The Mech Touch

Since Ylvaine could apparently glean whether certain individuals were still alive after a certain date, Ves and Calabast took advantage of this capability to glean the fates of other attendants.

"Ylvaine can't predict anything from the people assigned to Block A." Ves frowned as he held the glowing totem of the Great Prophet. "Those are all bigshots that are also regularly shielded by ace mechs. It is impossible for Ylvaine to overcome the excessive interference."

Calabast shrugged her shoulders. "At least we tried. Let us take a look at the status of the people assigned to the other blocks."

The answers they received were rather mixed and not entirely satisfactory.

Ylvaine had to strain a lot in order to foresee the futures of so many different people that got mixed up in so many different variables.

The design spirit expended a serious amount of energy in order to provide the answers that Ves and Calabast sought.

The most troublesome factor was that the movements of all of the high-ranking mechs during the founding ceremony adversely impacted the ability for Ylvaine to foresee anything that crossed their paths.

"Ylvaine can't say much about Block L where our clan has been assigned." Ves said.

"Block L should be positioned well away from any possible outbreaks." Calabast concluded after a few seconds of thought. "I don't need a cheat machine like your pet prophet to deduce that Davute will not want you to come to harm. Your death does not benefit the colonial government. You are much more valuable to them when you are alive. Not only have you agreed to accept their mech design commissions, but you are also a tier 6 galactic citizen that is backed by the MTA. The conspirators may be bold enough to plot against their own stakeholders, but they cannot withstand the scrutiny from both the Survivalist Faction and the Transhumanist Faction."

This was one of the few moments where his galactic citizenship actually played a positive role for once. Ves was not accustomed to such a situation.

"I think you are right." He said. "That said, battles rarely if ever go according to plan. Who knows if collateral damage will cause attacks to splash onto our seating block. We need to be prepared for every eventuality."

Ves now understood why he felt driven to invest his time into upgrading his Unending Regalia. Perhaps a part of him became so sensitive to a possible future threat that he felt compelled to bolster his own protection.

They tried to check up on the fates of the people assigned to the other seating blocks.

It turned out that it was much harder for Ylvaine to get a solid read on them. The eruption of violence and the sheer amount of chaos that ensued from that caused many seating blocks to come under varying degrees of risk.

"It makes sense." The spymaster commented. "Unlike Block E, the other blocks probably aren't supposed to be targeted. That does not mean they are safe. Depending on the nature of the danger that will emerge during the founding ceremony, a threat can go out of control and destroy a number of other blocks before it is finally taken down. Ylvaine is struggling to cope with this cloud of uncertainty."

All of this meant that Ves and Calabast only possessed a vague understanding of how a possible incident might unfold and affect the VIP sections.

Ylvaine only managed to make more solid predictions about the futures of those assigned to Block M and Block Y.

Just like Block E, it appeared that Block M and Block Y were similarly targeted from the beginning!

"Block Y will be hosting the leaders of Yovo Processing." Calabast explained. "This is an ore refiner and alloy producer that plays an outsized role in supplying companies such as the LMC with high-quality metal alloys that are used in the construction of mechs, starships and military infrastructure. Decapitating the leaders of this company will allow Davute to place more supportive executives in the top positions, thereby allowing the state to exert more control over its strategically important foundries."

While that sounded interesting, Ves paid no attention to the circumstances of Yovo Processing.

He instead fixated his attention on the mass casualties of the other block that was marked for death!

"What are the conspirators thinking?! Why are they plotting to kill off everyone assigned to Block M?! That is where the representatives of the Cross Clan are seated!"

"Think about it from the eyes of Davute." Calabast said. "Do these Crossers matter to the colonial state? Not necessarily. The Crossers still have many mech pilots that are nowhere near the danger zone. Is Master Benedict Cortez valuable? No. Davute already enjoys the services of many Master Mech Designers who are older, more capable and more experienced. Instead, it will benefit the colonial state more if a purported attack from Karlach inflicts severe harm onto the Cross Clan."

Ves widened his eyes. The story made a lot of sense.

What was the most valuable part about the Cross Clan?

Its ace pilot!

What Davute sought from the Crossers was the loyalty and commitment from Patriarch Reginald Cross.

Right now, the cooperation between the two sides should be rather decent but not reliable enough.

However, if the Karlachs succeeded in pulling off a ploy that killed a lot of important Crossers at once, Ves could easily foresee how the temperamental and volatile Cross Patriarch would react against this terrible affront.

"Reginald will go berserk! He will only have red in his eyes when he is facing the Karlachs in battle. He won't stop until he has wrecked his way to the Karlach System!"

The fury of a Saint was limitless, and it could be of great value as long as it was directed towards the enemy!

"Damnit! These are the people I talked to and cooperated with for years. I can't just let them all die because a secret group of masterminds want to drive Reginald mad!"

The only consolation was that Ylvaine had a lot of trouble reading Master Benedict's future. Not only was he strong and influential enough to resist Ylvaine's intrusive actions, he was also a former pirate lord who definitely invested as much attention in his personal safety as Ves!

