the Black Cats were unable to recognize the secrets hidden underneath the surface.

Only Ves recognized that the Hallowed Abyss Temple was the likely cause for the appearance of this dark anomaly.

He glanced towards a projection that contained a brief profile of the so-called leader of the shrine based in Ulimo Citadel.

In one of the few archival images that the Black Cats retrieved from a database, an aged priest stared mysteriously into the distance. To Ves, Grey Watcher Xarnus looked very suspicious.

The priests of the Hallowed Abyss Temple were separated into four ranks.

The White Watchers were the most junior priests ordained by the temple. Their status was fairly low and they mostly assisted more senior Watchers.

The Grey Watchers possessed real authority. Not only did they prove their dedication to the temple over a long time, they had also achieved success in managing shrines and temples throughout the Nyxian Gap.

The Black Watchers served as the senior leaders of the temple. The intelligence was rather vague about their role, but there weren't many of them and almost always resided at the main temple.

The leader of the entire cult was known as the Hallowed Watcher. Most Nyxian pirates weren't even aware of this high priest's existence, and even the Dry Snakes barely knew anything more than this powerful figure's title.

If the Grey Watcher stationed at Ulimo Citadel was already this formidable, Ves really didn't want to meet this so-called Hallowed Watcher!

Ves studied the image of the head cultist in the hopes of gleaning some clues.

The grey-bearded cultist's eyes looked a bit intense. This was the sign of intense fanaticism that Ves had seen in many people, ranging from Ylvainans to his very own lover!

In addition, the man's grey robe bulged at some very abnormal points. The Grey Watcher wasn't fat. Instead, the likeliest explanation was that Xarnus underwent a lot of genetic modification, causing his human body to form strange growths!

While there were many pirates in lawless space who indulged in reckless genetic modification, there was just something about this Grey Watcher that caused Ves to sense a significant threat!

This man along with eight other cultists were likely the key individuals responsible for plunging his mech forces into darkness!

The Larkinsons left behind in the fleet were continually grasping at straws. To Ves, they were running around like headless chickens, mostly due to how little they understood what was actually taking place.

To Ves, the situation was a bit more clear. Somehow, the cultists of the Hallowed Abyss Temple evoked something in the imaginary realm and managed to cause it to overlap with the material realm!

Sadly, he didn't know much else. He had no idea how a single priest was able to form something so massive. Was this Grey Watcher relying on his own power? That would make his spirituality as strong as an ace pilot, if not more!

"That is impossible!" Ves remarked.

How else did the cultists manage to call down this disaster? Were they relying on some sort of forgotten alien relic? Had the Five Scrolls Compact cultivated some sort of powerful exobeast like Qilanxo used to be when she was alive?

There were too many possibilities to count. Even if he knew the answers, Ves wasn't sure whether he could do anything about it. The sphere of darkness looked completely impenetrable to his eyes!

"Wait a second. What about the network?"

Ves turned around and called for the Larkinson Mandate. Once Nitaa handed it over, Ves communed with the ancestral spirit looking worried within.

He mentally issued a request to the Golden Cat.

"Can you sense if the mech pilots trapped inside this anomaly?"

Nyaaaaa…

"You really can't? Can you tell them if they are alive?"

Nyaaa! Nyaa.

The anomaly largely dampened Goldie's perception of the people and mechs inside the anomaly.

Not even the Bright Warriors were able to maintain their ties with their design spirit!

Ordinarily, Ves would have grown curious about this intriguing method to interfere with the bond between his mechs and design spirits.

As it was, he had more important matters to be concerned about. The inability for Goldie or any of his other design spirits to reach the mechs and mech pilots trapped inside were very concerning!

The only good news that Goldie conveyed was that she was still capable of sensing whether the Larkinsons trapped inside were alive or dead.

Most notably, Goldie's bond with Ketis and the other members of the Mirror Raiders remained fairly strong!

At the very least, this signified that the anomaly likely didn't affect the pirate stronghold itself.

Ves stroked the surface of the Larkinson Mandate. His hands also brushed against the Restraint Hoop.

Would Lufa be able to help? Ves wasn't sure. This anomaly was so powerful that Ves doubted that the Angel of Tranquility was able to dispel it. The strength disparity was too big!

Nyaa! Nyaa!

His face grew graver at the news that Goldie conveyed. Several more Larkinson mech pilots died. Worst of all was that they died completely unnoticed. If not for Goldie's spiritual bonds, Ves would have remained in the dark about the urgency of this crisis!

As it was, the longer this situation persisted, the greater the chance that more of his mech pilots would die!

"Sir! A shuttle is approaching our ship without authorization!" A bridge officer spoke. "Its passenger requests to visit and talk to you in person."

"Who?" Ves frowned.

"It's… the Living Prophet. James Ylvaine."

"What?!"

Ves didn't recall bringing Ylvaine's clone along. Why did he travel with the task force? Why did he wish to meet him in person rather than call him comm?

