The Mech Touch

Chapter 6088  Solarium

Unlike with Lanie, Ves saw no need to witness the Inferno Spear Prince's attempt to recruit Taon.

Ves did not enjoy the company of the former Ylvainan anymore. Their last meeting had already been awkward, and he did not think he would gain anything useful from hearing from him again.

Though Ves honestly did not think that Venerable Taon deserved to become a protege of the legendary Destroyer of Worlds, it was not his business to interfere with their business.

Venerable Taon would be able to work for the Rubarthans regardless of what Ves thought once he officially severed his ties with the Larkinson Clan. His opinion towards the Larkinsons would only deteriorate further if he was met with obstruction.

As for the Destroyer of Worlds, Ves had no power to influence her decisions. She may owe a lot of gratitude towards him, but she was a lot older and wiser than him. If she thought that it was worthwhile to take Taon under her wing, then that was her prerogative.

He really wanted to call her and hear exactly why she went out of her way to issue a recruitment call for Venerable Taon, but the looming alien offensive caused her to become unavailable again.

If he really wanted to know, he may be able to ask the Inferno Spear Prince to relay his request, but that was far too excessive.

Ves did not want to disrespect the Destroyer of Worlds. As friendly as they may be since they last talked to each other, he still became affected by her majesty and her overwhelming willpower.

In any case, the Larkinson Clan had no more exiles left to give away. He briefly made arrangements to ensure that any parties who wanted to solicit Lanie or Taon would learn that they had already been reserved.

The mechers and the Rubarthans had already come first!

There was no way that anyone else could override their demands. Not even the Terrans could do anything that the Rubarthans would never give in to the demands of their archrivals.

Besides, Venerable Taon Melin had much more to gain by learning from the Destroyer of Worlds. The Terran Alliance only had the Light of Sol, and he was much more specialized in speed and maneuver warfare as opposed to firepower and artillery warfare.

When Ves returned to his abode and reunited with his wife, he briefly shared the 'good' news.

His wife looked thoughtful as she processed what she heard.

"Well? What do you think, Gloriana?"

"I can see the political advantages of trading away exiles to them." She spoke. "Even if the mechers and the Rubarthans did not promise any direct remuneration, your acceptance of their proposals has deepened your relations with them. It will be easier for you to contact the Mace of Retaliation and the Destroyer of Worlds directly and ask for favors in the future. The faster Lanie and Taon grow, the greater their gratitude. The value of this transaction will constantly rise over time."

That was an astute observation. Ves hadn't seen it in such a utilitarian way, but he recognized its validity.

"It's a shame, though. If I really wanted to, I could have worked to keep them in the clan. I even thought about setting up an independent black ops unit or shell organization that will allow me to command them in secret. I could have used various means to ensure that Venerable Lanie and Venerable Taon will remain at my disposal, though no longer under the banner of the Larkinson Clan."

His wife shook her head as she prepared to go to bed. "That is likely to backfire sooner or later. Expert pilots are not stupid. They will hate the deception and they do not appreciate operating in a clandestine manner."

"I am not so sure about that. The two exiles are anything but normal, you know. They are much more ruthless than the typical honorable idiot."

"Regardless, there is no need for us to fuss too much over them." Gloriana insisted. "There is never an instance where we have enough expert pilots, but our resources and attention are limited. We already have plenty of high-ranking mech pilots who are much more honorable and reliable than the two aberrations. The benefit-to-cost ratio of investing in the two troublemakers is much lower than allocating the same resources to the likes of Venerable Jannzi or even Venerable Vincent. More breakthroughs occur every couple of years or so, and I expect the rate to increase as we expand the size of our armed forces."

He understood and agreed with her perspective. Venerable Lanie and Venerable Taon acquired so many negative labels that they were no longer worth the trouble of retaining.

Instead of wasting a lot of clan resources into trying to make them work somehow, it was better to foist them on the mechers and the Rubarthans.

The Mace of Retaliation and the Destroyer of Worlds had far more wealth, resources and expertise at their disposal. They should be more than capable of straightening out the two deviants. Their values were also a lot higher to the right parties.

"Hmm, I guess you're right. We don't have to be so stingy about high-ranking mech pilots anymore. We already have plenty of talents that are doing well. I expect a bunch of high-tier expert pilots to break through soon enough after receiving personalized guidance from Saint Tusa. If that is not enough to push them over the edge, then they will definitely break through shortly after receiving their new machines."

"Tell that to General Ark."

"I am sure he will break through in the near term." Ves confidently said as he slipped under the covers of his bed. "He only needs one more spark. The upcoming alien offensive should give him plenty of breakthrough opportunities. If he fails to trigger his second apotheosis under all of that stimulation, then I will begin to doubt whether he is worthy to pilot the Lionheart."

