The Mech Touch

"Do you have to leave again, papa?" Aurelia asked as she sat on her father's lap.

"I do. I will only be gone for a week, though. 1 also have other ways to remain in contact even if I am far away." Ves reassured his girl as he kissed her head. "In the meantime, your mother and your great-grandfather will keep you company. I am sure that Benjamin will be happy to share his tales with you. He might not be as old as the geezers of other clans, but he has experienced a lot over his life. You have never stepped foot on the Bright Republic, right?"

The growing girl nodded. "1 hear so many stories about it from the other original Larkinsons. It is only a small third-rate state that is located on the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. Everything I hear about the old family is too... simple compared to what we have in our clan."

"Not everyone can cope with change as well as everyone, Aurelia. Even I yearn for a return to the relative safety and simplicity of the Bright Republic of old. Larkinsons such as myself weren't as powerful and wealthy as we are today, but we also did not bear excessive risks and dangers that could wipe out all of our lives after suffering a single setback. We did not throw ourselves into battle against professional military mech forces, phase whales and alien warships just so that we can climb our way up instead of remaining stuck at our current height."

Different from Ves and many of the adults of the clan, children such as Aurelia did not experience another life.

The only time period where she truly enjoyed relative peace was back when the Larkinson Clan settled in the Davute System for five years, but even that had always been regarded as a temporary break.

Ves had set up the Larkinson Clan to become an active and ambitious organization from the start. It had taken way too many risks in pursuit of greater rewards than it could normally obtain.

While everything worked out more or less, Ves felt the need to tone it down as his organization grew enormously in scope and power.

That was not to say that he wanted to quit the current strategy entirely. His clan still had a long way to go before it gained enough power to decide its own destiny.

He just felt that the time for youthful recklessness has passed. Ves already experienced a lot and was growing older with each passing year.

When enough years had passed for Ves to pass off his clan leader position to his daughter, he preferred it a lot more if Aurelia pursued a steadier development strategy.

This was why Ves originally wanted to create a lot more branches of his clan. This would spread the risk and expose only small parts of his clan to various dangers at a time.

This would have worked out well in a future where the Big Two steadily encroached on the territories of the indigenous alien races. With the greater beyonder gate constantly channeling large batches of starships, mechs, colonists and resources, the conquest of the Red Ocean should have been set in stone.

That was until the aliens pulled a fast one on the humans. With this crucial source of manpower, combat assets and resources taken away from the isolated humans in the dwarf galaxy, the entirety of their occupied space came under threat!

Ves no longer felt it made sense to invest so heavily into expanding the reach of his clan. The aliens were bringing more and more forces to bear with each passing month. The raiding fleets recently defeated by the Golden Skull Alliance hardly made a single dent in the total amount of enemy forces coming to wipe out the extragalactic invaders.

The increased buildup in defenses across every star sector did not reassure him in the slightest.

Ves had become involved in enough wars to know that the higher ups just treated all of those fortified star systems as speed bumps. They were all meant to buy time and make the enemy bleed rather than stop the enemy invasion entirely.

In this time of unprecedented turmoil and danger, scattering his clan sounded like a foolish endeavor. Ves predicted that a lot of branches set up in contentious regions like the Torald Middle Zone would get toppled within years.

The Krakatoa and Magair Middle Zones could fall as well depending on how poorly red humanity developed new technologies to counter the native aliens.

The only star systems that had a higher chance of surviving until the end were those closest to Bridgehead One and the Vulit Central Star Node. Both were located at the edge of the dwarf galaxy and had been colonized first.

Unfortunately, it was far too late for pioneers like himself to buy property in these heavily defended star systems. The first movers had already claimed all of the available territories for sale and fiercely rejected new arrivals.

It just so happened that times like these were moments where putting the foundation of his clan in a roving fleet paid off. It might not be possible for his clan to occupy any fixed territories in the rear of human-occupied space, but it was not a problem to bring back a fleet.

In any case, space was unimaginably big and fast. There was no way to run out of real estate in deep space. A star system could easily accommodate every single human or alien starship in the Red Ocean and still have lots of room to spare!

He looked down at his own daughter. He had put a lot of hopes and expectations on her. It might not be fair for him to do so, but someone had to take over his mantle. Aurelia did not show any rejection towards the prospect of taking over his clan in the future, at least for the time being.

"If you were in charge of the clan a few decades from now, what would you do?" He asked.

Aurelia's cute young face scrunched up in thought. "l am not certain. Our clan is changing so fast that it will be entirely different from now. What if you have already turned it into a strong and independent first-rate virtual state?"

