The Mech Touch

　　If other people heard what he wanted to do, they would either kill him or ridicule him! Hardly anyone would ever consider it to be a good idea to create a voribug sovereign that could organize the feral insects!

　　After he finished getting answers out of Joshua, Ves quickly moved back to his office and read up on the voribugs.

　　The MTA database surprisingly contained less information on the space insects than he wished. He had the feeling that the mechers were hiding substantial amounts of crucial intelligence on the space pests.

　　"Why, though? Are there more to the voribugs than I thought?"

　　That might be plausible given how the voribugs attracted so much attention despite being a relatively weak race. Sure, they could become devastating when their reproduction got out of hand, but most humans and aliens in the Red Ocean were able to handle the insects for the most part.

　　Ves tried to search for specific mentions of voribugs that were smarter and more evolved than the elders of their kind.

　　"Rumors. Rumors. Rumors."

　　There were way too many rumors about voribugs. People invented all kinds of fantasies about the ubiquitous insects and also made wild claims of encountering 'special' voribugs.

　　The stories became even more ridiculous when humanity began to obtain and translate alien anecdotes about the voribugs!

　　The insects had been around for a long time and impacted pretty much every space-faring species. There were wild tales about huge voribug leaders that were able to command entire swarms of voribugs across multiple star systems.

　　No one ever brought solid proof, though. The humans and aliens only ever encountered the voribugs in their juvenile, adult and elder forms. Plenty of them had studied the voribug genome and did not find proof of larger and more advanced forms.

　　That hadn't stopped people from trying to bring a voribug queen into reality.

　　Suffice to say, such an act was taboo in both human and alien societies. The power to influence a lot of voribugs and turning them into weapons against opponents was just too dangerous!

　　It was fortunate that the voribugs possessed a number of odd quirks.

　　The first was that they were quite sensitive towards artificially-altered voribugs. They could sniff out the ones that were genetically modified or carrying any secret implants in a short amount of time.

　　The second was that it was impossible for them to accept a leader bug. If Ves put aside the fact that the voribugs mercilessly kill any brothers they perceive to be abnormal, they never submitted to any voribug that tried to take control over their species.

　　"Maybe that's solely because of the first reason." Ves surmised.

　　It was a fundamental problem with no solution. The voribugs were so repellent against those that were different from the norm that they had defeated plenty of 'modified' voribug species that were implanted with bioprogramming that subverted their loyalties.

　　This also made it difficult for mutated voribugs that potentially developed spiritual powers and become more intelligent from staying alive. Their lesser brethren simply couldn't accept their existence!

　　"This is also the reason why the voribugs have stagnated for so long."

　　However… Ves might have a way of circumventing this defense mechanism.

　　What if he created a voribug queen that wasn't tangible?

　　As far as he was aware, the voribugs were entirely physical creatures that did not possess the means of harming spiritual entities.

　　If that was the case, could Ves get away with creating an artificial leader figure that could assume control of the voribugs without eliciting their hostility?

　　This idea had a lot of promise! Theoretically, it should work as long as the voribugs possessed genes that respected authority.

　　Ves was sure that this existed as the elder voribugs had been known to take command of the younger and smaller of their kind.

　　If the elder voribugs also retained this instinct, then his theoretical intangible voribug queen entity might actually be able to command this alien species!

　　This was such an immense advantage that Ves had to proceed exceedingly carefully if he wished to pursue this idea!

　　At the very least, he could never get away with it if others found out about his intentions.

　　He didn't even dare to proceed with it as long as the Simile Halifax accompanied his fleet!

　　Even if he found a way to isolate a space where he could proceed with his attempt without anyone finding out, it would still be difficult to hide his involvement.

　　After all, Ves already created or befriended over a dozen different design spirits! If he created another spiritual entity that just happens to resemble them greatly, then the Polymath didn't even need to waste much of her prodigious brainpower to connect the dots!

　　The voribugs were already bad enough when they were lacking a race leader. Their lack of strategic direction and higher thoughts were the main reasons why the voribugs hadn't conquered the Red Ocean.

　　If a voribug queen truly came into being, the threat level of this major race would definitely skyrocket!

　　Ves even started to question whether it was even a good idea to make such a crazy spiritual product. What would be the point? How could he possibly employ a voribug queen to his advantage? Could he even maintain control of such a potentially destructive entity?

　　The main reasons why he wanted to proceed was to challenge himself and fulfill his desire for innovation by creating a creature that no one else had succeeded in making.

　　There were also more practical reasons why he would want a voribug queen in his pocket.

　　Voribugs may be hated by pretty much every human and alien in the Red Ocean, but they were unquestionably powerful in their own ways!

　　If he could cultivate a non-human species into his secret vassals, he could sneakily use them as his thugs!

　　For example, he might be able to direct voribugs to descend upon the colonies of his enemies to destroy them or at least set back their development.

