In the end, Ves still hadn't completely figured Calabast out. She didn't fully explain her motives, which was regrettable because she was one of the few people in the clan who could fool his ability to read people.
As he grew older and ca in touch with more formidable people, Ves beca more proficient in figuring out people's true thoughts and motives. His ability to monitor the state of soone's mind and spirit was an especially great advantage.
However, Calabast was always able to withhold her true inclinations from him. Her impeccable training already gave her a good foundation, but lately she seed to have focused a lot on suppressing the fluctuations of her mind. It was as if she knew exactly what Ves could do and developed her own counterasure to make it harder for him to peer at her true thoughts.
Ironically, because she was not a spiritually strong person, Ves wasn't able to get any clues from her spirituality either! Those with stronger spirits such as Ketis were much more easier to read than a random person in the fleet.
"Well, whatever." Ves shrugged. "Calabast should at least be smart enough to remain on my side."
She knew his strength and potential more than anyone else in the clan, so there was no way she would want to bet on another horse!
He no longer spent any thought on Calabast's motives and turned to other matters.
Due to the expeditionary fleet's proximity to the gate system, a lot of different priorities needed to be addressed in advance.
The most important concern was to successfully complete the Chira Project. Ves had invested a lot in the project and he did not want it to produce a worse result than the Bulwark Project.
It had a lot going for it. He incorporated all of his recently-gained insights and advancents from turning the Shield of Samar into a masterwork in the latest iterations of the Chira Project.
By now, the design of Venerable Joshua's future expert ch contained all of the fruits that Ves and the other ch designers had gathered since the start of this round of design projects.
The qualitative and conceptual differences between the Dark Zephyr and the Chira Project were quite substantial! Although the forr could always be upgraded later on, this was rather troubleso and not sothing that Ves wanted to do anyti soon.
"If the Chira Project can beco a masterwork, then I will be truly content." Ves murmured.
This was one of his biggest concerns. Despite his confidence, he still feared he might let Venerable Joshua down. He did not want his strongest backer and supporter among the expert pilots to fall behind the likes of Venerable Jannzi. One way or another, Ves had to do everything in his power to repeat his improbable success!
Fortunately, had gained a useful form of help when Lucky dropped a couple of gems on his lap one day.
"ow." Lucky huffed at Ves before grumpily turning away.
Ves imdiately dropped what he was doing and happily picked up the gems.
He had high hopes for them this ti! It had not only taken many months for Lucky to produce this batch of gems, but the gem cat had also digested a number of foods such as half an expert ch and a sliver of Timpala Steel!
With such high-quality ingredients, there was no way Lucky's output would be lackluster this ti!
"There's five of them this ti!"
Ves' eyes lit up as he weighed the small but incredibly valuable gems in his hands. He poked each of them with his finger as if he was trying to confirm that they were all real and not projections.
It was rare for Lucky to produce this many gems at a ti, but considering how long it took since he last visited the bathroom, it was a bit more reasonable.
It was worth the wait as far as he was concerned! Five more gems translated into five more opportunities to transform a high-quality ch into a masterwork. This urgently relieved his depleted collection of high-quality gems.
When he pulled out his secret pouch from his uniform, a distressed expression appeared on his face after he saw how little it contained. There was only a single gem left inside, and from what Ves rembered of its properties, it was completely unsuitable for the Chira Project!
"Lucky is getting lazier and lazier."
This was both a good thing and a bad thing. The longer it took for him to produce a gem, the greater the chance it beca stronger. On the other hand, a long delay might cause him to lack suitable choices when he wanted to use them on a ch.
After Ves beca satisfied that the gems were the real deal, he finally attempted to inspect their properties.
"…"
Only to co up with nothing.
"Huh? Oh, I forgot!"
Ves wanted to palm his face. Ever since the System swallowed the Timpala Steel that he had recovered, it had beco dormant.
He initially thought it would just take a few seconds for it to upgrade.
Then he thought it would take an hour or so before it was done.
When the delay kept taking longer, he thought it would take days or weeks for it to digest all of the Timpala Steel.
Now, it appeared the System wasn't close to finished!
Since the System had beco inoperable, Ves was no longer able to take advantage of its data overlay that he sotis made use of. A matter as simple as figuring out the effects of Lucky's gems beca impossible!
"Damnit, how the hell am I supposed to figure out what these gems can do?!" Ves complained.
The five gems all looked relatively similar to each other. They shared the sa shape and shiny luster, but they each differed in coloration.
Since Lucky had produced them before Ves had a chance to do anything, the grey, blue, purple, black and aquamarine gems weren't alive. As with other gems, he wasn't able to perceive any notable fluctuations from them. The only way for Ves to figure out what the gems contained was to break them, but that would cause it to release the energies that made them remarkable in the first place.
