The Mech Touch

It took a long moment for people to realize what had happened.

The entire mech arena turned from a hive of activity into a silent chamber.

Everything froze from the moment the results of the bold and inventive assassination attempt became clear.

Millions of people sitting in the many seats of the mech arena became astonished as they beheld the arrival of an iconic existence.

Many more people who were watching the live broadcast in their homes or workplaces needed a few seconds more to realize what had happened.

"That... that is the cat of a god pilot!"

"Emma! I can recognize her anywhere! No human dares to steal her image. The only person who openly makes use of her is the Destroyer of Worlds!"

"Did she... did she travel to the Bortele System?"

There was a reason why the entire mech arena looked as if it was frozen in time.

The alarms that blared in everyone's ears just a moment ago had completely fallen silent.

The voices of all of the people who had previously expressed their shock at the rapid turn of events had all disappeared as every single individual had lost control over their bodies.

Even the security officers and all of the powerful first-class multipurpose mechs moving to rescue their principal had lost total control over themselves.

Nothing was allowed to move under the powerful and oppressive will that appeared from nowhere!

All of the people that had fallen under the control of a powerful god kingdom could do nothing else aside from breathing and thinking.

Every other action was prohibited by the overbearing will of a legendary god pilot!

Under these extraordinary circumstances, three notable individuals received special treatment.

"Meow..." Lucky felt an incredible degree of intimacy towards Emma.

In the face of the highly destructive attack launched by the transformed single-use hyper molecular disintegrator, the companion spirit of the Destroyer of Worlds easily neutralized the destructive attack without expending any significant effort.

An attack that was theoretically powerful enough to disintegrate the molecules of a lesser phase lord posed no threat against one of the living incarnations of the power of destruction!

Of all of the powerhouses operating in the Red Ocean, no one embodied the concept of destruction better than the Destroyer of Worlds!

She was a master of destruction and ruination. Her Ragnarok had broken more planets than any other god pilot in their lifetimes. The alien lives that perished at her hand could not be counted.

In the face of such supreme power, the inventive Dustweaver was like a toy.

"Meow..."

The care provided by Emma went beyond negating the attack. The supremely powerful companion spirit instantly got rid of all of the remnant energies and forces that debilitated Lucky's operation and enabled his archemetal body to initiate its restoration process without any hindrance.

"Emma..." Ves whispered.

As the primary object of protection, Ves immediately felt as if he was completely safe and secure.

Emma might look ferocious most of the time, but she was more than just an engine of destruction!

As an extension of a god pilot, Emma managed to destroy the exotic space suppression effect that interfered with Ves' body and cognition.

In fact, Emma did more than that.

Ves expressly recalled that when the treacherous cosmopolitan had systematically restricted his true body and hindered the operation of his personal energy shield generator and emergency teleporter, he had been thinking about entering the System Space.

No matter what, he hadn't run out of options!

It only took a small moment of thought to activate the current iteration of the Mech Designer System.

Even if he did not want to expose anything related to the System, he could have tried to borrow the power of one of his design spirits.

It might be difficult for him to draw on their power on short notice, but it might have been possible for him to loosen the restrictions or reduce the damage of the incoming super attack that he had sensed from a distance!

The weaker design spirits probably wouldn't be able to help him out, but there were numerous entities that had transitioned into true gods.

There was no way the Superior Mother would stand by and allow her son to die!

Gaia might also lend a hand to keep him alive.

If time was too short, then Ves had even been willing to squeeze his Jutland organ and release as much Worclaw energy as possible!

Ves had never done anything like it before. He could not predict what would happen other than the fact that the results would inevitably be explosive.

That did not sound so bad when he was trapped inside a bizarre metal sphere.

Breaking the metal curtain from within sounded like a much better option than just letting Master Quan have his way with Ves!

Yet before he could make up his mind and resort to one of these extreme measures, his mind blanked out for a short but crucial moment of time.

He only managed to realize what had happened when he noticed that Vulcan and Veronica still experienced the passage of time while he and Blinky temporarily lost total awareness!

It was as if Ves and his companion spirit temporarily entered into stasis.

Ves felt extremely uncomfortable about losing total control over himself. As he felt the oppressive god kingdom impose near-absolute control over him along with the rest of the mech arena, he felt more vulnerable than he had in years!

It was profoundly disturbing for him to realize that the Destroyer of Worlds completely had him at her mercy!

She could do nearly anything to him without giving him any chance to resist!

Ves used to believe that he had amassed a lot of strength.

The System, his design spirits, the Unending Regalia, the Oceancaller, his phase lord cultivation and even the Worclaw energy coursing through his true body all granted him the means to defy ordinary threats!

However, Ves discovered that when he fell into the palms of an all-powerful god pilot, none of these means made any difference.

Their hard power was simply too insufficient inside a god kingdom where the transcendent will of a powerful god-like entity reigned supreme!

