Ves normally did not like to put down his roots in any fixed location. He also did not wish to break any boundaries and ddle into the affairs of other parties.
Yet Calabast presented him with opportunities that sounded so compelling that he felt tempted to intervene anyway.
The proper way to deal with the internal conflict brewing within the Terran Alliance would be to maintain a healthy distance.
Yet that seed like a cowardly and overly risk-averse course of action.
That did not an it was the wrong decision to make, but if Ves wanted to advance his interests and lay claim to a greater share of resources, R&D assistance and industrial capacity, ddling into the affairs of the Terrans sounded like a rewarding if risky venture.
The key was to strike a balance between risk and reward.
If he attempted to grab too much, then he would likely overreach and end up in a worse position than before.
Fortunately, Calabast presented a plan that leveraged several of his accumulated advantages.
From his well-earned reputation for being trustworthy to his prior record of respecting the agency and principles of his allies, Ves had purposefully built an image of a reliable business partner.
Few people would expect that he would sche to seize power over another sovereign nation.
Of course, this was a bit of an exaggerated description. Ves had no interest in taking over planets or territory.
He rely wanted to continue to exploit a significant fraction of the Terran Alliance's highly developed R&D sector.
Ves had witnessed first-hand how he effectively managed to get 50 tis more work done with an abundance of external design and research assistance!
If he had to design his Woodsap chs by himself, he could work non-stop for a whole decade and still not be able to complete a work as good as his present gains!
Though Ves did not want to develop a dependence on the Terrans, if he had an opportunity to get their help in exchange for relatively minor concessions, then he would be a fool to miss this opportunity!
"Please explain your plan in full." He requested.
"I have yet to devise a full step-by-step plan, but I can present my outline of one to you." The confident woman responded. "Manipulating the Terran Alliance requires a deft touch. You will need to continue to present the image of a proud ch designer in the public sphere. Even if everyone knows you are far more than that, doing this will lower the guard of most Terrans. The Green Coalition is in the ascendancy at the mont. You have already satisfied them enough for the ti being, so it is better to prioritize the needs of the Steel Coalition next. You can do that by designing a ch that just so happens to counter your Woodsap chs. You will need to complete it within a year at the very least in order to achieve the maximum impact."
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"I have yet to devise a full step-by-step plan, but I can present my outline of one to you." The confident woman responded. "Manipulating the Terran Alliance requires a deft touch. You will need to continue to present the image of a proud ch designer in the public sphere. Even if everyone knows you are far more than that, doing this will lower the guard of most Terrans. The Green Coalition is in the ascendancy at the mont. You have already satisfied them enough for the ti being, so it is better to prioritize the needs of the Steel Coalition next. You can do that by designing a ch that just so happens to counter your Woodsap chs. You will need to complete it within a year at the very least in order to achieve the maximum impact."
As Ves studied the outline with an interested expression, his chief of staff provided her own advice.
"Designing a fire-based ch for the so-called Steel Coalition is too blatant of a move." Eliza Mo Ragadan said from the side. "Also, you are already short on ti, Ves. While I am not too familiar with your workload, I know that it is difficult if not impossible to add one more design project to your existing schedule. There should be a way to satisfy this requirent without delaying your existing projects or compromising their quality."
Ves looked interested. "What is your suggestion, then?"
Eliza raised her palm and activated a familiar-looking projection.
It depicted the 5 classical elents.
"Sir, you are currently treating your elental Carmine chs as self-contained products. Woodsap chs are Woodsap chs. Polytal chs are Polytal chs. That is understandable, but from the perspective of the Red Collective, they are not isolated from each other. Since each of them are based on what so describe as the Five Phases, then your products will definitely share the sa anings and associations."
Ves widened his eyes in realization.
She was right!
She had pointed out a blind spot that Ves had overlooked due to his fixation on the ch-side of the equation!
"I see what you an now." He said as he began to breathe faster. "I completely missed this dynamic, but now that you have pointed out, it is so obvious to now. Every elental Carmine ch that is based on the 5 classical elents have intricate relationships with each other."
There was a lot of esoteric theory behind it all. Ves was fairly familiar with it, but he hadn't dived too deeply into all of the complicated relationships.
However, all of it would beco incredibly relevant in the future.
This was because these elental relationships determined which elental Carmine chs fared better against other elental Carmine chs!
"According to theory, tal chops wood." Ves thoughtfully said. "This happens to work out nicely for . I already intended to prioritize the developnt of Polytal chs after completing the Arboreal Project. The Red Association was one of my earlier backers, after all, and I am still relying heavily on the chers for protection and conveniences. It would not do to leave them waiting for so long, especially now that I have tentatively proven the strength of my elental Carmine ch concept."
