The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1514

The combined fleets that belonged to Ves and Gloriana transitioned into FTL. Neither of the two wanted to stay in the congested, busy and increasingly more restrictive Reverend Indra System.

While Ves originally planned to visit the surface of Reverend Indra III, he changed his mind after seeing how the entire star system mobilized for war.

He decided to stay aboard Gloriana’s Stellar Chaser, despite knowing that there was no escape during FTL travel.

While he felt a bit ambivalent about Gloriana’s more unsettling traits, he also adored her other traits.

She was lovely, bright, attractive, friendly and not as domineering as he thought. She also smelled incredibly great!

After hours of chatting, they moved to a stately dining room where they enjoyed a lavish meal prepared by a human chef.

Lucky and Clixie dug into their bowls first.

While Clixie eagerly dug into chunks of high-quality exobeast meat, Gloriana had to draw out a handful of exotics from her ship’s inventory.

Nonetheless, their quality far surpassed the cheap space rocks that Ves routinely fed his cat. Lucky ecstatically crunched the exquisite exotics with a blissful expression.

As far as the gem cat was concerned, Gloriana already earned his approval!

Ves was different. Although people say that the way to a man’s heart was through their stomach, Dr. Jutland already turned his digestive system into an abomination!

He mechanically shoveled the fancy-looking food in his mouth. didn’t even know the names of the dishes. As someone who didn’t mind eating nutrient packs, his unsophisticated palate barely registered whether his food was sweet or salty!

"Don’t you enjoy your food?" Gloriana asked on the other side of the small dining table.

"I’m not used to eating fancy food. I’m used to eating whatever meals the autochefs produce on my personal ship."

She tutted disapprovingly at Ves. "That garbage can barely be called food! I’ll take care of your diet from now on. You’re missing out on one of the great pleasures in life!"

"I can take care of my own food. You don’t have to worry about what I eat."

"Whatever you say, Ves. I’ll make sure you’ll eat the best meals my chefs can provide!"

Ves wanted to palm his face. This was another instance where Gloriana insisted on taking control. He stopped arguing with her about this habit of hers because it was incredibly difficult to get her to budge. He needed to pick his battles.

In any case, it was just food. What was the harm in letting her provide for his meals?

He decided to change the topic.

"I know we agreed to travel together to the Bright Republic, but how long will you stay?"

"Are you so eager to get rid of me, Ves?" She briefly frowned.

"Ah, no! I don’t want to deprive you from your existing business activities. Don’t you run your own company back in the Hegemony?"

"I do." She nodded. "I started a small mech manufacturing company. My Flawless Mech Workshop isn’t anything like your Living Mech Corporation. It’s exclusively a vehicle for me to accept and complete commissions. In the time that you left at Centerpoint, my mother asked me to adapt a dozen different mechs to better fit their mech pilots. I spent a lot of time modifying so many mechs, but I’m all finished now."

"Won’t you get in trouble if you aren’t accepting any new business?"

"Nope! I want to spend as much time with you as possible, so I cleared my schedule and put my company on ice. Isn’t that great? I get to remain beside you for years!"

He looked astonished at Gloriana, not knowing whether he should smile or quiver at the thought of an extended stay.

"Is that even okay? Won’t your mother get worried or something?"

"Melody and the Glory Battalion are enough to keep me safe and in touch. Other than following a few rules, I’m basically free to do what I want! In fact, my mother encouraged me to accompany you to the Bright Republic."

What?!

"Didn’t your mother disapprove of me? Why would she want you to go with me? Does she believe you’d get disenchanted by life in a third-rate state or something?"

"Nothing of the sort." She shook her head. "She just wants me out of the way for a while. The Hexadric Hegemony is not as quiet as it seems from the outside. My mother doesn’t want me to get involved in any political disputes. In any case, I already did my duty when I modified the mechs of some of her favored mech pilots."

Ves scratched his head. "Is the Hegemony finally moving out to repel the sandman invasion?"

"No."

"..Really? What are you Hexers doing, then? Doesn’t your mother realize that the sandmen are threatening the Bright Republic?!"

"We know." Her face turned serious. "Neither the Hexadric Hegemony nor the Friday Coalition are ignorant of what is taking place at the border to the frontier."

"Then why are you guys doing nothing to combat this threat?!"

"Because it’s not worth it. Because we have better things to do. Because moving into action is costlier than doing nothing to us. If the sandmen ever reach our borders, we will not let a single grain of living sand through!"

This.. Ves heard these arguments before. Whenever someone asked a Fridayman or a Hexer why they were sitting on their thumbs, they always replied with the same callous answers that expressed no sympathy at all for the plight of the citizens trapped in the border states.