The Mech Touch novel Chapter 144

Ves reluctantly left the underground hall at Ovrin’s insistence. While he really wished to study the venerable Valiant extensively, the hall was a sacred place. The Valiant also had its best days behind it. In order to preserve the heavy knight, the space needed to subjected to a host of preservation routines such as reducing its gravity and pumping in some special gas.

Though he hadn’t studied the Valiant long enough to uncover all of its secrets, he hadn’t left without a harvest.

As they ascended the extremely lengthy stairway, Ovrin asked him a question.

"Do you know why your grandfather pushed through the proposal to invest in your company?"

"Is the family in trouble?"

"We are tied to the fate of the Bright Republic. What will happen if it falls one day?"

They’d be miserable beyond belief. As a quintessential military family who served the Republic for many generations, they could never find shelter in a neighboring state. No one would trust the Larkinsons if they discarded their oaths.

Ves understood his intentions now. "You’re using me as an escape route."

In essence, the Larkinsons wanted to take advantage of his enviable relations with a venerable Master Mech Designer. As her apprentice in name, Ves could vouch for his family and facilitate their relocation to the Vermeer Group.

If Master Olson possessed a heart, she wouldn’t object to saving his family. Most likely, such considerations were beneath her notice.

"It’s merely a contingency." Ovrin added. "There are multiple considerations involved with the decision to invest in your company. Depending on your performance, you’ll become a vital pillar to us in the future. Think of our initial investment as an expression of goodwill."

"Goodwill huh." Ves internally smirked. If the Larkinsons wished to show some actual sincerity, then they should have only settled for a one percent stake. "I’m open to collaboration, but I’d like to remain in charge."

"You’re still the majority owner, so we won’t quibble with the way you run your business. While there are some who think you’re not up to the task, as long as you are able to deliver positive results, they won’t be able to pull any tricks."

According to the Republic’s laws, a minority shareholder was entitled to several rights. Even Ves couldn’t block them from being a nuisance if they wished to. Fortunately, he still possessed an ample majority. As long as he didn’t give them up, he’d never have to submit to someone else’s orders.

When Ves returned to his guest room, Lucky jumped from his perch and brushed his body against his owner’s legs.

"Haha, I told you I’d be back."

As Ves sat on his bed, he considered everything he learned today. First, his fears that his father met an unfortunate end was abated. Even if his father had to cut all of his ties and live like a rat, he still retained his life.

"My father is tougher than anyone. He won’t be fazed by the pirates lurking in the Nyxian Gap. The Five Scrolls Compact on the other hand sounds like real trouble."

Any organization that extended its reach across the galaxy had to be a pinnacle organization. If the mighty Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance couldn’t eliminate the Compact, then Ves absolutely couldn’t underestimate them. He still wondered why the Compact hadn’t threatened him yet.

His logic told him that the conflict between the Compact and his father had no relations to the System. Something as miraculous as the System warranted an immediate and overwhelming response once they figured out that Ves made use of it.

If the Compact wasn’t after the System, why were they targeting his father in the first place?

"I don’t have enough information." He concluded. He could speculate all he wanted, but he couldn’t act on them without proof. "The intelligence we’ve gathered is also a little sketchy. I can’t put too much trust in second or third-hand sources."

In order to corroborate what he heard, he opened his comm and visited the Clifford Society’s online portal. This time, he didn’t bother entering its virtual world. Instead, he opened an online archive and tried to find what the Society knew about the Compact.

Nothing. Ves couldn’t find anything at his level of jurisdiction. His search results happily noted that it found mention of the Five Scrolls Compact in three different documents, but he would only be able to read them if he reached the master level.

Master level! A Master Mech Designer is not a cabbage that you could find on the road!

The insane level of jurisdiction required to read about the Compact spoke for itself. This must be an extremely formidable organization that not even the Friday Coalition wished to provoke.

The lack of information made any further speculation useless. For now, Ves had to focus on growing his strength. Just because the Compact hadn’t done anything to Ves didn’t mean they might change their mind later on. If some shadowy cult started to threaten his life, he wanted to be ready to fight back.

Instead, he used the rest of the day to ponder the puzzle that was the Valiant. How could it surpass his own deliberate efforts to induce the X-Factor? The mech was several hundred years old. Had its original designer already become aware of this metaphysical element.

His search through the galactic net and in the steering committee’s internal network yielded little results. The early days of the Bright Republic had been very tough. Many pirates and outside factions frequently preyed on the nascent Republic who still hadn’t completely shed its pacifist leanings.

They were only able to turn the tide when they started to employ battle-hardened mercenaries. The first-generation Larkinson acquitted himself extremely well as a mercenary, so much so that the Republic rewarded him with land, status and citizenship.

The various archives described his ancestor’s feats in excruciating detail. Ves already learned about his performance in battle when his father tutored him when he was still a kid.

After half an hour of searching, Ves gave up. "These stupid archives!"

None of the historic documents mentioned anything about where the Larkinson ancestor got his mechs. His fruitless search couldn’t find a single mention of the mech designer who painstakingly tailored a custom mech for his ancestor. Someone like that must be a supreme existence, but Ves couldn’t proceed without further clues.