The Mech Touch

Everyone in the expeditionary fleet became gobsmacked by the incredible show of force.

Although Ves was not able to estimate the differences in strength between Saint Mikel Spindar and Saint Yila Mayorka, but when it came to their impact on the battlefield, the latter was definitely inferior!

It didn't matter if the two ace pilots possessed similar skills and combat experiences. Their ace mechs were way too far apart in terms of effective performance.

Not only was the Margenna a peak first-class mech, it was also able to utilize energy link technology to borrow the formidable power output of the MTA's massive combat vessels!

"This is cheating!"

Ves felt that this combination was so profoundly strong and far beyond the strength of what ace mechs should be able to wield that it shouldn't even be allowed to exist!

What had just happened was probably one of the CFA's worst nightmares. Though Ves did not usually sympathize with the fleeters, he currently felt very sorry for them for having this massive threat hanging over their heads!

Ves knew way too little about the actual strength of god pilots and god mechs, so he wasn't able to judge whether the Margenna's previous display compared the pinnacle combat assets of humanity.

He vaguely judged that the Margenna's boosted attacks were not as unreasonable as the moves of a god mech.

In this regard, this ingenious method of amplifying the effective combat power of ace mechs might not be enough to fight against the strongest and most formidable CFA battleships.

The fleeters may be stubborn about their preferred methods and doctrines, but they were not stagnant. The warship fanatics constantly developed better vessels that could fight against more formidable threats.

Therefore, even if the MTA developed a means to amplify the unreasonable combat power of individual ace mechs even further, it did not necessarily mean that the dominance of warships had passed.

"Just the fact that ace mechs are required to deal so much damage to battleship-like threats is an enormously troublesome requirement!"

The population of humanity had ballooned ever since the Age of Stars truly commenced, but the proportion of ace pilots among them was miniscule!

Sure, the total number of ace pilots who were alive at this time was still a sizable number when put together, but the biggest problem with these rare assets was that they were renewed extremely slowly!

A purely material war asset such as a battleship could easily be rebuilt if lost. The CFA just had to invest a lot of money and resources to build a sufficiently large and strong war vessel as long as the infrastructure was in place.

Getting a new ace pilot was much more complicated!

Blindly pouring in money and resources into pilots didn't work. The chances that any of them could advance multiple times and reach the rank of ace pilot was still small.

Not only did they need to test and polish their skills in actual combat where they could lose their lives at any time, they also needed to shape and refine their willpower which served as the core of their extraordinary strength!

Trying to improve the former was still manageable, but trying to progress the latter was extremely difficult since it was so mysterious and intangible.

Therefore, even if ace pilots were able to fight against the CFA's battleships with the help of energy link technology, their horrendous replacement rate made it certain that the MTA would never be able to rely on them to win the war in the long term!

Ves briefly froze.

"Wait a second… if the replacement rate for ace pilots somehow increased…"

He briefly recalled the previous battle where he directed Venerable Joshua to expose a lot of mech pilots to the light of the Aspect of Transcendence.

A lot of mech pilots had broken through at the time, although the Everchanger's momentary glow did not seem to affect Patriarch Reginald Cross in any significant fashion.

Even so, if the total amount of active expert pilots multiplied by ten, then the amount of ace pilots emerging from this expanded base would also increase by the same proportion!

"It's like buying a thousand lottery tickets instead of a hundred of them. There is always variability in the amount of times I can win a prize, but in general the odds of winning at least something are considerably greater!"

His eyes glinted. Was this one of the reasons why the MTA prized high-ranking mech pilots so much?

If the MTA needed more ace pilots because of this, then he may be able to provide them with a way to get more!

He possessed even more leverage than he thought!

"What a wonderful demonstration." He sighed.

As someone who became increasingly more familiar with schemes and plans, he clearly recognized that the MTA did not go out of its way to demonstrate so many methods and means because it wanted to test the super whale.

If the MTA wanted to capture the super whale in the most efficient manner possible, then it would have made more use of the Paracelsus Optimus aside from her linking capabilities.

A few missiles and a few shots from her main cannons would have sped up the capturing process!

Instead, the mechers relied mostly on their mechs not just because of their confidence in them, but also gave Ves a clearer idea of what the MTA was capable of these days!

"The crisis appears to be over."

The Larkinsons and the others slowly relaxed as they no longer believed they were under acute threat anymore.

If the Paracelsus Optimus and her mech contingent did not make a move, then the chances were great that the super whale would have been able to catch up to the expeditionary fleet!

Ves would have been in true danger if that happened!

Yet now that the MTA no longer sat on the sidelines, Ves did not have anything to worry about anymore. Even if a second super whale or other biological monstrosity appeared, the MTA battlecarrier was more than capable enough to neutralize such threats.

