The Mech Touch

5817 Zeta-65

"Going once."

"Going twice."

"Sold! On behalf of Estaban Leeds, I would like to offer my sincere respect and gratitude for the Evolution Witch partake in this grand auction through her agent. Congratulations for winning the third round of bidding. Our legal team along with its counterpart from the Larkinson Clan shall endeavor to expedite the transaction and complete the extensive procedures before the end of the standard day."

Professor Eustacia Lotte responded with a mild smile. "Her Holiness does not insist on haste. It would be better to handle the legal requirements needed to complete the transaction over the course of a week. The rules and regulations surrounding the use of juggernauts in the modern era are much more demanding than in the past. There are members of the Red Association who may take issue with certain oversights and provisions that were not correctly handled."

"Understandable. I have no objections, though please keep in mind that my lawyers are already swamped with work." Ves responded.

He could barely contain his excitement!

Though a few more bidders had issued other attractive offers, they were not as powerful as the Evolution Witch!

Only a tier 1 galactic citizen could get away with bestowing an actual juggernaut of all things to Ves!

Even though the practical value of a juggernaut might not be 12:09

as much as a warship to most people, Ves did not care.

Even though the practical value of a juggernaut might not be as much as a warship to most people, Ves did not care.

It was a juggernaut!

It was a mech that was scaled up to such an exaggerated degree that it fought like a warship with limbs more than a more nimble mech, but who cared!

Ves could do so much fun stuff with a juggernaut as a platform that his mind was already brimming with ideas!

If not for the fact that he already bought the Alpha Lifeguard, he would have dedicated much of his available free time on upgrading the Otalon Sprius in the next half decade!

Of course, just because he had become unreasonably fixated on the juggernaut did not mean he lost all of his perspective.

Just like the previous deals, this one came with a lot of strings attached. The Evolution Witch had already betrayed her nature as an intelligent schemer who was not hesitant about taking advantage of his vulnerabilities.

Ves was pretty sure that the Evolution Witch wanted him to build up a lot more experience in working with juggernauts. These titanic mechanical monstrosities were so immensely big and heavy that they operated on substantially different rules than more reasonably sized machines. Theory alone was not enough for him to master all of these nuances.

What happened after Ves gained a much better understanding of how juggernauts worked?

Would the Evolution Witch issue a directive for him to design living juggernauts?

That sounded rather dangerous to Ves, especially if the ambitious god pilot insisted on implementing experimental and untested technologies in the design!

However, this was mostly a problem for the Transhumanists rather than Ves. If his work ended up causing an accident, then he would make sure that everyone knew that it was not his fault!

Ves believed that there was more behind this deal than increasing his familiarity with juggernauts, though.

The initiative shown by the god pilot had improved his impression of her and told him that he would probably cooperate more extensively with her in the long run. The two were not enemies and shared enough goals in common to foster a productive and mutually-beneficial relationship in the years to come.

He also did not forget about the Evolution Witch's secret dealings with his mother.

Cynthia refused to divulge why the god pilot sought her cooperation, but it must be a big endeavor for his mother to take it so seriously.

Ves also suspected that the transaction was a fantastic publicity stunt. Nothing grabbed people's attention more than titanic-sized mechs.

If it became known that the Evolution Witch was responsible for granting Ves and his Larkinsons the right to own and field a juggernaut, then she would enjoy a substantial boost in popularity!

A final factor that concerned Ves was why exactly the Evolution Witch bothered to add the Otalon Sprius to her private collection.

The fact that it was a trophy signified that it was not an ordinary juggernaut. God pilots possessed a lot of pride, and they would never waste their time on collecting ordinary junk.

Ves wanted to scratch his head. The Otalon Sprius did not look that special on the surface. It lacked the obvious malice radiated by the Uranus, and also did not look especially cared for, so it was clearly not a priceless treasure.

Who designed the Otalon Sprius? Who built it, and what purpose did it serve?

Ves wanted to figure out the answers to all of these questions and more. This old juggernaut was like a giant mystery box that was just waiting for an eager mech designer to uncover all of its secrets!

He inwardly shook his head. He could wonder about the juggernaut later. He still had one more round of bidding to go before he could enjoy the massive gains he made today.

"There is only a single lot left before we can conclude this grand auction." Orion Leeds spoke with a smile. "Professor Ves Larkinson has already accepted four winning bids in exchange for a sum of 20 percent of stock in his Living Mech Corporation. Only 5 percent remain in contention. This may be your final chance to invest in a mech company led by the brightest prospect in the mech industry. Make your bids. Buy his favor. Secure your future. Let the final round of bidding commence!"

Since this was everyone's last chance to forge a solid connection with Ves and his clan, the enthusiasm was much higher this time!

