Chapter 7498 Darlings of Nature
Chapter 7498 Darlings of Nature
Woodsap mechs represented a new direction for Ves.
They were not only his first elemental Carmine mechs, but also his first proper living biomechs.
The latter alone deserved his attention. He had deliberately shaped the products of the Arboreal Project into vessels that embraced both material and spiritual forms of growth.
From his perspective, all freshly grown Woodsap mechs were equivalent to babies. They started off as blank slates. Even when they initially bond with their Woodsap mech pilots, they only gained the beginnings of a personality.
Real growth only took place across a span of many months and years. So long as the individual Woodsap mechs and their bonded pilots survived the ordeals ahead, the biomachines had the potential to spawn all sorts of mutations, many of which even he could have never anticipated!
Anything was possible. Ves had his own ways of shaping wood energy to produce certain results, but he had never explored it in depth. He could never map out the full range of possibilities when it came to the evolution of his Woodsap mechs.
Many factors could affect their evolutionary trajectory. The most important ones were the enemies the Woodsap mechs fought and the mentality of their pilots.
Persistent contact with the same types of hostile entities stimulated directional mutations that should make it easier for the Woodsap mechs to fight against them in the future.
His products somewhat resembled mutated beasts in this regard. Of course, the latter evolved much faster due to unknown reasons. Ves had yet to be able to replicate the ridiculous growth rates of talented mutated beasts and calamity beasts. They appeared to play by their own set of rules.
Nonetheless, even if the physical growth rate of his Woodsap mechs lagged behind, Ves did not care too much as long as the trajectory maintained an upward trend.
If a powerful mech pilot such as General Axelar Streon could accompany his Ouroboros for multiple generations, then so could Woodsap mech pilots!
Even if the ongoing wars placed a very high premium on short-term gains over long-term ones, Ves was not willing to compromise the integrity of his Woodsap mech concept just to compress their growth cycle.
Trees tended to grow at considerably slower rates than animals. There were exceptions, of course, but he was not willing to add his Woodsap mechs to that list.
They had no need for haste. What truly made trees strong was their patience and willingness to accumulate over lengthy periods.
These attitudes broadly aligned with the concepts related to the wood E energy attribute.
Though Ves did not treat these concepts as gospel, he deliberately designed his Woodsap mechs as the physical embodiment of the wood element. It made little sense to create a divide. He could leave that for future mech design projects.
"Have you read the latest files on the deathborn that we will probably fight in our next mission."
"I have, professor." The Second Elf responded with a serious expression. "There is not much verified information in the reports. I know little of what to expect from these new enemies, if they are even present. The prospect of fighting them does not instill much enthusiasm. These deathborn are too enigmatic. I am not even certain whether they should be treated as a credible threat."
"It is true that we have little information about the deathborn, but that is exactly the reason why we must enter the Hypeh-Tekas System and find out their details first-hand. If our suspicions about the presence of a great amount of deathborn as well as Red Cabal shenanigans are correct, we will probably have to fend off these undead ghosts. I fear that the properties of these particular entities make it so that conventional armaments have little to no effect against them. Perhaps only true resonance, powerful superdimensional weapons or certain types of hyper weapons can inflict effective damage against these strange beings."
Caracalla Shuku narrowed his elven eyes. "If that is the case, our Woodsap mechs ought to be able to resist them more effectively than other standard mechs."
"That is what I believe. Compared to the Omega Thresher and the other first-class multipurpose mechs at our disposal, I am convinced that my Woodsap mechs are the most effective counter against the deathborn and similar entities. The Rosenstorm and his many brothers and sisters incorporate some of the most advanced and innovative hyper technology and E-technology applications. My Woodsap mechs are a small generation ahead of earlier products by my reckoning. This is a strong advantage and one that will serve you and your fellow colleagues extremely well in the coming days. However, that is not the only reason why I am optimistic about the performance of your unit."
"Our biomechs are a celebration of life and technology. Perhaps… they can serve as the antithesis of death."
"That is my hope." Ves confirmed the elf's guess. "Barring external factors such as warship cover and Casella's Command Field, I am highly certain that our Woodsap mechs can clear out the deathborn at a strong advantage. This is due to the E energy attribute relationships. Woodsap mechs primarily manipulate wood energy, but they are also working with a bit of life energy. This and more should give you the tools you need to overpower the most deathborn."
The elven mech pilot furrowed his brows in thought. He did not look as optimistic as Ves.
"I find it dangerous to make this assumption when we have yet to meet with the supposed deathborn. While I am willing to partially believe in your theory, I do not think it is that straightforward. You already said yourself that our Woodsap mechs do not primarily channel life energy. If we are confronted by beings that are steeped in higher quantities and concentrations of death energy, I do not think it will be easy to dispel their foulness. What if our new enemies contaminate our Woodsap mechs instead?"
That was a serious possibility.
Which side managed to gain the upper hand depended on far too many variables. The quantity and quality of energy pools were the most important ones.
Life and death stood at the opposite ends of a spectrum.
Neither of them possessed absolute superiority over their opposing element.
Which one managed to claim supremacy over the other depended on other factors.
"Try your best to avoid unwinnable situations." Ves responded. "While it is important to test the performance of our Woodsap mechs against a variety of opponents under typical conditions, that does not mean that you have to commit suicide just to obtain better data. The Saint Commander will likely do her best to give you an opportunity to have a clean fight with a comparable group of deathborn. However, since we lack so much information on the enemy, her planning is not perfect. You must remain vigilant and be ready to withdraw or struggle if the situation has deteriorated."
The Second Elf nodded. "My men and I shall take your words into consideration. If mastery over wood and life energy can play a decisive role in our fight against the deathborn, then my fellow elves and I should be particularly well-suited to combat the new scourge. Compared to the human test pilots in our cohort, my elves and I can already manipulate these energies better than others."
Ves did not need to observe any proof to know that this was an absolutely true statement. Each and every elf had undergone a mysterious sublimation that changed on a physical as well as ethereal level.
They had traded away some of the messy qualities that defined humanity in order to strengthen their affinity with wood, earth, life and other related elements.
Elves had given up much, but also gained a lot as a consequence.
Even without engaging in auxiliary qi cultivation, elves actively absorbed and 'digested' wood energy at an impressive rate!
This new race appeared to be the darlings of nature. If this form of passive cultivation persisted for a couple of years, they might be able to perform serious abilities that humans could only attain through bitter cultivation!
Ves expected nothing less from life forms that had been transformed by supping from the Grail of Rebirth.
Most of the elves probably did not know the enormous value of the small amount of universal life energy that had been responsible for fueling their transformation!
Ves still winced at the thought at how much universal life energy Gaia had been willing to commit to propagating her blessed race.
He could have made use of all of that universal life energy in so many different ways.
From strengthening his companion spirit to speeding up the growth of his living mechs, universal life energy was like a universal accelerant that could promote any form of life!
He inwardly sighed. Gaia still refused to engage with her progenitor directly. Why was she ungrateful? She would rather scheme with the Terrans than collaborate with her own maker.
Perhaps he needed to win her trust. He hoped that his work on the Arboreal Project would help with creating a bridge between himself and the young True God.
Ves recognized that it would probably help a lot if he also built a strong relationship between himself and the elven race.
The First Elf and the Second Elf were both individuals of importance. They received the greatest amount of favor from Gaia, and likely attracted her attention even now. It became imperative to get into their good graces for that reason alone. As long as they developed a good impression of him, Gaia should also follow suit.