The Mech Touch

The first meeting with the Aduc Family ended on a decent note. Both sides maintained their caution while tentatively sharing a few details about themselves.

Of course, neither of them took the initiative to divulge their deepest and darkest secrets. That would be too exaggerated. Even though both sides showed plenty of goodwill to each other, it was still too premature to decide whether they could trust each other with secrets that could provoke a lot of trouble if they were leaked to the public.

"We're at an impasse." Ves said as he entered his office and sat down in his usual chair. "We were only put together because the Transhumanists directed us to do so. We have yet to form a good foundation of trust."

Under normal conditions, it would take months or years for the Larkinson Clan to become familiar enough with the Aduc Family to develop a close friendship. It would be even better if they bonded together in order to overcome their shared challenges.

This was how the Larkinsons became close comrades-in-arms with the Glory Seekers and the Crossers. The clan's alliance partners had proven with their deeds that they were fully worthy of trust!

"Do I need to go through the same song and dance with the Aduc Family?"

That would take far too long!

Time was valuable. Ves already formed many ambitious plans around the T Institute. He needed the Aducs to come and staff it as quickly as possible in order to expand the scope of his spiritual studies. He needed to accelerate the pace of spiritual innovations in order to quickly power up his clan and power base and make it easier to survive the many dangers of the new frontier.

Without enough strength, pioneering organizations were just begging to get crushed!

"I need to change the game, but how?" Ves furrowed his brows.

"Meow."

While he was trying to figure out a solution, his lazy cat hovered on top of his head and perched on the hairy surface.

A metal tail idly whacked the side of Ves' head.

Ves withdrew a chunk of medium-grade exotic from his desk drawer and threw it into his gluttonous cat's maw.

Crunching sounds soon spread throughout the office. Lucky always savored the times he got to eat a decent snack.

"I told you to keep an eye on the Aducs when they visited us. Did you spot anything I should know about?"

"Meow… meow… meow…"

"You didn't spot anything? What the hell am I paying you for? What about their equipment?"

"Meow meow."

"Hm, that's interesting, but only mildly so. The Aducs probably associated themselves with the Transhumanists for a long time. It shouldn't be a surprise that their gear is luxurious."

Though their robes covered up everything, the Aduc Matriarch and her offspring carried better equipment than Ves during the meeting!

The only way for Ves to equalize this situation was if he wore his Unending Regalia. Outside of that, any of the Aducs could have kicked his butt!

Their gear ranged from first-class protective vacsuits to shield generators that were at least an order of magnitude more powerful than his own. The Aduc Matriarch even carried a personal teleporter if Lucky's judgment was correct!

Ves encountered these expensive and highly desirable devices only a few times in his life. He was still amazed by how they could bring a person to safety at any time while being small and light enough to carry around without attracting attention.

In hindsight, the main reason why these life-saving modules were so small was because they probably incorporated a bit of phasewater.

Personal teleporters were extremely expensive at the moment. Not even Ves thought it was worth it to exchange so many of his MTA merits and resources to obtain one at this time.

The Aducs may be wearing better gear, but Ves did not think he and his clan were inferior in other aspects.

The Aduc Family possessed around 50,000 members, which was decent for a low-key family organization that never made any preparations to emigrate to the Red Ocean before its unveiling.

Their relative lack of preparation also meant that their military forces fell behind. The Aducs never stood out for their mech forces. Even if the Aducs expanded their security as of late, they weren't militaristic enough to protect their own fleet and assets.

"They're probably relying on mercenaries to protect their stuff while they are operating in the Red Ocean." Ves surmised.

He continued to go over his observations of the Aducs for a few more minutes until a chime interrupted his musings.

The hatch slid open to allow for the passage of Calabast. The spymaster sauntered into the office as if she owned it. Her relaxed expression signified that she wasn't overly worried about the topic that she intended to address.

"Calabast." Ves curtly greeted his strategic partner. "Tell me your thoughts about the Aduc Family. I'm told that your impression of them isn't too bad."

She nodded as she leaned against the side of the desk. "The Aducs are smaller and weaker than our clan. Even if they possess a good relationship with the MTA, there are limits to this relationship. It says a lot that the mechers have refrained from absorbing the family into their own ranks."

"It could be that the Aducs themselves don't want to get too close to the MTA. I would do the same if I were in their place."

"That is true. That said, our relationship with the MTA isn't too shabby either. The value you provide to the mechers has directly promoted your status by a few tiers at once. You might not be fully aware of this yet, but your improved status makes it much more likely for organizations such as the Aduc Family to treat you with respect. I bet that Matriarch Erexi Aduc wouldn't have been so cordial to you if you hadn't been elevated to a tier 6 galactic citizen."

"That actually make a difference?"

