The local and regional news publications already began to spin a hundred different narratives after the end of the first phase of the design duel.
[Life Research Association is on its knees! Its bioch industry has fallen behind the tis!]
[Clash between flesh and tal ended in a decisive victory for real technology!]
[Catastrophe! Foreign chs succeeded in bullying our hogrown biomachines!]
[Doctor Frederico Navarro must resign! He is unfit to represent our bioch industry!]
[Beware the Devil Tongue! Doom follows in his wake! Not a single state survived his psassage intact!]
All of these overblown headlines accompanied even wilder claims spoken by pundits and analysts of all stripes. The Lifers had beco utterly obsessed over a single design duel that shouldn’t have rited all of this attention.
All of the gossip and speculation significantly riled up the locals. The Prosperous Hill System beca more turbulent as Lifers of all stripes expressed their anger, frustration and hopes all at once!
When the spectators began to leave their viewing platforms, Ves and his fellow Larkinsons gathered together. Even the two expert pilots had bid goodbye to their Lifer counterparts.
All of the initial excitent at Ves’ favorable standing had passed.
"Let’s not celebrate too soon." Ves warned his fellow clansn. "I am only ahead by 1 win, and Dr. Navarro might be able to gain the upper hand in the second phase. Also, don’t forget about the real win conditions. I need to win over enough ch pilots to win the design duel."
Venerable Orfan clicks her tongue. "The Lifers are only mildly upset right now, but they’ll definitely beco a lot uglier if we prevail in the end. We should start worrying about how we can depart from this planet if we manage to humiliate the Lifers for real."
That was a valid concern. Ves didn’t think she was blowing the situation out of proportion. He wanted to win, but he didn’t want to endanger himself and every Larkinson either!
A part of him wanted to lose so that he could go back into obscurity, but his pride, reputation and his integrity as a ch designer prevented him from doing so. He was willing to bend many principles, but so of them were too indispensable to his self-image.
A ch designer must be bold. A ch designer must stand up for his own work. A ch designer must have the courage to face a challenger!
If he acted in an opposite manner, then one of the strongest pillars that propped up his identity might collapse. This would be a disaster since this kind of collapse could easily cause the foundation of his design philosophy to crumble!
His spiritual domain centered around life and chs. Each of his actions must align with these two attributes. The more he acted in accordance with his domain, the faster it grew. Ves even speculated that it might evolve after receiving enough nurturing!
So far, Ves noticed that his domain was very weak and imm.a.t.u.r.e in comparison to the domains of other ch designers. Dr. Navarro possessed a more solid and developed one while the Masters were in a league of their own in this regard!
He turned his attention back to his current concerns.
"Gloriana?"
"Yes, honey?"
"When you go back to Gentle Lotus Base, please tell General Verle and the rest to exercise more caution and prepare for a hasty departure."
"Why?" His wife frowned.
"I’ve lived through several situations where the situation got hairy, so I’m very s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e towards volatile situations. While I’m not certain if this star system will blow in the near future, we should prepare for the worst and prepare so contingency plans just in case."
He began to pass on so simple instructions. He wanted the Larkinsons to either abort or accelerate so of their preparations. He wanted every non-essential Larkinson to leave Gentle Lotus Base and return to the expeditionary fleet as soon as possible.
"The latter is going to be a problem." She warned him. "Even if we book tickets right away, it will take days for thousands of Larkinsons to gain passage aboard one of the passenger transports of the PHTS. The service is way too overburdened."
"We should do our best regardless. Anyone we move back to the fleet is one less headache we need to solve if the situation on the ground turns chaotic."
He also issued a few other instructions. He wanted his Larkinsons to speed up recruitnt. It didn’t matter if they rushed through the vetting and testing procedures. As long as the new recruits gained Goldie’s approval, then they shouldn’t be a problem!
"Ah, and don’t forget about the capital ship swap." Ves said. "Rush the exchange if possible, but don’t hesitate to drop it if it takes too long to gain control over the new vessels."
Trading capital sh.i.p.s was different from trading cows. All kinds of steps needed to be taken in order to conduct transactions responsibly. Even if the new additions to the expeditionary fleet fell into their possession, the Larkinsons still needed to round up a couple of crews in order to activate the two vessels!
Gloriana and the rest took in the words and nodded. Even if they didn’t share the sa concerns as Ves, they had gone through several turbulent events themselves. They didn’t think there was anything wrong with overpreparing.
"I hope the situation doesn’t deteriorate, but if it does.. It’s better if we’re already prepared." Venerable Joshua concluded.
As the Larkinsons were about to depart, so of the people on the VIP platform approached Ves for a chat.
The first person to approach him was a familiar presence. Professor Werther Cline looked a bit more impressed at Ves than before.
"While I have thrown my support behind Dr. Navarro, I am impressed by your work."
