The Mech Touch

When Ves referred to the new technologies that became available after the start of the Age of Dawn, many people became interested in what he intended to announce today.

Given that his previous mech models were all based on unorthodox design principles, a lot of people expected that his latest innovations were bound to be unique as well!

The previous presentation had already done a good job at highlighting the unique traits of the products of the LMC.

Whereas other mech companies often tried to differentiate their mechs by boasting about their superior armor systems or their specialized firearms, the mechs sold by the Living Mech Corporation always became known by their weirder traits.

Mechs that were alive? Glows derived from mysterious existences that sounded like god? How could a mech designer even come up with these design applications?!

Though the LMC has long moved past the stage where it struggled to prove the value of its living mechs to a wider audience, there were still many people who still maintained their skepticism towards living mechs.

People simply didn't understand.

Ves could do little about this in the past, but he was confident that this time would be different.

Previously, the problem that Ves had issue with was that the advantages of living mechs did not translate into obvious performance improvements.

It was hard to argue that his mechs were better when they did not enjoy any obvious performance boosts to their attack power or defensive attributes.

Living mechs were so abstract and difficult to quantify that people who mainly paid attention to the numbers never really thought they were on the same level as the mechs designed by rival mech companies.

Ves slowly smiled when he thought that he could finally break this curse.

"Living mechs have continued to evolve since I first introduced them to the mech market. Many of the additions that I have made are relatively minor, but there are times when I have made major leaps in technology. The armed forces of my clan make use of many of my powerful innovations. In time, their benefits may flow to the commercial mechs that I will design in the future."

As he spoke, he continued to exude a glow that radiated a strong sense of vitality that was amplified by his strengthened body.

Everyone listened carefully to his words. Few people showed any sign of disrespect by talking among themselves. This was a clear sign that he commanded their attention.

"Meow."

Lucky continued to act cute by floating by his side and capturing the hearts of many cat lovers.

Though his presence diverted quite a bit of attention, Ves did not mind. The true purpose of showing off his cat was to make sure that first-raters took him seriously.

Anyone who was able to gain access to archetech in a time where it was still an obscure secret had to be a bigshot.

At least that would be the logic used by many powerful individuals.

"Only the Xenotechnician managed to fully reverse engineered archetech to the point where he can reproduce it well enough to create a mechanical cat. Has Professor Larkinson received his teachings or his gift?"

"Don't be fooled by the innocent look of that cat. That Lucky is a killer that hides great power. My intuition is screeching in alarm whenever I stare at it. That cat is evil, I tell you. Evil!"

As his audience entertained many thoughts, Ves continued to explain the development of his living mechs.

He did not try to bore his audience with technical details. He simply wanted them to gain a better understanding of how much he worked to improve the state of his living machines.

A few minutes passed by when Ves finally came back to the current age.

"As I have said before, the Age of Dawn changed everything. Mechs are experiencing the same upheaval as many of them have inexplicably become more powerful due to changes in our environment."

His words continued to stroke the moods of many avid listeners. He felt as if he was pulling half the Red Ocean into his narrative.

Ves waved his hand again. The projections began to depict a slideshow of different mechs.

Each of them were designed and produced shortly after the new possibilities became available.

While they shared many differences, one of the traits they had in common was that they were all hyper mechs!

All of the displayed mechs incorporated hyper materials in one way or another. This caused their performance as well as their visuals to become considerably more impressive than before.

"Look familiar? I have selected a number of popular mech models. Many of them were already released in the first three months after the start of the Hyper Generation. What is more interesting is that the mechs completed there in the last few months are barely better in their utilization of hyper technology."

This was not an entirely fair assessment. Ves certainly made a lot of fans and designers of existing hyper mechs upset.

Hyper technology was not easy for people to comprehend at the start. It was commendable how the fastest mech designers quickly implemented rudimentary hyper technology applications in their existing mech designs.

Sure, the upgrades were shallow and superficial for the most part. Grafting on hyper materials and arranging them in a specific fashion onto mech designs that had never been designed with these features in mind often led to subpar mech designs.

Yet the market did not care. Many customers wanted to pilot the first possible hyper mechs came along!

It was only later that a lot of mech pilots and the buyers responsible for procuring the machines learned to differentiate the good from the bad.

Hyper technology may be based on an extraordinary form of energy, but it obeyed many rules that gradually became more defined.

This was why the mechs designed in the last two or so months had begun to draw out the greater potential of this tech.