"Why do you sound so surprised, Ves? You are more important than many master mech designers according to this system. Of course, there are many other reasons why the Aducs are speaking to you as an equal rather than a superior. The living mechs that you have showcased made a powerful impression on them. Our alliance's superior military strength as well as our illustrious combat record completely overshadows what little military accomplishments the Aduc Family has accrued over its long existence."

Greater strength was a good basis of confidence.

The Aduc would be fools to mess around with the Larkinsons when they were weaker!

"What else can you tell me about their attitude?" Ves asked.

"As you can no doubt surmise from their lack of priority in their military development, the Aduc Family does not have a history of pursuing extravagant ambitions. They are completely focused on running their terraforming company. Aside from branching out into biotechnology, the Aducs have not significantly diversified their businesses any further. This shows that they are content with their place in society."

Ves nodded in understanding. All of these factors indicated that the Aduc Family did not pose much of a threat to his clan. Their interests didn't even compete against each other as their main businesses weren't even related to each other.

The Larkinson Clan primarily focused on developing and selling mechs while the Aduc Family indicated that it would continue to operate its terraforming company in the Red Ocean.

Normally, the two would never have any reason to come together. They might not be competitors but there was no reason for them to cooperate with each other either. Their industries were just too far apart.

The T Institute changed that. Now that it became apparent that the Larkinsons and the Aducs developed their own unique applications of spirituality, there was a wonderful opportunity ahead!

If both groups could pool their expertise together, they could produce brilliant new innovations!

The only problem was getting there. Ves still felt deeply reluctant to be the first one to share his greater capabilities.

"What do you suggest I do, Calabast? I want to get moving, but it is difficult to do so without sufficient trust. I don't want to take the slow route. The sooner we can get started with the T Institute, the better prepared we will be when we are ready to go on our next great expedition."

The spymaster crossed her arms and remained silent for a few seconds.

"The only way to achieve results when you are in a rush is if you take risks. This shouldn't be too difficult for you seeing as you do this all the time."

"Can you be more specific?"

"It's simple, Ves. If there isn't enough trust, then you need to force a change by extending your trust towards the Aducs first. Go schedule another meeting with them, but this time you should take the initiative to visit their flagship instead. This is a sign that you are willing to trust their hospitality."

Ves was ordinarily disinclined to visit a complete stranger's ship. There were too many ways for events to go wrong. If a threat truly emerged, then he would be stuck with hardly any ways to get away!

However, given that the Aduc Family was not aggressive and built up a decent reputation over the years, he did not believe that anything would go wrong during a visit.

"Then what?"

"You hand over a valuable gift." Calabast simply stated. "Minister Shederin could probably explain this to you better, but one of the simplest and most effective ways to build trust and gain another party's appreciation is if you provide them with a gift. In this case, the best way to break the impasse you are in right now is if you shock the Aducs by transferring a gift of great value to them. Even if you have failed to build up a sufficient amount of trust, the other party is still obliged to reciprocate it in order to maintain a good reputation. Unless the Aducs are more shameless than I thought, you won't suffer a loss in this transaction."

"I see…"

She made a great suggestion. Ves should have thought about this sooner. In fact, he should probably consult Minister Shederin after he was done with talking to Calabast so that he could develop a complete strategy to woo the Aducs.

"What kind of gift do you think I should provide to them? I have a lot of different options, but it is difficult to determine what the Aducs truly appreciate."

"Don't give them anything mundane like mechs or starships. The Aducs can already take care of those themselves." Calabast said. "Since the Aducs have a metaphysical background, then I highly recommend your gift be attuned to that. I am not entirely aware of what you and the Aducs are good at, so you need to form your own judgment regarding the nature of your gift. I suggest that you take this upcoming visit to their flagship as an opportunity to learn more about them. Once you know what they are lacking, you can delight your hosts by offering them a gift that solves an important need of theirs. If you handle yourself well enough, then you will definitely succeed in forging a bond with the Aduc Family."

Ves and Calabast continued to swap a few more ideas. The spymaster also shared additional insights about the Aducs that may or may not be important.

"There is one more thing, Ves. I have tried to dig into the history of the Aduc Family in order to determine whether it still maintains ties with the Greater Terran United Confederation."

That aroused his interest. "Did you find anything solid?"

"No." Calabast shook her head. "Apparently, the Aducs have completely cut ties with the Terrans."

"Isn't that good?"

"Not necessarily. I don't have any proof, but I have a hunch that the Aducs might not have completely cut off all of their ties. For example, did you ever thought about how difficult it is to step foot on Old Earth these days? This is by far the most historically significant planet in human civilization. Trillions of people wish to go on a pilgrimage to our mother planet, but the Terran Confederation only approves a fraction of the applications, and most of them only concern first-raters. How is a second-rate descendant of a family of exiled Terrans able to go through this process without getting rejected? Have you ever wondered about that, Ves?"

Now that he thought about it, this did sound a bit suspicious!