The Mech Touch

"I don't understand why we aren't leaving yet." Gloriana flatly said as she and her husband sat in the lounge of their grand stateroom.

"You'll see." Ves smiled at her as he reached out and rubbed her growing belly. "Everything I do is for the sake of our future and our baby. It doesn't matter if we delay our journey into the Red Ocean by a couple of months. The advantages that I am trying to gain here far outweighs reaching the new frontier sooner."

He had begun his revenge against the Vulcan Empire after he created his dwarven design spirit. Now that Vulcan had become a real entity, the dwarves in the Smiling Samuel Star Sector were about to find out what it truly meant to worship a cruel and unforgiving god!

"Miaow~"

Clixie rubbed her head against Ves, causing him to rub her back as well.

"Meow."

Lucky yawned as he floated over to Gloriana, prompting her to hold him against her chest and admire his sparkling green eyes.

Despite their high workload, the wedded couple always tried to find time together. There was more to life than their jobs and they needed to keep their marriage healthy over the long term.

Once they started raising children, both of them had already decided to cut back on their work hours so that they could give their sons and daughters the attention that they truly deserved. It was not an easy compromise to make, but a child only grew up once.

Ves also took the time to check up on the spiritual condition of his wife and unborn child.

Having reached halfway of her pregnancy, his wife had undergone a subtle shift in demeanor. Ves had the impression that she matured in a few ways. She became calmer, became more considerate for others and didn't raise her voice as much.

Of course, Gloriana was still Gloriana. Her imperious personality and her high expectations still remained the same. Sometimes they even flared up. She spent more time planning out her future daughter's entire life trajectory than anything else!

"Do you think we should send our daughter to a first-class academy in the Red Ocean for a couple of years?" She wondered as she kept pampering Lucky with her fingers. "I've heard that the first-rate superstates have already set up affiliates of their renowned educational institutions at their most well-protected star systems. If anything happens to our fleet, our daughter would still be okay."

Ves furrowed his brows. Her baby hadn't even left her womb and she was already thinking at least a decade ahead! Who knew whether they could afford the tuition and whether their daughter met the entry qualifications. It was notoriously difficult to enter into any of these elite galaxy-level schools!

"I think it's better to raise her within our clan." He softly replied as he scratched Clixie's belly. "I'm sure those first-class institutions deserve their reputation, but if we send any of our children there, would they still remain a Larkinson when they come back? Schools aren't just passing on knowledge, you know. They also propagate specific cultural norms and values that will no doubt be different from what our clan believes in. I don't want to be confronted by a stranger when our kids return home!"

"I want the best for our daughter, Ves. I want the best for all of them. If she can enter the first-class circle and make friends with future movers and shakers among the Terrans or Rubarthans, she will obtain a ticket straight to the top of human society! Something like this is unthinkable in the Milky Way, but since all of the old factions are so compressed in the human-controlled territories of the Red Ocean, it has become easier than ever to get in touch with the highest class of people in advance!"

This was one of the reasons why Gloriana didn't object so much to entering the Red Ocean. She was upset with remaining in a backwater like the galactic rim and yearned to stand equal to the same people who originated from the galactic center!

"All in good time, Gloriana." He said as he held her hand. "The best way for us to be taken seriously is to earn it. We may be born on the wrong side of the galaxy, but as long as we become good enough at our jobs, all of those first-raters will respect us sooner or later. Until we are powerful enough to stand equal to them, I don't think it is wise to associate ourselves with such dangerous people."

"What about our daughter? Don't you want to give her a head start?"

"If she's going to be as good as you think, then she doesn't need the help." He answered.

Since he used her own logic against her, Gloriana couldn't refute his argument. Both of them thought highly of their daughter's future for different reasons. With the help of her parents, there was no way her future accomplishments would be mediocre!

"Maybe you're right, Ves. The Red Ocean is still in flux. So many colonies are being developed at the moment that it will look completely different after a decade. Maybe there will be more options available for our growing girl."

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to associate too much with the Terrans and Rubarthans to begin with." Ves cautioned. "The two first-rate superstates are playing dangerous games. They're not only competing against each other, but also stand up to the Big Two. Approaching either of them will only turn our clan into a disposable chess piece. Preserving our sovereignty is one of our bottom lines."

"You're still insisting that we join the Red Ocean Union?"

"Why do you make it sound so bad?"

"Because that's exactly what it is! It offers the least benefits and there is little to no cohesion among its members. Without a strong guiding hand, the Red Ocean Union will certainly fall behind the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact!"

