The Mech Touch

Ves became pleased by Gloriana's reaction to the importance of the Dimension Observatory.

It took a lot of AP to upgrade its functions and make it a lot more useful. Having one more user share the burden made it much easier to eventually unlock the ultimate upgrade priced at 5,000 AP.

Another advantage to having Gloriana around was that Ves could more easily divert his own AP to upgrading the Demoncasting Forge.

That was another huge AP sink. While it was already fairly useful in its most basic state, Ves clearly was not satisfied with the basic functionality.

He wanted to unlock or develop more advanced Demoncasting Molds.

He wanted to upgrade the Demon Summoning Circle so that he could instantly call up True God-level Greater Demons.

He also wanted to master the more advanced art of Demonforging, which would enable him to shape demons into much more effective and personalized enhancements to his D-mechs and D-arms.

Unfortunately, making all of this possible could not be done without spending hundreds if not thousands of AP.

This was already a heavy burden considering that he also had an obligation to upgrade the Dimension Observatory.

This was one of the reasons why he had already roped in Gloriana and was even thinking of inviting Alexa and Zanthar in the future.

Ves already knew that Ketis and Gloriana harbored a clear distaste towards the Demoncasting Forge.

They understood the benefits of creating D-mechs and D-arms, but could not stomach the price that one had to pay in order to create these demon-empowered artifacts.

Ves did not blame them for holding this attitude. He was not blind to the controversial nature of Demoncasting and knew that it crossed a red line to most people.

Even he would have balked at taking advantage of Demoncasting during his younger years.

This was why he was already thinking about inviting people who were more inclined to obey him. It would also help if they possessed more flexible sensibilities.

While Ves was not entirely sure whether Alexa Streon could be persuaded to accept Demoncasting, he figured that it was worth an attempt.

He could consider all of this at a later date. For now, he still had to make sure that Gloriana integrated nicely into his System circle.

After making Gloriana aware of the Dimension Observatory and its full implications, he also showed off the Time Gate.

Her response to its insane capabilities was decidedly muted.

"I am not surprised anymore. So this is what you have been doing in your spare time. It is no wonder that your work is able to receive consistently high praise from our customers. Have you taken advantage of the Time Gate to change history in your favor?"

"Sort of." Ves hesitantly replied. "It doesn't work the way you think it does. I have never tried to exploit this capability to the fullest. I have a feeling that the System will end the session before I can fully change history beyond recognition. Even so, I am already certain that my meddling of the past has directly resulted in the founding of the original Vulcan Empire and the ascension of the Destroyer of Worlds."

Gloriana cared little about the dwarves, but she exhibited a much stronger reaction when he mentioned the god pilot!

"Truly?!"

Ves pointed his thumb at the Time Gate. "The System's ability to bring me back into the past has put me in the head of Irene Mox long before she joined the New Rubarth Empire and survived her third apotheosis. Where do you think Emma came from? She is arguably the very first companion spirit to come into existence. The Herald of Destruction grew alongside Irene step-by-step. Now she has become a fully-fledged True God in her own right. It is with the help of Emma that the Destroyer of Worlds is unmatched in terms of offensive firepower."

The existence of Emma was unquestionable proof that having a companion spirit was of immense benefit to any cultivator, including high-ranking mech pilots!

This was especially good news for the Larkinson mech pilots. They had all acquired their own companion spirits early enough that they would definitely be able to grow and adapt their abilities to better complement their principles.

Gloriana looked eagerly at the Time Gate.

"By the way, the latest upgrade to the Mech Designer System also unlocked the ability to enter the mind of a mech designer." He said. "I have yet to try out this new function. Maybe I will do it next time. For now, I suggest you observe the performance of a mech pilot. Being able to understand his or her thought process is of immediate value to your design approach."

"Noted."

After presenting the Time Gate to her, Ves finally brought Gloriana to the summit of the mountain.

The Sacred Temple possessed a very clear religious atmosphere that appealed to her a lot more than the other facilities.

"It is… beautiful." She said with a soft breath. "I already love it here. What is this place?"

"This is the Sacred Temple. It is the focus of a previous upgrade that has introduced a new facet to the Mech Designer System. Let me show you what I mean."

He first brought her to the Chosen Courtyard and introduced her to the brainwashed and converted spirit of Imon Ingvar.

"So you managed to save his life?"

"Not really." Ves honestly said. "I only managed to save a remnant, and he ended up like this. Before you ask, I already presented this version of Imon to his sister. Casella did not react well. However, it was enough to bring her over to my side. She is determined to become powerful enough to revive her brother with the help of this salvaged fragment."

"I see. So that is why the Saint Commander's political agenda aligns so closely with your own. You have managed to secure her loyalty. This is why you are not too concerned about ending your reign as the patriarch of our clan. With Casella likely to become your successor, the Larkinson Clan will still develop according to your ideas."

