The Mech Touch

5953 Raising Pillars

Dimension Breach Creation was an attractive upgrade track.

Ves had both rational and emotional reasons to choose it over the other options.

However, the biggest problem with this choice was not the uncertainty of finding a profitable dimension to breach, nor the amount of AP he needed to spend to unlock the ability to create a permanent dimensional tear.

It was exposure.

Ves had already attracted far too much attention. It would have been great if he was already a Star Designer, but he was still a Senior Mech Designer at this point!

There was only so much weirdness that people could tolerate. Becoming too outstanding in a short amount of time would cause a lot of people to develop feelings of jealousy, envy and greed.

The creation of dimensional tears that had the potential to provide a vast amount of valuable resources would also create major disruptions in the mech industry and many other sectors.

A lot of people and organizations were bound to suffer losses if they missed out on this new bounty!

It was exactly because of how extensively Ves threatened the profits and benefits of so many different stakeholders that he got ambushed by the public inquiry last time.

Ever since he went through that ordeal, he became a lot more sensitive towards similar instances of generating too much discontent.

"This is why Random Being Acquisition is so much nicer. It is much easier for me to maintain a low profile while making use of this upgrade track."

Dimension Breach Creation had a much greater potential to supply unusual resources on a massive scale, but it was exactly because the movement was so loud that Ves needed to be more thoughtful in its application.

Ves found it troublesome to put in so much extra effort to manage people's reactions, but the expected rewards made it all worthwhile.

He already became preoccupied with mapping out a suitable political strategy. Just because he hated politics did not mean he refused to engage in it. Everyone who became powerful enough needed to learn how to win support and convince others to play along with his plan.

In order to spread his risks, divert the attention of his enemies and reduce his suspicion, Ves needed the cooperation of a trusted partner.

"Ketis is the perfect fit."

There were many politically convenient reasons to push her to the forefront.

First, she was a Larkinson, but she was different enough from Ves to avoid close associations.

She was part of a Swordmaidens, which outsiders saw as an outside group that somehow managed to become a subsidiary of the Larkinson Clan.

The implication was that Ketis had become a vassal of the Larkinson Clan as opposed to a core member.

It was sort of true in a way. The Swordmaidens integrated into the Larkinson Clan decently enough, but they stubbornly protected many of their old traditions, even though a few of them no longer made sense in civilization space.

Combined with the fact that Ketis pursued different interests from Ves, she successfully managed to build a brand that was relatively independent from Ves and the clan.

Second, she was already abnormal, but in different ways. She was the first Swordmaster who also happened to be a Journeyman Mech Designer. Her ability to combine the two professions had caused her swordsman mechs to gain more special features than normal, causing their popularity to grow without slowing down!

Her efforts to revive and spread traditional swordsmanship throughout human society also started to build up momentum.

Though Ves never paid attention to such matters, he occasionally heard about how more and more people had signed up for the distinctly different kind of swordsmanship classes.

The Heavensworders of the Larkinson Clan possessed a rich teaching tradition. They had taken upon themselves to set up schools at any planet where the Larkinson Clan had set up branches.

People yearned to become strong. People also yearned to obtain extraordinary power. With Ketis as the most prominent example, traditional swordsmanship offered many hopeful warriors a way to excel in battle despite the fact that their genetic aptitudes prevented them from becoming mech pilots.

The longer the Red War raged on, the more people felt the need for need!

Nobody wanted to become one of the many helpless victims who failed to resist when the aliens invaded their planets.

Of course, there was nothing much a single Swordmaster could do when an entire alien raiding fleet entered into orbit over a planet, but it was better than nothing.

"Ketis is a rising star."

Ves had already reached the limit to his rise of fame. Ketis was just beginning to enter the galactic scene. This was the right time for her to gain more prominence by unveiling a fantastic new ability.

She could easily promote traditional swordsmanship by exposing the ability to cut the walls that kept the dimensions apart from each other!

It sounded so much more plausible that her mysterious swordsmanship somehow granted her the unreasonable power to create dimensional tears simply by swinging her sword in a special way!

The explanation fit so well that most people probably would not bother to investigate any further.

The only issue with this plan was that Ves needed Ketis to play along with this deception.

Even though it was technically Sharpie that was the Swordmaster, Ketis would not sully her honor and integrity just so that she could promote traditional swordsmanship. She had her own principles as a warrior, and while they were looser than that of a professional soldier, she would not deceive her audience!

"She doesn't have to offer any explanation." Ves pondered. "She will still be inclined to cooperate with me if all she needs to do is to keep her mouth shut. People can come up with their own explanations on how Ketis is able to master such an outrageous ability. It's not her fault that people develop misunderstandings. Maybe those who are better informed than others will attribute her new powers to the Heavensword."

The important part was that the ability to breach dimensions must not be tied back to Ves.

