The Mech Touch

Chapter 6425 Ves the Change Agent

"Hehehe... my Mergewater biomechs shall have infinite potential! As long as their Hunter pilots are strong enough to bear the consequences of piloting their increasingly more powerful biomechs, they can wield the power of the mightiest mutated beasts or calamity beasts they have managed to fell! Perhaps one day, a Mergewater biomech might even be able to hunt down a phase lord or a phase whale, thereby gaining transphasic flesh and powers in the process! The Mergewater biomech and possibly the Carmine mech pilot can gain all of the powers of a phase lord, thereby becoming a vessel of human evolution! This is going to be magnificent, hahahahaha!"

Vice Director Talas Redmond had seen his fair share of maddened people throughout his two centuries of life.

True hunts always brought an element of risk. Accidents could occur that could cause a hunting party to suffer deaths. The violence that exobeasts could unleash against the hunters that thought themselves superior was raw, primal, vicious and bloody.

The survivors that managed to scramble their way out of a hunting ground often became haunted by the sights of their friends and colleagues getting eaten or torn apart by savage beasts.

Hunters were humans as well. Not everyone possessed the stomach to endure these setbacks. The more fragile their mentalities, the easier they shattered. Hunters with more severe cases of PTSD became completely self-absorbed. Some of them even became a threat to others.

Right now, the sight of Ves Larkinson reminded Talas Redmond of those broken hunters.

Was this the most talented and brilliant Senior Mech Designer of red humanity, whose contributions made it seem as if he was speedrunning his way to becoming a Star Designer?

Was this the legendary Father of Carmine Mechs, whose latest invention had earned him a permanent place in the annals of human history?

Was this the surprisingly young cutthroat political actor who not only managed to build a coalition of dozens of religions that never seemed to agree with each other on anything in the past, but also managed to maneuver himself in one of the highest offices of the Red Collective?

Many people had sung praises of the mech designer known as Ves Larkinson in the past few days. As the Yellow Jackets continually proved their capability to turn practically any norm into a real mech pilot, everyone had become a part of the so-called Carmine Revolution.

Both commoners and elites could talk about nothing else but Carmine mechs these days. The popularity of all of the versions of the Yellow Jackets easily surpassed any conventional mech in existence. They had already broken so many records that no one could count them anymore!

Every news publication, no matter whether it had anything to do with mechs or not, had dedicated much of their coverage on Carmine mechs and everything related to them. Nobody wanted to waste their time on a portal that ignored the most significant invention since the start of the Age of Mechs!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

If the journalists and commentators weren't obsessing over the Yellow Jackets, they shamelessly slobbered all over the Father of Carmine Mechs. They raised the mech designer up an impossibly high pedestal and even declared him to be the best mech designer after the Star Designers!

Of course, these gutsy journalists definitely insulted the dignity of every Master Mech Designer by making these bold claims, but the problem was that the latter could not present a proper counterargument.

After all, none of these experienced and knowledgeable Masters managed to overthrow the genetic aptitude tyranny!

They hadn't even been able to drill a single hole into this seemingly impenetrable wall! In the end, all of these Masters ended up with nothing to show for their efforts in the past 4 centuries.

While Ves benefited heavily from all of the prior accumulation in the field of mech design, it did not change the fact that he was responsible for inventing all of the key principles and mechanisms of the Carmine System.

The fact that Ves still remained the only mech designer in the Red Ocean who could design a working Carmine mech from scratch was solid proof that he deserved all of the

credit!

Every successful mech designer tended to possess his own eccentricities, but a man who achieved so much in this field should have the dignity and stature to match his reputation.

"...НАНАНАНАНАНА!..."

What the vice director got instead was a mech designer who was clearly prone to bouts of madness!

Was this the true secret behind Ves Larkinson's success?

Was all it took for mech designers to make groundbreaking inventions for them to go mad and let their crazy imagination run wild?

The old Hunter did not have much of an intersection with the mech community, so he was not clear whether the example set by Ves was the exception rather than the norm.

Talas Redmond was actually hesitant to learn the truth. It may be better to leave this issue alone.

Despite the alarming behavior exhibited by the visitor to his office, Talas could not help but find the madman to be a lot more compelling than was proper.

Ves Larkinson possessed a magnetism that became a lot more obvious and unrestrained now that he was no longer maintaining his composure.

The apparent exposure of his true self gave Talas a much better insight into the person who he had been talking to. This was a mech designer who genuinely loved his craft and sincerely believed that his solutions could solve any problem as long as he worked hard enough.

It was quite difficult for the old man to resist the urge to share in the crazy mech designer's unbridled confidence and optimism.

This was the passion that broke the genetic aptitude tyranny and unlocked the act of piloting mechs to nearly the entire population of red humanity!

This was the power of youth that enabled the younger generations to surpass the older

ones with daring and courage!

While the old Hunter remained in the maddened mech designer's presence, he

somehow felt as if nothing was impossible anymore.

Ves Larkinson could realize anything as long as he set his mind onto it. The fact that he had a solid track record of doing so only enhanced this quality of his aura!

His empty proposal where he claimed he could design these outlandish 'Mergewater biomechs' had no basis in reality, yet when he was the one who put it forward, it became a lot more believable for whatever reason.

The mech designer possessed the strong capability to inspire others just by espousing his dreams and visions.

