The Mech Touch

In hindsight, Ves shouldn't have been surprised. The Hexers may be bigoted, but they showed plenty of moments of foresight. It was a given that they were plotting an ambitious fallback plan related to the Red Ocean.

The dwarf galaxy opened up for colonization represented a new start to anyone who was discontent with life in the old galaxy.

While the Milky Way was the root of human civilization, many futurists predicted that their race would one day expand into the greater cosmos.

However, the distance to other galaxies was unimaginably far. Both the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy were millions of light-years away.

That hadn't deterred ambitious colonists from building ultra-durable generation sh.i.p.s in order to reach all of that untold wealth and plant their flag first, but it was far too difficult to expand to those distant stretches.

For now, the dwarf galaxies orbiting around the Milky Way became the new frontiers of human civilization, and the Red Ocean was the first that people could realize their ambitions.

The Hexers and Fridaymen weren't the only people who harbored dreams of starting over. Many other people throughout the galaxy wanted to take part as well! This was one of the few opportunities where every pioneer started off from nothing.

With no established states and only a few remnant alien survivors scattered around the Red Ocean, lots of lucrative star systems were just waiting to be developed!

Of course, competition was fierce. The entry barrier set by the Gate Consortium ensured that only the best of the Friday Coalition, Hexadric Hegemony and many other states would get the opportunity to venture into this new territory.

It was all well and good for Ves to dream about crushing the nascent colonies set up by the different Coalition partners, but how could they possibly be weak? He had no doubt that the Fridayman fleets would all have Master Mech Designers and other powerful people among their ranks.

With the backing of a state, these fleets would probably be several times more prepared to face the challenges of the Red Ocean than his own expeditionary fleet!

"The key to succeeding in the Red Ocean and possibly ruining the colonies founded by the Coalition partners is to expand your power and influence." Calabast summed up her thoughts. "Our clan alone is not enough to contend against every threat we face, so it is vital that we seek to expand the Golden Skull Alliance. Only by pulling more organizations into our orbit will we be able to pursue our greater ambitions."

She held a slumbering Lucky in her arms as she spoke. The cat had grown completely comfortable in her presence.

Ves thought about the current state of the alliance.

"How are the Glory Seekers and Crossers doing? Their ranks are severely depleted. How do they plan to make up for their shortfall in numbers?"

"They're already in the process of recruiting new personnel, just like us." She answered.

"Are they succeeding?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Calabast smirked. "Why do you sound so confused? Did you think that our allies are incompetent? The Glory Seekers may not seem attractive to you, but there are enough women on Prosperous Hill VI who are attracted to an organization that gives them primacy. It's a powerful ego boost to anyone looking for affirmation. The Wodin Dynasty has also dispatched reinforcements from the Hegemony. Their quality isn't the best and they will take some time to reach the Prosperous Hill Star System, but their arrival will do much to relieve some of the shortages."

"What about the Cross Clan? It's already in decline. Even if it shows signs of recovery, I doubt that anyone would pick it over ours."

"You're letting your impressions color your judgement of them. While their recruitment effort was indeed lackl.u.s.ter at first, they took a lot of cues from you. Professor Cortez is personally interviewing every mech designer who comes to their recruitment hall while Patriarch Reginald Cross and his fellow expert pilots occasionally drop by to show their faces to any mech pilots who wish to join."

"What?!"

Ves never expected that those two men would deign to show themselves to the masses like this. Both of them held a very high opinion of themselves.

It seemed that Patriarch Reginald truly wished to revive the Cross Clan. There was little doubt that many mech pilots would flock to the Cross Clan's recruitment hall over the coming weeks. The opportunity to meet a high-tier expert pilot was too irresistible!

Despite that, Ves wasn't sure if the Cross Clan would be able to handle the influx. The Crossers didn't possess anything comparable to the Larkinson Network so there were bound to be troublemakers among the new recruits.

After discussing the Larkinson Clan' existing allies, Ves briefly inquired about any new candidates.

"Are there any local organizations or powers who might be a good fit for the Golden Skull Alliance?"

"We are still looking." Calabast replied. "There are hundreds of different organizations in the LRA that have caught our eye, but… you know how it goes. The candidates that are desirable in our eyes are either too demanding or have already made their own arrangements. The ones that remain all have their own shortcomings that make them more trouble than they are worth."

The latter was a particularly huge stumbling block for many ambitious dreamers! Hardly anyone was able to earn a million MTA merits in their lifetimes. If they didn't have anyone who was powerful enough to earn merits with ease or if they didn't have the guts to take on any high-risk missions, why should they even be considered?

Even if the Golden Skull Alliance was still short on members, Ves did not want to let anyone in who suffered less than his Larkinsons!

His clan had bled much to earn almost 40 million MTA merits. Its sacrifice had to stay meaningful in order to keep his clansmen stable.

