The Mech Touch

Chapter 7168: The Importance of the Marigal Organ

Days came and went in sooner than everyone wished.

The Red Collective worked hard to prepare for the first major crisis it had gotten caught up in since its founding.

The Larkinsons also worked hard to realize the promise of effectively taking control over one of the strongest and most formidable fighting forces of red humanity.

Much was at stake.

Those in the know paid a lot of attention to this event. Many more parties had secretly planted listening devices and other spying equipment around Jotunheim. The icy planet that orbited far from the 3 stars had become a focal point in red humanity’s history.

Throughout all of this growing interest and scrutiny, the Larkinson Clan played it cool.

This was not the first time that Ves and the Larkinsons had found themselves at the center of a storm.

They bore the scrutiny with practiced ease as they understood that it was pointless to engage with third parties.

The Red Collective needed to solve this crisis internally, which meant that every source of help had to be routed through its channels first. It would be inappropriate for the Larkinsons to accept deals in exchange for concessions related to the Phase Lord Department.

Whether the Larkinsons could succeed in this endeavor remained to be seen. Few people expressed confidence in a mech designer’s ability to defeat not just 1, but several professional warriors and champions in back-to-back duels.

The entire leadership challenge did not even make sense to most people. How could a department as big and powerful as the Phase Lord Department be so idiotic to put its leadership up for grabs by giving it to the person with the biggest fist?

This was barbarism!

Such a phenomenon was a powerful indicator that red humanity was regressing as a society.

The more the madness of the Red Ocean seeped into the human consciousness, the more the human race deviated from the standards of the Milky Way.

Many people grew concerned about this trend.

A growing number of people came to believe that only strength mattered in this dangerous dwarf galaxy.

When the rules of the jungle took primacy over the rule of law, it was the savages that held all of the power, not the scholars!

Too many red humans couldn’t accept such a reality, yet their very own lack of power left them helpless to stop this trend.

So long as the native aliens and the mutated voribugs remained a civilization-ending threat, there was no way to stop the rise of a new breed of leaders.

It remained to be seen whether Ves Larkinson could transcend his origins as a mech designer and join the rising class of warriors.

The fact that a mech designer was able to become a fighter king of sorts should have been a ludicrous notion, but he was not the first to distinguish himself in this way.

With Ketis as the pioneer and forerunner, the notion that Ves could follow in the footsteps of his former student did not sound as unrealistic as it should.

That said, many people still doubted whether he could succeed in the leadership challenge. There was only so much that superior gear could make up the difference in combat prowess.

History was rife with smaller armies defeating larger ones, outdated warships trouncing modern equivalents and cheaper mechs humiliating more high-end machines.

All of these examples proved that factors such as skill, grit, willpower, training, discipline, morale, experience and many other intangibles were just as important if not more!

As a mech designer who never went through serious combat training, Ves Larkinson should still be an amateur in terms of combat.

How could he possibly defeat the likes of the Unshakeable King and the Oscillating Fist?

The Red Collective had done its best to recruit a strong batch of candidates among a large pool of top infantry combatants.

It had definitely not slacked off or allowed nepotism to allow unqualified warriors to get selected ahead of much more qualified soldiers.

Yet the current chief councilor of the Upper Council still chose to persist, which meant that he must have reasons to be confident about.

Was a mech designer truly about to take over the Phase Lord Department?

As unrealistic as it sounded, many people couldn’t help but suspect that this unlikely scenario may very well turn into a reality by the end of the day!

Ves was the most famous human in the Red Ocean who was not a part of a very exclusive club of tier 1 galactic citizens by now.

He had repeatedly proven his ability to succeed where many others would fail.

His legendary track record forced everyone who thought this leadership challenge was initially a foregone conclusion to keep an open mind.

If not for the fact that the Red Collective tried its best to avoid as much publicity as possible, a whole gaggle of starships would have arrived in orbit of Jotunheim in order to cheer Ves on and maybe lend a hand if the Phase Lord Department broke the agreement.

As it was, the mechs and warships from the Enforcement Department arrived well in advance and maintained a pretty tight security perimeter around Jotunheim.

They continually swept the surroundings of hard-to-detect spying devices and data relays. They also drove away tourists who had no business in the vicinity.

Even the bulk of the Bluejay Fleet had to stay just outside the expanded security perimeter.

It would not be fair for the Ascended Giants to commence their duels within the range of all of those intimidating warship gun batteries.

Only the Tarrasque was allowed to enter into a closer orbit, and even she was forced to lock all of her weapon systems as a precaution and a gesture of goodwill.

As the big day arrived, Ves had been putting the final touches on all of the fabricated combat equipment.

