The Mech Touch

Ves had long dreamt of building up a large supply of materials that could absorb and release spiritual energy.

The quantity of prime materials in his possession directly determined how many prime mechs he would be able to build!

He had already asked where his mother got all of her Unending alloy from back in the Nyxian Gap. She straightforwardly revealed that she salvaged them from alien ruins and cultist hideouts.

As for the production method?

"I am not a metal worker, my son." Cynthia spoke as she scratched Veronica\'s ears. "How would I possibly know such a thing?"

The cyborg cat looked disappointed. "Forget about this alloy then. Do you know how to produce other materials with similar properties? It doesn\'t have to be strong or fancy. I just want a material that can stably hold a lot of energy."

"I do not specialize in this discipline, but I do happen to know a few methods. None of them are suitable for you. They can grant you what you want, but you will pay an even greater price."

"What are you talking about, mother?"

"Life is one of the most valuable resources in nature. Would you be willing to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of people to produce a material that matches your needs?"

"Uhhh... that shouldn\'t be the only way to produce a prime material." Veronica skeptically said.

"You are correct, but this is the most suitable approach for my nature and my element. I am not as gifted in creation as you, my son. This is why I continue to encourage you to develop your own methods. My way is not suitable for you. At most, I can teach you a few general theories that may help you avoid many detours."

Veronica lifted her paw to scratch her own head. "I would welcome that, mother, but I don\'t understand. You call yourself an \'immortal goddess\'. Shouldn\'t you be an all-powerful energy-based life form that has mastered a lot of forbidden and exclusive knowledge!? You probably have an entire library\'s worth of knowledge in your head!"

Cynthia smiled and continued to stroke the cat\'s back. "I have indeed amassed a great amount of skills and information, but I have sworn oaths to never reveal much of what I have learned. Even I cannot break these promises. While that does not stop me from teaching you my own theories and discoveries, they are not completely suited to your own nature."

The two talked a bit further about this matter. It turned out that all of her advanced knowledge was under lock and key. Cynthia could only share the more foundational theories as well as her own exclusive techniques.

"I need to learn the basics the most." Veronica immediately said. "I don\'t really need anything else. I just want to strengthen my foundation so that I can come up with additional solutions in my spiritual engineering projects."

The resurrected woman briefly weighed this decision. "You have made so much progress since you started out as a mech designer. I am not afraid that you will go astray anymore. The Five Scrolls Compact also does not pose as much of a threat to you anymore. I shall see what I can do. I will need to prepare for the lessons. You live in a different environment now, so it is of great importance that you learn to make good use of the resources that have become available to everyone. As my son, I expect you to take the lead in this new age."

"Hehe, I don\'t think you will be disappointed-"

Anyway, back in the Red Ocean, Ves left the T Institute with a sense of satisfaction.

Though Gaia\'s interference was not entirely welcome, he had to admit that her help was indispensable.

As Ves boarded his shuttle and returned to the Spirit of Bentheim, he decided to present them to the upcoming conference organized by the Survivalist Faction.

Despite the transition to a new era, the Survivalists still intended to gather together in order to share their findings and discuss their future direction.

In an age where some of their greatest fears had come true, it had become more important than ever for the Survivalists to unite and work towards a cohesive future!

It was a pity that Ves failed to obtain much information from his contacts from the Red MTA. People such as Master Termaneo Dervidian, Master Vayro Goldstein and Jovy Armalon had fallen out of contact or had received strict orders to not share any information to outsiders.

The undercurrents surrounding the Red MTA were surging. Ves and many other gossipers on the galactic net guessed that a lot of upheaval had broken out within the Association!

·ƈθm It would probably take a long time for the different factions and leaders to sort out their differences and unite around a new consensus.

Ves predicted that the Red MTA would announce a lot of changes at that time.

He was already certain about one change. The Survivalist Faction definitely gained a lot of prominence! Their ideology and preparations were much more suited to the new age!

With the increased prominence of the Survivalists, it was not an exaggeration to say that the outcome of the conference would have an outsized impact on the future development of red humanity!

"This is a great opportunity for me to demonstrate what I can contribute to our society." Ves grinned.

From the Carmine System to his companion spirit trees, Ves intended to make sure to amplify his influence within this faction!

He recognized that he would be taking a lot of risks by exposing so many potentially groundbreaking capabilities, but the time for caution and steady development had passed.

Messier 87 opened up countless new possibilities, but the only ones who could take advantage of them were those who acted quickly enough to take advantage of the changing times.

If Ves did not rise up and offer his services, then other people with unusual abilities would step in and rob his chances!

As much as he liked to believe that he was the only effective spiritual engineer in the Red Ocean, it was way too arrogant for him to assume that he enjoyed a monopoly in this field.

