The Mech Touch

Ves could think about possibly replicating Lucky's gems in the distant future. The 'tech' involved in this incredibly deep and profound process was probably anything but simple!

He instead turned his thoughts towards his more immediate concerns.

If he had a choice, he would have preferred not to utilize any of these gems.

Considering Lucky's continued lack of productivity, the supply of gems was truly too low to satisfy all of his needs.

Their greatest value lay in their ability to elevate the quality of a mech past the masterwork threshold. This was the most critical usage of these gems, and the more powerful their effect, the greater their ability to transform what would otherwise be a serviceable mech into a stellar work of craftsmanship!

Aside from that, these gems could also provide his most important mech pilots a powerful boost in battle. Mechs such as the Amaranto and the Riot possessed considerably more combat power than they had any right to be due to the unusual gems he added to their construction!

Ves counted Patriarch Reginald as one of his friends, so he did not actually object too much to giving away such a valuable asset.

It was also clear that any of his gems would have the greatest effect on the most powerful individual mech in the Golden Skull Alliance.

Boosting the performance of any aspect by 30 to 50 percent would make a much more drastic difference if it was applied to an ace mech as opposed to an ordinary Bright Warrior mech!

Yet as Ves stared at the mysterious gems that had also caught the attention of Patriarch Reginald and Master Benedict, he hesitated whether he should go through with this step.

If the upcoming confrontation between the Mars and the Neo Amadeus represented a design duel between their respective mech designers, then Ves would have preferred it if he could win this contest by relying on his own design efforts.

Putting in a gem produced by his cat did not reflect his core design skill. It was an external object that enhanced the performance of a mech through a method that he did not understand and could not replicate through his own effort.

In other words, it was a cheat.

His honor and integrity as a mech designer detested the thought of relying on such a means to win a design duel.

Victory would have no meaning if Ves tainted the process with an external factor.

However, Ves quickly squashed this misguided sentiment to the back of his mind.

So what if he was cheating?

So what if the improvement provided by Lucky's gem was not strictly honorable?

This was war!

There was no place for fairness on the battlefield!

Ves had overcome so many adversities and vanquished over so many opponents because of his willingness to use any means possible to gain advantages over his enemies.

If the upcoming clash between ace mechs was part of a formal design duel, then Ves probably wouldn't have tainted his integrity as a mech designer through this method.

Yet just because he equated it to a design duel did not mean this was actually the case!

The battle at the top needed to be won at all costs!

When Ves was about to put his life as well as the lives of his wife and children at stake, there was no excuse to deprive the Mars of a massive power-up.

He did not even object to relying on additional means to interfere with the duel and tilt the battle in the favor of his side.

For example, if the Sundered Phalanx was not able to match the expert mechs of the Golden Skull Alliance and the Hex Army, then Ves had no qualms about ordering Venerable Davia Stark and Venerable Isobel Kotin to attack the Neo Amadeus from a distance!

Even if an ace mech was easily able to repel the attacks from the Amaranto and the Promethea, if the distraction caused Saint Jeremiah to split at least 5 percent of his attention and power to fending off the incoming energy attacks, then that was more than worth the effort!

Ultimately, his responsibility as a leader compelled him to use one of his precious gems on the Mars.

The stronger the Mars, the greater the chance it could defeat the Neo Amadeus. Once Patriarch Reginald won this duel, he could instantly let loose on the expert mechs and the ordinary troops of the Sundered Phalanx, harvesting hundreds of enemy machines with each passing second!

As an ace hybrid mech, the Mars was actually much more comfortable with slaughtering tides of weaker opponents!

In addition to rolling over the mech units of the Sundered Phalanx, the Mars could unleash its great offensive might against the titan shields that protected the critical space stations of the Kosic Ring.

Once the Mars was able to break them all open in quick succession, the orbit of Pima Prime V would no longer be able to offer as many defensive advantages to the defending forces!

The sooner all of this took place, the shorter the time that the expeditionary fleet got exposed to deadly fire.

Many Larkinsons including Ves and his family no longer risked calamity at this point.

Considering that his very life was at stake, Ves no longer had any objections to this course of action.

What Ves was more concerned about right now was how he could possibly explain his intentions. These gems defied reality to such a degree that it could shake up the entire mech industry if everyone learned of their existence!

By now, both Reginald and Benedict had come close enough to get a good glimpse of the four shiny gems.

Neither of them were average people. As people who had come much closer to hitting the ceiling of a pre-divinity life form, their perception and intuition were much stronger than that of average people!

"What did you bring out, Ves?" Master Benedict asked. "From the way your demeanor has changed, I surmise that they do not merely serve a decorative purpose."

"I can sense power in these gems." Patriarch Reginald simply stated.

Ves looked at the ace pilot in mild surprise. "That's sharp of you. You're right, Reginald. These gems are special. I won't say much about them, but I am comfortable enough with the two of you to reveal that these gems can bring an additional boost to the performance of a mech. Each gem can improve a specific aspect."

