The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4634

Ves continued to report on the state of the captured human prisoner.

"When our troopers initially found the suspected cosmopolitan on the alien bridge, his mental state was poor. He did not resist capture and continued to mumble to himself as we transferred him over to one of my ships."

"That is odd." Master Goldstein frowned. "Cosmopolitans generally do not allow themselves to be captured alive. As true believers of a forbidden cause, they would rather deny us of any benefits than bargain for their lives. The pilot of the first-class multipurpose mech is an example of that. For this suspected diplomat to allow himself to get caught by your men is highly… unusual, though not unprecedented. What is his current state?" _{free𝑤ebnovel.com}

"We currently have an entire team of doctors and security officers keeping watch over him." Ves replied. "We have tried to interrogate him, but we did not apply any heavy interrogation techniques for fear of triggering a failsafe. We also decided not to tamper with his implants or force him to undergo an artificial sleep cycle."

Master Goldstein nodded in approval. "Your precautions are adequate and wise. Every cosmopolitan is known to carry multiple failsafes. The higher their rank and the more vital their responsibilities, the greater their precautions. You should connect your team that is watching over him with one of our counterintelligence agents right away. If too much time has passed without the cosmopolitan making small actions, his cranial implant may decide that he is compromised and will detonate an explosive. This is only one of several possibilities that I have deduced based on the scans that you have transmitted."

Prominent and important first-raters had to carry these kinds of failsafes by necessity. Not doing so would make it far too attractive to kidnap them and force them to cough up lots of sensitive information.

However, few went as far as planting a small explosive inside their own heads!

If any glitch occurred or if anyone hacked the self-destruct function, the unlucky victim had no way of salvaging his life!

Ves would never allow himself to make himself vulnerable to this nightmare scenario!

"Okay, please send me the details."

It took a bit of time to make the arrangements. Once Master Goldstein became assured that the Golden Skullers received proper guidance on how to preserve their gains as much as possible, the man made an announcement.

"I originally planned to divert one of our nearby ships to your current star systems, but the importance of your findings merit a more significant response. I will personally make my way to SDDD-4343X-AER-232666410 so that I can inspect your gains and determine your compensation by myself."

That was a surprise to Ves. He knew that the capture of such a significant alien battleship would have attracted the mechers to him, but for one of the confidantes of the Polymath to make his way over in person was a clear signal that this was a big deal!

"We will await your arrival." Ves promised even as he planned to accelerate any private looting activities before the MTA came and took away the rest. "When do you expect to arrive at this star system?"

"I will be slightly delayed as I must pass through several destinations. I must also arrange the personnel and ships to establish extensive control over the site. I estimate it will take no later than 36 standard hours to arrive at your location."

"I see."

"Fret not, young mech designer." Master Goldstein smiled. "We have not disregarded your recent contributions. Your actions, though fueled by selfish motives, nonetheless align with our goals. That makes you far better than the rats who can only scurry in the dark due to their continual failings. The Mech Trade Association is always fair and you and your allies shall receive the compensation you deserve. This is also a convenient opportunity to settle the rewards of defeating an alien pirate base and neutralizing an aberrant member of the phase whale species."

The Golden Skull Alliance had been waiting for that. Ves figured that he would only get to settle all of that when his fleet left the turbulent border region, but now that Master Goldstein was coming, he could easily handle this matter himself given the authority that he possessed.

That was good. The chance that Ves would receive a better reward was much higher now that he had made successive contributions.

As much as a part of Ves felt annoyed that he was being trained to become a dog of the Association, he didn't mind it too much as long as he received sufficient compensation.

Both sides took what they needed from each other. Ves couldn't ask for more since his bargaining power was still poor compared to the vast MTA.

After concluding the call, Ves returned to the command center and immediately issued a series of orders. He wanted his men to speed up the search and salvaging process.

The main expeditionary fleet was already on its way back to the Ramage Repulsor System as well. Once Spirit of Bentheim along with hundreds of other ships arrived, Ves would not lack for manpower to investigate and extract as much value as he could reasonably get away with in a span of 36 hours.

"This is going to be tough." He frowned.

If his salvage teams disregarded everything, they could break the ship apart from the inside and steal everything of great strategic and practical value.

For example, his men could cut away entire power generators, shield generators, intact warship gun batteries and many more powerful technological products.

The alien battleship was freshly built and was in peak condition only a few months ago. Though the successive battles she had been a part of had taken a toll on her systems, many of her intact tech were still good enough that the Larkinsons could install on their own ships!

When Ves thought about mounting a set of orven segmented shield generators on his flagship, he already began to salivate at the thought.

"No!"

He vigorously shook his head.

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