The Mech Touch

5899 Beneficiaries

The mirror beast succumbed quickly enough after Caramond and Furia worked together to dispel the surrounding haze.

Although the tricky and nefarious god beast frequently utilized illusions and disappearing tricks to circumvent the formidable teleportation attacks launched by the Dominion of Man, the creature had nowhere to hide when its haze no longer offered sufficient protection.

Bonded by fire and blood, Caramond and Furia channeled their anger and indignation as they expanded their domains and made sure everyone's sight remained clear.

Furia supplied the fire energy while Caramond negated the cloud of confusion that the mirror beast constantly tried to impress onto the ship and her crew.

Caramond actually turned out to be more suitable for this role as his domain was much more effective at countering debilitating effects.

After all, how could humanity claim to be superior when people were so easily misled by alien trickery?

Humans managed to vanquish over every hostile alien species during the Age of Conquest!

Caramond would never allow the humans under his charge to turn into the playthings of an alien god!

"<nullb>Believe inand believe in yourselves! As long as you remember your duty to protect your fellow humans, your heart shall always steer you true!"

The two True Gods had only cinto power for a short time, but they had grown rapidly during the lightning tribulation.

The tribulation storm truly acted as a celestial forge that pushed the two beings to their limits and beyond.

Ves was glad that Caramond and the current iteration of the Fire Elemental prospered under the circumstances.

Though he wished he could have been more involved in the shaping of Furia, he was incredibly pleased at how well Caramond embodied the concept of human supremacy.

Sure, the design spirit modeled after the SuprMarshal did not possess any strong or flashy powers, but direct combat had never been its purpose.

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Ves designed and breathed life in Caramond so that he could act as a helping hand to the vast majority of humans living in the new frontier.

It had never been his intention to create a tyrannical god that lorded over his subjects. Humans were already capable of saving themselves for the most part. They just needed a bit of help and protection against the more esoteric threats they were not prepared to fight against.

Ves was therefore glad that the tribulation storm sent out a confounding adversary in the form of the mirror beast.

Not only did it ruthlessly take advantage of the many gaps in the Dominion of Man's defenses, the god beast also forced everyone who becvictimized by it to go out of their comfort zone and develop new means to solve their problems.

Everyone involved in the tribulation event had grown so much. The various tests and challenges had refined and hardened everyone's minds and spirits. They becmore aware of their various shortcomings and already intended to address them in order to avoid a repeat of their shameful performance.

The fleeters continued to swell in pride as they vanquished their first proper god beast.

If not for the fact that the mirror beast was ultimately a copy forged out of tribulation lightning, the crew would have gained a lot more satisfaction from this victory.

As Ves looked around the command center, he could feel that the various bridge crew not only regained all of their confidence, but also strengthened it even further.

How could they not? Their previous battles had always been situations where their side enjoyed the advantage. They fought alongside other powerful assets. The native aliens of the Red Ocean never presented a proper challenge against the Dominion of Man since their ancient phase whales continued to hide in the rear.

The Dominion of Man truly needed this exercise. It was better for her and the rest of the Red Fleet to understand what sort of challenges the dreadnought would have to face in the future.

If the native aliens of the Red Ocean did not figure out a way to crack open the defenses of the Red Fleet's dreadnoughts, then the invaders from Messier 87 would surely be able to succeed!

The tribulation storm had already given red humanity a small glimpse of the huge variety of enemies and their diverse approaches towards combat.

No one who witnessed this event intended to maintain the status quo after this event had passed.

The enemies of the future would be able to steamroll their way through the new frontier if the Red Two and the other forces failed to adapt to the evolving battlefield.

"The mirror beast is about to succumb!"

"Hold the Rubicon until our ship is within 15 kilometers from the mirror beast!"

The Dominion of Man had especially tried to close the distance for this. She had previously focused on severing the limbs and impairing the six-armed humanoid alien as best as possible in order to weaken it enough to the point where its domain had lost too much strength.

The injured god beast's direct combat capabilities had never posed too much of a threat, and the fleeters knew better than to open fire with weapon systems that only caused the mirror beast to reflect the firepower back at the ship.

Once the ship had cclose enough, the Rubicon finally teleported a handful of antimatter bombs that promptly exploded just an instant after they appeared around the creature's head and torso!

The fleeters had tried to teleport explosive superweapons directly inside the body of the mirror beast several times, but the domain and physical prowess of a True God were so powerful that it remained an impossibility.

Oh well. It was not as if the exterior of the mirror beast was tough. After losing its limbs and exhausting its domain, the god beast had been reduced to a giant alien punching bag.

"Incoming tribulation explosion!"

A huge wave of destruction and creation energy erupted from the dying beast!

