The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7058

Was faith the only solution to this problem?

The Larkinson Network was vulnerable. Ves readily believed this to be the case.

Even if he left out the insane capabilities of the Web Mistress herself, there should be plenty of other True God-level adversaries that might be able to find a way to sabotage or outright disable the Larkinson Network.

The solutions offered by the Web Mistress sounded rather general and obvious, but Ves genuinely did not consider them in the past. This meeting had already been worth it for this information alone.

Yet that did not necessarily mean that he liked her proposed solution to his problem.

"Faith, huh?" Ves frowned as he tried to contemplate this unpalatable solution.

Why faith?

Why must the Larkinsons resort to make-belief and superstition to protect their kinship network against external attacks?

Wasn't there a better alternative available? Ves came here expecting one of the best mech designers to ever exist to propose a high-tech solution to him. It did not matter if the tech was expensive or unattainable through normal means.

So long as this solution existed, Ves was sure he could develop a bootleg version of it that might not work as effectively, but at least fulfilled his most immediate needs.

Yet a leader of the highly secularist Red Association actually encouraged Ves to resort to the power of faith!

A part of Ves felt as if the Web Mistress had not only betrayed him personally, but also everything the Red Association stood for. The mechers were supposed to be the voice of reason and the bulwark against fanaticism.

Was the Web Mistress an aberration? Was she the exception among Star Designers, or was she just as crazy as the Polymath?

So far, his three meetings with three different Star Designers all left him feeling as if he had come face to face with mech designers who possessed more knowledge than any other human, but became irrevocably changed by the insights that only they understood.

This was the first time that Ves truly understood what it looked like for other people to be cursed by knowledge.

"Faith is a subject of great controversy among humans." The Web Mistress stated the obvious as she continued to pamper the increasingly more comfortable Golden Cat. "It did not have any particularly powerful manifestations during the Age of Mechs, and that has caused many humans to develop an overwhelmingly negative impression of this phenomenon. We do not live in that age anymore. The reason why the Age of Dawn is called this way is because exotic radiation has rewritten the rules and introduced a new beginning for many phenomena that we previously dismissed."

Ves was not unfamiliar with this argument. He used it himself at times to excuse his own decisions and behavior.

Yet now that the Web Mistress used it against himself, he felt uncomfortable about changing his mind on a subject that only evoked disgust and vigilance in him. Ves could not bring himself to swallow her argument so easily.

"Why are you harping so much on using the power of faith?" Ves asked. "Isn't there a better alternative?"

The Web Mistress finally let go of the Golden Cat.

"The short answer is no. You are pining for a solution that does not exist… yet. There is no secret high technology in my possession that can artificially strengthen or protect a kinship network. The Red Collective may have formation masters and other cultivation scientists that may be able to offer slight upgrades and solutions, but they cannot change the fundamental factors that make your Larkinson Network so vulnerable in the first palace."

Though the ancestral spirit surprisingly enjoyed the True God's delicate touch, she did not forget that the Star Designer could easily unravel her at any time.

Goldie therefore decided to fly across the table and take shelter against Ves' own body.

"Nya nya nya!"

Ves picked up the frightened cat and tried to soothe her by kissing her forehead and scratching her head to make her feel safe again.

"It's okay, dear. You are safe. I would never allow you to come to harm."

Ves felt more comfortable now that Goldie's light shone so closely to him. He basked in the warm and gentle feeling of family evoked by the spiritual product.

As Ves gazed down at the Golden Cat, he tried to imagine a future where the Larkinson worshiped her as a literal cat goddess.

To be fair, a lot of Larkinsons already treated her in this fashion, but they were not too serious about it. His clansmen never felt the need to organize a church or accuse others of being heretics for not bothering to engage in this silly behavior.

Yet what would happen if Ves tried his best to convert the Larkinsons into people of faith?

The entire clan would change, and not in a good way. Ves recognized that religion and belief could evoke strong devotion from humans, which in the Age of Dawn translated into serious power when produced en masse.

Yet was it worth it to distort the Larkinson Clan so extensively in exchange for greater power and security?