The Mech Touch

5819 The End of the Grand Auction

Ves saw no reason to refuse the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictors.

Their real functions were just too good to pass up. In his previous expeditions, Ves and his expeditionary fleet made exciting discoveries.

Every hidden phase whale enclave was a potential treasure vault. Those long-lived aliens tended to accrue a lot of good stuff, and they always needed a good place to stash their hoard.

However, it was difficult for Ves to judge whether the potential gains his clan could make by utilizing the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictors could surpass the value of 5 percent of his company's shares.

Ves only had a limited amount of shares that he could afford to trade away like this. He needed to make every transaction count, and that made him hesitant on whether he should embrace this offer.

If his forces encountered a lot of bad luck and traveled to star systems that were devoid of phase whale enclaves, then the Zeta-65's clearly wouldn't be able to earn a satisfactory return on investment.

Not that it would deter him. The potential gains were just too great for him to pass off the opportunity to gain early access to this exclusive tech.

The fact that accepting this deal would also save him a lot of phasewater by skipping the usual rule concerning the procurement of phasewater technology also made a difference.

Ves hated the industry standard of charging double the amount of phasewater needed to construct anything transphasic. The main reason why so many companies got away with this exploitative rule was because no one among the competition wanted to start a price war.

That would mean that all of the regular clients who wanted to get their hands on the Zeta-65 Warp Interdictors would have to pay a massive price once they became available a decade later.

The largest and most powerful model was so resource-

intensive that it took 200 kilograms of phasewater just to produce a single copy!

Ves would rather command Lucky to conduct a manual carpet search rather than give the mechers 200 kilograms of phasewater for free!

After thinking over this decision a bit further, he eventually decided that it was worth it for him to make this gamble.

He had more confidence in his ability to leverage the Zeta-65's than anyone else. He had plenty of bags in his tricks that could synergize with these modules.

"I find your bid acceptable." He told the mechers who conveyed the Polymath's offer. "If there is no one else who can exceed your offer, then I would be happy to conclude this transaction."

The bidding continued, but it was clear that the momentum had turned against them. There were not many people who possessed the ability or the willingness to exceed an offer made by a Star Designer.

It did not make everyone give up. There were still hopefuls who wanted to secure their last chance of gaining a real stake in Ves' mech company.

It was a pity that none of the offers sounded particularly attractive to him. He had no real need for any further real estate. A couple of fleet carriers or other combat assets sounded largely redundant to him as his clan had just gained the capacity to produce its own starships!

Sure, it would take a lot of time and an even greater amount of funding to build up a sizable first-class fleet, but Ves would rather wait than get ripped off. His company's shares were worth way more than just a couple of fleet carriers.

Seeing that no one managed to come up with bids that gained greater appreciation from Ves, Orion Leeds finally ended the bidding.

"Sold! The gracious Polymath and the honorable Space Lock have become the latest shareholders of the Living Mech Corporation in exchange for granting the Larkinson Clan early access to their exclusive Zeta-65 Warp Interdictors. This concludes the final round of bidding and signifies the end of our grand auction. Estaban Leeds thanks you for your participation, and hope to see you again in our next scheduled auctions."

While the auctioneer wrapped up the event, Ves floated back to his private box. The gem cat hanging on his shoulder showed greater signs of impatience.

"Meow! Meow!"

"Be patient, Lucky! I know that the last phase of the grand auction dragged out a bit, but I haven't forgotten about your prize. It won't take long before we can finalize the easiest transactions."

When Ves returned to his friends and advisors, everyone looked rather impressed.

"The present estimated value of your Living Mech Corporation is much lower than the sum of offers you have received for the shares that you have exchanged." Jovy stated first. "The fact that you have made the likes of the Evolution Witch and the Polymath offer concessions of greater value is a testament of your present and future worth. Word about this grand auction will spread out. Those with the right connections will hear that multiple tier 1 galactic citizens have proactively decided to invest in you because they believe in your work."

Ves did not know how to feel about that.

On the one hand, borrowing the reputation of the Evolution Witch and the Polymath was a fantastic way to boost his reputation and credibility. The more tier 1 galactic citizens vouched for him, the easier it became for him to make his voice heard.

On the other hand, neither of these two women were on his side. They all possessed their own schemes and agendas, and they had both demonstrated a capacity to prioritize their own interests above all other concerns.

"I appreciate their support." Ves politely spoke. "I hope that having them as my shareholders will deter other people from pulling the same kind of stunts as my previous adversaries."

He should have done this sooner. Ves figured that people such as Admiral Amelie Jameson never would have bent or broken several taboos if several powerful Star Designers and god pilots partially owned the company that made his living mechs.

