The Mech Touch

5980 Evolutionary Vision

By the time the first session of the Interim Leadership Council came to an end, most councilors ended up satisfied.

The council ran with the sect proposal initially presented by Ves and expanded upon it. Many different interest groups tried to pass their own amendments in order to favor their own circumstances.

Though not every amendment got passed, the councilors did not unnecessarily obstruct ideas just because they came from their political opponents.

After all, the powerful figures gathered here all possessed a common responsibility for ensuring the survival of red humanity.

Even if they possessed selfish thoughts, they did not dare to go too far when they were sitting in the presence of multiple god pilots.

As the most honorable and individually powerful protectors of human civilization, god pilots generally had little tolerance towards obstructionism!

People such as Fleet Admiral Amelie Jameson used to have no qualms about targeting Ves because he lacked the hard power to deter such maneuvers.

This did not apply to the god pilots!

Appointing a more ruthless and proactive god pilot like the Evolution Witch to the position of chief councilor was a very savvy move in this regard.

Under her supervision, no councilor dared to play any despicable games. Behavior that might be tolerated in their own states and organizations would never fly in a council under her charge!

The Evolution Witch did not even have to issue any warnings or step in. Just her presence and authority alone was enough to keep the councilors honest.

Under this atmosphere, the councilors who originally stood on opposite sides of the spectrum all managed to come to an acceptable middle ground.

What was rather impressive this time was that most councilors ultimately became satisfied with what they got. They managed to get enough amendments passed that they managed to satisfy at least some of their interests.

The Terrans and the Rubarthans were all happy by the fact that they avoided direct centralization. Their cultivators would not be in a position to lose their original loyalties and become indoctrinated by the Red Collective.

Instead, their cultivators would be able to join one of the multiple sects that were mainly controlled by first-rate states, either directly or indirectly.

The proponents of greater control such as the Fifth Enforcement Fleet and parts of the Survivalist Faction also became satisfied by the fact that the Red Collective still obtained strong supervision and control authority.

A lot of councilors took issue with the notion of letting the Red Collective exert strong control over individual cultivators.

However, not many of them were sympathetic towards the plight of sects. It made sense to constrain their behavior by imposing a lot of rules. So long as the Red Collective policies towards sects were not too unreasonable, it was acceptable to hold them to a higher standard.

In short, councilors such as Fleet Admiral Amelie Jameson and Master Vayro Goldstein became more assured that the current setup would preserve human society's existing stability and order.

Anarchy, chaos and a wholesale deterioration of public safety threatened the interests of the Red Two. The mechers and the fleeters always derived their legitimacy from being able to run human space better than all of the alternatives. Their argument would no longer hold any weight if they failed in this aspect!

At least the sect proposal made it easier to guard the current order as the Red Collective merely had to keep a close eye on a limited number of sects.

Details such as how much the quota should be and other parameters could be determined at a later date. It was not necessary to involve so many tier 1 galactic citizens and other eminent leaders in trivial affairs.

Now that the Interim Leadership Council was done with shaping a single unified policy towards the purpose of the Red Collective and its relationship with human cultivators, the Evolution Witch finally brought the first session to a satisfying end.

The woman stood up from her larger and more regal seat and radiated a fraction of her God Kingdom across the entire meeting chamber.

Aside from the other tier 1 galactic citizens, every other councilor momentarily became affected by phantom illusions.

Each of them experienced visions ranging from advancing to the rank of True Gods or living long enough to see red humanity conquer the entire Red Ocean and multiple other dwarf galaxies!

Even Ves could not resist the effects of the Evolution Witch's God Kingdom!

It was just that his momentary illusion was a little special compared to that of the others.

He maintained enough awareness to know that his mind was responsible for creating a possible vision of the future. This caused him to develop a particularly exaggerated impression of what he became once he reached the level of a True God.

Not only did he become a Star Designer that could create an endless amount of living marvels, but his various incarnations also became transcendently powerful!

Blinky commanded an entire parallel universe. The Blinkyverse had not only turned into a material space, but grew to such a size that it was able to support the rise of many native alien civilizations!

The prosperity of the primordial galaxy of the Blinkyverse exceeded that of the Milky Way!

After all, the old galaxy might be populated by a lot of humans and aliens, but it was no longer blessed with the power of heaven.

The story was different for the Blinkyverse! The Star Cat had not only assumed the role of the heavenly authority over the primordial galaxy, but also possessed the ability to summon a sizable fraction of that power into the main universe!

Though Ves did not yet know how much Blinky needed to cultivate and sublimate his powers in order to reach this insanely powerful state, he was glad to learn that all of the painstaking accumulation eventually paid off at the end!

