The Mech Touch

The wait was agonizing to Venerable Vincent.

It had been a long time since he broke through during a pivotal battle at the end of the Purgatory Campaign.

The moment where he became completely in sync with the B-Man and manifested Bravo in his most powerful state was an unforgettable moment to him and the soldiers who participated in the battle.

Vincent constantly dreamed of reliving this moment. He became more enthusiastic about piloting mechs than ever and no longer felt bothered by the doubts that plagued him in the past.

His confidence soared now that he had become a lot stronger than before now that he had become a genuine demigod and expert pilot. As one of just a handful of high-ranking expert pilots in the Larkinson Clan, he had the capital to place himself above the vast majority of colleagues!

Yet despite his yearning to get back in the cockpit, he was no longer able to pilot the B-Man since the Larkinson Clan settled in Davute.

The custom mech had suffered too much damage and repairing it was not cost-effective once the Larkinsons decided to transform it into an expert mech.

For months, Venerable Vincent tried to pass the time by training in other ways.

He exercised his body and became engrossed when he slightly managed to exceed his previous limits due to his advancement.

He piloted other Larkinson mechs and lamented how they were too weak for him to exert his new strengths.

He even tried out simulation systems but quickly became frustrated by how fake they were. He might not have noticed the difference back when he was just a regular pilot, but at his current state the inconsistencies were far too glaring.

It didn't help that the simulator pods regularly glitched as soon as he got a bit excited! Many of them were incapable of coping with the power of expert pilots!

Months went by as Vincent impatiently waited to get back in the saddle where he belonged.

His torment had finally come to an end.

After the participating mech designers took a well-deserved rest, they woke up and prepared a thorough testing session in order to see whether their efforts truly paid off this time!

Although the C-Man looked completely fine in its current state, no one could say for certain whether this innovative mech would be able to perform as intended.

Vincent did not have any doubts, though. He had unwavering faith in his new expert mech even before it was built. The Larkinson mech designers had never let him down and this time would be no different.

Only one unexpected occurrence took place. Just as the preparations were being made, Gloriana approached Vincent with an interesting request.

"Would you like to broadcast the footage of the C-Man's initial activation and testing session to the public?"

"Huh?" The expert pilot blinked. "Aren't we supposed to keep the details of my expert mech's performance a secret? I have always been told it would be bad if our enemies have seen our mechs in action beforehand. They can make targeted preparations to counter our stuff."

"You are not wrong, Venerable Vincent. This consideration still weighs over our heads. However, there are additional variables at play that have given us reasons to make a different choice this time. I've already explained to you what it might mean if I have succeeded in turning the C-Man into a god body. The current phenomenon affecting the frame of your expert mech is a sign that it has indeed acquired a god body, but what is a god without any worshipers?"

Venerable Vincent widened his eyes. "Are you saying you want to unveil the C-Man to the public so that they can become its fans?"

"Correct! I cannot say whether this will be of any use, but I have confidence that if even a fraction of the audience have converted into your new 'fans', your expert mech may receive additional benefits. In order to make sure that our audience will be able to enjoy the show, we will make changes to the testing routine so that it will look more exciting to outside observers."

"Aren't you worried about leaking sensitive information about the C-Man's performance?"

"Not as much as you think. We already have numerous existing expert mechs and we will undoubtedly obtain more in the coming years. Our clan has grown to the point where the need for secrecy doesn't weigh as highly as before. In fact, it is better for us to raise our profile and publicize at least a portion of our strength and specialties so that we can gain more respect from other parties in the Red Ocean. Our business operations will benefit immensely if we can show to everyone that we are truly capable of developing stronger and more elaborate mechs."

The Larkinson Clan was first and foremost a group that earned its living by selling mechs. It would absolutely give the LMC's nascent commercial operations in the Red Ocean a boost if it could show that its mech designers were capable of developing a stellar expert mech!

"Besides, you do not mind performing in front of an audience, do you?" Gloriana smirked. "This is your big opportunity to become a celebrity. As long as you succeed in putting on a good show, then we might allow you to perform in additional PR events."

Venerable Vincent instantly became stoked. "Hahaha, have no fear, madame! I was made to be the public face of our clan! I haven't spent all of that time competing in arena competitions because I was shy. Go ahead and broadcast my upcoming performance to the galactic net!"

"Good. Good. That is the spirit that I wish to see from you. We will be delaying the testing session by half a day so that we can spread the news and advertise this event. I don't think we need to be afraid of not attracting enough viewers because it is rare to unveil an expert mech in such a high-profile manner. I can at least guarantee you that the people in Davute will definitely take note."

Though Vincent looked pained when he heard that he would have to wait even longer, it was for a worthy cause.

"Understood. This will give me more time to hang out with the C-Man and get a feel for my new expert mech before I pilot it for the first time."

"You go do that. I will need to contact Professor Almar of Melmen Advanced Systems in order to inform her of this development. She will probably be pleased with what we are doing as we will be showcasing her new signature product."

TESMAS was incredibly powerful but also ludicrously expensive to build. Just the fact that it took around 5 kilograms to produce a full application of this extravagant smart armor system was enough to scare away a lot of potential customers!

If the Larkinsons were able to show that their C-Man could display incredible strength and versatility with the help of its TESMAS, then that would definitely provide a substantial business boost to its developer.

What was even better was that the Larkinson Clan recently acquired 7.75 percent of the shares of Melmen Advanced Systems. Helping the developing company would ultimately help the Larkinsons!

The hours went by quickly as the Larkinsons hurriedly moved into action. They brought in additional assets and planned more elaborate demonstrations in order to make sure that everyone that tuned in to the broadcast would get a clear view of the C-Man's excellence!

