The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4344

As much as Ves wanted to devote all of his time to fleshing out the Dullahan Project, he still had a lot of other responsibilities on his plate.

The good news was that it appeared that the combined fleet was on track to leave the territories of the Friday Colonies without any further incidents.

The Fridaymen still hadn't organized any large-scale pursuit fleets even though a large enemy force was still moving through the interior of their colonial state.

At this point, it was already too late for the Fridayman mech fleets to catch up to the combined fleet.

With every advisor telling Ves that the chances of getting ambushed or intercepted had dropped to a massive degree, he let down his guard and handled the follow-up matters of Operation Saturday Market as best as possible.

From attending meetings to inspecting the rich amount and diversity of loot, Ves became more and more impressed at all of the profit the Larkinson Clan had earned from the successful raid.

"Did we capture any prisoners during the battle or during the planetary assault?" Ves asked during a meeting with his spymaster.

Calabast shook her head. "No. Our troops and agents may have picked up wounded or trapped Fridaymen during their sweeps, but we did not keep hold of them. It makes little sense for us to hold onto low-level grunts as they don't provide any value to us. We have already transferred custody of them to the Hex Army. The Hexers are in a much greater position to squeeze more value from their old enemies."

"I see. What about higher-ranking prisoners?"

"There is no chance of obtaining them when they aren't in our reach to begin with." His strategic partner said. "Not every rich and successful leader is a daredevil and thrillseeker like you, Ves. They generally prize their safety a lot more and try to avoid straying within reach of their enemies."

"Hmm. That's a shame. Oh well. Did you manage to find anything interesting out of the large amounts of data that we have retrieved from Pima Prime?"

"Our Black Cats have only begun to decrypt them a short time ago. You are asking too much if you think we are able to unlock the stolen databases so soon. It may take months and years to unlock them all even if we are able to put our immense amount of processing power to work on this issue. It may be more economical for us to sell the encrypted data storage devices to different parties that can work around this problem."

Ves did not look pleased with this answer. "That means that we will likely lose the chance to obtain the data ourselves. I don't want to make it cheaper for others to get rewarded for the risks that we have taken."

"Then how do you want us to proceed?"

"Keep decrypting the data with as much processing power that you can muster. I will try and see if we can boost that further during our return to Davute, but if not then I am fine with settling for a longer wait."

The Larkinson Clan hadn't made much strides in understanding phasewater technology. It was not necessarily useful for the Larkinson mech designer to gain access to rich data on how the Fridaymen applied this tech in different mech and ship-related applications.

"Do you have any better news for me?" He asked.

"Well, it is still early to tell, but our actions and the actions of our allies have made a profound impression in the regional community. Our agents and informers have gathered many clues that suggest that different parties are becoming more willing to cooperate with us, especially when it comes to business."

"Is there any special reason or motivation why they are willing to do business with us, or is it simply because they have taken us a lot more seriously after the operation?"

"It's because of fear."

"Fear?"

"These companies are intimidated by our clan and alliance." Calabast said. "Much as you expect, our impulsive decision to take part in this operation has given others the impression that we are trigger-happy battle maniacs who won't hesitate to fight anyone that has offended our sensibilities. Though this is clearly an exaggeration, the people who are in charge prefer to leave nothing to chance. The most risk-averse course of action that different groups and companies can take is not to ignore our existence, but to maintain a slightly friendly posture towards us while conducting small but constant business transactions."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "It doesn't sound like these third parties are being sincere."

"Of course not." Calabast chuckled. "Fear can't produce any sincerity. Only friendship can do that. Even so, the existence of mutual interests does not necessarily have to depend on sincerity in order to become valid. It is more than worth it to trade with us on a regular basis if it will make us think twice about attacking them one day. After all, we do have a reputation for being friendly and honest towards our friends and allies."

"Does that mean we can order starships easier than before?"

Calabast looked uncertain. "That remains to be seen. The Cross Clan will definitely find it easier to expand its fleet because Patriarch Reginald is the greatest source of intimidation in the Golden Skull Alliance. As for our clan, we simply aren't threatening enough. Much of our strength is based on our expanding commercial activities, and they are simply not as difficult to deal with as overwhelming violence."

She was right. Though the Larkinson Clan and the Cross Clan possessed many similarities, they also differed in many important ways.

Ves always regarded the Larkinson Clan as a vessel to facilitate his mech design career. Designing mechs, producing mechs and selling mechs was a large part of its DNA.

The Cross Clan on the other hand operated more like an orphaned mech army that started up various businesses in order to support its military activities.

When it came to earning power, the Larkinson Clan definitely possessed the edge.

When it came to scaring people senseless, the Cross Clan was much more frightening!

"I do not think there is anything wrong with our positioning." Calabast spoke as if she already knew what he was thinking. "There is real value in building up a positive, upright, honest and approachable image for ourselves. Many of the major business deals that sustain our clan and our numerous subsidiaries wouldn't have formed if we did not attract so many willing and eager business partners. What is better is that few of them have turned away so far. Over time, we will be able to develop a large and intricate web of business interests that will turn us into an untouchable institution in the Red Ocean."

Ves dismissively shrugged. "That is long-term stuff. I'm more interested in what we can gain in the short term. Let's address a more interesting matter. Where did you store the collection of heirloom equipment?"

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