The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4679

With Venerable Ark Larkinson unexpectedly becoming engrossed in befriending Goldie and browsing through the pages of the Larkinson Mandate, it fell onto Melinda Larkinson to represent the interests of the Larkinson Family.

"Your family must have gone through a lot of trouble to get here, am I correct?"

Melinda let out a tired breath. "Don't remind me, Ves. We had to give up so much to pay for passage through that giant gate that we would have become bankrupt if it wasn't for plentiful dividends issued by your mech company. Maryun Ultima and the Vulit Star Node are filled with grifters and overpriced services. In the short time we have lived in this dwarf galaxy, we have learned that being poor in this heartless place is the greatest sin that you can commit."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ves lightly responded. "Literally betraying humanity by selling us out to the aliens is an even crime in these parts. I know that you haven't gone deep enough to encounter actual aliens, but the dynamic in the new frontier is vastly more complicated due to their proximity to us. It isn't just other humans that we need to be wary about anymore."

That caused Melinda to look amazed at him. "You can speak from personal experience about that, I suppose. It is still hard for us to believe all of the adventures you have been on and all of the battles you have fought during your time here. Whereas most pioneers crashed and burned within the first few years, your clan under your leadership thrived beyond our wildest expectations. How many alien species have you fought against up to this point?"

"Well, it depends on how you count and define them, but it should easily be more than 50 or so." He told her. "Some of the alien warships and organizations we fought against gathered aliens from many different species together. The main alien species that we have exchanged blows with are the phase whales, the orvens, the nunsers, the puelmers and the voribugs. Each of them are powerful in different ways, and you should be grateful that you never encountered them or their formidable warships in the field."

The actions that Ves described to her were so unimaginably far away from the Larkinson Family that Melinda had difficulty accepting that all of this happened to the Larkinson Clan.

However, she knew that Ves did not massage the truth. Many of the famed battles of the Larkinson Clan were a matter of public record. Even the less publicized battles such as the most recent one that took place in the Ramage Repulsor System had become known to the Larkinson Family due to the regular correspondence between the clan and the old family.

While the clan had gone off to fight against humanity's enemies in the more exciting parts of human space, the Larkinson Family had remained stuck in the Vicious Mountain Star Sector for an awfully long time!

The enormous disparity between the two groups of Larkinsons made Melinda depressed. It was inevitable for her and the rest of the family to develop an inferiority complex.

"I truly admire you, Ves." Melinda frankly said. "Don't get me wrong. I still don't agree with your reckless decisions and your habit of dragging your entire clan head-long into danger. However, it would be dishonest for me to ignore all of the ways that you have managed to make incredible gains with your risky development strategy."

Ves nodded in gratitude. "Thank you for the compliment. It must be hard for you to admit this truth. To be fair, we had plenty of close shaves. If not for all of the tricks we pulled off in battle, it would have been a lot harder to keep our casualties at a controlled level. My clan and I are constantly investing more in our preparations and combat assets in order to prevent us from ever suffering massive casualties like we did in the early days of our clan. While we are still relatively new at this, we are not weighed down by any baggage and we are also nimble enough to learn rapidly from our mistakes."

The two talked a bit more about the complexities and realities of leading organizations.

Though Melinda was not in charge of the Larkinson Family, she had risen so much in the hierarchy that she regularly exchanged opinions with Ark about governing issues.

"I have only met and observed your clan for a short time, but that is enough for me to understand what our family is lacking compared to your clan." She said in an even tone. "It is a quality that we have always lacked, much to our detriment. I never realized how much it mattered until I saw the difference it could make with my own eyes."

He grew more intrigued. "Oh? What is the deficiency that you are referring to? Is it an entrepreneur who can actually earn enough money to pay for all of your bills?"

"Well, that too, but that was not the missing ingredient that I was referring to." She responded and leaned forward. "I think our family lacked cohesion and drifted without aim because we have all lost our purpose. When we were forced to emigrate to the Garlen Empire, we fought and suffered on behalf of several bloodthirsty clans in order to support their callous ambitions, we never made any positive progress in terms of our mentality. We were becoming more broken and unhappy by the year, which was one of the reasons why we had to leave that awful state before we reached the tipping point."

The Larkinson Family had long centered its existence around serving the Bright Republic and protecting the citizens of the state.

After getting driven away by the very people they loved, the members of the old family suffered a betrayal that traumatized them in a deep and serious fashion.

As far as Ves was concerned, the Larkinsons of the old family had already become broken from the moment the Bright Republic no longer wanted them anymore.

When Ves looked at Melinda, he saw a tired woman who shouldered far too many responsibilities than she should. No matter how hard she tried to further the interests of the Larkinson Family, the harsh and cruel reality around her negated all of her efforts.

He pitied her and the other members of the old family. Even Venerable Ark Larkinson whose command prowess and personal combat ability was renowned among high-tier expert pilots had not been able to reverse the malaise among his people!

"I don't think you are being fully accurate in your description." He told her. "Your family certainly lacked a strong purpose, but what is also missing is spirit."

"...Spirit?"

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