The Mech Touch

　　Every other shipbuilding company was essentially locked behind great alliances. What few ships they built went straight to the major players who were able to offer the greatest degree of protection and remuneration. This enabled the big alliances to grow even more formidable over time, thereby securing their hegemony over the Red Ocean and choking out smaller players like the Larkinson Clan!

　　After Ves and the rest of his clan recognized this trend, they knew that it was impossible to obtain new ships through regular or even slightly irregular channels.

　　This left them with two possible solutions.

　　First, the Larkinsons could place a greater emphasis on the Diligent Ovenbird.

　　Numerous notable clansmen suggested that the Larkinsons could take matters into their own hands and enter the shipbuilding industry themselves.

　　While the Diligent Ovenbird was not as large, efficient and well-equipped as a traditional orbital shipyard, the fleet repair and construction vessel was still a fully-functional shipbuilding platform!

　　This meant that if the clan wanted to, it could just park the capital ship in the Davute System for the long-term and just build one starship after another.

　　In any case, the Davute System was not only fairly well-secured, but was also a port system that attracted a significant amount of trade. Once the trade consortium achieved results, it shouldn't be an issue obtaining sufficient raw materials.

　　The Larkinson Clan could even take orders where they demanded the other party supply the necessary raw materials. The enormous disparity between supply and demand meant that there would still be customers willing to accept this lopsided deal!

　　As an armored shuttle bearing a number of high-ranked individuals of the Larkinson Clan flew to a rented compound situated in the Commercial District of Kotor City, Ves began to think about this proposal yet again.

　　"Miss Vivian."

　　"Yes, patriarch?"

　　"You've heard about the plan to turn the Diligent Ovenbird into a semi-permanent shipyard, right?"

　　Vivian Tsai had come a long way from her start as the inexperienced daughter of a notable senior shipwright from the Harmony Association.

　　As she assumed more and more responsibility over the years, she had to exercise more leadership and manage many vital issues concerning both the capital ships and the sub-capital ships of the Larkinson Clan.

　　In addition to that, she closely supervised the ongoing shipbuilding activities on the Diligent Ovenbird.

　　All of this not only meant that she was accruing a lot of hands-on experience, but also became one of the key figures of the clan.

　　So far, Ves was quite satisfied with her performance. Though she did not stand out, she did not screw anything up either. From what he heard from other sources, Vivian Tsai remained diligent and did not mess around, though that was mostly because her current workload was already heavy.

　　Now that the Larkinsons were trying to lure Murphy & Sons into their camp, Vivian Tsai's input would play an important role in the upcoming talks. No one in the Larkinson Clan knew more about shipbuilding and shipyards than someone who grew up in this industry!

　　"I did not come up with the plan myself, but someone in my department initially proposed it." Vivian answered his question. "I helped with studying the viability of this move and fleshing it out. As long as we can solve our logistical problems, it is possible to turn the Diligent Ovenbird into a shipyard."

　　"Do you recommend it, though?" Ves pointedly asked.

　　Vivian frowned. "That… is not an easy question to answer, sir. Since you possess a strong engineering background, I don't have to detail all of the technical disparities that make the Diligent Ovenbird worse. However, the huge demand in starships means that even if our 'shipyard' is less efficient, we can still earn a handsome profit, just not as much as our competitors."

　　Competition didn't matter too much at this point. Sure, the bigger and more advanced shipyards could easily earn ten times if not a hundred times more than the Diligent Ovenbird, but the Larkinson Clan would take what it could get at this point!

　　"You still haven't answered my question." Ves said. "Do you think we should do it or not? I can think of several reasons why we should. Not only will we be able to build starships more conveniently and at a faster pace, but we can also build up our influence in our trade consortium and other circles. Starships are strategic resources and they can help us gain a lot of favors if we use them well."

　　Vivian Tsai was keenly involved in the supply problem, so she knew how important it was for the Larkinson Clan to gain leverage over potential trading partners.

　　"I don't deny that we can obtain these benefits, but leaving the Diligent Ovenbird behind in Davute will deprive our fleet of a highly useful asset. We originally commissioned this vessel in order to repair and maintain our key starships. Given the dangers in the Red Ocean, none of us can guarantee that our capital ships and our growing collection of sub-capital ships will remain unscathed over the years. What if the Spirit of Bentheim got struck? What if the Vivacious Wal has lost her propulsion and her FTL drives? What if a dozen combat carriers weathered an astral storm and lost all power?"

　　Ves frowned. These occurrences could very well happen once the fleet resumed its expedition. The Krakatoa Middle Zone might not be the most dangerous region in the Red Ocean, but it was not a tranquil place either!

　　"You make a good point. Can the Spirit of Bentheim and our other logistical vessels make up for the absence of the Diligent Ovenbird?"

　　"Absolutely not, sir." Vivian answered in a decisive tone. "Sure, you can perform a lot of minor or even major repairs if you employ a lot of ingenuity, but it is like trying to carry a stone uphill. You have to overcome way too many unfavorable factors, from the lack of drydock environment to the absence of large-scale shipbuilding machinery. The only other way to fix our starships is to keep them together long enough to reach safe harbor, but those are much less prevalent in the Red Ocean. Keeping the Diligent Ovenbird in our fleet will massively boost our independence and make us less reliant on external service providers."

