The Mech Touch

A sales manager greeted the arrivals with a sincere bow.

"It is our greatest honor to welcome the Father of Carmine Mechs to our respectable establishment. Jessup Organics has a moderate range of high-quality goods for sale for the discerning and exacting customer. If there are any biological products that you wish to procure that we do not have in stock, we can pass on your order to our wider network of vendors, many of which are based in other zones, to see whether we can satisfy your needs."

Jovy stepped up to handle the sales manager.

"As we have mentioned in the message that we sent beforehand, Professor Larkinson is in the market for phasewater organs harvested from phase leaders. We have information that you have a number of them in stock."

"That is true." The older and impeccably dressed man nodded. "The Red Tide Offensive has brought forth many more phase lords than before. The supply of phasewater organs has increased dramatically in the last 6 months."

"The demand for phasewater organs is also high. Shouldn't they be in the hands of major research institutions and so on? Why are there still organs available for sale in a place like yours?" Ves curiously asked.

The sales manager expected this question. Ves was far from the first one to make this inquiry.

"There are two reasons why Jessup Organics has phasewater organs for sale. Combat against phase lords usually produce violent outcomes. The damage that ace mechs and warships can inflict against phase lords is enormous. The chance to harvest a completely intact phasewater organ is small. Most phasewater organs salvaged from the carcasses of deceased or captured phase lords have deteriorated in a burned, shredded or punctured state. In many cases, the phasewater organs have suffered so much damage that they cannot operate as they did in their original condition. Such organs have much more limited research value as it takes vastly more resources to discover anything of value out of them. Many parties that have claimed damaged organs would rather sell them for an upfront price and settle the matter in an instant."

"I see. What is the second reason?"

"Jessup Organics is part of a group that has many connections and partnerships with other biotechnology institutions." The sales manager said as he began to lead the guests further inside the large and well-furnished store. "Since we maintain a reputable brand and a fixed customer base, we also accept consignments from other groups. We put them on sale on behalf of our clients and proactively seek potential buyers if necessary. What is special about the consignments is that many of them cannot be bought by cash. They can only be bartered for goods or services specific by the consignor."

"This is a good means for Master Mech Designers and other powerful groups to trade high-end resources with each other without the need to develop good relations." Jovy clarified for Ves. "Jessup Organics here does good business by connecting Terran traders with Rubarthan traders and vice versa, often with the use of intermediaries if necessary. You may see a phasewater organ that is offered up for trade by a company from the Kromo Republic, but the actual source may be a Terran ancient clan. If a Rubarthan buyer happens to trade the phasewater organ with special resources that are only available in the Rubarthan Pact, then he will have no idea whether he has ultimately completed a transaction with a Terran."

Ves looked impressed. It sort of sounded like a deception game where everyone knew the real score, but they happily agreed to play ignorant just so they wouldn't ruin the fun.

The necessity of needing to play this game allowed for the rise of intermediary companies and brokers such as Jessup Organics. They might not possess any core industries themselves, but they were extremely good at relationship management and customer service. That was all they needed to rely on to take advantage of the friction between different states and groups.

Ves did not really care about this charade. He only cared about whether he could take advantage of it. He looked forward to the phasewater organs that he might find in this place.

Soon enough, the sales manager led the guests to a secure underground chamber that contained dozens of different organs.

Each massive organ was stored in a liquid solution that was meant to preserve their life activity.

Ves could immediately tell that they were all phasewater organs or fragments of phasewater organs. The phasewater infused in the large biological tissue all told him that the goods were genuine.

"Are these all of the phasewater organs that you have on hand?"

"Correct, Professor Larkinson. We can also mobilize dozens more phasewater organs, but they are currently in the possession of other stores."

"Let's take a look at these ones first."

Ves tried his best to temper his expectations. This turned out to be prudent as the offerings quickly turned out to be worse than he hoped.

The majority of organs consisted of variations of the most common Kelsis organ, Locos organ and Maracos organ.

That was not necessarily bad as the fundamental three organs all exhibited various different directions of purposeful biological development.

There were some organs that possessed better range, while others were more effective at close range. There were organs that were tweaked to consume less energy than usual, and there were also other organs that could produce strong effects at the risk of exhausting them prematurely.

All of this had a decent amount of research value, but Ves was not too interested in acquiring another copy of a phasewater organ that he already possessed.

This was especially the case when all of the aforementioned organs were in varying states of disrepair!

Ves grimaced as he looked at a Maracos organ that had shrunk to a third of its original size. The still-healing burn marks clearly showed that it had taken an awful amount of damage from half-a-dozen plasma bolts.

"I could use a more advanced Maracos organ, but this one has suffered so much damage that a lot of core biological functions are missing. There is not much research value to this product. You can't come up with stuff out of thin air."

