The Mech Touch novel Chapter 999

After his long and insightful talk with Jeff, Ves said goodbye and entered the military shuttle sent to pick him up. As the armored vehicle lifted into the air, it flew back to the military base at a steady pace.

Ves looked forward to returning, because he observed enough clues to write a damning report. As long as Flashlight or the Mech Corps moved fast enough, they’d be able to uncover the evidence he planned to point out!

Even if he misjudged some of his observations, the accusations would still be able to stick as long as ten percent of his claims turned out to be true!

"Seems like there is no way to avoid a reckoning."

He no longer cared that much about Flashlight’s inclinations on making the KNG suffer. Having gathered plenty of evidence of improper handling and outright stealing military mech parts made him rather angry and disappointed at the big mech manufacturer.

Yet even as he blamed the KNG, he couldn’t help but fear such an outcome taking place at his own company one day. Ves knew that the important takeaway from this incident would be to be more thoughtful on how to delegate responsibilities.

"Regardless, this has been a very eye-opening lesson to me. Running a mech company is way more difficult than I initially thought."

Kadar and Neyvis already deserved a lot of credit for growing their company to this extent. The only domestic mech companies that surpassed the KNG all enjoyed the direction of Senior Mech Designers.

Therefore, Ves did admire them for their successes and didn’t think their life’s work should be shut down.

However, he had no say in the government’s handling of the company and their owners. Depending on the severity of the problem as well as the agendas of those in power, Kadar and Neyvis could either receive a slap on the wrist or lose all of their property!

In the worst case, they might not even be able to escape jail, though Ves didn’t think this option would be likely. Without evidence of their direct involvement in the scheme, they couldn’t be blamed directly.

However, Ves knew that they held ultimate responsibility over military production in their facilities. Regardless of how many lower workers failed to do their duties, ultimately the negligence and lack of effort on the part of the owners allowed them all to get away with their misdeeds.

He put aside his deliberations when the shuttle landed at the parking zone of the military base. As Ves waved the shuttle pilot goodbye, he walked towards the building that held his quarters so he could pass on his conclusions to Leland.

The intelligence officer would be able to live with the accusations he planned to report. Ves felt a little relieved that he didn’t have to report too many falsehoods to meet Flashlight’s expectations on how he chose to fulfill the mission.

Once Ves put this sordid experience behind him, he figured he earned enough kudos from Flashlight to enjoy their backing and protection in earnest.

He deserved it. After all the hardships he endured and the risks he took, Ves definitely expected Flashlight to compensate him sincerely.

Hopefully, this would be the last dangerous mission he took part in. A mech designer like him belonged in a quiet, well-defended research base like Frozen Point. Even if he got assigned to an unfulfilling chore of a job again, Ves resolved to never complain about his duties again!

As Ves walked halfway back to the officer barracks that held his quarters, a bright light instantly flashed across the base.

"ARRGH!"

Moments later, Ves finally felt an excruciating pain! A powerful laser beam burned a hole right through his service dress uniform, punched through his chest and burned another hole on the way out!

Alarms instantly rang out across the base and a host of mechs and security guards jumped into action to secure the entire premises. A handful of emergency responders already raced towards the open spot where Ves collapsed!

"Assassin!"

"Who fired that laser?! Triangulate its origin point and secure the area!"

"Sir, we’ve detected that a high-powered laser rifle has been fired inside the premises of our base!"

"Damnit! The sniper is someone from the inside!"

"Spread out! Spread out! Don’t let the sniper get away! Also, immediately account for every personnel and guest at our base! Ground all vehicles and don’t let any of them enter or exit!"

As the guards and officers stationed at the base went into action, Ves felt hot, numb, burned, pained and woozy at the same time!

Surprisingly, Ves managed to hold on to his consciousness, enough to realize three important facts.

First, the sniper aimed at his heart! Ordinarily, this would have resulted in an instant fatality when struck by a laser weapon, but it just so happened that Ves did not possess a normal heart anymore.

Aside from his recent gene optimization treatments that made his body cope a little better against heat and burn damage, his half-alien traits saved him at the critical moment!

The Jutland organ that Dr. Jutland implanted his body had at first surrounded his heart before slowly merging together to combine their functions!

This strange and wondrous organ which now integrated the functions of a heart was virtually immune to the energy damage which laser weapons typically discharged! No matter how hot or energetic a laser beam such weapons fired, a Jutland organ eagerly gobbled them all up without sustaining any damage as long as the incoming energy didn’t surpass their appetite!

Only the weapons discharge of a massive mech-grade laser rifle would be able to induce his Jutland organ to collapse!

The second fact was that he’d been shot from the back. This assassin not only managed to fool the military base’s stringent monitoring system, but also managed to fire off a shot without alerting Ves at all!

"Mr. Larkinson! Please remain still!" One of the emergency responders said as they got over their shock that he managed to survive a shot through his heart. "Your condition is too critical for you to talk!" _{frёeweɓηovel.coɱ}