The Mech Touch

Chapter 6387 Preparation Period

Ves had a lot of plans and ambitions for his visit to Yernstall.

He wanted to seal his appointment as the head of the Upper Council of the Red Collective.

He wanted to purchase more phasewater organs.

He wanted to meet with the Terrans and see if he could trade his services for more high-tier Destroyer weapons.

He needed to meet with the leading representative of the Hunting Association and obtain clarity about the organization's stance towards the Red Collective.

He also needed to do his best to persuade the Hunting Association to sell him at Mentalist Crystal.

He had to find a way to meet the Evolution Witch in person, not just to obtain much-needed answers from the capricious god pilots, but also collect on a promise.

Ves had more items on the agenda, but these were his main priorities. It would be great if he could meet all of these goals in one visit, but he had a feeling he would end up partially satisfied with his gains at the end.

The mech designer sighed.

This was going to be an uphill battle, so he intended to fulfill most of his goals after he unveiled his Carmine mechs to the public and gained a position of leadership in the Red Collective.

He needed all of the reputation and renown he could get in order to encourage other major players to open their doors to him! Ves not only needed to gain a higher position, but also prove through his work that he was a visionary who was bound to uplift red humanity to a higher level!

Only then would the high-and-mighty god pilots respect him as a more equal and deserving compatriot. Perhaps it may be enough to curb the arrogance of the Hunting Association and allow him to purchase a Mentalist Crystal at a reasonable price.

"Maybe not." Ves shook his head.

The Huntsman did not appear to be a person who placed a lot of importance in such matters. The information relayed by Lucky gave Ves a better understanding of the god pilot behind the name.

Though Ves did not have much hope of winning over the Huntsman, he still had to do his best.

In any case, the few days that Ves had left before he presented his Carmine mechs to everyone served as a buffer period.

Ves only had light duties on his schedule during this period. He did not dare to

undertake any major priorities for fear of any accidents and because he wanted to improve his reputation first.

He mostly spent his time at the Palace of Mechanical Marvels on La Reine. The stately and classical mech museum was undergoing a large amount of renovations in order to present the best possible venue for the historic product reveal.

Wherever Ves moved, numerous mechs constantly kept watch over him from every direction.

The security restrictions on La Reine were extremely tight, but Ves was still entitled to a lot of armed protection.

Since La Reine mostly fell under the management of the Red Association, the mechers were easily able to reassign a lot of units to guard the Palace of Mechanical Marvels.

A few mech units were even assigned to shadow and protect. Ves directly! One of them happened to be the Dark Zephyr. Saint Tusa provided the strongest guarantee of protection for Ves. Even if he did not strictly need the protection of an ace pilot as much as other VIPS, the presence of this powerful first-class ace light skirmisher still acted as a strong deterrent against potential troublemakers!

This was especially the case when Saint Tusa's feats became publicized. The mechers took the initiative to publish heavily sanitized and edited footage of the Battle of Mazepan to highlight the courage and heroism of the Larkinsons during the fight.

Not only did the brief clips of footage show Ves fighting against a bunch of arche phase lords by himself, but they also showed the moments where the Dark Zephyr crippled and killed the Arena Lord of Ya'gwasa!

In any case, the Distance Shaper already told everyone that he would make the aliens at Ya'gwasa know what happened to their former arena lord. That would make it much harder to keep all of the details confidential.

The only sensitive parts that the mechers insisted on keeping out of view were the widespread use of weapons of mass destruction. Even if word of their usage had already leaked to certain circles, it was not a good idea to give the public the impression that they were willing to launch weapons of mass destruction like there was no tomorrow. This could be regarded as an appetizer and a means to build up hype. It also boosted the glory and reputation of Saint Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson and turned him into a hero who was ready to receive admiration from more than the members of the Golden Skull Alliance.

The only issue was that the mechers still tried to impose a title on Saint Tusa without making it look as if they were trying too hard.

Not only did the propaganda pieces highlight the unusual fact that Tusa 'inherited' the title of Arena Lord from its former alien holder, the footage also included segments where the mech pilots madly repeated the title Phase Bane after the battle.

For this reason, Saint Tusa had already begun to become associated with the two titles that he did not really like, but had not rejected up to this point.

Ves could feel Saint Tusa's ambivalence and irritation towards this development as he oversaw the preparations of the upcoming product reveal.

"You know, you could stop all of the nonsense if you just spoke out, Tusa." Ves turned around and looked up at the Dark Zephyr floating from above. "I do not think it is a bad idea to accept either of the two titles, but you need to be the one to make this choice. Will you accept one of the monikers bestowed by others, or will you discard them and wait for a time where the masses will propose another title?"

