The Mech Touch

At the most, he chose to show up for a few minutes in the form of a projection.

He still showed up in person when anyone of note got married. The one between Vincent Ricklin and Director Raella Larkinson and the one between Venerable Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson and Director Ranya Wodin-Larkinson were prime examples.

In the meantime, he finally reached the final stages of the Deceptor Project. The mech wasn't that complicated for him to design so it was not that difficult to make it functionally complete.

It took a lot of time to fabricate the prototype and test it in action. He had yet to create the design spirit during the testing phase, but that also allowed him to study the mech's performance without any other influences distorting the data.

When Gloriana dropped by in order to see how her husband's solo project was faring, she studied the collected data with a lot of interest.

"I can immediately tell that the Deceptor Project is your work." She remarked. "Its design and performance characteristics are so you that I would be able to recognize it light-years away. While I'm glad to see that you have cleaned up and refined your technical design work, it is still too sloppy in my eyes. You need to invest more weeks into optimizing your design."

"It already looks fine to me. You're entering nitpicking territory here. Any improvements that I can make will be so marginal that they won't even affect the outcome of a battle. All it will do is make you happier while preventing me from completing our other mech designs."

"What other designs are you truly working on right now? Your Fearless Project is still on ice and your contribution to the Minerva Project is limited."

"I can still head over to our new Journeymen and ensure that their respective mech designs are alive."

"I know, but even then you don't have to invest that much time in them when they clearly want to push through their own visions. You shouldn't encroach on their territory more than is necessary."

Ves sighed. "There are plenty of other matters that require my time. I'll see what will happen. In any case, I don't intend to spend more time on the Deceptor Project than necessary. I'll give our design teams a few more weeks to optimize the design before proceeding to fabricate the first copy. The Flagrant Vandals will be happy to put this new mech into service."

"And how are you supposed to fabricate the mech when you don't have enough raw materials on hand? Hmm? Have you ever thought about that?" Gloriana smugly asked.

His expression fell. "Urgh, don't get me started on it. The Krakatoa Middle Zone's infrastructure is quite bad."

The Magair Middle Zone might not be as exciting, but its development level was definitely higher. Colonies required a huge amount of resources and products to grow into a more self-sufficient state. Traders looking to profit from the disparity between supply and demand eagerly flocked to these regions in order to earn a hefty but also risky profit.

The trading fleets could earn even more profit if they chose to fly deeper into the Red Ocean and sold their valuable cargo to the colonies based in Krakatoa, but not many of them actually dared to go this far!

Unless the trading companies were able to arrange huge conveys with plentiful escorts, it was far too risky to even attempt the crossings.

Only colonies set up by more powerful and influential pioneers were able to retain their footing in Krakatoa. Only they could establish exclusive trading agreements with the right suppliers.

The result of this dynamic was that there were far fewer colonies in this particular zone, but each of them should not be underestimated. They were all founded by pioneers who were strong enough to move first in a region that was much more promising than Magair.

Once Krakatoa was properly pacified, the colonies that enjoyed a first-mover advantage would be able to remain at the forefront of a large community for decades to come!

Ves bet that each of those colonies aspired to become the capital planets of brand-new states. It was a massive bet and anything could happen to disrupt the ambitious arrangements.

Still, one thing was for sure. The supply of resources was absolutely crucial! The more materials a colony received, the faster it developed. Every colony in the zone competed against each other to claim the most resources and it wasn't unheard of for ‘pirates' to assault even the largest trading convoys all of a sudden!

Even though these costly raids always inflicted heavy damage to the attackers, as long as it deprived a colony of a lot of resources at a crucial time, the victim's rivals would definitely be able to get ahead!

Given all of this intense competition for raw materials and industrial goods, it was virtually impossible for a small player like the Larkinson Clan to gain priority on any of these strategic goods!

"I'll figure something out once we get to the Davute System." He replied. "The place is not just a regular colony and the MTA has significant influence over there. We'll buy the required resources directly from the mechers if necessary. The Deceptor Project is a vital new addition to our mech roster and can comprehensively upgrade the battle effectiveness of the Flagrant Vandals."

The spaceborn harasser mech might not be particularly powerful by itself, but Ves designed it to form an excellent synergistic relationship with the Ferocious Piranha. The combination of the two would finally turn the mobile light mech forces of the Larkinson Army into a real threat against powerful opponents!

"You're saying that, but you failed to close any deals back in the Pellysa System where the circumstances are more generous. What makes you think you'll succeed in an even harder market environment?"

"…My lovely charm?"

"Hmph!"

Though she did make a good point, Ves still hoped he could succeed this time.

The stakes were higher as Ves had just promised to Calabast that he would try his best to keep his grand expedition in the current zone for a number of years.