Much of it had gone through ’special treatment’ that dramatically enhanced and mutated their appearance and performance.

Though Ves knew that he had added a lot more complications to his wargear, he knew that he had little choice in the matter.

Despite his newly acquired combat skills, he never grew conceited enough that this alone would ensure that he could beat up a bunch of giant-sized meatheads.

It was better to be safe than sorry.

Although Ves regretted that he did not have enough time to apply more powerful transformations to his weapons and armor, he did not become dissatisfied with the results.

The treatments were relatively modest compared to what he could have made instead. The mutations fell within a reasonable range of tolerance and the risk of backlash remained small.

Even if his new gear tried to cause any problems, his newly acquired knowledge granted him plenty of ways to manage the situation.

His family stayed close to him in the final hour before he was about to show up at the dueling ground.

"I love you, papa. Don’t lose." Marvaine said as he hugged his father’s leg.

Ves grinned and picked up his son. "I am not planning to. I haven’t spent the last few days in vain. Nobody should underestimate a mech designer who is given time and resources to prepare for his next challenge."

"Meow."

"Lucky says that you will regret saying that when you crawl back as a loser." Andraste cheekily said as she pressed the gem cat against her chest.

"I think that papa would not undertake a challenge that he is destined to lose. I believe in papa." Aurelia voiced her support as she held hands with her new ’best friend’ Marigal.

The humanized form of the former Flower Parasol did not voice any opinion, but her shining eyes betrayed ample confidence in the mech designer who reinvented her and gifted her with a new identity.

"How is the latest phasewater organ settling in, Ves? Are you still feeling off-balance after the surgery?"

Ves wearily smiled as he rubbed his side. "The new lesser Marigal organ is probably the single biggest upgrade a lesser phase lord can obtain. The difference between phase lords who have this organ and not is much more significant than I expected. It should be up there with a Phasewater Production System in terms of importance as far as I’m concerned. This organ has most certainly done its job of increasing how much of my true body can be folded into extradimensional space. If I maintain a compact size, my density and physical strength has increased by a sizable margin. I’ve become much tougher than before."

"How much taller have you become?"

"Probably around 7 times the height of a mech." Ves loosely estimated. "There are other consequences to my heightened body mass. A lot more phasewater is circulating through my true body now, though the exertion needed to maintain my extraordinary condition has grown drastically as well. I have received a modest amplification to my spatial abilities, and I am better able to resist hostile abilities. However, it is the physical upgrades that matter the most. A denser and heavier true body is simply better at absorbing hits and carrying heavy stuff around."

The Marigal organ was one of the key phasewater organs that any martial phase lord had to acquire.

It was because of this reason that it was quite a popular early upgrade for the human phase lords.

Trying to fight them without this phasewater organ was like fighting with a single arm. Ves did not have the luxury to secure victory with this handicap.

This was why he agreed to the Red Collective’s urgent suggestion that he leveled the playing field by integrating this phasewater organ.

The surgery proceeded smoothly. Ves did not undergo any weird personality changes, though he could feel his phasewater concentration rising by a minute amount.

His adaptation period was also much faster than usual. Normal phase lords would still feel under the weather by this time as their bodies required a lot more time to adapt to the changes wrought by the Marigal organ.

Ves was an anomaly. The collies increasingly believed that he was truly ’blessed’ by the heavens.

Of course, they were well aware that the Red Ocean’s blessings always came with strings attached.

The alternate personality formerly known as Sev must have gained slightly greater purchase on Ves’ true body.

The being who now accepted the identity of the Dark Apostle had been looking forward to this historic day.

While that sounded great, if the Dark Apostle made any mistake, Ves may be the one who paid the price!

Gloriana grew concerned as she pressed her hand on his shoulder. "Try your best to rein in your dark side. As far as I am aware, the rules never accounted for your split personality, so if you concede the duel, then that should constitute a valid declaration on ’your’ end. The fighting must stop. If that does not happen, then the Ascended Giants have violated the rules."

Ves hadn’t thought about that, but now that she brought it to his attention, he realized that she was correct.

This might save his life or at least the existence of his true body during a critical moment.

"Thank you for the idea. I will make sure to keep it in mind." He softly responded as he leaned in to plant a kiss on her cheek. "The Dark Apostle may be too much of a muscle-brained honor-bound idiot to contemplate the idea of surrender, but I am different. I will make sure to do what is necessary."

After inspecting the gear for a final time, he commanded it to get shipped to the surface of the frozen planet.

The dueling ground was not very clearly defined, but from what Ves could understand, the fights must always start on the surface of Jotunheim.

If necessary, they could fly upwards and finish the fight in space. It all depended on how the duel unfolded. They could last up to an hour at worst.