The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2687

Chapter 2687: Dignity

Plenty of expert pilots survived after their expert mechs fell in battle.

As long as they managed to eject their cockpits, they stood a decent chance of making it back to safety.

For example, the Cross Clan only lost 1 out of 4 expert pilots. The Planat Clan still retained Venerable Damira Planat while the Praetor Clan managed to recover Venerable Albert Praetor.

As for the Fridaymen, more than half of their foreign expert pilots actually perished. This was not just because their cockpits were of a lower grade than the rest, but also due to the sheer amount of opponents they fought.

The end was especially brutal. When four Fridayman expert mechs wanted to stall the expeditionary forces as long as possible, they became swamped by a thousand mechs.

There was no way any of the hostile expert pilots would be able to survive after their cockpits were struck by a couple of hundred attacks!

Fortunately, the circumstances surrounding the defeat of the Charlemagne and Jeanne D'Arc were different. There were no hostiles left remaining around them so there was no risk of dispatching a rescue shuttle to pull out the trapped and injured expert pilots.

Better yet, the two expert mechs fell rather close to the Spirit of Bentheim, so the rescue shuttle directly deposited the patients back to the ship with the best medical facilities in the Larkinson fleet.

After hearing that Venerable Ghanso's case was very dire, Ves did not dare to dilly-dally around. He swiftly entered the treatment room where Ghanso's body was laid onto some kind of medical platform.

Despite all of the hardware, none of the medical equipment was able to do anything to stabilize the mentally-anguished expert pilots.

In fact, Ves felt it as soon as he entered the chamber. His mind became swept by a highly-erratic force of will that appeared to be very unstable.

"Ahhh! Ves! I'll.. kill you! The Larkinsons.. must be restored!"

Well, at least some things hadn't changed.

Hearing Ghanso's curse immediately caused Ves to discard all of the sympathy he briefly held for the fallen Larkinson.

"Hello, cousin." Ves casually greeted as he walked up to Ghanso. He didn't forget to activate the jammer function of his Unending Regalia. "It looks like you won't be getting your wish."

The closer he got, the more difficult it was for him to keep his cool in the face of Ghanso's unstable force of will.

Ghanso's mind was like a leaking tub. No matter how much the expert pilot wanted to keep himself together, the barrier that protected and contained his mind had deteriorated to a heavy degree.

It was like a city wall that had been subjected to heavy bombardment. Too many parts of the walls had been damaged for it to serve its purposes. Unless Ghanso or someone else was able to plug all of the gaps, there was no way to prevent Ghanso's mind, will and spirit from eroding due to a combination of leakage and outside exposure.

The human mind wasn't meant to exist in the open. Much like how regular human bodies easily got infected or polluted by toxins if they suffered cuts, Ghanso's open mind was simply incapable of defending itself from all of the consequences of losing its defenses.

While he didn't show it, Ves was taken aback by what he saw. He frequently experimented on spirituality. What if he triggered an accident that caused his mind barrier to form holes as well?

Was treating it as simple as patching it up with spare spiritual energy?

Ves had an urge to try this solution out on Venerable Ghanso on the spot. While he didn't want to make Ghanso better, it was worth it to conduct an experiment. Anyway, it wasn't as if his cousin could resist becoming his next test subject.

"Why.. are you staring me.. Like that? Talk to me.. Already!"

"Shut up for a moment." Ves snapped as he concentrated his mind.

Without caring for what Ghanso felt, Ves began to extend a firm spiritual projection that performed some simple actions.

He basically grabbed a piece of Ghanso's force of will and tried to mold it into a patch that covered one of the holes in Ghanso's mind barrier.

"AHHHH! I'LL KILL YOU!"

It didn't work. The patch was too insubstantial and impermanent.

Ves tried again. He grabbed different parts of Ghanso's mind and also varied the quantity he utilized.

Nothing worked. Ves even made use of his own spiritual energy, but that led to a bad reaction that caused Ghanso to utter another curse.

In the end, the expert pilot's mental barrier hadn't improved at all. In fact, its holes and tears were becoming wider. Ves estimated that it would collapse entirely after 20 or 30 minutes.

He sighed. "You're dying."

"You didn't.. need to tell me that." Ghanso glared at the object of his loathing. "At least.. give me the decency.. of looking you in the eyes. Get rid.. of that dumb helmet."

Ves tapped the side of his helmet, causing his faceplate to turn completely transparent.

"I'm not taking off my helmet. Who knows what kind of hidden weapon you are hiding in your body."

"I'm bound here!" You have a bodyguard right behind you! I'm completely at your mercy!"

"That makes me want to keep my helmet on even more."

"You insufferable bastard!"

Ves crossed his arms. "Look, I don't like to wear a bulky suit of armor that interferes with my movements either, but it's people like you who keep forcing me to wear it."

"You deserve it! I.. hope someone else.. can succeed where I have failed." Ghanso gasped.

Even upon his dying breath, the stubborn Larkinson still clung to his hate. Ves did not sense a single measure of remorse in his cousin's resentful tone.

He felt disappointed. He had hoped that Ghanso would regain an inkling of his sanity at the onset of his death, but Ves felt as if he was facing an old grandpa who still clung to his outdated biases to the very end.

There was no way to redeem Ghanso.

"You're really pathetic, you know that?" Ves spoke as he looked down on his captive. "You went through all of this trouble to pursue a goal that no Larkinson can agree with. Have you ever thought that you don't actually represent the will of the Larkinsons?"

"You're wrong! I.. am a true Larkinson! Only I am continuing the legacy of our predecessors. You.. you ruined everything! The entire family has gone astray because of your greed!"

Ves snorted. "I find it rather silly that you think you are the hero of your own story. Circumstances can change, Ghanso. The political environment has changed. The economic environment has changed. Our relations have changed. Our capabilities have changed. Clinging to the past when it no longer fits the present is how species die off. Nothing lasts forever. Only a stubborn fossil like you thinks the old ways are still viable."

This was a philosophical debate that was destined to go nowhere. The acid glare that Ghanso threw at Ves encapsulated the expert pilot's obsession. His entire identity was centered around the illusion that he was the 'savior' of the Larkinson Family. He never paid any thought of whether he was wrong on anything.

Perhaps his mind and spirit might shatter completely if he was forced to recognize his faults.

What a sad expert pilot.

Ves turned around and extended his hand.

"Book, please."

Nitaa handed over the Larkinson Mandate to his armored hand.

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