　　As soon as Vivian mentioned independence, Ves already made up his mind.

　　"The sovereignty and independence of our expeditionary fleet must never be reduced." He said, not only to Vivian but also the other clansmen in the shuttle. "It was foolish to think about turning the Diligent Ovenbird into a profit and influence-generating machine when doing so will compromise the security and survival of our core fleet. We will keep her as is and not consider this matter any further. Shipbuilding isn't our focus anyway. Our core business activities should always revolve around mechs."

　　That was the end of this little discussion.

　　The shuttle soon entered the Commercial District and was on approach to the modest compound where Murphy & Sons entertained its guests.

　　As Ves curiously took a peek of his surroundings, he could see that the structures and level of prosperity was considerably worse than in the Financial District.

　　This was where all of the more 'regular' businesses and people frequented. Only a minority of people and organizations in the Red Ocean were rich and powerful. The vast majority were closer to normal entities and were therefore content with staying in a less extravagant district where the price levels were much more reasonable.

　　When the shuttle landed on the ground, a number of guards and important figures stepped out. Ves, Calabast, Shederin and Vivian both formed the core visiting group this time.

　　Lucky came along as well. The cat had flown into Calabast's arms and basked in her embrace like a pampered baby.

　　"Meow~"

　　A couple of attendants from the Murphy Family received the Larkinsons and led them into the main mansion.

　　Soon enough, the visitors entered a large and stately-looking meeting hall where half-a-dozen members of the Murphy Family rose up from their couches and greeted the new arrivals.

　　"Patriarch Larkinson, thank you for coming to us today. We have a busy schedule so we cannot spare much time for our discussion."

　　Ves shook hands with a woman who was almost four times older than him. His first impression of Gelly Murphy, the CEO and chairwoman of the shipbuilding company, was of a leader who was trying her best to endure the pressure.

　　Ever since Murphy & Sons packed up its bags and migrated to the Red Ocean, the company encountered one difficulty after another. Nothing went right and Gelly Murphy bore the guilt and burden for leading her family-owned company into such dire states.

　　Nonetheless, Ves did not detect any measure of defeat or resignation from the old woman. Instead, he detected a lot of steel in her spine. This suggested that she was still confident in navigating her company out of its current crisis.

　　Her attitude in the face of these circumstances reminded Ves of himself. That meant that it might be trickier to deal with these Murphies than he thought.

　　He also shook hands with the other important members of the Murphy Family.

　　"Karina Murphy, chief shipwright and head of ship research and design."

　　"Malaia Murphy, chief shipbuilder and head of ship production."

　　Karina and Melaia were the left and right arms of Gelly Murphy. The 60-year old women also happened to be Gelly Murphy's daughters.

　　Of the remaining three executives, two of them also happened to be women. The only man was Gizzard Murphy, a relatively boring-looking man who was head of marketing.

　　"Seeing as how there are so many women on top, why haven't you renamed your company into 'Murphy & Daughters' yet?" Ves blurted out.

　　The Murphies all chuckled.

　　"It's tradition. Who knows whether our company will be led by our grandsons instead of our granddaughters."

　　"Ah."

　　Well, at least Ves confirmed that these Murphy women didn't possess any Hexer tendencies. It was just a coincidence that the number 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 positions were all occupied by females at this period in the company's timeline.

　　Once the initial meet and greet had passed, everyone sat down on the comfortable couches and began to talk about the possibility of extending Murphy & Sons an invitation to join the Larkinson Clan's trade consortium.

　　Neither Ves nor Gelly Murphy spoke at this time. Minister Shederin and Disil Murphy, the younger sister of the CEO, conducted the initial talks.

　　They shared diplomatic platitudes and cautiously brought up various points of cooperation.

　　Nonetheless, the Murphies didn't have the time to dance around all day. Gelly Murphy eventually raised her hand to take charge of the talks in person.

　　"We will not hide the extent of our difficulties from you." Gelly said as her face grew stern. "We are deep in the red and owe a debt to the tune of tens of thousands of MTA credits. We have drained much of our liquid funds in order to get this far but our cash is running out. If we cannot meet our upcoming interest payment, we will be in serious trouble."

　　Ves and several other Larkinsons blinked. Calabast had already figured out a few details about the extent of the shipbuilding company's difficulties, but none of them expected that its leader would just come out and reveal this problem.

　　Admitting this painted Murphy & Sons in a more desperate light, thereby weakening its bargaining position. Why would Gelly Murphy say such a remark? She should have been smart and experienced enough to know the effect of her words.

　　Her statement suddenly made sense when she made her next revelation.

　　"We have recently been in contact with multiple parties. Unlike the ones we have dealt with before, our newer conversation parties have offered more generous terms of cooperation."

　　"Oh. That… is nice to hear."

　　The Larkinson Clan had inadvertently entered a bidding war.