The Mech Touch

Ves did not talk too much with the new expert candidates. He only held a perfunctory speech and began to detail some of their new rights and responsibilities in the clan.

They needed a lot of time to develop into their newfound power. While expert candidates weren't as reality-defying as expert pilots, they still stood head and shoulders above regular mech pilots. This was already enough to warrant special treatment.

Of course, Ves didn't have to sort out all of the details. Commander Melkor, Commander Magdalena and so on all took responsibility for nurturing the expert candidates.

As soon as they advanced, the nine Larkinsons had already turned into investments of the clan. The value of an expert pilot was at least a hundred if not a thousand times more valuable. There was no way his mech forces would let their potential remain buried!

Since Ves was already swamped with responsibilities, he did not intend to track the progress of his expert candidates too closely. He was only willing to spend some time on customizing and improving their mechs so that they enjoyed smoother growth.

The only problem was that Ves did not have any suitable mechs to pass on to them aside from the Bright Warriors.

Now that the Larkinson Clan was transitioning to a second-class organization, it did not make much sense to invest in this mech model. It had already served its role for the most part.

The only problem was that he hadn't prepared an alternative. Ves either had to design a second-class version of the Bright Warrior or design a set of new second-class mechs.

Either way, it was likely going to take years before he equipped all of his mech pilots with proper mechs!

After providing the expert candidates with some helpful advice, he dismissed them. Aside from providing them with improved mechs, they shouldn't need any further help from him. If they couldn't advance to the rank of expert pilot after this effort, then perhaps they weren't cut out to become demigods.

"Too many expert pilots is not necessarily good. I already have my hands full from managing five of them. It's going to be an enormous chore to design all of their expert mechs."

Ves could not borrow Master Willix every time one of his expert candidates broke through. She was not some kind of design bot that emerged out of its resting place and dutifully provided him with the assistance he needed on command.

Just thinking about all of the trouble he had to go through to design more expert mechs in the future gave him a headache. He felt it was even more important to design a lot of mechs in order to accumulate enough DP to exchange for valuable knowledge about expert mechs.

As the reinforcements dispatched by Kellandra Wodin was only a day away from reaching the surviving fleet, Ves decided to hold a press conference.

News and rumors about the Battle against the Abyss already started to generate a lot of interest.

At the same time, the scandal surrounding the Doom Guard was still growing unabated.

Even if the LMC acted quickly and bribed or outright bought the damaged parties, there were still plenty of opponents who wanted to take advantage of the situation. The LMC was already eating up a lot of market share in the market for spaceborn rifleman mechs and spaceborn striker mechs.

Once the Miracle Couple published some additional mech designs, even more mech companies were going to bleed market share!

Due to the magnitude of the planned announcements, the Larkinson Clan put a lot of effort into preparing a suitable venue.

Many people offered different suggestions.

Some wanted to build an opulent hall on the surface of Cinach VI that reflected the Larkinson Clan's splendor.

Gloriana wanted to hold the press conference aboard the flagship of the Wodin Warriors.

Suffice to say, every Larkinson shot down her suggestion.

In the end, Ves came up with a novel idea. When he shared it with his inner circle, most of them immediately approved!

The only people who disapproved were Gloriana and a couple of old fogeys like Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson. They thought that holding a press conference in such an unusual setting was highly inappropriate, but it was too bad they were horribly outnumbered.

Symbolism mattered. Every decision affected the impression they made to the public. Even if it was mostly theater, Ves needed every advantage he could get to solve his various problems.

Just before the press conference was about to begin, preparations took place in two different places.

On Cinach VI, hundreds of invited journalists entered a hall specifically prepared for the occasion. While the clan spent some effort to decorate it with the clan's developing architectural style, the broadcast wouldn't show any of it. This was because the Larkinsons would soon project a different setting around the journalists!

At some point, Gloriana entered the hall from the side. A number of Glory Seeker bodyguards accompanied her as she stepped to the podium.

She wore her customized clan uniform this time. Though she considered wearing a dress or something more elegant, she knew it was important to emphasize her association with the Larkinsons.

As Gloriana approached the empty stage, the environment changed.

A large number of projectors borrowed from the Hexers began to surround the journalists with an entirely different view!

Cold metal, broken control consoles, savage banners and various other crude markings came into view.

The people invited to the press conference each discovered that their slightly-unusual seating arrangement caused them to sit right behind one of the projected work stations!

When some of them curiously touched the controls, some sort of system recorded their movements and began to pass them to the consoles.

"It's turning on!"

Various menus and technical settings came into view. The journalists momentarily forgot about what was in front in order to satisfy their curiosity.

"Sensor system integrity has dropped to 35 percent." Someone read out.

"Catastrophic hull breaches in the bow and starboard sections… urgent repairs needed."

"Main aft cannons have locked target coordinates and are standing by. Please press to proceed…"

As soon as the unwitting journalist pressed the button to proceed, the setting minutely shook.

