The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3991

Chapter 3991 Trust Gap

The first meeting with the Aduc Family ended on a decent note. Both sides maintained their caution while tentatively sharing a few details about themselves.

Of course, neither of them took the initiative to divulge their deepest and darkest secrets. That would be too exaggerated. Even though both sides showed plenty of goodwill to each other, it was still too premature to decide whether they could trust each other with secrets that could provoke a lot of trouble if they were leaked to the public.

"We're at an impasse." Ves said as he entered his office and sat down in his usual chair. "We were only put together because the Transhumanists directed us to do so. We have yet to form a good foundation of trust."

Under normal conditions, it would take months or years for the Larkinson Clan to become familiar enough with the Aduc Family to develop a close friendship. It would be even better if they bonded together in order to overcome their shared challenges.

This was how the Larkinsons became close comrades-in-arms with the Glory Seekers and the Crossers. The clan's alliance partners had proven with their deeds that they were fully worthy of trust!

"Do I need to go through the same song and dance with the Aduc Family?"

That would take far too long!

Time was valuable. Ves already formed many ambitious plans around the T Institute. He needed the Aducs to come and staff it as quickly as possible in order to expand the scope of his spiritual studies. He needed to accelerate the pace of spiritual innovations in order to quickly power up his clan and power base and make it easier to survive the many dangers of the new frontier.

Without enough strength, pioneering organizations were just begging to get crushed!

"I need to change the game, but how?" Ves furrowed his brows.

"Meow."

While he was trying to figure out a solution, his lazy cat hovered on top of his head and perched on the hairy surface.

A metal tail idly whacked the side of Ves' head.

Ves withdrew a chunk of medium-grade exotic from his desk drawer and threw it into his gluttonous cat's maw.

Crunching sounds soon spread throughout the office. Lucky always savored the times he got to eat a decent snack.

"I told you to keep an eye on the Aducs when they visited us. Did you spot anything I should know about?"

"Meow… meow… meow…"

"You didn't spot anything? What the hell am I paying you for? What about their equipment?"

"Meow meow."

"Hm, that's interesting, but only mildly so. The Aducs probably associated themselves with the Transhumanists for a long time. It shouldn't be a surprise that their gear is luxurious."

Though their robes covered up everything, the Aduc Matriarch and her offspring carried better equipment than Ves during the meeting!

The only way for Ves to equalize this situation was if he wore his Unending Regalia. Outside of that, any of the Aducs could have kicked his butt!

Their gear ranged from first-class protective vacsuits to shield generators that were at least an order of magnitude more powerful than his own. The Aduc Matriarch even carried a personal teleporter if Lucky's judgment was correct!

Ves encountered these expensive and highly desirable devices only a few times in his life. He was still amazed by how they could bring a person to safety at any time while being small and light enough to carry around without attracting attention.

In hindsight, the main reason why these life-saving modules were so small was because they probably incorporated a bit of phasewater.

Personal teleporters were extremely expensive at the moment. Not even Ves thought it was worth it to exchange so many of his MTA merits and resources to obtain one at this time.

The Aducs may be wearing better gear, but Ves did not think he and his clan were inferior in other aspects.

The Aduc Family possessed around 50,000 members, which was decent for a low-key family organization that never made any preparations to emigrate to the Red Ocean before its unveiling.

Their relative lack of preparation also meant that their military forces fell behind. The Aducs never stood out for their mech forces. Even if the Aducs expanded their security as of late, they weren't militaristic enough to protect their own fleet and assets.

"They're probably relying on mercenaries to protect their stuff while they are operating in the Red Ocean." Ves surmised.

He continued to go over his observations of the Aducs for a few more minutes until a chime interrupted his musings.

The hatch slid open to allow for the passage of Calabast. The spymaster sauntered into the office as if she owned it. Her relaxed expression signified that she wasn't overly worried about the topic that she intended to address.

"Calabast." Ves curtly greeted his strategic partner. "Tell me your thoughts about the Aduc Family. I'm told that your impression of them isn't too bad."

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify