The Mech Touch

Vulcan had officially got started with the Metal God Method.

While the design spirit had a long journey ahead of him, engaging in a risky but highly lucrative form of artifact cultivation should considerably speed up his journey!

Cynthia Larkinson estimated that Vulcan could reach the threshold to True God in as little as 20 years due to the formidable boost provided by the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown.

Of course, if Vulcan seriously wanted to complete his cultivation at record time, he needed to do his utmost to engage in all four cultivation approaches.

Vulcan not only needed to be more active in spreading his 'faith' among a growing group of devout worshipers, he also had to refine his personal craftsmanship skills by possessing the bodies of many willing artisans.

As reluctant as Ves may be in engaging in a form of superstition, he consoled himself with the fact that the Metal God Method was not too exploitative in nature.

Once Ves verified that Vulcan had successfully drawn the crown to his side, he grew reassured that the threat posed by this ancient relic had been contained.

He retreated from the System Space and directed most of his focus towards Veronica.

The cyborg cat happily announced the results!

"Myaow! It worked, mother! Vulcan only started the first chapter of the new cultivation method for a short amount of time before the crown defected to my incarnation. While I am still a bit concerned about the fact that it is still residing inside the System Space, I'm happy now that it is no longer in direct contact with my Divine Core."

Cynthia's expression hardly changed at the news. It was as if she was absolutely certain that this outcome would happen.

"That is good to hear, my dear. The symbols of authority are all made by different immortal gods, but they are ultimately all the same. Selfishness is written into their blood."

"There's one thing I am unclear about." Veronica spoke. "The crown defected to Vulcan awfully quickly. What is it about Vulcan that attracts the crown so much? I thought that it was intelligent to a degree. Surely it should be aware that my incarnation's Heart of Steel will negate its attempts at manipulation."

His mother released a chuckle. "Oh, dear. You still haven't figured it out. I am disappointed in you. For all of your caution and all of your cleverness, you still failed to see beneath the surface."

Her tone took on a slightly darker edge. It caused Veronica to grow concerned to the point where she no longer felt any jubilation about shifting the crown.

"Uh, what do you mean, mother?"

"Think. Think about what the symbol of authority wants. Think about how Vulcan can appeal to the crown. Since we have established that you do not possess the strength to move the artifact away by force, you have no choice aside from giving what it wants. Did you truly think that you could have lured the crown away without offering sufficiently compelling bait?"

"Wait, what?!" Veronica jumped in the air in alarm! "Did you set a trap in the Metal God Method?! Did you turn Vulcan into bait?!"

"Calm down." The Oblivion Empress admonished the unruly cyborg cat. "Your description is not completely accurate. Let me explain what I have done. You do not need to be afraid about compromising the Heart of Steel. It works exactly as I have portrayed. What you have overlooked is that the devil is in the details."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Do you have any conception of how strong a symbol of authority actually is? No matter whether it is the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown or the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown, they are both transformed from the blood of gods that are powerful enough to crush every living being in a star system. Even a single drop of blood retains a significant fraction of that enormous potential. Compare that to the Heart of Steel. As impressive as it may sound, it is not a divine construct. Vulcan must cultivate it to a much greater extent if he wishes to reluctantly block the full brunt of the crown's manipulation."

Veronica looked a lot more sour now that Cynthia had revealed this ugly truth.

Her mother lied!

She had given the impression that the Heart of Steel would become effective at a relatively early stage, but it turned out that Vulcan needed to cultivate for many years before he could properly guard himself against the malicious influence of the crown!

"When?" The upset cat asked.

"The Metal God Method is divided into 10 stages. I anticipate that Vulcan will need to reach the 7th stage in order to strengthen his Heart of Steel to the point where he can adequately handle any overt pressure exerted by the crown. Even then, the crown may still be able to affect some of his cognition."

Veronica became glum after hearing that. The Metal God Method started off simple but became successively more difficult at the later stages. It would take a lot of years to reach the seventh stage!

"What should Vulcan do in the meantime?" The cat helplessly asked. "Is there nothing my incarnation can do aside from letting the crown brainwash him however it likes?"

"It is not as bad as you think." Cynthia consoled her child. "The Heart of Steel already offers partial protection, and it will grow successfully stronger the closer Vulcan has cultivated to the 7th stage. I have also added another safeguard that should offer an additional layer of protection against the crown."

"Huh? You didn't mention anything about that. What exactly did you do, mother?"

"If you have studied the Metal God Method carefully enough, then you should understand that its deity cultivation aspect is not that simple. If Vulcan practices it properly, he should be able form a stronger connection with his worshipers. Once this has occurred, certain forms of harm that have befallen your incarnation can be diverted to his dedicated subjects. They can bear the burden in his stead. I have worked hard to ensure that any manipulation from the crown can easily be shifted to the masses. This is the release valve and the most effective form of protection that I have been able to devise under the circumstances."

