The Mech Touch

6037 Investing Big

Ves was very pleased with the plan for the Amaranto Mark III.

His wife's vision for the expert rifleman mech not only made the living mech's offensive power a lot more pronounced, but also turned the Instrument of Vengeance relevant again.

If he was able to improve the luminar crystal rifle in the way he wished, then it would transform the Amaranto Mark III into a terror to all of the enemies of the Larkinson Clan!

Most battles that took place in deep space tended to be fought across tens, hundreds and occasionally thousands of kilometers.

Depending on the relative velocities of the warships and the accuracy of their laser cannon batteries, it was possible to land shots at targets that were inconceivably far away.

However, almost no one was able to retaliate against an enemy that far exceeded the distance between Old Earth and Luna!

Most energy beams dispersed and scattered across such extrranges, and the muzzle velocities of most kinetic projectiles were too low to have any chance of striking moving targets.

However, Gloriana was correct to state that high-ranking mech pilots were able to do the impossible.

It should be within the realm of possibility for Venerable Davia Stark to empower any energy beam to the point where it was able to maintain perfect cohesion across multiple light-

seconds.

True resonance could also fix the inherent causes that might cause the output of the Instrument of Vengeance to deviate from perfect alignment to a very distant target.

Even if the actual results were not as good as Ves hoped, it was already good if the Amaranto Mark III was able to snipe targets that were 'merely' a light-second away.

Only the most advanced warships armed with laser cannons tuned for precision were able to overcthe 1 second light lag and occasionally land a shot against moving vessels!

Ves deeply believed that once the Amaranto Mark III joined his first-class fleet, a lot of potential threats that the Larkinsons might encounter during a deep strike expedition could easily be eliminated in advance!

Unfortunately, not all serious threats could be taken off the board in this manner.

When the thad cto wage an open battle against a formidable opponent, the distances between both sides would beca lot more compressed, even in space.

Otherwise, how could melee mechs still be relevant in the Age of Dawn?

When lots of warships and a powerful phase lord relied on their tough and multi-layered energy defenses to advance towards the Larkinson Fleet, trying to attain extrscores in accuracy and precision no longer mattered anymore.

The Amaranto Mark III could easily attain a 100 percent hit rate against these enemy types in most situations.

This was why the Amaranto needed the Instrument of Doom. In a situation where absolute firepower beca greater priority than extrprecision, the luminar crystal cannon beca much more ideal weapon for the living mech.

The problem was that neither Ves nor Gloriana were satisfied with the planned improvements to the Instrument of Doom.

The blessed weapon was most certainly a lot more up to date, but that was not a good excuse to perform a perfunctory upgrade to its tech and material composition.

The Amaranto Mark III Project was a rare instance where the Design Department completely reworked a powerful expert mech so that it becready to face the challenges of the future.

If Ves and Gloriana failed to develop improvements that were significant and impactful enough, then the Amaranto Mark III would eventually beclimited by the Instrument of Doom's lower growth ceiling!

This was not what the Larkinsons wanted to see. It would take months of development tfor Ves and the Larkinsons to revisit the design of the Instrument of Doom as a separate project.

Instead of waiting for that to happen, Ves felt it was a lot better to qualitatively improve the Instrument of Doom alongside the other elements of the Amaranto Mark III Project.

Ten minutes passed by as Ves and Gloriana tried to cup with good ideas on how to improve the high-end luminar crystal cannon.

Sadly, the two did not have an endless reservoir of tech to draw upon. They already brought out the best design applications that they could implement onto the weapon design.

Gloriana furrowed her brows. "If we want to raise the performance of the Instrument of Doom further than the limit of what we can already accomplish, then I see no other way than to resort to two different solutions. We should either try to incorporate compatible high technology, or we should try to augment the power by resorting to powerful hypers or exotics that far exceed the performance of more common first-class materials. It is best if we can combine both."

"That… is going to be really expensive." Ves frowned. "Aside from that, I am not sure we possess the capabilities to handle such advanced tech and materials. It is likely that we need to borrow the help of outside consultants, which means that we must divulge the design specifications of one of the Amaranto Mark III's main weapons."

"It is for a good cause, Ves. I can understand why you are reluctant to expose the inner workings of the Amaranto Mark III, but you do not have to share the complete design to an outside party. It will be fine as long as you limit it to the Instrument of Doom itself. Do you truly think our most powerful ranged weapon can be countered if you understand its technological principles? Pure firepower cannot be resisted with ease!"

His wife made another good point. Though Ves did not really want to divulge even a part of the design of his Ultimate Modules, it was not as if anyone could copy or neutralize it just by studying their physical design specifications.

The matter ultimately cdown to whether Ves was willing to trade greater firepower for much greater cost and information sharing.

As Ves observed the draft design of the improved Instrument of Doom and envisioned how much easier the Amaranto Mark III would be able to demolish the proud energy defenses of the aliens, he felt it was sacrilege to his own design philosophy and his duty as a mech designer to deny the weapon a chance to shine!

