The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3307

Chapter 3307: High-Quality Stock

Ves grinned so darkly that Calabast and Arnold both looked disturbed.

The mutated beast shivered and used his eight legs to crawl behind Calabast's boots.

"Squeak!"

After the clan patriarch finished indulging in himself, he quickly regained his composure.

"How many prisoners?" He asked.

"We are currently holding 734 Ferril servicemen in our cells." Calabast answered. "We used to hold several hundred more, but when our stealth shuttles and disguised rescue parties retrieved them from their broken mechs and ships, their condition was poor and our medical personnel failed to save them. The good news is that the survivors have all pulled through. Even the most heavily-injured ones have returned to health after receiving intensive treatment from our Lifer doctors. I'm not sure whether it was worth the expense to go so far, though. These dwarves…"

Ves smirked. "Oh, it's worth it. I need them in their best condition. I don't have much use for half-dead dwarven prisoners. This is the first time that I have high-quality experimental test subjects at my disposal. These proud, ferocious, disciplined soldiers are far superior to the pirates and scum that I used to work with! The stronger they are, the better my test results!"

"You…"

He turned to the reluctant-looking woman by his side. "We've been cooperating for a long time, Calabast. I don't believe for a second that you don't know what I've been up to with my prisoners."

"Heh, you're no fun." Calabast shrugged as she dropped her reluctant act. "As a matter of fact, I do have a good idea what goes on when prisoners enter your experimental chambers but never seem to come back out. I suggest that you keep me in the loop from now on. You don't have a security and intelligence background so there are still gaps in the methods you use to prevent leakage of information."

Ves thought about it and didn't immediately reject it. The people who worked alongside him for years already knew he was unusual. Even if he did his best to hide his secrets, people like Calabast weren't stupid.

"Very well, then. You can accompany me this time and take care of security matters. What I'm about to do next is probably going to be so controversial and impactful that I really don't want anyone else to know my intentions."

After they established this agreement, Ves quickly returned to business. He moved over to another cell and spotted another listless dwarf.

"Tell me more about the prisoners."

"Of the 734 prisoners of the Ferril Provincial Army, 212 of them consist of mech pilots and 522 of them are ship personnel. The mix of ship personnel is fairly even but the majority of captured dwarven mech pilots hail from the Molten Hammer and Hivar Roarer mech divisions."

Ves nodded in understanding. During the post-battle rescue operation, he had secretly ordered the Black Cats to go out and smuggle as many dwarven prisoners as they could underneath the noses of the enemy fleet.

The Black Cat retrieval parties did not dare to travel too close to the intact enemy fleet. They could only scour the outskirts and the zones closer to the expeditionary fleet to fulfill their objectives.

If the Black Cats didn't need to hide, then they could have easily captured double or triple the amount of prisoners!

"Do the Ferrils know we have their men?"

Calabast gave him a sidelong glance. "If you're asking whether we will suffer any negative repercussions for capturing these prisoners, then no. My Black Cats have been discreet enough to avoid direct exposure. I can reasonably guess that the Ferril Provincial Army knows we took their men, but they shouldn't have any direct proof or they would have presented it already. After the end of the battle, the beaten dwarven mech divisions were too preoccupied with other matters to be on the lookout for anyone absconding with their own survivors. None of them expected that you would go after their own men."

The unspoken implication was that Ves must be crazy to capture enemy prisoners when there was no apparent meaning to doing so. It was too bad that he didn't care. He had greater priorities in mind and these precious dwarves would play an essential role in his next plan.

As Ves and Calabast continued to walk through the narrow corridor, Ves continued to peer through the one-way screens that kept the dwarves locked in isolation.

"Have you done what I've asked?"

She nodded. "We did. As soon as we took them into captivity, we began to pressure them in different ways. Aside from putting them in long-term isolation, we also stimulated them by limiting their food intake, varying the level of artificial gravity at random times, cutting off their light sources for days on end and broadcasting irritating noise in their cells. Although we have carefully controlled the intensity of these measures to avoid too many breakdowns, a number of dwarves failed to endure our trials. See here for example."

Calabast led Ves a few cells over. When they peered through the other side, they spotted a haggard-looking female dwarven mech pilot who was rocking on her cot like a bot whose programming had gone stuck.

"I want to go home…"

"I want to go home…"

"I want to go home…"

When Ves inspected the poor dwarven soldier with his other senses, he could sense the despair had broken what little spirit she possessed. It would take a disproportionate amount of effort to restore her sanity.

"A pity." Ves said with a touch of sadness. "She's not as valuable in this condition. Still, you can't make an omelet unless you break some eggs. Do you have dwarves who have managed to do well in resisting their treatment?"

"Of course. I'm actually impressed with these dwarven individuals. Their hatred and defiance has reached the level of elite soldiers. The Ferril Provincial Army has trained them well."

Calabast brought him to another cell. The burly dwarven soldier with a beard that stretched to his knees looked completely different from the previous prisoner.

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