The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5769 Room for Improvement

Ves felt confident that his speech had successfully countered his opponent's previous argument.

This was because he cleverly exploited a flaw in his target audience's psychology.

Did mech pilots wanted to wrap themselves in the strongest layer of armor, energy shielding and more exotic forms of protection?

No!

At least that was not their ultimate ambition.

What mech pilots truly wanted was to exceed their mortal limitations, undergo apotheosis and dominate the battlefield as expert pilots or greater!

If Ves asked any ordinary mech pilot if they wanted to break through, they would say yes more than 99 percent of the time!

No serious self-respecting mech pilot would ever refuse the opportunity of a lifetime!

Though only a fraction of all of the mech pilots in existence had managed to overcome this hurdle in the end, that did not stop the remainder from keeping this dream alive.

It was because of this common aspiration that a lot of mech pilots who were tuning into the broadcast deeply wanted Ves to be correct about his theories!

His arguments wouldn't have received strong support if he presented it in front of proper scientists, engineers and mech designers. They all understood the scientific process pretty well, and they could recognize when one of their own was being sloppy.

Mech pilots were different. They were not as critical or skeptical as scientists. They were trained to pretty much believe in whatever mech designers told them within reason. They did not necessarily understand the rigor required for claims to hold up to scientific scrutiny. This was why Ves was confident that his latest argument successfully stimulated the desires of his true target audience!

"In short, the convergence model that I have made available to my customers by releasing living mechs offers a more promising alternative to the mech community." Ves began to close his argument. "It may be correct that my living mechs are fundamentally unable to become true mechs due to conflicting mechanics. However, we shouldn't rely too much on machines that inhibit the growth of mech pilots anyway."

He clasped his hands as he faced the majority of his audience and made his final point.

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. This ancient proverb has remained relevant throughout human history because it can be applied in so many different situations. This is no exception. You just need to swap out a few words. True strength does not come from the equipment that we use as a crutch. It comes from the partners that actively help us grow strong enough to defend against powerful threats by ourselves. I used to think that the mechers agree that the latter is more preferable, but Master Cantor's insistence on the divergence model suggests to me that this is not entirely the case anymore. I thought that the Red Association is all about promoting the evolution of humans, not inhibiting it by sticking to a suboptimal solution."

At this time, Ves had thoroughly won back all of the people who previously lost their faith in living mechs!

Even if the criticism towards him was justified, people could not help but hope that he was right.

Between Ves and Master Cantor, a lot of people were more naturally willing to believe the former over the latter for a variety of reasons!

Ves started out from the bottom while Master Cantor was as elite as a mecher could get. At least the scrappy young Senior used to be an average citizen like the rest of the masses. He understood their plight far better than all of the poncy first-

raters who liked to look down on the space peasants from their ivory towers.

What also played a helpful role was that Ves had built up a reputation among mech pilots. He was not an ordinary mech designer. He was also a pioneer and a trailblazer who willingly accompanied his soldiers into battlefields and subjected himself to many of the same risks as his own troops!

A hero who was known to lead his own mech army from the front as a manner of speaking would naturally earn more sympathy than a mecher who had likely stayed deep inside the most stable and well-defended star systems.

Age also played a crucial factor in this popularity contest. Master Cantor may be old enough to project a lot of wisdom, but her cold demeanor, her lack of empathy and her complete lack of brand awareness from the general public all painted her as an arrogant mecher who had grown severely out of touch with the current reality that mech pilots had to face!

The result was that a lot of mech pilots were much more willing to trust that Ves knew what was right for them as opposed to an old mecher who looked as if she had never shown any care towards the plight of the masses in her entire life!

Ves personally thought that the Fifth Enforcement Fleet had made a better choice than the opposition among the Mech Supremacist Faction.

The fleeters presented a young and attractive woman as their speaker. What she lacked in experience and wisdom, she more than made up for her shortcomings in energy and passion!

Humans were inherently emotional individuals. They were never purely driven by their rationality. All of the aforementioned factors that were not actually related to the validity of arguments could actually play a massive role in swaying the opinions of the crowd!

Ves did not need to access any polls or other data to know that he had won the support of the majority of the public again.

He could feel his fortunes had changed.

