The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7140

Chapter 7140: Loss Mitigation Strategy

Ves let out a sigh.

He was willing to be a little more respectful in front of the head of the Enforcement Department, but that did not mean he was about to change his mind.

"You are both asking for me to do something that I cannot fulfill. I am not a fighter. Neither is Sev for that matter, though he would protest heavily if you told that to his face. Whatever the case, what you are asking for simply can’t be done. Let alone winning three out of four duels, I do not think I can squeeze out a single win. I don’t know why you guys keep pushing me to undertake the leadership challenge."

"Because only you can prevent the Phase Lord Department from turning traitor." Demetrius Sol Klavia directly stated to Ves with a serious expression. "We have calculated all of the options. My Enforcement Department is responsible for taking action and coordinating our partners in the event we need to employ any of the violent options. None of the projections look good. We have only tracked the coordinates of roughly half of the human phase lords, and that is because they are mostly stationed at known bases and starships. In order to stop them from running, we need to divert valuable ace mechs from the frontlines of many war theaters, thereby causing those regions of space to suffer increased losses, up to losing numerous strategically important locations."

It was easy to overlook how difficult it was to defeat a phase lord, even one of the lesser variety.

As long as an Ascended Giant did not allow an ace mech to get into close range, he or she could easily utilize his spatial abilities to warp away and leave a star system by relying on his own body alone.

Once a phase lord reached the deep dark interstellar space, it was virtually impossible to track this rogue element down. It would be like finding a needle in a very large haystack. The Red Three simply couldn’t afford to divert so many precious resources just to capture a handful of treacherous human phase lords at most.

In fact, an Ascended Giant did not have to maintain a true body in order to get away.

Unlike Ves, these fellows had embraced the offer of the heavenly authority of the Red Ocean, which meant that they had sincerely embraced their identities as ’gods’.

Changing back to human form did not change anything because their personality would remain exactly the same!

It was much easier to sneak away when an Ascended Giant could shrink and become visually indistinguishable from a regular human!

Even Ves felt the onset of a headache when he thought about tracking all of them down.

Perhaps there were prophets and other unusual cultivators that could trace their locations through mystical means, but there were far too many Ascended Giants out in the wild.

Dozens of them would definitely slip through!

Once these traitors reached the Red Cabal and formed an accord of sorts, the blow to red humanity would be devastating!

The RC did not need to do much work to persuade Ves just how bad this scenario could be if the treachery went public.

Red humanity had always managed to stick to its bottom line of uniting against its alien adversaries.

Sure, the Cosmopolitan Movement very clearly did not play along, but they had been ostracized for such a long time that most people did not really treat them as humans anymore.

It would be much more serious for a significant chunk of humans to defect to the slave civilization that the more ardent Ascended Giants dreamt of founding!

Under the protection of the Red Cabal, traitors such as the Divine Arsenal and the Unshakeable King wanted to found a slave society where humans were reduced to worshiping laborers who toiled for their supposed gods!

"I understand the necessity of stopping the Phase Lord Department from continuing on its disastrous course. You do not need to convince me that action needs to be taken." Ves told the head of the Enforcement Department. "What I am disputing is why I should be the one to take action. Sure, I will concede that all of your other plans are hardly ideal, but they are much more realistic than letting me take action in person. I will just get beat up if I challenge one of those professional fighters-turned-phase lords."

The Patient Builder shook his head. "Do not put yourself down. You are more resourceful than you appear. Throughout your career, others have underestimated you time and time again. Whenever they sought to challenge you, they have often suffered setbacks because you have unveiled a hidden capability of three. You are more than a mech designer. You are the inheritor of the Five Scrolls Compact and a man who has received the favor of multiple Star Designers and god pilots. Do you know what our seers foretold when they cast their gaze at the future?"

"No..."

"They claim that you and your alter ego can present a worthy challenge to each of the leaders of the Phase Lord Department."

"...I don’t believe you." Ves flatly said. "Everyone knows that prophecies are not absolute. How probable is it that I can beat all four of those guys?"

"Less than 10 percent." Demitrius Sol Klavia honestly admitted. "However, there is around 30 percent chance that you can at least defeat 2 out of 4 human phase lords, which is enough to make this gambit worthwhile. Total victory is not necessary. What matters is that you earn their respect. If you can defeat just 2 Ascended Giants, you will have proven yourself to be a sufficiently strong peer. Your voice can sway the opinions of the compromised leaders and bring back a measure of sanity in their minds. As long as you can keep them loyal to red humanity, that is already a qualified victory."

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