The Mech Touch

5843 Secret Intentions

None of the fleeters understood the third plan.

Neither Dread Captain Volkert Argile nor all of the scientists and engineers under his command possessed a complete grasp of what Ves wanted to accomplish!

Sure, Ves had to give the fleeters at least a few explanations, but they either came with a lot of omissions or simply did not go deep enough.

There were several reasons why Ves effectively kept the fleeters in the dark about his full plan.

First, they lacked the metaphysical experts who could understand the full and profound scope of his ambitious plan.

The vast majority of crew members serving aboard the Dominion of Man possessed no access to cultivation knowledge, even though the fleeters definitely preserved a lot of knowledge stolen from the Five Scrolls Compact.

The few fleeters that did possess expertise were mostly assigned to operate the Spark Reactor and other confidential ship systems. Even then, their knowledge was highly specialized and not broad enough to understand the entire breadth and depth of Ves' plan.

That suited him fine.

It was better if the fleeters did not fully understand what Ves was trying to accomplish.

He had a strong feeling that Dread Captain Argile would definitely chicken out if he understood the full depth of Ves' true plan.

It should have been called the fourth plan due to how much further Ves was willing to go to combine all of the available ingredients into a work beyond comparison.

Intellectually, Ves was honest enough to admit that he was going too far again.

He had promised to himself not too long ago that he should restrain his urges and adopt a more realistic approach to his projects.

He had already broken this promise.

The temptation was too great.

The amount of resources that the fleeters were wasting was just an affront to his sensibilities that he did not want to hold back in the slightest this time!

Perhaps Gloriana may have contaminated a bit more than most, because this was definitely the sort of mindset that she would have adopted in this scenario.

Fortunately, he did not inherit too much of her perfectionism, because he would have insisted on sticking around for a few years in order to be certain that everything would go exactly right.

Ves did not really believe it was fundamentally necessary for him to invest so much time on preparations.

The ingredients were already in place. Ves just had to tie them together and unite them under a single purpose.

The fundamental process was not that complicated, but the scale was so much greater that it was unprecedented!

Ves put a lot of faith in his tried-and-true approach. He willingly surrendered a lot of control in the hopes that the birth of a new life form would fill up all of the gaps and correct a lot of mistakes. This was the only way for him to complete the most essential preparations in a matter of days.

However, he was well aware that a lot could go wrong as a result. If the initial creation and development of the True God-level ancestral spirit randomly went off-track, then it might easily result in a demonic entity that would exploit and bring out the worst traits of red humanity!

If that happened, then Ves and the Red Fleet would have no choice but to knock on the doors of the Huntsman and beg him to clean up their mess.

Despite the enormous price of failure, Ves did not let that deter him from pursuing his secret plan. He soldiered on and continued to issue all kinds of instructions to the fleeters.

The people serving on the Dominion of Man implicitly trusted him for the most part. Those who were skeptical of his capabilities either kept their mouths shut or stuck to their regular duties.

Ves felt rather guilty for withholding the full truth from them. The Red Fleet was his client, and the Dominion of Man was its property. He had no right to experiment on it as if the dreadnought was his personal possession.

Yet Dread Captain Volkert Argile still granted Ves a lot of leeway, more than any other mech designer and outsider should ever possess.

The Argiles had succumbed to temptation as well. They had become fixated on the promise to transform the Dominion of Man and create a powerful new ancestral spirit that they had completely ignored all of the obvious warning signs.

It was times like these where his reputation and credibility made all of the difference. Ves really did not want this to become the incident where Ves trashed it all and turned himself into a galactic pariah.

"This better succeed."

The stakes were too high. Knowing that there were multiple possible calamities in store for the future, Ves refused to settle for a stable course. He truly believed that red humanity couldn't afford to meander around when threats from the Red Ocean and the much more distant Messier 87 loomed over everyone's heads.

If there was one benefit to adopting this approach, it was that Ves did not have to worry about whether the result would be weak.

All of his theories pointed out that the outcome would be explosive. The entire dwarf galaxy was bound to change once he was done.

It made him feel both excited and burdened by responsibility.

There were far too many moments where his rationality warned him that he needed to slow down and take his time.

However, the fiery passion burning in his heart made him feel that everything would work out as long as he maintained focused on his ultimate goal.

No matter whether he succeeded or failed, the lessons he learned and the experiences he gained from his attempt to transform the Dominion of Man would serve him well.

