The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1683

Chapter 1683 Transcending Growth

The Sand War seemed to approach a critical point. A continuous outpouring of sandman fleets descended upon Bentheim, battering the defenders so much that they could barely rest before they had to fend off another incursion!

While the Bright Republic prepared for the onslaught for months, when the sandmen finally hit its port system, the ferocity of the sandmen caught every military planner off-guard!

"The Battle for Bentheim will make or break the Bright Republic!"

"No amount of sand will engulf our light!"

"Our four-hundred years of heritage will not end on our watch!"

The propaganda efforts went full swing. The people must have confidence! No matter how many star systems fell, the Bright Republic must survive!

Even at Cloudy Curtain, Ves and the others felt the effects of the war. Martial law had belatedly come into effect, forcing every citizen to stop idling. They either had to work and contribute to the state or stay at home like obedient lambs.

The sudden drawdown of social life turned Freslin into an empty hub where only aircars and shuttles made noise.

The hustle and bustle of people on the streets made way for enforcer bots that patrolled the empty city.

Though the Mech Nursery was situated well outside Freslin, Ves could still sense the gloom by observing his downbeat employees.

Due to the temporary halt of production at the Mech Nursery, a lot fewer people showed up at work. The reduced operations elsewhere had left much of his subordinates at his headquarters idle.

There simply wasn't much work to do. Ves even contemplated laying people off, as the LMC recently hired a lot of people to manage the spike in sales and production.

"Demand has dropped and our production costs have risen." Gavin reported to Ves. "More and more third-party manufacturers have ended their contracts or reduced their production. At our current estimate, this month's sales won't surpass 50,000 mechs, much of which consists of foreign states in the fourth and fifth lines of defense."

That was still a huge figure compared to the sales the LMC achieved before the Sand War. Nonetheless, it was a major drop compared to the month before.

At this point, Ves still wasn't accustomed to bulk sales. He stopped paying attention to the exact sums he earned after monthly sales surpassed 1,000 mechs.

It didn't matter too much in this crumbling and deteriorating economy. Inflation was so high that the real value of the LMC's cash reserves dropped by half after a month!

And that was just the start if the sandmen continued to nibble away at the territories of the Bright Republic!

Ves had risen up from his desk and moved over to the windows while petting Lucky. He looked out at the empty campus grounds of the Mech Nursery. The display mechs and patrol mechs still radiated the glow of duty. It was a pity that there were too few people around to affect their moods.

"We should reduce our headcount." He decided. "The Desolate Soldier sold extremely well due to various favorable circumstances. However, I'm not sure I can replicate its success anytime soon."

Gavin walked up to him and frowned. "You can easily transform the market yet again if you release a mech as accessible and revolutionary as the Desolate Soldier."

"I don't dare to do so." Ves shook his head. "While I've enjoyed a lot of success so far, my power isn't enough to sustain this level of success. It's only due to desperation that the mech industry has tolerated my Soldier product line."

"You're afraid of the competition?"

"In short, yes."

"I didn't expect to hear that from you, boss."

"I'm a Journeyman. Selling a decent amount of mechs is a given, but when my mechs are hotter than the mechs of a Senior, people will start to have ideas. I don't want to become the victim of my own success, so it's best if we take a step back and consolidate our strength."

Gavin didn't understand why Ves wanted to retreat. In his eyes, the LMC could easily leverage its recent successes and continue to build up momentum.

However, Ves saw the situation in a different light. The mech markets weren't as free and unrestricted as he thought. His interactions with the Tovar mech designers already made it clear that the mech market was already carved up by established interest groups.

While a reasonable degree of competition still took place, major disruptions were very rare.

The only instance where a mech company dared to disrupt the established order was if they had the strength and backing to enjoy the fruits of its labor.

If an uppity mech company ever shot up for some reason, the competition would definitely come to suppress it right away.

This was what the Ansel mech designers already did to the LMC.

It wasn't cheating. The Ansel alumni network was deeply entrenched in the Bright Republic's mech community. Ansel could leverage its deep influence to further its own success or hinder the growth of competitors.

According to the Tovars, this was a game where Ves and the LMC weren't qualified to participate in. Ves was too young and the LMC lacked the network of connections to establish a foothold at the upper end of the hierarchy.

Ves sighed. "I used to dream about reaching this level of success. Many mech designers will become ecstatic if they manage to sell more than a million mechs within a year. Even I didn't expect to accomplish one of my dreams so soon."

"You sound disappointed."