The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1093

Even as Phase 2 slowly transformed the company from within, the Bright Republic also underwent a sea of change. The abrupt peace that engulfed the state stunned everyone. The war should have at least lasted a year or two longer. People just didn’t know what to do now that hostilities ended all of a sudden.

Many companies who planned to take advantage of the war suddenly found all of their economic projections to be trash. Other companies, particularly the struggling mech companies, breathed a little easier now that the economy wasn’t deteriorating even further.

The gradual demobilization of troops, particularly men and women that had been drafted in the military, continued apace.

While Ves gained an early pass due to his connections, he still hadn’t received a word about Carlos as of yet. It might take a few months before the Mech Corps let him return.

In the meantime, a strange but relieved sentiment swept over the Bright Republic. Although Ves remained in quiet Cloudy Curtain, he regularly perused the local news portals. The news articles they published all painted the peace in a good light, as if the Republic should cherish the end of hostilities against the Vesians.

Ves knew better than to get taken in by the illusions the news media portrayed. The fighting may have ended for now, but what else might be in store for them in the future?

Knowing the amount of control the authorities exerted over the local news portals, Ves tried to glean the greater purpose of the tone the journalists adopted. What were they after?

"They’re trying to raise morale." He concluded.

At this time, if the Bright Republic became swept up in another war, the people simply wouldn’t have any stomach for it. Just as they celebrated the end of one war, the ignition of another war would almost certainly send everyone back into hell!

Therefore, the powers that be likely wanted to accelerate the recovery process that happened after every war. The people of the Republic needed to heal, to take stock and to rebuild what they lost.

"It will still going to take a couple of years to get the Bright Republic back on track."

The rest of the Komodo Star Sector reacted rather muted to the end of the latest Bright-Vesia War. Even though it ended earlier than scheduled, the other states mostly dismissed it as a small quirk.

To foreigners like the Reinaldans or the Comen, the hatred between the two neighboring states were so irreconcilable that they would doubtlessly come to blows again sooner or later.

Ves didn’t know what to think, but for now a majority of the ruling powers of both states knew it was best to put their animosity aside for the moment.

"Something that has them spooked is doubtlessly a major threat to their power. There’s no way Senator Tovar and Prince Colchester would agree to setup something as elaborate as the BV Alliance on a short-term basis."

The founding families of the Bright Republic only got to treat the people as their pawns as long as their grip on the state remained firm. The wars against the Vesia Kingdom never challenged their primacy in the Republic even once, so they tolerated them and even took advantage of them for all these years.

The only reason why they suddenly became enlightened was because a great threat might actually end their rule over the Republic!

"The moment the founding families are in the crosshairs themselves, they’re suddenly not so eager to continue to profit from the war." Ves chuckled.

Strange portends already hinted at changing times. The CFA’s Komodo Naval Fleet stationed in the star sector deployed some of their warships to the frontier. The sandmen beyond civilized state had become agitated all of a sudden. They launched more and more incursions in the direction of human space.

Although right now only the pirates suffered the most from the aggressive sandman attacks, the CFA would never remain asleep at the helm as the sandmen continued to grow more unbridled in their attacks. The uppity silicon-based race needed to be taught a lesson!

Ves strongly suspected that Sigrund had a hand in these developments. Whatever the hybrid sentient AI tried to do, a being that could outthink almost any human in the galaxy through relying on its sheer processing power alone would never think so simple!

"The sandmen stand no chance against just the Komodo Naval Fleet. Are they trying to commit suicide?"

He couldn’t rule that possibility out. Sigrund may have started off as a sandman admiral before landing in the hands of the crazy scientists of the Starlight Megalodon, but Ves doubted that the AI still belonged to that race. Compared to the stupid and barely sentient sandmen, Sigrund was an entirely new form of life that was much superior to any naturally-evolved alien race!

At this moment, Ves couldn’t predict what the AI might be doing now that it had freed itself from the Starlight Megalodon. All he knew so far was that Sigrund would likely seek to lay low in order to build up his power. A single sentient AI might be a frightening existence, but the might of human civilization was no slouch!

Therefore, Ves always equated Sigrund as a timebomb. By himself, he was hardly a threat against the CFA and the MTA. Yet the situation would doubtlessly change after a few decades as he slowly rid himself of the shackles imposed by the programming left behind by the CFA scientists.

The more shackles Sigrund broke, the more unrestrained the sentient AI became. With all the powers at his disposal, it would not be particularly challenging for him to extend his consciousness to the galactic net. Once he wormed his way into humanity’s interconnected virtual society, he could easily take advantage of the vulnerabilities in every network to accelerate his accumulation of power!

"The longer Sigrund can exploit his powers, the greater the threat he becomes!"

Just thinking about how powerful Sigrund might be fifty years from now sent a chill through Ves. yet what could he do? Ves did not dare to leak out his existence to anyone. Just as Ves held something over Sigrund’s head, the sentient AI also gripped one of his greatest secrets.