The introduction of exotic radiation empowered too many individuals. From the Aducs to the Star Designers, many of them gained the capacity to develop all kinds of wondrous E energy-fueled applications!

Ves suddenly felt a greater sense of urgency. He did not want to lose the small advantages he built up back during the Age of Mechs.

He needed to complete the Dawn Star Project as soon as possible!

He not only needed to do this because he wanted to save his grandfather\'s life, but also because he wanted to prove the value of the Carmine System!

Even if it would take a long time for Ves to develop it to the point where any ordinary person could pilot a mech, the mechers would definitely appreciate a solution that could help injured and disabled mech pilots get back in the saddle!

Once he returned to his flagship, Ves immediately prepared for his fabrication run.

Despite working on it by himself this time, the mech design was so simple that it probably shouldn\'t take more than a day to assemble the entire machine.

Ves purely wanted to stabilize his grandfather\'s condition and reverse his deterioration.

He could think about making his mech stronger and more combat effective later.

He already moved the necessary raw materials into place. The Carmine System was the final piece of the puzzle and the heart of his next mech.

Before he commenced his fabrication run, he conducted one more compatibility test just to ensure that the Carmine System remained comptable with his grandfather.

The current state of Benjamin Larkinson did not appear to change all of that much in the new age.

Ves had already observed how E energy radiation nurtured every clansman around him. Every expert pilot thrived under the new conditions, but Benjamin behaved as if he was still stuck in the past!

Neither his body nor his broken will interacted with the ambient spiritual energy in any way.

This strange phenomena gave Ves the illusion that even the universe had turned its back on Benjamin after he \'broke\' his vows!

"Damn, this is too ruthless!"

Fortunately, his grandfather had a good grandson.

The compatibility test revealed no problems. The strange happenings as of late had not changed the variables.

"Don\'t worry. I will finish your new mech soon enough." Ves patted his hand on his grandfather\'s feeble arm. "Soon, you will be back in your prime and gain the ability to defend our family once again!"

It was too bad that Benjamin was still asleep at the moment. He had already come so close to death that his waking hours had diminished substantially as of late!

Ves left his grandfather in the care of his accompanying doctors and went back to the center of his workshop.

Although this was a rush job on his part, he still wanted to do the best possible job!

He closed his eyes and Blinky for action.

He decided to modify his original plan.

Ves no longer restrained his glow. He instead sought to strengthen it and amplify it as much as possible by burning his own spiritual energy!

This instantly bathed his workshop with his presence and his domain!

His recently invented Living Workshop ability not only imparted special properties to the raw materials, but also \'blessed\' the production equipment so that they became more effective at producing living mechs than normal.

Though the consumption of spiritual energy was horrible, Ves decided to test a new approach!

Instead of knocking on the Superior Mother\'s door and begging her for a donation of spiritual energy, Blinky instead sucked in as much of the ambient spiritual energy in the environment as possible and directly converted it into the power of life!

"Mrow!"

An invisible vortex seemed to form around the Star Cat as he continually drained more and more E energy radiation that had begun to fill the surrounding environment!

Ves closely observed the condition of his cat and started to grin.

"It\'s working!"

Although the concentration of ambient spiritual energy was still a bit on the low end, Blinky was still able to absorb enough spiritual energy per second to end his dependence on other design spirits!

Ves slightly toned down his glow as he found that he would drain himself too quickly if he continued to outpace Blinky\'s efforts.

Once the intake and outflow of spiritual energy reached a balance, Ves started to dive into his work straight away!

His work proceeded extremely smoothly. Compared to fabricating quasi-first-class transphasic expert mechs such as the Bastion or the Phobos, fabricating the Dawn Star Project was like a walk in the park!

Ves deliberately designed the second-class offensive knight mech to be simple but relatively solid.

There was no need to add too many finicky and sophisticated parts.

There was no need to add any transphasic armor plating.

There was no need to put together any high-tech mech systems.

The Dawn Star Project not returned Ves to the basics, but also reminded him of the times where he worked on his mechs by himself.

While Ves enjoyed his collaborations with other mech designers, he never really fully had the opportunity to implement his whole vision and produce a mech that was completely representative of his design style and his design philosophy!

An entire day smoothly went by as Ves smoothly fabricated the parts and put them all together without taking any breaks.

By the time he put the last part into place, the living mech had already begun to exude a strong identity while also radiating the glow of the Golden Cat!

"Wow. It actually turned out a bit better than I thought!"

Although the simplistic and fairly crude design of the Dawn Star Project made it unworthy to become a masterwork, Ves had nonetheless pushed its quality to a point where he was proud of his craftsmanship nonetheless!

Aside from that, the Dawn Star Project also showed the potential of turning into a third order living mech.

He just needed to finalize the mech by helping it form a Blood Pact with his grandfather.

"It\'s time."