The Mech Touch

6013 Ease of Completion

When Ves entered the Mission Hall, he inspected the available Missions with the intention to harvest as much AP as possible in the coming year.

Although many of the Missions imposed troublesor time-

consuming demands, he believed he was in a much better position to complete them than before. He could not keep ignoring them just because he did not like to add more inconveniences to his life.

Ves still did not understand why the System encouraged him to engage in so many strange and diverse activities. What was the point? Did it seek to broaden his horizons, or was it trying to mold him into a completely different person?

"Who cares. AP is AP. As long as I stick to my principles, it shouldn't matter what the System asksto do. What matters is where I spend my AP on. That has a much greater influence on my future direction."

He couldn't afford to be picky when deciding when to accept Missions anymore. His demand for Ascension Points had skyrocketed. Not only did he wish to accelerate his knowledge accumulation with enlightenment fruits, he also wanted to stockpile a bunch of Qi Restoration Potions in case he confronted a strong opponent again.

On top of that, he also needed to get started on upgrading the Dimension Observatory. He could not rely completely on the contributions of the mech designers that he intended to induct in the System in the future.

With these considerations in mind, Ves forced himself to survey the dozens of available Missions and push himself into accepting them so long as their demands did not sound too unreasonable.

[Alien Relic Hunt]

Mission: Alien Relic Hunt

Difficulty: C-Rank

Description

The Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy is occupied by many alien races. Many of their relics and constructs hold considerable cultural and scientific value to the human race.

Retrieve 15 different items of alien origin from where they have been left by their former alien owners. These alien relics must be of significant value to humanity in order to qualify.

You will earn a higher valuation if you have obtained more items or sought out relics of greater value.

Reward: 40 Ascension Points

Tlimit: 2 years.

Penalty for failure: Lower your Intelligence by 0.1.

"I've seen this one before." Ves remarked as he rubbed his hairless chin. "It's actually really easy to complete this Mission. Nowhere in the description states that I need to retrieve the artifacts in person. The forces that do all of the hard work don't even have to be a part of the expeditionary fleet."

What did this mean?

It meant that he could readily complete this Mission by purchasing the necessary alien artifacts!

In the last grand auction, Ves witnessed plenty of alien relics with notable origins and stories. This indicated that there was a thriving market for these exotic curiosities!

Was Ves short of money? No. His clan may have gone into debt as of late, but its cash flow had becso much stronger that he could borrow a lot more money if he wished.

"There are no quality criteria, so I don't have to buy the most expensive alien relics. I just have to make sure that they are genuine and good enough to meet the minimum threshold."

How much money would it cost to obtain 15 serviceable alien relics? 100,000 MTA credits? 1 million MTA credits?

"This is a worthwhile trade even if I have to pay 10 million MTA credits!"

There was no market price for 40 AP, so Ves could not say for certain whether it was a good deal to exchange so much money for Ascension Points.

However, the benefits provided by enlightenment fruits worth around 40 AP was definitely greater than a few million MTA credits as far as he was concerned!

It was still worthwhile for him to make this exchange!

"In effect, this Mission has effectively turned into a roundabout money-to-AP conversion!"

Ves no longer hesitated anymore and accepted it straight away. Even if his various assumptions turned out to be wrong, he still had two whole years to fulfill the requirements of the Mission, which gave him plenty of tto experiment and figure out the System's boundaries.

After that, he sought for other acceptable Missions.

[Mech Beauty Contest]

Mission: Mech Beauty Contest

Description

Mechs are primarily designed for battle, but that does not preclude them from becoming works of art. Design and submit a unique second-class mech to a legitimate contest that ranks mechs on their aesthetic qualities. The mech must be fully functional while simultaneously earning the appreciation of the audience for its beauty and charm.

The rewards for completing this Mission is dependent on the scope of the contest and the rank your mech has obtained. This Mission does not recognize any outcomes produced by factors outside of the rules of a fairly organized competition.

Reward: Up to 25 Ascension Points

TLimit: 1 Year

Penalty for failure: Lower your Endurance by 1

"This… should be doable." Ves judged after contemplating the requirements for a minute.

The Age of Mechs may have passed, but mechs and everything related to them were still as popular as always.

Despite the ongoing intensification of the Red War, there were still lots of people who cared more about the aesthetics of mechs as opposed to their pure combat power.

Although Ves never put the beauty of his products at the top of his list of priorities, he still tried to present his products in an attractive fashion whenever possible.

Mech design was both an art and a science. Unlike many other mech designers, Ves did not neglect the importance of art, and always tried to apply his unique style to all of his living mechs.

The question now was whether his artistry looked good enough to rank at the top of contests focused on the beauty of mechs.

As confident as he was in his ability to produce pretty art, there were mech designers who specialized in this field for many years. These were the sort of mech designers who fulfilled the demands of the rich and powerful who wanted to look good in the media or wished to customize their personal mechs with unique themes that strengthened their brands.

