The Mech Touch novel Chapter 185

Carlos stepped backwards and looked at his latest finished work. The Marc Antony Mark II sparkled like a shiny new jewel. It looked to be his best work to date. Too bad he still lacked the skill and finesse to match the gold label mechs.

Raella whistled impressively as she hobbled over while chewing a nutrient bar. "It’s really impressive to see you conjure up a mech out of nowhere. How much do these go for anyway?"

"Our company’s mech broker is currently selling them for twenty-eight million credits. It used to be thirty million, but the models haven’t proven to be very popular at that price."

Though twenty-eight million credits sounded respectable, Carlos knew that it wasn’t enough. The Living Mech Corporation needed to accumulate billions of credits in order to establish a fully mature production line as well as acquire the necessary licences to design and fabricate a newer generation mech model.

Still, he believed that Ves had a handle on the problem. His previously average friend and classmate had turned into a terrifying mech designer as of late. While Carlos still scratched his head at the sudden transformation, his friendship with his increasingly inscrutable boss gave him a unique opportunity to ride on his coattails.

"Man, you must be rolling in credits right now! Won’t you slip a few million credits on my way?"

"No can do." Carlos shook his head. "I don’t have full authority to the company’s accounts. Ves’ grandpa is constantly keeping an eye on the company’s expenditures."

As a director of the LMC, Benjamin Larkinson took an active interest in the development of the company. He especially guarded over the influx of money used to buy a twenty-five percent stake in the business.

"Cheapskate." Raella shrugged and finished off her nutrient bar. "It’s so boring around here. I really would have liked to join Ves. Do you think he’s having fun right now?"

"No idea. All I’ve heard is he’s somewhere out in the frontier doing something dangerous."

"That sounds like an adventure! Ves and Melkor must be having the time of their lives right now! Damn, why am I stuck here recovering from a bout of Molgon? I could have been out there beating up pirates and aliens in order to rob them of their treasures!"

No matter how much Raella moaned about her fate, she couldn’t do anything at the moment. Her body still had to undergo several treatments stretched over months before she became fit enough to pilot a mech. Any excessive physical exertion risked setting back her progress.

In reality, Ves experienced none of the wonders she imagined that went on in the frontier. Instead, he hobbled down from the tail of the Kaius and sat down on the ground of the hollowed out cave. A pitifully small stream of water flowed from the cave, making it one of the few readily available sources of water in this underground kingdom.

Ves looked around the cave and tried to peer through the relative darkness. From the ambient light streaming from the entrance of the cave, he spotted decades worth of improvisation and neglect.

A couple of makeshift structures ringed around the pool. They were cobbled together from a combination of fallen metallic trees and salvaged building materials from the prior expedition.

A large pile of rusting mech wrecks laid heaped upon a pile in a corner. Doctor Jutland must have been cannibalizing their parts over the years to supplement the Kaius.

What struck Ves the most was that he detected various forms of life scurrying about. Dog-sized hexapods vaguely shimmered around the wrecks while small flights of hexabats flew lazily over his head.

None of them showed any hostility to him. Ves figured that Jutland must have tamed them with his strange control method. The madman’s ability to tame and direct the hexapods alone gave him the qualifications to call himself the king of the jungle.

The Kaius lumbered over a deep pool dug out from the side. It submerged itself into the water up until it reached its neck. Doctor Jutland removed the straps holding him to his makeshift seat and jumped to the edge of the pool with practiced ease.

The man grinned at him, as if he knew what Ves tried to hide. "There will be no rescue for you here. Mr. Keller has helpfully kept me apprised of what your expedition is up to. Don’t think this is my only base! In fact, I’ve built up over fifteen outposts! They’ll never be able to find all of them! Hahahaha!"

That traitor! Ves cursed under his breath. Keller’s nearsighted decision to collaborate with Jutland just ruined one of his hopes. The expedition couldn’t divert too many mechs to chase around a madman, especially after he got what he wanted. The chance of rescue just dwindled down to almost nothing.

Ves could only rely on himself for now.

"Why did you kidnap me?"

"What else?! I need a mech designer, and you’re the only idiot who’s stupid enough to land on this planet. You’re it, hahahaha!"

Doctor Jutland’s hysterical laughing grated on Ves. The man acted like he constantly injected himself with stimulants. Sometimes he paused and whispered softly to himself as if he had a second personality in his mind.

When Jutland regained some clarity, he turned to Ves with a laser focus. "A mech designer only needs to design mechs! Why else have I brought you here! Finally my Kaius will receive the attention it deserves!"

The doctor whistled loudly in a very peculiar pattern. A juvenile hexapod lounging nearby sprung to readiness and approached Ves in no time. The creature hissed at him and bumped its head forward.

Through the creature’s direction, Ves stepped forward and approached the lake with the half-submerged Kaius. The mech looked like a wreck stranded in water, though the darkness prevented him from spotting more details.

"It’s too dark here. Do you have a light or something?"

"You pitiful baseline human." Jutland shook his head, but he started moving and approached one of the structures formed out of salvaged armor plating. Both of his hands touched a pair of twin rods poking out from the sides. "Let there be light!"

Something incredible happened. A live current emerged from Jutland’s hands and transferred over to the rods. The entire cave came to life as different lights salvaged from wrecks lighted up and illuminated the breath of the cave.

Ves had underestimated the amount of hexapods Jutland gathered in his base. He could spot an entire colony of hexabats quietly resting on the roof of the cave. As for the landform hexabats, a small group of formidable adults rested near the entrance, ready to swat Ves into mush the moment he tried to escape.