Ves shook his head. "You're only looking at the downsides. To me, a lack of direction is exactly what I want! I don't want pompous leaders over my head who can force us to do what they say. I've been trying to avoid that since I founded our clan. There are still ways to get ahead in the Red Ocean Union. A lack of structure translates into greater autonomy. You just need to take the initiative and proactively seek out opportunities since no one is forcing them upon you. As long as we have choice, we can pick the directions that are most suitable for us and our clan."

His wife didn't look convinced. "Look, I admit that the demands of the Terran Alliance are too harsh, but the Rubarthan Pact offers us many advantages over the Red Ocean Union."

"Like what?"

"We can obtain the backing of a powerful Rubarthan prince, which actually means something and will offer our daughter the greatest possible safety. We can gain immediate entry into the regional Rubarthan mech market and mech industry. This will not only allow us to conduct business at a greater scale, but also enable us to get in touch with and collaborate alongside some of the talented mech designers of human civilization! I can mention more advantages to you, but that will take all day."

Ves scoffed. He reached out and squeezed her nose, which elicited an indignant shout from his wife!

"None of these privileges come for free. One of the biggest reasons why the Rubarthan Pact tries to solicit pioneers with these nice-sounding benefits is because it has to compete against the Terran Alliance! Do the Rubarthans actually care about the pioneers aligned to them? Nope. The only way for that to change is to show our value to them, and that requires us to become their foot soldiers in their competitions against their rivals."

His wife sighed even as Lucky and Clixie wandered off after they received enough pets.

"I am not the only person in the clan who thinks it is wiser to shelter under a greater tree, Ves. The Red Ocean is a dangerous place, but we can mitigate a substantial amount of risk by aligning ourselves with the Rubarthans. From what I've heard about them in the Red Ocean, they're not as overbearing as the Terrans and they offer more channels for pioneers to stand out and earn their favor."

"Those first-raters are all the same." Ves stubbornly shook his head. "As long as they hold a superior attitude towards their lessers, we will never become their friends. At best we'll turn into assets that they are not as willing to discard as their other commodities. I don't want to get under the thumb of someone who thinks we don't exist at the same level. I much prefer to work alongside equal partners who truly respect us and need us as much as we need them. The Red Ocean Union is full of pioneers like that who we can befriend without subjecting ourselves at their mercy."

He thought that Gloriana was too naive to trust the Rubarthans. Though he had never interacted with them in person, he heard plenty of stories about them. They were not so different from their archrivals, and he happened to know exactly what the Terrans were like!

Though Gloriana still insisted that it was best for the Larkinson Clan to cozy up to the Rubarthan faction in the Red Ocean, she had no power to push this decision through. Ves still intended to go through with his original plan because he was confident that his clan would be able to navigate the waters of the Red Ocean Union.

With an excellent diplomat like Minister Shederin Purnesse at his disposal, Ves believed that they could slowly build up the Golden Skull Alliance into a modest but close-knit gathering centered around the Larkinson Clan!

The couple eventually moved on to discussing other matters. Gloriana exhibited a lot of curiosity towards Vulcan.

"You've been spending a lot of time tinkering in your workshop the last few days." She pointed out. "What is so important to you that is making you spend less time in the design lab? The Bulwark Project and the Chimera Project still need your attention if we want to complete them in a timely manner!"

Ves casually waved his hand. "I'm making something important. I've also been experimenting with my latest design spirit, although right now he doesn't actually function as one. Regardless, I'm doing my best to explore what Vulcan can do so that we can gain additional assistance when it is time for us to fabricate our remaining expert mechs."

He did not dare to make any solid claims when he had yet to figure out the rules, mechanisms and limitations of Vulcan's productivity-oriented abilities. It was too tempting for him to boast about his latest accomplishment, but he refrained from doing so because he did not want to hype Gloriana up only for Vulcan to fall flat during a crucial moment.

Though his wife had made a lot of guesses, as long as Ves didn't give her an answer, she wouldn't build up any unrealistic expectations.

His current examinations and experiments already told Ves that Vulcan was not able to guarantee the creation of a masterwork on demand. Its effects were much more modest, especially when it came to larger and more complex creations, so Ves still had to perform a lot of trials in order to develop an accurate estimation on how much Vulcan could contribute to the projects that were truly important.

"I'm beginning to feel I'm missing out on these proto-gods that you are playing around with." Gloriana pouted. "When will you give me a useful pet like Blinky?"

"Uhm, please be patient. It's not that simple to make a cat like Blinky!"

"Don't you love me, Ves?"

"O-Of course!" He stammered. "Why would you think I don't?"

"THEN GIVE ME A NEW CAT!"