"It looks like the mechers are also standing down."

The Margenna had already retreated from the battlefield after subduing the super whale.

Now that the massive beast had lost consciousness, the surrounding MTA mechs were free to deploy additional restraints as well as dig in further inhibition methods that steadily blocked or neutralized more and more of the massive monster's capabilities!

Although it took a lot of effort and planning to dig into its body and perform crippling operations, the MTA made steady progress in inhibiting the super whale's ability to move forward and utilize its rich set of organs.

Additional mechs and vehicles emerged from the Paracelsus Optimus after the super whale's threat level had dropped to the extreme.

They quickly surrounded the prone monster and began to construct a gigantic containment structure around the motionless body.

Clearly, dragging this monstrosity back to a secure MTA research facility was a difficult task. The mechers probably planned to secure the body on the spot and stay in the Garimel System for a while in order to study Purgatory and the Royal Tomb further.

While the MTA did its business in the inner system, the expeditionary fleet slowed down and no longer fled the star system as fast as possible.

The Golden Skull Alliance already received a formal request for its fleet to stay a while and wait for further inquiry.

Ves did not have to think too long to understand that this was the most difficult battle of all. If he did not handle his next meetings with the MTA well enough, he would definitely get into deep trouble!

While he waited for the mechers to arrive and hold a discussion with him, he decided to spend his remaining time by checking up on other people.

He hadn't really paid attention to his fellow Larkinsons as they weren't directly involved in the last battle.

He first contacted Director Ranya in order to verify whether all of the harvested fish-whale organs were still in good condition.

"None of them have deteriorated so far, sir." Her projection answered his question. "The Phase King's brain is doing well enough after our exobiologists and other specialists have come together and devised a few more stabilizing measures. Our work in the past hours has taught us that the vitality and self-healing capabilities of the fish-whales are much more impressive than we thought."

"Oh?" Ves looked intrigued.

He recalled how quickly the super whale was able to heal from injuries inflicted by a lot of MTA mechs and believed that the enormous whale might have inherited this trait from the fish-whale race.

"The Phase King's brain is slowly healing itself after we have fed it with nutrients made from recycled fish-whale tissue samples. While that doesn't bring back any memories or other bioinformation stored in the original neurons, it does help with preventing the brain from deteriorating any further in a short amount of time."

"That sounds impressive!" Ves smiled. "I'm not sure how I want to handle this brain, but it would be best for all if you can keep it alive and active enough. Please keep an eye on it and make sure to inform me right away if you think it is dying."

"Will do, sir."

Although the most valuable spoils from the Phase King's body was its design spirit, Ves did not want to let go of its brain too easily. There were many differences between design spirits that were still anchored to their corporeal forms and ones that were no longer directly attached to the material realm.

Although the latter appeared to be stronger and less affected by the limitations of physical reality, Ves always thought that they were still lacking in different ways.

Ves would rather deal with living design spirits such as Arnold and the Quint because he could exert more control over them. It was a lot easier to keep them by his side and check up on their activities if they did not exist in some kind of unfathomable realm that was difficult to access for more normal life forms such as himself!

He checked up with General Verle, Venerable Joshua, Commander Casella Ingvar and a few other important figures.

None of them reported anything of grave concern. The expeditionary fleet was in decent condition and more than capable enough to defend itself against a phase whale that appeared out of the blue for whatever reason.

As Ves attempted to inquire on the state of the unconscious or comatose mech pilots that had recently broken through, the hatch to the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim slid open.

"Oh Ves, what is this I heard about you gallivanting off into a battle against phasewater-wielding fish-whales?" Gloriana asked as her suited form approached with Aurelia and Clixie floating behind her wake. "A battle where hundreds of mech pilots have died, I might add. Oh, I also heard that 27 mech pilots broke through over a span of just a couple of minutes. Do you have anything to say about this exceptional stroke of luck?"

The irritated smile on her face made it clear that she was not entirely content with what Ves had done in Purgatory!

"Oh, hello, honey. Isn't it great to hear that our clan have obtained a bunch of expert candidates and expert pilots? Oh by the way, I haven't seen our daughter in a while. Aurelia! Come over here and give daddy a hug"

"Papa!" his daughter happily cried as she stretched out her arms!

Ves instantly felt most of his worries fade away as her daughter hugged the breastplate of his Unending Regalia.

All of the layers of protective material could not stop their love from flowing between them. Ves felt incredibly warm now that he had reunited with his little family!

"Ahem." Gloriana impatiently tapped her boot against her deck. "You can play with our daughter later. First, I need answers."

"You'll get them." Ves sighed. "Let's get somewhere more private first. I need your advice as well."

He was about to hold an important discussion with the MTA soon. He desperately needed more advice!