The Mech Touch novel Chapter 215

"Why did you tell me this?" Ves asked with an elevated heartbeat. The Three Tyrants should never be brought up in a casual conversation. In addition, Ves shouldn’t even know of the connection between the Monty the Beheader and Walter’s Whalers.

"So you know who’s got our backs. He’s not the nicest boss, but he’s fair to his underlings. Besides, the Whalers are merely associates to him. He doesn’t pay too much attention to what goes on in hick planets like ours."

"That’s good to hear."

It certainly explained how the Whalers enjoyed so many connections. They were actually a part of a larger underground organisation with tentacles that stretched out everywhere. In the larger scheme of things, the Whalers kept an eye on Monty’s backyard and occasionally helped hide some hot goods that needed to be squared away somewhere obscure but not out of reach.

Dietrich swept up his palm. "Besides, he’s really big in the resource trade. I heard you’ve been looking around for a fixed supplier. If you want, I can give you an introduction to some companies that are in his pocket."

The offer sounded very attractive, to the point where Ves almost spilled his coffee. Still, he felt reluctant to establish deeper ties with a notorious crime boss. Doing a couple of odd jobs might be okay, but if he started getting in deep, he’d wonder if he could ever get out someday.

"Thank you, but I can take care of my own business."

They made no other agreements at this time. Ves hadn’t gotten the instant cash infusion that he hoped for, but at least he secured another revenue stream, even if it looked a little dubious. Carlos would have to deal with the extra workload.

After they left the coffee shop, they went their separate ways. Ves returned to his workshop while contemplating his business relationships.

He always knew he had to keep an amicable relationship with the local gang. At Rittersberg, he’d been taught about the reality of the criminal underworld and how pervasive their influence extended throughout society.

Especially out in the galactic rim, most third-rate states lacked the strength to control their territory effectively. This gave room for alternative power structures with different goals in mind. Bentheim was especially rife with warring crime groups, which was one reason why Ves avoided the place.

"Luckily, there’s nothing going on here that will attract any serious attention." Ves concluded. "If there’s one thing the politicians are right about, it’s that our planet is too poor to rob."

Ves still thought differently, but he became more aware of the risks. If Cloudy Curtain ever shed its status as an underdeveloped planet, some groups might wish to take a piece of the pie. If too many people all grabbed a pie, Ves would have nothing left but an empty plate.

"I doubt the situation will end up that way. With the Whalers having been in power for more than decade, they’re not so easy to dislodge."

When his armored shuttle arrived back at his workshop, Ves briefed Carlos in on his extra assignment. His friend looked very dubious at him, as if he couldn’t believe Ves dared to engage in such a scheme.

"You do know your cousin is part of the Planetary Guard, right? Won’t she lock you up if she finds out what kind of scam you’re pulling off?"

"She’ll never know." Ves confidently said. "The Whalers will take care of all the paperwork. They’ll establish shell companies and everything that will fake legitimate repair orders. Even if someone digs into their background, they’ll only find that they’re owned by another shell company which is owned by another shell company and so on."

Most companies only existed on paper. They acted as holding companies that allowed the real shareholders to hang on to properties without leaving behind their names. This could get very complicated but also very lucrative once different companies set their headquarters at different tax jurisdictions.

"What about your grandfather?" Carlos continued to press. "He’s a board member of your company, you know. There’s no way you can hide the truth from him once he sees how much extra activities we’re doing."

"My grandfather won’t make a fuss. I’m sure of it. What I’m doing will not only benefit the company financially, but I’ll also be appeasing the local gang that’s in control of the planet."

Sometimes you had to get your hands dirty in order to do business. Ves was pretty sure that the Larkinson family established their own ties with shady groups in order to safeguard their real estate on Rittersberg.

In any case, he’d deal with it if it became a problem. At this early stage, Ves couldn’t turn his eyes away to an additional revenue stream.

Since the equipment he ordered from Leemar still took some time to arrive, Ves decided to check up on his virtual sales. He placed the DarkSpear onto the virtual market a week ago and wanted to see whether he achieved enough sales.

His eyes opened wide when he inspected his sales history. "Over two-thousand sales!"

He only predicted an initial sales volume of around a hundred mechs. Even in his most optimistic projections, he never dared to hope that he could break past five-hundred units sold.

The amount of credits he earned from these sales still remained negligible as Ves continued to set the lowest minimum prices on his designs. What Ves truly cared about was how much DP the System awarded him for achieving so much 4-star sales.

Since Ves earned 10 DP for each DarkSpear sold, the System should have added over 20,000 DP to his account! He quickly summoned up his Status on his comm and saw with his own eyes that he earned just a little bit more than that amount.

Sure, a four-digit sales volume hardly phased the more successful developers of virtual mechs, but to Ves it represented a great success.

Once he got over his shock, he started scratching his head. Why did his latest model sell so well? Cloudy Curtain might have a modest amount of Gold Leaguers, but Ves imagined that not a lot people would be interested in piloting an assassin mech. It required a very patient and deliberate playstyle that contrasted sharply with the instant direct action that other mech classifications provided.

He looked at his customer profiles and found that the majority actually came from Bentheim instead of Cloudy Curtain. For some reason, his latest virtual design caught on there.

After a bit of digging, Ves found out why.

In short, a couple of early adopters fell in love with the concept. One of the biggest complaints of assassin mechs was that it became extremely tedious trying to sneak up on an enemy mech.

The DarkSpear happened to skip the riskiest portion of the approach. Unlike other assassin mechs, It didn’t need to enter the range in which the sensors of any mech became increasingly more effective at spotting anomalies.

What happened was that the early adopters basically cheesed through the Gold League by taking out their opposition with sudden charges from behind. The enemies never saw them coming if the pilots of the DarkSpear models used them effectively.

Ves guessed that the X-Factor played a vital role in easing the pilots to the the stalk-and-pounce tactic the DarkSpear heavily favored. Even through the complications of piloting a virtual mech, the X-Factor still made its presence known, especially since it possessed the highest grade that Ves had produced so far.