　　This was a fantastic way for him to take revenge on the Fridaymen! He already learned about some of the colonies that the coalition partners had set up in the Red Ocean. If he could wipe out just one or two of their key settlements, that would be enough for the Friday Coalition's colonies to become vulnerable prey in the eyes of other rival pioneers!

　　There were other ways he could take advantage of gaining control of the voribugs.

　　He could use the voribugs to turn a valuable planet into a no man's land to anyone except himself.

　　He could even affect the course of entire wars. No matter which parties participated in a fight, the voribugs were always participants due to how they tended to appear on battlefields devastated by war.

　　Once infrastructure broke down to an extent, the occupants would have other priorities and were not able to stamp out any voribug infestations when they began.

　　The voribugs might even become the final winners of a major engagement!

　　All of these stories emphasized the power of the voribug race. If Ves could harness even a part of their group for his own ends, wouldn't he be able to wield influence comparable to a Star Designer in advance?

　　He could even turn himself into a secret masterwork that decided the life and deaths of trillions of people in the Red Ocean!

　　"What the hell am I thinking!?"

　　He vigorously shook his head. It was too premature for him to consider making a voribug queen. He at least needed to wait until the MTA protection period was over before he could proceed.

　　Until then, it was folly to entertain these delusions!

　　He put these ideas aside and focused on his more modest goals instead.

　　Once the Larkinsons had captured and isolated the voribugs that Ves had asked for, he traveled to a small transport that had been set aside for this specific purpose.

　　It was still too dangerous to bring any live voribugs to a ship like the Dragon's Den. Even now, the Larkinsons were still afraid that they might inadvertently miss a couple of insects that could subsequently multiply into an entire new horde.

　　To ensure the voribugs wouldn't be able to slip away, a squad of Ferocious Piranhas surrounded the transport at all times.

　　No voribug could remain hidden when subjected to their glows!

　　Ves was glad to see the Larkinsons already incorporating the lessons they learned. The next time the expeditionary fleet encountered the voribugs, his forces would immediately know what to do in order to minimize the damage.

　　"So these are the voribugs." He said.

　　He had seen plenty of them in battle footage but never encountered one in the flesh.

　　The juvenile, adult and elder voribugs had all been isolated into transparent cages. The insects were not reconciled with their captivity and tried to burrow their way out. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't even dig or gnaw through their cages.

　　This was because they were all suspended in mid-air by manipulating the gravity inside!

　　Only the elder voribug was able to move under these conditions, but the captors had locked its body into place with metal rods to prevent the large insect from moving.

　　When Ves inspected the juvenile and adult voribugs, he didn't look impressed. Aside from their cockroach-like tenacity and their ability to eat a wide variety of foods, the insects were quite weak.

　　It was only when he studied the elder voribug that he recognized that it was special.

　　The creature didn't possess any significant spirituality, but Ves could sense more complex emotions and desires from this bug.

　　Its cognition was on a whole other level. While Ves did not get the feeling that it was sentient, its intelligence was impressive compared to other insects!

　　The elder voribug was able to look outward, so it could see Ves on the other side of the transparent cage.

　　Ves was fully suited up at the moment. His double shield generators along with his Unending Regalia gave him enough confidence to confront this elder voribug.

　　The creature's mind and emotions were not that difficult for Ves to interpret. The elder voribug was an exoinsect that was driven by the usual biological drivers of needing to feed, protect its fellow kind and to brood offspring.

　　What was different was that the elder voribug seemed to possess a much more refined sense on how to team up and cooperate with its fellow voribugs. There were also other alien elements that caused these elder voribugs to possess a more unique vibe.

　　"There's something funny about these elder voribugs."

　　Ves wasn't an exobiologist, though. It would take much more competent specialists to figure out how this primal insect race managed to dominate the Red Ocean for so long.

　　Out of curiosity, he tried to communicate with the insect.

　　"Hello there. How are you doing today?"

　　"HSSSSSSSS!"

　　The elder voribug instantly grew berserk and tried its best to break the metal shackles holding it in place!

　　Furious hisses escaped from its maw as its blackened eyes glared at Ves as if he was an affront to voribugs!

　　"Well, I can see why no one has managed to tame you guys."

　　The voribugs were too xenophobic! They hated life forms other than themselves! Their need to devour any creature that didn't conform to their exact appearance was far too strong!

　　For a moment, Ves wanted to perform experiments on this fascinating creature.

　　What if he could make it smarter?

　　What if it could become more open to communication?

　　What if he was able to unlock the hidden potential of voribugs?

　　His desire to utilize the voribugs as his test subjects became so strong that it pained him to issue his next command.

　　"I've seen enough. Dispose of them, please."

　　The captive voribugs soon became riddled with projectiles. There was no more point in keeping them alive.

　　Though he still felt the urge to experiment, he knew there was a better way for him to sate this desire.

　　"I should learn more about phasewater. If I recall, Professor Benedict invited me to study it together."

　　That should be interesting!

　　A Senior Mech Designer had access to much more knowledge and resources than a Journeyman. Ves would definitely be able to gain insights if he studied phasewater alongside Professor Benedict!