The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1561

Chapter 1561 Thorny Opposition

The next morning, Gloriana traveled to the Mech Nursery early in order to finish her examination of William's state.

Her specialty demanded that she know as much about a mech pilot as possible. It wasn't enough to learn their physical state. She also needed to gain an understanding of their piloting skills, mental state and so on. All of that required a lot of time to investigate.

On this, Ves didn't want to wait. It wasn't as if they were performing a peer-reviewed study that needed to adhere to academic standards. He was in a hurry to enact his spiritual treatment plan.

If he succeeded, then he could immediately move on to the next step of his custom mech project!

If he failed, then he would simply shake his head and accept this outcome. He didn't feel the need to learn too many lessons from a possible failure because it was doubtful if Ves would mess around with people's minds like this again.

Most mech pilots weren't cowards, after all! Ves could scarcely imagine the need to perform the same treatment on Larkinsons!

"I'm not really sure if I'm even supposed to be messing with people's minds in the first place." He quietly muttered as stepped out of his mansion.

A lot of Larkinsons were leaving for work or school at this time. Large shuttles and aircars flew out of the Cloud Estate every minute.

The sight of all of this traffic further emphasized how many Larkinsons actually lived on his property.

He still scratched his head at how easy the Larkinsons persuaded to turn his 'private' estate into a 'family' estate.

"Well, it's not as if I object to this change."

Ves truly enjoyed the company of the Larkinsons. No matter how old or young they were, being surrounded by family always brought him joy. As long as they didn't solicit him for money or favors, he didn't mind their company.

"Meow." Lucky happily climbed on his shoulder and looked out at the ascending vehicles.

"Am I not enough for you, Lucky?"

"Meow meow."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. I'm not always available if you want to play."

The kids had all taken a liking for Lucky and Clixie. Not only that, some of them also owned their pets. Animals formed an entire population group at his estate!

"Well, let's head to work."

Ves and Lucky boarded their own shuttle which brought them to the Mech Nursery. Upon arrival, Gavin surprisingly awaited their arrival at the landing zone.

Usually, Ves met with Gavin in his penthouse office.

"What brings you here, Benny?"

"Before you head inside, I want to show you something just outside the premises." His assistant answered.

Gavin led his boss out of the landing zone and towards the main entrance of the manufacturing complex.

The closer they approached, the more Ves began to hear the noise and cacophony of a crowd.

Once they reached the enormous but largely symbolic swing gates, a mob of protestors were screaming and chanting at the entrance. Some of them even held electronic placards that projected signs in the air!

Ves read some of the words projected above the heads of the protestors.

CEASE BRAINWASHING US!

VES LARKINSON IS A WAR CRIMINAL!

DO NOT BUY LMC MECHS!

THE DEVIL TONGUE IS EVIL!

THE LARKINSONS HAVE SHOWN THEIR TRUE NATURE!

BANISH THE DEVIL TONGUE BACK TO WHERE HE BELONGS!

Ves grimaced at the sight. He didn't miss the group of journalists capturing the protests with their floating recorder bots. Who knew how many of his customers would watch the footage of the protests by the end of the day!

Since Ves didn't hide his approach, the protestors on the other side of the gate soon noticed his presence!

"Begone, you devil!"

"Go poison the minds of the Ylvainans, you traitor!"

"My father died because he piloted your crappy mechs!"

"We won't let you take over our state! We are on to your nefarious plan to brainwash everyone into worshipping you! You may have already turned the Ylvainans into your slaves, but it's not too late for us!"

Ves snorted when he heard that last accusation. Did they think he was another incarnation of Prophet Ylvaine? He could care less about their lives!

Just as Ves stepped up to teach them all a lesson, Gavin held his arm and pulled him back. "Don't, Ves! I didn't bring you here to argue with the protestors."

Ves frowned. "Why not?"

"No amount of arguing will change their minds. If you step forward and open your mouth, the only thing you'll accomplish is realizing their worst fears. Even if you manage to disperse the crowd, the people who weren't present here would state that your Devil Tongue was at work!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"That's the public perception that your critics have formed! I know it's rather abrupt for you to be confronted with these protests, but they are much larger than the mob you see before you. Trust me, we've tried to stamp them out many times, but there are too many people who bought into the conspiracy theories or gave in to their worst fears."

Ves only vaguely learned of the existence of the movement against his mechs during his previous tour.

He suspected that the movement initially started when a couple of competitors and critics banded together to depress his success.

Gavin explained the latest developments to Ves.

"We used to treat the opposition to our mechs as a serious nuisance. That was back when we still sold Blackbeaks, Crystal Lords and Aurora Titans. All of this changed when we published the Desolate Soldier. Our mechs have begun to proliferate in Bentheim, which means that a lot more people get exposed to our mechs in one of the busiest planets in our state!"