The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2960

Chapter 2960: Reunited

The crisis that the Larkinson Clan got caught up in caused a lot of work to be delayed.

As the head and lead designers of the Living Mech Corporation, Ves and Gloriana held extremely important responsibilities that could not be replaced by anyone else.

Every hour of their time was worth a lot of money. It was quite wasteful for them to spend time on activities other than designing fantastic new mechs.

Yet on the first day after the survivors of the civil war returned to the expeditionary fleet, the married couple completely shoved aside their responsibilities in order to satisfy their emotional needs.

Mech designers were humans as well. Ves did not feel like getting back to work right after surviving another harrowing crisis.

While Gloriana did not endure any threats to her life this time, she suffered just as badly as him due to her persistent fears.

She had become so clingy after he returned that Ves even felt that she was the one who needed healing instead of him! She was so emotional that she almost broke out in tears when she described what she had been going through while she helplessly waited for his return.

"You are a meanie, Ves." Gloriana pouted as she softly pounded her fist against his chest. "Next time, don't do these kinds of visits yourself. These stupid states have no right to demand your presence. If anything, they should be the ones to pay a visit to us in order to exchange greetings! If the local authorities insist on meeting someone important, then just send one of your lackeys."

Ves sighed as he continued to embrace her while they were sitting on a comfortable couch in their stateroom. "We are still lacking a suitable diplomat who can represent our clan to foreign entities. It's not easy to find someone I can trust to represent us in the best possible light."

"Why do you keep complaining about this? There ought to be plenty of diplomats who would be happy to work for us in this capacity."

"I don't want a regular smooth talker." He shook his head. "I need someone who possesses enough business acumen and industry knowledge to make deals on behalf of our mech company. I also need someone who understands our military capabilities in order to adopt the appropriate stance towards different powers. Finally, I need someone who can do more than obey instructions. We need to make a lot of new friends in order to survive in a place as chaotic as the Red Ocean."

Diplomats of this caliber were in short supply. Most of them were already attached to other states and organizations due to the nature of their profession.

Still, Ves was willing to wait to hire a good diplomat. He could always lower his standards if he failed to find anyone by the time his fleet reached the beyonder gate.

The two mech designers continued to chat a bit. They did not always talk about clan-related matters. Both of them were already content with enjoying each other's company.

"Miaow."

Naturally, their cats also familiarized themselves with each other again. Clixie looked curiously at the infirm gem cat who was resting on a soft red pillow. She didn't understand why Lucky was sick. She nuzzled his neck and licked his face a few times, yet barely managed to get a response in return.

"Meeeeoooowww…"

Clixie turned her head and called out into the air.

"Miaow!"

Nyaaaa?

The Golden Cat half-materialized her glowing body into existence.

"Miaow miaow miaow."

Nyaaaaa.

When Goldie floated over to Lucky, she cautiously licked the closest thing to a father to her. Different from Clixie, her licks actually produced a small but notable effect.

"Meow…?"

"Miaow!"

Nyaaaaa!

Though the effect wasn't very strong, Goldie succeeded in alleviation Lucky's exhaustion, iif only a bit! As she continued to lick Lucky's face, a tiny fraction of spiritual energy transferred over to the gem cat's spirit.

It was too bad that Goldie couldn't continue to supplement Lucky's shortage. Their spiritual energy compositions differed substantially from each other, so Lucky couldn't absorb too much foreign energy before compatibility problems emerged. The only reason why he was able to absorb some of Goldie's energy at all was because of their 'familial' relations.

Still, when Ves observed this brief interaction, he became quite surprised. He didn't know this was possible.

"Where do you intend to take our fleet next?" She idly asked as she raked her hand over his black hair. "From what I've heard, we're heading to the border of the Winged Serenade Star Sector. Do you intend to pay a visit to one of the highly-developed star systems over there?"

The Winged Serenade Star Sector was the center of the Yeina Star Cluster and essentially functioned as its capital. A lot of fancy headquarters were based over there. Not only that, the development level was also the highest among the surrounding star sectors, so any visiting fleet could pick up a lot of high-quality ships, mechs and trained professionals as long as the money flowed.

Yet Ves shook his head.

"I don't plan to stop for an extended time over there. I don't want to get bogged down by too many pit stops. Our primary objective is to reach the beyonder gate that is situated in the Antilla Star Cluster. We have to travel through many star sectors and we can't afford to treat this trip like a pleasure cruise."

"Awww. It's possible that we will be leaving this region of space forever, you know. It's highly questionable if we'll ever return. We should at least make some new memories along the way. Of course, we'll only make landfall and visit planets that don't regulate how much mechs we can bring to the surface. I don't think it's a good idea for us to ever step foot on a restricted planet ever again."

He chuckled. "I think so as well, but as much as I would enjoy playing tourist, we have more important priorities. The Red Ocean is constantly evolving. I'm not satisfied with staying in this boring corner of the Milky Way anymore. It's a backwater, Gloriana. Just because some places of this rural part of the galaxy are a little more interesting than other places doesn't change the fact that all of it is backwards compared to the rest of human space!"

"Hmmm. Maybe you're right."

Winged Serenade was only impressive by local standards. There were many more star sectors in the galactic heartland that were at least ten times more developed.

"We won't stop recruiting or picking up goods along the way." He clarified to her. "However, our fleet will always keep moving. If I have my way, we'll just pass through the rest of the Yeina Star Cluster and cut right through the Bardo Star Cluster until we reach the Fermi Star Cluster. We'll only stop for an extended amount of time once we get close to the Smiling Samual Star Sector."

"Smiling Samuel again. What is it with you and this strange star sector, Ves? Why do you insist on visiting a bunch of xenophobic dwarves?"

"I have… business over there. It's difficult to explain. I hope it won't take too much time for me to complete my task."

Ves wasn't able to explain why he insisted on visiting the Vulcan Empire to everyone, so he simply brushed aside this matter. As the patriarch, he had the right to make decisions. It didn't matter if no one understood his intentions.

Actually getting in and retrieving the prize that he had buried over there was easier said than done, though. He had yet to hear back from Master Willix about a way to enter Smiling Samuel without getting a horde of angry dwarves on his back.

"By the way, Ves, my dynasty back home isn't doing too well these days. The Komodo War is putting more pressure on the Hegemony. The Glory Seekers have already welcomed a couple of batches of Hexers, and more are on their way. Don't be surprised if more Hexers rendez-vous with our fleet in the coming weeks."

"Oh. Okay. Just take into account that our expeditionary fleet won't slow down for anyone, so this window of opportunity won't last forever."