Although the mech industry never really gave these aesthetic mech designers a lot of respect, their skills should not be underestimated!

"However… I bet that none of them have submitted masterwork mechs to these contests." Ves smirked.

Of course, part of that was because the mechers always swooped in to confiscate the freshly made masterworks while awarding the creator with a cheap masterwork certificate and a sum of MTA merits.

As a tier 3 galactic citizen, Ves believed that the Red Association shouldn't take away his masterwork mechs without bothering to inquire whether he wanted to submit his work in the first place anymore.

"At least I can request the mechers to wait until I have won the contest before they claim my masterwork mech!"

Ves was not entirely confident whether his art could win a high ranking in any serious contest, but as long as he presented his work in the form of a masterwork mech, that would definitely sway the judges!

Of course, the premise to completing this Mission in the most effective way was to guarantee that his contest submission turned into a masterwork mech.

He could not take this job too lightly if that was the case. A lack of sincerity in the mech design project would not allow him to do his best when he finally fabricated his mech.

All of that meant that he needed to spend a serious amount of tto design his mech. Was it worth it for him to invest so much tjust to win a single contest and win 25 AP at most?

"Wait a second." His eyes grew sharper as he fixated on a specific phrase. "A 'unique second-class mech' doesn't have to be derived from a completely original mech design. I can just take one of my existing mech designs such as the Fey Fianna and customize it so that it looks like a true work of art!"

If he could get away with this, then he could skip hundreds of tedious work hours. All of the tspent on fulfilling this Mission could be spent on beautifying his chosen mech design, which was a much more effective use of his limited productivity!

Of course, he still needed to invest a substantial amount of effort and passion into designing his variant in order to increase his chances of fabricating a masterwork mech.

"Let's try it. Even if I fail, I should still be able to rank in the top 10 by relying on my own merits."

Ves continued to look for other suitable Missions to accept. He soon stumbled onto one that was related to a priority that he never had tto address in the past.

[Developing the Locos organ]

Mission: Developing the Locos organ

Difficulty: B-Rank

Description

Similar to phase whales, the strength of phase lords is not entirely dependent on the quantity of phasewater circulating in their bodies. It is also dependent on how phase lords are able to utilize the power of phasewater to channel abilities that can produce useful effects. Phasewater organs are the primary tools responsible for granting phase lords an efficient and reliable means of activating abilities. A competent phase lord should never neglect the development of his phasewater organs.

Develop the Locos organ that is primarily responsible for enhancing sensitivity towards spatial and gravitic phenomena by any means possible. Increase its efficacy by at least 10 times, or modify it so that it gains a range of new capabilities that is useful in combat or in mech design.

Reward: 150 Ascension Points

TLimit: 3 Years

Penalty for failure: Lower your Strength by 5

"Damn. 150 AP is not a trivial sum."

That was enough to induct 15 mech designers into the System!

Although Ves never really valued his transformation into a phase lord, he had to admit that it was starting to grow on him over time.

This was especially the case now that he had leeched off several lightning tribulations. His true body had becvery powerful, and the various spatial abilities he gained from his phasewater organs had proven to be very useful.

Whether it was using his Locos organ to gain a better intuitive feel of transphasic mech parts, or using the Kelsis organs to project strong spatial barriers that could block just as many attacks as transphasic energy shields, Ves had gradually cto like the options provided by his phasewater organs.

The fact that they were internal and couldn't be taken away from him so easily was a definite advantage!

"My phasewater concentration has grown by a lot, but my phasewater organs are still in their starter configuration. That is really bad. I need to bring them back on the slevel if I want to maximize my combat potential."

If he was a character of a virtual reality game, then Ves was the equivalent of a level 10 character that still equipped himself with level 1 gear!

His true body had grown large enough to support more powerful phasewater organs. It would be a monumental waste if he did not take advantage of his improved conditions!

"The only question now is who I should turn to in order to develop my Locos organ." Ves frowned.

If he had a choice, he wanted to entrust the Larkinson Biotech Institute to conduct research on how to upgrade his Locos organ. That would keep all of the R&D in-house and in the hands of trustworthy Larkinson biotech researchers.

However, Ves was not sure whether the LBI was up to the challenge. None of the scientists over there possessed any particular expertise in phase lords and phasewater organ development.

The Transhumanist Faction of the Red Association possessed a lot more expertise in this area!

Enough thad passed for the mechers to achieve at least initial success in raising their own phase lord. They had plenty of excellent first-class biotech researchers in their employ that had probably dissected plenty of alien phase lords and figured out how to upgrade phasewater organs.

If Ves turned to the Transhumanists for help, he would definitely obtain better results!

However, the Transhumanists would also know all of the strengths and weaknesses of his phase lord physique. They might even install a few hidden backdoors into his upgraded Locos organ!

"Damn… which one should I choose?"