At this moment, neither Ves, Blinky, Master Quan, the mechers or anyone else retained any agency.

The only individual that held all of the power was the Destroyer of Worlds!

"How... how could Her Holiness be here...?"

Master Quan's eyes shook with pure panic as his charred and half-broken throat barely managed to squeeze out a rasping voice.

From the moment Master Quan fell into the sphere of control of a god pilot, his body no longer belonged to him anymore.

Even though Master Mech Designers were much more powerful and capable of resisting these kinds of intrusions, the difference in strength was simply too much at this time!

Not only did the god kingdom deprive Master Quan of control over himself, it even halted the collapse of his body!

The god kingdom effortlessly destroyed the molecular disintegration effect and took other measures to stabilize Master Quan's unusual physical state.

The extraordinary domain field of a god pilot had deprived Master Quan the right to take his own life!

Utter despair and desolation filled his unhinged mind when the intelligent Master Mech Designer figured out what that meant.

"This is a catastrophe!"

If everything went according to plan, then Master Quan would have died and crumbled into dust particles.

He would leave nothing behind for the mechers to salvage!

Without any intact implants or an intact brain, it should have been impossible for the mechers to extract all of the hidden secrets and memories related to the Indigo Cell and the Cosmopolitan Movement.

The problem was that this did not happen!

"Kill me!" He gurgled from his deformed and misshapen mouth. "End my suffering..."

There was no way the Destroyer of Worlds would ever oblige to his request.

The exposure and capture of a high-ranked cosmopolitan and traitor was an exceedingly rare and valuable accomplishment!

Time after time, the cosmopolitans had embedded themselves into the core power structure of major human organizations. They continually spread their rot from within and deceived many earnest humans into embracing their virulent ideology!

Even if cosmopolitans got caught from time to time, the captives usually knew far too little due to their lack of seniority.

The cosmopolitans were one of the masters of information control!

They understood the importance of secrecy better than any other organization!

This may be the first time where a high-ranked cosmopolitan not only exposed himself by engaging in a risky action, but also managed to get caught alive!

The intelligence value from such a captive was astronomical!

When the giant figure of Emma stared directly at Master Quan's warped and frozen body, she grinned.

A few more seconds passed before many people steadily regained control over their bodies.

The god kingdom still remained active, but it no longer pressed down onto people as if they had been completely subjugated.

"She's here!"

No one noticed the arrival of the Ragnarok. The large and bulky god mech had appeared in the exact center of the mech arena. It occupied an open position that no one was able to ignore!

"Your Holiness!"

Now that millions of people were able to move again, they immediately bowed their heads and lowered themselves to their knees whenever possible.

Few if any of these spectators were Rubarthans, but that was not relevant. Every human felt compelled to show their utter respect and obeisance towards one of the eight supreme protectors of their fragile civilization!

This was the respect that every human owed to their god pilots!

No one became more affected by the appearance of the Ragnarok than Ves!

The god mech was not in combat mode, so it did not look so threatening at the moment.

Nonetheless, it was one of the physical forms of the Divine Irene Mox, so this was the first time that Ves directly met with one of his past Mastery experience hosts!

Though Ves had already managed to enter into an accord with General Axelar Streon, this reunion was much more stressful to him because the power difference was much greater this time!

He had been able to play to Axelar's overwhelming desire to trigger his ultimate apotheosis and become the latest god pilot to grace the human race.

The same approach would not work this time! The Destroyer of Worlds had already realized her greatest desire. She had become more powerful than nearly every other human alive and had reached the top of human society.

How could Ves ever hold any leverage towards this overpowering being?

The Destroyer of Worlds could completely disregard the wishes of the Red Association and squash his true body into mulch if she desired!

"Miew." Emma uttered in a more reassuring manner.

Ves' expression darkened. He definitely sensed that Irene was able to pick up on his fears and distress.

It was impossible for him to keep his thoughts hidden when he was completely in her grasp!

The only consolidation was that he only sensed goodwill from Emma and the Destroyer of Worlds.

Ves was just being paranoid.

In any case, the crisis had passed. Nothing could possibly threaten his life now that an actual god mech had made an appearance.

The god kingdom of the Destroyer of Worlds was too large and powerful. It not only encompassed Phoca Arena, but also spread its reach across the rest of the capital city of Bortele III!

Fortunately, the Destroyer of Worlds restrained her search in order to minimize disruptions. It wouldn't cause mechs to crash or people to botch their work assignments.

The god pilot could extend her god kingdom even further if she wished, but that was too excessive.

It was enough for the Destroyer of Worlds to detect any accomplices or other would-be assassins lurking in the vicinity!

After Divine Irene Mox quietly transmitted a list of suspicious individuals to the mechers, her god mech no longer remained in view.

"The Ragnarok is gone!"

Ves, Lucky and Master Quan had disappeared from sight as well!