Out of all of the people assigned to Block M, Master Benedict should have the greatest hope of surviving.

That didn't mean Ves was happy with this situation. His own allies came under threat!

"We need to warn the Crossers right away!" Ves urged.

"NO!" Calalabast shouted and shot up from her seat. "Do not act impulsively, Ves!"

"What?! Why not?! They're our comrades, Calabast! They have supported me and saved me many times. It is only fair for us to return the favor."

"I do not disapprove of that sentiment, but there are greater concerns at play."

Once Calabast became certain that Ves would not impulsively call or send out a message to the Crossers, she sat down again and explained her perspective on this matter.

"How do you think the Cross Clan will react to this possible conspiracy? Patriarch Reginald will absolutely refuse to fight for Davute if he learns that he is about to work with people who have plotted against his people! With his personality traits, the chances that he will blurt out the news are high. If the momentum of the resulting scandal is great enough, Davute will enter into a serious crisis. President Yenames Clive's strategy will become completely defunct. At that point, there is no need to guess at the outcome of the upcoming war anymore. Karlach will easily be able to steamroll what little forces that Davute has managed to retain!"

This was a disaster for every investor in the Davute Project!

This also happened to include Ark and the rest of the side branch based in the current colony!

"However, this disaster won't happen because the conspirators will try their best to take action before we can spark a scandal." Calabast mercilessly continued. "It is one thing if we remain ignorant to these dark dealings. It is another thing now that we have guessed the truth. We have turned ourselves into liabilities that need to be silenced. Unless you can magically wipe out our memories of the conclusions that we have just made, we are constantly at risk of getting attacked by the secretive forces that are plotting to energize the partners of Davute."

"That's not fair!" Ves complained.

"Clandestine operations are never fair. Innocents and unrelated people always get dragged into the mess against their will, but that comes with the territory."

He cursed for a moment. They had stumbled into an awful situation. The conspiracy ran so deep and involved so many powerful actors that making just a single wrong step might doom his clan and get a lot of friends and family killed!

"How the hell are we supposed to navigate this troublesome situation?" He wearily asked his spymaster. "Can we skip the founding ceremony? No. We have no excuses to do so. I also can't bring myself to condemn the attending Crossers to their deaths. How will we be able to save them while at the same time prevent any passing ace pilot that is in collusion with the plot from silencing us in advance?"

He had no answers at the moment as he completely felt out of his element.

It was the opposite for Calabast. She remained unflappable as the current scenario fell right into her ballpark.

"I have an answer for you, Ves, but you will not like what you are about to hear."

"Hit me with it. Anything is better than doing nothing."

"Since staying neutral or opposing this conspiracy are unacceptable to us, there is only one other choice we can make that can prevent us from drawing the ire of the masterminds. We can take their side."

"What?!"

The woman raised her finger. "Before you say anything further, let me finish my story. Instead of trying to oppose an initiative that is being hatched by a powerful faction on the side of Davute, it is better for us to adopt a supportive stance. This has several advantages. First, it deprives the Davutans of a reason to silence us. Second, it preserves the bonds of trust between our Davute Branch and the colonial government. Third, it allows us to make the best possible use of the information that we have obtained, which is taking advantage of the chaos to advance our own interests."

Her calm and logical reasoning caused Ves to rein in his fury. It was much better to employ a rational answer to this situation as opposed to an emotional one. The stakes were far too high for him to make a thoughtless decision!

"You will have to clarify that last point."

"Think about it, Ves. No matter what happens during the founding ceremony, a fight will certainly break out. I am not sure how long the ace mechs on guard will remain indisposed or split between too many priorities, but there will be at least a small window of time where people are under threat. Doesn't this sound like the perfect moment for the mechs that are taking part in the parade to step up and play the heroes of the moment? As long as our participating mechs respond to the unfolding incident well enough, our reputation will skyrocket!"

This sounded plausible!

The viewers of the founding ceremony would be able to see Larkinson mechs doing their part to save the day. The Larkinsons would gain a more virtuous, brave and heroic impression in the eyes of the public!

In addition, all of the VIPs whose lives the Larkinsons had saved on that day would bear a lot of gratitude to the Larkinson Clan. This would make it a lot easier to forge new business relationships with powerful local influences.

The Larkinson mechs should also showcase a lot of strength and abilities that other mechs simply couldn't replicate. Ves' reputation as a mech designer would definitely soar! The products sold by the Living Mech Corporation would probably become a lot hotter on the market as many envious customers sought to wield the same kinds of advantages as they had witnessed during the founding ceremony!

Calabast began to smirk again. "Do you understand now, Ves? Chaos is a ladder. We can fall if we are not prepared, but as long as we cling onto the rungs tight enough, we can reach a higher position than before."

This was still a horrible situation for the Larkinson Clan, but at least she found a way to navigate through this murky swamp.