"Wake up, people!" Ves shouted at his captured audience! "We have left the Age of Mechs behind! The Age of Dawn is more than a simple calendar switch. It denotes a new era of red humanity where our entire society undergoes many changes due to the persistent influence of E energy radiation! Instead of trying to cling to methods and approaches that were developed in the previous age, we should embrace any change that can grant us access to greater advantages than before! Our circumstances have changed, and so should we! My products are not bound by so many vestiges of the past. I dared to question the established conventions, and I had no qualms about ripping apart any rules that no longer make any sense in the new age!"

"Do you want to know one of the truths behind my work? An important reason why my living mechs must gain a semblance of autonomy and control over themselves is because they can cultivate by themselves! No other mechs can match this capability! The products that lack my adaptations will only passively be able to grow stronger by getting irradiated by E energy. Compared to passive cultivation, active cultivation is much more effective because it is a targeted and deliberate action! In summary, living mechs grow faster, which means that their mech pilots shall also grow faster! This is the essence of Mutual Growth!"

The moderator finally cut Ves off at this point before he could make any further unsubstantiated claims.

"That is more than enough, Professor Larkinson. We can explore more specific topics in tomorrow's session. For now, I shall give the final word to the opposition. Keep your rebuttal brief, and try not to introduce too much new information."

Although Master Cantor had schooled her expression so that she did not expose any of her true feelings, her approach only made her less sympathetic and more stuck-up in front of her audience.

Ves would have thought that the mechers should have been smart enough to realize they needed to put a lot more effort into winning over the crowd, but they apparently had different thoughts in mind.

"I shall repeat this once more." She said. "The divergence model is a tried-and-tested approach towards mechs that has withstood the test of time. It offers certain, proven results that can be relied upon no matter the age. It enables mech pilots to grow and develop their strength not by relying on handouts from their mechs, but by forcing them into combat scenarios where they can only rely on themselves to break past their predicaments. Strong-willed expert pilots are all products of extreme self-reliance. They emerge and develop as long as they can only win their battles by severing their dependency on external help."

Master Cantor activated a projection that depicted an early version of the Mars during the moment when Patriarch Reginald Cross broke through.

"One of the high-profile clients of your works can attest to my substantiated claims. When handed over to a living high-

tier expert mech, Patriarch Reginald opted to terminate the living properties of your work and successfully advanced to the rank of ace pilot by relying on himself. He is a true product of explosively strong willpower. His confidence in his own power is justified because he has earned most of his gains through his own hard work and effort. This is how mech pilots ought to prove they are worthy to wield greater power. Your living mechs may make it easier for mech pilots to break through in the short term, but the increasing dependency your work breeds will ultimately ruin their long-term ability to advance to ace pilot or god pilot!"

Ves coughed at that. "Who is the one that is flinging unsubstantiated claims, here? You have no data that supports or invalidates your latest argument!"

BANG!

The entire underwater environment transmitted a long collision noise.

It turned out that Planetary Governor Mergan-Castelaus had pulled out a hammer and banged it on the armrest of his pearl throne!

The noise was so sharp and loud that it immediately forced everyone into silence.

"That is enough debate for this session. The public has heard enough for the time being. We can resume the public inquiry tomorrow when many more people have spent enough hours contemplating the information that you have shared with them. One of the principal goals of this public inquiry is to enlighten the population of red humanity of the facts and allow them to form their own judgment on living mechs. Let us keep this in mind. This session has come to an end!"

Though the moderator ended this session a bit sooner than Ves preferred, he understood the necessity of this move. The revelations and other explanations dumped so much new information on people's laps that they could hardly absorb any further input on this day!

The audience would become a lot more receptive towards any follow-up arguments after they processed what they had recently learned.

"That is the Devil Tongue I know." Jovy praised as the man in question had moved out of the speaking pit. "You did a good job, Ves. Your logic and arguments are not entirely flawless, but you resolved the immediate crisis of confidence in your living mechs. If you can maintain this pattern for two more days, then the justification to impose any significant restrictions on your living mechs will drop. Third order living mechs may actually become so popular among your target audience that they will collectively rise up in protest if any large state or organization dares to restrict their availability."

Ves smiled back. "I think it is safe to say that Master Cantor won't pose a threat to me anymore. Unless she messes up the board by introducing other explosive pieces of information, her line of argumentation simply will not be able to overpower my own. If the opposition wants to regain the upper hand, then a different speaker must take the word."

"Hmm. You are correct. There are still other valid reasons to doubt the wisdom of employing living mechs. Master Alice Cantor did not address them because they are not her primary focus. You can expect the representatives of the other groups will make up that. Be ready to answer doubts concerning the possibility of rebellion from your living mechs tomorrow."