The Mech Touch

Majestic Teal was rife with plots.

This was what everyone said about the star sector. Open warfare rarely broke out in this region, but that did not mean that everyone had lost their ambitions.

In fact, the people who lived in the second-rate states of Majestic Teal felt both content and restricted.

They were content because they lived in stable and well-run societies.

They were frustrated because the lack of chaos restricted their upward mobility. With all of the centenarians and older folk clinging onto their positions of power for centuries at a time, the younger generation could only climb so much before they hit an impassable wall!

The Supreme Sage was the most egregious case. Born before the advent of the Age of Mechs, he lived through multiple eras in the Life Research Association's history and remained unquestionably on top for an immense amount of time!

Since he monopolized a large amount of high-level resources for himself, the biotech researchers who were ranked just behind him had become increasingly more jealous at their leader's persistence.

While it was true that the Supreme Sage was a treasure to the LRA, his noteworthy successes came at the cost of strangling the growth of his possible heirs.

Plenty of renowned beast designers, biomech designers, geneticists and other brilliant figures wished to perform ground-breaking experiments in one of the much-lauded pinnacle labs, but the Supreme Sage was already putting these facilities to work for his own ends!

Ves actually sympathized with the Supreme Sage. He felt that this legendary scientist's position was similar to his own. The Life Research Association largely owed its leadership position in biotechnology to the big guy's accomplishment.

Without someone as brilliant as the Supreme Sage holding down the fort, the LRA would have been much worse off! The surrounding states wouldn't have been so restrained towards the state if their rulers didn't need the services of arguably the best native biotech expert in the star cl.u.s.ter!

The success of the Supreme Sage elevated the prosperity and privileges of everyone under his care. People like Master Werther Cline and Master Leehay Brixton only managed to climb up to their current positions by benefiting from the excellent growth conditions provided by their highly-accomplished superior.

Yet the Lifers were split on whether they should be grateful to the living legend of their state.

Conservatives such as Master Werther Cline remained humble and recognized that they would have never attained their current level of success without their current shelter.

Opponents such as Master Leehay Brixton didn't even bother to look back. Instead, they solely complained about how their futures were blocked by their original benefactor.

"Ungrateful bastards." Ves muttered as he stepped into the mech workshop underneath Ruuzon Arena.

As far as he was concerned, if the malcontents wanted to achieve a greater level of success, why not strike out on their own? The LRA clearly belonged to the Supreme Sage!

Yet Ves did not voice this opinion in front of Master Brixton. Not only was it unwise for him to talk back against a Master Mech Designer, but they also entered into a cooperative relationship.

"I just have to win."

Ves loved free deals like this. He already intended to win the design duel anyhow, but now that someone had taken the initiative to sweeten the pot, he would definitely make sure that 5 million MTA merits entered into his pocket!

Of course, that didn't mean he was blinded by the rich reward. No one randomly offered to give away 5 million MTA credits.

This was why Calabast visited the workshop right after the end of the first phase of the design duel.

The black-clad spymaster sauntered closer to Ves as he looked up at the five beaten-up machines.

"Can you fix them all up in time?" She casually asked as Lucky dove into her welcoming arms.

"Meow!" The gem cat cutely rubbed his head against her arms.

Ves ignored his pet's antics as usual.

"I'll manage. This challenge isn't about fixing everything. It's about testing how much battle effectiveness we can restore in a limited amount of time. Granted, biomechs have an advantage in this aspect, but I am not about to let my opponent roll me over from this advantage alone!"

He didn't have to do a perfect job. He just had to be good enough for his mechs to remain competitive.

As he scanned his eyes over his five dueling mechs, he was already cataloging which battle injuries he should address and which ones he should leave alone.

Ves had to achieve the maximum amount of results in the least amount of the time.

This meant that he had to forgo many easy repairs because they yielded marginal results.

Other repairs were drastically able to bring a mech closer to its peak condition, but took up too much time to complete!

Both cases were undesirable. Time was the most valuable resource right now so Ves had to ration it as efficiently as possible.

Fortunately, Ves was already accustomed to these kinds of situations. He didn't panic and he didn't overestimate his capabilities. The Lifers may have provided him with a pretty good workshop, but the tools and production equipment were not comparable to the ones in his personal workshop. He needed to take this into account as well.

"This deal I've made with Master Brixton sounds fishy, but it is too irresistible to me." He told her. "Under ordinary circ.u.mstances, I have to go above and beyond to earn 5 million MTA credits. I have never encountered a situation where I can just bend down and pick it up from the street!"

"You have to win the design duel, though." Calabast reminded him. "From what I can tell, that's anything but certain."

