The Mech Touch

In the end, Ves accepted the second proposal offered by Templar-Commander Oson Jackarie.

As he did so, Ves had the distinct feeling of getting played. The complete switch in plan and attitude initially threw him off-balance, but once he had a moment to think about it, he recalled that he was speaking to a supposed devotee to the infamous False Speaker!

Even a child could deduce that the words spoken by anyone from the Temple of Falsehood never appeared to be truth on the surface!

When Ves decided to confront the good man on his rapid turnaround, the man sounded forthcoming.

"Some of the many lessons that the False Speaker has taught to humanity are how to win without fighting a battle, how words have power and how you can combine the two to gain an advantage regardless of how your audience interprets your speech. It is a habit of the higher-ranking members of the Temple of Falsehood to hedge our bets. We plan our conversation strategy and shape our words so that we can gain benefits no matter whether people think we are telling the truth or have been lying to their faces."

That caused Ves to think back on his earlier conversation with the slimy temple bastard.

He suddenly understood how he had been played.

Oson Jackarie came into this talk with a goal in mind. That was to save his own status and position within the Pantheon of Modern Gods.

He came up with two different plans. If he was able to maintain his familiar status within the Temple of Falsehood, then that was for the best. He was a consummate insider in the temple and knew much of its secrets. He also maintained an extensive network of friends, allies of convenience and other contacts.

Much of this social capital would get lost if the temple no longer became viable.

Since Ves had clearly expressed his objection towards the continued existence of the temple, the probability that the old temples would lose its internal war against the new temples became a lot higher.

The man who apparently held the favor of at least two god pilots could sway many Pantheon insiders merely by expressing his stance towards the old god pilots of the Milky Way!

Since the collapse of the fallen temples appeared inevitable, the soon-to-be-former temple-commander clearly wasn't one of the diehard fanatics who was willing to go down with his sinking ship.

His faith in the False Speaker sounded genuine enough, but he did not consider it a betrayal of his principles if he shifted his service from one god pilot to another.

In any case, the templar-commander tried to account for multiple possibilities by preparing an escape route before he actually met with Ves.

By plotting to defect to the Temple of Destruction in the event his old temple could not maintain its existence, Oson Jackarie had a much larger chance of getting ahead no matter the outcome of this talk!

The only way he would stumble was if Ves took personal offense at him and complained about his conduct to the Pantheon. That would most definitely cause his status within the religious organization to plunge.

Even now, Ves was not sure whether he should feel nonchalant or insulted at the fact that this shameless temple-commander tried to game him. Nobody liked the feeling of being played.

However, logic prevailed. So what if the temple-commander executed a deliberate social strategy on Ves? A lot of other people did the same these days!

When Ves ascended to a tier 3 galactic citizen and gained universal recognition in the Red Ocean, his influence had already grown to the point where he could boost or ruin the careers of trillions of people.

His words and actions had an outsized influence on the new frontier. This forced him to be more cautious and deliberate in his dealings, because he could easily end up causing more harm than good to human civilization.

In a way, Ves already understood the False Speaker's lessons pretty well. Words had power. Words could be used to win entire battles before they even started.

After a bit of thinking, Ves returned his attention to the projection of Templar-Commander Jackarie.

The old man successfully impressed Ves.

Granted, it was not too difficult to do this. Ves was seven times younger than the templar-commander who had already spent centuries building his career and dedicated his last few decades on climbing up the hierarchy of the Temple of Falsehood.

The huge gap in life experience alone was so great that the old man could play Ves like a fiddle!

That was why Ves preferred it if a man as socially capable as Jackarie was on his side.

The man had a lot of value, and Ves was not in the habit of letting anything useful go to waste.

Since the templar-commander clearly offered his services and potentially his loyalty to Ves, then there was a basis for cooperation.

It didn't matter if Oson Jackarie blatantly manipulated Ves so long as the old man did not actually do anything detrimental.

Jackarie was definitely clever enough to avoid crossing Ves' red lines.

If the templar-commander ever went too far, then Ves had no qualms about squashing this impudent fellow!

That should never happen. The power difference between the two was too great.

Just as Ves could never think about resisting the Red Association due to how much weaker he was compared to this mighty organization, Jackarie had no chance of getting away with pissing off a benefactor that was already chummy with a pair of god pilots!

Aside from that, the Larkinson Clan also started to shape up into a major power in its own right.

The rise of Tusa, Isobel and now Casella to sainthood finally gave Ves the muscle he needed to assert himself more confidently and throw his weight around.

