The Mech Touch

Ves received a decent amount of clarification from Jovy.

Understanding what exactly happened a few hours ago helped Ves a lot. He was starting to move past the trauma of losing an exceedingly precious living mech and began to think about how he could avoid this outcome in the future.

If the mechers wanted Ves to move past the darkness that clouded his thoughts, then they had made a fair amount of progress.

He still couldn't move past his enormous failure, but it was a good sign that he was starting to think about the future again.

Too little time had passed for Ves to be ready to move on, though. The more he wanted to let go, the more his memories of the Elemental Lord pulled him back.

There was no easy way for Ves to overcome this problem.

Jovy clearly understood this fact and did not occupy his friend for long.

"Mech designers can never succeed all the time. The further you go, the greater the challenges you will have to overcome. While it is not my intention to discourage you, it may be better for you to set your grander ambitions aside and work towards strengthening your foundation. The stronger your fundamentals, the greater the chance that your mechs will be able to survive these ordeals."

That was a sensible piece of advice. "I agree. Maybe it is time for me to stay grounded for a time."

There was so much room to improve. His failure may have caused him to lose the Elemental Lord, but its legacy still lived on in his mind.

He knew exactly what he had done to fabricate such an amazing work.

While he was not certain about his ability to reproduce a mech that was just as brilliant when he was not in an inspired state, he could still learn from the design and all of the spontaneous decisions he had made during the fabrication run.

This would be his way of making sure that the Elemental Lord still lived on in another way. Its existence would be remembered and its contributions would remain visible in the form of many small improvements and advancements derived from its brilliant existence.

Ves felt as if he went through a small mental baptism by the time the Tarrasque teleported him back to Diandi Base.

Upon his return, Ves sternly made it clear that he did not want to be disturbed for the time being.

Not even Lucky could keep him company.

"Meow..."

"I am sorry, buddy, but I need to take care of an important matter."

Ves retreated to his design lab and forced himself to write down his logs and add as many annotations to the design of the Elemental Lord as possible.

He wanted to translate all of his current thoughts and insights into writing while they still remained fresh.

This was an essential step to the long process of learning from his mistakes and doing a much better job next time.

He might not be in the best mood to undertake this work, but he owed it to the Elemental Lord to do what was necessary to preserve its legacy to the best possible extent.

As he worked, Ves noticed that he had become a lot more productive than before.

Despite his exhausted and emotionally drained state, Ves felt as if his mind had undergone a huge expansion.

The radical physical changes produced by the latest lightning baptism had literally amplified the size of his brain!

Somehow, these radical physical changes took place without producing any distortions, injuries or other sequelae!

Ves did not even feel weird or uncomfortable about the fact that thousands of kilograms of his own body mass had been folded into different dimensions.

Even though his actual body was stuck in a convoluted dimensional puzzle, his actual experience with his current state was not much different from before.

"How is this possible?"

This was the charm of a lightning tribulation. Any positive changes that took place usually ended up well. No mortal force was able to do a better job than the power of supreme creation!

Ves ended his note-taking a lot faster than he expected. It gave him the illusion that he had gained a copy of Gloriana's much-anticipated first-class cranial implant.

Of course, there were many differences between the two. He could vaguely discern that the radical expansion of his brain matter largely served to help him assert control over his massive true body.

Ves could not precisely tell how large his actual body had grown after his phasewater concentration had gained such a massive boost.

One outcome was for certain. He would probably be mistaken for a monstrous giant if he ever unveiled his true body in front of an ignorant crowd!

"I need to head somewhere private and see how I truly look like if I undo all of this space folding."

He needed to know what he was dealing with in order to prevent any future surprises. Who knew whether it would be handy for him to take advantage of his enormously inflated scale one day.

His thoughts did not linger too long on his phase lord cultivation. He was willing to take advantage of it whenever it was convenient, but he did not intend to obsess over its benefits.

As Ves continued to stare at the design of the Elemental Lord, he suddenly jerked when he noticed that one of his incarnations received a surprise visit.

Back in the old galaxy, the Oblivion Empress had deigned to pay a visit to Veronica.

The living divine artifact rested on a table and stared aimlessly at a design terminal.

What happened back on New Constantinople VIII had produced such a massive impact that not even Veronica could focus on her routine design work anymore!

"My child." A deceptively mild voice called out from the side.

No matter how gentle her voice may be, there was no way that Veronica could possibly disregard her own mother!

"Mother." The mechanical feline responded. "I suppose you have come to talk about how my main self arrogantly sought to challenge the heavens, only for his work to get struck down as punishment?"

The robed True God maintained a non-judgmental expression as he sat in front of Veronica.

"I came to dispel your ignorance. Now that you have touched upon a layer of reality that was previously beyond your reach, it is better if you develop a better understanding of the forces that you have challenged and insulted with your work."

Veronica frowned. Jovy had offered a lot of clarification, but he never offered an exact explanation why the Elemental Lord provoked such a violent response.

