The Mech Touch novel Chapter 348

When Ves was about to fire the rune monuments in the sequence displayed by the key, he suddenly removed his finger from the trigger.

"Wait a minute. Am I missing an opportunity here?"

He looked back on his recent experiences and realized he only fixated on the danger. The fearful environment, dangerous organisms and incomprehensible alien ruins had pushed him out of his comfort zone. He became so sensitive to danger that he only thought about getting back as soon as possible.

"There’s no question that it’s dangerous here, but am I really at risk right now?"

His semi-corporeal form had already saved him from being electrocuted by the storm trees and being eaten by a giant clawed worm. It might be able to save him from every other threat on this planet.

He hadn’t considered taking advantage of his unusual state up to this point. Now that he calmed down, he thought that it would be a waste to miss the opportunity in front of him. How could he forget that the crystal city was a product of a highly-developed alien civilization?

It was chock full of advanced technology!

"Danger and fortune goes hand in hand!"

The Komodo Star Sector fostered a lively community of treasure hunters and fortune seekers. They constantly plowed the unclaimed space beyond the star sector for the opportunity to encounter rich exotic deposits or the remains of alien races.

Ves had practically hit the jackpot! If he didn’t reminded himself of that, he might have left without picking up the prize!

"This is a marvel of alien engineering." He exclaimed. His eyes gazed hungrily at the dormant crystal city scaled for an alien species that he could easily pinch with his hands.

Diminutive they might be, their mastery of materials, electromagnetic radiation and spacetime surpassed the standard of the Komodo Star Sector by a very wide margin. If Ves took some time to study these ruins, he might be able to decipher some of the principles that underpinned the crystal city!

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Ves understood that humans actually didn’t invent most of the technologies they used to this day. Although their race possessed a formidable capacity for research, they derived most of their advancements from reverse engineering the efforts of other advanced races.

There was nothing wrong with this approach. Many of these ancient alien species used to be formidable, but almost none of them survived to the present. Rather than reinvent the wheel, humanity might as well take a shortcut by stealing the homework of their seniors.

The Age of Conquest had only been a smashing success due to the theft of many alien technologies, such as the FTL drives.

By now, most alien technologies had already been fully explained by the top researchers of the galaxy, but that didn’t mean the knowledge was available to everyone. The MTA, CFA and the first-rate superstates monopolized the most groundbreaking technologies, leaving everyone else with an insurmountable disparity.

Hence the need to explore other ruins. The big players provided lavish rewards for anyone who discovered wholly new technologies.

Sadly, humanity had already seen practically everything the galaxy could produce, so realistically it wasn’t possible to surprise them anyone. The big boys only provided a modest reward to those who handed over alien technology that they could already reproduce themselves.

Still, even if the MTA and CFA already understood the principles, they still held a lot of value to the smaller players such as the Friday Coalition or the Bright Republic.

Something as strange as teleportation and portal generation should be of prime interest to these states.

Ves didn’t plan on revealing this treasure to anyone.

"First, I don’t even know what triggered the decahedron. It’s unlikely I can replicate the phenomenon again and return to this virgin planet."

He had to make the most out of this accidental trip. He wasn’t a professional treasure hunter, after all. He still had to design a new mech and grow his company.

"Second, I won’t gain much of an advantage if I share these technologies."

Many stories circulated from the frontier on how treasure hunters got stiffed by their clients. The disparity in power between a bunch of nobodies and the apparatus of a state meant that anyone who offered technology had to swallow their ambitions.

Most of the time, the technology in question wasn’t remarkable enough to foster mutual competition between states. It was nice to get to know it, but they wouldn’t go the extra mile to attain it. Established states already possessed sufficient confidence in their technology base.

Unless he could explain and reproduce the ability to generate a portal, Ves figured that the Bright Republic wouldn’t attach any importance to his discoveries.

"It’s better to keep my advancements to myself."

Many older mech designers often kept their specialties to themselves. The technologies they grasped might not be unique in the perspective of the galaxy, but they likely wouldn’t have to face a direct competitor that mastered the same advancements.

"This is a way for me to step ahead of the competition."

In light of his intentions to design a rifleman mech, what would be better than to enhance his laser rifles with a new mode of laser propagation?

Not only that, by studying the way in which these crystal builders utilized light, he might be able to enhance his gamma laser rifle and thereby exceed the grading standards of the System’s upgrade mission.

"The System always gives me something good whenever I go the extra mile."

From his long interactions with the System, he knew that this ice-cold machine couldn’t be cheated. On the other hand, it also wouldn’t hold back if Ves aligned with its ideals.

"Let’s start grasping the inner workings of these ruins."

Ves approached the crystal city. Even though his state protected him from physical damage, he hadn’t ruled out the possibility that the crystal builders mastered a way to harm energy beings.

Nothing happened, thankfully.