The Mech Touch

Ves thought about it carefully. The value of the Transcendence Pill lay in its ability to overcome the human limit without any side effects. It only cost him time, while precious, would never be short in stock.

Therefore, even if the Bright Republic faced tumultuous times, the benefits of the Pill absolutely outweighed the cost. Even if Ves ultimately couldnʼt finish his second original design in time, he would still be able to use his increased capabilities in other ways.

A special elevator slowly descended many kilometers deep into the earth. It passed through a number of checkpoints and defenses that surrounded the sensitive lab and private workshop floor.

When the elevator doors finally opened, Ves stepped into the lab with Lucky floating behind him. The cat quickly darted away, passing through a number of walls without encountering any hindrance.

Besides Lucky, nothing should have been able to penetrate the thick defenses of the lab.

An uncountable amount of defenses and security measures hid behind the alloy-paneled walls. Advanced electronic defense systems thwarted the intrusion of any bugs and jammed any form of signalling or transmission. A secure but expensive quantum entanglement node formed the only method of communication with the outside galaxy.

Closed air circulation and filtration systems ensured that the entire floor was completely sterile and free of contaminants. A storeroom filled with water and nutrient packs as well as an excellent organic recycling system ensured that Ves would easily be able to last inside the floor for more than a decade.

The way the security systems had been set up made it difficult for Sanyal-Ablin to snoop in on him. A thick layer of signal-blocking material enveloped the entire floor. The only way that theyʼd be able to receive telemetry was if some kind of miniature bug hitch-hiked on his body or inside his comm.

”Good luck with that.”

The System practically monopolized his comm and didnʼt allow any form of malware or spyware to invest his most important electronic device. As for external bugs, Lucky often snacked on them every day.

Ves even went to the trouble of hiring several other security companies and consultants to supervise the construction of this floor. He even asked the Larkinson Estate to send their own specialist to keep an eye on the supervisors.

All of this had ballooned his expenses, but Ves wasnʼt short on money these days.

”From now on, this is my temple.”

Ves became inspired to construct a private workshop after Oleg invited him into Master Olsonʼs workshop in Leemar. Despite her absence, her workshop carried a majestic air that made it clear that miracles emerged from that place.

Right now, his own workshop was half-empty and rather barren. Much of the fancy machines cost much more than ten times the total worth of the LMC. Ves had no choice but to set aside his intentions of purchasing all of those expensive machines and settle for the basics.

”Itʼs sufficient for now.”

He planned to make full use of what he got once he started designing his rifleman mech. Right now, he had a pill to ingest. He left the working area and entered the attached living space.

After freshening himself up yet again, Ves called out to Lucky. ”Come over here!”

Lucky floated through the walls and stopped in the air in front of Ves. ”Meow?”

”Iʼm going to be out cold for a time. I donʼt know how long it lasts, but make sure nobody enters this floor, okay?”

”Meow.”

”Hey, donʼt argue with me. I left a whole batch of high-value minerals inside the storerooms. Feel free to munch on them while you guard over me.”

”Meow!”

This time, Lucky appeared to comply with his orders. If nothing else, Ves could always bribe his cat with food.

Once he finished making his final preparations, he took out the Transcendence Pill he received as a reward at the end of the Glowing Planet campaign. The thumb-sized pill carried an organic gold luster, as if it had been condensed by the blood of a god.

”If the System is able to bring out a Transcendence Pill, then someone in the galaxy is able to produce them. How difficult is it to make such a wondrous pill?”

Gene boosts already cost a fortune to produce, and they only provided marginal effects compared to the Transcendence Pill. This tiny object had the potential of transforming the life of anyone who ingested it. The price for this pill must certainly be horrible for any single person to bear.

The depths of the galaxy hid an uncountable amount of powerhouses. Master Mech Designers emigrated from the galactic rim and the galactic heartland all the time in order towards the galactic center

Besides competing for the best technologies and the most miraculous exotics, Ves guessed they also struggled to obtain the favor of organizations that grasped the production of these precious pills.

”Thereʼs nothing in the galactic rim and galactic heartland that can keep these Master Mech Designers interested.”

The Komodo Star Sector especially had it bad. As one of the most backward star sectors in the galaxy, over two-thirds of the Masters that emerged from this region had eventually said goodbye to their old states and journeyed to the center of the galaxy in order to join the Terrans or the Rubarthans.

Would Master Olson choose to go for greener pastures as well some day?

”She only advanced to the rank of Master a fairly short time ago. Sheʼs still too young at a hundred years old.”

With a sufficient amount of life-prolonging treatments, a wealthy individual could easily push up to six-hundred years. Many fossils that experienced the violent transition from the Age of Conquest to the Age of Mechs still clung to their lives to this day.

He estimated that Master Olson should take at least another hundred years to shore up her foundation before she made her play.

Once that happened, everything would change. Ves knew that if he tried hard enough, Master Olson would certainly extend an invitation for him to join her expedition to the center of the galaxy.

If Ves was a normal mech designer, heʼd certainly look forward to it. But with the System, who knew if he would still be Master Olsonʼs apprentice in a hundred years. Perhaps heʼd be able to treat her as his equal by that time.

”If Master Olson is a genius who can advance to Master in a hundred years, then Iʼll certainly be able to accomplish the same!”

