Chapter 3940 Instilled With Confidence
"Nyeow nyeow…"
"You hear that? Minxie has been worried sick while you were gone! When I think of all of the mech pilots who died in Purgatory, I worry I might be one of those unlucky spouses who become widowed all of a sudden."
"C'mon babe, I'm fine. With my strong physique and good diet, I'll be up and running in no time."
"You don't sound like it. Just look at you. You're barely able to sit upright in your bed!"
When Ves entered one of the recovery rooms of the Dragon's Den, he encountered one of the newly-emerged expert pilots along with the rest of his little family.
A white Persian cat rested on Vincent's lap while rubbing her head against her owner's hand.
Director Raella Larkinson stood beside the bed with a concerned and exasperated expression.
"Oh hey, look who's here! The big man finally paid us a visit!"
Ves ignored Vincent and nodded towards Raella. "How are you doing, cousin?"
"I'm doing better." Raella flatly said. "This dummy here is as stubborn as ever. Advancing to expert pilot hasn't seemed to wisen him up at all. He's still as overconfident as ever."
"Hey! I'm an expert pilot now. I'm stronger than ever. Once Ves over here delivers an expert mech to me, I will show you that my performance last time was not a fluke! I have found my calling now! I am a master puncher!"
"You idiot! You pilot a hybrid mech! Fighting up close is only a last resort! You should stick to using ranged weapons!"
"I don't like them anymore." Vincent shook his head. "Back when I broke through, I finally learned my true calling. I've been moving back and forth between different mech types because I never really found what I was good at. In the last battle, I finally found my calling. Screw rifles and cannons. Screw swords and shields. A real man fights with his fists! It's punching time for me from now on! Once I can pilot an expert mech that's a pure punching machine, you can just sit back and cheer whenever I shatter starships in half with my punches and wrestle phase whales into submission!"
"Nyeow!"
Raella did not even deign to comment on her husband's mad ideas. She turned to Ves with a pleading expression.
"Please don't indulge my idiot of a manchild over here. I have a suspicion that his apotheosis hit him so hard over the head that his mental age has regressed. As the responsible adult in the room, I hope you can smack some sense in his head and get him to pilot a normal mech again."
Ves shrugged. "I'll see what I can do. You should get used to this, though. In my extensive personal experience, expert pilots are stubborn and deaf to persuasion."
"I know that. I grew up in the same family as you, remember? Just do what you can. Vincent respects you because you're his mech supplier."
"I understand. Can you step outside for a moment? I'd like to talk to Vincent in confidence."
"Very well. You boys go play by yourselves."
"Nyeow nyeow."
Raella picked up her furry white cat and left the recovery room. Once the hatch closed up, Ves approached and sat down at one of the bedside chairs.
Now that he came close, he briefly swept Vincent with his spiritual senses.
The man he used to know had undergone an extensive transformation in mind and will. Although his personality didn't appear to have changed, he had gained a strong core of confidence and self-belief that persistently propped him up. All of his insecurities and his doubts about himself had disappeared!
Before his apotheosis, Vincent often acted brave in front of a crowd, but Ves knew that this was partially a facade.
Vincent was not an elite mech pilot. He did not undergo military training. He never truly specialized in a particular set of piloting or fighting skills.
In Ves' opinion, Vincent was just a messy mech pilot who lucked out and broke through to the rank of expert candidate under admittedly dire conditions.
That still did not make him ready for the next step. Aside from polishing his piloting skills, Vincent also needed to undergo an extensive mental evolution before he could think about becoming a demigod.
Ves estimated that it would have taken five to ten years before Vincent grew 'mature' enough to assume the power and responsibilities of an expert pilot.
However, the Everchanger's stunt had given this lucky bastard a shortcut that allowed him to resolve his confidence issues in advance, allowing him to undergo apotheosis at a crucial time!
Though Ves was happy that one of his expert candidates finally broke through, he felt that Vincent had only undergone the bare minimum of mental evolution before he became an expert pilot.
Perhaps it would have been better if he spent a few more years as an expert candidate in order to mature his mentality over time!
Now that he thought about it, Ves felt that a lot of mech pilots who broke through too quickly were too prone to developing mental disorders.
He could think about that later. First, he needed to finish his round of talks with all of the new expert candidates and expert pilots that had emerged.
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