The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2509

Chapter 2509: Widening Scope

After Ves concluded his meeting with Master Willix, he decided to meet with Patriarch Reginald of the Cross Clan at the seat of his power.

Though discussing with someone at their home ground would put him at a disadvantage, Ves did not think too highly of the Crossers. They were brutes who mainly ruled with their fists. Even if they were helped by a comprehensive staff of professionals, as long as the head was a muscle-headed gloryhound, the governance of the clan would always be dysfunctional.

Ves just wanted to visit the flagship of the Cross Clan in person, nothing more.

Though the Larkinson Clan still awaited the delivery of its first capital ship, Ves intended to obtain much more. With the amount of merits he possessed, a substantial proportion of the 20-ship quota that came with passage through the Red Ocean would fall into his hands.

That was 7 to 8 ships if Ves succeeded in negotiating his fair share.

He did not want to waste this quota. While he knew that a blooming shipbuilding industry had set up in the Red Ocean, right now demand far exceeded supply.

Most industries in the Red Ocean were still in their infancy. What development humanity had set up on the other side of the inter-galactic beyonder gate mostly belonged to the Big Two. As the MTA and CFA still had to complete the conquest of the dwarf galaxy, the output of those established industries all went towards supporting the frontline mech armies and war fleets.

This meant that the pioneers essentially had to start from scratch in order to satisfy their own needs.

It was quite hard to get the ball rolling. Without a lot of existing infrastructure, many settlements had to be built, and that took a lot of financial and material investment.

The few organizations who managed to get their shipyards up and running were flooded with orders from eager and wealthy pioneers. Combined with the fact that the supply of high-quality materials necessary to build starships was still in very short supply, a factory ship like the one ordered by his clan might cost twenty times or even fifty times of what he ought to pay!

This reality showed him that he would undoubtedly get ripped off if he wanted to acquire more capital ships once he reached the new dwarf galaxy. It would take at least another decade for prices to drop to reasonable levels. _{freёwebnoѵel.com}

"Fortunately, the pricing of subcapital ships shouldn't be so extreme."

Capital ships were much harder and more cumbersome to build than smaller vessels. It was relatively easy for a shipbuilding company to set up a small or medium-sized orbital shipyard. The only reason why the prices of most smaller ships were inflated as well was because of the shortage of materials.

This was not a critical problem to Ves. He would deal with the problem of acquiring combat carriers and logistical ships when he reached the new frontier.

For now, his priorities mainly concerned the expert mechs and the capital ships of his clan. Their acquisition increased the actual strength of his expeditionary fleet.

Ves was not blinded by the reputation and prestige he had accumulated in recent years. He also did not intend to put too much stock in Master Willix's overt support.

Perhaps the yokels of the local star sector might respect the Larkinsons, but it would be a very different story once he crossed over! By nature, the pioneers who were able to afford a beyonder ticket were all exceptional in their own right. There were too many whose strength and accomplishments completely crushed his little clan.

With the mixing of so many crouching tigers and hidden dragons, an adorable cat like the Larkinson Clan wouldn't scare anyone.

"The only way to earn their respect is for the cat to bare her claws."

After all, even if a cat was not a threatening animal, she could inflict a lot of pain with her claws!

"Isn't that right, Goldie?"

The spiritual cat didn't manifest, but Ves stroked the emblem affixed on the cover of the Larkinson Mandate regardless.

The book had grown more vigorous and exceptional in recent times. The explosive growth of the Golden Cat also initiated some unknown transformations in the ancestral heirloom.

To be honest, Ves actually didn't expect such a process to take place. While the book still remained the same from a physical standpoint, in his spiritual vision he observed the intrinsic spiritual foundation growing and transforming into something different.

The book had to grow in order to accommodate the expanding strength of the Golden Cat. The two of them were tied to each other. While this breed a dangerous degree of interdependence, it also offered opportunities as well.

"It's kind of like the synergy between mechs and mech pilots."

He suddenly realized that he could apply presumed specialization in a broader context than just mech and mech pilot.

If he broadened the scope of his specialty, wasn't it just an instance of establishing symbiosis between an object and a living entity?

This idea had potential. He was already capable of producing totems, which were simply objects that possessed a bit of life. While Ves wasn't able to impart as much spirituality into objects that weren't mechs, it was not impossible for him to achieve some results if he put in some effort.

Could he expand this relation? Was it possible to strengthen this clan by widening the application of his design philosophy?

He began to formulate several interesting possibilities.

What if he turned the Larkinson Regalia into his exclusive totem?

What if he paired a Larkinson ship captain with his factory ship?

What if he bound Venerable Joshua to a life-oriented totem?

"It can't be that simple!"

He shook his head. Though these ideas all held promise, he did not forget about the inherent danger of performing spiritual manipulation on living people. If anything went wrong, death was a very real possibility!

If Ves somehow caused Venerable Joshua to blow up his own head, then his loss was incalculable!

At the very least, Ves had to perform his experiments on more expendable test subjects.

"Should I import some captured pirates?"

Ever since he figured out that human civilization did not extend rights to pirates, he discovered that there was quite an active underground market for them. While it was a lurid and unsavory means of earning a living, there were still plenty of Peacekeeper outfits and other organizations that eagerly wanted to supplement their income by extracting the most value out of their pirate captives.

The only problem was that the documentation surrounding the merchandise could easily be forged or falsified.

Sometimes, innocent spacers forced to crew the ships of their captors were lumped into the same groups as murderous pirates.

Other times, the Peacekeepers even snatched random civilians from nowhere and slapped the label of pirates on their heads!

Therefore, this unregulated market was very murky. A proper, upright warrior clan such as the Larkinsons would never engage with such filth.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify