The Mech Touch

6012 Looser Criteria

Since Ves was no longer preoccupied with any immediate priorities, he decided that it was a good tto check out the System.

He had not forgotten that he carried the soul mark of a hostile alien God King. So long as he carried out this mark, he could no longer take his tto develop his strength and build his power base.

He needed to hurry up. He had to speed up his pace. He had to make sure he advanced to the rank of Master Mech Designer within a decade and Star Designer within half a century.

If he took too long, then he would lack the power to defend himself against the Subjugation King when the alien tyrant finally arrived in the Red Ocean!

This was also why Ves seriously thought about inducting Maikel and Zanthar into the Mech Designer System.

Were they the most suitable candidates that he could choose from? No.

They were trustworthy, though. He knew both of them well enough that they would not abuse the power of the System or try to turn against him anytsoon.

Even if their personalities started to change for the worse after they began to enjoy the benefits of the System, Ves would make sure to step in and smack them around to remind them who was in charge.

After Ves entered the System Space, he first received another radiant lottery ticket, which he earned by turning the Dark Zephyr into a masterwork mech.

A grin appeared on his face and he held the precious ticket. "Awesome."

Despite all of the cool prizes that he could obtain from this ticket, he was not in a hurry to make use of it right away. It was better to wait until he developed a strong need for a specific advantage.

Once his excitement faded, he stowed the ticket into the Vault of Eternity where 10 more golden lottery tickets remained unused.

He already had plenty of cool stuff on hand for the tbeing. He needed to work towards converting them into useful assets for his clan before he was ready to think about obtaining more rare goods.

He ascended the System Space and only briefly glanced at the Dimension Observatory.

If he was not able to reunite with Ketis soon, then Ves felt tempted to experiment with the Dimension Observatory himself.

Exposing himself or not, he could not let the advantage brought by the second System upgrade go to waste.

"I need to earn a lot more AP first, though."

Ves continued to ascend the steps before he reached the Sacred Temple.

He checked his Status as well as the states of his Divine Cores as usual.

The Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown did not show any abnormal behavior, and the soul mark had not changed the last the inspected it. Nothing appeared to be amiss, but Ves did not dare to assthis would be the case forever.

Both of these foreign objects were dangerous. They may be dormant for now, but who knew what their creators had put into them. They were way too complicated for him to decipher, and that worried him a lot since they had latched onto him like parasites.

He could just feel that both of them would generate a huge amount of trouble down the line, but he couldn't do anything about it with his current capabilities.

"Oh well."

He left the Sacred Hearth and moved to the Pantheon. While this place was ordinarily the site where he could check his Status, it also presented Ves with the option of inducting other people into the System.

He checked how much it would cost to make this happen.

"10 AP…?"

That was… a very trivial cost to Ves. In fact, it was downright cheap as far as he was concerned!

It used to be a lot more expensive before the first upgrade of the Mech Designer System, but when Ves recalled the exchange rate between Design Points and Ascension Points, it started to make a lot more sense.

"10 AP is still really low, though."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. The low cost was a clear signal.

The Mech Designer System obviously did not like it that Ves continued to monopolize it. The System had already shown many signs that it would prefer to be used by multiple people.

Since the price of inducting people in the System was so damn low compared to his current AP earning ability, then it made a lot more sense to start bringing in Larkinson mech designers that he could trust!

"I shouldn't go wild with this." Ves spoke as he tried to rein in any wild ideas. "A lot of higher ups already deduced that I possess a fragment of the Metal Scroll, but that doesn't mean I should flaunt it by recreating the Metal Shrine."

That would most definitely alarm a lot of old-timers! The First Fland all of those other paranoid old geezers would probably think he was trying to revive the Five Scrolls Compact if he started to induct thousands of mech designers into the System!

His main objective in inviting more people into the System was two-fold.

First, he wanted to deepen the foundation of the Larkinson and raise more qualified helpers that could assist in his work.

Second, he wanted to pull in productive mech designers who could contribute to the development of the Dimension Observatory by covering its demanding AP costs.

It made a lot more sense to invite talented and proven mech designers like Gloriana and Ketis rather than a pair of mediocre Apprentices such as Maikel and Zanthar.

However, talent and ability were not essential criteria when it cto an existence as powerful and subversive as the Mech Designer System.

