The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2512

Chapter 2512: Altered Power Balance

The Cross Clan had changed!

Before, Ves and the Larkinsons looked down on the Crossers. The latter were a bunch of washed-up warriors who lost their foundation.

Ves even concocted some plans to assimilate the refugees into the Larkinsons. No matter their deficiencies, the refugee fleet largely consisted of bona-fide second-class soldiers. Their martial prowess exceeded that of the Hexers.

This was because unlike Hexadric Hegemony, the Garlen Empire constantly engaged in war!

Even though the scale of wars in the Vicious Mountain Star Sector was not very large, the fact that many Garlaners fought in their lifetimes was undeniable!

Only true war produced true warriors. Ves had already observed many deficiencies from both sides of the Komodo War. In particular, the insular Hexers made many assumptions that turned out to be different from reality.

The tribes of the Garlen Empire would never make so many fundamental mistakes! Their enthusiasm for battle meant they were very motivated in increasing their effective battle strength.

Each time the Larkinsons saw the Crosser mechs performing live exercises, the disparity in martial tradition became very clear.

The Cross Clan were consummate soldiers and warriors!

The precision of their formations, their controlled aggression, the versatility and utilization of their powerful second-class mechs and more completely transcended everything Ves had witnessed!

Even if the Larkinson Clan's mech forces possessed a strong core of battle-hardened veterans, their foundation was still too shallow. Surviving a few desperate battles in the Nyxian Gap did not make the Larkinsons qualified to take part in proper conflicts between second-class powers.

"We still have much to go to complete our transition from a third-class to a second-class power." Ves sighed as his shuttle departed the grand flagship of the Cross Clan.

In terms of military development, the Cross clan possessed an undeniable edge.

The reason why the Larkinson Clan still kept its head high was because of its superior industrial and financial strength.

This went beyond just having a pair of Journeyman. The LMC was a rising mech company that had long exceeded the scale of other typical mech companies. The great attraction of glows caused its products to have a very wide appeal in many different markets.

The revenue earned by the company was astronomical! Though the low value of third-class mechs and the large number of middlemen involved meant that the per-unit profit was fairly low, the quantity of sales was terrifying!

Across the surrounding star sectors, LMC mechs became increasingly more ubiquitous.

The current commercial mech models offered by the LMC all provided a lot of value, making them a good fit for many customers in almost every state.

The Komodo War also showed the great promise of employing LMC mechs on a much greater scale. This meant that customers were ordering the LMC's products in greater batches than before!

These trends showed no signs of abating. In fact, the LMC's growth jumped yet again as the publicity of the Miracle Couple's wedding enabled the LMC to reach out to even further markets!

Money was the foundation of success in human space.

The Larkinson Clan only needed a little time to convert its earnings into additional battle power.

"It's too bad I can't take advantage of the Crossers anymore." Ves regretfully sighed.

Now that the Cross Clan gained the support of the Skull Architect, their industrial and financial prowess would likely surge again. It would take time, but the prospect of bankruptcy no longer loomed over their heads.

The only advantage the Larkinson Clan possessed was that its scale and foundation was hard to match by most competitors.

The Skull Architect did not possess as great of a business foundation as the Miracle Couple. He essentially had to start from scratch, whether it was designing a set of suitable mechs for the Crossers to acquiring the industrial capacity needed to produce his mechs.

He did not possess the cluster-wide production, distribution and sales networks that the LMC painstakingly built.

His current cover identity wasn't famous enough. Almost no one had heard of 'Professor Benedict Cortez'. It would take years of hard work to build up a reputation that was somewhat comparable to recently-advanced Seniors. Without the brand recognition of an established mech company, the Skull Architect wouldn't be able to achieve a lot of sales at the start.

"It's doubtful whether he will even invest in a fixed industry."

There wasn't enough time. The Red Ocean beckoned. The Larkinson Clan was almost ready to embark on its grand expedition. Once it departed, the LMC operations it left behind wouldn't become abandoned goods.

The LMC already made adequate preparations to keep its local operations going. With the help of prior accumulation, business alliances, government support and the Larkinson Loyalty Medallions, it was no problem to maintain their current level of productivity and profitability.

For at least a decade, the LMC's operations in the Yeina Star Sector would continue to supply a steady stream of cash to the Larkinson Clan.

This was vitally important because it was not easy for the Larkinson Clan to earn a sufficient amount of money on the move. Its expanding fleet and mech roster meant that its expenses were ballooning rapidly.

There was no choice. The current Larkinson Clan had to invest enormous sums in almost every aspect. The current development for the clan called for the acquisition of lots of capital ships, sub-capital ships, mechs, supplies and augmentations.

Even with the astounding success of the LMC, Ves still needed to work hard to expand its income.

This was something the Cross Clan and its new guest would never be able to accomplish in a short time.

"It seems the problem is not as bad as I feared. The Larkinson Clan should still possess a strong financial edge.

It was just that the Cross Clan was no longer in such a desperate position as before. Senior Mech Designers had many ways to earn money aside from running their own mech companies.

Even without producing a single mech, Professor Cortez could leverage his formidable design skills to design excellent mechs and simply put them up for licensing or outright sell them like a design studio.

He could even accept commissions from wealthy clients. Just like how Ves initially accepted a commission from DIVA, it was no problem for a Senior to solve the problem of individual clients for a rich reward.

Aside from that, there were other ways that the Skull Architect could earn money. He could tutor mech designers over the galactic net. He could leverage his formidable science and engineering knowledge to assist in the research and development of mech components.

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