The Mech Touch

Most of the people watching the broadcast had yet to be introduced to the greater meaning of E energy.

These were mostly average people who had grown up in a society that depended on technology for almost everything.

This was why they did not take Ves' lecture so seriously. Even if he happened to be right, what did his lesson have to do with them? Ordinary folk were too far removed from majestic displays of power!

It didn't matter. Ves was doing them a favor. Each of them would realize sooner or later that his lesson was more relevant to them than they could ever imagine.

The powerful whirlpool behind Ves broke apart as Blinky began to exert his control in a different fashion.

The large mass of water gradually reformed into a visage that looked like a miniature copy of the Azure Tornado Dragon that he once fought against!

Though Ves had decided to feed its entire spirituality to the Oceancaller, his brief but 'intimate' contact with the mutated beast enabled him to memorize many of its details!

The water version of the Azure Tornado Dragon did not just look like a water mold of this once-powerful beast.

It also imitated its original aura!

Of course, its glow was not as good as the authentic version. Ves only comprehended so much of the concepts that the Azure Tornado Dragon innately mastered. The boost in understanding granted by the Oceancaller also had its limits.

The demonstration of power still managed to produce a greater impact than usual. More and more people began to suspect that Ves was teaching them a lesson that was more profound than they realized!

Ves blamed the Red Two for the reluctance to disclose the greater truth surrounding E energy.

He understood why the mechers and many other groups refrained from teaching everything. Knowledge was power, and it was better if it was concentrated at the top.

E energy could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Red humanity had not yet developed enough safety measures to detect and counteract the many ways it could be abused.

This was a persistent policy problem at the top. Multiple factions had formed around the question of how extensively society should gain access to the methods that enabled people to wield E energy to a greater degree.

Ves had yet to make up his mind on the issue. His work made it so that he was leaning on the side of greater liberalization and knowledge sharing.

Yet he was not naive enough to know that a lot of individuals would definitely find a way to abuse the power of E energy for their own selfish desires.

The most powerful humans at the bottom were especially prone to extreme behavior!

Back during the Age of Mechs, they could hardly make any waves due to the fact that individual power meant nothing in a huge technological society.

The mechs and warships of the Mech Trade Association could easily crush any opposition that threatened the stability of human space!

This time was different. From what Ves had learned from various sources, qi cultivators relied heavily on talent and comprehension to increase their power and longevity. Special resources could also help them overcome their lack of qualifications and improve their conditions.

That alone was enough to prevent the vast majority of people from making rapid progress, but there were always outliers who were able to leapfrog their way to power!

Perhaps the upper echelon had already put Ves into the same category. He was no different from the ordinary folk that the leading figures were wary about.

Fortunately, Ves had the good sense to build a good relationship with the mechers. By proving with his actions and deeds that he was willing to abide by their rules and make them happy.

He wondered how long that would last.

Ves knew that he was definitely pushing a few boundaries today. Perhaps the Transhumanist Faction would be happy to see him reveal a small portion of the greater truth of reality, but the fleeters and many other powerful groups might not be too happy with him at the moment!

Too bad.

After making his point clear, Ves and Blinky dispersed the vivid and animated water version of the Azure Tornado Dragon.

"Human beings have unlimited potential." He repeated to his audience. "Many of us may start out weak, but through the power of growth, we can evolve into better, smarter and stronger versions of ourselves. The god pilots and the Star Designers that many of us admire so much are the modern pinnacles of what we can attain through continuous growth!"

It was not always proper to invoke these esteemed powerhouses in what amounted to a glorified sales pitch, but Ves deliberately mentioned them in order to put his audience in the right mindset.

Ves smirked. "If humans can grow, what about mechs? E energy is a fundamental power that can transform the properties and attributes of any object. It can imbue mechs with the power of life. This not only makes them smarter and more responsible, but also grants them the ability to grow if they did not have it already."

He waved his arm, summoning projections of third-party mechs standing alongside LMC mechs.

"Each mech possesses a small but inherent capacity for growth. They can even break through certain barriers and gain many traits that can only be found in more powerful machines." Ves revealed. "Yet most machines are never designed with growth in mind, so their capacity to evolve past their physical limitations have always been constrained."

Ves raised his arm and swept them in front of his face. Old battle footage of numerous familiar Larkinson mechs filled up the mech arena.

Over the past year, numerous old mechs derived from models such as the Bright Warrior, the Valkyrie Redeemer and the Transcendent Punisher evolved into third order living mechs!

Each of these mechs had outgrown their original templates and embarked on a unique growth trajectory.