Just as in the case of Ves, the System possessed the capacity to turn any mediocre mech designer into a once-in-a-century genius!

While a mech designer who was already brilliant would be able to accelerate their progress even further with access to all of the outrageous features of the System, they did not strictly need it in order to succeed.

Ves actually felt torn when he tried to think what sort of people he should be inducting into the System.

"Maybe I don't need to make a choice. I can just invite both kinds of people!"

It only cost 10 AP to induct a mech designer into the System. He still had enough AP in reserve to invite the names that immediately popped up in his mind.

The only reason why he did not do so right away was because he was not quite ready to break his psychological barrier.

Ves spent almost two decades while keeping the System as hidden as possible. He had never breathed a word of it to Gloriana for fear of further leaks.

More than that, he admitted to himself that he had developed a possessive mindset towards the System.

It belonged to him. He had used it for so long that it had turned into his exclusive advantage.

If he started to invite other Larkinson mech designers into the System, would their progress suddenly accelerate as they began to design one innovative mech after another?

What if they overtook Ves?

What if they wrestled control of the System from his grasp?

What if they kicked him out of the System that he had relied upon for so long?

Ves shook his head. "Wait. Why am I afraid of that? I am not supposed to be addicted to the System!"

So what if the people he invited into the System tried to take it away from him one day?

He had put a lot of effort into making sure he never becoverly dependent on its features!

Since that was the case, there was no compelling reason why he should fear these outcomes.

Ves was not arrogant enough to admit that he could have made it this far without the benefit of the System, but now that he had grown to this extent… he didn't mind it if he let go of this crutch.

He had becconfident enough in his own abilities that he could realize his design philosophy and advance to the rank of Star Designer by relying on himself!

At most, he could progress faster and broaden his knowledge base by making use of the Tree of Possibilities and other amenities.

Ves felt a bit more relaxed after he made all of these realizations. Since the Mech Designer System was not as indispensable to his journey as a mech designer as before, he saw no reason to fret about all of the potential problems that might incur.

That said, he did not intend to induct Maikel and Zanther into the System right away. He at least needed to perform his due diligence and test whether the two could handle the power of the System without getting corrupted by its power.

He did not want the two young men to end up like the Polymath, or worse, a Compact cultist one day!

Another consideration was whether he should introduce them to the System while they were still stuck in the Apprentice stage.

On the one hand, Ves believed that they could becmuch more brilliant Journeymen if they succeeded in overcoming their challenges by themselves.

On the other hand, it might take two or three decades before they could finally advance. So much twould have passed that the Red Ocean looked completely unrecognizable by that time!

Waiting for so long also gave the two trueblood Larkinsons much less tto grow and prepare for the arrival of the powerful native aliens of Messier 87.

"If that is the case, then I better address this priority sooner rather than later."

Perhaps he could wait until Ketis was finally able to travel to New Constantinople VIII and meet him in person.

Inducting all three of them at once might help make it easier for everyone.

Ves decided to go with this plan. It left him with enough tto contemplate his decision and expand his initial selection if necessary.

For example, he hadn't quite made up his mind whether he should include Gloriana on the list as well.

He could just tell that she was the sort of mech designer who would be able to navigate the rules of the Mech Designer System a lot better than himself.

"She's also the biggest security risk out of all of the possible candidates."

The System might not strictly be a secret to the higher ups of the Red Association anymore, but giving hints of its existence was different than blabbing about it! Perhaps Jovy Armalon and a bunch of other mechers might show up and 'request' for Ves to share his bounty.

"I don't mind giving this benefit to Jovy, but not every mecher is trustworthy…"

Ves almost cursed the absurdly low AP cost of inviting another mech designer into the System.

The threshold was so low that there was no need for him to show much restraint in extending invitations to other mech designers.

"I need to put my mind on other matters."

He left the Sacred Temple and descended down the steps until he reached the Mission Hall.

Now that he was no longer caught up in a crisis or immediate priority, he might as well accept a bunch of Missions that he could work on over the next couple of weeks and months.

"Even if I invite a bunch of other mech designers, I still need to earn more AP for myself."

He felt the urge to expand his knowledge base by swallowing another enlightenment fruit.

If he wanted to obtain the good ones, then he needed to invest a lot more tand effort to complete enough Missions!

"Let's see what is available…"