As much as Ves wanted to devote all of his time to fleshing out the Dullahan Project, he still had a lot of other responsibilities on his plate. The good news was that it appeared that the combined fleet was on track to leave the territories of the Friday Colonies without any further incidents. The Fridaymen still hadn't organized any large-scale pursuit fleets even though a large enemy force was still moving through the interior of their colonial state. At this point, it was already too late for the Fridayman mech fleets to catch up to the combined fleet. With every advisor telling Ves that the chances of getting ambushed or intercepted had dropped to a massive degree, he let down his guard and handled the follow-up matters of Operation Saturday Market as best as possible. From attending meetings to inspecting the rich amount and diversity of loot, Ves became more and more impressed at all of the profit the Larkinson Clan had earned from the successful raid. "Did we capture any prisoners during the battle or during the planetary assault?" Ves asked during a meeting with his spymaster. Calabast shook her head. "No. Our troops and agents may have picked up wounded or trapped Fridaymen during their sweeps, but we did not keep hold of them. It makes little sense for us to hold onto low-level grunts as they don't provide any value to us. We have already transferred custody of them to the Hex Army. The Hexers are in a much greater position to squeeze more value from their old enemies." "I see. What about higher-ranking prisoners?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 "There is no chance of obtaining them when they aren't in our reach to begin with." His strategic partner said. "Not every rich and successful leader is a daredevil and thrillseeker like you, Ves. They generally prize their safety a lot more and try to avoid straying within reach of their enemies." "Hmm. That's a shame. Oh well. Did you manage to find anything interesting out of the large amounts of data that we have retrieved from Pima Prime?" "Our Black Cats have only begun to decrypt them a short time ago. You are asking too much if you think we are able to unlock the stolen databases so soon. It may take months and years to unlock them all even if we are able to put our immense amount of processing power to work on this issue. It may be more economical for us to sell the encrypted data storage devices to different parties that can work around this problem." Ves did not look pleased with this answer. "That means that we will likely lose the chance to obtain the data ourselves. I don't want to make it cheaper for others to get rewarded for the risks that we have taken." "Then how do you want us to proceed?" "Keep decrypting the data with as much processing power that you can muster. I will try and see if we can boost that further during our return to Davute, but if not then I am fine with settling for a longer wait." The Larkinson Clan hadn't made much strides in understanding phasewater technology. It was not necessarily useful for the Larkinson mech designer to gain access to rich data on how the Fridaymen applied this tech in different mech and ship-related applications. "Do you have any better news for me?" He asked. "Well, it is still early to tell, but our actions and the actions of our allies have made a profound impression in the regional community. Our agents and informers have gathered many clues that suggest that different parties are becoming more willing to cooperate with us, especially when it comes to business." "Is there any special reason or motivation why they are willing to do business with us, or is it simply because they have taken us a lot more seriously after the operation?" "It's because of fear." "Fear?" "These companies are intimidated by our clan and alliance." Calabast said. "Much as you expect, our impulsive decision to take part in this operation has given others the impression that we are trigger-happy battle maniacs who won't hesitate to fight anyone that has offended our sensibilities. Though this is clearly an exaggeration, the people who are in charge prefer to leave nothing to chance. The most risk-averse course of action that different groups and companies can take is not to ignore our existence, but to maintain a slightly friendly posture towards us while conducting small but constant business transactions." Ves raised his eyebrow. "It doesn't sound like these third parties are being sincere." "Of course not." Calabast chuckled. "Fear can't produce any sincerity. Only friendship can do that. Even so, the existence of mutual interests does not necessarily have to depend on sincerity in order to become valid. It is more than worth it to trade with us on a regular basis if it will make us think twice about attacking them one day. After all, we do have a reputation for being friendly and honest towards our friends and allies." "Does that mean we can order starships easier than before?" Calabast looked uncertain. "That remains to be seen. The Cross Clan will definitely find it easier to expand its fleet because Patriarch Reginald is the greatest source of intimidation in the Golden Skull Alliance. As for our clan, we simply aren't threatening enough. Much of our strength is based on our expanding commercial activities, and they are simply not as difficult to deal with as overwhelming violence." She was right. Though the Larkinson Clan and the Cross Clan possessed many similarities, they also differed in many important ways. Ves always regarded the Larkinson Clan as a vessel to facilitate his mech design career. Designing mechs, producing mechs and selling mechs was a large part of its DNA. The Cross Clan on the other hand operated more like an orphaned mech army that started up various businesses in order to support its military activities. When it came to earning