Even a man as old and weary as Talas Redmond couldn't help but feel at least 5 decades younger after talking to this inspiring mech designer.

The Hunter seriously began to consider the viability of the proposal. The more he thought about piloting biomechs that grew stronger by assimilating the strength of their defeated foes, the more his heart began to race.

None of this was part of the Hunter's Code, yet Talas increasingly became convinced that these special Carmine mechs should be added to the texts!

As Talas thought about how the proposed Mergewater mechs could redefine the combat role of Hunters and allow them to contribute much more directly to the war effort, Ves finally calmed down and regained his composure.

"Ahem, please excuse me. I like mechs a lot, and I especially like new and interesting ideas for mechs that haven't been made before. The Mergewater mechs that I have come up with hold a lot of promise. I am willing to design and dedicate them to your Hunting Association on a near-exclusive basis as long as your group accepts the jurisdiction of the Red Collective."

"Unacceptable." The vice director rejected. "As I have stated before, these subjects are not tied to each other. My instructions are clear. The Hunting Association shall remain an independent organization that will not answer to any of the Red Three. We are willing

to meet fair requests and work together for the common good, but our ideas are too deviant to gain other people's understanding."

They both ended up at the original issue of why Ves paid a visit to the regional headquarters.

After sharing such a promising vision of a future Carmine mech design that encapsulated the essence of the members of the Hunting Association, Ves could no longer retain a

good mood.

It was surprising how quickly his demeanor shifted in such as short span of time.

"I am not negotiating with you." Ves flatly declared. "You have no say in this matter. I am negotiating directly with the Huntsman. Whether he is listening in on this conversation or not, I know that you have a way of passing on my proposal to him. Let your god pilot decide. Will he accept reasonable concessions in exchange for arming his Hunters with Carmine mechs that can loosely be described as possessing the combined powers of the Invictus and the Geneforger? I am not convinced he can remain unmoved." "You know far too little about our patron and overlord, Ves. What gives you the confidence that he will surrender his own organization to the Red Collective? As promising as your latest mech idea sounds, nothing has been realized so far. is difficult.

to believe that you can successfully design a mech that is exactly as described. Even mech designers possess limits."

Ves sighed. "You are correct. I do possess limits. As far as I can tell, I cannot design a Mergewater mech for the Hunting Association by myself. I need the help of the Huntsman in order to incorporate a handful of key mechanisms that are vital to making this mech idea work. I believe as long as the Huntsman and I both work together on this collaborative mech design project, it is not impossible to realize my vision." ...Very well, Ves. You have convinced me to pass along your proposal to the Huntsman. I cannot promise you that he will be receptive to your ideas for a special new biomech. If it does not match his own strategy, then do not take it personally if he withholds approval in the end."

"Tell him that I expect an answer from him shortly. I need a definite explanation on what kind of relationship the Hunting Association expects to maintain with the Red Collective. Give me his reply before the start of the founding ceremony tomorrow. It is crucial that I obtain an answer quickly so that I can adapt this potential development into the big

event."

"A day is far too short. These matters cannot be decided on a whim." "Look, if the Huntsman is attentive enough to arrange an ambush for my escort fleet, but can't be bothered to read and respond to his mail on the same day, then I will not bother to cooperate with him anymore. I will figure out an alternate version of Mergewater mechs that can be piloted by norms, perhaps with the help of heavy augmentations. Your Hunting Association will miss out on gaining access to powerful Carmine mechs that function as the ultimate hunting machines."

Ves managed to end this turbulent meeting while maintaining the initiative in the end. He had thrown the ball into the Hunting Association's court.

It was up to the other side to figure out whether it was willing to answer to another

authority in exchange for gaining exclusive access to biomechs with such promise that they may redefine what it meant to be a Hunter!

As Ves left the regional headquarters and boarded his armored transport, Gavin and a few other familiar faces inquired how the meeting had unfolded.

The mech designer shrugged. "It went alright, I suppose. I managed to get my point across, but I failed to gain a positive response right away. The Hunting Association has less than one day to present a definitive answer to us. I am tired of all of this ambiguity.

Either the Hunters fall in line, or get branded as perennial outcasts and outsiders to mainstream society."

His personal assistant looked skeptical. "That sounds far from the most ideal outcomes

of this meeting. Are you not afraid that the leaders of the Hunting Association will remain unmoved by your mech proposal?"

"Not really." Ves grinned again. "As powerful as the Huntsman and the leaders of the Hunting Association may be, they can never fully represent the interests of the huge number of rank-and-file Hunters. It is the latter group who I truly need to win over. Gavin, try to find a discreet way to leak the news about the latest elemental Carmine mech that I have proposed to design to the Hunting Association as part of an agreement. I will share a few exciting details about this new mech soon. I do not believe that all

Hunters are as old school as Talas Redmond. Adoring mechs is a universal passion among modern humans."

Since the Huntsman did not play fair, Ves saw no reason why he needed to stick to

honorable behavior either!

Authorizing this gambit would definitely make the leaders of the Hunting Association. upset, but it was the best pathway towards victory as far as he could determine!

If the Huntsman and his trusted confidantes did not want to create a schism within the Hunting Association, then they had to meet the overwhelming demand from the Hunters to be able to pilot their own hunting mechs!