Advancing to Master in a hundred years, how ambitious! Ves even harbored ambitions of reaching such a height well before he turned a hundred years old!

The renowned Star Designer who held the title of Polymath held the record for the youngest advancement to Master. She she took less than fifty years to rocket straight to Master, astounding the entire galaxy in a single feat!

”All of that is still too far away.” He sighed and turned his attention back to the Transcendence Pill. ”This shall be the next step in my road to ascension.”

Ves carefully laid down on his bed and popped the pill into his mouth. He didnʼt require any water to swallow down the pill. In fact, it had turned into liquid as soon as it entered his mouth.

A rush of energy emerged from his stomach and shot straight to his brains. Before he could even contemplate the feeling, an invisible pillow smothered his consciousness.

An unknown amount of time went by as Ves slumbered on his bed. He completely fell into dormancy, and wouldnʼt wake up even if he grew hungry or needed to relieve himself. Naturally, he already prepared some bots to take care of those issues beforehand, but strangely enough, his body remained in a state of stasis.

Besides his respiration, almost every other bodily function had paused.

Sometimes, Lucky emerged from the walls and landed atop Ves. His mastery over his intangible state allowed him to materialize completely for short moments of time by now, and he often did so in order to bump Ves from his sleep.

”Meow.”

Unfortunately, nothing he did managed to wake Ves up. Sensing the futility of his actions, Lucky gave up on the idea and instead spent most of his time sleeping atop his owner.

As for Ves, his mind had been cast far away from the Komodo Star Sector. The Transcendence Pill had a marvelous effect on his mind. He felt as if he experienced an out-of-body moment yet again, but instead of being brought into someone elseʼs body, his mind and soul had reached an immeasurable height above the galaxy.

His incorporeal senses gazed down at the splendid disk of the Milky Way. The galaxy spun much faster according to reality. Thousands of years went by with each second that passed by. It clued him in that he was looking at an illusion.

Still, real or fake, the unfiltered sight of the revolving galaxy had impressed him beyond belief.

”Itʼs so beautiful. The galaxy is much more vast than I can imagine.”

Red dwarfs, blue giants, black holes and more made up the fabric of the constantly spinning galaxy. At the center of it all lay the supermassive black hole that kept the stellar objects together.

Witnessing the wealth and breath of the galaxy through his soul affected him more than he thought. As he gazed down at the galaxy, the galaxy gazed up at him. An immense, primordial energy that spun with the galaxy quietly seeped a tiny portion of its being into his soul.

As soon as that happened, Ves received a mighty shock to his mind that instantly catapulted him out of the illusion.

Back at the underground private workshop, Ves woke up with sweat streaking down his body. His breath became disorderly as his mind and body momentarily fell out of sync.

”It hurts!”

His brains heated up as it experienced an inexplicable transformation. Ves groaned and squirmed on his bed as he tried to endure the pain.

He blacked out once again.

The next time he woke up, he found to his surprise that the pain had subsided. His sweat-stained body had also been cleaned up by the bots that stood by. After Ves tentatively prodded his head, he sighed in relief as he didnʼt appear to be suffering from any further side effects.

”That was one hell of a trip.”

Moments later, Lucky passed straight through the door and solidified his body in order to cuddle against Ves.

”Meow!”

”Hahaha! I missed you too.”

From Luckyʼs urgency, Ves deduced that the Transcendence Pill had eaten up a fair amount of time. He quickly activated his comm and looked at the date.

”Thirty-three days went by!”

That was better than he feared, but worst than he hoped. Just over a month went by, which meant that anything could have happened in between. Before he inspected his changes, he first wanted to contact Jake and hear from him if anything had happened during his coma.

Since the quantum entanglement node on this floor had been confined to a closed system, Ves couldnʼt use his own comm to contact the outside world. Ves slowly slid from his bed and shakily walked out of the apartment.

He approached a closed chamber which held a solitary terminal that connected directly to the quantum entanglement node buried just underneath. He connected to the galactic net and entered his mail box.

”Hm, nothing serious happened.”

He arranged for Jake, Melkor, Marcella, Calsie and Gavin to send him weekly reports. Although plenty of notable events took place in the past month, nothing directly affected the LMC in any detrimental way.

”A few raids on Bentheim and the surrounding systems… price inflation… shortage of rare exotics… Ah, Melkor finally finished recruiting his cadre for the Avatars of Myth!”

With an abundance of money and authority from Ves, Melkor eventually succeeded in hiring eight capable mech pilots. He also spent much of his allowance on purchasing mechs for them to begin their live training, although the two knight pilots still waited to receive their gold label Blackbeaks.

”That can still wait.”

Once he reassured himself that nothing critical demanded his presence, Ves shut down the terminal. RIght now, he mentally stimulated his mind and tried to figure out if anything had changed. He resumed the long-stagnant process of integrating the Senior-level Physics knowledge that he succeeded in obtaining.

”Itʼs faster!”

The integration of knowledge happened at least ten times faster! The difference between before and after couldnʼt be compared. His processing speed had sped up by an entire order of magnitude.

”Yes! My gamble succeeded! My Intelligence has broken through the human limit!”

What did that mean? From now on, Ves would rapidly be able to learn and process all kinds of esoteric knowledge. He could even branch out into fields that shared no relations with mechs, though he didnʼt plan to do so.

”How high is my Intelligence right now?”