The Mech Touch

5797 A Not So Minor Request

Ves had a feeling that while the Evolution Witch certainly appreciated him and his work, she valued his ties to a former high-ranking Compact member even more!

The god pilot certainly did not hide her obvious interest in seeking cooperation with a True God who should have been her archenemy if they lived in the previous ages.

However, the charm of the Age of Dawn was that it had not only severed the Red Ocean's physical connection to the Milky Way, but also shed a lot of old and useless baggage in the process.

Ves liked it that the leader of the Transhumanist Faction was a lot less old-fashioned and willing to implement drastic changes that she deemed necessary.

What he did not like was how much she was willing to make effective use of her superior bargaining position to push through her demands!

When the lengthy but impactful conversation between him and the energetic god pilot finally reached the stage where he could bring up his desired topic, he began to doubt whether it was a good idea to go through with his initial plan.

He had talked long enough with the Evolution Witch to understand her measure. This was a driven god pilot who was not above taking advantage of a situation to advance her own interests.

She definitely had a set of principles that she abided by, but they were apparently a lot looser and less restrictive than the ones borne by more rigid god pilots.

It was no wonder that her reputation painted her as dangerous. She was a transcendent figure who wielded great martial might, but could not be restrained by rules and morals and easily as other god pilots.

As much as Ves feared the ire of the First Flame, the oldest god pilot could at least be trusted to abide by a strong code of honor.

It was exactly because high-ranking mech pilots built up their strength by maintaining their honor and following their convictions that they did not attract fear and suspicion.

The opposite was the case. Under the deliberate machinations of the Mech Trade Association, high-ranking mech pilots and especially god pilots were all treated as exemplary heroes who could do no wrong.

The public had long developed a strong impression of these powerful beings as honorable soldiers or warriors who fought for their ideals and for the betterment of mankind.

The fact that they were so strongly associated with mechs and not anything monstrous helped to increase their ties to modern humanity.

This strong climate ensured that every mech pilot that broke through and reached a greater stage of power continued to remain trapped in a society that imposed strong expectations on their behavior.

Assisted by the selective criteria of the Kingdom of Mechs, the mech community successfully produced the most combat effective cultivators of humanity, yet amazingly turned them into the brightest and most honorable paragons at the same time!

Anyone who understood how power could corrupt anyone would be amazed at how human civilization had managed to do the impossible!

Ves had grown up in a society where people universally admired and trusted high-ranking mech pilots.

It was therefore a little jarring for him to meet and interact with a god pilot who did not precisely fit this stereotypical mold.

Of course, Ves was not naive to assume that all demigods and higher were universally trustworthy and dependable.

He had met enough expert pilots and ace pilots who possessed obvious personality flaws that made them dangerous and unpredictable.

It seemed that he would have to add the Evolution Witch to that list.

Ves felt more and more apprehensive when he thought about issuing his request, but he might as well get it over with now that he was here. Who knew when he would be able to hold another private chat with the Evolution Witch. At least she was in a good enough mood.

"Your Holiness?"

"<nullb>YES, PROFESSOR LARKINSON?"

Knowing that the Evolution Witch's time was valuable, Ves pressed onwards. "I have a small request… at least I think it is small. I have an urgent need to acquire an extremely rare and valuable material that is not available in the Red Ocean. I have tried to use other channels to inquire where I can acquire this exotic substance. I eventually managed to acquire a detailed analysis report of this material from the Xenotechnician, but…"

The Evolution Witch peered at him with a gnawing glance. "<nullb>YOU REQUIRE MY ASSISTANCE. I SEE. GIVEN THAT YOU HAVE APPROACHED ME WITH THIS REQUEST, I PRESUME THIS MATERIAL IS ORGANIC IN NATURE. THAT IS NOT A SURPRISE. I HAVE RECEIVED SIMILAR REQUESTS SINCE THE START OF THE AGE OF DAWN. YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED AT HOW MANY DIFFERENT EXOBEASTS THERE ARE IN THE MILKY WAY THAT CAN PRODUCE EXTRAORDINARILY HELPFUL ORGANIC SUBSTANCES. PASS ME THE REPORT."

Ves did so. The god pilot immediately frowned as she rapidly read through all of the descriptions and numbers.

"Are you able to synthesize Yondu Milk?" He cautiously asked. "I don't need much of it. Just 12.556 milligrams will do. I would be happy if you could give me more, but it is not strictly necessary."

He did not dare to request 0.001 milligrams more for fear that the Evolution Witch might call him out on his dishonesty again.

The silence stretched on, causing Ves to grow more nervous. Was the Evolution Witch capable of reproducing this unique material? Would she be willing to go through the trouble of meeting his request?

This was an important issue to him. The Supply Missions had been hanging over his head for many years now. With so many expectations placed on his shoulders, Ves urgently needed to speed up his development more than ever!

It actually helped that it had become an open secret that his mother had gifted him a fragment of the Metal Scroll.

The mechers and the fleeters had a logical explanation why he progressed so quickly and came up with the craziest inventions at times.

His status as the Holy Son of the Metal Scroll also covered any other unusual actions and results, even if they had no direct connection to the Mech Designer System!

In other words, Ves did not have to be as subtle and circumspect about his use of the System as before. This was one of the reasons why he mustered up the courage to ask for Yondu Milk from one of the leaders of the Red Association.

There was hardly any other logical explanation why he would randomly have a need of an extremely powerful organic substance.

The Evolution Witch ultimately broke the silence after three full minutes of contemplation.

