The Mech Touch

Chapter 6467 The Prodigal Daughter

Veronica already became shocked when she first learned about the Oblivion Plan, but she couldn't help but exhibit the same reaction when she heard about this 'unholy alliance!'

The groups that Cynthia mentioned had little in common with each other. Many of them possessed outright hostile and antagonistic relationships with all of the other groups!

Just the inclusion of the Cosmopolitan Movement and the Five Scrolls Compact was bound to tarnish this questionable alliance!

That was why it was an unholy alliance. None of its members banded together with each other because of shared ideals or principles. Only the most cold-hearted reasons could tentatively persuade them to temporarily shift their weapons away from each other and encourage them to unite against their common enemies!

The latter just happened to be the MTA and the CFA, who kept the Milky Way in a stranglehold for too long!

Although Veronica could understand the logic behind this unholy alliance, she still felt. sick at the thought that her mother would actually ally with the likes of the cosmopolitans and Compact cultists.

The Cyborg Cat looked up at her mother with stupefaction. "How... how can you possibly ally with them? I mean, I get why the first-rate superstates want to kick the Big Two when they are down and regain the sovereignty that they had lost, but that does not mean it is a good idea to work together with all of those terrorist organizations! The cosmopolitans will never fight alone. They will collude with the aliens of the Milky Way and encourage them to invade our space, just like what happened in the Red Ocean!"

The cosmopolitan cells in the Red Ocean were no different from the ones in the Milky Way.

This meant that there was a large chance that these crazed fanatics would do everything in their power to help the aliens put up a better fight, even if that would cause the enemies of mankind to grow too powerful! "The Cosmopolitan Movement and the aliens of the Milky Way are in a much worse state than their counterparts in the Red Ocean." Cynthia confidently reasoned back. "As distasteful as it is, we need to borrow their power to further destabilize human civilization as well as the Big Two. The MTA and the CFA are too dominant. Only by applying greater internal and external pressure do we stand a chance at breaking them into pieces." "Then what about the Five Scrolls Compact?! Aren't you a traitor who has been persecuted by them for centuries? Didn't the Holy Daughter of the Water Scroll attempt to invade the Nyxian Gap and take you out in one go, only for you to defeat her and steal her Golden Laurel Wreath Crown, which you still hold to this day? The Compact has tied to invade the Nyxian Gap multiple times for the express purpose of killing you and taking back the crown!"

The mention of the Compact did not elicit the expected reaction from the Oblivion Empress.

The woman simply smirked at Veronica. "My child, you still have much to go before you become a qualified cultivator. Do you know how I have managed to rise to the upper ranks of the Wood Shrine all those years ago? Do you know why I have managed to survive the Great Betrayal where so many of my peers have perished? Do you know why the Five Scrolls Compact shall grit its teeth, accept my terms and join our unholy alliance? It is because I have understood and acted upon an important adage. There are no eternal allies, there are no perpetual enemies. Only our interests are eternal and perpetual." "What... what do you mean by that? How does this apply to this context?" "You should already know the answer, Veronica. You are just reluctant to admit it. It is true that I betrayed the Wood Shrine, the Metal Shrine and the Five Scrolls Compact as a whole. There are still old survivors in the modern cult that deeply despise my actions, past and current. However, as much as the Compact is hostile to me, it has always regarded the Big Two as their greater enemies. Now that I am in a position to give the Compact an enormous advantage, the grudges and disputes between it and myself are not important anymore."

No matter how hard she tried, Veronica could not imagine that the Five Scrolls Compact could go from enemies to allies in a single leap. This transition was way too abrupt! "Aren't you putting too much trust in those deranged cultists?" Veronica shakily asked. "They can stab us in the back at any moment once they have used us up. The Compact has no principles or honor. You can't trust this cult with anything." "You do not need to lecture me about them. I used to be one of those 'deranged cultists, as you mistakenly call them. I thrived among them once before, and I can do it again. If the Compact desires to regain its prior strength and become relevant in the conflicts to come, its Water Shrine must have a leader. Since I have successfully withstood its challenges and retained possession of the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown, I have proved that I have a greater right to own it than others. If the Compact does not want to remain half-disabled, it has little choice but to anoint me as one of its Holy Daughters. The Water Scroll will likely remain stubborn, but I am confident that I can prove my right to hold the crown by defeating all challengers. This is the only course of action that will not only melt much of the hostility between us, but also put us in a better position to fight against the Big Two." "WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"

The Oblivion Plan ran so deep that Veronica did not even know how much more shocking surprises that she had yet to learn about!

It was one thing to form a temporary truce against the Five Scrolls Compact.

It was another thing for Cynthia to turn from a loathsome traitor into one of the two ultimate leaders of the current iteration of this notorious organization! "Wait." The Cyborg Cat gasped in realization. "Does this mean that we will all become a part of the Five Scrolls Compact?!"

What madness was this?! How could his mother forget about all of the times the Compact cultists tried to kill her, both before and after her resurrection?!

To suddenly turn around and demand the Compact to anoint her as the Holy Daughter of the Water Scroll was utterly ludicrous!

Would the Compact even agree to her outrageous proposal?!