Perhaps the public inquiry would have never taken place to begin with. These powerful figures usually preferred to settle their differences behind closed doors.

"Take good care of the Otalon Sprius." Vector Loban cautioned Ves. "As a juggernaut that the Evolution Witch deemed acceptable enough to become her trophy, it must hold both practical and sentimental value. Just because Her Holiness has transferred ownership to you does not necessarily mean she will stop paying attention to it. You can technically do what you want with your new juggernaut, but if you ruin it or abuse its power in unacceptable ways, she may feel compelled to take action."

That was an unwelcome message. Ves felt considerably less pleased about this deal than before. He had a lot of plans in mind for the Otalon Sprius. Many of them were risky, so he could not guarantee that they would work out as he envisioned.

"Understood. Am I at least allowed to rename the juggernaut? Otalon Sprius doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. I don't even know what it means."

"It is named after a deceased individual."

"Oh. That is clarifying. Anyway, once I have reinvented my new juggernaut, its overall design and configuration will definitely diverge from its current condition. I will do my best to replace the touch of its original makers with my own. That should be more than enough justification for me to bestow it with a new name. Don't you agree?"

Vector did not look so certain. "It is best to ask for input from the Evolution Witch before you go through with this decision."

That generated a spike of annoyance from Ves.

"She is not my mother! A deal is a deal. The juggernaut is mine, so I can do what I want with it as far as I am concerned. I am definitely going to apply my own style to it. Whoever designed this juggernaut is pretty decent, but his aesthetic style is a bit too plain. A juggernaut is a monster of a machine. It should look the part."

The Uranus looked exactly as intimidating as it behaved. Now that was a true juggernaut.

"I am happy that you have seen fit to strengthen your cooperation with the Rubarthan Pact." Kelsey Ampatoch mentioned. "I may not be a Rubarthan citizen much longer, but that does not mean that I dislike my former state. Obtaining a shipyard that is located in the heart of the Inferno Spear Principality will strengthen your ties with Prince Antonius. It may cause you to become more embroiled in the current succession crisis, but this will grant greater benefits if he has defeated the other princes."

"I do not intend to meddle in this silly battle for the throne." Ves disapprovingly said. "I am too busy to waste my time on this. Whoever ascends the throne is unlikely to sever cooperation with me, especially given that I am bound to become an instrumental part of the Red Collective."

That did not mean that there were no consequences. The Smokestack prince and the Inferno Spear Prince were so radically different that they had very different plans in mind!

"You may be right." Kelsey said in realization. "Although small, the last round of bidding bestows 0.5 percent of your mech company to the Spacelock. Do you understand what this means? The Smokestack Prince or anyone else who finally ascends to the throne will not dare to retaliate against you for failing to lend your support. You have already received the favor of the Destroyer of Worlds. Combined with this related development, you can already be regarded as an honorary Rubarthan! No, it can easily be argued that you are a Rubarthan in heart and soul due to your patrilineal ancestry!"

Ves almost sputtered when he heard that!

"Let's not go too far, Kelsey! When my ancestor left the New Rubarth Empire a long time ago, he and his family had nothing to do with his home state anymore. Don't forget that I have forged a lot of deals with the Terrans. I don't want to spoil these arrangements by joining the Rubarthan Pact."

"Ah, forgive me then. The Larkinson Clan does indeed benefit from maintaining a neutral position. However, that will only remain the case if a sufficient number of allies are willing to protect you and guarantee your independence. It is good that you count on the Rubarthans to come to your aid."

Ves wondered what all of the new shareholders intended to do with their latest gains.

Would they try to change the way the Living Mech Corporation operated, or would they just sit back and allow their influence to fade to the background?

There was not much that an individual shareholder could do, but they would gain significantly more sway if they set aside their differences and formed a united block.

Fortunately, Ves already accounted for this possibility. There were good reasons why Ves only traded away 25 percent of his mech company at most. He still retained an absolute majority of shares in the LMC, which meant he could still operate it like the company was his own fief.

The change that worried him the most was that all of the laws and regulations imposed by the Red Association granted several rights and privileges to the new shareholders.

Ves would just have to deal with this complication while also making sure to take advantage of his new ties to these powerful groups and figures.

All in all, Ves fulfilled all of his objectives and more today. The grand auction had been a huge success to him. All he needed to do after this was to digest his enormous gains.

It would take years if not decades for him to upgrade the Otalus Sprius and build up a first-class colony from scratch, but Ves could afford the wait.

The only concern right now was that all of these activities required enormous sums of money.

Short of taking a huge amount of loans, Ves needed to step up on his studies and finally begin to design his own first-class mechs.

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