The Mech Touch

Chapter 7390  Favor Ideas

After thirty seconds of contemplation, the Saint Commander finally conveyed her policy on the matter at hand.

"The Larkinson Clan is not in the business of political advocacy." She said. "Our primary concern is to ensure the safety and welfare of our members. We are only a small group of humans who are trying to survive and navigate the dangerous waters of the Red Ocean. That said…"

Her gaze swept across the people in the virtual conference room. Everyone who met her eyes could feel a subtle but unmistakable sense of will and focus.

"Just because our clan does not like to take sides does not mean that I forbid our clansmen from pursuing their personal causes. I know for a fact that there is a significant proportion of clansmen who support the views espoused by the Voice of Liberty. They may not like that he has inflicted grievous harm onto Saint Orfan and the Riot, but they respect his conviction and his advocacy. Do not forget that our clan consists of many mech pilots, many of whom have received orthodox training and accrued at least several years of experience in various private or military organizations. They all bear the pride of their profession. Their opinions towards stolen resonance technology are all mixed, to say the least."

Ves and several other Larkinsons furrowed their brows.

She raised an important point. The Larkinson Clan was defined by both its mech designers and mech pilots.

While Ves was its original founder, he had long relied on the strength of the mech pilots under his banner to secure victory on the battlefield and safeguard his interests.

The rise of heroes such as Saint Tusa and Saint Dise had caused mech pilots to become just as prominent as mech designers such as Ves and Ketis.

If the clan had to decide whether to embrace or suppress stolen resonance technology, then Ves could not be assured that every clansman would vote in favor of his own choice.

There were a lot of mech pilots who found the very notion of getting converted into a willpower source to be reprehensible!

Even if only a minority of mech pilots would ever get the opportunity to get started into willpower cultivation, the entire body still considered its champions as their aspirational goals.

Many mech pilots idolized their high-ranking equivalents!

This hero worship vastly complicated the debate on the matter and prevented the Larkinson Clan from putting its full support behind stolen resonance technology.

Ves grimaced as he realized that he could not fully engage in stolen resonance technology.

As long as he remained a member of the Larkinson Clan, he would remain bound by most of its rules.

While he had become powerful enough to bend or break the rules on occasion, that was very difficult to do when the spotlight had firmly shone on the latest tech that had entered the scene.

There was no way he could casually install a stolen resonance generator into a starship without explaining where he obtained the source of its willpower!

He risked the loss of much of the prestige and goodwill that he built up if he recklessly violated the dignity of the mech piloting profession!

"So what does that mean for the clan?" Ves took a deep breath and asked the Saint Commander.

"In practice, I will not stop my own members from associating with the Pilot Humanist Society, the same as I am not stopping them from befriending other organizations such as the Transhumanist Faction, the Mech Supremacy Faction or the Red Fleet. Our clan has never demanded full exclusivity in terms of loyalty or association. Our only hard requirement is that every Larkinson must put their loyalty to our clan and their fellow kin above any external entanglements. So long as that remains the case, there is no need to meddle too much in such relations."

That was practically the only rule to adopt given Ves' deep personal ties with several of those aforementioned groups.

Ketis and Gloriana looked thoughtful while nodding in agreement.

They had their own entanglements as well.

Though it would be a lie to state that there were no conflicts of interests, they rarely if ever allowed them to rise to a level where it could seriously pose a threat to the core interests of the Larkinson Clan.

They were not that stupid or selfish.

Still, the latest organization to gain prominence in the current age clearly couldn't escape controversy.

The very fact that it was opposed to the use and proliferation of stolen resonance technology definitely put it in opposition of other groups that were very much in favor of its adoption such as the Red Fleet and the Rubarthan Pact!

"I guess it is… reasonable to allow our clansmen to associate with the Pilot Humanist Society." Ves eventually said. "However, our clan has much to gain from this tech. We cannot afford to abandon it given the dire circumstances of our civilization. I do not want our clansmen to develop absolute opposition towards a solution that can make our warships and other assets a lot more effective against high-powered enemies."

"Many of us understand your perspective." The Saint Commander responded. "The main point of contention is where you gain your source of willpower. As long as you or anyone else is able to find adequate substitutes, much of the opposition will disappear. There will still be purists who believe that resonance is the exclusive preserve of high-ranking mech pilots, but they will be much easier to deflect when they are alone."

"Agree."

The discussion regarding the Larkinson Clan's stances on stolen resonance technology and the new protest movement became clear.

Though Ves did not feel entirely satisfied, he knew that the Saint Commander made the most sensible decisions.

"So are we in agreement when it comes to complying with the Voice of Liberty's dying request?" Ves asked once again.