As the crew basked in the success of felling their first 'god', everyone began to grunt or moan as powerful waves of tribulation energies swept through the entire hull and induced transformation that Ves could not even begin to explain!

The dreadnought beca little more resplendent than before. Though the baptism's effect on the hull was a bit understated due to the fact that there was so much structure to cover, Ves already noticed that everything around him beca bit tougher and more harmonious. It was as if the ship had long ceased to be a purely mortal creation.

The bridge crew also beca bit more fortified. Their bodies did not look much different, but their minds and spirits had definitely becnoticeably firmer and more resistant to the mind attacks that tormented them so much.

Ves also experienced a bit of growth. His phasewater concentration rose a little further and his true body grew a bit bigger.

Perhaps his phasewater concentration might be able to reach 4 percent by the tthis entire ordeal was over, but he did not dare to get his hopes up. He had already made enormous strides in his body cultivation, especially given that he never actually cultivated it in a normal fashion. His physique had already reached the limit of how much strain and changes it could bear for the tbeing.

As everyone worked to mitigate the damage inflicted by the mirror beast and prepare for the penultimate challenge to come, Ves turned to the captain to see how the Argile scion was faring.

A twin red and white corona surrounded the man's Dread Armor. Volkert Argile was more deeply connected to the Dominion of Man. He received a considerably greater share of the benefits.

Just like many of the spacers who forged a Bloodfire Pact with the flagship, the dread captain had turned from a mortal into a dedicated contract cultivator in an instant.

While the Dominion of Man could not be regarded as a proper 'artifact' quite yet, she was certainly evolving into one. The closer the vessel assumed the vestiges of such an object, the more the fleeters who tied their spiritualities to the ship benefited from her immense power.

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Naturally, there were differences in treatment. The higher the rank, the greater the care and attention from the living warship.

From what Blinky was able to observe, Volkert Argile's spirituality had already grown many times stronger than before.

The differences were enormous. The dread captain had lived for 281 years. His spirituality had long grown ripe and stagnant. It was much more difficult for people who lived for so long to make rapid gains in cultivation due to how they had becso fixed in their ways.

However, the Bloodfire Pact forcefully overcthis resistance and practically engineered a rebirth of Dread Captain Argile's spirituality!

It was as if the man had becat least 2 centuries younger all of a sudden. He had grown in ways that allowed him to gain a much better overview of the Dominion of Man. His ability to navigate crises and make difficult judgment calls had also improved.

It was rather interesting to Ves. He wondered whether Dread Captain Argile's progress in contract cultivation would serve as the template for the other Bloodfire fleeters.

In any case, Ves was happy that the crew of the Dominion of Man beccultivators in the end. Even if they had bechighly dependent on their own ship to achieve any progress, it was the right fit for loyal servicemen who already engaged in demanding work.

"The next god beast is due to arrive. " Dread Captain Argile spoke in a more empowered and authoritative voice than before. "Your expertise has proven to be valuable enough that the mirror beast attempted to sabotage your efforts. Your input is more important than ever."

The way Argile spoke becincreasingly more characteristic of strong mech pilots and mech designers. This was a reflection of his evolving status.

Even now, his deepening bonds with Caramond and Furia induced transformations that enabled him to becan increasingly better spokesperson for the two True Gods.

"I think our confrontation with the mirror beast has shown why the Red Association put so much emphasis on true mechs." Ves began. "I know you don't want to field any mechs on your ship, but you should work on developing stopgap solutions that can achieve similar results. While the chances are low that the subsequent god beasts are good at messing with people's minds, they don't have to excel in this aspect to sap our confidence. The domains of True Gods are so oppressive that they can practically force people to give up as long as the differences in strength are great enough. I don't think that will happen in the final two waves, but even a partial effect can cause your men to perform less than their best."

"Hmmm. You are justified in your concerns about hostile domains. My officers and I have received an extensive data package on this subject. We are reading through all of the material at this very moment, but awareness does not necessarily translate to preparedness. We are still lacking in specific countermeasures. We can seek protection from Caramond and Furia, but that is not a proper solution."

Ves frowned. "Well, the best solution that I can cup with is that each of you begin to practice a qi cultivation method that is aspected towards the fire attribute. However, cultivation has always been a long-term affair. It is impossible for any of you to make sufficient progress when the next wave is set to begin in a matter of seconds."

It just so happened that the tribulation storm began to flare once more!

A significantly more impactful domain began to spread from the storm clouds!

A much larger and more beastly shape emerged from the giant gap in the clouds!

Ves and many other fleeters began to look a bit astonished at the enormous bulk that had emerged into view. The sheer physicality of the creature was so oppressive that it seemed as if gravity already began to distort around the body!

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