The Mech Touch

5808 Specific Demands

Ves did not feel relieved when Orion Leeds officially determined that Ves had won the tier 3 Destroyer spear.

He felt as if he had put a huge burden on himself.

Neither he nor the Larkinson Clan had a whopping 5800 kilograms of phasewater stored in their vaults!

Furthermore, they did not possess any freely available cash that was equivalent to the value of so much phasewater!

Though Ves could heavily go into debt in order to finance this transaction, doing so came with a lot of other consequences.

Not only would he become beholden to the institution that loaned him the money, but he would also have to pay huge sums on interest payments until he managed to pay off the entire loan!

Even if Ves was confident that he could continue to rely on his routine mech design activities to slowly earn enough money to cover this debt, he would rather get rid of it sooner rather than later.

This could go very wrong if he did not handle this situation properly.

"Are you pleased, Jovy?"

"Pleased by what?"

"You got me to adopt the mentality of a wealthy first-rater." Ves explained in a cynical tone. "I know that I need to think bigger nowadays, but this is a really big jump. I fear… it will become a lot easier for me to spend 21 billion MTA credits in the future."

5800 kilograms of phasewater equated to at least 21 billion MTA credits according to the current market price.

However, trying to procure this much phasewater at once would definitely cause it to rise in price, making it so that Ves would have to spend a billion or two more money to complete such a transaction!

Fortunately, Estaban Leeds did not limit the possible means of payment to phasewater, or else a lot of different groups would have to buy a lot of phasewater from every possible source, thereby causing the market price to skyrocket in the process!

Even so, Ves felt as if he had put Gloriana to shame in terms of profligacy. Her casual decision to spend millions of MTA credits in luxuries such as first-class clothing and perfume seemed trivial in comparison to how much money he squandered on a single mech weapon!

"This tier 3 Destroyer spear better be worth the money." He whispered to himself.

He needed to urge Venerable Rosa Orfan to break through to ace pilot and earn the qualifications to wield the powerful weapon.

The longer she remained stuck as an expert pilot, the longer the spear remained unused… unless the Larkinson Army decided to hand it over to another ace pilot.

That would likely lead to a lot of discontent. If someone like Uncle Ark or Grandpa Benjamin managed to break through and subsequently earned fantastic achievements with the help of the Destroyer spear, they would probably hate it if they would have to hand the weapon over.

Orfan would also feel resentful for others making use of the weapon that was 'reserved' for her use. She was the only dedicated spear wielder among the champions of the Larkinson Clan.

Letting others handle her destined weapon would be a major affront to her pride as a warrior!

Ves knew he needed to discuss these possible issues in extensive detail with Commander Casella Ingvar. She might have a good idea on how to prevent the powerful spear from turning into a source of conflict.

"I think I have spent enough today." He said. "Unless this grand auction presents a lot that I deem essential, I think I will abstain from placing any further bids."

Nobody disagreed with him. None of them had ever handled this much money in their lifetimes. They could not imagine what kind of pressure he had taken upon himself.

"There will be other grand auctions in the future." Jovy consoled his friend. "Every auction of this kind presents numerous items that are bound to be of great value to you. Just because you are missing out on numerous desirable goods today does not mean you can compensate for it later when you are more financially secure. You only need to remain apprised of the dates and locations of future grand auctions and decide whether you want to participate in them. That said, investing in a tier 3 Destroyer weapon is a smart choice. It is unlikely that the Terrans are willing to trade away such a powerful specialty product anytime soon."

Kelsey Ampatoch added his own insight. "The Dermont Ancient Clan is probably pleased that you managed to purchase it in the end. Otherwise they wouldn't have consigned it to Estaban Leeds in the first place. The Dermonts probably don't even care all that much about the 21 billion MTA credits. It is clear they want to build a connection to you by earning their gratitude."

"Well, they are doing a swell job at that by making me pay an astronomical sum of money for this spear." Ves scoffed. "Why can't they approach me in private and offer me this Destroyer weapon in exchange for more reasonably priced concessions?"

"That would be too utilitarian in the eyes of the Terrans." Kelsey shook his head. "They are too pretentious for that. They do not want to develop a transactional relationship with you. They want to make you feel emotionally indebted to them. By making you pay a great sum to acquire the Destroyer weapon, you will most definitely treat it like a precious heirloom treasure. Once your chosen champion puts the famed weapon to good use, each time he or she defeats a powerful opponent, you will feel more grateful that your 'overpriced' weapon is earning back its cost and more. That will also make you look at the Dermont Ancient Clan in a more favorable light."

"I see."

It sounded rather convoluted, but Ves could easily accept that the Terrans were willing to engage in this kind of social engineering.

