The Mech Touch novel Chapter 358

Ves thought about it carefully. The value of the Transcendence Pill lay in its ability to overcome the human limit without any side effects. It only cost him time, while precious, would never be short in stock.

Therefore, even if the Bright Republic faced tumultuous times, the benefits of the Pill absolutely outweighed the cost. Even if Ves ultimately couldn’t finish his second original design in time, he would still be able to use his increased capabilities in other ways.

A special elevator slowly descended many kilometers deep into the earth. It passed through a number of checkpoints and defenses that surrounded the sensitive lab and private workshop floor.

When the elevator doors finally opened, Ves stepped into the lab with Lucky floating behind him. The cat quickly darted away, passing through a number of walls without encountering any hindrance.

Besides Lucky, nothing should have been able to penetrate the thick defenses of the lab.

An uncountable amount of defenses and security measures hid behind the alloy-paneled walls. Advanced electronic defense systems thwarted the intrusion of any bugs and jammed any form of signalling or transmission. A secure but expensive quantum entanglement node formed the only method of communication with the outside galaxy.

Closed air circulation and filtration systems ensured that the entire floor was completely sterile and free of contaminants. A storeroom filled with water and nutrient packs as well as an excellent organic recycling system ensured that Ves would easily be able to last inside the floor for more than a decade.

The way the security systems had been set up made it difficult for Sanyal-Ablin to snoop in on him. A thick layer of signal-blocking material enveloped the entire floor. The only way that they’d be able to receive telemetry was if some kind of miniature bug hitch-hiked on his body or inside his comm.

"Good luck with that."

The System practically monopolized his comm and didn’t allow any form of malware or spyware to invest his most important electronic device. As for external bugs, Lucky often snacked on them every day.

Ves even went to the trouble of hiring several other security companies and consultants to supervise the construction of this floor. He even asked the Larkinson Estate to send their own specialist to keep an eye on the supervisors.

All of this had ballooned his expenses, but Ves wasn’t short on money these days.

"From now on, this is my temple."

Ves became inspired to construct a private workshop after Oleg invited him into Master Olson’s workshop in Leemar. Despite her absence, her workshop carried a majestic air that made it clear that miracles emerged from that place.

Right now, his own workshop was half-empty and rather barren. Much of the fancy machines cost much more than ten times the total worth of the LMC. Ves had no choice but to set aside his intentions of purchasing all of those expensive machines and settle for the basics.

"It’s sufficient for now."

He planned to make full use of what he got once he started designing his rifleman mech. Right now, he had a pill to ingest. He left the working area and entered the attached living space.

After freshening himself up yet again, Ves called out to Lucky. "Come over here!"

Lucky floated through the walls and stopped in the air in front of Ves. "Meow?"

"I’m going to be out cold for a time. I don’t know how long it lasts, but make sure nobody enters this floor, okay?"

"Meow."

"Hey, don’t argue with me. I left a whole batch of high-value minerals inside the storerooms. Feel free to munch on them while you guard over me."

"Meow!"

This time, Lucky appeared to comply with his orders. If nothing else, Ves could always bribe his cat with food.

Once he finished making his final preparations, he took out the Transcendence Pill he received as a reward at the end of the Glowing Planet campaign. The thumb-sized pill carried an organic gold luster, as if it had been condensed by the blood of a god.

"If the System is able to bring out a Transcendence Pill, then someone in the galaxy is able to produce them. How difficult is it to make such a wondrous pill?"

Gene boosts already cost a fortune to produce, and they only provided marginal effects compared to the Transcendence Pill. This tiny object had the potential of transforming the life of anyone who ingested it. The price for this pill must certainly be horrible for any single person to bear.

The depths of the galaxy hid an uncountable amount of powerhouses. Master Mech Designers emigrated from the galactic rim and the galactic heartland all the time in order towards the galactic center

Besides competing for the best technologies and the most miraculous exotics, Ves guessed they also struggled to obtain the favor of organizations that grasped the production of these precious pills.

"There’s nothing in the galactic rim and galactic heartland that can keep these Master Mech Designers interested."

The Komodo Star Sector especially had it bad. As one of the most backward star sectors in the galaxy, over two-thirds of the Masters that emerged from this region had eventually said goodbye to their old states and journeyed to the center of the galaxy in order to join the Terrans or the Rubarthans.

Would Master Olson choose to go for greener pastures as well some day?

"She only advanced to the rank of Master a fairly short time ago. She’s still too young at a hundred years old."

With a sufficient amount of life-prolonging treatments, a wealthy individual could easily push up to six-hundred years. Many fossils that experienced the violent transition from the Age of Conquest to the Age of Mechs still clung to their lives to this day.

He estimated that Master Olson should take at least another hundred years to shore up her foundation before she made her play.

Once that happened, everything would change. Ves knew that if he tried hard enough, Master Olson would certainly extend an invitation for him to join her expedition to the center of the galaxy.

If Ves was a normal mech designer, he’d certainly look forward to it. But with the System, who knew if he would still be Master Olson’s apprentice in a hundred years. Perhaps he’d be able to treat her as his equal by that time.

"If Master Olson is a genius who can advance to Master in a hundred years, then I’ll certainly be able to accomplish the same!"

Advancing to Master in a hundred years, how ambitious! Ves even harbored ambitions of reaching such a height well before he turned a hundred years old!

The renowned Star Designer who held the title of Polymath held the record for the youngest advancement to Master. She she took less than fifty years to rocket straight to Master, astounding the entire galaxy in a single feat!

Moments later, Lucky passed straight through the door and solidified his body in order to cuddle against Ves.

"Meow!"

"Hahaha! I missed you too."

From Lucky’s urgency, Ves deduced that the Transcendence Pill had eaten up a fair amount of time. He quickly activated his comm and looked at the date.

"Thirty-three days went by!"

That was better than he feared, but worst than he hoped. Just over a month went by, which meant that anything could have happened in between. Before he inspected his changes, he first wanted to contact Jake and hear from him if anything had happened during his coma.

Since the quantum entanglement node on this floor had been confined to a closed system, Ves couldn’t use his own comm to contact the outside world. Ves slowly slid from his bed and shakily walked out of the apartment.

He approached a closed chamber which held a solitary terminal that connected directly to the quantum entanglement node buried just underneath. He connected to the galactic net and entered his mail box.

"Hm, nothing serious happened."

He arranged for Jake, Melkor, Marcella, Calsie and Gavin to send him weekly reports. Although plenty of notable events took place in the past month, nothing directly affected the LMC in any detrimental way.

"A few raids on Bentheim and the surrounding systems... price inflation... shortage of rare exotics... Ah, Melkor finally finished recruiting his cadre for the Avatars of Myth!"

With an abundance of money and authority from Ves, Melkor eventually succeeded in hiring eight capable mech pilots. He also spent much of his allowance on purchasing mechs for them to begin their live training, although the two knight pilots still waited to receive their gold label Blackbeaks.

"That can still wait."

Once he reassured himself that nothing critical demanded his presence, Ves shut down the terminal. RIght now, he mentally stimulated his mind and tried to figure out if anything had changed. He resumed the long-stagnant process of integrating the Senior-level Physics knowledge that he succeeded in obtaining.

"It’s faster!"

The integration of knowledge happened at least ten times faster! The difference between before and after couldn’t be compared. His processing speed had sped up by an entire order of magnitude.

"Yes! My gamble succeeded! My Intelligence has broken through the human limit!"

What did that mean? From now on, Ves would rapidly be able to learn and process all kinds of esoteric knowledge. He could even branch out into fields that shared no relations with mechs, though he didn’t plan to do so.

"How high is my Intelligence right now?"