The Lionheart was a ridiculously strong quasi-first-class expert command mech. It might not be as cutting-edge as it used to be now that the Dark Zephyr Mark III overshadowed its existence, but that did not mean it was weak.

As a so-called second skin mech, Ark was able to embody it to a much more extensive degree than normal, giving him unparalleled control over his actions. It also helped him to control the power of his machine when it came under the effect of his signature Morale Empowerment ability.

Though Ves was a bit annoyed that General Ark insisted on playing army with the Davutans, it didn't matter too much as expert pilots were no longer as rare to the Larkinson Clan as before.

His wife had the right idea when she suggested that it was better to focus on quality as opposed to quantity. Trying to nurture the existing high-tier expert pilots into ace pilots should be a much greater priority to the Larkinsons.

Everyone had to play their part in this endeavor, including Ves himself.

The Amaranto Mark III Project and the Riot Mark III Project still had a long way to go before they reached completion. The unique demands imposed on both projects presented a lot of challenges that made it harder to achieve smooth progress.

At the very least, Gloriana found it difficult to make a lot of progress at the beginning.

"The Amaranto Mark III and the Riot Mark III both need to be made out of novel combinations of materials." Gloriana briefly explained to her husband as they both laid down in the same bed. "The workload for the Riot is not too burdensome. Your friend Jovy Armalon is making good on his promise by enabling us to gain access to the extensive resource database and reserves of the Red Association. I am sure we will be able to find enough interesting hyper materials that possess a high enough chaos factor that is also highly compatible with archetech."

"That is good to hear. What about the Amaranto? Are you having trouble finding enough light-attributed hypers?"

His wife nodded. "Somewhat. There are enough low to mid-grade hyper materials available that are aspected towards the light attribute, but the ones that are high-grade have become scarce. The demand for at least one of them has skyrocketed."

"What? Why?"

"What makes high-grade hyper materials superior from the other variants is not only their stronger capacity to interact with E energy, but their superior toughness and damage resistance. It is quite hard to find hypers that satisfy each of these requirements. However, one special variety of hyper material has emerged that scores particularly well in either of these areas. It has become so desirable that many first-raters are buying it up in droves. There is even a shortage of it in the Red Association, so even Jovy cannot get his hands on more than just a small test sample."

"Oh? What material are you referring to?" Ves curiously asked.

"Solarium." Gloriana answered in a reverent tone. "It is one of the few hyper materials that can truly serve as the principal material for the armor system of a first-class mech. It is a very rare metallic hyper material that is only found in limited quantities on hot planets that are in close orbits to their stars. Nobody has deduced the conditions required to producing Solarium under artificial conditions, so there is a scramble for this wonder material. Its market value has already surpassed phasewater and it is continuing to rise."

"It's that valuable?! What does it do that makes it so desired?"

"Solarium is already a tough and damage resistant material when it is immersed in darkness. When it is illuminated by a source of electromagnetic radiation of the visible light and infrared wavelengths, it undergoes a temporary transformation that somehow makes it drastically more resilient. The tests conducted by the RA have discovered that Solarium can resist up to 300 percent more damage when illuminated by the light of a star at close range!"

"What?!"

Ves almost jumped out of his bed when he heard that! A 300 percent amplification in defensive power was a humongous deal!

That sort of defensive amplification was already enough for Ves to think about integrating it in the next iteration of the Bastion!

"What… what is the catch?" Ves shakily asked.

"I have already mentioned a few of them. It is scarce. It is expensive. It is also not fully understood. There are many material scientists that are scrambling to understand why it can become so much more powerful when it is exposed to a strong light or heat source. It may yet possess other hidden properties that red humanity has yet to discover. Even so, the surface properties of Solarium are already outrageous enough that I have to add it to the Amaranto!"

"How much?"

"30 percent of the total volume of the Amaranto should comprise of Solarium. I can make do with less, but that will severely reduce its effectiveness on our expert rifleman mech."

"That is too much! You are talking about acquiring tons of a very desirable hyper material that is already more valuable than phasewater! If we can find a purchasing channel, we will have to exceed the already generous design budget for the Amaranto Mark III Project and go deep into debt!"

"It is worth it!" Gloriana claimed.

"I don't think so." Ves firmly shook his head. "From what I have heard from you, Solarium is a material that is more suitable for defensive mechs. If they get struck with a lot of energy attacks, they will only become more resistant towards damage. The Amaranto was never supposed to be a defensive powerhouse. If Solarium doesn't have an exceptionally high sensitivity towards light-attributed E energy, then it is not a good fit for Venerable Stark's mech. We can buy a limited amount of Solarium to form the outermost armor layer, but it is better to look for a hyper material that is much more sensitive to light energy to build the rest of the mech frame."