The Mech Touch novel Chapter 405

In order to make sure the LMC wouldn’t be wracked by rudderless leadership, Ves made it so that he could appoint an agent to make decisions on his stead on the board.

The only problem was he needed to appoint someone he could trust with an incredible amount of power. After all, the LMC was a growing multi-billion credit mech manufacturer with bright prospects. It only took one power-hungry madman to topple everything that he built in the past two years.

As Ves tried to wrack his brains for possible candidates, he started to get a headache. "Carlos would have been a perfect agent for me."

He knew his friend inside and out and knew that he didn’t enjoy the backing of anyone else. As someone who benefited hugely under Ves, Carlos could certainly be trusted to value his interests over those of the other Larkinsons.

A significant shortcoming of Carlos was that he never excelled in any of the business courses, so he probably wouldn’t be able to steer the LMC as well as Ves.

Naturally, a bigger problem was that the Mech Corps already snatched Carlos up along with a deluge of other low-ranking mech designers.

After he ended up in the clutches of the military, Ves hadn’t received any word from Carlos since. His friend completely fell off the radar, which was to be expected.

The military took communications with the outside galaxy very seriously. Even taking the time to say hello to your parents through the galactic net could leak out an enormous amount of sensitive data to any eavesdroppers.

Thus, even remotely, Ves could not expect Carlos to be available to act as his agent.

"Who else can I turn to?"

As the temporary chairman of the board, his agent held the power of life and death over the LMC. That was really something that could not be belittled. Ves himself was too busy to revel in the amount of power and wealth at his fingertips, but that did not mean he was unaware of their deathly allure.

He mentally went through several candidates, but he found to his dismay that most of the people he knew shared a connection with the Larkinson Estate. Even Chief Cyril, who knew the most about mechs in the company outside of Ves, never hid his roots as a retainer.

After going through more than a dozen different names, Ves ended up with two possible candidates. Each of them possessed their own merits and shortcomings. If he picked the wrong person, the consequences for the LMC would be very dire.

The first candidate who Ves tentatively took into consideration was Melkor. Although he was a Larkinson as well, his youth and his inexplicable estrangement with the Mech Corps insured he didn’t fell into the established factions of the Family.

"In a way, he’s kind of a failure, or the Larkinsons would have never let go of him to serve as my bodyguard."

Putting Melkor in charge of the board, if only temporarily, would make it clear to the rest of the board that Ves still kept a pulse on what went on there. Melkor’s possessed a firm but understated personality that would likely lead to a restrained atmosphere in the board. After all, from what Ves gathered from his cousin, Melkor brooked no nonsense.

The downside to putting a mech pilot in charge of the board was that Melkor knew nothing about designing mechs or conducting business. He possessed no relevant knowledge that allowed him to make informed decisions, or understand the topics being discussed in the meetings.

Another problem with Melkor was that he would have to put his foot down in front of their grandfather. Despite his job as a military advisor, Benjamin always took the time to be present at the board meetings. As the temporary chairman, Melkor should be able to hold more sway than their grandfather.

"Will Melkor be able to stand up to grandpa, though?"

That was a very pertinent question. Benjamin Larkinson enjoyed a vast amount of prestige in the Larkinson Family. Not only did grandpa work for the influential Ministry of Defense, he also used to be an expert mech pilot. Practically the entire younger generation of the Larkinsons worshipped him as one of their gods.

From what Ves gathered of Melkor, his cousin did not enjoy a close relationship with the rest of the Family. Neither did he seem like someone who revered their grandfather.

Still, Ves always had the sense that Melkor hid a lot about himself to everyone. He never showed anyone his true nature. His habit of wearing a big visor that covered the entire upper half of his face made it extraordinarily difficult to read his expressions.

In the end, Ves could never pin down where Melkor stood. He may be a disaffected Larkinson looking to spread his wings outside of the umbrella of the Family. He might also be hidden Larkinson loyalist who had secretly been assigned to keep an eye on Ves and push him in the right direction once in a while.

"I’ve already entrusted him with some responsibility. What does it hurt to add a little more to his plate?"

Ves already tasked Melkor with leading and expanding the Avatars of Myth. That reminded him to arrange some matters for his personal force as well. He still needed to hear back from Captain Silvestra and make plans for expanding their fleet.

Compared to picking a mech pilot like Melkor, Ves found the alternative to be a little more attractive.

During the early stages of his business, Ves relied on Gavin and Calsie to do a lot of things on his behalf. As the LMC formally came into being and hired hundreds of professionals, the role these two former students played in the company became less and less. That did not mean that Ves had sidelined them entirely.

It was easy for Gavin to adjust change his role. Not only did he let Ves keep tabs on what the Marketing Department was up to, he also acted as his personal assistant in many other areas. If not for his current responsibilities and his strange opinions in some areas, Ves would have no qualms about appointing Gavin as his agent.

"Calsie might be a better choice."

She was a dutiful worker who possessed a deep understanding of the local issues. Ves always relied on her reports on the local situation to keep himself abreast of what went on in Cloudy Curtain.

Ves honed in on her law background. While that didn’t turn her into an expert concerning mechs or business, she should be able to possess a sufficient understanding of the discussions in due time. She also wouldn’t be vulnerable to clever wordplay or dirty tricks.

If Ves put someone like her in charge of the board, then she wouldn’t flinch from anyone, including his grandfather. She would be able to understand very well how much power she held in her hands and how much responsibility Ves had thrust in her. Since she didn’t possess any relationships with the other members of the boar, he could trust her to avoid any favoratism.