The Mech Touch

After several hours had gone by since the MTA's announcement, humanity still seethed with excitement.

No one could stay calm at the prospect of invading an entirely new galaxy!

To many humans, they believed that their civilization had rested long enough. Their race was more than ready to resume their conquest of the stars!

Unfortunately, when people began to inquire about the beyonder ticket, they immediately became discouraged at the very strict conditions required to become a galactic pioneer.

Only the most capable and ambitious contributors of the MTA were eligible to lead a fleet into the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy!

Those who tried their luck at the CFA found out that it was just as harsh!

Yet the high cost of beyonder tickets excited many people even more. Each of them knew that a greater price corresponded to a greater reward!

Many people got caught up in the hype surrounding phasewater! This amazing high-grade exotic that was seemingly ripe for the picking in the other galaxy must be something exceptional!

It didn't take much guessing to suspect that the Big Two definitely had many important uses for phasewater. Countless material scientists already started drooling at the thought of obtaining a sample and delving into its secrets!

The great phasewater rush was destined to become the latest obsession of the human race!

After four-hundred years of dormancy, the great human civilization was ready to expand its territories once more!

That evening, Ves and Gloriana returned to the Cloud Estate where they calmly gathered information.

A lot of MTA watchers and journalists already published various articles about the bold new changes.

To all but the oldest humans, no one had ever taken part in a war of conquest against alien civilizations!

A fervor to relive the glory days of the Age of Conquest ignited in the hearts of many humans!

"Adventuring in the Red Ocean is very risky." Gloriana expressed her concerns. "According to what the Big Two have revealed about the Red Ocean, the vast majority of its space is lawless territory. Anyone can attack someone for any reason!"

"It's not that bad." Ves commented. "It's just like the frontier before the sandman made a mess of things. As long as you have enough strength and know where you can go, it's not too dangerous."

"We also have to worry about the aliens, who are likely more inclined to field warships. Unless our mechs are top-of-the-line, we don't stand a chance against most warships!"

"The chances of encountering them is low, Gloriana. The CFA and MTA are mostly focusing on sweeping alien space and neutralizing any major threat in their way. Galactic pioneers are supposed to follow behind their advance and clean up the mess that's left behind. Perhaps some sporadic alien warships have slipped the net, but they've probably been left alone because they're not a major threat."

One of the biggest complaints about participating in the invasion was that the prohibition against warships and other taboos were still in place!

However, the Big Two did not entertain any suggestions on lifting these limitations. In their eyes, the responsibility to protect human civilization rested solely on their shoulders. Only they deserved to wield the mightiest weapons of their race!

For this reason, plundering and colonizing the Red Ocean was far from safe! Every galactic pioneer and space settler had to accept the risks of encountering intact alien fleets or bumping into unknown hazards!

If a galactic pioneer wanted to be safer, then they either had to stick close to the territory under the control of the Big Two, or wait at least a few decades to wait for the new territories to be tamed.

However, by then most of the more adventurous and daring galactic pioneers would have claimed all of the most attractive territories by then! Every easy source of phasewater within reach would have been claimed as well!

Risk was accompanied by reward! This rule held true even during the great phasewater rush!

"I think that most of the biggest risks will be cleared up if we depart around a decade later." Ves estimated. "Ten or twenty years is not enough for pioneers to settle every single star system within humanity's expanding territories. It's especially more lucrative to follow right on the heels of the CFA and MTA's warfleets as they continually pummel the aliens as they expand their reach in the Red Ocean."

Gloriana frowned. "It's still too dangerous. We're mech designers, Ves. We don't necessarily need to harvest as much phasewater as possible. There's also little point for us to colonize some planets. What is most important for us is to progress our design philosophies and advance to Master and beyond."

"Money isn't entirely useless, Gloriana. The more phasewater we collect, the more we can afford the tools we need to assist in our advancement. Designing more powerful and more capable mechs will definitely stimulate our design philosophies more than designing regular mechs."

"I don't know. There's a risk that we'll bump into a first-class fleet and offend someone we can't afford to displease."

"That risk exists, but the chances that they are mucking about in second-class space and third-class space is not very large. At the very least, the MTA and CFA won't allow such bullying to take place."

The Big Two were quite unfriendly towards the people and organizations of the first-rate states. If an individual state grew strong enough, how could the Big Two stay in charge?

For this reason, the Big Two imposed many subtle rules.

Just like in the Milky Way, the distribution of exotics was very uneven. The center of the Red Ocean featured richer and more abundant exotics, while the periphery offered fewer riches.

Even in the periphery, there were some parts of space which was nearly completely barren with exotics and other parts where they were fairly prevalent.

According to the Big Two, the distribution of phasewater matched the distribution of other exotics.

