The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7071

Chapter 7071: Ottaviani & Partners

Isobel could not make up her mind whether she wanted to embrace the compact cockpit concept proposed by Ves.

She could rationally understand the benefits of piloting her machine with a much smaller cockpit than normal, but the thought of getting rid of the limbs that made her more human-like sounded terrifying to her. She would be rendered helpless without any means of moving aside from relying on a relatively weak reactionless drive.

That said, she did not dismiss this option outright. She recognized the potential gains of piloting a mech with a reduced cockpit. Its diminished size would free up room for additional energy cells or other benefits.

“Give me time to think about it.” She ultimately told him. “It would be nice if you can send me a draft image or blueprint so that I can visualize the experience of piloting my mech inside a shrunken cockpit.”

Ves nodded. “Got it. I will contact Lady Romanda Devos of the Devos Ancient Clan and request her cooperation for this task. She normally specializes in designing mechs with ultra-large cockpits, but her expertise should still be relevant when designing cockpits that follow the opposite direction of her design philosophy.”

“I will cooperate as best as possible.”

It was a bit weird for a mech designer to develop such a weird design philosophy, but Ves was grateful that Lady Romanda existed. It was much better to leave cockpit design and modification to a mech designer who specialized in this subject.

“Don’t forget about the theory and techniques that I have passed on to you.” He reminded the mostly-recovered ace pilot. “The higher you can raise your tolerance of fire energy, the more powerful your Bloodfire mech will become. This is brand-new technology that has very high potential. It is one of the key systems that has transformed the Dominion of Man from a regular dreadnought into a godship.”

Saint Isobel looked hopeful. “How powerful can it make my Promethea Mark II?”

“That depends on many factors.” Ves responded. “The biggest variable that will determine how powerful your ace mech can become is the source of fire-attributed E energy. I suppose you can rely on absorbing large amounts of E energy radiation to meet your consumption, but there is only so much you can take from a medium-energy environment. It will also leave your ace mech vulnerable to regions of anomalous space where the flow of fire energy is diminished or extinguished entirely. It is best to integrate a self-contained source of fire energy into your machine.”

“Does something like that even exist?” Isobel skeptically asked.

Ves confidently smiled. “Yes. I can think of at least two ways to solve this problem. The first is to secure the cooperation of Master Benedict Cortez of the Cross Clan. His Endex System Version 3.0 is not able to output enough E energy to make a difference, but his remarkable Alien Variant Original Energy Bridge System is capable of outputting formidable amounts of electrical energy as well E energy of the attributes derived from the source, which mostly comes in the form of heads or skulls taken from powerful mutated beasts or alien beings.”

In fact, the non-Alien Variant of this tech was based on taking advantage of the heads of high-ranking mech pilots, but that was so outrageous that Ves did not dare to mention any word about it, especially here on Yernstall IV which was known as a stronghold of the Red Association.

“I heard that our relations with the Cross Clan has become more tense than before.”

“That is somewhat true. We are still allies, but Master Benedict Cortez is not in a mood to collaborate with us at the moment. He may mellow out in a few years, and we can always bribe him with enough superdimensional matter, but I would rather look for alternatives.”

“What else do you have in mind?”

“Nothing for now.” Ves honestly admitted. “I am looking to acquire a relic or a powerful fire-aspected reagent harvested from a calamity beast or other wonder of the universe. I am not too picky. So long as it generates a large amount of fire energy, I am confident that I can tame it and reshape it into a stable source of fire energy. I don’t need to seek the cooperation of Master Benedict if the item already pumps out plenty of fire energy by itself. Well, it doesn’t have to be a dead object. It can also be a living being as long as it is small enough to put inside a mech.”

Saint Isobel grew horrified at the thought of stuffing a living fire entity into the heart of her mech.

Would its hostile energies course through her artificial veins? The pressure would definitely be great! It was no wonder that Ves ordered her to practice techniques aimed at raising her fire energy resistance.

It became much more vital for her to make sure that she would not get burned by the fire she hoped to wield as her weapon!

“Will you be able to find this source of fire energy here in Yernstall?”

“That is the plan, Isobel. I will be meeting with a handful of trade brokers later today. We have assigned them to search for rare and high-end goods that match the descriptions on my wish list. I have made sure to add a source of fire energy to that. Yernstall’s trade brokerage firms are well-connected and can find sellers that are well outside of the public eye. I am mildly optimistic that they can deliver what I have asked for. The only uncertainty is how much we need to pay to secure our prize.”

People all knew that the Larkinson Clan had grown wealthy through a combination of mech sales, various business deals, battlefield plunder and most crucially controlling the only known means of entering the Blue Dimension.

That meant that there were a lot of shrewd businessmen out there that viewed the Larkinson Clan as a fattened pig that was ripe for slaughter.

The companies and traders found by the brokers would definitely ask high prices for their goods.

The rarer and more difficult it was to acquire a specific item, the more outrageous the asking price would become!

That would leave Ves and the Larkinson Clan in an uncomfortable position. They could still say no, but that may result in losing the only opportunity to obtain highly desirable goods.

The only other way Ves could obtain the rare goods he desired was to enter the System Space and check the randomized selection of goods for sale in the Divine Bazaar.

He saw a number of potentially useful items. There were always goods for sale that had a strong connection to the five classical elements.

However, their potency was doubtful and the price in precious Ascension Points was great.

Ves would rather try and seek his luck in Yernstall where he could acquire a source of fire energy by trading more expendable resources.