After concluding his extra business with Zachren Bilitsa, Ves was finally ready to leave Pellysa III.
"It's nice to spend time on a planet without everything getting shot to pieces around me." He smiled in satisfaction. "I hope the other planets will be just as pleasant."
Before the Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers finally concluded all of their business and departed from the Pellysa System, Ves received one final message.
He grinned as he read the request for a meeting on short notice. "They finally took the bait."
The Creation Association might be fortunate enough to welcome another 'associate' today. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Ves had recently founded his latest organization after deciding to go serious with commercializing his totems. He needed to create a new division within his empire that managed all of the totems as well as the clients that made use of them. Neither the LMC nor the existing clan administration were equipped to handle these specialized duties.
It took quite a bit of time for him to settle upon a suitable name for his new totem management bureau.
He initially thought about calling it the Church of Vulcan but quickly rejected it out of hand. There was no way he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Prophet Ylvaine and all of those other charlatans.
Ves hated superstition and anything that had to do with it. While he was willing to tolerate other people's faith, he could not bring himself to propagate his own, especially when he saw how much the Vulcan Faith distorted the dwarves into ignorant tall folk haters!
Religion had a bad name in many circles. Secularists immediately rejected anything related to it out hand. Believers in other faiths were incredibly resistant to the elements of foreign beliefs. Ves would have to fight an uphill battle if he wanted to push a new religion onto the public!
"I need to set up a more enlightened organization."
He thought of various alternatives before deciding that it had to be an association.
The word did not possess any obvious negative connotations and it did not possess a hint of religiosity.
The Mech Trade Association may be the most defining organization that carried this word in its name, but there were plenty of other associations in human society.
Sure, their fame, prestige, power, wealth and reputation could not come close to the MTA, but at least they existed!
The appearance of a new organization called the Creation Association would not raise any eyebrows for that reason. It sounded generic enough for people to glance past it on a list, and that was exactly what Ves intended. He wanted to raise a neutral, inoffensive-sounding institution that would not evoke any undesirable prejudice or gut reactions.
Although Ves could have opted for an even more boring and meaningless name such as the '363 Association', he decided against it. Calling his new division the Creation Association not only sounded elegant and dignified, it also reflected the true meaning of the organization.
He did not intend to create a rival or an imitation of the Mech Trade Association. What he truly wanted was to set up a formal support network for Vulcan. As a spiritual entity, there were many things his incarnation couldn't do. Ves also didn't have the time to spare on these time-consuming matters. Only other humans were able to manage and propagate his totems.
For now, the Creation Association did not amount to much. Ves or more precisely his personal assistant had only recently taken care of the initial formalities. The new association did not have any members aside from Ves and did not even have any assets to its name aside from its mostly-empty bank accounts.
It was going to take a lot of work to turn it into a functioning organ, but Ves did not want to bother with all of that administrative work.
"I need to find a suitable director to lead this association."
That was going to be difficult. He needed someone who was open-minded enough to accept the existence of totems and Vulcan, but also possess a good mind for business. Furthermore, Ves needed to be able to trust the person in charge to act as a reliable agent that placed his interests first.
"There aren't many people in the fleet who can meet all of those demands." Ves frowned.
He decided to look into this matter later when he returned to the fleet. For now, he had to attend one final meeting.
After a short while, the armed shuttle landed close to the House of Barach's storefront under heavy escort.
The appearance of numerous mechs including two expert mechs attracted a lot of attention from the shoppers and residents.
Ves ignored the reaction he and his party evoked from the surroundings and marched straight towards the entrance of the store and workshop combination.
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