The Mech Touch

Chapter 6097  Gavin the Terran

"Meow~"

Lucky purred as he sat on Gavin's lap.

The assistant was highly familiar with the gem cat and knew just the right places to scratch.

Even if Lucky had transformed from a bronze to an obsidian mechanical construct, he was still the same old feline in many ways.

"Is Ves treating you well these days?"

"Meow!"

"Is that a no? It shouldn't be all that bad. There is still Gloriana and the children. Who do you think is better, Ves or Gloriana?"

"Meow meow."

"You actually think Gloriana is worse?"

"Meow!"

"I didn't expect to hear that from you. Why is Ves better?"

"Meow meow meow. Meow meow."

"It is unfortunate that I don't understand cat speech. I have no doubts that you have attempted to give me a deep and thoughtful answer."

Gavin continued to indulge and play with Lucky.

The sight warmed Ves' heart. It also reassured him that his personal assistant was likely genuine.

Though Ves did not think that the Streon Ancient Clan would dare to violate General Axelar Streon's personal guarantee and tamper with Gavin, he couldn't rule out the risk.

Technology had become so advanced that people could mess with people's minds in the most subtle and profound ways. No matter whether the brain was biological or electronic, a group as advanced as the Terrans probably had a million different ways to compromise Gavin!

Ves had already been examining Gavin in secret in dozens of subtle ways. A lot of different scanners had examined his body from top to bottom. Blinky also took a really close look at the assistant's spirituality in order to detect any signs of esoteric subversion.

The good news was that none of the readings gave Ves cause for alarm. His instincts told him that the Streons treated Gavin with utmost sincerity.

Ves could not completely trust these results. He at least wanted his returning assistant to undergo a thorough examination from the mechers of the Bluejay Fleet and the relevant experts of the Premier Branch.

Only then would Ves be willing to entrust Gavin with vital and sensitive duties again.

There was one additional test that he was able to conduct in person.

"Gavin."

"Yes, boss?"

"I want to take a look at your companion spirit."

"Sure. Here he is. Say hello to Simon."

Simon was a rather uninventive name for a dull-looking companion spirit. The black hound that emerged from Gavin possessed a rather harmless and gentle appearance. Ves did not know enough about dogs to recognize the breed, but it made a very strong attempt to appear domesticated.

Ves did not design this companion spirit for his assistant.

Gavin's companion spirit grew out of a seed. This meant that the appearance and character of the companion spirit completely reflected that of his principal.

It was very informative to know that Gavin took his servility to Ves so seriously that his cognition drove him to shape his companion spirit as one of the most classical examples of obedience in animals!

"Wuf. Wuf!"

The black dog sat in the air and presented himself to Ves in an eager and lovable manner.

If Ves was a dog person, his heart would have melted. He probably wouldn't be able to resist the urge to give Simon a hug or a scratch on the head!

Unfortunately, Ves was very much a cat person. He did not particularly dislike dogs, but he did not really feel a strong affinity for them either. Cats were so much cuter in his opinion!

"Mrow."

Blinky emerged from Ves' forehead and quickly approached Simon.

"Wuf… wuf…"

The black dog felt a hint of the enormous power accumulated by Blinky. Simon couldn't help but shake and try to remain still as the powerful Star Cat examined the younger companion spirit up close.

The cat even licked the dog a few times!

Nothing seemed amiss. Ves actually grew disappointed with Simon. The dog was so painfully… average.

Perhaps he shouldn't be so demanding. Blinky was very powerful for a companion spirit, and Ves occasionally got in touch with the companion spirits of high-ranking mech pilots and mech designers. It was natural for these groups of extraordinary professionals to possess much stronger companion spirits than others.

Gavin on the other hand was just a mortal. His augmentations may have upgraded his cognitive functions, but did not do much to strengthen his spirituality.

Perhaps the addition of a Mentalist Crystal may have improved Gavin's cultivation qualifications, but he would have to spend a lot of time on practicing a cultivation method in order to make any progress.

Ves was not even sure whether it was even possible for Gavin to cultivate given that he had heavily digitized his brain.

It should be possible in theory. After all, if living mechs were able to cultivate, then so should a human who had already turned himself into part machine.

The problem was that Gavin's condition deviated so far from the human norm that he had become a unique existence. Only the original Benny who served alongside General Axelar Streon was comparable, but even then there were many differences due to rapid technological progress.

Ves threw this issue aside. There was no need for him to prepare a customized cultivation method for his assistant right away. It was best to observe him for a while.

Besides, Gavin's new condition might be able to produce a few surprises.

The Elegant Rage had already shown Ves that there were more ways to grow stronger than to practice a cultivation method.

Time passed by as Ves continued to chat with Gavin. The two hadn't seen each other for months, so they had a lot of catching up to do. Gavin learned so much while he was staying with the Streons that he really had a lot to say about his experiences.