The higher he climbed, the more he began to morph into the elder statesman that received audiences from weaker supplicants that sought his assistance and support.

Ves felt quite empowered when he realized that he had reached this junction. He was finally becoming the boss that many other people could only look up to. He finally started to gain actual agency in his life. No longer would he have to passively accept the consequences of other people's decisions.

In any case, Ves did not have too many concerns about getting screwed over by the templar-commander. He just had to ensure he remained on top. There was little chance for Oson Jackerie to ever grow powerful enough to pose a threat so long as he did not gain a power base, which was unlikely since he was just a mortal.

For now, praying to the god pilots did not seem to benefit members of the Pantheon of Modern Gods all that much. There was no explicit form of contract cultivation as of yet, and it may never come as certain god pilots were probably ideologically opposed to engaging in deity cultivation themselves.

"I will have my personal assistant transmit a missive to the Temple of Destruction that expresses my desire to have you take up a worthy position within its ranks." Ves promised the ambitious old man. "I do not know how the leaders there will take it, though. They may not believe that I am acting on behalf of the Destroyer of Worlds. They may also doubt your sudden defection and seek to isolate you in their temple."

Temple-Commander Jackarie responded with a confident smile. "You do not have to be concerned about that, my new benefactor. I have already built up the necessary contacts and collected enough favors to ensure a smooth integration in the Temple of Destruction. I would be unworthy of my rank and renown if I cannot earn the trust of my new brothers and sisters."

Ves seriously questioned whether anyone from the Temple of Destruction would be willing to extend any measure of trust towards a soon-to-be-former worshiper of the False Speaker, but that was his problem to solve.

"Okay. You can handle your own affairs. Now that you have joined my side, it is time for you to make yourself useful to me. Please share your thoughts on the current situation. I want to hear your thoughts on the formation of the Red Collective, my attempts to build a coalition of faiths and what may threaten my plans."

That caused the old man to look serious and thoughtful.

"You are asking a lot from me. My understanding of your circumstances are extensive but also incomplete. I can only ask for your understanding if I have made any misjudgments."

"That's fine. You are just one of multiple sources of information that I have at my disposal. I value your opinion because you are the best insider out of the bunch. I need your inner perspective to provide clarification on details that those on the outside cannot observe."

"I understand. Where do I begin? Perhaps it is best to start with the Pantheon, as I am most familiar with it. As I have mentioned before, a schism is breaking out that is putting the fallen temples in opposition to the new temples. If you actively choose to intervene, this conflict can be decided before both sides can engage in any destructive fighting. The leaders of all of the temples are well aware that if they begin to fight in the open, it may completely collapse and disintegrate the Pantheon, thereby causing their overall voice and power to split. That is an outcome that no one wants to happen."

"What are you saying?"

"Do not listen to what the leaders and members of the fallen temples are saying. They may sound as if they are willing to fight to the death to defend the right to worship the old god pilots, but they much prefer to make use of an escape hatch that allows them to avoid starting a mutually destructive conflict. The mere perception that a god pilot in the Red Ocean desires to end the worship of old god pilots is enough to allow the adherents of the fallen temples to suspend their current worship and convert their beliefs to a new god pilot without incurring any blame."

Ves directed a critical look at Jackarie. If this fellow was correct, then he was hardly the only opportunist of a fallen temple that was looking to jump ship!

They just couldn't do so in a blatant and shameless manner. Religion was all about piety, devotion and sincerity. To switch their belief in gods as if they were swapping clothes completely tarnished the dignity of their temples!

"What does this mean to me in more concrete terms?"

"Well, the rapid reduction from 100 temples to just 8 will result in a massive wave of consolidations. Every new temple will become approximately ten times larger, wealthier and more influential. The Temple of Destruction is currently very well disposed towards you, but its usefulness to you is about to become much more significant in the near future. With my help on the inside, you may be able to assume indirect control of it. As long as its patron goddess herself does not contradict your actions, you can freely take advantage of its clout and resources. The greatest issue is that resolving the current schism will lead to temporary disruptions in the present, so you cannot take advantage of this circumstance right away."

The Temple of Destruction was not an officially sanctioned subordinate organization of Divine Irene Mox.

It could best be compared to a very large and powerful fanclub with religious trappings.

That was no reason for Ves to look down on it. Fanclub or not, it held trillions of people under its sway, which included a large number of Rubarthans and other first-raters!

To be able to command such a huge and powerful collection of believers was incredibly tempting!

It would definitely be enough to secure Ves a strong base support in the future Red Collective!

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