He definitely wanted to transform his own starships as well. While ships such as the Spirit of Bentheim or the upcoming Grave Exemplar were not even close as powerful as the Dominion of Man, Ves was sure he could replicate and adapt a lot of the solutions he employed at this time.

As long as this experiment verified or disproved his assumptions, he would gain enough data to formulate a coherent theoretical framework that could lead to the creation of an entirely new category of starships!

Ves found it rather funny how the current circumstances somehow led him to treating a dreadnought as critical as the Dominion of Man as an experiment.

It should have been the other way around. The correct order would be for him to initiate a similar experiment on his own starships first before he attempted to 'export' his solution to the Red Fleet.

"Why are you amused?" Sigrund asked as he continued to update the programming of the Brain Trust.

"Ah, it's nothing." Ves said. "I am happy that the crew has been cooperative enough to fulfill their instructions on schedule. The changes made across the hull will play a huge role in promoting the efficacy of the ritual."

"I do not understand the purpose of instructing the crew to modify the artworks. Why have you instructed them to change the faces of the male figures and add black scepters to them, among other instructions? It is difficult for me to understand what difference this makes."

"It makes all of the difference, my good friend!" Ves grinned. "First, acquainting the crew with a single male face will familiarize them with the future ancestral spirit in advance. The outcome will become more stable and less uncertain. It also helps that the crew will be much more inclined to accept the new entity as he won't be a total stranger to them. Second, symbols such as the black scepter will not only help to define the spirit's domain, but also homogenize the thoughts and emotions of those who will soon participate in the ritual. Again, this will help cut down the noise."

Captain Zonrad Reze looked as if he comprehended the underlying purpose. "I see. It is not the symbols that matter, but they affect the minds that come into contact with them. Priming the dreadnought is not the point. Priming the crew who will play a large role in shaping this new spirit of yours is the greater priority."

"That is a clever response. You are partially right. It is true that I am investing a lot of effort into unifying the thoughts of all of the fleeters, but that does not mean that the dreadnought should remain the same. I have also insisted on implementing more material changes in order to better align the Dominion of Man to her desired future state."

Whether they were sufficient or not remained to be seen. Ves hoped that he hadn't inadvertently introduced a deadly weakness that would cause the dreadnought to falter during a critical moment.

"By the way, why have you come this time?" Sigrund asked. "Not that I disapprove of your presence, but there is only one more day to go before your ritual is scheduled to begin."

Ves gestured towards all of the vat-stored brains lining up the spherical enclosure.

"I need to work on these brains for a bit."

"All thousand of them?" Captain Reze asked.

"Of course not. That's too much. I only need to access a handful of them. Let me access the database so that I can pick them out. I hope they are still in good enough condition for me to manipulate."

"Here. Please note that you will be accompanied by a biotech expert if you intend to do anything to the brains. Their health and condition must remain absolutely stable. If they show any signs of deterioration, they will pull you away regardless of your motivations."

"Ugh. Well, I can understand why that is the case. I promise not to mishandle the brains. They are far too precious for me to ruin."

When Ves started to work more directly on the brains, he was initially afraid that his manipulations would cause them to react in an adverse manner.

Fortunately, nothing of the sort took place. They remained as docile and pliant as he expected. The lack of a coherent personality played a huge role in their lack of resistance.

Whatever the case, Ves was able to implement one of his most important measures into these organic AI cores.

Nobody noticed that he added a few extra elements to the brains that were not related to the original plan.

Even now, Ves held back from implementing a crucial component because he did not want to give away any clues to the highly observant fleeters.

They may be ignorant about his area of expertise, but they were anything but stupid!

Once he had done everything that he could get away with for the time being, Ves chatted with Sigrund a bit more before he finally departed.

He had been working almost nonstop for 2 days now and could really use a quick break.

"Where's the nearest restroom?"

It was hardly necessary for him to ask this question because the dreadnought's interior clearly marked their locations.

When Ves entered a bathroom stall and sat down on the toilet seat, he did his best to act natural so that he wouldn't give away any suspicious clues to the hidden sensors.

He activated a mental command, and promptly appeared inside the System space.

The plan he connected in his mind was so radical and groundbreaking that he realized he needed to resort to additional measures in order to increase his success rate.

Failure loomed far too close at the moment. This was why he made the risky decision to enter the System space despite the fact that he was still inside one of the most important vessels of the Red Fleet!

"I think I need to borrow your power again, buddy."

He was not certain whether the System could offer any material help to his current preoccupation, but it was better to find out just to be sure.

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