The Mech Touch

As Ves let his imagination run wild with possibilities, his perspective on Lucky started to shift.

He never thought too deeply about Lucky's origins before. He lacked the information to make any certain judgements and Lucky didn't know anything either.

Should he continue to treat Lucky as his cute little mechanical pet? Or should he regard the gem cat as a suspicious object with a complicated relationship with some very powerful figures?

Though Ves became a bit entangled by this dilemma, he soon let out a deep breath.

"There is no need for me to consider so much."

If Lucky was truly related to his mother, then everything was probably fine.

Ves already spent years with Lucky. His pet wasn't just a mechanical creation to him, but a close companion.

"He's family."

The times they went through, the relationship they forged as well as what he was able to sense from Lucky's spirituality were all signs that Ves could trust his feline friend.

As for whether a high-and-mighty Star Designer or some other eminent figures were behind the gem cat project, Ves did not have the power to do anything.

He might as well forget about this problem and continue about his day. There was a good chance that whoever created Lucky was not malicious towards him. Lucky's creator might even be an ally!

"Meoooow… meoooowww…"

Meanwhile, Lucky's mewling cries had dropped a bit. While the gem cat was still in distress, his agony became a bit more bearable for the moment.

"Are you close to finishing?"

"Meow!...."

"Hey, I'm just asking!"

"Meeeeooowww…. meeeeeeooooowwww…"

Since it appeared that Lucky's episode was more of a marathon than a sprint, Ves sat down and began to imagine something even bolder.

Would he be able to create something comparable to Lucky?

This was not the first time he considered this question.

Ves knew quite well that Lucky provided him with invaluable help. Throughout many moments of his career, he would have never been able to survive certain dangerous moments if not for Lucky's combat and infiltration abilities.

Ever since he started a relationship with Gloriana, he already started planning for the long-term. Now that he had married her, it was only a matter of time before they would have kids.

Ves wanted what was best for his children. With the wealth and resources he had at hand, he could invest a lot into designing some great designer babies.

Yet that was not enough for his liking. If he could pair each of his offspring with pets comparable to Lucky, then he would have a lot more confidence that they would be able to survive difficult situations!

While it was impossible for Ves to create anything comparable to Lucky, he might be able to create another kind of pet with unlimited growth potential!

Considering his specialties and proficiencies, the most obvious solution was to create new spirits that could accompany his children throughout their lifetimes.

These guardian spirits could exist entirely in a spiritual form. His design spirits as well as entities like Sharpie proved that they did not need to possess a physical form in order to provide a lot of help.

Purely spiritual companions were easy to make. They were also very hard to detect and would always be able to accompany his children without making anyone suspect that his brats were never alone!

Ketis already proved that hiding such a trump card could prove useful during critical moments!

Yet the shortcomings of spiritual companions were also clear. They needed to exert themselves a lot more to interact with the material realm. This process always tired them out quickly, so they could not provide sustained help.

"A physical companion is better in most cases."

Ves had a lot of options to choose from. He could design a mechanical pet and infuse it with life, but he could also task a beast designer to develop one according to his specifications.

If he happened to encounter an existing exobeast that had already broken through the extraordinary threshold by itself, Ves might be able to negotiate with it and turn it into a contract beast for one of his children.

He did not favor this solution, though. Biological pets had a finite lifespan. While Ves might be able to extend their lives in some way, he figured it was better to start with a mechanical pet right away.

Mechanical constructs were familiar territory to him. As long as there wasn't anything biological to them, he could refine their designs to a fantastic degree and maintain control over every single aspect.

"Gloriana can also help. In fact, she'll probably insist on taking part in this project!"

The only worry that plagued Ves was that he did not know whether he and his wife were skilled enough to develop a satisfactory pet.

It wasn't necessary for these derivative pets to create gems. That was beyond him. He just wanted to pair his kids with strong and friendly companions.

While he was very confident in his ability to make his products sentient and aliv, it was a lot harder to design something that could grow stronger over time.

This was one of Lucky's defining traits. Not even his gem producing capabilities were comparable to how he was able to assimilate many different materials and technology.

How could Ves ever create something comparable?

His thought inadvertently strayed to his Devil Tiger design.

"ASMAS might be a viable alternative."

Vese did not have access to the higher-level principles and technology that enabled Lucky to evolve in such a sophisticated fashion. The way he seamlessly integrated so many different devices and materials made it seem as if a hidden Master Mech Designer came up with all of the upgrades!

His Devil Tiger did not even come close to matching this degree of sophistication. ASMAS was not capable of integrating new functions by themselves, so Ves would have to manually program this functionality in his work.

Not only that, but ASMAS-based creations were more fragile and prone to hacking than regular mechanical creations. Still, these problems weren't insurmountable, or else he wouldn't have conceived of the Devil Tiger design in the first place.

"Meeeeeooww! Meeeeeooow! MEEEOOOOW!"

Lucky's abdominal pains began to spike again! His distress rose and his body exhibited some worrisome convulsions.

