The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1356

Ves let out an exasperated sigh as he ended his call with Gloriana. His 'girlfriend' showed almost no regard to his input! It was as if only her opinion counted!

"She's so high maintenance." He lamented.

He predicted that this would become a recurring problem. Ves should feel lucky that Gloriana at least didn't impose unattainable demands such as trying to obtain a first-class factory ship built by the MTA or a first-rate superstate!

In addition, even if Gloriana asked for much, right now she did not place any expectations on Ves to help her pay for her expenses! As a Hexer, she already assumed the role of the primary earner!

In essence, even though she was a high-maintenance girlfriend, she essentially paid for herself!

Ves shouldn't have anything to complain about. Yet why did he feel awful? As a man, he really felt diminished in front of Gloriana!

If he earned enough money to pay for the factory ship, then he wouldn't be bowing his head in front of her all the time!

"I have to do something about this in the future." Ves slammed his fist against his palm. "I can't keep leeching off her money all the time!"

Designing third-class mechs wouldn't cut it in the long term. Even if he sold billions of them over the next half century, he would still be unable to catch up to his girlfriend!

If Ves wanted to make the really big bucks, he would have to venture into designing second-class mechs at some point.

"I should start studying their design principles." He determined after some thought. "Although it's not going to be easy for me to become familiar with the properties of second-class mechs, the earlier I begin my familiarization, the sooner I can take off in this entirely different class of mech market."

He added yet another goal in his long list of objectives he had to fulfill. The amount of design projects he would have to complete in order to shorten his to-do list became quite burdensome!

Designing a complete collection of third-class mechs already demanded a lot of time, but adding a whole raft of second-class mech designs on top of that threatened to overwhelm his agenda!

If he wanted to design the largest amount of mechs in the least time possible, Ves needed to prioritize the nurturing of a large and robust design team!

Yet where could he obtain the subordinate mech designers that could make up such a vital group?

So far, Ves possessed a rather mixed relationship in the mech industry. His Class IX design philosophy, his past public antics along with his Devil Tongue nickname already turned him into an unpalatable figure!

If not for his astounding and remarkable effects of his design philosophy, Ves might not have any chance to attract other mech designers!

"It's too bad I haven't been able to buy any mech designers from the Kinner Tribe." He rubbed his chin. "Even if I did, they generally won't amount to anything anyway."

The education system of the Kinner Tribe firmly emphasized quantity rather than quality.

The Kinners in general already made for poor mech designers due to their lack of creativity and ingenuity. Combined with the way they were raised, hardly any Kinners managed to advance to Journeyman, let alone the higher ranks!

Even slaves in spirit if not in name had their limits!

The special properties often popped up in his mind recently. So far, the Kinners he hired or bought at Bloodstone all performed to his satisfaction.

Fe Nitaa and Michael Crindon already served as his additional left and right arms. Their addition into his staff considerably improved his personal and virtual security presence.

As for the Battle Criers, Ves called up Commander Hugin Cinnabar to his hotel room to discuss their employment.

"How have your Battle Criers been faring so far under my service?"

"It's a bit more quiet than we are used to, but that is not a bad thing, Mr. Larkinson." The red-bearded man replied seriously. "Overall, we like what we see, but we haven't experienced enough to make up our minds. There are some Battle Criers who are in favor of working for you on a permanent basis, but there are also doubters in my rank who are holding out for a better employer."

"I'm sure that will change at the end of this trip." Ves confidently smiled. "Is there anything you want to say?"

The Kinner mercenary commander shrugged. "Nothing much. I do appreciate the trust you put into us. Despite being Kinners, we've dealt with plenty of employers who mistrusted us or think their judgement is better. I'm very grateful that you've left most of the operational decisions to me. My men won't easily listen to other people's orders."

Ves hadn't done anything exceptional in this regard. Commander Cinnabar was an experienced and competent mercenary commander, so Ves did not hesitate to delegate every decision concerning his mech security detail to the Kinner leader.

"How are the two Ingvar siblings doing so far in your service?"

Imon and Casilla Ingvar still remained on the Ion Tracker high up in orbit. As spaceborn mech pilots, they played no role on the surface.

The same applied to Commander Cinnabar as well, but he fell back to coordinating the escort detail while staying close.

The Kinner grinned. "Casella has been adjusting pretty well. The woman is a lot humbler than what I expected out of noble brats. She's got a smart head as well and learns quickly. It's a shame she's rather stiff. Despite her willingness to adjust, she still hasn't let go of her highborn roots."

"What about Imon Ingvar?"

The mention of the male Ingvar caused the commander to grimace. "He's adjusted less than well. He's always dragging his heels whenever we give him an assignment. Casella has tried to persuade her brother to behave numerous times, but she hasn't managed to get the stubborn kid to adjust his snobbish attitude." _{freēwēbnovel.com}

"Keep working on it." Ves responded. "If we ever stumble across trouble in the coming months, just throw the Ingvars head-first into the fighting. If Imon happens to survive the encounter, I'm sure he'll have a much higher appreciation of your Battle Criers and a much better assessment of his own strength."

"You sure about that?"