"I haven't explicitly discussed this with the Saint Commander, but I think it isn't necessary for us to do so. She is clever enough to figure out what I want from her. Besides, I don't want her to turn into my clone or puppet. She deserves to make her own mark on the clan. I have no intention of micromanaging her after she takes over my position."

His wife briefly frowned. "That is quite generous of you. I suppose it is not a good idea to act heavy-handed towards an ace commander. Casella is not your subordinate anymore."

Ace pilots enjoyed exceedingly high positions in any organization. Pissing them off could see them defect and find employment elsewhere. Many groups would love to have another ace pilot on retainer.

"Leave her to me." He told his wife. "Don't attempt to meddle in my business. I have the situation well in hand."

They soon left the Chosen Courtyard behind and entered the main structure of the temple.

Here, Ves introduced her to her Status page. This enabled her to gain a much more precise understanding of her strengths and weaknesses.

"For Senior Mech Designers like us, these stats and numbers are not so important to us anymore." He said. "We should already have a good idea of what we are good and bad at. These days, I mainly use the Status page to track my Skills and Sub-Skills and evaluate whether it is worthwhile for me to redeem a specific enlightenment fruit. It can also help me track how well I have mastered new knowledge."

"I understand."

After Gloriana spent a few minutes on studying her own statistics and asking a few related questions, Ves finally brought her to the center of the Sacred Temple.

Here, a sacred fire burned in the middle.

Several misty symbols floated alongside the flames. Each of them held obvious mystical qualities that evoked a sense of respect from the visitors.

"This is the Sacred Hearth." Ves introduced to his wife. "These floating symbols represent our Divine Cores. There are currently seven of them. It's a little complicated, but they basically represent the Divine Cores of ourselves as well as our incarnations."

"Seven? Shouldn't it be six?"

"Vulcan is also one of my incarnations. It's a little complicated."

For special reasons, the Sacred Hearth was unable to represent Veronica because she was a living Divine Artifact.

Ves had no intention of revealing the existence of Veronica and explaining the complexity behind her origin.

All three mech designers studied the Divine Cores for a moment.

The Divine Core corresponding to Ves had changed by a noticeable degree. It had grown larger in size.

The Enlarged Hand of Creation did not feel it had grown much stronger, but it had definitely gained a greater sense of mass, as if it could physically crush anyone that stood in its way.

The Whale Devouring Maw that was tied to Blinky only grew a little larger and stronger. The companion spirit was still making progress, but it took way too much accumulation for his Blinkyverse to reach the next stage of its development.

The Hammer of Brilliance looked noticeably more solid and metallic. It also acquired a glittering luster, which showed that Vulcan was truly beginning to master various different crafts originally practiced by worshipful artisans.

"Why is there a crown perched on this hammer?" Gloriana curiously asked. "This crown does not appear to be a symbolic representation."

Ves twitched his lips. "That is another long story. It is related to the mythical Metal Scroll. Don't be fooled by its inanimate appearance. This is a very dangerous crown. Anyone who wears it and makes use of its power will get brainwashed into trying to revive its creator."

"If that is the case, why did you place it on Vulcan's Divine Core?"

"First, the crown did not give me a choice. Second, my mother has helped me contain this threat by devising a powerful cultivation method. Once Vulcan has begun to practice it, he is able to siphon the crown's metal energy and use it to supercharge his own qi cultivation. While it is effective, it is not without its dangers. The only way to safely take advantage of the crown is to possess extreme mental fortitude, so don't even think about trying it out for yourself."

Gloriana looked a little scandalized, but she was not stupid enough to challenge his presumptions.

Besides, the Mech Designer System already offered so many promising possibilities to her that she was not that she did not feel she was missing out on anything important.

Her immediate goal was to earn enough AP to redeem her first enlightenment fruit!

Nothing was more important than improving and broadening her knowledge base!

Only by mastering more knowledge would she be able to design better mechs and shorten the time needed to realize her design philosophy.

It was a pity that the Tree of Possibilities did not offer her a fruit that could grant her the secrets of archetech.

There was always a possibility that such a fruit might appear one day. Gloriana already decided to enter the System Space on a regular basis just to check whether that day had finally come.

They moved on to examining the other Divine Cores.

The Greatsword belonging to Ketis experienced substantial changes since the last time Ves checked it out. Its edge still looked relatively dull, but its overall structure shone with brighter fluorescent lights.

"It looks like the Heavensword is continuing to contaminate you, Ketis." Ves observed with a tinge of concern in his voice.

The swordmaster shrugged her shoulders. "It is fine. I do not consider this to be a detrimental change. A sword is a sword. Whether it is black or white has little bearing on my ability to kill. It is enough for me to hold onto my original determination. I know what is important."

Sharpie's Divine Core looked the same as before. It depicted a miniature version of Ketis wielding a shrunken copy of the Bloodsinger. At least she was able to resist the influence of the Heavensword a lot better.

So long as Sharpie continued to function as a solid anchor, Ketis was not too concerned that she would stray too far from her original self!