The Mech Touch novel Chapter 5284

"Miaow?"

"You did a good job, Clixie. I could tell that you have managed to worm your way into the Inferno Spear Prince's heart. Even the most hardened warriors yearns for a soft touch every now and then. Prince Antonius has spent so much time within the halls of power that he has lost sight of what true companionship represents."

"Miaow..."

"I agree. Rubarthans like him constantly have to keep working hard in order to remain competitive in the race for power. Even the princes are not exempt from the perpetual rat races that dominate their society."

The Terrans were much better in that regard. Their power structures were much stabler and more solidified, which meant that the leading Terrans actually had more time to spend on leisure. However, they also had a tendency to take their complacency to the extreme, thereby causing them to stagnate in areas where progress should be made.

The issue over kinship networks reflected this difference. The Terrans hadn't brought up this topic at all while the Rubarthans clearly conveyed the intent to move forward at the beginning.

Ves, his daughter and their cat had all left the Hyper Chamber now that they had concluded their meeting with the Inferno Spear Prince. They had retreated to a private lounge where they could talk in confidence.

"What do you think, Aurelia? You missed the first half of the meeting, but you should have heard enough to know what is going on. What do you think of my proposal?"

His young but growing daughter idly caressed Clixie's back as she remained in thought. Despite her youth, diplomacy was a part of her dense curriculum.

"Your proposal is too weird, papa." The girl eventually said. "You are being too obvious about what you want from the Rubarthans. You are trying to take advantage of them by turning Clixie into their ancestral spirit, right? They would be stupid to accept it! Everything I have read about their people is that they are proud and hate relying on others. Your scheme shouldn't have any chance of working, but the attitude of the Inferno Spear Prince suggests that the Rubarthans haven't ruled out this option."

Ves grinned as he leaned forward to pull his girl into a sideways hug. "The Rubarthans have little choice. Kinship networks are unique products that only I can make. On this particular issue, my negotiating position is superior to that of a first-rate colonial superstate! There is nothing the Rubarthans can do to exert more leverage onto me. It is impossible for them to employ coercion because I am under the protection of the Red Association. They don't want to push me too hard because they are afraid of souring my relationship with them. They can't even use Rubarthan citizenship or other bargaining chips to attract my attention as I don't really care about that stuff."

His daughter still looked befuddled and a bit scared about what her father had just done!

Ves sighed and gently rubbed Aurelia's head with his hand. "You are still thinking from the perspective of a second-rater. Don't. We have stepped up in society. While it isn't easy to explain my current position, the most important part is that I am an inventor that has developed numerous products that have become must-haves in our society. So long as I am the only effective supplier of at least some of these powerful goods, nobody wants to upset me or touch me. It is a mistake to stick to our previous cautious attitude. We need to maximize our advantages, and that means we need to take a bolder approach in our talks with other groups."

"I... understand. I know we can do more now that you have become more important, but..."

"What is it, sweetie?"

"I am afraid... that you are pushing our limits too far." She said in a lower voice. "You are basing your new strategies on the assumption that you are the only person who can supply red humanity with kinship networks and so on. What if that is not true anymore? There are many smart and capable people in the Red Association and the Rubarthan Pact. What if one of their Star Designers manages to reverse engineer your work and create a better version themselves? They have done that often enough in the past."

That was indeed a legitimate concern for Ves. As soon as another researcher or inventor managed to replicate his work or develop a substitute product that offered greater convenience, he would get into big trouble!

All of the resentment and animosity generated by throwing his weight around would surely come to bite him back in the butt!

As much as Ves wanted to dismiss the possibility that anyone else could legitimate compete against him in these areas, it would be a deadly mistake to believe this was true.

The power and ingenuity of humans were limitless. This was especially the case now that red humanity had entered a medium energy environment. Exotic radiation boosted all variations of cultivation and spiritual engineering.

Talented people who had previously been stymied by lack of resources suddenly found themselves surrounded with more E energy radiation than they could handle!

The descendants of long-dead cultivators had dug up all kinds of ancient legacies and inheritances from their vaults and archives. Every week, a new invention might emerge that would substantially affect the development of their civilization.

The emergence of general cultivation elixirs served as an especially wakeup call to Ves!

A part of him felt pissed about that. Even though it was unreasonable to think that way, he felt incredibly angry that he had nothing to do with this particular innovation!

He should have been the one to present the mech community with another enormously useful means to empower its pilots!

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