The Mech Touch novel Chapter 505

It didn’t take long before Ves received a summons from Major Verle. He calmly closed his terminal and closed his eyes.

"Seems like this is a serious issue after all."

The level of embezzlement that happened on an individual level wasn’t too great, but when it had reached such a scale that practically every workshop was involved, the losses added up.

If all of the profits from these activities channeled in a small number of masterminds, then what Ves reported just threatened their livelihood.

The one thing he was afraid of most was that this level of corruption had reached the highest level. If Major Verle or Lieutenant Commander Soapstone received a cut of the profits, then Ves enormously harmed his relations with two of the most powerful officers in the Verle Task Force.

"Still, I can’t sit still and do nothing."

Though Ves readily admitted to himself that he wasn’t above pulling dirty tricks, he hated it when others tried to pull the wool over his eyes. Now that he accepted the job of head designer, everything concerning mechs came under his purview. Ves was not the type of person who tolerated employee theft.

"Urgh. I’m thinking of the Vandals like a business again." He shook his head.

He couldn’t help but make the parallels between his job as a head designer and his status as a business owner of the LMC.

It would be a mistake to adopt this mindset, because the web of power was much more complex here. Back at the LMC, he was not only the founder and sole designer, Ves also relied on his majority ownership to exert total control.

While his reliance on agents and employees effectively limited his power, it remained a fact that Ves held ultimate authority over his firm.

In the Vandal command structure, the mech officers formed the main combatants as well as the main decision makers. The ship and staff officers on the other hand mainly executed the decisions made by the mech officers.

Mech designers like Ves existed outside of this command structure, and acted more like external consultants. Even Professor Velten who shared the most intimate relationship with the Vandals held no military rank.

Because Ves fell outside the conventional command structure, he also benefited from a different perspective. That was why he went through with informing Major Verle of his findings. Even if he pissed some powerful Vandals off, they couldn’t do anything to him, at least outwardly. The most they could do was try to marginalize his influence.

If that happened, so be it, but Ves cooked up several plans that would counteract their petty attempts. Ves may not be a Journeyman Mech Designer, but his skills overshadowed everyone else’s in the fleet.

If it came down to it, Ves wasn’t above pulling up his sleeves to impress the savages of what a good mech designer could bring to the table.

As Ves stood up and exited his office, Iris called out to him just as the hatch slid open.

"Boss! Are you going out?"

"Yeah, it seems like what I dug up requires an immediate response. Stay here and keep collating the data."

"Will do."

After Ves made his initial discoveries, he didn’t feel like digging into the data anymore. He pushed some of the duties onto Iris, who unfortunately couldn’t match his Intelligence.

Ves keenly witnessed the difference between his own capabilities and someone with more human-like Intelligence values. Despite benefiting from a minor boost in mental capacity due to her Jupiter Family heritage, she required weeks to do what Ves could complete in a day.

This must be another reason why Professor Velten thought he would be suitable to take on the role of head designer. He processed data faster than others, which helped enormously in a data-oriented job like his. Head designers needed to make difficult decisions according to the information at hand, and Ves could take in much more information at much higher speeds, so he possessed a definite advantage in this area.

Any other mech designer thrust into this seat would quickly be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data required to make the right decisions. They could either spend months getting familiar with their position or take some shortcuts and enact policies based on an incomplete understanding of the situation.

"Such outcomes will inevitably lead to disaster."

When Ves stepped into Major Verle’s stateroom, he glanced around as his steps brought him to one of the available seats.

The major didn’t have time to furnish his stateroom according to his tastes. He must have lost everything he owned when the Stubby Growler went down. The metallic walls looked grey and bare while the furniture all consisted of the most basic copies that any mech technician could fabricate according to a standard template.

This was a good sign to Ves, because the bare furnishings signalled that Verle didn’t care for material possessions.

"You’ve given me quite a conundrum, Mr. Larkinson." Verle started as he shut off his terminal, leaving his desk bare. He stared at Ves with inscrutable eyes. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Ves couldn’t read any hint of Verle’s intentions. Was he pleased that Ves brought the matter to his attention, or had he encroached upon a taboo?

Even if both sides didn’t commit, a handful of extra mechs could drastically influence the amount of casualties both sides sustained. _{free𝑤ebnovel.com}