The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3404

Chapter 3404: Dangerous Contraband

Part of the steps that the expeditionary fleet needed to take before entering the Red Ocean was to clean up all of the skeletons in its closet.

The Larkinsons weren't too worried. They belonged to an honorable clan and always acted in good conscience. They hadn't engaged in piracy or launched any unprovoked attacks.

There was one exception, though.

Although no one pinned any solid crimes onto their patriarch's feet, Ves was definitely feeling the heat as his fleet got closer to the sector headquarters of the MTA.

Unlike the rest of his clan, he was anything but clean! Although he usually put in a lot of effort to hide his misdeeds or exploit the rules to excuse his reprehensible acts, who knew what the MTA might dig up once his fleet entered the Opalis System.

Ves had already read up on the procedures that his fleet needed to go through in order to pass through the beyonder gate.

Due to the threat of the Crown Uprising as well as the well-founded concerns about smuggling dangerous contraband into the Red Ocean, the MTA imposed a huge amount of restrictions.

Alongside locking down every mech and many different starship systems, the MTA also conducted deep inspections in order to sniff out any potential risk factor.

Ves had already heard stories about how aspiring pioneers suddenly had to abort their dreams because the MTA discovered incriminating evidence that seriously offended the Association's sensibilities!

Of course, regular crimes such as stealing candy from a shop or neglecting to pay the bill after filling up the fuel tank of a starship did not warrant the Big Two's attention.

What did set off alarms at the highest authorities were major violations such as owning slaves, cultivating lethal viruses and weaponizing starships.

Although most pioneers were smart enough to leave all of their dirty laundry at home, the sheer amount of people looking to colonize the new dwarf galaxy inevitably meant that at least a fraction of them would drop the ball!

Hence the extremely strict security procedures that started even before incoming fleets reached the crucial Opalis System.

As every other Larkinson in the fleet spent their time on other preparations, Ves took Lucky along an extensive tour through several starships in order to clean up even the tiniest amount of trace evidence of his more ignoble deeds.

For example, he spent a few days aboard the Blinding Banshee to check how well Calabast had been able to sanitize any evidence about performing fatal experiments on dwarven captives.

The spymaster looked disgruntled as Ves checked the internal ship network. "Do I look like an amateur to you? I've already removed all of the data storage units and made sure to physically melt them all down to slag. Our budget has taken a significant hit with all of the money I had to spend on replacing potentially incriminating evidence. My crew and I have completely renewed the holding cells and many other compartments down to the decks, the bulkheads and the electronics."

Her confidence was not misplaced. Ves hadn't been able to find anything that looked wrong to him. Though he should have taken Calabast at his word, he still thought that it was best to be thorough.

"Thank you for your efforts. You indeed do a thorough job." He eventually said after a long day of monotonous searching.

"No, you're right to feel concerned. You're not exactly the most subtle mech designer and patriarch in human space. Anyone who takes a single look at your record will immediately find out that you're a trouble magnet. The MTA will definitely perform a more thorough search on our fleet. Fortunately for you, I've already anticipated that and made preparations in advance. We've not only cleaned up the Blinding Banshee, but also our other starships such as the Spirit of the Bentheim and the Dragon's Den."

The two continued to talk about security issues. Though Calabast had thought of almost every possible scenario, Ves did not feel completely relieved. There were also sensitive matters that she probably didn't know about such as his vials of high-grade life-prolonging serum.

Getting that past the MTA inspections would be a serious challenge. Perhaps a part of the MTA already knew he left the Life Research Association with a mountain of controversial research data as well as the aforementioned vials, but it would be incredibly inconvenient to be caught with them while he was undergoing some of the strictest inspections in his life.

All of this needed to be handled carefully. Though Calabast had numerous ways to hide sensitive information and data from the MTA, she couldn't solve his contraband problem.

"Don't underestimate the MTA's deep scanning methods." She told him. "No matter what corner you hide your secret stash, the inspectors will sniff it out sooner or later. Even if you make use of a way to block their scans, their advanced systems will immediately register an anomaly, which will prompt the mechers to take a look in person."

The MTA rarely brought its full resources to bear to perform a given task, but inspecting the pioneering fleets that were about to enter the Red Ocean was one of the few occasions where the organization pulled out all of the stops!

Ves felt rather frustrated after learning about this. He had witnessed many instances where the MTA only did the bare minimum or didn't even live up to its promises at all. He had become so accustomed to dealing with an inattentive Association that he had been slacking in his own precautions.

This was different.

The mechers assigned to guard the Opalis System were incredibly attentive and did not accept any excuses. Ves could forget about smuggling his shady possessions past their sights!

Although Ves was willing to offload a lot of problematic goods, he could not accept giving up his remaining vials of high-grade life-prolonging treatment serum.

Whether they were made from ingredients extracted from the brains of expert pilots or not, their worth and value to Ves was inestimable! He did not want to lose his remaining serum when he still had so much use for all of that universal life energy.

When Ves obliquely mentioned this problem to Calabast, she couldn't give him a good answer.

"I'm sorry, Ves, but I can't help you there. The only way you can solve this issue is if you make a deal with the mechers. They hold all of the power, so you can only choose to compromise with them. Aren't you friendly with Master Willix? Perhaps you should call her and request a favor."

Ves did not look happy. Although this was a workable solution, it entailed entangling himself even further with the organization that he had been trying to maintain his distance.

Yet… how the hell was he supposed to smuggle his bounty from the Life Research Association, his gem cat, his P-stones, his Xona Communication Crystal and his Four Aspects of Lufa past the inspections?

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