The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3365

Chapter 3365: Desiging A New Cat

Several weeks had gone by since the coronation of Emperor Rion Aaden. After the encounter with the Olympus Mons, no one in the expeditionary fleet wanted to stay in the Vulcan Empire any second longer than necessary!

Despite taking a faster but riskier route, the Golden Skull Alliance did not meet any resistance. The navigators had deliberately plotted a route that mainly threaded through star systems that were either far too marginal or had already been subjugated by human forces.

Just like before, none of the regional dwarven military forces came out to take revenge on the expeditionary fleet. The other human groups that had joined the feast in Smiling Samuel still treated Ves and his clan as if they were plague bearers.

Together with the mercenary forces that at least made the expeditionary fleet more troublesome to harass, the cost of attacking the Golden Skull Alliance far outweighed the benefits. With so many rich but vulnerable dwarven star systems that were just begging to get looted, hardly any human forces took the initiative to acknowledge the passing fleet's existence!

This pattern continued even after the Larkinsons and their allies finally put the Vulcan Empire behind them. The alert level finally dropped down to green, permitting everyone to remove their protective suits and return to wearing more comfortable outfits.

The return to normality also restored everyone's morale. It was quite stressful to live in an environment where the odds of encountering threats was small but not trivial.

Most of those worries disappeared when they finally left an active war zone and traveled out of the reach of the fanatical and irrational Vulcanites.

"I'd be happy if we never stumble upon another dwarf in our lives!"

"We're finally back on track."

"I still have nightmares about fighting against the Olympus Mons."

Although the personnel of the expeditionary fleet was still profoundly affected by what had happened during the trip, the damage was in a controllable range. As long as nothing outrageous happened in the short term, the entire ordeal would just become another story that people exchanged with each other while drinking.

"We're currently passing through the territory of the Consolidated Kingdom of Namais." Calabast's projection told Ves when he was at his office. "Namais is one of the many states that have teamed up with the Lost to carve up the Vulcan Empire's territories. Most of the kingdom's mech armies are either deployed to Smiling Samuel or have been stationed at its borders in order to deter incursions from its other neighbors. The threat of getting waylaid by one of their military fleets is almost nil. Namais simply doesn't have the manpower to spare."

It was sad that the Larkinsons even had to make a threat assessment of every state they visited. Still, with their history of coming into conflict with states for various reasons, this was not a redundant precaution!

"What about the rest of the Cin Beta Star Sector? Do you foresee any threats?" Ves asked.

Calabast shook her head. "Unlikely. The mercenaries that we've hired are still worth their money. Their troop strength and the repercussions of attacking them is already sufficient to deter most opportunistic robbers who urgently need to pad their capital ship quota."

"Well at least we're not wasting our money." Ves snorted.

"Once we pass through the Consolidated Kingdom of Namais, we'll mostly be traveling through busy, well-established trade routes that have a relatively high safety index. It helps that we will mostly be passing through the various port systems of different third-rate states."

This was the fastest way of traveling through a star sector quickly. Port systems were easy FTL travel destinations and attracted a lot of space traffic due to their inherent advantages.

Even if the Larkinson Clan had no intention of buying anything from these third-class economies, just the convenience of skipping a week or more of monotonous FTL travel was enough to make the trip worthwhile!

Ves glanced at the projected star map. "It won't take long until we finally enter the Antilla Star Cluster. Tell me about this place. Is there anything I should know?"

"If the Gate Consortium hadn't chosen to set one of its gate systems in this star cluster, most people probably wouldn't have paid any special attention to it. We'll only be traveling through two more star sectors. First, we will be entering the Sticky Pernois Star Sector. The environment is slightly complicated here due to the numerous different second-rate states that occupy this region. They've been known to quarrel with each other, but they have all quieted down as of late."

"Because of all of the traffic passing through their territories, am I right?" Ves guessed.

The spymaster's projection nodded. "Ever since the gate system opened next door, many forces in Sticky Pernois are wary of provoking the prospective pioneers that are trying to reach the gate system. None of the people or groups that can arrange passage through the beyonder gates are average. That said, the pioneers themselves aren't always as restrained."

"I've read in the news that incidents of robberies have increased in Sticky Pernois."

"Correct, but we don't have to worry. The local authorities all pretend to be blind and deaf because it is too much of a hassle to intervene in disputes between notable foreign entities. Still, the overwhelming majority of attacks consists of a stronger fleet bullying a weaker one. There is never an instance where two fleets of equal strength fight a serious battle."

All of these battles revolved around profit, and there weren't many gains to be had if attackers lost half of their troops to defeat their prey!

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