The sales manager did not look ashamed. "The Maracos organ of a phase lord may be incomplete, but there is enough research available that has analyzed and published the complete biological blueprint of a standard Maracos organ. It is not impossible for a capable biotech institution to reconstruct the missing pieces of this organ. A good research team may even be able to extrapolate and restore the directional improvements applied to this remnant organ. If successful, you will not only be able to obtain a completely upgraded Maracos organ, but also the knowledge and expertise required to replicate this process."

Ves looked mildly impressed. "That does indeed sound attractive, but if it was that easy to produce those outcomes, someone would have already bought this phasewater organ a while ago. My Larkinson Biotech Institute definitely cannot rank as high as those renowned institutions. Forget it. Let's look elsewhere."

Jessup Organics was not stupid. The goods that were much more practical and readily usable tended to impose greater conditions in order to exchange for them. The ones that could readily be bought with cash or phasewater tended to possess very serious flaws.

There were no products that possessed none of these flaws. If such goods ever appeared, they would have been snapped up by the force that felled the phase lord, or traded away to a trusted partner in a private transaction.

The PPS and the other remarkably intact phasewater organs that Ves obtained as spoils was a typical example of that. There was no way that Jessup Organics could ever put a phasewater production system up for sale as if it was a fancy croissant.

Though Ves feared that he had wasted this trip, he eventually stumbled upon a number of phasewater organs that did not seem so bad.

[Lesser Collie Organ

Allows a phase lord to split a small part of his true body to form a miniature clone. This detached mass of phasewater-infused tissue can extend the phase lord's senses and act as a physical avatar. The operational range of this physical avatar is based on the phasewater concentration of the phase lord as well as the development and mastery of his Collie organ. A greater phase lord can only control the physical avatar created by the Collie organ up to 17.2 AU.

Physical Integrity: 47 percent

Consignor: Yighan-Arghat Consortium

Price or exchange conditions: Can only be exchanged for a lesser phasewater organ of at least 66 percent integrity. The Yighan-Arghat Consortium is also open to accepting other goods of greater value upon negotiation.

]

Ves' eyes quickly lit up after he read this description. He already planned to create an avatar for himself in order to be able to take part in dangerous expeditions without risking his true body.

However, those plans had numerous flaws and shortcomings. If he was able to use this Collie organ to produce a small physical clone that he could control by remote, then that would definitely be great!

The only downside was that only 47 percent of this organ was left. Over half of it was missing, and Ves bet that the destroyed flesh also contained vital bioprogramming and biohardware that made the Collie organ work!

Still, half a Collie organ was better than nothing!

"I am interested in this Collie organ." Ves said. "The information about it is incomplete. Where does this organ come from, if I may ask?"

"According to the records, the Collie organ was originally developed by the zzamayels. This major alien race consists of evolved amoeba, which often repels other races. The zzamayal phase lords appear even more monstrous. They are often mistaken for space monsters and attract violent reactions."

Ves recalled what he knew about the zzamayal race.

"Aren't the slimes supposed to be non-religious? They are one of the rare races that do not believe in the divinity of phase lords and phase whales?"

"That is a simplistic explanation, professor." The sales manager carefully corrected Ves. "The zzamayal indeed reject the divinity of phase whales, but they are not blind to the power of the latter. There is a small group of zzamayals that seek to become phase lords in defiance of majority opinion."

"I see. Is there anything else I should know about how the zzamayals have made the Collie organ?"

"Yes. It is important to mention that the zzayamals not only possess strange and unique physiologies, but that their tech base is strongly based on biotechnology. Their exclusive phasewater organs tend to possess deviant biological properties that make them hard to decipher and adapt to the physiques of true gods of other species. You should never rashly implant a Collie organ inside your body."

"I never intended to. Even I can see that it is weird and dangerous."

The preserved remains of the Collie organ did not exactly look friendly. Not only was it partially translucent, but it also contained strong acids and toxic substances that could poison a weaker phase lord!

Still, Ves remained interested in the Collie organ.

"I want it. Please get me in touch with the Yighan-Arghat Consortium." Ves instructed.

"I can do so right away. Are you willing to exchange this Collie organ with another phasewater organ that is in a better condition, or do you wish to negotiate a different trade?"

"The latter. While I do have a bunch of phasewater organs in my possession, I still need them myself. I would vastly prefer to trade for other goods."

The sales manager nodded. "There are normally thresholds and limitations to negotiating a different exchange. However, your reputation and accomplishments are so high that I have the authority to sidestep these hurdles. The Yighan-Arghat Consortium will be happy and honored to do business with an esteemed mech designer such as yourself, I am sure. Please be patient. It will take time for a representative to reach our humble establishment.."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!