The Mech Touch

Screams of terror rang from every corner of the hall as the frightened audience lost their nerves!

Even those who sat further back had been frightened out of their wits as the huge wall of flames seemed to have enveloped the brave challengers in an instant!

Soon enough, the flames disappeared.

The wave of heat died down..

The crackling of fire faded away.

It was all an illusion.

Ves emerged from the thick of the projected flame with hardly any injury to his body.

He never exhibited any worry. Even if the flames were real, he would have escaped unscathed regardless with the help of his shield generators.

The people standing in the illuminated zone didn't know that. The guests sitting in the front seats didn't know that. The flames looked and felt so realistic that they never expected it to be fake!

The stupendous reaction from his guests amused Ves to no end!

All of it was part of the show from the start. The flames that spewed from the nozzles of the Enison Spreaders wielded by the Doom Guard were mostly virtual.

Trillion Hall's advanced projectors were very much capable of conjuring such a realistic illusion at such a grand scale. Other auxiliary tools just as a directional heat management system made it appear as if the entire place was about to burn!

It was as if the mechs had actually opened fire on the crowd!

In truth, the Doom Guards were heavily restricted. The formidable flamethrowers wielded by the mechs that stepped up to the podium didn't contain any propellant at all! Even if they did, the safeties locking their systems prevented them from doing any harm to people!

Just because Ves wanted to put on a show didn't mean he wanted to burn his customers!

He just wanted to scare them a bit!

Seeing as how a huge majority of the challengers withdrew en masse when they thought they were on fire, it seemed he succeeded quite well!

Only several dozen or so challengers remained. These represented the absolute best performers. They either possessed nerves of steel or were smart enough to realize that it was impossible for the LMC to commit an atrocity for no apparent reason.

Regardless, the deception succeeded in its purpose and forced the majority of challengers to give up. Those who remained truly earned their free mechs as far as Ves was concerned.

The hall began to brighten and the atmosphere no longer seemed so tense. As the squad of Doom Guards standing behind Ves became more visible, the audience no longer felt as threatened.

That said, the glows of the mechs still exerted a heavy pressure on their minds.

"There is no need to fear the monsters standing behind me." Ves smirked and raised his hand. "Not when they are on our side."

The hall brightened up until a warm, orange glow akin to an evening sun illuminated everything.

The Doom Guards came into view and revealed their huge red frames in full now that the darkness receded. Their glows slowly retracted as their mech pilots all flicked the off switch.

The mechs didn't seem so threatening anymore! Instead, their imposing appearances, formidable design and immense bulk drew a lot of admiration from the audience!

The temperature in the hall subtly rose by a couple of degrees. This warmth soothed everyone's nerves, giving them an immense feeling of relief and safety just as their eyes fell onto the mechs that used to be the source of terror!

This sudden transition caused the audience to make some very abrupt psychological associations.

In the dark, the striker mechs resembled the monsters in the dark!

In the light, the new machines suddenly turned into the strong weapons that Ves made them out to be! When the monsters were on their side, the guests felt much better about themselves!

Though what Ves had done was arguably torture and definitely not proper, his guests felt so relieved that none of them raised a word of complaint at this moment!

They had gone through far too much fright to think about anything else! Their rapidly-beating hearts needed to die down before the organs erupted from the strain!

Even though Ves bent the rules to the point of breaking them, he received no censure after a while.

The show he put on was just too good!

Though no one signed up to experience the scare of their lives, the people attending the product reveal all looked more alive and grateful than ever! They experienced such a rapid succession of contrasting emotions that the succor they gained at the end tasted all the more sweeter!

Ves had the illusion that he would probably be able to become a fantastic showman if he abandoned his mech design profession.

It was so fun to torture his audience!

Through the careful planning and use of words, environmental manipulation and various props, he was able to shape the thoughts and emotions of a large number of people in a uniform manner.

As long as he managed to hook the imaginations of a group, he could make them feel as scared as hopeful as he liked!

This was indoctrination in an entirely different way than he was accustomed to! Though resorting to his Devil Tongue was a lot more convenient, that didn't mean that Ves was incapable without it! There were so many tools to put up a good show that he would never run out of means to sway a crowd!

Now that Ves demonstrated the potency of the Doom Guard's glow to everyone, there was no more need to terrorize his audience any further.

He wanted to sell his mechs. Scaring his potential customers to the point of developing a trauma around his Doom Guard was detrimental to this goal!

The mechs fully receded their glows after a short while. Even the mech pilots themselves no longer felt any strain. Though the third eyes still shone in a bloody shade of red, the Doom Guards no longer threatened to break anyone's minds.