While they would always share a connection with their original designs, third order living mechs fared best if they received targeted modifications.

Each third order living mech gave off the impression that there was a beating heart beneath all of the strong and sturdy alloy plating.

It was an odd sensation and one that felt contradictory to many people.

Regardless, now that Ves had introduced them to the crowd, it became easier for these people to distinguish third order living mechs from their more mundane counterparts.

This was not a lecture on living mechs per se, so Ves was preparing to unveil the new mech that he always wanted to present.

The projections disappeared. Much of Phoca Arena's interior descended into darkness. The only source of light that remained was the spotlight shining onto Ves and his cat.

Lucky had perched onto Ves' shoulder by this time. He sat in a more attentive posture that made it seem as if he was playing the role of a ceremonial guard.

"Meow."

Mechanical sounds began to spread across the empty mech arena.

Pretty much every mech pilot was familiar with them as these were the noises produced by mechs on the move.

The darkness and the projected shadow curtains ensured that the mechs stepping into the enormous central arena remained clouded in darkness.

Faint whining noises could be heard as well. These were the tell-tale sounds of a combination of antigrav modules and thrusters that were usually associated with medium-sized bots and drones.

The more perceptive and augmented people in the arena were faintly able to estimate how many mechs and spurs were on the move.

What puzzled a number of them was that the estimated quantity of drones was not high relative to the amount of mechs.

Ordinary drone mechs tended to deploy a multitude of disposable spurs. The Sparrow Storm's multitude of Sparrows had defined this mech type for so many generations that it had become the widely accepted standard in the mech industry.

As the mechs in the dark continued to step closer to the center of the mech arena, Ves continued his speech.

"Growth and evolution is central to progress. Without moving forward, we deny ourselves the ability to improve our capabilities. Just as we can foster our own growth, we can advance our technologies as well. As a tool-using race, humanity's strength has always been defined by the tech we use to amplify our own strength. My living mechs have made a lot of progress since I initially brought them to life."

The loud metal-on-metal footsteps ceased once the mechs reached their assigned locations.

Darkness still kept the machines out of sight, though a faint amount of light shining from indeterminate angles caused their contours to become more visible.

The mechs did not look too big or broad at first glance. Their frames were rather slender, but that was usually expected when they had deployed their spurs.

The only reason for drone mechs to bulk up was if they needed to accommodate greater quantities of spurs.

The more advanced versions of the Sparrow Storm were considerably broader and heavier than their base model!

This reinforced the impression that the upcoming new drone mech evidently did not emphasize quantity all that much.

This was not a conventional design choice to say the least. It made at least a bit of sense in the current day as smaller spurs found it challenging to inflict serious damage onto alien warships, but smaller quantities of spurs somewhat defeated the purpose of fielding drone mechs.

Was the LMC truly preparing to introduce a worthwhile new mech model?

It had to be worth all of the hype if the Larkinsons and the mechers spent a lot of effort into organizing this product reveal.

"The Living Mech Corporation has remained quiet in the past year. My fellow researchers and I have chosen to stay out of the generational opening rush and work towards developing meaningful improvements. Now that we have completed multiple significant advancements, I am happy to reveal our first proper commercial mech line. Compared to many of the products that have been put on sale, my latest work has been properly adapted to the Hyper Generation from the ground up. You can all rest assured that it is an original mech design that is fully made with hyper materials and E energy in mind."

Drums started to roll as the time to unveil his mechs had come.

Ves exuded a stronger glow as his enthusiasm reached a peak.

"Let me introduce you to the tricksters that can fool your sensors, the lords that are born to wield the potential of multiple elements and the spirited machines that contain multiple interconnected lives. Please grace your eyes on the Fey Fianna!"

Many lights began to fall upon the different variants and configurations of the Fey Fianna, casting them in a sculpted light that caused these machines to show off their exteriors in a dramatic fashion!

The music became more bombastic to the point where a lot of attendees applauded the long-awaited reveal.

The Fey Fianna not only showed their appearances to the public for the first time, but their fey also made an impression to all of the viewers.

Each fey exuded a more constrained sense of vitality. The fey also looked surprisingly large and bulky when compared to other spurs.

This gave the fey a greater sense of weight and importance. No matter whether they were armed with luminar crystal cannons or energy shields, the fey looked like they possessed an attitude that hinted at independent control.

Yet they also circled around their drone mechs under the careful and deliberate arrangement of their mech pilots.

This made it seem as if the large spurs were more akin to dogs on a leash than mindless bots that could not do anything without receiving any deliberate commands!

Whether that was good or bad remained to be seen, but the new mech certainly aroused the interest of a lot of people!