The projection of Casella Ingvar stood up. "The Larkinson Clan shall take in all willing members of Saint Conrad Morgenstern's network. This includes the members of the Pilot Humanist Society. So long as they are willing to abide by our rules and rein in any extreme impulses that may harm the reputation of our clan, they are welcome to don the mantle of a Larkinson. We shall strive to be as earnest as possible in order to secure the minor favor to the Resonance Smith."

The mention of the controversial but undeniably productive Star Designer caused many people's eyes to shine.

They already tasted the benefits of cashing in a minor favor from such an august personality in the past!

The Resonance Smith's specializations happened to be a lot more relevant these days.

Not only had he managed to develop a lot of wondrous solutions related to the fields of phasewater technology and more recently E-technology, he had also made a lot of strides in increasing the practicality of superdimensional technology!

Gloriana was practically salivating at the thought of enlisting the Star Designer's aid in solving her own material science problems!

"We should ask the Resonance Smith to solve our most immediate problem!" She exclaimed. "Ves, haven't you felt frustrated that we still cannot create any devices that can dynamically change in size? Superdimensional matter should have given the possibility to create such works, but we have made no progress in unlocking this capability. If we enlist the aid of this Star Designer, we can skip much of the research and obtain an answer right away!"

Ves indeed desired to master such a solution, but he did not know whether this was a worthwhile trade.

"I am not sure about that, Gloriana. You are not wrong that mastering this capability is incredibly useful to us. It will not only make things a lot more convenient for our clan, but also offer a lot of practicality to our Ascended Giants. That said, I am not sure that it is the right decision to rely on outside help to solve this problem. I feel that this is much more of a spiritual engineering problem than a material science-related issue. The key is to master the runes that certain ancient artifacts rely upon to change in size. As far as I know, objects such as the Oceancaller do not possess any inherent superdimensional matter, yet they still exhibit superdimensional capabilities. I think this is the true holy grail."

He had other ideas on how to use up a minor favor from the Resonance Smith.

The group exchanged a few more suggestions, but none of them sounded urgent or compelling enough.

"Despite gaining privileged access to research related to stolen resonance technology, we all know that we will never obtain the most cutting-edge research results." Gloriana said. "Out of all of the parties involved in this trending field, it is the Star Designers who are expected to develop the most advanced applications. If we want to make extensive use of stolen resonance technology, we must reduce our dependence on Mentalist Crystals as much as possible. We should request the Resonance Smith to give us alloy formulas of the best substitutes that he has been able to research so far. Even if they are still inferior to Mentalist Crystals, they should at least be good enough for our own use."

Her proposal had a lot of merit. Ves certainly did not mind it if they used up this favor in this way.

However, this was not the only way to strengthen the Larkinson Clan.

"Stolen resonance technology may be on the rise, but the foundation of our clan has always centered around mechs." Ves gently said. "My elemental Carmine mech design projects are all highly dependent on the application of special materials that are strongly biased towards specific elements. If I ever hit a wall that I cannot easily overcome, then relying on the expertise of a Star Designer may save us months or years of delays. This is very important for all of us. The sooner I complete all of the designs, the sooner I am qualified to break through to the rank of Master Mech Designer."

The Larkinson Clan sorely needed a proper Master Mech Designer amongst its ranks.

While it became a lot easier than ever for the clan to recruit an external Master Mech Designer, trust remained a defining obstacle.

Neither Ves nor anyone else wanted to hand a lot of power over to a Master Mech Designer who did not bleed or contribute to the clan while it was still struggling to find its place in the universe.

A Master Mech Designer would definitely seek to gain power. How could Ves and Gloriana allow a newcomer to supplant them so brazenly in their own domains?

This was why the leadership of the clan was so eager for Ves or another Larkinson Mech Designer to advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer!

Compared to many other Senior Mech Designers, Ves was in a better position, because he possessed a pretty solid roadmap to realizing his design philosophy.

If using the favor to help Ves complete his critical design projects sooner than normal, then that might very well be a worthwhile exchange!

"Ahem." The projection of Ketis interrupted. "I have my own request. Forgive me for being shameless, but swordmasters such as myself have long dreamed about asking for his help. We… believe we can become a lot more useful on the battlefield if we upgrade our swords and combat gear. Expert pilots can resist a lot of damage by resonating with their expert mechs. Swordmasters cannot. Our attack power has always been stronger than our ability to take incoming blows. I want to change that by asking the Resonance Smith for help in developing 'expert armor' or whatever that we can resonance with. I can think of no one else in the Red Ocean who is more suitable to help us complete this goal."

This was a bold request!

Currently, the only way for swordmasters to make a substantial difference in the ongoing conflicts was to pilot Carmine mechs.

That not only required a lot of training, but also detracted from the essence of their profession, which was wielding swords.

If they could obtain much greater resilience by resonating with specially-developed suits of combat armor, then swordmasters would no longer be marginalized as combat assets!

They would finally become a force to be reckoned with, especially when used in clandestine operations where their relatively small sizes made them ideal for infiltration, sabotage and assassination