"What if I refused to compete any further for this spear?"

"Then the Dermonts would just adjust their target to whoever managed to win the Destroyer weapon instead. Any party who has the capacity to finance this purchase is worth befriending to an ancient clan that clearly seeks to expand its network."

What a clever gambit. Perhaps Ves should employ this strategy as well.

Wait. He already intended to employ a similar strategy by auctioning out his shares. The biggest difference was that he was being a lot more blatant about it as giving others partial ownership in his mech company turned them into long-term stakeholders.

That was the only subject on his mind right now. He no longer expressed as much interest in the other items that appeared in the grand auction.

People fought over dozens of expensive goods, each of which promised to enhance the power of an entire group or enrich the lives of those who already lived in splendor.

The greater benefit to just standing aside and watching the proceedings was that Ves got a much better sense of what people who occupied the highest layers of society still competed over.

While these people still showed plenty of appreciation for exquisite artworks and real estate, they forked over the greatest sums for cultivation methods, powerful mechs, starships and powerful materials.

Clearly, these people could read the winds blowing through the new frontier pretty well. There was never a time where they enjoyed enough security.

That was not necessarily good news to Ves as it would make it harder for him to gain the concessions he truly sought.

By the time many people started to grow tired and less attentive, Orion Leeds finally came to the final lots of the grand auction.

"Thank you for your patience." The handsome auctioneer seemed to glow as he smiled at the participants. "Now that we are nearing the end of this grand auction, we have saved the best for last. Instead of introducing the final lots, I believe it is best to invite Professor Ves Larkinson to the stage himself so that he can give you an explanation himself."

Ves did not look surprised as he had arranged this move beforehand with the auction house. It did not happen often, but Estaban Leeds typically agreed to implement this break from tradition if it formed the centerpiece of the entire event.

"Let's go, Lucky."

"Meow!"

Ves left the private box and navigated through the submerged hall until he floated next to Orion Leeds.

Everyone paid attention to him and the archemetal cat sitting on his shoulder.

This was not the first time that Ves had become the center of attention. He did not feel fazed at all despite the fact that the net worth of all of these bigshots could crush him many times over.

"Hello everyone." Ves said in a calm and composed voice. "I am sure you are already familiar with me, so I will skip the introductions. Today, I invite you to invest in my first and most important company, the Living Mech Corporation. I am sure that many of you have already studied it in advance, so I will not bother to explain its profitability, its long-term prospects or its placement in the mech market. Your business analysts are probably a lot better than mine."

No one laughed, but that was not important.

"Let me explain what I seek from auctioning out 25 percent of all outstanding shares in the LMC. I am not in dire need of cash. I can obtain it easily enough through other channels. What I seek are strategic partnerships, ownership of military infrastructure such as orbital shipyards and more. The plain truth is that my status has risen far too quickly. My foundation is sorely lacking, and I seek to remedy that as much as possible. This is why I am willing to give you an opportunity to become my partner and maybe even ally in my future ventures."

It was not difficult for all of these clever people to figure out the reasons why he was willing to open up the LMC to outside investment, but it was best to make his priorities clear.

"The bidding will proceed like this. We will auction out 5 percent of shares in the LMC at a time. We will still use kilograms of phasewater as a measure of the value of your bid, but I am not interested in getting a huge bag of phasewater or MTA credits unless I say otherwise. I would vastly prefer it if you are ready to offer more material concessions of military value. In other words, I want to trade a part of my long-term economic prosperity for more short and medium-term security."

That caused a lot of potential bidders to hesitate. They might be willing to invest a hefty amount to acquire the LMC shares, but was it worth it for them to surrender a part of their military assets or infrastructure?

"Don't bother to offer anything that does not help my forces prepare for battles ahead such as civilian enterprises or luxury goods." Ves clarified in order to make sure that there were no misunderstandings. "Also, please refrain from promising intangibles such as tutoring sessions, branding deals, protection guarantees and so on. Verbal promises alone carry much less weight unless I know you can be trusted."

Ves mentioned a few other rules and preferences to guide people in the right direction. It might be rather cumbersome and limiting, but he was confident that there were enough interested parties left that were willing to commit.

"Finally, let me reiterate that acquiring real shipbuilding infrastructure is one of my highest priorities." He stated at the end. "I will value a first-class orbital shipyard much more than anything else that you can give me. My clan urgently needs it to service our own demand for first-class starships. I do not intend to leave this auction house without becoming the owner of at least one new first-class shipyard. It does not have to be located here in the Ector System, so feel free to offer ones that are located further away."

With that, the most important phase of the grand auction had begun!

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