The Mech Touch

6046 Future Compensation

Numerous councilors looked pleased.

The Evolution Witch's declaration essentially ended the debate on whether red humanity should allow for more predatory means of cultivation.

Limiting this privilege to the New Elites was a clever touch. It would not only increase the attraction of participating in the Red War as a frontline combatant, but also increase the probability that the victims of the so-called demonic cultivators remained confined to the many aliens that lived beyond alien space.

If people wanted to overcthe limitations of their talent and gain power quickly, then the solution becsimple.

Just join one of the many troops engaged in fighting against the native aliens and earn enough war merits to redeem the opportunity to practice such methods!

The Evolution Witch grinned as she allowed her verdict to sink into everyone's minds.

Although the will of the chief councilor did not necessarily override the will of the majority of the Interim Leadership Council, no one dared to oppose her on this issue.

God pilots held a special status in human civilization. Their unimaginable martial might not only attracted a huge amount of awe and worship, but also surrounded them with a strong air of oppression.

Even if they did not deliberately set out to intimidate the people around them, they couldn't help it. Their life levels were way too high, and the willpower that they had forged through countless difficult battles had sharpened their mentalities in the sharpest of blades.

In addition, the absence of other god pilots in the Interim Leadership Council pretty much made the Evolution Witch their spokesperson.

Even though the 8 god pilots all belonged to different factions, they were not as divided as most people thought.

Under certain circumstances, they were readily able to set aside their differences and unite to protect their own rights and interests.

God pilots were the quintessential warlords of the human race.

Now that red humanity was cut off from original humanity, the 8 god pilots were no longer constrained by the old and very powerful legacy institutions rooted in the Milky Way Galaxy.

This meant that if they wanted to, all 8 god pilots could instantly overthrow every other authority and establish a new one where their will reigned supreme!

None of the other human leaders wanted this to happen. They would rather bend and stretch in the hopes that the god pilots stuck to their roles as protectors as opposed to rulers.

The current situation gave off the impression that the Evolution Witch spoke with the voice of every god pilot, not just her own. Since that was the case, it was better to let her have her way than risk a rebuke from the powerful Divines.

What a wonderful display of authority. Ves quietly envied the Evolution Witch's courage in setting the tone and ability to get away with it. This was the benefit of possessing a huge amount of hard power.

"<nullb>We are at war." The Evolution Witch repeated to everyone even though it was not strictly necessary. "<nullb>For as long as red humanity is under an existential threat, we must prioritize the strengthening and the development of essential soldiers. Under no circumstances should we neglect the necessity of supplying important resources and other benefits to the soldiers who possess the courage and spirit to risk their lives to defend our civilization. Our highest priorities should always be to find better ways to arm our New Elites with stronger weapons. Only by it being clear that red humanity as a whole is unambiguously providing them with the support they need to fight our battles will we be able to defend our right to exist in this wartorn galaxy."

Every councilor took those words to heart. The Evolution Witch gave everyone an important reminder. At the stime, she also gave them an acceptable guideline to base their decisions around.

"<nullb>We cannot blindly inherit the old ways of cultivation. We also cannot blindly inherit the prejudices of the past. We live in a different age now. Our society, our technology and our culture has evolved. If we want to becstronger, then we must evolve rather than regress. In a galaxy where the survival of the fittest has becmore relevant than ever, we must prove ourselves to be fitter than the native aliens by embracing any valid means of becoming stronger. According to multiple studies, more predatory forms of cultivation can yield more results in the short term. They have less demand for talent or qualifications. Only the stronger, more decisive and more courageous people can attain the greatest results. This is what we urgently need to hold onto our defensive bands and protect our heartland territories."

The upcoming enemy offensive clearly concerned a lot of leaders. The aliens might not be too ingenious compared to humans, but they had numbers on their side. The quantity of enemies that were about to attack the border zones was bound to be massive!

In the face of all of these coming difficulties, the problems related to demonic cultivation no longer sounded as important as before.

As the Evolution Witch continued to lecture the council, Ves wondered how much of her opinions originally reflected her own will.

He did not forget that his mother and the Evolution Witch had formed an active cooperation agreement for a while now. The two had definitely held a lot of discussions.

Given Cynthia's infamous background, she had definitely taught a lot about the benefits of predatory cultivation approaches to the powerful leader of the Transhumanist Faction.

Perhaps the god pilot already decided the policy decisions for the current session in advance. She merely allowed the various councilors to voice their opinions to give them the illusion of participation.

At most, the Evolution Witch was open to suggestions.