"I’m sure you can design better chs." Ves humbly replied.
"Oh, you don’t need to belittle yourself. Your chs have unique properties that we have never seen before. This is a good sign that you are pursuing the right innovation. While I cannot believe your chs are alive, the fact that they are able to channel an effect that makes them exuberant is quite a novel sight to my fellow colleagues and I. You have opened up a new door for us. Perhaps there is rit in focusing more on the ch pilot and less on the ch itself."
As a Master, Professor Cline already realized his ch design. This made him a lot more open-minded towards other research directions.
Though Werther Cline exercised impeccable control over his body language, Ves could easily sense anticipation from the old fossil.
Ves experienced this kind of attention several tis from Master Willix! He was long accustod to people who expressed intense interest in the fruits of his labor.
"I still have a long way ahead of before I am able to realize my design philosophy." He modestly spoke. "I’ve learned a lot from the first five matches. I thought my chs were already fairly strong compared to the works of other ch designers, but Dr. Navarro has surprised ti and ti again. His bioch designs are truly praiseworthy."
The professor casually waved his hand. "Dr. Navarro excels at transformation and related areas, but he isn’t capable of designing chs as varied as the Dragonscale Warrior and the Swarm Monarch without the support of the rest of our bioch industry. Each of these designs are collaborative works."
"That’s only fair. My dueling chs are derived from collaborative works as well. The only difference is that the influence of other ch designers isn’t as obvious, at least for the mont."
Gloriana bead at his words.
Master Cline did not co to lavish praises on Ves. He quickly brought up a more serious matter.
"I couldn’t help but listen to your plans. You seem quite concerned about your safety."
"We are." Ves nodded. "I don’t know whether I’ll win the design duel, but if I do, I’ll be surrounded by a lot of angry Lifers. Who knows whether one of them will be crazy enough to lash out. I originally planned to stay here longer in order to rebuild our fleet, but I think it is best if we cut our schedule short."
"I do not bla you, Mr. Larkinson. It is rather regretful that our state has been less than hospitable to you. While I am not in command of Prosperous Hill, I can still pull so strings to ease so of the restrictions you face."
Ves looked surprised. "You’d do that for us, sir?"
"I do not wish anything to befall a talented ch designer such as you." The old man said. "You have earned my respect. I can read the passion and drive you’ve invested in your ch designs. Witnessing five of your works in action has taught that there are more directions that we can take our work. This lesson alone is worth the tiny amount of effort I need to take to aid your clan."
Even though it was rather unexpected, Ves truly needed all of the help he could get. "Thank you, sir. We appreciate the favor."
Master Cline nodded at Ves once again before he departed. Apparently, he didn’t have any other plans in mind.
Another Master ch Designer approached. Ves keenly rembered that this second powerful bioch designer didn’t go along well with Master Cline.
"Mr. Larkinson, please don’t listen too much to Master Cline. He ans well, but he is a bit behind the tis. He doesn’t see nearly as much promise in your chs as I. Let state that I am impressed by your work. Your chs truly have the capital to live."
Ves looked flattered. "Thank you. That ans much from a Master."
Regardless of how suspicious this fellow seed, he still possessed the wisdom and power of a genuine Master!
People at this level usually didn’t bother to lie. Why should they? They sat near the top of their profession and every word they said would always be scrutinized. Each of them had a reputation to uphold, and as one of the best ch designers in existence, they were always sincere when it ca to chs!
"You need to stay sharp and make sure that you do not spend the next three days trying to restore your chs to their old conditions. Dr. Navarro’s chs are fad for their malleability. Your dueling opponent can induce drastic changes in the span of a few days. The Dragonscale Warrior might not even be covered by scales in the next engagent, and the Swarm Monarch may even replace its beetle cannons with conventional guns. Do not expect any of his biochs to fight your products in the sa manner!"
This was quite an important reminder!
"Are you allowed to say that, sir?" Ves questioned.
"It’s fine. My advice does not go as far as providing you with specific aid. You still need to develop your solutions yourself, or else the design duel will no longer have any aning. When I was around your age, I dueled quite often against other bioch designers. My ideas are different from my colleagues, so I constantly had to prove the rits of my design philosophy in front of my naysayers. Regardless of the outco, every challenge polished my approach towards my work."
"I know, but I’m a working ch designer. I am already juggling a lot of priorities. I can’t divert too much ti on duels."
"Then make sure you make the most out of this experience."
The strange Master didn’t stick around for long. After chatting a bit more, he began to leave.
"Wait, sir! Could you tell us your na?" Ves asked.
"I am Master Leehay Brixton. I am based in Prosperous Hill IV. I am known for my cyborg chs."
That last part imdiately caused Ves to jolt!
A cyborg ch designer! That was soone who not only utilized both organic and chanical components, but fused them together into an integrated whole!
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