The Mech Touch

More expensive Skills generally corresponded with more knowledge being dumped into his mind.

While his expanded Intelligence allowed him to cope with the huge influx of knowledge, the sheer magnitude of it still burdened him quite a bit. It didn't help that Ves already bore an existing burden in the form of Qilanxo's augmented spiritual fragment!

Despite the unpleasantries, Ves endured the strain and tried to process the influx of knowledge as best he could. Countless theories and formulas related to propulsion and flight systems poured into his mind and settled in as a core part of his repertoire.

Knowledge on polarizing technology came next. Ves learned the principles behind the tech. The polarizing module first shown by Professor Ventag no longer mystified him! He now possessed enough of a foundation to modify its base design!

Many ideas bloomed into his mind, and he already planned to adjust many aspects of his draft design for his super-medium space knight. In light of his newly-gained knowledge, the amount of flaws he introduced in the draft design was frankly embarrassing!

"Spending all of that DP is already worth it for this alone!"

Ves was very impressed with the comprehensive amount of understanding the expensive Skills and Sub-Skills provided to him. He no longer felt as if he was a newcomer in the field of designing spaceborn mechs! Those who participated in the design of spaceborn mechs for decades might not even be able to match the depth of knowledge he gained within a couple of hours!

Nonetheless, all of these mundane Skills played second fiddle to what he regarded as the crown jewel of his list purchases.

Purchasing any Mastery from the System's Skill Tree was never as simple as injecting him with a bunch of knowledge. No, the System wasn't content with that at all. Instead, the System would take his mind and travel back into the past and possibly into an alternate timeline and force him to hitchhike inside the mind of a mech pilot in the past!

Whether the System engaged in an elaborate simulation or performed actual time-travel, Ves had to admit it was an extremely effective learning experience for him. Not even the smallest details escaped him when he had access to all of the conscious and unconscious thought processes of mech pilots!

Still, Ves hesitated in undergoing his Mastery at this time. He only returned to his company less than a day and could not afford to keep his company rudderless for long.

It didn't help that it seemed to be completely up to chance how much time it took for a Mastery journey to complete. The amount of time he spent in the past corresponded with how much time he spent out cold in his current time.

If the System screwed him over by keeping him stuck in his Mastery journey for days, his company and his confidants might begin to wonder where he disappeared off to. Even with Lucky keeping guard over him, they might decide to barge into his lab anyway.

"I'll have to schedule my absence properly and only after I've taken care of some critical business."

Now that he returned to the company, he couldn't let it coast along its current trajectory. Ves planned to leave his Mastery for later and decided to take care of other matters first.

"Come on, Lucky. Let's go visit the vault first before heading to the manufacturing floor."

Ves went to the bottom-most floor of the manufacturing complex and entered the large but mostly empty vault. He sought out the portion of the vault which held his shield generator. After unlocking the lockbox which held this powerful piece of equipment, he studied the belt-like object in his hands.

"It's so small, light and thin."

He used to consider his shield generator as a product of magic rather than science. Compared to his existing understanding of science and engineering, there was no way he could pack so much protection ability into such a light and thin device!

Yet now that he came back to his shield generator after three years of separation, he realized that his shield generator no longer mystified himself as much. His understanding of polarizing technology gave him a basic framework on how its more advanced version worked. The incredible amount of power required to sustain the shielding effect also became explainable.

"Of course, even if I can guess at its working principles, it's way too soon to design and build a shield generator myself." He scoffed.

Studying the shield generator made him appreciate its value even further. It was a supremely expensive application of high technology. Ves didn't even dare to ask how much it cost Master Olson to gift him with one.

Along the way, he also picked up his Vulcaneye multiscanner even though he didn't expect to make use of it immediately. He attached it to his largely empty toolbelt.

"I should get around to filling up my toolbelt with gadgets just like last time."

That also reminded him of another reward he gained from the same mission from the System that rewarded him with ten golden lottery tickets.

Ves swept his mind into his intangible Inventory and studied the only other object inside besides the Amastendira.

[Special Upgrade Voucher (Machine)]

This voucher can be applied to any object that fits the definition 'machine' and will comprehensively upgrade them to a higher rank. The smaller the machine, the more extensive the upgrade. This voucher is less effective on advanced and complex machines.

To be honest, Ves forgot about this Special Upgrade Voucher because he could never find a good opportunity to use it. The description sounded like a trap, which was typical of the System.

If he used the voucher on something highly advanced like the Amastendira or even Lucky, the improvements would be so marginal that nothing actually changed.

If he used it on something crappy, then even if he got something good out of it, he could have obtained something similar through more conventional means.

"There's no pressing need for me to apply this voucher on anything at this time."