It was a lot easier to establish a business deal with a supplier when the delivery destination wasn't moving up and down the Red Ocean all the time!

At the very least, he could make arrangements to deliver all of the goods to a warehouse in the Davute System. The expeditionary fleet could regularly go back to the port system in order to sell their latest haul before loading in the purchased materials.

The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that this could work. While this arrangement would anchor the expeditionary fleet to the Davute System to an extent, this was not a big deal as he could always let go of the resources piled up in the warehouse if threatened.

While husband and wife talked about the logistical challenges of the Larkinson Clan, their baby was getting more and more adventurous.

"Hihihihi! Baabaaabaaaa!"

"Meow meow."

"Miaow."

Aurelia had grown quite quickly for a baby at her stage. She rolled and crawled whenever she pleased and loved to play with the cats.

As far as she was concerned, Lucky and Clixie were both her playmates!

Not only that, her companion spirit grew more adventurous as well. Though Mana still napped most of the time, she grew more curious of reality and occasionally floated out of Aurelia's mind.

Right now, the adorable white kitten was trying to poke inside the Hammer of Brilliance, but failed to gain any purchase.

..Mieww… mieww…

Maow~

Alexandria flew down to the Persian kitten and bit her by the scruff of the neck before moving away. Mana should really learn not to poke other people's property!

After Aurelia got tired of cuddling with Lucky and Clixie, she crawled over to Ves' leg and tried to climb up to her feet.

Her parents both interrupted their discussion in order to observe their baby's progress.

"Oh, you're so strong! Look at you! You can almost walk on your own legs!"

Though that was a bit of an exaggeration, it didn't matter as Aurelia giggled in response.

Ves bent down and held his baby's arms in order to see how much she could walk. Her legs and balance weren't quite up to the task, but it was only a matter of time before she gained the strength and coordination to succeed.

After the couple enjoyed their personal time with their child, they sat down together while Aurelia fed on another bottle of high-energy nutrient solution.

"I'm ready to have another baby."

"What?! So soon?!" Ves reacted with shock. "Aren't first-time mothers supposed to wait for a longer period before getting pregnant again?"

Gloriana snorted at him. "You know nothing about my body. I'm genetically-enhanced, remember? While my package doesn't focus on physical enhancements, my health and recovery speed are better than many other people in the clan. I've also received excellent care whenever I visited the Dragon's Den. There will be no problems. I wouldn't bring this up if I wasn't confident."

"Oh. Then… I don't have any objection if that's the case. I love it if we can give Aurelia a younger brother to grow alongside with. We're having a son, right?"

"I'm thinking of giving Aurelia a little sister first."

"What? Oh c'mon! I don't want to wait that long before raising my first boy. While daughters are lovely, we already have Aurelia for now. I could use some variety."

"Aurelia needs a reliable second in order to govern our clan better in future!" Gloriana insisted. "Just look at my sisters. My eldest sister Amarintha is already taking shape as my mother's successor while my second sister Kellandra is being groomed to lead the Wodin Dynasty's household troops."

"That shouldn't be necessary in our clan. Besides, even if you want to replicate such an arrangement, Aurelia's second doesn't have to be a sister. A brother could also do the job!"

His wife did not respond well to this argument. They continued to bicker back and forth even after Aurelia finished her little meal.

"Huuuwaaa…" She cutely yawned.

Ves turned to his daughter. "What do you think, sweetie? Do you want to gain a new brother?"

"Bawawwaaa…"

His wife reached down to caress Aurelia's soft head. "Don't listen to him, dear. You're a smart girl, so you should know what's best. You want a little sister, right?"

"Gwuaaa?…"

"Reach out to me if you want a baby brother to spoil."

"No! Reach out to me if you agree to gain a close sister!"

The two parents competed against each other so much that Aurelia grew befuddled.

Spoon, she closed her eyes and slumbered while her parents kept bickering.

In the end, they failed to come to a consensus. As usual, they decided to leave the decision for later.

Ves suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

"Hey, how about having twins?"

"NO!"

That was the end of that.

Days continued to pass as Ves kept working on the Deceptor Project with an eye to completing it as soon as possible.

Since the mech design was very close to reaching its final phase, he also created a new spiritual product to serve as its design spirit.

He decided to go a bit more frugal this time and skipped the use of universal life energy.

The spiritual fragment of the Checkered Garbadine played a central role this time. The masterwork mech embodied the deception-based abilities that Ves wanted to bestow to his Deceptor Project.

He added in spiritual fragments taken from the Illustrious One and Arnold because both of their domains should help.

Other than that, Ves only added in his own spiritual energy in order to merge the ingredients together and make everything alive.

The result of his modest effort was the birth of Kalo, who existed in the form of a spectral chameleon.

"Well, it's not my most creative work, but it will do the job."

Hissss….