In the following fifteen minutes, Ves tried several ways to decipher the properties of the new gems. He inspected them with his spiritual senses, he scanned them with his Vulcaneye and Odineye and he even tried to communicate with them. Nothing worked!
Ves grew irritated. His inability to learn what the gems could do to a ch wasn't a big problem if the System woke up soon or if he wasn't about to complete any design projects in the short term, but this wasn't the case!
"It won't take long before we start to fabricate the Chira Project." Ves realized. "If… if Venerable Joshua's expert ch just misses the threshold, then will I have little choice but to take a gamble on one of these gems?"
That was a terrible situation! Ves had to do everything possible to drag the Chira Project over the masterwork threshold!
"Of course, if the quality of my upcoming expert chs falls too far below this point, then all of these considerations are moot."
That was a very real possibility and one that Ves had to take into account as well. Venerable Joshua would probably be devastated, but as an expert pilot, he wouldn't break so easily. He just needed to wait a few years for Ves to design an upgraded revision and see if he could repeat the sa feat he perford on the Shield of Samar.
It was not impossible to turn an existing ch into a masterwork!
"The question is whether I should use these gems or just leave them be if I ever end up in a situation where they are useful?"
Ves did not want to ruin the future of the Chira Project by pairing it with the wrong gem. He already found out that the Shield of Samar was still affected by the sa Arden Wish gem he integrated with it a long ti ago.
Even if he had upgraded virtually every component of the space knight since then, the current ch was still affected by the sa gem!
This was a rather amazing result and gave Ves a deeper understanding of the nature of Lucky's products.
That also ant that if Ves wanted to turn the Chira Project into Joshua's lifelong ch, he needed to be extrely careful about the design choices he made. So of them would remain a permanent part of the ch even if he upgraded it to an ace ch in the future.
There was one factor that reassured him to an extent. "Luckily, the Chira Project is a hero ch. It's also designed to be adaptable to different circumstances."
The Chira Project was compatible with many different gems for that reason. It beca a lot harder for Ves to make the wrong choice, though Lucky sotis produced awfully specific gems like the one that he had temporarily turned into a jewel for Clixie's collar.
"Speaking about masterworks, why hasn't the MTA send an inspection team yet?" Ves wondered.
He expected Master Willix to arrive only days after he turned the Shield of Samar into a masterwork, but strangely enough he never received any visits. The MTA didn't even transmit any ssages!
"The chers should surely know by now." He frowned.
While the Larkinson Clan implented many asures to keep the Shield of Samar out of the public eye, these asures only worked up to an extent. Not only that, but the MTA ch pilots that had been assigned to the clan also knew about the masterwork ch!
Since Ves had so free ti, he decided he might as well contact the MTA Master. He didn't think a topic like this required the use of the Darkbreak Module so he simply called her directly over the galactic net.
It took a while for the other side to accept his call. Master Willix's projection soon showed up. Her expression was neutral and it looked as if she was in the middle of conducting an experint.
"We know about your latest masterwork expert ch." She spoke, instantly dispelling one of his doubts. "I cannot leave the Komodo Star Sector for the ti being so I cannot perform an inspection on your latest work."
"Oh. What then? Will soone else co and evaluate my Shield of Samar?"
"I have already made arrangents with my colleagues in Tarnished Crown. I have made sure that a Master who belongs to the sa camp as I will inspect your new masterwork expert ch. This is more convenient and sidesteps potential issues."
"I see."
Ves beca a bit nervous about this developnt. The MTA was not his friend. It was incredibly important for him to remain chummy with Master Willix. He could at least count on her to keep his secrets and prevent the MTA from looking into his situation too much. However, now that he was traveling further away from her, it beca more difficult for her to cover for him. Was this ally of hers trustworthy?
She seed to have anticipated his worries.
"There is little cause for concern." She said to him. "I can call upon many acquaintances and allies in the MTA, and my patron has built up an even greater network. Once you reach the Red Ocean, there will be others who you can trust to handle your matters. The premise is that you remain useful. I don't believe I need to tell you anything further."
Ves understood this dynamic quite well.
"I understand." He sighed. "Can I expect a big reward for making a second masterwork expert ch? I recall you granted a substantial reward for making the Amaranto."
Master Willix shook her head. "Don't expect us to be generous a second ti. We're not that easy to take advantage of. We have obtained most of the data we are interested in by studying your first successful attempt at turning an expert ch into a masterwork. The Shield of Samar is no longer a unique product and is only useful for comparison purposes. Do not expect to obtain as many rits as before. Do not forget that our rits are mainly associated with research value. If a phenonon is no longer new, then there is no reason to issue rits. Do keep that in mind, Mr. Larkinson."
Damn… His ambition to fabricate masterwork chs en masse and collect an endless amount of MTA rits were dashed.
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