Eliza did not entirely agree with his statent. "There is an enormous depth behind the study of the Five Phases. What you have described may be true, but it is not an absolute rule. A weak sword will break before a strong wooden trunk. However, if your Polytal chs are roughly equal in strength to your Woodsap chs, then the forr should enjoy a natural advantage due to their elental relationships."
"What about fire?" Calabast suggested. "I am not a scholar in this field, but it seems to that fire is a great way to turn Woodsap chs into pyres."
"Wood generates fire, just as spring transitions into sumr." Eliza responded. "Under certain circumstances, it is possible to deplete the forr with the latter by using this relationship. However, I believe that relying on the power of tal is a more reliable approach."
Ves already began to imagine a suitable machine. "We can potentially use the power of both tal and fire in the sa Polytal ch. After all, the point of the latter is that its structure is incredibly malleable and flexible due to being made out of smart tal. Polytal chs might not be as solid as chs made out of solid parts, but they are much more able to alter their structure and form specialized parts on the fly. It should be easy to program a set of energy weapons that rely heavily on the power of the fire elent. This way, my Polytal chs can burn Woodsap chs from a distance with the help of energy weapons or cut them in half with sharp tal blades up close."
This idea sounded a lot more viable than designing a brand new first-class ch that was solely designed to counter his Woodsap chs.
"This idea may work, actually." Calabast already made her deductions in her mind. "The downside is that you have already signed an agreent with the Red Association that grants them exclusivity to your Polytal chs. However, this is politically convenient for you as this work should not be considered a blatant attempt to ddle into internal Terran politics. You can maintain your facade of neutrality much easier. After all, it is not your fault that the wood elent is supposedly weak against attacks from the tal elent. This is a fundantal rule."
She was right about that. Perhaps the Terrans had already thought about it and taken the appropriate counterasures.
"It makes more sense why the two coalitions are nad in this particular way." Eliza voiced her thoughts. "The Green Coalition is heavily invested in works based on the wood elent. The Steel Coalition on the other hand has a strong interest in the tal elent. This signals to that the latter wants to keep the forr in check. It is evident that there are many Terrans who fear that the elves and their green agenda may go out of control."
Ves nodded in agreent. That did make a lot of sense now that he understood the greater context.
"You two have given a lot of food for thought. Eventually, I will complete an elental Carmine ch for each of the 5 elents. They will all have different restraining and synergistic relationships with each other. They may even develop brand-new synergies through specialized teamwork. Unfortunately for their owners, since they are all bound to beco exclusive toys to five different players, there will not be many instances of such teamwork. The only group that has the right to field all 5 elental Carmine chs in the sa force is…"
"Us." Calabast grinned wider. "That is one of the key concessions that you have secured with your respective partners. You never let go of your works if you can help it. We are the only organization that can legally field Woodsap chs alongside Polytal chs, Bloodfire chs and etc. This ans that we are the only ones that can produce synergies that can elevate their performance by 50 percent, 100 percent or higher."
Those numbers might sound exaggerated, but that was how the 5 classical elents worked.
Ves could easily see this happening in reality!
The only issue was that the Larkinson Clan was still at least several years away from realizing these amazing synergies.
He had only just reached the final phases of the Arboreal Project. He still needed to invest a lot of ti in completing the four remaining elental Carmine projects.
"If there aren't any major distractions in the near future, then I am confident that I can design both a Polytal ch and a Bloodfire ch within 1.5 years at most." He said. "The latter is a bit complicated because my wife and I are already in the process of developing a very high-end version of one in the form of the Prothea Mark II Project. Depending on how much extra design and R&D assistance I can secure, I may be able to complete both projects faster, especially if there is a great amount of commonality with the Woodsap chs of the Arboreal Project."
The faster he completed these projects, the better. Once he managed to publish 3 elental Carmine ch designs, he would definitely be able to prove the superiority of this category of chs!
With so many powerful Carmine chs showcasing their strength on the frontlines, Ves should be able to negotiate better conditions with the remaining two partners.
Calabast had begun to adjust her outline based on new input. "If it turns out that your Polytal ch and possibly your Bloodfire ch can consistently demolish a Woodsap ch under equal conditions, then the Steel Coalition will definitely rise in power. This is especially the case if you publish those two specific elental Carmine chs right after you have completed your current project. If you want to complete your hedging strategy, then you need to prop up the Green Coalition by developing a Woodsap ch that is strong enough to hold its own against those aforentioned machines."
Ves felt troubled by this suggestion. "That is easier said than done. That is like telling to design a turtle that can fly faster than a bird. It is easier to follow the relationships of the 5 classical elents than to go against them. I may need to put in five tis as much effort just to develop a Woodsap ch that can barely break even!"
"Does that not sound more interesting to you, Ves?" Calabast smiled back. "Every ch designer can design an easy ch. Only a handful can complete a counterintuitive design. Consider it a challenge. Only a true master can defy the rules."
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