The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2194

Chapter 2194 Blinded

Task Force Predator almost made it all the way through Wreckage Paradise.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Larkinsons did not encounter many more pirates along the way. According to the intelligence the Black Cats gathered, some of the sites they visited should have been occupied by established pirate groups.

Most of the locations were devoid of enemies.

The Black Cats deserved no blame for this. The pirates had left plenty of evidence of their presence behind. No one wanted to come across the dreaded Larkinson Clan, which had already defeated over a dozen different pirate organizations who were just minding their business!

This was something that the pirates were fairly accustomed to doing. Life in the Nyxian Gap was anything but stable and the smarter ones knew when to run if an insurmountable opponent appeared.

Regardless, the Larkinson Clan increased in strength. After studying all of their prior battles and digesting all of their gains, the overall performance of all of the mech pilots rose by a substantial amount.

The battle-hardened Swordmaidens and Battle Criers only improved mildly, but the more numerous Avatars and Sentinels which contained a large number of rookies experienced more drastic gains.

Overall, the goal of using the pirates of Wreckage Paradise as a whetstone to sharpen the task force troops had been met! The rookies were no longer as green as before and earned the trust of the veterans.

With increased confidence, the Larkinsons entered into the inner periphery of the Nyxian Gap, which many people regarded as a true pirate haven.

The asteroids floating around became considerably more dense. The spatial warping effect had grown strong enough to cause many precision instruments to glitch at a slightly higher rate than before.

The spiritual interference field increased in strength as well, causing everyone’s quality of sleep to degrade.

As the fleet slowed down its pace and adopted a more guarded posture, many clansmen found strength in each other. The dangers looming over their heads and the risks they faced caused many of them to be struck with anxiety.

Various people preferred various coping methods. Some wanted to get drunk and play Pirate Empires. Others poured themselves into training or self-study.

A significant portion of the clan preferred to spend their time differently.

In the past, this group of adopted Larkinsons possessed a much bigger say, but the mass recruitment in the Cinach System caused thousands of them to diminish in importance.

Regardless, the tight-knit group exhibited a remarkable degree of closeness and unity.

Of all of the developing factions within the Larkinson Clan, the Ylvainans clearly fell out of lockstep with the other clansmen.

Unlike the small but incredibly influential group of trueblood Larkinsons and other Brighters, the Ylvainans embraced religion instead of scorning it. The contrast was so extreme that it was a miracle Ylvainans managed to remain in harmony with the rest of the clan.

This was especially so because the Ylvainans overwhelmingly came from the radical True Ylvaine Dynasty faction of the Ylvaine Protectorate!

The murky past of the True Believers caused Ves and many other clansmen to view the Ylvainans with suspicion.

However, as time went by and the Larkinsons recruited an even greater number of people in the Sentinel Kingdom, the concerns surrounding the Ylvainans slowly diminished.

The overwhelming majority of Ylvainans turned out to be polite, friendly and tolerant. They did not attempt to force their beliefs on everyone, though they did not refrain from speaking about them either.

Suspicions about the Ylvainans faded as the leaders of the clan busied themselves with integrating tens of thousands of foreigners at once. The excursion into the Nyxian Gap demanded a lot of attention as well.

With the Ylvainans laying low, they slowly gained acceptance from secularists members of the Larkinson Clan. What the Ylvainans shared in common with the rest of the clansmen mattered a lot more than their differences.

That said, the Ylvainans still maintained their own distinctive identity in the Larkinson Clan. James Ylvaine, the self-proclaimed Living Prophet, held absolute sway over the Ylvainan faction.

Right now, he was standing in the observation chamber of one of the light carriers of the Avatars.

Unlike the majority of the Larkinsons stationed on the ship, James wore the plain red-and-white uniform of a general clan member.

Even though he was capable of piloting a mech, James never applied to join the Avatars of Myth or Living Sentinels. Instead, he maintained no official position at all. In fact, he shouldn’t even be allowed aboard the light carrier!

Still, it was a mistake to treat him as an ordinary clansman. No one knew what James had done to convince Commander Melkor to travel along the Avatars of Myth.

No matter what, he was a genuine, upstanding member of the clan. Every clansman possessed the ability to detect something amiss from their fellow Larkinsons if they harbored any seditious thoughts, but James never exhibited anything but respect and admiration for the clan he joined.

As James reminiscent what it took to get this far, the hatch to the observation chamber suddenly slid open.

Taon Melin, a strong Ylvainan mech pilot and the chosen of Zeal, approached with a strong stride.

He looked out at the dim view of asteroids floating and spinning in space. Remarkably, none of them collided into each other. Maynard Fields would have been a lot more dangerous if that was the case.

"Taon." James greeted with a compellingly smooth voice. "How goes your day?"

The former elite Kronon mech pilot shrugged. "Do you even need to ask?"

"You are doing quite well in the Deliverer, but that is to be expected. You are so willing to surrender yourself when you pilot this great machine that you are beginning to neglect your own strength. Faith may be important, but that does not mean you should look up to a higher power whenever you want to do something. Faith is meant to strengthen you. You are missing the point if you are weakening yourself instead."

Taon frowned. "I.. did not realize that. I will mull over your advice and do better."

"I know you will, my child. The error that you have made is not an unusual one in the flock. Remember that even if you are a believer, you are still a human. In our mortal shells, we are each born with humans wants and desires. Do not forsake them so readily in order to become a shell."

The mech pilot dutifully nodded. Even if he did not realize the full import of the advice given by James, he already intended to study them later.

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