The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2969

Chapter 2969: Extra Pioneers

Ves finished his tour of the Dragon's Den after exploring the lower decks of the massive vessel. In fact, much of the internal volume of the capital ship was dedicated towards the large, open biomes that were designed to accommodate a wide variety of flora and fauna.

Ves and his companions had temporarily changed into a hazard suit in order to walk across a biome that encompassed a couple of hundred meters in each direction. The gravity had been increased to 1.5 g while the air density had been tripled. All kinds of toxic and corrosive gasses were pumped into the air in order to provide a suitable living environment for a specific species of exobeasts that the Dragon's Den once held.

"Due to our hasty departure from the LRA, we never managed to procure enough exobeasts to fill up all of the biomes." Dr. Ranya explained in a regretful tone. "Enormous compartments like these are still empty. While we could have dedicated this biome to a smaller species, it would be a considerable waste. I hope our fleet will be passing through some star systems that offer suitable large-sized exobeasts or designer beasts. The Dragon's Den isn't much of a den if it doesn't contain enough beasts."

Ves nodded in agreement. "I will pay attention to this matter. Please keep my requirements in mind. I am most interested in acquiring mutated beasts. If you can't find any, then seek out any beasts with sufficient sentience that possess interesting abilities. They will make for good experimental subjects if nothing else."

He had to find a different source for test subjects now that he was no longer able to capture pirates and criminals on a frequent basis. Otherwise, how could he continue to explore the more dangerous aspects of spirituality?

If he had a choice, Ves preferred to experiment on human test subjects. Human spirituality possessed distinct traits, and understanding them was the key to designing better living mechs, design spirits, companion spirits and many other relevant applications.

Performing experiments on animals, whether they were spiritually active or not, was not as ideal. While the smarter and more sentient beasts still possessed many similarities to humans, it just wasn't the same.

Still, no one in the galaxy cared about the welfare of beasts in the current age. There were just too damn many of them, and the more exotic species often possessed interesting traits that could advance human technology if scientists managed to unlock their secrets.

This was one of the main reasons why he valued the Dragon's Den. To him, the capital ship wasn't just a research vessel or a luxury hotel for different beasts. It was a mobile test subject carrier that Ves could bring everywhere he traveled in order to make sure he would never run out of experimental subjects!

After he ended his tour of the Dragon's Den, he waved Dr. Ranya and Commander Rivington goodbye before making a stop at the Graveyard.

The defensive ship and salvage ship looked rather ugly and messy. Though her bulk was quite formidable, she did not look classy at all due to all of the salvaged metals adorning her exterior hull.

The Graveyard was not a complicated ship, so Ves kept his tour short. He displayed a lot of interest in the salvage processing facilities of the tough and sturdy capital ship.

"Our ship's extensive processing machines can break down most kinds of second-class debris." An engineer assigned to supervise the industrial processes proudly boasted. "The machines and equipment you see here are very efficient at breaking down and recovering low-quality exotics and materials. We can also process raw ores as long as they aren't too weird. As long as it is not too complex, we can process many tons of messy objects at a rate and yield that is not inferior to that of a dedicated salvage processing plant."

Ves nodded in understanding. This capability would become very useful in the Red Ocean where it would become a lot harder to get access to materials that many people took for granted in the developed parts of the Milky Way.

"How well can the Graveyard process higher-quality exotics?" He asked. "While being able to recycle bulk materials is essential for a fleet as large as ours, many of our mechs and a lot of advanced ship systems can't be built without premium materials. I hope we can become as self-sufficient as possible in this regard."

The engineer's expression became less confident. "Our facilities are not as good in this area. The Graveyard did not come supplied with the processing machines that are necessary to increase our efficiency in this aspect. While we have some machines that are capable of processing a decent variety of higher-quality materials, their working speeds are low and their yields and recovery rates are also not up to par. Trying to extract more volatile and energetic exotics from a mech wreck will typically result in a loss of 60 to 95 percent."

It was a lot harder to extract volatile exotics out of a product than putting it in. This was because they had been permanently processed and combined with other materials. Trying to break these bonds resulted in a lot of damage, causing these valuable exotics to lose some of their potency and extraordinary factors that made them special.

This was a rather deep and complicated topic. There were too many variables to count, and even someone who possessed a higher-than-average understanding of salvaging processes such as Ves couldn't guarantee he would be able to recover every exotic from a piece of debris!

"I'm not satisfied with the current capabilities of the salvage processing capabilities of the Graveyard." Ves plainly spoke. "I'll discuss this matter with some people and order them to upgrade some of these machines before we enter the Red Ocean. If possible, I want this ship to become capable of processing first-class materials, if only the most low-end ones!"

"That's impossible, sir! While there are some second-class machines that are capable of processing cheaper first-class salvage, those are usually restricted models that are not available on the market. The only other choice we have is to procure a first-class equivalent, but they cost as much as the Graveyard if not more."

That… sounded troublesome. There were many other spending priorities that ranked vastly higher than a better salvage processing machine. As much as Ves wanted to shore up this weakness, he would rather invest in additional capital ships or a higher-quality expert mech.

"Well, I hope that you and your crew will be able to find alternate solutions. Even manual solutions that don't rely on any huge industrial machines are acceptable. When we reach the Red Ocean, it becomes critical for us to be able to replenish our raw material reserves by ourselves. I hope you know that and do your part in alleviating the supply situation."

The engineer puffed his chest. "We will do our best to come up with solutions, patriarch. The Graveyard is more than just a damage sponge. I am confident that her processing capabilities will bring the most benefit to our fleet!"

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