The Mech Touch novel Chapter 408

Once they arrived at Bentheim, Ves and the people he brought along went to work. They booked one of the better convention halls in the center of Dorum to hold their second product this time.

It took a lot of effort to secure a booking on short notice. Coincidentally, a mech manufacturer that previously booked in the same period had shuttered its doors due to recent events.

"The ongoing war is making a lot of people concerned." Marcella explained as she met with Ves at the entrance of the enormous hall. "Business is going well for now, but a lot of influential people have started moving away from Bentheim."

That meant less customers and less demand. Ves hummed at the news. "Hm. Will it affect our opening?"

"You’ll be seeing a lot less movers and shakers in the crowd. Instead, they’re sending out their representatives. Therefore, take note in your presentation to who you are talking to. To reach the people holding all the money, you have to appeal to them through their reps."

The recent raids by the 3rd Imodris Legion terrified the entire Bentheim region. Magnates and wealthy families that contemplated moving out all pulled the trigger and left the volatile planet behind. This reordered the local power structure and disordered the local economy even further.

Still, despite all the doom and gloom pervading throughout the streets, life went on, and so did the mech industry. Press conferences continued to be held all the time for the mech designers that remained to introduce their new designs.

Not every mech designer got called up to serve. The Bright Republic knew that they would cripple their entire domestic mech industry if they did so. In general, they left aside those who contributed enormously on their own and those who already served in the previous wars.

Thus, even if most of the younger generation of mech designers disappeared from the market, the mech industry as a whole would still be able to stay aloft.

As they toured the empty hall, Marcella began to explain the recent situation. "This is a time of war. Though most of the news is kept from the public, the Republic is extremely concerned about Lady Amalia’s legion. She hasn’t shown up since the raids and that’s a huge concern. The threat she poses is a lot more damaging to our confidence than actually showing up to attack a star system."

"In other words, she’s hanging the 3rd Imodris Legion over our heads like a sword of Damocles?"

"Exactly so. Some mech manufacturers are thinking of winding down, while others are starting to stockpile rare resources. Prices have gone up by ten percent since the raids."

This was only the start. As the war progressed, prices would continue to skyrocket, bankrupting over half of the mech manufacturers based in the Bright Republic. This happened in the previous war and the wars before that. Ves knew that his company was in better shape than most. He deliberately set a high profit margin on his products in order to absorb a substantial spike in costs. _{freeweɓnøvel.com}

He could afford to do so because the LMC exclusively produced premium mechs. Though Ves recently developed an ambition to enter into the ultra-cheap bulk mech market, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the razor-thin margins as of yet. His company wasn’t geared to compete on that level yet.

They finished touring the hall and Ves nodded in satisfaction at the open spaces. A high-end convention hall like this not only provided ample space to show off multiple mechs, it even offered a small-scale arena space to show off the live combat capabilities of their mechs.

Gavin met the pair near the arena. "Boss! This arena doesn’t offer a lot of space, but the security screens are powerful enough to endure a full-powered blast from the Crystal Lord’s chest laser! Why don’t we hold a live duel?"

"A duel isn’t the best way to showcase the Crystal Lord’s strengths." Marcella retorted. "Just like the Blackbeak, the Crystal Lord is a mech that excels in battles of attrition. Let’s not repeat the near-disastrous design duel that happened last time. The stakes are higher now."

The mech broker had a point. Laser rifleman mechs and the Crystal Lord in particular only showed their true value if they had time to wear down their opponents. Besides that, the arena barely provided a ranged mech like the Crystal Lord enough space to show off its mobility.

"This is the downside to booking a convention hall in the middle of the city. There are other halls in the outskirts that offer much more room to maneuver."

"Hm, what’s done is done. We’ll have a lot more trouble trying to attract people to attend our product reveal if we held it in the outskirts."

They decided not to display the prowess of their mechs in a duel. Instead, they planned to show off some of the features of the Crystal Lord through target practice and live demonstrations. The arena offered just enough space to do so safely.

Throughout the rest of the planning sessions, they also formulated how to conduct the rest of their product reveal. They needed to awe the crowd in more ways than one in order to justify the sticker price of their mechs.

Marcella laid out their priorities. "Our main job is to convince the crowd that the Crystal Lord brings enough value to the table to make the prices seem reasonable. Forget about the pricing schemes for the silver and gold label mechs, the 65 million base price for the bronze label Crystal Lords will definitely be met with ridicule."

Getting laughed at would be the worst thing that Ves could face in the upcoming press conference. He worked hard to earn some credibility in the business. Botching this presentation would ruin all that he worked for and land the LMC in a difficult position.

As they drew up some concepts and brainstormed some ideas to illustrate the Crystal Lord’s appeal, a siren started to ring outside the streets. Their comms quickly started beeping in unison.

"It’s an alert!"

"Are we under attack?!" Ves quickly asked.

"No." Marcella quickly shook her head. She was much more familiar with the local sirens than Gavin and Ves. "This is the secondary alert. It means that a star system nearby is being attacked at this very moment. The sirens are meant to bring us up to readiness in case the attack spills over to the Bentheim System."