"I think… it may be tforto bring out one of the truly good stuff from one of my vaults."

That certainly caught his wife's attention.

"Are you serious about that, Ves? You have been hoarding an increasing amount of treasures over time, but rarely took them out in order to augment your works. I thought you insisted on saving them until there is a true need for their power. This… is not one of those times. The Amaranto's firepower is already slated to receive a massive boost after we have completed her upgrade. Any further increase in power is welcome, but not entirely indispensable."

"That is where you are wrong, honey." Ves shook his head. "Even though there is no acute crisis hanging over our heads, we are bound to encounter enemies that we cannot overcdue to a deficiency in firepower. The Amaranto may be our only hope of breaching the defenses of an indomitable phase whale. I would rather invest heavily in extra insurance that might save us one day than to act like a cheapskate and regret my decision when Larkinsons are dying around me. Besides, those precious resources aren't doing anything useful when they are collecting dust in my vaults. It is only by converting them into finished goods that we can make use of their actual value."

As far as Ves was concerned, as long as he made his mechs powerful enough, all of the resources spent in improving them could easily be earned back through winning battles against stronger and more formidable opponents.

Ves mentally glanced at the list of strategic goods that he had tossed into his vaults over the years.

He had truly managed to amass a sizable collection of high-

value goodies. The thought of using one of them to amplify the power of the Instrument of Doom made him feel like a kid in a candy store!

"Let's see…"

He cacross numerous goods that he had harvested years ago but never really paid attention to. For example, he still preserved the spiritualities of Venerable Relia Foster and Venerable Ghanso Larkinson!

Ves knew he could make a couple of exciting products with these fantastic ingredients, but he had yet to cup with a compelling idea where he could justify their inclusion.

He also retained a large spiritual fragment of Emma, which sounded like a good fit for the Instrument of Doom.

However, he felt it was not suitable to use the companion spirit of a god pilot to augment the weapon of another high-

ranking pilot.

The Amaranto Mark III was already shaping up to beca high-tier expert mech that only reached her full potential if she borrowed the powers from the Illustrious One, the Phase King and Ylvaine.

There had to be a limit to how extensively Venerable Stark relied on external factors to beca more productive combat asset.

When Ves thought about the more recent materials he obtained, he winced when he thought what he had done with the ATC-A alloy bar that he bought in the grand auction.

The high-quality artificial alloy developed by the Resonance Smith was expressly designed to enhance the shield-breaking capabilities of mechs!

Yet what had Ves done with it after he bid 10 kilograms of phasewater for the most expensive variant of ATC series alloys? He fed it all to Lucky!

What a waste!

It would not be easy for him to knock on the Resonance Smith's door and exchange for another batch of ATC-A. The Star Designer was a notorious figure in the mech community due to serving as a key pillar of the Unbound Humanity Faction.

From a political perspective, Ves stood on the opposite spectrum of the Resonance Smith as he had created the proposal to found the Red Collective, which added even greater rules and obligations on human society!

Fortunately, ATC-A was not the only extraordinary material that Ves managed to acquire during his last business trip.

There was one other material that made a profound impression.

His eyes firmed up when he decided that it was tfor him to bring out the big guns.

He meant that unironically.

"I have an idea." Ves slowly said as he made a difficult but necessary decision. "I have a material in my possession that is far more powerful and precious than everything else my vaults put together. Not only that, but I believe that its properties complement the Instrument of Doom well enough to justify its use for this project."

"What material are you talking about, Ves?"

"During my 'work visit' to one of the illustrious warships of the Red Fleet, I managed to receive a very special artificial exotic alloy that is only known as EE-343F-00334R."

His wife looked surprised. "What?"

"I am not allowed to divulge any confidential information, so please forgiveif I cannot explain anything further. I think the fleeters don't mind if I tell you a few innocent details. Lettell you this. EE-343F-00334R is a key material to one of the functions that makes the Dominion of Man special. It is also an exceedingly rare and precious super-class material that completely overwhelms the category of first-class materials."

His wife might not completely understand what EE-343F-00334R could do, but she already becastonished after she thought about the hints dropped by her husband!

"These super-class materials sound as if only dreadnoughts and god mechs deserve to make use of them. Do you even know how to make use of it in a safe and effective manner? If you do not, then there is a good possibility that the Instrument of Doom might explode if you rashly try to incorporate EE-343F-00334R!"

"I am aware of the risks." Ves responded. "I have no intentions of experimenting with EE-343F-00334R by myself. There is only one way for us to develop the Instrument of Doom of our dreams. We need to work together with the researchers and developers of the Red Fleet!"

"What?! Are you crazy, Ves?! Why would you ever think about collaborating with the fleeters on a mech design project? This is absurd!"

"Do you think I have another choice? The mechers shouldn't know much about EE-343F-00334R. Only the fleeters understand their experimental materials the best. I am sure I can make a deal with the Second Main Fleet. Letcontact their liaison first in order to determine whether this is possible."