"We are willing to offer you three of our finest fleet carriers…"

"The Smokestack Prince is willing to bestow you with a 70 percent stake of one of his mining conglomerates…"

"My superior, a Master Mech Designer of high renown, is willing to tutor you and teach you all of his trade secrets related to the material sciences…"

"Take over our mech company. We are more than willing to fold our headquarters and factories into your Living Mech Corporation in exchange for a modest proportion of shares…"

"Commodore Pritchard Vaudival of the Second Main Fleet owns a mansion in the Yernstall Central Star Node. It is located in one of the most expensive residential districts in one of the safest star systems in human-occupied space. There is no better home for you and your family to ride out the Red War…"

Ves received a diverse range of bids, many of which would never be available on the open market.

Despite the considerable value of these unique offers, Ves found himself rejecting many of them because they did not fulfill any pressing need.

For example, Ves had little desire to secure a palatial mansion in the Yernstall Central Star Node.

While it would definitely be nice for him to live in one of the greatest centers of human civilization, Yernstall was so damn safe and prosperous that Ves feared it would cause him to grow too comfortable in his own skin.

The Red War turned into a very distant affair if Ves remained too far from the conflict. It would be so easy for him to ignore the harsh realities of the ongoing struggle.

Ves already recognized that he had started to grow out of touch with his own customers. The last thing he needed was to compound this problem and move even further away from the frontlines!

As a professional mech designer, he felt it was his duty to continue to remain a bit closer to the action.

Occasional visits to port systems where a lot of mech forces operated from would allow him to directly appraise the mechs and the circumstances surrounding the mech forces that fought the good fight.

It would be a lot harder if Ves had to make this trip when he resided in the rear of human space most of the time.

In fact, it would actually be more ideal if Ves lived in a place that was a bit closer to the frontlines… such as a new colony settlement located within the Caesarion Upper Zone.

So long as he had a fully upgraded juggernaut within the vicinity, Ves believed he could cope with the idea of living on a planet that would never be too far removed from the Red War.

"Ahem, my compliments to Commodore Vaudival, but I am afraid that I have to reject your bid." Ves responded to the RF officer who spoke up last. "I am not lacking in homes. I am more interested in strengthening my defenses by any means possible. No amount of homes have any value if I do not possess the means to protect them against my enemies."

It took a minute of entertaining a couple of weak and irrelevant bids before Ves finally received a more compelling offer.

A mech designer wearing the uniform of the Red Association rose up from his seat.

"Our Association has recently developed a defensive countermeasure that may be of interest in you, especially given your renewed enthusiasm for colonization. The Polymath in cooperation with the Spacelock has jointly developed an improved version of a warp interdiction module. They have named their work the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictor. It not only incorporates hyper technology to a far-reaching degree, but also benefits from a range of other technological innovations developed by the Polymath."

Ves understood the importance of warp interdictors. They ensured that hostile alien fleets did not try to escape a losing battle. They also suppressed the powerful abilities of phase leaders to an extent.

For the Polymath and the Spacelock to team up to develop a new take on warp interdictors was serious business!

As much as he disliked the ideological and political beliefs of the Polymath, he never once saw reason to disparage her technical work. Her brilliance in her main field of expertise was undeniable, and there were good reasons why everyone praised her diverse inventions.

"Please explain what distinguishes the new Zeta-65's from older warp interdictors."

"Her Excellency specifically devoted time in this project in order to arm red humanity with a more effective means of suppressing phase whales without relying on the power of high-ranking mech pilots." The mecher explained. "She has persuaded the Spacelock to contribute to this cause in exchange for giving him a small share of the profits and other rights. Together, they have applied an extensive range of improvements with the express goal of making them more effective."

The mecher activated a projection that displayed a range of different Zeta-65 variants. They mostly differed by size and power.

"The Zeta-65 models are much stronger than other warp interdictors. The largest model is rated to inhibit the warp travel of the most powerful alien warships as well as adult phase whales and greater phase lords."

In other words, only ancient phase whales possessed the raw strength to overpower the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictors!

"What is the effective range?"

"It is 2000 kilometers for the largest model. The smaller ones are much less effective, but can more easily be mounted on smaller starships. Please take note that every Zeta-65 Warp Interdictor is expensive to build. They will need to integrate at least 40 kilograms of phasewater for the smallest model and 200 kilograms of phasewater for the largest model. They also require a strong dedicated power source in order to operate at their highest settings."

Ves almost choked when he heard how much phasewater it took to build these warp interdictors!

The Polymath truly went all-out in prioritizing strength over cost-effectiveness!

"I see…" Ves said. "So what does this offer entail? Will my clan gain a license to build the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictors?"

The mecher shook his head. "That is not possible. The Zeta-65 can only be produced in a specialized production facility due to the use of special technologies. The Red Association is willing to grant you the unrestricted right to purchase and utilize the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictors and any updates to their models."

Ves frowned at that. He could certainly recognize the value of the Zeta-65's, but he was questioning whether it was worth trading 5 percent of his company's shares just to gain purchasing rights.

What else was special about the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictor that could persuade him into accepting this bid?

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