In addition, Ves only wanted to join forces with those who already experienced hardship and possessed the right mindset to succeed in the Red Ocean.

After setting all of these requirements, very few organizations managed to make it through. Ves knew that he had to be patient in order to expand the alliance and gather the MTA merits necessary to redeem a beyonder ticket.

"I'd love to keep you company further, but I have work to do." The spymaster eventually said. "We are still in the process of scoping out Prosperous Hill VI. While I haven't found any signs that any local power is targeting us, that doesn't mean we're safe. This is a foreign environment and we are still strangers here. We'll get into a lot trouble if we inadvertently step on someone's toes."

After patting Lucky's head a final time, Calabast departed the office.

The next day, Ves and Gloriana spent the morning going over their mech design projects. The Ferocious Piranha IB and the Cherub designs were the closest to completion. The design teams just needed to perform more checks, develop some minute refinements and add some optional components in order to put an end to the projects.

The Giant Killer design would take a little more time to complete its final round of optimizations due to its greater complexity.

As for the Devious and Blinding Mech Projects, the design teams weren't able to address all of their problems without the personal intervention of Ves.

In order to solve the issues plaguing the projects, Ves decided to go on a special excursion.

Gloriana didn't accompany him this time. She wouldn't be very useful on this trip and she could contribute much more to the projects if she worked in the design lab.

That was why Ves boarded the rhino-headed shuttle with just Lucky and his guards at noon. The vehicle lifted off and flew away from Veoline while flanked by two different Infinity Guard mechs from yesterday.

This time, he wasn't heading to downtown Veoline. The place he wanted to visit was located in one of the many nature preserves of Prosperous Hill VI.

His shuttle reached its destination after half an hour of flight. Ves called up a projection that showed an aerial view of what appeared to be carefully-managed biomes surrounded by near-transparent energy screens.

When the shuttle descended onto the landing zone, Ves and Lucky encountered a waiting attendant immediately after exiting their vehicle.

"Patriarch Larkinson. We have been expecting your arrival. I am Trisha Iv Lanon and I shall be your personal guide today." A uniformed woman greeted Ves with deference. "I bid you welcome to Wexal Park, the most popular destination for high-end exobeast and designer beast lovers. We offer exclusive tours where you can experience the wonders of nature and the ingenuity of our beast designers with complete security."

Ves smiled at the woman. "Please lead the way, Trisha."

The woman turned around and led them past the main gates of the park. Despite making a reservation in advance, Ves and his guards still had to undergo extensive checks.

Enclosed in a pit that was surrounded by a dormant energy field, Ves and a number of other visitors looked down on a pair of ferocious-looking dragons.

The dragons possessed vivid red scales, four strong limbs, a pair of broad leathery wings, spiraling horns and an air of dominance that made it seem as if they were the true rulers of the galaxy!

There was no way these red dragons were products of nature.

Trisha confirmed his thoughts as she began to explain the creatures.

"The two designer beasts before you are part of the Draco Magnus species developed by ATA Genetics. They are the third version of the Draco Magnus line. Compared to the previous versions, the current iteration requires less care and is slightly more obedient to individuals who they have genetically imprinted upon."

"What is genetic imprinting?" Ves asked.

"It is a complicated procedure that ensures that every genetic beast is loyal to its new owner. Beast designers such as those working for ATA Genetics have applied special bioprogramming to their organic products to add this functionality to the beasts they cultivate. Once a customer wishes to purchase one, a beast designer will use sacred methods to stimulate certain genes so that the beast recognizes you as its master from their very bodies."

That.. sounded quite extreme! This went beyond ordinary indoctrination. Ves couldn't imagine what it would be like to be unquestionably loyal to someone because his very genes compelled him to do so. The potential for abuse was enormous if it could be applied to humans!

Trisha evidently noticed his reaction. "You do not need to be concerned about this technique. It is strictly regulated and never applied to humans. In fact, it is exceedingly difficult to add this kind of bioprogramming to existing people. It has to be active right from the moment of conception."

That meant that only designer babies were vulnerable to this illegal treatment. Someone who was already an a.d.u.l.t like Ves wouldn't be susceptible to this kind of sabotage.

Even if someone altered his genes somehow, it would definitely be noticeable enough to trip alarms!

Ves relaxed after realizing all of this. "How ubiquitous is genetic programming?"

"It depends on the state. In the LRA, it is quite widespread as it is a proven and effective method to control designer beasts. However, other states either restrict or prohibit genetic loyalty programming entirely due to unfounded fears about their usage. You can rest assured that our biotech industry has never applied this measure to any humans. The LRA cracks down hard on any who think of growing an army of genetically loyal subordinates."

"...That's a relief. I think."

"Meow…"

Even Lucky expressed his doubt!