The revelation shocked Veronica. She never thought that this could be done. A part of her felt sickened at what her mother had done.

All of those people that had chosen to bare their hearts to the entity they considered a god had secretly been reduced to decoys of sort.

While it was not their only purpose, Cynthia deliberately turned them into literal human shields just so that Vulcan could escape an attack from the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown!

It was immoral!

It went against the principles that Veronica held dear!

It would have been one thing for Vulcan to cultivate the Metal God Method after becoming aware of this exploitative dynamic, but Veronica only found out afterwards!

She felt betrayed by her own mother!

"Why did you do this?" The cat asked.

The True God gently placed her hand on the cyborg cat's head.

"I did it to protect you, my child. Your life and wellbeing are far more important to me than anything else. I admit that I withheld this important piece of information from you in order to teach you a lesson. Cultivation methods can contain traps. The only way you can guard against them is by creating them yourself or by fully deciphering how they work. Do not blindly trust a cultivation method that looks overly complicated and is difficult to interpret. The greater the complexity, the easier it is for the creator to add in elements that are not benign to the practitioner."

Veronica had certainly learned her lesson alright. She would never put her entire trust in someone else's cultivation method again.

Even her mother had proven herself to be unreliable!

Cynthia radiated approval as she observed her child's shift in mentality.

"Always be on guard. The friends and family that surround you may not always be as trustworthy as you think. I highly suggest that Vulcan takes his time to study and comprehend the entire Metal God Method. This will be helpful to his cultivation. The more he understands the principles of the method, the lower the chance that he will go astray."

"Oh, he'll do that alright." Veronica muttered in response.

"I love you. Whether you are my son or my daughter, the fact of the matter is that you are my heir and my continuation. You are the life that I have nurtured when I had regressed to a mortal. I will not allow you to come to harm if I can help it. I may not be able to protect you from every possible threat, but I SHALL NOT LET AN OLD CROWN TAKE AWAY MY OWN CHILD! NO ONE IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN YOU. THE DWARVES WHO REVERE HIM SHOULD BE HONORED TO OFFER THEMSELVES TO THEIR GOD! I WOULD RATHER SACRIFICE THE LIVES OF TRILLIONS OF DWARVES THAN TO LET YOU SUFFER!"

Power suddenly radiated from the True God!

Cynthia's eyes shone with energy while her robe fluttered as the air began to whip around her form.

Her cruel and heartless domain began to spread from her body and affect the minds of every subject in her expansive fleet inside the Nyxian Gap!

The strong emotions of a True God were difficult to bear for most mortals!

Veronica had jumped away and flew all the way to the furthest side of the meditation chamber. She had grown completely spooked by Cynthia's uncontrollable outburst!

"Myaow! You're sounding kind of scary at the moment! What has happened to you, mother!?"

The cyborg cat's words caused the emotional True God to regain her awareness. Cynthia quickly drew in her presence and retracted her potent domain.

The switch from madness to sanity happened in a matter of seconds. Cynthia seemed so scary at a moment, but she quickly regained the warm and motherly vibe that brought so much peace to Veronica.

"I apologize for that." Cynthia spoke in a much gentler tone. "I did not wish to show this side of me to you. As much as I would like to teach you further, you should leave. I must meditate if I am to calm my restlessness and reinforce my control over myself. We shall speak later."

Before Veronica could get another word in, she felt a strong force grapple her metallic form and quickly toss her through the opened entrance!

As the cyborg cat smacked into the bulkhead on the other hand, the hatch quickly closed shut.

Numerous different energy shields as well as more powerful spiritual barriers came online that completely isolated the Lady of the Night from everyone else, including her own family!

Veronica experienced another chill as she tried to make sense of what just happened.

Her mother's behavior had been... odd, to say the least.

Had Cynthia lost control of her temper, or was all of her theatrics part of another deceptive scheme?

The fact that Veronica could no longer trust her mother on an unconditional basis made it difficult to determine the truth.

It would not be a surprise if Cynthia only acted as if she had gone mad. A deep schemer like her would have many possible reasons to act this way towards Ves and other people.

The more frightening possibility was if this was a part of Cynthia's true face. What if her gentle and loving exterior was just a facade for a much colder and cruder personality?

What if Cynthia had failed to repair all of her spiritual injuries when she became a True God again?

What if she had exposed herself to the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown that her protective measures failed to block its influence?

What if... Cynthia had already been mad long before she ever became a mother?

Veronica suddenly realized that for all of the time she spent in the company of her mother, she didn't actually know much about Cynthia Larkinson.

This was a serious problem.