Veronica's feline body shook.

The Compact cultists may just be insane and irrational enough to hold up their noses and 'reluctantly' agree to elevate the Oblivion Empress into one of their leaders! "This... this is too much. If you do this... there is no way we can reconcile with the MTA and the CFA anymore." Veronica haltingly said. "You will all lead us to damnation. We will become reprehensible criminals who can never become an upstanding member of human civilization anymore." "Do you truly care about that, my child? The humans of the Milky Way are not your people. There is no need for you to integrate with them. We are already outcasts, and we are too weak to defend ourselves against the MTA or the CFA. If I become the Holy Daughter of the Water Scroll, I shall not only be able to command the Water Shrine, but gain the protection of the entire Five Scrolls Compact. If the MTA or CFA are so determined to eliminate us that they will do everything in their power to invade or destroy the Nyxian Gap, we can always evacuate to the Ruined Temple in the galactic center as a last resort."

Veronica shook again. She still couldn't wrap her mind around all of these outrageous possibilities.

If the Oblivion Empress agreed to become the nominal Holy Daughter of the Water Scroll, yet did little else to engage with the Five Scrolls Compact, then Veronica could barely accept this new situation.

Her mother wouldn't really join the Compact in truth. At most, she gained limited access to the Water Scroll and may gain the right to issue orders to the low-ranking troops of the cult.

However, if his mother truly wanted to become a genuine leader of the Water Shrine and establish her absolute authority over the Water Shrine, then there would be nothing false about her return to the embrace of the Five Scrolls Compact! "If the Compact actually accepts your demands... what will happen to me?" Veronica asked an important question. "You shall join me" Her mother said as if it was the most obvious outcome. "This will be good for you. The Ruined Temple may have lost its former glory, but there are still many surviving institutions that you can take advantage of. It still boasts the largest libraries of cultivation methods and techniques in this galaxy and the next. Once I have successfully arranged your new identity, you should easily be able to visit these precious libraries and read every tome that has caught your interest. You can even transcribe the contents of the most helpful and promising cultivation methods and donate them to the Red Collective to earn RC merits and increase your clout within the superorganization."

This actually sounded like a fantastic way for Ves to increase his power and influence within the RC.

The Repository had a promising future, but it was not actually that impressive at the moment. Much of the cultivation knowledge collected by the Red Collective was scattered and sometimes even fragmented. The theories and methods taught by these old scriptures were also relatively ordinary for the most part.

This made it many times harder for the researchers of the Cultivation Method Department to deduce the cultivation steps of more advanced phases!

If Veronica was able to gain access to the accumulated wisdom of the Five Scrolls

Compact, then she stood to learn a lot of advanced cultivation science knowledge. Some of it may even be helpful to himself and Vulcan!

Access to these precious tomes would also allow Veronica to transfer dozens of complete high-level cultivation methods to the Red Ocean, then she would not only earn a huge amount of rewards, but also make the human cultivators over there a lot more powerful in the long run!

Veronica suddenly recalled the strange way her mother described his possible placement in the Five Scrolls Compact. "Mother... the new identity you referred to..."

Cynthia's finger lovingly scratched Veronica's chin. "I shall do my best to convince the

Five Scrolls Compact to recognize your identity as the Holy Son, or more appropriately Holy Daughter of the Metal Scroll. You more than deserve this recognition for designing the poison chalice mechs that will lead the MTA and the CFA to ruin. The Metal Shrine has crumbled and the Metal Scroll has been shattered into pieces, but that does not change the fact that you have mastered a significant aspect of the Metal Scroll for two decades. I shall endure that no one shall deny your rightful place within the Compact. The surviving supplicants of the Metal Shrine may be nowhere near as powerful or numerous as the supplicants from the intact Water Shrine, but you will still be able to command a hidden force of notable power in this galaxy." ■ ||

Veronica couldn't take it anymore. Something inside her broke when she heard that her own mother actually wanted to push her into becoming an officially recognized Holy 'Daughter' of the Metal Scroll.

She did not dare to converse with her mother any further. The Cyborg Cat missed the days when Cynthia refused to give any answers and continually tried to keep her child in the dark.

Ignorance was bliss!

Yet now that Veronica knew what terrible fates that the Oblivion Empress had in store for everyone, it was too late to change her mind.

The Cyborg Cat shifted her gaze to the Beast of Fear. "Your Divinity... are you okay with all of this? Are you really willing to let us enter the

Compact?" The Beast of Fear chuckled. "Hehehe. Why not? Your mother is completely correct.

There are no eternal enemies, there are only eternal interests. I may be a part of the Mech Trade Association, but can never free myself from its shackles and grow stronger unless it has lost its power. It is important to remain on guard against the Five Scrolls Compact, but it can become a powerful ally in our war against the Big Two. It would be even better if the two of you can join the leadership circle of the Compact. That way, you will be able to keep it in line and make the cultists more reliable. I would rather have the two of you in charge than the maddened slaves to power that those stupid Sacred Scrolls typically bless with their corrupting power." The god pilot was no help at all. Ves increasingly started to doubt where there was still a shred of humanity left in this god biomech!