"There is much about the Streons and the Terrans that I do not agree with, but I can see the shadow of our Larkinson Clan in them. We are still young and in flux, so many of our traditions are still fluid and developing. Once a couple of generations have passed, our clan will become much more settled. Our period of rapid growth will have passed and many of our traditions have become fixed. Once our clan has reached this stage, we will have entered our most prosperous era."

"That sounds good… right?"

"I do not necessarily think so." Gavin shook his head. "Even in the Red Ocean, the Streons are so powerful that they do not experience the same urgencies as other groups. It is entirely because of the Renewer of Terra's charisma and force of personality that his ancient clan is being so proactive about preparing for the coming hardships. Aside from that, the natural state of the Terrans is to wait and see. They are not adventurous by nature. I can truly see why General Axelar Streon wants to reform Terran society. The inertia has become too strong. In an age like this, an unwillingness to change and adapt with the times will lead to extinction."

That was an interesting opinion, but Ves did not entirely believe that Gavin formulated all of these thoughts himself. He probably absorbed it through osmosis by hanging around Axelar and his clique all of the time.

Regardless, inertia was indeed a powerful force that prevented many groups from growing stronger.

The Larkinson Clan was currently undergoing rapid growth because it had a lot of room for expansion and still possessed a lot of inadequacies.

Once the Larkinsons grew to a state of comfort, the clan would no longer be able to grow as quickly as before. Too many needs had been met. Many clansmen would doubtlessly change from ambitious adventurers into risk-averse profiteers.

It was not necessarily a mistake to go from rapid expansion to consolidation. There was always a limit to growth. To push any further would turn allies into enemies and threaten the interests of the clan.

"Let me ask you this, Gavin. Given what you have witnessed over at the Streons, what do you think is the greatest shortcoming of our clan? What issues are we neglecting that we must try to address right away?"

That caused Gavin to furrowed his brows in thought. To be honest, he had a lot of ways to answer this question.

He never really understood how young and fragile the Larkinson Clan was compared to its peers.

Now that he had witnessed the grandeur of the Streon Ancient Clan from a very close perspective, he developed a completely different opinion about the Larkinson Clan!

Heritage and accumulation mattered. The Larkinson Clan was so young that it could never fully catch up to the Terran ancient clans and the Rubarthan principalities in so many aspects.

"There are many issues that the clan needs to address, but it is not easy to solve them in the short term." Gavin said. "For example, our clan administration has a severe lack of senior officials and managers. Many of the higher positions are occupied by clansmen who were originally second-raters or third-raters. There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, but as our clan becomes increasingly more integrated into first-class society, this shortcoming will result in drastic failures as our personnel cannot fully keep up with the demands of their jobs."

"I guess this is one of the downsides of rapid growth."

"It might not be a good idea for our clan to straddle between second-class and first-class, boss. None of the other first-class organizations has done so on a wider scale. Their core members are all first-raters. If they have any desire to absorb second-raters into their orbit, they will usually do so through subsidiary organizations."

"We are already doing that by setting up a lot of side branches." Ves retorted. "The Davute Branch and so on are largely autonomous, though they still have to abide by a lot of standards that are central to the clan."

Gavin adopted an impatient expression. "That is not separate enough. If one of the side branches ever gets targeted by a powerful enemy, there is a chance that these problems will not affect our Premier Branch. If the side branches bear completely different names, it becomes much harder for their problems to implicate first-class Larkinsons in the future."

"Is that how the Terrans stay in touch with the rest of society?"

"I can only say that this is the case among the Streons. I am not sure whether the other ancient clans are doing the same. It is probably the case, but the subordinated individuals will feel very reluctant to share their true allegiances.

In any case, Ves saw the merits of this approach, but he didn't think it was necessary to go this far.

"I don't think our circumstances are the same as those Terran ancient clans. Every clansman has a strong attachment and loyalty to our clan. Even if they are pushed onto a side branch that doesn't appear to be related to the Larkinsons on the surface, the Larkinson Network overseen by Goldie should keep the second-raters placated."

The existence of the Larkinson Network broke the rules and allowed for different possibilities. It was not necessary to force greater separation between the clan and its side branches.

It was too late anyway. Everyone knew that they were strongly related to the Larkinsons. Changing their names would not wipe away the memories to those that knew.

Ves actually had a better solution in mind. The side branches should be allowed to exist in their current form, but he would discreetly find a number of secret organizations that could do his dirty work.

It would be difficult to found these secret organizations without exposing their connection to Ves under the auspices of the Red Association.

Ves needed to find a way to reliably beat and fool the constant monitoring on himself. He was way too tired about letting the mechers scrutinize much of his life. It was as if he was starring in a perpetually active reality broadcast!

While he already came up with a few ideas on how to successfully operate behind the backs of the Red Two, he needed to be very careful in his planning and goal setting before he was ready to take concrete steps.

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While he already came up with a few ideas on how to successfully operate behind the backs of the Red Two, he needed to be very careful in his planning and goal setting before he was ready to take concrete steps.