"<nullb>We possess enough records about so-called demonic cultivation to formulate modernized methods tailored to our present needs and circumstances. Our experts on these subjects should ctogether and form a common set of solutions to ensure that they maximize their benefits while decreasing the impact on the psyche of our New Elites to the greatest possible extent. There are many depraved and superstitious elements in these ancient manuals, so they should never be practiced in their original states. The Red Collective must strongly prohibit any instance of practicing these unsafe methods regardless of whether the cultivators are New Elites or not. Only by imposing tough measures will we be able to limit the possible excesses."

The councilors who advocated for greater restraint and prohibitions looked a little less upset now. The Evolution Witch did not reassure them entirely, but by taking a tough stance on misuse of demonic cultivation methods, she at least placated a few of their concerns.

A third-class councilor still felt that this was not enough.

"Your Holiness, it is impossible to keep demonic cultivation methods out of the hands of those who do not respect the sanctity of life. Information cannot be completely controlled. People will always find a way to leak or spread it out. No matter whether people pass what they have learned over the galacticor through circulating secure data chips, once we have unleashed the beast, we cannot contain it anymore."

That was not entirely true. One of the ways to effectively control information across red humanity was to transform the Red Collective into a powerful centralized authority.

However, the first session already ruled out this development path. The sect policy meant that the Red Collective would take a backseat and allow the so-called sects take the lead in managing individual cultivators.

The third-raters and second-raters feared that they would be unable to adequately cope against this threat. Their ability to defend against the negative consequences of these policies were not strong!

In other words, the weakest states would probably bear much of the price of letting red humanity engage in demonic cultivation!

The Evolution Witch narrowed her eyes, but she did not refute the legitimate concerns of the third-raters.

That did not mean she was willing to take a step back.

"<nullb>Public security is an important means of guaranteeing the prosperity of our society, but winning the Red War should be our greatest concern. We are all cognizant that many of our less well-defended states and regions will experience greater pressure than before, but you are not without the means to defend against criminal cultivators. Population has always been an advantage of your states. Leverage your strength and focus on training as many upright and loyal cultivators as possible. Our civilization will cto rely on the power of your cultivation armies in time."

In other words, the threat of criminal cultivators was not necessarily a bad condition. It would make many third-raters more eager to attain greater power due to lacking enough security in their lives.

The implicit message behind the Evolution Witch's counterargument was that too much peace and stability was not beneficial to the current state of red humanity.

People needed to get subjected to real pressure in order to put them into a wartmindset.

"What if… that is not enough, Your Holiness?" The third-class councilor persisted even if he had to fight back against the god pilot's oppressive aura. "A single first-rater with ill intentions can completely overrun an isolated colony plby relying on superior tech and equipment. With the backing of a first-class multipurpose mech, none of the defense forces of our weaker settlements can last more than a few seconds."

"<nullb>Third-rate and second-rate states will not remain as defenseless as before against hostile human cultivators or native alien raiders." The Evolution Witch promised to the relevant cultivators. "<nullb>It is true that your states does not enjoy the wealth to strengthen the defenses of all of your colonies. However, this age has opened up many new possibilities for your citizens to attain power through more diverse means. We are not yet ready to announce the plans that we have tailored to your specific conditions, but I can promise you that you will enjoy rights that first-raters do not not necessarily possess."

That sounded rather hopeful, but the Evolution Witch frustratingly declined to share any specifics.

That said, the third-class and second-class councilors looked mollified. The credibility of a god pilot was ironclad. If the Evolution Witch claimed that the upcoming plans would make the lesser states satisfied, then it was undoubtedly true!

Ves jerked in his seat. He had an inkling that his future Carmine mechs may be a part of this package.

It was because of his expected future contributions that he understood the underlying strategy.

The life of third-raters was too cheap. Most of them were baseline humans and required no expensive resources or manpower to raise. They were excellent test subjects that the Red Two could use to study the impact of radical new advancements such as the Carmine System on human society.

Although this approach was devoid of respect, the third- raters still benefited from these arrangements. They were weak and vulnerable to begin with, so they were more than willing to embrace anything that could help them becstronger!

The promise of future forms of compensation successfully neutralized the objections of the lesser states.

A broad consensus had formed around the practice of demonic cultivation. Despite the use of a loaded word, the desire to attain greater power in a hurry was too tempting for the councilors to resist.

In the end, the Interim Leadership Council settled on a policy that signaled everyone's willingness to sacrifice a part of their humanity in order to attain greater power!

Even if the interior of human space beca lot more messed up as a consequence, the councilors were willing to tolerate a lot of instability so long as red humanity managed to stay alive in the end!