The Mech Touch novel Chapter 6420

?Chapter 6420 A Diplomatic Test

Ves did the obligatory press tour.

His heart was not in it, but he entertained a lot of interviewers and patiently answered their questions despite how repetitive and stupid they became.

Ves did not try to pull off anything fancy. Creating and publishing his first set of Carmine mechs was the greatest public relations move that he could make.

All he needed to do was to show that he could be more than the Father of Carmine Mechs. By elucidating the public with his viewpoints and proving that he possessed the right attitude towards public service, Ves hoped to establish himself as a leader who could be relied upon, especially during this time of crisis.

By presenting a more mature and responsible version of himself, Ves shed off the vestiges of his more youthful self and made himself appear as if he deserved a place alongside wise and much older leaders.

Of course, Ves made sure to not to go too far in playing a role that was different from his true self. He still retained his eccentricities and distinctive beliefs that did not match mainstream beliefs, but he tempered them so that his weirdness did not present a disharmonious image.

When he was not sitting down in order to participate in another widely broadcast interview, Ves was visiting factories, stores, gardens, universities and other places where people gathered.

His armored transport and heavy escort flew across much of the surface of La Reina in order to visit the places that Gavin and his staff had carefully selected.

Ves had to admit that the visits had been mildly fruitful towards him. He never visited these places in person. First-raters may enjoy a much higher level of prosperity than other humans, but they had their own fair share of struggles.

The economic pressure of living in Yernstall was enormous. High taxes, high fees, a huge number of competitors willing to take the jobs of existing workers and a high degree of overpopulation made it difficult to enjoy any peace and relaxation in this star system. Yet despite those difficulties, people still fought to obtain permanent residence in Yernstall. As one of the few central star nodes that was directly managed by the Red Association and the Red Fleet, it was one of the safest places for humans to live.

In fact, Bridgehead One was supposed to be safer, but had become isolated from the rest of human society due to the machinations of the Red Cabal.

The surprise attack on Bridgehead One should have caused people's confidence in the safety of other central star nodes to drop, but that did not really happen. People had a lot of faith in the ability of Red Two to properly guard their remaining centers of civilization from similar ploys.

All of this meant that Yernstall had gathered much of the smartest, most talented and most hard-working first-raters in the Red Ocean.

Since the Sapphire of the Red Ocean also attracted a lot of Terran and Rubarthan citizens, the central star node had access to a much wider manpower pool than other places.

Of course, the Terrans and Rubarthans normally preferred to avoid any direct contact with each other. They deliberately set up their own city quarters and city districts where they could group together and preserve their own culture and customs.

Ves happened to get along well with people of any state. No matter whether they were Terran, Rubarthan or a citizen of a smaller first-rate state, he enjoyed universal respect from all of them due to his massive contributions to society.

The Terrans almost considered him to be one of them due to the fact that he had taken up residence in New Constantinople.

The Rubarthans conspicuously dug up the Rubarthan origins of his Larkinson lineage and treated him as the descendant of an exile that had more than earned the right to regain his Rubarthan citizenship with honor.

Others drew upon his origins from the Bright Republic to consider him to be a fellow third-rater, while another group of people concluded from the fact that the Larkinson Clan mostly consisted of second-raters that Ves was actually one of them as well.

Visit after visit, Ves grew bemused by how hard people tried to twist the facts just so that they could claim that he was one of them. The fact that was all built on a kernel of truth just so happened to make their theories convincing enough to pass muster.

Though the constant visits and interviews started to wear him down on a mental level, he nonetheless felt he had developed a genuine connection with the people of Yernstall and human-occupied space as a whole.

Ves had the illusion that he had sublimated as a politician. He not only felt a greater sense of responsibility to stand up for the interests of ordinary people, but also considered himself to be guardian of their prosperity and wellbeing.

Of course, he also enjoyed the idea that he could practically ask them to do anything on his behalf.

He had no idea whether he would be able to retain this supreme power, but it was nice to be able to use it as a threat against his political opponents.

Though Ves had grown weary by the end of this expansive public relations tour, Gavin sounded highly optimistic about the gains they made.

"Your approval rating has risen. Less people see any problem of allowing you to ascend to high office despite your relative young age and lacking experience. Now that they have seen the current version of yourself show care and attention to the needs of the common folk, they are more willing to elevate you than more seasoned politicians."

Ves laid back on a lounge chair while nursing his slightly aching head. "What does this all mean to me, Gavin?"

"Maybe I should cancel this meeting"

"Don't. There is always a chance, boss. Suspending the meeting will be seen as a show of weakness. You absolutely cannot afford to do that during this politically sensitive period of time. You need to see this meeting through and come out strong enough to prove to all of the spies and secret observers that you can hold your own in front of a powerful rival or adversary. You can consider this one of the annoying tests that you have been complaining about as of late."

"Great. Really great. A test is the last thing I want to hear about." Ves groaned. Now that Gavin mentioned it, Ves could already recognize that it was likely true.

The Huntsman himself may have decided to give Ves a diplomatic challenge, just to see whether he could overcome it with his dignity intact.

If Ves failed to handle himself properly during this difficult talk, then that would

obviously cause the people above his head to silently lower their evaluation of himself! Though Ves felt so frustrated about these games that he felt the urge to flip the board out of rage, he held in his emotions and tried to be more rational about this affair. There were far more advantages than disadvantages if he agreed to play along.

If he was not strong enough to become a chess player, then he better do a good job as a chess piece.

His time would come sooner or later. Ascending to high office at the Red Collective was

the first major step of this ambitious plan. He could exercise a lot more power and

influence once his appointment turned into reality.

"Gavin, please help me with ideas on how I can possibly connect to this old vice director.

I refuse to believe I cannot persuade this guy to embrace a mutually beneficial

agreement."