"<nullb>I HAVE GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS FOR YOU, PROFESSOR. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT I CAN RELUCTANTLY SYNTHESIZE IT. MY GOD KINGDOM IS INDEED SUITABLE FOR THIS PURPOSE, AND THE XENOTECHNICIAN HAS WORKED THOROUGHLY ENOUGH TO COLLECT ALL OF THE ESSENTIAL DATA."

"What… what is the bad news, then?"

"<nullb>YOU SHOULD ALREADY HAVE AN EXPECTATION OF THE COST. 12.556 MILLIGRAMS OF YONDU MILK IS NOT A TRIVIAL AMOUNT. THERE IS A REAL PRICE TO SYNTHESIZING JUST A FRACTION OF IT. LET ME PUT IT THIS WAY. IF I SET ASIDE EVERY OTHER PRIORITY, I WILL NEED TO SPEND MORE THAN A WEEK ON CHANNELING ALL OF MY WILLPOWER PURELY ON PRODUCING DROP AFTER DROP OF THIS ALIEN MILK. I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SPARE ANY ENERGY ON DEFENDING HUMAN STRONGHOLDS, FIGHTING HOSTILE SPACE WHALES OR ENGAGE IN ANY OTHER ESSENTIAL ACTIVITY."

A week might not sound like much, but the time and energy of a god pilot was extremely precious!

There were only 8 god pilots, each of whom fulfilled essential duties.

Ves knew that at least one of them was stationed in Bridgehead One in order to guard the greater beyonder gate.

Maybe one or two more god pilots were stationed in other essential star systems, while the rest continually patrolled the border regions in order to deter or repel large alien incursions.

There were so few god pilots that the absence of one of them would definitely worsen the strategic outlook of red humanity!

If the Red Cabal somehow got wind of it, the native aliens might decide to launch a massive offensive, taking advantage of the fact that a god pilot was temporarily unavailable.

Suffice to say, it would be the height of selfishness for Ves to insist the Evolution Witch meet his request after knowing how much it cost to reproduce this damned Yondu Milk!

"What… what makes this Yondu Milk so special and difficult to synthesize? The report contains a lot of descriptions about its properties, but it doesn't really state what it can do. The only piece of relevant information that I have obtained is that it is used in one of the most effective life-prolonging treatment serum formulas."

The Evolution Witch smiled again. "<nullb>YONDU MILK IS A SUBSTANCE THAT DEFIES REALITY. THIS IS NOT A SURPRISE BECAUSE IT IS PRODUCED BY AN IMPOSSIBLE EXOBEAST. LET ME GIVE YOU ANOTHER DESCRIPTION. YONDU MILK IS A PRODUCT OF A GOD, AN ALIEN ONE, BUT A GOD NONETHELESS. IT IS NOT TOO DIFFICULT FOR ME TO REPRODUCE ITS MATERIAL PROPERTIES, BUT WHAT IS TRULY CHALLENGING IS TO IMITATE THE NONMATERIAL PROPERTIES THAT THE ANCIENT EXOBEAST ATTACHES TO THE MILK. HAVE YOU EVER ATTEMPTED TO IMITATE THE WORK OF ANOTHER GOD?"

"Uhh…"

"<nullb>THE MECHERS THAT YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY CONSULTED WERE CORRECT TO POINT YOU IN MY DIRECTION. I AM THE ONLY BEING IN THE RED OCEAN THAT CAN FULLY REPRODUCE YONDU MILK. MY ABILITY TO IMITATE OTHER ORGANISMS IS UNSURPASSED. MY DOMINION OVER BIOLOGY IS ABSOLUTE. I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN MEET YOUR DIFFICULT REQUEST. WHILE IT TAKES AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF EFFORT TO PRODUCE THE DESIRED QUANTITY OF YONDU MILK, I CAN STILL DO IT WITHOUT COMPROMISING MY OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES BY TAKING MY TIME."

Uh oh. The Evolution Witch did not emphasize her uniqueness for nothing. Ves recognized that he was being subjected to another negotiation.

"I understand." He said and bowed his head. "You don't need to boast any further. What do you want in exchange for 12.556 milligrams of Yondu Milk?"

The Evolution Witch grinned and leaned forward in a slightly intimidating fashion. "<nullb>I ALREADY HAVE WHAT I WANT FROM YOU. THERE IS NOTHING URGENT THAT I REQUIRE FROM YOU AT THIS TIME."

She was probably right. The Red Association had already forced Ves to make a lot of major contributions.

While he received decent compensation for his actions, it also left him with a meager reserve of stuff he could trade with the likes of a god pilot.

"I'll… owe you a favor?"

The Evolution Witch did not look impressed.

"<nullb>THERE IS A SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM. I WILL DELIVER THE REQUESTED QUANTITY OF YONDU MILK IN HALF A YEAR. IN EXCHANGE FOR THIS SERVICE, YOUR MOTHER WILL INCUR A DEBT ON YOUR BEHALF. SHE WILL HAVE TO COOPERATE WITH ME ON AN UNCONDITIONAL BASIS UNTIL SHE HAS FULLY COMPENSATED FOR THE COST OF SATISFYING YOUR DEMAND. IS THIS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU, PROFESSOR LARKINSON?"

Damn!

The Evolution Witch sure drove a hard bargain!

Though Ves felt reassured that the god pilot did not expect him to do anything crazy or time-consuming in exchange for 12.556 milligrams of Yondu Milk, the same could not be said for his mother!

Ves already had a few ideas of what the Evolution Witch sought by cooperating with his mother.

However, there was a huge difference between approaching his mother as a business partner than as a loan shark!

"I… can't make this decision on her behalf." He responded. "I need to contact my mother and find out whether she is willing to play along. It would help if you can provide details on what you would have her do. I don't think she is unreasonable enough to reject cooperation out of hand."

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