"Congratulations to those who have stood their ground. You have proven courage in front of this star sector, no star cluster beyond doubt!" Ves innocently smiled as if he didn't burn them to death! "Each of your identities have been registered by the monitoring system of this hall. The LMC will contact you afterwards to arrange the shipment of your free silver label Doom Guard. Congratulations for your prize!"

The thirty-odd winners who made it through the end all loosened some of their tension. Just because they managed to make it all the way through the end didn't mean that they were immune to fear! They just held on through sheer grit and confidence a little better than the others!

The only exceptions were the people from the MTA. As the surviving challengers gradually returned to their seats, Master Moira Willix and her two armed guards remained in their places at the very front.

None of three ever exhibited signs of discomfort. There had been plenty of people who kept an eye on the great Master, and each of them found to their astonishment that they never showed any tension!

The awe and majesty that people felt towards the MTA grew stronger. The people who were a part of the Big Two truly deserved to be regarded as the strongest specimens of humanity!

Ves' smile momentarily ticked when he noticed this reaction.

Did Master Willix take part in this little play because she wanted to show off the prestige of the MTA?

Well, she sure succeeded! With the debacle of the Battle of Bentheim still strong in everyone's minds, a simple showing like this instantly restored many people's reverence towards the might Association!

To Ves, it seemed that this thieving Master simply couldn't resist the opportunity to hijack a portion of his show!

Her eyes suddenly darted to Ves, giving him the illusion that this great figure in the mech industry was pinning him in place!

"Good performance." She stated simply.

After uttering this curt remark, she wordlessly turned around and floated back to the private box hovering high above the audience. Her bodyguards followed as well, making sure to flank her sides while keeping their intimidatingly bulky rifles ready to respond to any threat.

The gravity of the entire space seemed to have lightened up a bit as the Master Mech Designer finally disappeared from everyone's view.

Though she was still very much present in the hall, now that she isolated themselves, the people sitting below couldn't help but sigh in relief!

Ves didn't think too much about Master Willix's deliberate conduct. The product reveal was far from over!

"What you have just experienced in your hearts is the most remarkable property of an LMC mech. The glows that characterize our products are utterly unique to our designs and cannot be found anywhere else. Its effects on mechs is hardly evident, but the true value of those glows lies in affecting the people that take part in the battlefield!"

Ves partially turned around and swept his arm over the Doom Guards that loomed behind him like a row of infernal protectors!

"When certain glows are combined with certain mechs, an remarkable amount of synergy takes place. There is no better example of that than the machines that have just demonstrated their power! These premium spaceborn striker mechs are designed for area denial. Their potent flames excel at dealing with hordes of charging mechs. Combining the deadly power of their flamethrowers with their distinct glows, these striker mechs have become extraordinarily good at fending off assaults!"

Plenty of people in the audience were smart enough to know what that meant!

Ves grinned. "The LMC's new Doom Guard design is explicitly designed to cater towards the growing needs of outfits that are tasked with tackling the consequences of chaos and anarchy. While the deterrence of a Doom Guard is effective against nearly every opponent, they are remarkably more effective against lower-quality mech pilots!"

The members of the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association practically shot up from their seats! Out of everyone in the audience, they clashed against the Nyxian pirates the most! A mech that was specifically tailored to fight against pirates always attracted their interest!

"You have felt it yourself." Ves continued. "You have seen how many trained and capable people failed to withstand the pressure. Let alone moving closer, they couldn't even stand in place! If even veteran mech pilots succumbed to the urge to flee, how do you think that pirates will react in response to this unblockable phenomenon?"

Dreams of driving pirates away began to descend on many people's minds!

"Our new Doom Guard is designed to deny and deter. While I am obliged to warn you that it is a weapon that influences friendlies as well as foes, as long as you turn off its glow or train your troops to withstand its pressure, you will be able to gain an inestimate advantage in any battle in space!"

"Do not be afraid of the Doom Guard. Despite its fearsome glow, its value to your outfit or organization is inestimable as long as it is on your side!" Ves gestured his arm forward. "An eminent MTA Master as well as a small group of brave individuals have managed to withstand its incredible pressure. They are true elites as far as I'm concerned!"

There was no doubt in this statement. None of the people who won the challenge were average in the slightest!

"What if I tell you that you can join their ranks as well?" Ves threw out with a confident grin. "If they can do it, so can you. It is just a matter of training! While the main purpose of the Doom Guard is to deter a lot of enemies, it can also be used to toughen up your own men! Courage can be trained, and there is no better tool to facilitate this than our Doom Guard!"

His latest product wasn't just a scary mech! Ves tried his best and put a positive spin on his mech design, because relying on a single gimmick wasn't enough to turn it into an enduring seller!

He needed to convince his audience that his Doom Guard held a lot of value. He needed to grasp onto every potential use of his mech in order to justify its premium price tag!