The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4945

Big news spread throughout the upper circles of Davute!

"The Larkinson Clan has announced that its patriarch has just advanced to the rank of Senior Mech Designer!"

"How is that possible?! Isn't he supposed to be a third-class bumpkin?! How in the cosmos is he able to become a Senior faster than all of the professors at the Davute University of Technology?!"

"Hah! I knew he was a genius. He didn't break the Polymath's record, but he's not that much worse either. Don't underestimate the potential of a mech designer who earned seven masterwork certificates in the Journeyman stage!"

"This is good news. The stronger he becomes, the more he can assist our colonial federation in our impending war against the Karlachs."

"How likely do you think he will attain Master?"

"Damn, the Living Mech Corporation is already hard to deal with due to their living mechs, and that is when its principal designer is just a Journeyman. Now that he has become a senior, the Larkinsons are bound to win over a greater share of the mech market than before!"

"He's improving too quickly! Not even our worst contingency plans have accounted for this exaggerated promotion speed. What if he becomes a Master before his centennial birthday?"

As the most prominent and high-profile mech designer of the younger generation in the Krakatoa Middle Zone, the announcement of his unexpectedly quick advancement turned into a major topic of discussion!

Initially, the storm spread throughout the political circles of Davute. The Larkinson Clan and its patriarch had abundantly established its prestige in the newly-founded colonial state, so any major change among the Larkinsons could potentially impact a lot of Davutans.

However, Ves and his fellow Larkinsons had also become heroes and household names throughout Davute, so an event that normally did not attract much attention suddenly blew up and turned into prime gossip material!

The young colonial state had never witnessed such an absurdity. Although Journeymen promoting to Senior was not an common event, it was not worth highlighting outside of the mech community.

Normally, only the friends, colleagues, competitors, business partners and customers of the mech designer reacted to such an occurrence as it directly affected their lives.

The fact that the news of Ves' advancement not only elicited a huge reaction from every corner in Davute, but also produced ripple effects in Karlach and far beyond was a sign that his influence had spread far and wide!

As a citizen of Davute, Tristan Wesseling received the news pretty early. The Larkinsons had not deigned to hide this massive development, and instead publicized it through all of their channels!

Tristan had a habit of closely following any news related to the Larkinson Clan, but even he found it difficult to accept the claim.

"Ves became a Senior? This soon?"

This was almost incomprehensible to Tristan. As a direct disciple of Master Katzenberg, he learned what it took to make this transition.

However, knowing was one thing. Pulling it off was another.

A mech designer not only had to study a lot, but combine what he learned with successful research to invent original new design applications.

Most talented and particularly clever mech designers could pull this off as long as they were capable of stepping out the prior work of their predecessors.

What Journeymen truly struggled with was the need to make a profound mental shift. Just saying a bunch of high-minded words was not enough. Mech designers needed to draw from the context of their environment and find an overarching reason to justify the need to pursue a greater goal.

Just as how expert pilots used their conviction to compel themselves to push beyond their limits, Journeymen needed to light a fire that was hot enough to burn down the barriers that restricted their rise!

If that was not enough, mech designers also had to make a major impact on people's lives through their work!

It was not enough to become a celebrity or abuse their authority. They needed to touch people's lives by relying solely on the spread of their works.

This could be done in two different ways.

A Journeyman could arm lots of people and groups with mass-market models that inevitably proliferated on a wider scale.

A Journeyman could also take the elite route and focus on servicing a smaller group of elites whose activities affected a lot of people.

A lot of younger mech designers struggled to satisfy this condition. Most weren't qualified to become the lead designers of major mech design projects. They could only play an assisting or contributing role.

Doing this enabled them to produce at least some impact on people's lives, but the credit they received was much less, which inevitably delayed their advancement.

What was special about Ves was that he had to worry the least about this particular requirement!

As for a more normal mech designer such as Tristan, this was one of the most difficult hurdles that he could overcome at this stage in his career.

It didn't help that he had left the familiar Friday Coalition and all of his connections over there behind in order to start anew in the Colonial Federation of Davute.

This was also why many mech designers did not wish to emigrate from their old and familiar states even if they received better opportunities elsewhere.

If they did not have the confidence to expand their business in a new environment, they were better off sticking to their old haunts!

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