Perhaps Ketis might not like to participate in an act of deception, but as long as the goals and intentions were noble enough, she should be able to tolerate his demands.

This plan was not only good for Ves, but also boosted Ketis' own personal causes.

She had witnessed many times how her former mentor leveraged his increased fame and importance to secure greater advantages for himself. It was a much faster and more effective way to become more powerful than to stick to honest mech design.

More importantly than that, splitting responsibilities also helped the Larkinson Clan as a whole.

Ves grew too quickly. His clan was growing faster than ever, but all of it rested on a single pillar.

If anything happened to Ves, his overextended clan would collapse like a house of cards!

To prevent this scenario from happening, the Larkinson Clan needed to be propped up by multiple strong pillars.

Gloriana was already on track to become a major pillar.

Alexa Streon was too young and still needed a lot more time to develop before she could serve as an adequate substitute for Ves.

So long as Ketis became the only person who was able to breach dimensions in a consistent manner, her importance to society would instantly skyrocket!

The rise of the Larkinson Clan would become unstoppable at that point.

If Ves was the only Larkinson who was able to earn the appreciation of multiple tier 1 galactic citizens, then people could still dismiss his clan as a personality cult.

If the clan was able to produce two or more top figures, then it had turned into a much more durable human institution!

His enthusiasm grew. He needed to spend a lot more time and effort to flesh out this ambitious plan, but the broad strokes of it was already enough for him to gain confidence in his ability to profit from Dimension Breach Creation.

The time had come for Ves to make his final decision.

When Ves put Random Being Acquisition and Dimension Breach Creation side by side with each other, he knew that his decision would radically affect his operational approach for the next decades.

This was a critical period of time that would make or break his career. His clan also stood at a crossroads. With the help of the resources provided by a powerful upgrade track, his fellow Larkinsons all had a chance to rise above their original limitations and achieve greatness in their own right.

Ves just needed to settle his mind on whether he wanted to maintain a lower profile or whether he was courageous enough to attract more attention to his clan.

His decision would not only shape his relationship with the major human powers, but also affect his involvement with the Red Collective.

"This is a big deal."

A part of Ves yearned to stop tempting fate and take comfort in the high degree of anonymity promised by Random Being Acquisition.

However, an even stronger part of him was willing to defy his need for secrecy just so that he could recreate the miracles produced on Aeon Corona VII!

"Maybe it is fate that the System has given me the option to replicate the unique state producedby the crashed Starlight Megalodon."

The Aeon Corona VII Mission had thoroughly derailed his career and introduced him to a lot of wonders. The blasted mission made him forge deep ties with the Flagrant Vandals and the Swordmaidens. It also tested his survival skills and caused him to understand the truth about power.

It had been many years since he put Aeon Corona VII behind him. He had grown so much since that point that Ves had become involved in much greater affairs than a pathetic attempt to salvage high-grade life-prolonging treatment serum from a crashed CFA battleship.

Yet… Ves had not managed to escape the grip of Aeon Corona VII.

Ves tried his best to consider other alternatives, yet none of them appealed to him more than Dimension Breach Creation.

"The likelihood that I can create a planet similar to Aeon Corona VII is low, but… maybe I can generate my own version of an ecosystem mutated by strange energies."

If there was one thing a galaxy was not short of, it was planets!

While only a fraction of them already contained alien flora and fauna, they were still numerous enough for Ves to pick an unoccupied one and conduct dangerous experiments.

So long as the planet and star system did not contain any phasewater or other valuable resource deposits, nobody would care if the Larkinson Clan opened a dimensional tear and exposed a lot of exobeasts and exoplants to dimensional energies!

The quantity of resources that Ves could obtain through this channel was incomparable to Random Being Acquisition.

Perhaps he might even get lucky and breach a dimension that contained exceedingly rare but highly desirable super-class materials!

The allure of hitting the jackpot tempted Ves even more. The System wouldn't make it easy for him, but as long as he earned enough AP, anything was possible!

"As a mech designer, I need to chase after any opportunity to design a mech that no one has made before. It will be a lot easier for me to do this if I can make use of much more exotic resources."

Now that he had made up his mind, Ves did not delay his decision any further.

"System! I am ready to announce my choice! I choose Upgrade Track #6. Please integrate Dimension Breach Creation to your feature set!"

The space around Ves' consciousness started to shake.

[Selection confirmed. The Mech Designer System Version 3.0 shall begin the process of adding Upgrade Track #6: Dimension Breach Creation.]

The view switched back to the System Space.

What was different was that a section of the mountain actively began to form into a new clearing!

A lot of rock and stone started to form into flat and straight surfaces as the System prepared to add an entirely new structure to the mountain top.

Ves began to look more and more forward to seeing the results of this profound change.

He needed to know how soon he could create his first dimensional tear!

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