The Dark Zephyr remained unresponsive for a time.

At first, many of the workers repeatedly glanced above in order to admire the famous masterwork ace mech that managed to kill a greater phase lord.

Fortunately, they gradually became used to the Dark Zephyr's presence and resumed their work without any significant interruptions.

If the Dark Zephyr kept hold of the tier 3 Destroyer spear, then he would have been able to look a lot more heroic and imposing.

However, the security services did not favor the appearance of such a lethal weapon, so the Destroyer weapon remained behind aboard the Tarrasque.

"I still cannot make up my mind on this matter" Saint Tusa transmitted. "I still need to think about it. I want to observe other people to find out what they think about calling me the Phase Bane or the Arena Lord. There is power in these titles, but they also come with the shackles of expectation."

"No one is truly free in our society." Ves softly shared his own thoughts. "We are all connected in a complex social web. Rules, customs and expectations may try to put us all into neatly labeled boxes, but these roles also bring a lot of clarity and stability. That is what red humanity needs the most at the moment. I don't blame the mechers for attempting to use your feat of heroism as a vehicle to reassure the masses. The people here in Yernstall are well-off, but the situation is much different in the more rural and less developed star systems. Many people are fearing for their lives and future when they repeatedly hear that our defensive lines are becoming more precarious."

"I am not blind to that, Ves. I am willing to step up and do my part, but I prefer to do it on my terms instead of that of others."

"Then you need to give us all a more definitive answer. I don't think it is a good idea to withhold your answer all of the time. I expect you to make up your mind and decide what sort of ace pilot you want to become by the time I am ready to depart from

Yernstall."

"Hmmm, that is fair. I promise you that I will give you a definitive answer on what I want

at that time."

The Dark Zephyr's Saint Kingdom grew a little more subdued and less confused. This

eased the tension in the Palace of Mechanical Marvels and helped everyone work a little more effectively than before.

While Ves continued to supervise the prep work for the upcoming product reveal, he also dealt with intermittent issues that popped up from time to time.

His personal assistant approached him during one of his lunch breaks and conveyed a

message.

"Has the office of the Evolution Witch finally given me a response to my request for an audience?" Ves eagerly asked.

Gavin Nueman nodded. "One of her secretaries has informed us that Her Holiness intends to hold a major announcement 3 days after the founding of the Red Collective. Once she has addressed the public, she is willing to meet with you in private."

Ves let out a sigh of relief. "Finally. I was afraid that she would use a lame excuse to avoid a meeting with me. I haven't been able to get in touch with her at all since she forced me to lead the Interim Leadership Council in her absence. Has the office of the Evolution Witch told her what her upcoming announcement is all about?"

"No. We will just have to wait like the rest of the public, boss. From what little I can gather from my virtual meeting with her secretary, the Evolution Witch is confident she can command the attention of red humanity. I am fairly confident that she is planning to unveil something explosive."

That sounded... concerning. Making a shocking announcement fit the profile of the Evolution Witch. She was a more youthful god pilot who lacked the patience to lay low and boldly attempted to realize her ambitions. Her radical ideology compelled her to become more than just a silent guardian, and she was not shy about engaging in politics. "Well, whatever she has in mind, I am glad that she is willing to wait until I am done with my public dealings. I don't have to be afraid that she will steal my thunder."

If a god pilot intended to make a major announcement, then it had to be a big deal!

Ves had a suspicion that whatever devious plot that the Evolution Witch had in mind may cause him to get involved as well. This could be either good or bad depending on what she intended to unveil.

He did not have enough information to make reasonable guesses about what she intended to do, so he quickly stopped this line of inquiry and focused on more concrete

matters.

"The fact that she is willing to meet with me in private gives me hope that she is ready to fulfill one of her obligations to me." Ves couldn't help but smile as he looked forward to what may come. "I'll be able to grow stronger if all goes well. Things are looking up. Maybe I can even persuade the Evolution Witch to remove the block that is preventing my galactic citizenship tier from going up. A leader of the Upper Council of the Red Collective cannot remain stuck at tier 3."

Even as he said that, he personally had little hope that she would change her mind. God

pilots just loved to test him and mess around with him. The Battle of Mazepan had given him a deeper understanding of their behavior.

Gavin slightly bowed his head. "It is a great honor to meet with an exalted god pilot. The fact that you are able to gain a private audience with her is already a sign of favor that will open more doors for you. It will become easier for us to gain access to more exclusive circles where you can fulfill some of your objectives."