"Can you tell me the taboo that I have violated in the process of creating my latest work?"

Cynthia settled in a more comfortable stance. "To do that, I need to explain the purpose of heavenly punishment. You should have an understanding that galaxies are controlled by enormous and unfathomable existences, correct? They were called the heavens or the heavenly dao in ancient times. It is beyond the scope of this conversation to explain their full nature, but it is enough for me to say that they are the collective representatives of the galaxies that have spawned them. The stronger the energies in a given area, the stronger and more encompassing they become. It should be obvious to you that Messier 87 hosts one of the most powerful and domineering heavenly authorities in the cosmos."

The female cat nodded. "1 can understand that logic. What does that have to do with lightning tribulations?"

"I am getting there, my child. Now, a heavenly authority is spawned from a galaxy and is generally, but not always, concerned with the health and survival of that very same cosmic environment. Since the heavenly authority is largely derived from the power of heaven, it is highly concerned with the use and abuse of these energies. What you call E energy radiation may seem like a free and endlessly renewable resource to you and your fellow red humans, but this is not actually the case. Nothing is truly free, and the E energy that is released by Messier 87 all have an existing owner."

That was a remarkably different perspective on E energy than the general consensus back in the Red Ocean.

Veronica felt a bit sour about this truth. "So we have all been leeching off someone else's energy, is that what you are trying to convey?"

"The heavenly authority has the right and the power to set its rules regarding its use. If anyone ever uses the power of heaven in a manner that is not conducive to the health or the goals of the dominant authority, then the latter will take action to punish the violent and deter others from committing similar misdeeds in the future."

That caused Veronica to look upset. "I can understand this punishment mechanism, but why does it turn into a reward mechanism so long as a violation is strong enough to make it past a tribulation?"

Cynthia chuckled. "That has to do with one of the fundamental rules of reality. Never forget that might make right. Not even the heavens can circumvent this truth. They must always be fair to a degree. If the weak commit a crime, then they must suffer the punishment. If the strong commit a crime, then they will be rewarded for their actions so long as they can withstand the consequences. I understand that this brief explanation may sound highly contradictory to your ears, but I do not make the rules."

It sounded as if even a True God with a deep understanding of cultivation science was frustrated about the operation of the heavens!

"I don't get it." Veronica said in a tone that conveyed clear frustration. "Why did Messier 87 have to be so heavy-handed in striking down my Elemental Lord?"

"There are multiple reasons that can explain what has happened. One of them is internal and the other one is external. I shall start with the latter first. To put it simply, Messier 87 is an enormous galaxy that is filled with the power of heaven and cultivators who know how to make use of it. Now think of how a galaxy develops where a growing population of powerful aliens continually extracts the same resource over and over again. Do you think that the galaxy can always satisfy this growing demand?"

"No." Veronica shook her head. "That is impossible. There has to be a limit."

"This is one of the reasons why a heavenly authority must exist. It acts as a combination between an environmental protection agency and a resource management bureau. When the power of heaven is abundant, it is inclined to be fairly lenient about the usage of this widely available energy. However, Messier 87 is not old, but occupied with an unimaginable amount of aliens, many of whom are cultivators. I cannot discern too much information about them, but the severity of the lightning tribulation indicates that this powerful galaxy is... operating close to its maximum capacity."

In other words, it was like a highly congested sports stadium that was already filled to the limit.

It was incredibly different to keep all of the occupants happy and in line. It was logical for the security forces to act harshly against those that wish to enter the stadium by force or ruin the enjoyment of legitimate customers!

Veronica was grateful to her mother for finally giving her a clear explanation.

"I do not really understand the logic behind the harsh response." The cyborg cat said. "All of that E energy radiation that is spilling outside of the confines of the galaxy is going to waste anyway. Why does this heavenly authority care about the fact that I intended to recycle it for my own use? There are so many other humans in the Red Ocean that are doing the same! Why am I being singled out all of a sudden?"

Her mother's expression took on a graver expression. A heavy aura formed around her that generated an air of solemnity.

"It is because your violation was too severe, my child. When you attempted to create a mech that immediately possessed the potential to combine the five elements, you did not just attempt to create a living mech that was the equivalent to a True God if it fully realized its potential. You challenged the heavens themselves by usurping a part of its authority. This is the internal reason why your work could never be tolerated. If your living mech was truly able to combine all five elements at once, it will have the ability to merge them into higher forms of energy that can threaten the heavenly authority and bring its galaxy out of balance. Do you understand now?"

"Uhh, I don't think so..."

"Well, you are less ignorant than you were an hour ago. If not for the fact that a lightning tribulation must follow the rules, it would have crushed your elemental mech with all of the power of 81 strikes at once! Do not doubt my words. In fact, do not even think about repeating your stunt. You can design any mech you like, but your strength has to match your ambitions. If you dare to create another machine that inherently wields the five elements before you are ready, then the lightning tribulation may not be so merciful next time!"