For this reason, as the Big Two swept through the Red Ocean, they performed quick surveys of every star system and categorized them into activity zones.

An upper zone corresponded to first-class pioneers. These regions offered the richest deposits of phasewater and other high-grade exotics.

A middle zone corresponded to second-class pioneers.

A lower zone corresponded to third-class pioneers.

As long as each class of pioneer stuck to the appropriate activity zone, they only had to worry about fighting their rivals.

If a first-class galactic pioneer tried to throw their weight around in a middle or lower zone, they would violate the Big Two's rules!

If a pioneer was caught breaking the rules, they lost their status as pioneers and would be hunted by the MTA!

The same applied if a second-class pioneer attempted to abuse a third-class pioneer in a lower zone.

Of course, if a third-class pioneer crossed into an upper zone, they assumed their own risks. The Big Two would not lift a finger if they bumped into a scary first-class fleet. They could only blame their greed!

Though these rules appeared to profit first-class pioneers the most since they possessed a natural claim to the bounty of an upper zone, the opposite was true.

This was because there didn't seem to be many upper zones. As the invasion of the Red Ocean reached the center of the dwarf galaxy, upper zones might become more prevalent, but even then the competition to claim these territories would definitely be bloody!

By confining the activities of first-class pioneers to the upper zones, the Big Two essentially wanted to bleed and weaken their strength and numbers in the Red Ocean!

Of course, most first-class states objected to this discriminatory ruling, but the beyonder gates were fully under the control of the Big Two! They couldn't possibly send too much forces into the Red Ocean to resist the CFA and MTA's stranglehold on conquered territory!

By far, most galactic pioneers were already in their pocket!

Ves found out something else. "One strange caveat here is that the protection regarding activity zones only apply to galactic pioneers and people under their protection. This means that we don't necessarily have to respect the rights of space settlers or other people."

That meant that a second-class pioneer could attack the Terrans or the Rubarthans and not suffer from any punishments by the Big Two as long as their targets weren't pioneers or their subordinates!

This elevated the status of galactic pioneers even further, turning it into an essential status if someone wanted to operate in the Red Ocean.

Once Gloriana understood the implications of these rules, she sighed in relief. "While the protection isn't perfect, it's probably enough to deter most incidents. Of course, we also have to make sure we don't do anything to third-class fleets when we fly through lower zones."

Unless an inferior group directly provoked a superior group, the latter had to do their best to avoid any hostile actions.

Ves shrugged. "A second-class pioneer wouldn't be interested in the paltry amount of wealth and assets owned by a third-class pioneer."

All of these elaborate rules signified that the Big Two accounted for many different situations. Their bias against first-rate states benefited Ves and Gloriana enormously.

"It's kind of strange how obvious the Big Two is attempting to hinder the growth and development of first-rate states with these rules." Gloriana frowned. "Don't you have the feeling that this is all a scheme that is targeted at the first-rate states and the superstates in particular?"

"I think there are certainly contradictions between the Big Two and the first-rate superstates. However, a conflict between the two sides does not benefit humanity at all. Both sides are careful in staying cordial with each other. The way the Big Two define their rules and set their prices only hinders the first-rate superstates by a moderate degree. The Terrans and Rubarthans are still capable of claiming the most lucrative territories in the upper zones."

Ves suspected that the Big Two already made a deal with the first-rate superstates. The former wanted to constrain the expansion of the latter.

The CFA and MTA couldn't push the first-rate superstates too much. The Terrans and Rubarthans were so advanced that they might be able to build beyonder gates themselves!

As long as the growth of the first-rate states did not dominate the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy, the balance of power would not tilt against the Big Two. This was good enough.

"I wonder who else wants to head to the Red Ocean." Ves wondered.

Ves and Gloriana already made up their mind to travel there as galactic pioneers.

As for others, they needed to be capable of earning enough merits, which was not a given.

Of course, most people in the Bright Republic didn't really think about it too much. The Sand War still raged on as ever!

The same applied to the Fridaymen and Hexers.

Ves thought that the two bitter rivals would have sought to pause the war in order to preserve their strength and wealth, but Gloriana disagreed!

"I think the war will intensify due to this announcement." She spoke. "I've gotten in touch with some of my friends and family and discussed the new situation. The Komodo War won't die down. Instead, it looks like it will become more heated!"

"Why the hell does anyone want to fight over some stupid territory in the Komodo Star Sector when there is a lot of middle zones in the Red Ocean that they could profit from instead?"

Gloriana sheepishly smiled. "Both sides want to plunder the wealth of their enemies. It's difficult to earn a lot of merits, but it's easier once you grasp an entire star sector! As long as you obtain more wealth and territory, you can make a lot more contributions to the MTA. It will also be easier to partner up or obtain the services of someone who is capable of earning a lot of merits."

Everything revolved around merits!