A thought came to mind. Since the current crisis was spiritual in nature, ordinary solutions wouldn't cut it. All of the scientists and engineers in the clan weren't capable of wrapping their heads around this phenomenon.

Only someone who possessed at least some familiarity with the spiritual side of reality might be able to solve this crisis.

Even though Ves hated James and regarded him as a delusional cult leader, there were very few people in the clan who were capable of offering any hope.

"Let the shuttle through." Ves reluctantly waved his hand. "Escort him to an office close to the bridge. I'll hear him out as soon as he arrives."

Considering the sensitive topics that James might raise, Ves believed it was best to talk to the so-called Living Prophet behind closed doors.

Once James arrived at a small office compartment, Ves and Nitaa entered through the hatch.

The man who claimed to be Ylvaine reborn nodded respectfully at Nitaa before facing Ves with a serious expression.

"I am sure you are aware that the abyss is alive."

"Uh, no?"

"The dark sphere is a malignant existence." James continued as if he didn't notice Ves' confusion. "It is an abnormality that shouldn't exist."

"I don't see how your statement helps. Why are you telling me this?"

James began to smile. "It is very strenuous to maintain such a disturbance. The culprit responsible for maintaining this dark domain is likely relying on sacrifices to sustain it. Once the sacrifices stop flowing, this dark fog will naturally fade."

"I don't hear anything helpful! Start telling me something useful right away!" Ves erupted.

He really didn't like being led around circles! This was why talking to someone as smug as James always ruined his mood!

"Please calm down. Nothing of what I said is redundant. The truth that I am trying to convey to you is that it takes less effort to correct this abnormality. Different from the incident that our task force has encountered before, this dark fog is not comparable in strength."

A bit of hope welled inside Ves. "It's solvable?"

"Not alone." James answered. "The entire clan must work together to dispel this darkness before it has achieved its purpose. The caller of this disaster will not persist until he has run out of sacrifices or if every single hostile mech pilot is dead!"

"Then give me the solution already! The longer we delay, the more mech pilots we lose!"

"The solution is simple, though the execution is not. While I cannot give you any assurances that my suggestion will work, it is the likeliest to succeed according to my judgement."

"Is that what you have foreseen in the future?"

"No." James shook his head. "I have been blinded ever since I have entered the Nyxian Gap. This is a forsaken kingdom, one that is filled with monsters beyond your comprehension. I cannot provide you with any prophecies. I can only offer you my judgement."

"No more stalling then. Tell me how to break this dark sphere."

"We must attack it from within and without." James spoke. "Every single Larkinson that possesses the trace of transcendence can damage the dark sphere. Think of the expert candidates , for example. As we speak, they have likely found ways to attack the darkness that surround their mechs. It is not enough, though."

"What else must we do?"

"We must rescue the mechs trapped in darkness." James spoke. "The dark fog is currently attacking our mechs without abandon. As more of our mechs fall, the energy spent on taking them down is released. The darkness can take that energy and use it to intensify the attacks on the remaining mechs."

This basically meant that the dark sphere was spreading out its power across a lot of mechs, thereby diluting the strength it could bear against any single mech. However, the fog would only grow deadlier and deadlier as more Larkinson mechs succ.u.mbed. If the lethality of the fog surpassed a certain point, then not even the Penitent Sister mechs might last!

"How do we rescue our mechs?"

"We must venture into the darkness." James proposed. "I can guide our ship, but I cannot forge a path in the darkness. I require a lot of assistance. In addition to calling upon the help of my fellow believers, I need your help the most."

"Pardon?"

"You must illuminate our path! Of everyone in our clan, you are the only individual who is capable of dispelling some of the darkness that obscures our sight! You are the Bright Martyr. Only with you can we avoid suffering the same fate as those who are trapped in the fog!"

All of this sounded like nonsense to Ves, but the ongoing crisis left him with no choice but to take the Living Prophet's suggestion seriously!

"The sphere is big. I'm not sure whether we can rescue all of our Larkinson mechs in time."

"That's why we need additional assistance." The clone replied. "My earlier proposal will only delay our downfall. In order to truly survive this calamity, we must end it at the source!"

Ves widened his eyes. "You mean taking out the Grey Watcher?!"

"The ritual must be stopped."

This meant that the Larkinsons who had infiltrated Ulimo Citadel needed to confront the Grey Watcher!

However, how was he supposed to tell Ketis and the Mirror Raiders to attack the cultists? With the anomaly blocking every form of communication, there was no way for Ves to convey instructions to the Larkinsons trapped inside the pirate stronghold!

James waved at the Larkinson Mandate. "You are not without means, Bright Martyr. Take advantage of the bonds that you have formed."

"I can't!" Ves replied, not even bothering to remark how James knew about the Larkinson Network. "The anomaly is dampening every bond."

"You are an engineer, are you not?" James tilted his head. "As far as I know, signals can be amplified."

Ves palmed his face. "Of course!"