Ves briefly dropped his smile. "That's true. I don't know what's in store for the second phase, but Dr. Navarro is limited by what he can do as well. Anyway, I didn't call you here to talk about this. What I'd like you to do is dig into Master Brixton's background and find out which of his students he wants to dump on my l.a.p."

"Are you expecting any problems on that front?"

"No mech designer wants to get rid of a useful helper, Calabast. These kinds of people are worth their weight in high-grade exotics. They can provide so much assistance that it's an enormous waste to kick them out of orbit. There has to be a problem with this fellow. Master Brixton himself has already alluded that he isn't sad to let his student go. I'm definitely being scammed. I just want to know how I'm getting screwed."

Calabast frowned as she tickled Lucky's belly. "If you think this is such a bad deal, why entertain it at all?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I still think this is a win-win arrangement. I am happy to take on any delinquent as long as I get my 5 million MTA merits. I just think that I'll be winning less than Master Brixton. Someone who is capable of earning so many merits through his own efforts is definitely a talent, but if that comes paired with behavioral problems, then I need to know as soon as possible."

What he learned would largely determine his treatment of this unexpected addition to his clan. If he was confident he could manage a difficult personality, then Ves didn't mind giving Master Brixton's student an opportunity to develop himself.

If not, then Ves could just arrange an 'accident' right after his expeditionary fleet passed through the beyonder gate!

Even though it was likely that Master Brixton would become very incensed if this happened, Ves didn't care at all. There was no way that someone that was stuck in Majestic Teal could extend their power all the way to the Red Ocean!

"I will look into this as soon as possible." She promised. "Don't expect too much, though. My agents report that Prosperous Hill has become increasingly more volatile. A lot of visitors have arrived to watch the design duel or take part in the excitement. The locals all smell that something significant might be taking place and even the Xona Stalkers have received worrying signals from their family members."

"Do you have anything more specific than that?"

Calabast shook her head. "I'm as frustrated as you in this regard. We can only vaguely tell that major movements are taking place in the background. Do you want to know the reason why the Prosperous Hill Transportation Service recently became a lot more backlogged than usual? A number of very powerful organizations have claimed much of the transportation capacity that is usually allocated to visitors. They're shipping a lot of assets to and from the surface."

"And this started only recently?"

"A few days before this design duel, actually."

"That's definitely not a coincidence."

All of these signs pointed out that the local factions weren't sitting still. Turning the design duel into a spectacle was only one component in some greater plan. Ves wished that Master Brixton had been a little more forthcoming in what he and his people were up to. The combinants were definitely involved!

After Ves and Calabast finished their discussion, Lucky mournfully bid goodbye to the latter.

"Meeeeoow."

"Be a good boy and stick to Ves." She said as she petted Lucky's head. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"Meow!"

Despite all of the trouble in the air, Ves didn't want to give up on the possible gains he could make from this visit. He might have to curtail some of his plans, but he definitely did not wish to leave before he recruited enough personnel, particularly skilled and desirable biotech experts.

The Larkinson Clan also had to stick around long enough to finalize the exchange of the Auralis for the Graveyard and the Dragon's Den. It wasn't necessary to wait until their new crews had fully broken in the capital sh.i.p.s. They could learn on the job if they had to. The two vessels just needed to be space worthy enough to keep up with the rest of the fleet. Everything else could be worked out later.

"All of this will take a few more weeks to complete." He estimated. "We can't leave until then."

It was a pity that the Larkinsons wouldn't be able to replenish all of its mechs. The production of Bright Warrior IB's and other Larkinson-exclusive mechs was still limited, which meant that most of his mech pilots were still waiting to receive their new machines.

The Larkinson Clan might be forced to place a production order in one of their upcoming destinations, but Ves was not very happy with this solution. Making a third-party company responsible for producing the mainstay mechs of his clan was no different from leaking their entire designs!

Even if their glows and spiritual designs restricted unauthorized people from piloting them, their limitations and weak points would no longer be confidential!

"I guess I'll have to contract the Infinity Guards on a longer-term basis." He muttered.

The mercenaries hadn't been too useful lately but that was because they didn't have much room to exert their strength in Prosperous Hill. That would change once his grand expedition resumed.

"Well, I can worry about that later. I still have a lot of work on my plate."

He turned his attention back to his mechs. One of his Bright Warriors along with a Valkyrie Redeemer were in quite poor shape due to suffering defeat. However, the mechs that had managed to win were not that better off either.

"From what it looks like, I might have to lower the priority on the most badly-damaged mechs!"

This was a painful decision, but one that made the most sense on a strategic basis. He could achieve much better results if he spread his attention to just three damaged mechs instead of five!