Ves had a feeling that Lucky's episode was finally about to reach its peak.

This was especially when he began to perceive strange activity from Lucky.

A small vortex appeared. The remarkable part about it was that this vortex wasn't physical in nature. Instead, to Ves' considerable astonishment, the spinning vortex instead drew in unknown spiritual energy from an unknown source!

"What is happening?"

"MEOOOOW! MEOOOOW! MEEEOOW!"

Ever since the spiritual vortex emerged, Lucky's distress had doubled. His back arched and his limbs shook helplessly as the gem cat had to endure a lot more pain than before!

As the vortex spun faster, the amount of spiritual energy sucked into Lucky's stomach increased considerably!

Ves had no idea why this vortex came into existence. What was its purpose. What kind of spiritual energy was it trying to absorb?

Due to the intense fluctuations of the vortex, Ves wasn't able to perceive any details. This was highly unusual. It was rare for his spiritual senses to get stymied. The only times this happened was if he was dealing with something that was a lot more powerful, advanced or ancient than he could handle!

Even though he failed to probe the nature of the vortex, Ves could make a number of guesses.

The vortex must be supercharging whatever gem or gems that Lucky was about to pop out. The more energy it absorbed, the greater the end product!

Ves developed an interesting idea. If the output was related to the input, what if he threw in an extra ingredient?

A devious smile appeared on his face. Despite all of the uncertainties surrounding this event, Ves was in the mood to conduct another experiment!

"Do living gems exist?"

The sandmen arguably qualified, but they were actually energy-based lifeforms that attached their existences to physical substances. This was why their physical bodies could come in the form of any kind of materials. Most of them merely bonded to sand because that was the most ubiquitous substance available on terrestrial planets.

Ves had no intentions to create a new sandman. He just wanted to see what kind of benefits he might obtain if he added his secret sauce.

"Oh well. Whatever. Let's just try!"

He concentrated his mind and began to spit out a decent quantity of his own spiritual energy. He did not process it in any way, but directly hurled it into the spiritual vortex.

Slurp.

The moment the vortex directed his spiritual energy into Lucky's stomach, a drastic shift took place.

The vortex grew bigger! It attracted eight times more spiritual energy than before! This drastic increase was not something that Lucky was equipped to handle!

"MEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWW!"

"Uh oh."

Ves had a feeling that he might have done something reckless. He cautiously stepped back as Lucky's body started floating in the air.

Not only that, a strange grey corona surrounded his body!

Ves began to sense so much spiritual activity inside Lucky that he was afraid his cat might explode like the hundreds of test subjects he had gone through!

"MEEOOOOW! MEEOOOW! MEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

After Lucky unleashed his final cry, a bright flash of light exploded from his body!

BOOM!

"AAAHH!"

It was as if the sun had gone supernova! Ves momentarily lost both his vision and his spiritual senses from the powerful outburst of energy!

Fortunately, Ves didn't perceive any danger. He calmly waited and rubbed his eyes as his senses slowly recovered.

Once his vision became less bright, he ignored Nitaa's distress and directed his eyes towards Lucky.

His cat looked like he had emptied everything inside his body. Lucky's physical exterior looked duller and flatter from before. His eyes blinked out, which was a sign that he had lost consciousness.

Lucky definitely overdrafted himself this time! He would have to take a long rest before he could recover.

Ves no longer paid any mind to his pet. Lucky had served his purpose.

"Now where is my prize?"

"Sir! Over there!" Nitaa pointed her gun at something.

When Ves turned to the side, he noticed something peculiar that wasn't there before. A small, glowing red object was hovering in the air. It swayed back and forth for a bit before trying to float away.

Yet before it could even leave the room, it collided against a wall. The red lustrous red object didn't seem to know what happened, but it began to push itself against the wall with greater force this time!

Thunk!

Thunk!

Thunk!

It gradually dawned upon Ves that this stupid object was Lucky's newest gem!

Different from the others, it was bigger and more active. It also happened to be alive in a way that Ves had never seen from any other gem!

It didn't take much thought to conclude that Ves was to blame for this. If he didn't donate his own spiritual energy, the red gem might not have been so odd!

When Ves approached, the gem tried to get away, but its speed was far too slow.

"Hold still!" He said as he easily snatched the rebellious gem out of the air. "Now let's see what kind of benefits you can bring to a mech."

[Supreme Comprehension]

A small portion of the accumulated yearnings, regrets and understanding of an acclaimed, boundary-pushing scientist is locked within this gem. Fulfilling the wish of this brilliant remnant will unlock the true power of this gem.

"..."

His System vision didn't change. The red gem was shaped like a crystallized version of a realistic heart. It pulsed with inner light and made it seem as if the heart was beating.

Ves had a hunch that the imposing red gem was somehow related to biomechs. While this was not ideal, Ves could still work with it, especially considering he was surrounded by them at the moment.

The reality was worse. Just like Lucky's other weirder gems, the description didn't describe any solid benefits.

After all of these months of holding it in, that was it? Ves was anything but impressed!

"LUCKY! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"