The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3652

Chapter 3652 Hazardous Operations

Despite his concerns about people acting out because of the demand to sign their names in the Open Book, no incidents of any sort occurred.

The dignitaries that had shown up were all smart people. They had read up on the Larkinson Clan and its 'special technologies' and figured out that this was just part of the package.

Once they completed their part of the ritual, they weren't all that bothered by the faint new spiritual connections. The Solemn Guardian was a noble, single-minded design spirit that produced a positive effect on people's moods.

In fact, the Larkinsons had performed a careful selection in order to make sure that the different parties reacted well to the Solemn Guardian. The clansmen had to toss aside a lot of candidates whose personalities clashed with the duty-bound design spirit.

Ves and the other Larkinsons were happy enough with those that managed to pass all of their checks. The successful conclusion of the founding ceremony pretty much proved the thirty founding members of the Open Consortium of Krakatoa all harbored goodwill towards the new collective.

The members all knew that as well, so they quickly grew much friendlier towards each other. As of today, they were not only bound to each other by contract, but also by duty. So long as each of them remained a part of the Open Consortium, they were obliged to never plot against each other.

After the ceremony, the dignitaries all moved to a nearby hotel lounge where they all got to know each other further. Numerous members even made private business deals on the spot when they discovered that they could be of service to each other.

As anyone could imagine, the Murphy delegation was the most popular one of all. Almost any pioneering organization could use more ships, so much so that the other parties were all willing to pre-pay their orders.

The amount of people flocking to the Murphies was so great that they were forced to draw lots in order to determine their turns.

This was exactly what the Murphies wanted to see today. Promising to build starships in the future was not a big deal for them. What they truly valued was the hundreds of mech credits pouring into their coffers right away!

Although it would still be an ordeal for Murphy & Sons to restore its incomplete shipyard, at least the shipbuilding company no longer had to worry about becoming insolvent for a long time.

Though the Larkinsons were the last to meet with the Murphy delegation, they had actually made a prior agreement with the shipbuilders.

The first ship that would come out of the shipyard once it was repaired would belong to the Larkinson Clan.

The only question now was to determine what kind of ship the Larkinson Clan wanted to obtain.

"Have you made a decision yet, sir?" Vivian Tsai's projection asked. "Will you go for a new combat carrier or do you prefer a vessel that offers more utility?"

Ves' projection frowned in thought. "I don't suppose we can order a new capital ship, can we? It doesn't have to be as big as the Gorgoneion."

"Impossible." Chief Shipbuilder Melaia Murphy shook her head. "First, our shipyard can only build a ship that is up to 800 meters long and is not too tall or wide. Second, we will be restarting our shipbuilding operations with numerous upgrades to our shipyard as we seek to install new systems that are more easily available in Davute. This means that it is not advisable for us to work on an ambitious project."

That was not pleasant news. Ves was tempted to ask whether the Larkinson Clan could postpone its order until the Murphies sorted out their initial issues, but time was of the essence.

He would rather obtain a new ship sooner than wait another year and get a slightly better one. If a battle broke out in the meantime, then the addition of any hull would definitely save a lot of lives!

"We have enough auxiliary vessels for the moment." Ves stated. "Sure, we could always use more, but our need for carriers is much greater. What is the highest mech capacity that you can stuff in a single combat carrier?"

"The exact figure varies heavily depending on what you are willing to compromise upon." Karina Murphy answered. "If you want to maximize the carrying capacity of your vessel, then you can store 120 or even 150 mechs on an enlarged combat carrier. However, I highly advise against this course of action as the hull would simply be too weak to endure the rigors of combat. It would help if you tell us what your preferred order's mission profile should be. Is she a pure mech conveyor? Will it be utilized for stealth operations? Or do you wish for her to become a specialized ordnance carrier that can continuously resupply ammunition-hungry mechs in combat?"

All of those options sounded compelling to Ves. He had been thinking about his options for an entire day, but he still couldn't make up his mind.

If he had a choice, he would have picked all of the available options, but that was clearly not possible.

He decided that he might as well ask for suggestions. He turned to his other advisors.

"What do you guys think? Raymond, you go first."

The old Larkinson didn't expect the patriarch to ask for his opinion. He had to spend a few moments to compose his thoughts.

"I understand the need for additional carriers, but if you ask me, I think we are neglecting the other needs of our fleet. One of our growing constraints is our increasing lack of cargo capacity. Ever since we have entered the Red Ocean, we have managed to obtain several dozen combat carriers, but we have not acquired any notable amount of logistical ships. This has led to an imbalance in our ship composition that makes it more difficult to run a fleet than it should."

"We have the Spirit of Bentheim, which is able to provide much more support than a dozen smaller vessels." Ves insisted.

"Yes. The ship does not have to compromise her combat performance, but it would be greatly helpful if she is built for statecraft." _{freeweɓnovēl.coɱ}

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