The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1247

Ves passed on the young prosperity tree to Gavin. In turn, Gavin passed it on to a bot to place it on a display.

Afterwards, Ves greeted the other Larkinsons who each congratulated him and presented him with gifts, most of which consisted of forgettable trinkets.

It was very hard to come up with a good present to someone who could outright buy the total assets of the Larkinson Estate several times over!

Still, they needed to express their sincerity in some way, so they decided to follow the same strategy as Benjamin by gifting presents that carried a symbolic or sentimental meaning.

The only problem with this was that Ves only cared for the sentiments of those he cared about in person. Just because he shared the same family name as them didn’t mean he particularly liked them or appreciated their company.

Perhaps the most odious Larkinson Ves had met tonight was Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson.

After gifting Ves with a shard salvaged from an old expert mech wreck, the elder in charge of the trust fund eagerly patted his back.

"You’ve heard of my grandson Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson, yes? He’s an expert candidate just like Jannzi. He served admirably during the recent war, and right now he’s placing all of his efforts into breaking through to expert pilot."

"I’m sure he’ll succeed one day." Ves politely responded even if he wanted to swat away the slimy old man’s hand from his back.

"The Mech Corps and other institutions offer many training programs that increase the chance of breakthroughs. While I’m sure that Tusa doesn’t have to rely on them, the faster he breaks through, the sooner our entire family benefits from the addition of another expert pilot in our ranks. If you lend a hand to him during this time, I’m sure he’ll reciprocate the favor."

After several minutes of babbling, Ves eventually learned the true reason why Raymond was buttering him up so much. He wanted Ves to invest several hundred million credits into Tusa’s training.

"While the Mech Corps is a fine place to seek a breakthrough, the Friday Coalition offers even better training programs." Raymond explained. "As long as my grandson can pay the entry fee, he can benefit from the wisdom of a second-rate state, not only increasing his chances of breaking through, but also allowing him to absorb some of the skills of a second-class mech pilot!"

While Ves maintained his polite smile, he inwardly cursed Raymond for being a greedy old bastard.

Of course, he couldn’t ruin the festive mood by uttering something like that aloud.

"I think the family should make this decision collectively, Raymond." He said in a mild but slightly warning tone of voice. "The ample dividends the Larkinson Estate receive should be more than enough to cover these kinds of investments. It’s not fair for me to openly favor one Larkinson expert candidate over another."

Raymond knew he couldn’t make any further progress when he heard that so he stopped insisting. "You’ve raised a good point, Ves. I was merely thinking that since you’re so wealthy, you don’t mind spending this trivial amount of money."

"A few hundred-million credits is not trivial. Whatever you think of my wealth, my business ventures eat up most of what I earn." Ves lied.

In truth, Ves was flush with more money than he knew where to spend it on. While he reserved quite a bit to fund the expansion of the Avatars of Myth, the rest of his money was essentially sitting in the bank. _{ƒгeewebnovёl.com}

Even if he wasn’t hurting for money at the moment, Ves did not want to make it a habit to lend or give away his cash whenever a Larkinson held out their hand and begged.

Therefore, after shutting down Raymond, half of the Larkinsons who wanted to chat with him further all declined to say anything more than pleasantries.

Perhaps the most lighthearted Larkinson he greeted was Lanie Larkinson.

The little girl had grown into a big girl. Ves remembered meeting her shortly after he embarked on his career. After five years of growth, the girl was approaching ten years old, which meant she would soon find out whether she possessed the right genetic aptitude to pilot mechs.

Ves generously smiled at Lanie after she gifted him with a handknit shawl. "Did you make this yourself?"

Lanie eagerly nodded. "I don’t know if I want to become a mech pilot or mech designer, but I’ve been practicing my handicraft in case I decide to follow in your footsteps!"

"It’s very hard to become a mech designer, Lanie. While being good with your hands is useful, it’s more important to have a knack in science and engineering. Even then, you still have to study hard in order to graduate."

The young girl didn’t look fazed at all. "I’ll surely succeed! By the way, where’s Lucky? He’s so fun! I miss him so much!"

"She might know where my cat has gone." He said while gesturing at Ketis. "If you have any questions about mech design, feel free to ask her as she’s also a mech designer."

"Okay!"

The girl enthusiastically scampered off to Ketis, causing Ves and the other Larkinsons to chuckle.

"Kids are precious, Ves." His grandfather remarked in a goodnaturedly fashion. "They liven up your life and help you remember the joys of your own life. Children are the best gifts that you can have."

The implicit message was that Ves should hurry up and marry so that he could have kids of his own.

After he finished greeting the Larkinsons, Ves greeted his other guests. With Gavin’s help, he was instantly able to greet some of the unknown faces by name, which easily earned him some of their appreciation.

"Yoni Ricklin. What an unexpected surprise to see you here." Ves politely shook the middle-aged man’s hand.

The Ricklin generously smiled at Ves. "I came to convey Madame Catelyn Ricklin’s well wishes. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be here herself, but she wants to make sure you are aware of her good intentions."

"That is welcome news. I thought that you Ricklins were rather irate at me for being involved in Vincent Ricklin’s defection."

How could Ves forget about his first custom job where Vincent insisted on adding a codpiece to his mech?!

"What happened that day was a tragedy. Many elders of the Ricklin family lost their lives." Yoni firmly shook his head. "However, now that five years have passed, Madame Catelyn is no longer hysterical whenever she recalls this incident. She realized that it’s unfair to blame you for supplying Vincent with the weapon that slew many of our lineage. Any mech could have done the same."

"I’m glad to hear that. None of us thought that Vincent would be so crazy to join the Bentheim Liberation Movement. How is he, by the way?"

Yoni sighed. "Vincent is still at large, to our entire family’s shame. From the scattered intelligence we’ve gathered, our wayward family member has slowly climbed up the ranks and has become one of their side leaders. It doesn’t appear he’ll get caught anytime soon."