"What are the requirements? How much power do they consume?"

"There are no requirements other than that the mech has not previously integrated one of these gems. They don't consume any power either. They are completely self-contained and are easy to install." Ves answered.

That did not satisfy the Master Mech Designer at all. Benedict bombarded Ves with a torrent of questions, each of which was met with answers that sounded more and more incredulous to the older mech designer!

Master Benedict had encountered a lot of fantastic innovations and wonders over his long career, but he had never come face to face with a small and unassuming item that could unconditionally improve the performance of major mech systems in such a ridiculously easy manner!

The man clearly did not believe in all of the outlandish claims, but Ves offered a simple answer.

"The Quint, the Dark Zephyr, the Amaranto, the Riot, the First Sword, the Shield of Samar and the Everchanger are just a handful of mechs that I have enhanced through this method."

This caused Master Benedict to fall silent. His formidable mind went to work as he recalled the past instances where he had witnessed the amazing performance of each of these mechs.

Although there was a lot of weirdness involved with Ves' work, certain performance characteristics could not be fully accounted for. There was a limit to how much true resonance, living mechs and design spirits could enhance the performance of a machine.

When Master Benedict compared the aforementioned mechs to the other works of Ves, it became clear that the first six expert mechs truly performed abnormally well!

Perhaps ordinary mech designers might not be able to make this observation, but Master Mech Designers were different. Now that Ves explicitly pointed it out, Benedict finally understood why he had always felt that the Larkinson expert mechs were a bit too exaggerated in terms of their performance.

The Dark Zephyr was a bit too nimble.

The Amaranto inflicted noticeably more damage.

The Riot was unpredictable.

The First Sword was abnormally capable of cutting through obstacles.

The Shield of Samar's metaphysical growth was too fast.

As for the Everchanger…

Master Benedict's eyes twinkled in an unusual manner before he looked up at the Mars. He no longer doubted Ves' claims.

"If your gems can truly strengthen the Mars, then that would be a boon to our Cross Clan. We will owe you another favor if you are willing to share this benefit with us. We stand a much better chance of surviving the upcoming operation with this additional guarantee. However, the decision does not lie with me. Ultimately, it is up to Reginald and the Mars to decide whether they want to obtain this power. They will also have to conduct last-minute practice in order to acclimatize themselves with the latest improvements as soon as possible."

Both Ves and Master Benedict turned their attention to Patriarch Reginald.

The ace pilot threw a brief glance towards the Mars and scoffed.

Obviously, the Mars did not get a say in this matter.

When Ves studied the mech that he had once imparted with life, he couldn't help but feel sad.

The unusual collision between Patriarch Reginald and the Mars during their first interfacing attempt ended up badly for the latter.

The personality and character of the latter became so suppressed by the newly-advanced ace pilot that there was no measure of equality between the pairing!

Whereas people like Venerable Joshua and Venerable Jannzi had no qualms about treating their living mechs as equals, the Mars had practically devolved into Patriarch Reginald's machine servant!

The growth pattern of the Mars had become completely distorted as a response! Ves never accounted for this possibility and did not have any good solutions for the living mech to regain its dignity.

"Which of these gems should be added to the Mars?" Patriarch Reginald eagerly asked.

As an ace pilot, any performance improvement to his ace mech was a cause for celebration! He couldn't wait to pilot his Mars again after it had been enhanced to a further degree!

Ves thought for a moment. "Each of these gems can improve your ace mech in different ways. It doesn't really matter which one you choose as long as you are satisfied with your choice. Since you can feel them out, try and focus on them and feel which one speaks to you the most."

Surprisingly enough, Patriarch Reginald did not take a long time to make his selection. He only stared at them for a few seconds each before he announced his preference.

"This purple one resonates the most with me." He said as he expressly picked up the shiny gem with his fingers. "I can sense that the other ones will not disappoint me if I make use of them, but this one is more special. I have a feeling that this gem longs to prove itself in battle the most."

Ves did not expect that Reginald would base his selection based on this reason, but it fit with his character.

[Rage of Ayef]

The fury of an unwilling warrior is stored within this gem. Increases the damage of all energy weapons of a mech by 50 percent.

When Ves studied the gem one more time in order to confirm its properties, he felt it was ultimately a good choice.

Not only did its 'personality' match with that of Reginald, but the offensive boost it granted to the ARCEUS System of the Mars expressly strengthened its primary role!

As an offensive mech, it was natural for the Mars to excel in launching attacks!

Strengthening its powerful array of transphasic integrated energy weapon hardpoints not only increased its chances of defeating enemy ace mechs, but also allowed the Mars to gain a lot more lethality against alien warships and other powerful threats!

Ves smiled. "Good choice. Let's install the gem into the Mars and test out the difference. I can already promise you that you will not be disappointed with the attack power of your ace mech!"