As for Vulcan, his situation also became outrageous. He had become a literal deity to every dwarf and craftsman who believed in him. The incarnation also became an exceptionally capable traditional craftsman who was able to produce extremely powerful masterwork and occasionally grand work-

level artifacts.

This meant that Vulcan gained the capacity to produce artifacts that approached the level of the Heavensword!

If he had access to enough super-class materials and gained the faith of enough worshipers, then it was not impossible for Vulcan to craft an artifact that matched the power of that mythical weapon!

As for Veronica, her cultivation was a bit of a mystery. Ves only obtained fuzzy impressions of the cyborg cat after completing her transcendence.

One detail that became clear was that she became a cybernetic phase lord. She might look as small as a housecat under normal circumstances, but as long as she became involved in any battle, her feline shape quickly reached the size of a moon large enough to produce tides if it orbited a planet!

Veronica under the active imagination was not weak at all. This was because she was not a simple phase lord. She also benefited from a huge amount of cybernetic enhancements that augmented her combat capabilities in a targeted manner!

With the expertise of both Ves and Vulcan, Veronica gained the traits of a god mech while simultaneously preserving all of the advantages of a True God-level phase lord!

Despite the fact that Veronica lacked the transcendent willpower that made god pilots so strong, her deep technological integration at least enabled her to hold her ground in a fight!

Combined with a formidable command over the power of darkness, Veronica had a much better chance of evading any direct confrontation against the hostile god pilots!

Ves took a deep breath.

In reality, less than a second passed by. The Evolution Witch only exerted a minute extent of her God Kingdom for an instant.

That had already been enough for everyone aside from god pilots and Star Designers to lose their minds to illusions that stretched on for a much longer periods of time!

Some councilors looked as if they had become immersed in a false setting for weeks.

Others looked as if they had just peeked at the future for a couple of minutes.

None of the councilors who had become affected by the Evolution Witch's power remained unaffected by this move. Many of them became more introspective as they couldn't take their minds away from that tempting illusion.

Was this what it was like to achieve greater success in cultivation?

None of the councilors looked as if they could resist such power!

Not even the fleeters who harbored the greatest misgivings towards cultivation could remain unmoved in the face of all of that temptation!

What a brazen act of manipulation. Even if many of the councilors appreciated the momentary taste of power, they were still cognizant enough to realize that the Evolution Witch actively tried to sway them to her mindset.

Of course, none of the councilors possessed the courage or the motivation to accuse the Evolution Witch.

This was the privilege of power!

The Evolution Witch shamelessly smiled at the other 99 councilors. "<nullb>This concludes the first session. The date of the subsequent session will be announced at a later date. It will take time to expand on the amended sect proposal and incorporate it into our planning. Before you depart, do not forget the importance of our mission. Red humanity in its current state is too weak. If we do not adapt to our rich new environment, we will die. There is no ambiguity about this. Our alien adversaries will not be merciful towards us, so we cannot be soft towards them either. Only the fittest race shall survive in the end. If we cannot win this struggle, then we deserve to go extinct."

With those ominous words, the first session came to an end.

Many councilors deactivated the remote connection, causing their physical projections to disappear from the meeting chamber.

Few people stuck around to exchange words with each other. If they wanted to discuss more serious topics, they could always switch to more private communication channels.

Ves did not leave right away. It would be stupid of him to miss out on the opportunity to deepen his relationships with the movers and shakers of red humanity..

He first turned towards the Evolution Witch. A coy smile graced her lips as she studied Ves with fascination.

"<nullb>Interesting. You truly are your mother's son. You possess great courage for splitting off your soul so many times. The risks are great, but the ability to command the power of multiple True Gods is a benefit that very few humans enjoy."

Ves widened his eyes. "Wait… you saw that?"

"<nullb>Oh, you naive child. You understand so little of what god pilots are capable of. What makes you think I am unable to see your future forms? Self-evolution is under my purview. Out of the councilors present today, you shine like a beacon in a lighthouse. You are by far the most hard-working cultivator among them. I expect great results from you in the future. That is no excuse for you to rest on your laurels, however. The evolution potential that I have glimpsed from you and every other councilor is not a prophecy. It is merely an extrapolation based on your current conditions. It is not impossible for others to exceed you at a later date. Work hard and do not slack off. Our society needs your many gifts."

Ves awkwardly smiled. He felt awfully exposed in her presence. Who knew how many secrets she gleaned from him! If not for the fact that she had made a pact with his mother, he would have become apprehensive about what the god pilot intended to do with all of the sensitive information!

"I appreciate the… visions… but can you please not do it again?"

"<nullb>You do not have power over me. I will inspect your potential whenever I am motivated to do so. Your strategic value has just increased from my perspective."

"..."

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