Aside from that, he also kept a virtual bronze invitation card for the Angel's Wing Foundation. Even though he got it from the loathsome Church of Haatumak, it didn't detract from its value.

Although the Five Scrolls Compact definitely supported the Angel's Wing Foundation behind the scenes, it might be his only source of rare biological and genetic enhancements in the galactic rim.

Ves didn't forget about the Archimedes Rubal brain implant either. It offered enormous benefits to his cognitive functions, especially with regards to memorization. The only problem was Ves didn't trust it in its current shape. He needed to hire a reliable specialist to check over its bioprogramming and made sure it didn't contain any backdoors.

"I have so many things to do." He sighed.

It felt bad for him to leave these goodies behind, but he could not figure out a good opportunity to make use of them right now.

After he finished getting what he wanted from the vault, he took the secure elevators up to the manufacturing floor.

The last time he visited the floor where all of the LMC's production took space, most of it was empty and hollow.

Not anymore. With one Dortmund production line, five Benson production lines and eleven Hanover production lines, the manufacturing floor looked as busy and organized as the manufacturing facilities operated by the Kadar-Neyvis Group!

Hundreds of mech technicians operating in shifts worked on this floor. Ves saw to his satisfaction that they appeared to be motivated, diligent and brisk in their work.

Various guards bearing the uniform of Sanyal-Ablin Security Services patrolled the different halls which hosted a number of production lines. Ves frowned a bit at the sight.

He knew that it was difficult to expect the Avatars of Myth to match the capabilities of a professional security company from the Friday Coalition. It took a lot of time and effort to train specialized security guards. It took even more effort to set up a reliable virtual security arrangement.

Despite these constraints, Ves felt a bit leery about giving a foreign company so much access to the heart of his mech company. He hoped he wouldn't have to rely on an external security company forever, especially once he and his company grew into greater prominence.

At some point, his existence would attract attention from the Friday Coalition. SASS originated from the Konsu Clan, which was one of the many partners that made up the Coalition.

The structure of the Friday Coalition reminded him of the fractured duchies of the Vesia Kingdom. The only difference was that the Friday Coalition were so disagreeable to each other that they never elevated someone to rule above their heads.

Rather than treat them as a single coherent second-rate state, it was more appropriate to view them as a permanent alliance of squabbling powers.

It was yet another topic of discussion when Ves intended to announce his upcoming plan to shakeup the company.

Under the guidance of a SASS guard, Ves found Chief Technician Cyril Hockett supervising the maintenance process of one of the company's new Hanover production lines.

"It's a beauty, ain't it?" Chief Cyril said after welcoming him back to the fold. "Even though the price is high, the Hanover is worth every penny in my regard."

"It's certainly a machine that is geared towards speed."

Ves could see that immediately from how big it was and how many specialized machines it contained. The Hanover production line did not depend on its 3D printer to fabricate all of the parts of a mech but instead split some specialized processes to more dedicated machines that worked a lot more efficiently.

The main advantage of doing this was that the production line could fabricate several different parts in parallel, thereby saving a significant amount of time. The specialized production machines dedicated to fabricating armor plating, structural supports, delicate components, processor chips and more all did a much better job because they only needed to be good in one area.

Compared to the Dortmund or the Benson production lines, the 3D printers that served as the starting point of those production lines needed to fabricate so many different parts that it could never be tweaked to excel in one specific area. Their versatile nature was both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness.

Of course, it was a lot cheaper to acquire a single machine that did everything decently enough than to acquire a handful of machines that split responsibility. Even if a single machine was still cheaper than a fully-fledged 3D printer, the sheer amount of them that made up the Hanover production line still turned it into a hugely expensive investment!

As Chief Cyril began to explain some of the ins and outs of the Hanover production lines, Ves gained a bit more appreciation for them. As much as he resented the decision to go into debt to fund this investment, the high rate of production they delivered in return more than made up for it! As long as orders kept coming in, the machines would be able to earn back their value sooner or later!

Still, Ves was no longer a stranger to mech technicians and running a manufacturing operation. His time with the Vandals as well as the KNG gave him a lot of insights that he couldn't wait to apply in his own company.

He first addressed his most important concern. "I've heard that the average quality of our silver label mechs have gone down. What do you have to say for yourself, chief?"

Chief Cyril shrugged. "We're trying the best we can, but it's difficult to insure quality when we are working on this scale."

"That's not good enough, chief." Ves firmed up and crossed his arms. "Please explain to me why quality has fallen."

The chief looked a bit askance at his boss, as if he was afraid to engage in this topic. Yet Ves' calm but strong demeanor left no means of escape.

Either the chief answered the question, or Ves would beat the answer out of him with his fists if he had to! Unlike with the System, Ves did not plan to let his subordinates weasel their way out!

Now that he returned, Ves wanted to teach his entire company that he was firmly in charge!