The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3004

Chapter 3004: Shifting Human Space

The Crown Uprising affected every part of human space. Not even the Golden Skull Alliance remained unaffected by the chaos erupting in every star sector.

The expeditionary fleet suffered both directly and indirectly from the ongoing slew of terrorist attacks.

The Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan had all entered a heightened state of alert. Every crew member could be a potential traitor. With six broken starships as undeniable proof that there were enemies among them, both Colonel Ariadne Wodin and Patriarch Reginald Cross implemented drastic measures to prevent any subsequent acts of sabotage.

The movements of every Glory Seeker and Crosser became restricted. They were tracked everywhere they went and often had to stay in a team so that everyone else could keep an eye on them. Hordes of security officers manually inspected every accessible space to check whether they had missed a hidden bomb or other illicit equipment.

The disruption that all of these extreme measures caused in the past few days was so severe that the expeditionary fleet had to pause its journey.

The leaders had no choice but to prioritize safety over speed!

Even though the combat potential of the fleet hadn't dropped in the slightest, the explosions along with the heavy-handed checks severely impacted people's morale. The bonds of trust and camaraderie that the Glory Seekers and Crossers had built up with each other became a lot more shaky.

If Ves and Calabast could figure out that the organization in the shadows only activated a portion of their sleeper agents, then Colonel Ariadne and Patriarch Reginald could come to this conclusion as well!

The latter two leaders didn't even have to be familiar with the Five Scrolls Compact. There were many secretive organizations in human space. Many of them had risen and fallen over millennia. The Big Two did not lack challengers, and there were many delusional people in the galaxy who thought they could defeat the undefeatable.

Strangely enough, the Larkinson Clan adopted a much more moderate attitude. The existence of the Larkinson Network was pretty much an open secret among the clansmen. Both early and late joiners became aware of how they were able to feel an indescribable kinship and closeness to anyone sharing the same affiliation as theirs.

Some even discovered that they came under some sort of adverse influence whenever they contemplated decisions that obviously harmed their fellow clansmen.

No one else outside the Larkinson Clan enjoyed this invisible benefit!

This was why the Larkinsons did not institute their own version of martial law. While the leadership did impose some restrictions and performed extensive checks, the crew members weren't forced to abide by too many oppressive rules.

Most of the inspections that went on throughout the Larkinson fleet were directed at imported goods and other items brought in from the outside.

The Larkinsons held near-absolute trust in each other. Only their trading partners posed a risk to them, so checking everything the clan had bought including the Graveyard and Dragon's Den became paramount!

Of course, inspecting all of this was an enormous endeavor in itself. If not for the fact that the Larkinson Clan hired more than 50,000 people in a short amount of time, it would have become too cumbersome to complete the inspection of the two new capital ships within a year!

Though Ves should have been devoting his time to fleshing out the draft designs of the Chimera Project and the Sentry Project, he really couldn't be bothered with his work now that humanity became beset with a crisis from within.

The Crown Uprising affected everyone!

Ves did not want to cast every concern aside and tunnel vision on his own work like usual only to allow a hidden danger to grow.

Perhaps he might get pulled out of his design lab one day to find the massive Hemmington Cross activating all of her thrusters and charging bow-first into the starboard side of the Spirit of Bentheim!

For better or worse, the safety and integrity of the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan also affected the safety of the Larkinson Clan!

As long as they kept traveling together in a single combined fleet, Ves and the other Larkinsons couldn't help but worry about the reliability of their allies.

Calabast was obviously working overtime lately. When Ves dropped by her office, she looked like she had injected at least three stimulants in her bloodstream in order to cope with her enormous workload.

"Squeak… squeak…"

Not even Arnold was in the mood to cuddle Calabast or lick her boots. The exobeast morosely ate his bowl of specially-prepared meat while looking as if he was being neglected.

"Meow."

Lucky wasn't even interested in bullying Arnold this time. The gem cat remained perched on top of Ves' left shoulder as if he was a shoulder-mounted missile launcher.

Due to the heightened alert status, many Larkinsons opted to wear hazard suits or even better protection. Even Ves opted to wear his Unending Regalia even though he was quite sure that nothing would happen to him. He still had to set an example though, so he wore his armor even though it gave him bad associations of Prosperous Hill VI.

"What's up, Calabast?"

The older woman sighed. "We're dealing with the situation as best we can. Compared to what is happening elsewhere, we're clearly in a better shape than most, but that is not an excuse for us to lower our guard."

Ves thought of another possible development. "The MTA is big, but I doubt it has enough manpower to address every single priority. I think they will release a lot of missions soon."

Human space remained largely stable as a whole. While there were plenty of states going to war on each other, this did not bother the MTA as long as no one broke any taboos.

This time was different. The crown terrorists were utterly crazy and did not have any regard for taboos. There were already cases where some of them managed to trigger nuclear bombs, subject an entire city with lethal radiation or poison the water supply with a new and unknown toxin!

Calabast nodded in agreement. "You're most likely correct. Perhaps you should keep an eye on the mission boards for a time. It's unlikely that any of the missions will pay well, though, and our current goal is incompatible with long-term guard assignments."

That was indeed a bit troublesome. One of the reasons why Ves hadn't accepted any mission after leaving the Nyxian Gap was that the ones that paid well were too inconvenient.

This time might be different, though. Perhaps he wouldn't be able to accept a lucrative mission right away, but as long as the terror campaign continued, the MTA would only become more and more desperate to regain order.

After discussing a few other guesses and observations, Calabast finally proposed something significant.

"I think we should really do something about the ongoing security crisis of our expeditionary fleet."

"How?"

"By granting the Glory Seekers and Crossers the same advantage that we currently enjoy." She stated. "It is the fastest and most efficient way to increase the security of our expeditionary fleet. We can't keep looking over our shoulders like this, Ves. Since we are in the unique position of possessing an answer to this problem, I think you should consider sharing it to our closest allies."

"What? Absolutely not!" Ves became alarmed. "The Larkinson Network is one of our core secrets and one of the most distinct advantages! Even though we haven't been doing our best to keep it from spreading, as long as there is no solid proof of its existence, we can continue to play stupid and deny that it exists. That will become a lot harder if we spread it out to others!"

Besides, granting equivalent networks to the Larkinson Clan's allies also strengthened them. The balance of power would shift in their favor. Why would Ves ever take the initiative to drop a rock on his feet?

The spymaster sighed in exasperation. "You're too shortsighted about this issue, Ves. Stop being selfish for one second and think of our greater concerns. Do you want to keep traveling with dependable allies or do you want them to resent us for withholding an easy and effective solution to their trust problems? What you can offer is exactly what they need to stabilize their own ranks. This means you possess an incredible amount of leverage. Think of the deals you can make!"

Ves had to admit that she made a good point. Once the Glory Seekers and the Crossers learned of what his spiritual networks could do, he would definitely take up an extremely favorable bargaining position!

He already began to rub his smooth-shaven chin. "If that's the case, maybe I can use this opportunity to gain some valuable and unique benefits…"