Vincent also had a busy day all of a sudden as a team of professionals had come to coach him on what he should and shouldn't do in front of a public broadcast.

All of this was a form of torture to him as he did anything but what he truly wished to do. At least he was allowed to stay in the vicinity of his expert mech so that he could gain an unspoken understanding with his expert mech.

Soon, the final hour had come. The Larkinson Clan had already opened up a broadcast on the opening page of their virtual portal. Millions of people had already tuned in and that number was climbing with each passing second.

After all, it was not every day that one of the local powers was willing to showcase one of their trump cards!

Despite generating a lot of questions and confusions on why the Larkinson Clan would possibly reveal one of its strategic assets, it did not stop all of the mech fanatics and those concerned about the regional hierarchy from paying attention.

One peculiar decision the Larkinsons had made for this public testing session was to conduct it on the surface of Davute VII.

This was why the Larkinsons had moved everything they needed for this occasion to a wide open training field that they rented for the day.

There was nothing of importance in any of the surrounding regions, so there were no concerns about any accidents harming other people.

As Vincent suited up and entered the cockpit of his dormant but always active machine, he closed his eyes and tried to get into tune with his new expert mech.

"Vincent." Ves finally spoke to him through a transmission. "You are up in a minute. Get ready to start. The eyes of tens of millions people are on you right now, and more will doubtlessly be viewing the footage at a later date. I don't need to remind you that you are representing our clan right now. Don't make me regret this decision."

"Hey, you can always rely on me, Ves. I never failed to deliver!"

"We'll see about that."

As soon as a minute went by, Vincent no longer held himself back and decisively pressed the ornate activation button!

Since the mech was already active at a low power state, it quickly activated all of its other systems.

At the same time, the neural interface that was custom-developed for the C-Man established a connection to Vincent's powerful mind and will for the first time.

The expert pilot entered nirvana as he had finally returned home for the first time since he advanced to his current rank!

At the same time, the C-Man joyously welcomed back its battle partner after spending a long time as a broken and neglected custom mech before its life-changing upgrade.

Both of them had missed each other so much that they immediately and spontaneously harmonized with each other. A burst of radiant gold corona exploded from the impressive-looking frame as their jubilation produced a considerable degree of true resonance!

In fact, the two were so happy to bond with each other again that Venerable Vincent's resonance strength quickly rose beyond his expected level.

"What?" Ves looked shocked. "His resonance strength has already reached 5.34 laveres?"

This was more than what was typical for a relatively new expert pilot who had yet to practice with an expert mech before this point.

However, after recalling that Venerable Vincent and the previous iteration of the current mech had both achieved the legendary state of Unity of Man and Machine, then maybe this reaction should not be a surprise.

All of this indicated that Vincent was truly piloting the right mech at the moment!

Once the expert pilot regained his composure, he grinned as he could feel how much power he possessed.

This was a far cry from all of the other mechs he had piloted in the past!

"Let's go, buddy."

The C-Man finally took its first step. It moved slowly at first, and Vincent wasn't in a hurry to test its speed.

The ground rumbled as the powerful expert mech stepped outside of the mech hangar and stepped out into the open.

As the light of the local star shone down on the C-Man, its gleaming white-and-gold surface already received a lot of compliments from the audience!

As Vincent basked in the attention that he must be receiving, he soon recognized a shortcoming.

"My C-Man looks good, but it can look even better."

He activated a new command that wasn't present in any of his previous mechs. The front torso of his expert mech started to ripple as the TESMAS became active all of a sudden. The previous definition of the muscle cuirass became murky as its shape started to shift and change.

"What is that idiot doing now? Why is he deviating from the plan?" Ves asked as he watched what was going on from a control room. His eyes soon widened in horrified realization. "Wait, don't tell me…?!"

The C-Man already looked masculine from the onset. Gloriana had done a good job at interpreting and realizing Vincent's wishes.

However, as a woman and someone who did not have the highest opinion of boys, there were certain… limits of what she could tolerate as a mech designer.

Vincent did not share Gloriana's aesthetic tastes. His own tastes were substantially different.

Normally, mech pilots such as himself were helpless to do anything about it, but this was a different situation.

Since TESMAS made up the exterior of the C-Man, that meant that Vincent could change it to suit whatever shape he wanted!

As such, he worked together with the C-Man to make the expert mech look manlier.

Its existing muscle definition became thicker and more exaggerated. Though Vincent still applied at least some restraint, there was no doubt that the abs and pectorals looked even larger than life than before!

Yet these were not the areas that Vincent was concerned about. What he truly paid attention to was a prominent component that sat lower than the other areas that were being changed.

As more and more people tuned into the broadcast, they gained a clear view of the C-Man expanding the size and girth of its codpiece!

"What is he doing?! Didn't we tell him to control his impulses?!"

Ves and numerous other Larkinsons became increasingly more horrified as Vincent erased the original design of the C-Man's codpiece.

Much like its predecessor, Gloriana designed a subtle and artful V-shaped codpiece that did not look overly masculine.

Though Vincent did not dislike its design, he felt it did not do his manhood justice.

"I need more room."

This was why he took control of the TESMAS in order to apply his own design that he had come up with a long time ago back when he was trying to pass the time.

The V-shaped codpiece that resembled a belt more than anything turned into a more pronounced and vertical T-shaped codpiece that began to adopt increasingly more exaggerated proportions!

Although it did not look obscene due to the fact it looked like a mechanical component that could be found on any mech, the audience had no doubts about the actual meaning of this dramatic redesign!

"This is the true power of TESMAS!" Vincent exulted as he applied his own vision of his expert mech.