The Sparrow Storm Mark XII released by SKL Mech Industries was one of many hyper mechs that had begun to strengthen people's ability to fight against the alien menace.

"Impressive, are they not?" Ves made a coy smile. "Each application of hyper materials enables mechs to utilize E energy in a direct and obvious fashion. From adding fire to energy beams to amplifying the toughness of armor plating, the mech industry has been tirelessly working to make their machines stronger in any way they can. Day after day, month after month, mech designers and other tech developers have ceaselessly worked to advance red humanity's ability to harness the power of E energy radiation."

Ves did not hold any animosity towards the hyper mechs designed by others. The machines might not be the most sophisticated, but they delivered on their basic promises and granted superior performance compared to the mechs designed in the previous generation.

"Yet for all of their progress, the vast majority of hyper mechs never delve any deeper in the more advanced applications of E energy radiation. All of the haste put into their creation produced quick results, but that has left their designers no time to sit down and explore the greater nuances of the new forces that we have at our disposal."

There were many reasons for Ves to look down on the mechs designed with shallow applications of hyper technology.

"As respectable as these early works may be, their relevance is limited so long as they are not updated with more developed designs." He spoke. "Too many of my competitors are unaware of the forces they are contending against. This is not their fault. E energy is still a new phenomena to far too many of them. They must still work hard to comprehend the very basics of hyper technology. As for E-technology? That is too far away from them. It is nearly impossible for them to work on the latter when they cannot even perceive E energy directly."

Ves began to smirk.

"While many of my colleagues in the mech industry only learned enough hyper technology to quickly slap their design solutions onto their existing works, I have been working on deepening my fundamental understanding of the forces that have enriched our understanding of the universe."

He proceeded to showcase his progress by stretching out a hand and summoning a fireball!

This did not shock the audience right away. There were so many technological sleight of hands that the fireball could have been generated by a thousand different ways.

Aside from a small number of people with unusual strength and abilities, the majority of the viewers simply thought little of the illusionary fireball.

Ves casually tossed it aside, causing the fireball to fall and scatter against an azure energy shield.

He utilized his improved comprehension of water to generate a stream of water. Though he was not able to control it as finely as a true qi cultivator, he was still able to perform small tricks such as looping it around him in a circle.

This was another unspoken message. Only the right people would understand what he tried to convey with his seemingly trivial parlor tricks.

"E energy is a fundamental source of power that most of us have yet to explore in depth." Ves lectured his audience while Lucky continually tried to dodge the streams of water that threatened to splash his body. "The changes it has wrought to our society are profound and multifaceted. One of its most defining traits that enables us to exceed the limitations of conventional technology is that it responds to conscious thoughts and emotions."

Ves clasped his hands together in a gesture of mercy.

The water that he had been playing with gradually began to glow and exude a faint attraction to many people.

"By showing kindness, we can turn plain water into a nurturing liquid substance that can reduce inflammations and sterilize wounds."

Ves raised his hand and formed a fist!

The water sprout turned into a fist that increased in size and volume.

"By focusing on our aggression, we can turn water into a projectile that can deal a surprising amount of damage."

He then proceeded to spread out his hands above his head as if he was pleading for deliverance.

The water fist rose into the air and began to disperse into a miniature cloud.

"By thinking about cultivating crops, we can turn water into rain that can nurture the land."

All of these transformations looked rather basic, so few people were impressed by the displays. They had witnessed much more amazing feats of 'magic' in fantasy dramas and other works of art.

Ves inwardly smirked. This was just the beginning.

He began to exert more strength. While he was unable to mobilize a lot of E energy by himself, his companion spirit was different!

As a spiritual entity that was expressly designed to devour and manipulate spiritual energy from the start, Blinky was much more of a qi cultivator than Ves!

With the secret assistance of the Star Cat, Ves began to exert more power while spinning his hands in a circular motion. This caused him to summon more water.

Soon enough, he formed a large and glowing whirlpool that spun right behind his back.

The whirlpool spun increasingly faster, causing it to accumulate more power.

What was even weirder was that strange shapes began to poke out of the whirlpool from time to time.

Those with sharp enough eyes could recognize that those water protrusions looked like dragons!

This caused Ves to give off the impression that he had become a god who commanded the power of water.

His aura grew stronger and more obvious. More and more attendees within Phoca Arena began to realize that Ves might be doing more than weaving an illusion with the projection systems!

"Humans such as you and I have unlimited potential. By methodically applying our mind and spirit, we can command these energies by ourselves, allowing us to wield additional power without the use of machines!"