power, the Larkinson Clan definitely possessed the edge. When it came to scaring people senseless, the Cross Clan was much more frightening! "I do not think there is anything wrong with our positioning." Calabast spoke as if she already knew what he was thinking. "There is real value in building up a positive, upright, honest and approachable image for ourselves. Many of the major business deals that sustain our clan and our numerous subsidiaries wouldn't have formed if we did not attract so many willing and eager business partners. What is better is that few of them have turned away so far. Over time, we will be able to develop a large and intricate web of business interests that will turn us into an untouchable institution in the Red Ocean." Ves dismissively shrugged. "That is long-term stuff. I'm more interested in what we can gain in the short term. Let's address a more interesting matter. Where did you store the collection of heirloom equipment?" "We have moved most of them to our inspection labs. Allow me to lead the way." The pair moved deeper into the Blinding Banshee and eventually reached a guarded compartment where a lot of different pieces of equipment were placed on different tables. Though Ves had already examined them from remote, the experience was a lot different now that he was able to witness them in person. His senses went into overdrive at the moment as he came across more than thousand different pieces of heirloom weapons and equipment. Some pieces were so many centuries old that they were probably made during the Age of Conquest. Other pieces incorporated transphasic technology and represented some of the most cutting-edge advances in phasewater technology that the Friday Coalition had mastered in recent years. Roughly half of the equipment consisted of weapons. Most of the guns in turn came in the form of more compact armaments. "These rich guys really like their pistols." Ves remarked. Calabast smiled. "You've used them as well at times. Pistols are much easier to carry on a day-to-day basis than rifles, shotguns and cannons." "You can make the larger arms lighter and more foldable through the use of advanced technology." "That is true, but do you think it is likely that the VIPs among the Fridaymen are able to wield these weapons proficiently? Besides, using pistols will make them look a lot more elegant, especially if the gunsmiths have put a lot of effort into decorating them. The heirloom weapons are also meant to serve as status symbols, so their appearances are rated higher than their actual functionality." "Form over function. How inefficient." Ves contemptuously snorted. He did not mind making his products prettier, but the premise of that was that their performance remained sound. After he was done with taking in the collection as a whole, he became eager to study the best pieces in greater detail. "Where is the personal teleporter?" "We have stored it in a more secure compartment." They moved to a small and secure side office that held nothing but a table and a small vault that contained the precious gadget in question. When Calabast unlocked and opened the vault herself, Ves held his breath as he laid his eyes on the single-use emergency personal teleporter. "It definitely looks like the personal teleporters that I have occasionally seen on other people, mostly high-ranking mechers." Ves smiled. "Have you confirmed its authenticity?" Calabast nodded. "We did. That was one of the first tasks we performed after we brought back this haul. While we have no hope of understanding how this piece of high technology works, it is surprisingly easy for us to verify that it is safe and ready for usage." "Oh? How did you determine that, exactly?" "You might not know this, but commercial personal teleporters are subject to many regulations. The MTA imposes a large amount of rules in order to reduce people's mistrust and suspicion towards these kinds of high-end life-saving products. The short explanation is that they are strictly programmed and strictly designed to be almost impossible to tamper without anyone knowing about it. That is because they contain many virtual and physical seals that instantly give out warnings if anything about them has been compromised. This policy has existed for centuries." Ves looked impressed. "That's actually a good measure. The MTA is useful for something, at least." He carefully studied the teleporter and analyzed the seals that he had access to. They indeed looked authentic and reliable. When he examined the personal teleporter with his spiritual senses, he did not pick up anything interesting. It appeared that its previous owner rarely made use of it. Perhaps it was a backup that the person had left in his vault. What was odd was that Ves didn't pick up anything obvious from the designers or makers of the personal teleporter. Ves briefly grew confused until he realized that it had likely been produced with a materializer. It was anything but a handmade piece of equipment. Though Ves found that to be regretful, that did not stop him from appreciating this device himself. He wanted to make use of it right away! "Is it safe for me to use?" Ves asked. "I would advise you not to wear it on your person at this time." Calabast replied in a serious tone. "This is still a strange and foreign device of unknown providence. Even if everything looks fine and dandy, there is still a chance that it is an elaborate trap device that is meant to hurt its user. I have already tasked one of my teams to contact its manufacturer to verify whether the product is truly one of theirs. You can wear it once we have concluded a few more checks." "Alright. I can wait a few extra weeks. It's not as if we are in danger at the moment. The chances that I will have to depend on them are much greater once we have traveled deeper into the frontier."