A large projection appeared in front of their faces that showed a large asteroid getting pounded by three successive cannon strikes!

The huge exploding shells blasted the huge asteroids into pieces!

The reporters all jolted at the sight! Even if everything appeared to be a projection, the setting was so realistic that they truly felt that everything was real.

"We're on the bridge of the Gravada Knarlax!" Someone shouted with shock!

A huge wave of awe and wonder spread from the invited guests. None of them could have imagined that the Larkinson Clan would opt to hold a remote press conference on the bridge of the infamous Nyxian pirate warship!

While some people wondered whether the Larkinsons were just putting up an elaborate virtual illusion, once Ves came into view, they weren't so sure anymore.

Ves wore his new Unending Regalia complete with a dashing red cape this time. He looked nothing like the stereotypical mech designer who looked like he would fit right into a peaceful lab.

He walked down the middle aisle of the large bridge and stood next to Gloriana.

Instead, his combat gear made it seem as if he had just concluded a battle!

Five figures garbed in piloting suits emerged from the entrance to the bridge. They strode through the middle of the bridge and stepped behind Ves with straightened backs and firm faces.

Nine more figures in piloting suits appeared and strode forward until they stood at the back.

Nobody said a word as Ves and the mech pilots took their place. Every journalist had already researched the circumstances beforehand and knew that none of the people who showed up were normal.

Even though the projected setting could not convey the force of wills of the expert pilots, just their appearance was alone to make the journalists more honest!

Ves swept his gaze across the large crowds. Despite inviting several hundred people, the bridge of the Gravada Knarlax was so large and expansive that there was still plenty of room left.

While the journalists were still taking in the new expert pilots, Ves decided to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Gravada Knarlax. Yes, this projection reflects the actual bridge of the pirate-built warship that has fallen into our hands. I advise you not to touch anything. While we have locked some critical systems, we have left many of them open so that each of you can feel how much power this heavy cruiser contains. With one press of a button, you can fire shells that can crack open combat carriers. With another press of a button, the Gravada Knarlax can blanket a region in space with a rain of rapid-fire laser beams!"

After hearing this, none of the attendees dared to touch anything. Their awe and fear towards warships was considerable, and just thinking about activating something catastrophic was enough to give them nightmares!

In fact, the unwitting reporter who accidentally fired the aft primary turret cannons was already in tears!

Ves sneered as he saw the bubbling man. It was just a simple weapon discharge. Only a worthless asteroid got blown apart. What was the big deal?

"As you know, our Larkinson Clan has decided to dispatch a task force into the Nyxian Gap. I decided to personally lead this task force into this pirate-infested region in order fulfill the demands of the Mech Trade Association…"

He began to summarize the journey, including the various battles his men had fought. He did not really provide much details, but he did project some carefully-chosen footage to impress the crowd how valiantly the Larkinsons had fought!

Perhaps normally, the journalists would be a little more discerning about the presentation. They might ask questions or point out some undesirable details in the background.

However, changing the venue of the press conference to the bridge of the Gravada Knarlax had turned them all speechless. They did not dare to talk in such a dangerous place.

The battle footage became increasingly more action-packed. Unfortunately, the Larkinsons did not reveal anything sensitive!

Most of the footage merely consisted of mechs clashing against mechs. Only a small amount of footage at the end displayed how the Larkinsons fought against the Allidus Alliance's warships.

When Ves summarized through the final battle, he left out any mention of anomalies or dark gods. He only mentioned the expert pilots and expert candidates briefly and did not state how they contributed to the battle. The footage that accompanied his words solely depicted the first half of the battle. Nobody needed to know that the second half even took place!

Even with all of this editing, the footage already looked incredibly grand!

Sure, the public battle footage of the Komodo War was hundreds if not thousands of times more massive in scale. Yet rarely did anyone see mechs fighting against actual warships.

Seeing the huge amount of losses that both sides suffered gave them all the impression that the Allidus Alliance was incredibly powerful! If the Gravada Knarlax ever managed to reach a planet, her primary cannons alone could bombard every major city into ruins from orbit!

To them, it was a miracle the Larkinson Clan managed to overcome such powerful vessels with mechs alone!

Ves grinned and gestured to his rear. "To be honest, we couldn't have won the battle without the assistance of our expert pilots and expert candidates. This battle has pushed many of our mech pilots beyond their limits. Our Larkinson Clan is proud to announce that we have gained five expert pilots and nine expert candidates! Except for one, each of them achieved their breakthroughs during the final battle!"

Though the journalists already expected this answer, hearing it from Ves himself meant that the rumors were definitely true!

A huge amount of uproar emerged from the people tuning in to the broadcast! How many mech pilots did the Larkinsons field? How come they managed to achieve so many breakthroughs in a single battle? Something astounding must have happened to Larkinsons!