Ves chortled. "I think you are overestimating my capabilities a little. It takes an unimaginable amount of wealth, power, support and accumulation to start a legitimate first-rate state. With the native aliens putting us all under siege, access to resources will only become more constrained. All of the existing first-class powers will fight tooth and nail to preserve their dwindling advantages."

His girl actually disagreed with his assessment.

"Many of those groups will fail and collapse because of their inability to adjust to rapid changes. This has always been the case in humanity's extensive past. Smaller organizations that are able to adapt better will have an opportunity to fill in the gaps. This is the survival of the fittest on an interorganizational level."

There were times when Ves lamented that his daughter had grown so smart and knowledgeable so quickly. He would have rather dealt with a naive and innocent girl instead!

"Let's not talk about that any further. It is not yet your turn to solve all of these difficult problems. You still need to finish your schooling. How are you doing in your studies?"

"I am doing well, papa. I have received better grades and studied many more books since the Great Severing. Mana in particular is growing faster with the help of exotic radiation. She can effectively help me complete my studies faster."

The white spiritual kitten in question emerged from her head and began to posture around in the air.

"Mew mew mew!"

Blinky flew out of Ves' head and tackled the kitten in a hug. "Mrow!"

"Meeeew!"

As the two companion spirits fooled around, Ves could indeed feel that Mana's development had made significant advances since his last serious examination of the young companion spirit.

Even though Mana lacked a proper cultivation method like the one he developed for Blinky, her natural cultivation still sped up her growth speed by several times!

It shouldn't be a surprise that Mana had grown extensively enough to function as a proper incarnation. Aurelia was able to use her to augment her schooling in a similar fashion to how Ves employed his cyborg leg and Veronica to get a lot more design work done.

This was yet another advantage of companion spirits that he should emphasize in the upcoming conference!

Seeing how smart and capable Mana had grown since her birth, Ves began to reevaluate his daughter's future trajectory.

"The future belongs to the capable, Aurelia. The more skills you acquire, the easier it is for you to take advantage of lucrative opportunities. Take myself for example. I literally built our clan into a regional powerhouse out of nothing by relying on my excellence in mech design. Since you are able to spare the time for it, I think you should also focus on acquiring a hobby or a craft that can help you create more added value."

Much of Aurelia's current and future lesson plan encompassed all kinds of management, business, cultural, sociological and governance-related subjects. This was meant to prep her to become the best possible leader of the Larkinson Clan once she completed her essential studies.

However, Ves did not particularly hold a good opinion towards pure politicians and bureaucrats.

The ones that Ves met throughout his life were often way too elitist and far removed from the lives and circumstances of the common citizens.

He felt it would help a lot if these people had other jobs aside from making decisions in their ivory towers all day.

There was no guarantee that such professionals necessarily made for good leaders. The so-called Supreme Sage of the Life Research Association was a clear example of how being incredibly clever in one field did not necessarily translate to being a good steward of an entire state.

Nonetheless, Ves felt it was best if the Larkinson Clan was led by a figure who at least shared a similar advantage to himself.

Aurelia fell into thought. "Mama has put me into many different classes. I have learned how to dance, sing, compose poems and draw sketches."

"I know. You're quite talented in each of these arts." Ves grinned and hugged his daughter a little tighter. "However, these are not your hobbies in the truest sense of the word. I have never seen you channel a lot of passion in your artworks. I think you are mostly doing all of this in order to meet your mother's expectations towards you, right?"

His girl nodded. "I love to make mama happy. Is that wrong?"

"It's not necessarily wrong, my dear." Ves shook his head. "It is just that I think it is better if you divert your time on practicing an art or hobby for yourself rather than other people. Find your passion. Devote yourself to it. It would be better if Mana can play an important assisting role in your craft. I have managed to accomplish a lot with the help of Blinky, so I hope you can gain advantages that others cannot match. This can truly help you develop a competence that you can use to support our clan in my absence."

Aurelia grew more concerned. "Are you going away, papa?!"

"Ah, no. I have no intention of abandoning you and our fellow Larkinsons. It is just that nobody knows where we will end up in the future. There comes a point in time when the Larkinson Clan should not rely on a single pillar anymore to maintain its position of power. Right now, everyone is counting on me to sustain the clan, and that is not healthy in the long run. 1 want you as well as your brother and sister to work together to prop up our clan with whatever skills you have. Leadership and management skills alone won't be enough to make that happen. So let me ask you this. What do you want to become aside from a leader?"

His daughter struggled to find her answer.