The plan to refit the Spirit of Bentheim into a quasi-first-class factory ship received lukewarm support from the other leaders of the Larkinson Clan. Ves knew quite well that the main reason that people such as General Verle and Director Ranya Wodin supported the initiative was because the patriarch wanted this to happen. No other pioneering organization would squander half of the immense windfall of MTA merits on transforming a factory ship of all things into the most luxuriously equipped vessel of her kind in second-class space! The fact that the planned refit upgraded her so much that she could justifiably be classified as a quasi-first-class vessel already said much about the insane level of spending required to make her this good. Sure, spending over 300 million MTA merits as well as 84 kilograms of phasewater on a factory ship sounded crazy, but it was exactly the kind of crazy that enabled Ves to produce one fantastic innovation after another! Though it was possible to fund the refit plan using money instead of contribution tokens, even the most modest versions could cost the clan billions of MTA credits! What was more problematic was that the clan would have to commission a shipyard belonging to a normal first-class power such as the Yorul-Tavik Clan. No matter how much these ordinary first-raters invested in their shipyard facilities, they would never be able to match the quality of the MTA's state-of-the-art technology. When it came to his personal baby, Ves only wanted the best for her. His flagship was the safe haven where he could shelter in when everything else around him became hostile and dangerous. People like Gloriana who kept pushing the idea of colonizing a nice planet fundamentally misunderstood his mentality. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺 Ves had no desire to found a colony and rule over an entire planet. The Spirit of Bentheim was his colony. Its 'surface area' might be smaller than the smallest moons, but every single part of it belonged to him and remained under his control! When given the choice between owning a planet that was permanently stuck in a fixed orbit around a star and a tiny corvette that barely offered enough living room for a few crew members, he would pick the latter any time! This was because a corvette could at least move around and travel anywhere in the cosmos as long as she was well-equipped! Of course, the Spirit of Bentheim was much more than a tiny corvette. She was a genuine capital ship that not only functioned as a large manufacturing complex on the move, but also contained first-class lab and workshop facilities. Mech designers such as Ves could make excellent use of these luxurious facilities to conduct their research and design their mechs, and the comfort of having them around in his travels ensured his productivity remained high. In short, spending half of his gigantic stash of MTA merits on the factory ship was not a stupid decision in his eyes! "Make no mistake." Ves said as the meeting wound down. "We are not wasting the huge sums put into her extensive upgrade and overhaul. We are not only gaining a powerful defensive asset that can play an immensely useful role on the battlefield, but we are also future-proofing our most important capital ship. Later on, we do not have to invest a lot of money or replace the Spirit of Bentheim with a brand-new first-class factory ship, because we already have a quasi-first-class vessel in our possession. It won't take much effort to remove the word 'quasi' from that designation." The hard work of upgrading the foundation and half of her essential systems had already been done by that time. It would become a lot easier to replace the remaining second-class components and ship systems that had fallen behind such as the superdrives! Chief Minister Novilon Purnesse remained one of the few people who maintained his objections over this spending plan. He maintained his stance that the opportunity costs of pursuing this plan was too great. There were many other highly useful goods and services that the clan could exchange from the MTA instead. Still, as long as Ves remained at the helm, his opinion outweighed everyone else's. Besides, he already won over the support of the majority of the leadership of the clan, so he did not bother to pay attention to the remaining naysayers. "What of the remaining 360 million or so MTA merits that we have left?" General Verle asked. "I am open to other proposals." Ves made an inviting gesture with his arms. "My main concern is the refit of the Spirit of Bentheim. I do not have any other pressing needs at the moment. Each of you can continue to come up with your own plans and bring it up for discussion. If enough people think it is a good idea, then we will implement them. Just make sure that increasing our short to medium term combat power takes priority. We will be heading back into the deep frontier sooner or later, so make sure we are ready to deal with anything thrown in our direction." After the conclusion of the meeting, Minister Shederin Purnesse stayed back and approached him for a private chat. "What's up, old man?" The aged diplomat's impeccable control over his body ensured he did not display any adverse reaction to the patriarch's overly informal greeting. "Word of our latest deeds have already begun to circulate, sir." Shederin quietly informed Ves. "Not only do they dramatize our operations against the Palace of Shame and the Fractured House of the Collapsing Star, they also mention how many MTA merits we have received for our heavy contributions." "What?! The news has spread already?!" Shederin nodded in confirmation. "The exact sum of MTA merits are on every headline related to our actions. The stories are just starting to appear on the smaller news portals, but it is only a matter of time before the major ones will publish the same articles. By the time we arrive in Davute, we will be swamped with attention, both good and bad." "Ugh. That is just what we need. Let me guess. The Mech Trade Association had a hand in publicizing our deeds." "We don't need to guess. One of the MTA's official news bulletin has published a highly condensed summary of our positive contributions less than an hour ago. The mechers have even managed to insert the exact sum of MTA merits that our Golden Skull Alliance earned in total." "Great. That will definitely unleash a horde of freeloaders and sycophants in our direction." Ves grumbled. "Our clan can handle the heat." Minister Shederin reassured the younger man. "You should keep focus on doing what you do best. Our people and institutions are more than adequately equipped to handle the changes. The benefits of increased fame and renown are more than worth it. Not only will it become easier for us to forge more lucrative agreements with new business partners, but we have received new applications to join our clan from more formidable and worthy pioneering organizations." That last part perked Ves up. As much as he was pleased with the current state of the Golden Skull Alliance, Operation Lighthouse exposed him to the benefit of bringing greater numbers to a fight. He could do a lot more on the Trailblazer Expedition if the amount of mech forces he could bring to bear was at least six times greater! Of course, Ves was not willing to let anyone fight alongside his clan. The Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan may have their fair share of flaws, but they had proven their trustworthiness and loyalty many times over. That made it even harder to welcome new additions to the Golden Skull Alliance. The contrast between trust and intimacy would be so great that it would definitely disrupt the vibe within the expanded alliance. "Are there any pioneering organizations on the list that have a serious chance of meeting all of our criteria?" Ves asked. "It is still early, but we have received surprising offers from a number of familiar organizations." "Oh?" "Do you recall the pioneering organizations we fought alongside during the Battle of the Boryan Belt? Well, they have become so impressed with us that they are willing to join us if the conditions are right." That caused Ves to look skeptical. "As far as I am aware, each of them are strong enough to match the numbers of our entire alliance. They are already strong enough in their own right. They even have their own ace pilots on retainer! Why would they give up much of their independence and autonomy to abide by our rules and restrictions?" Minister Shederin smirked. "The decision is highly logical when you study the right data. We may be small for the moment, but there are many indicators that show we have great promise in the future. First, we have earned an astronomical sum of MTA merits, which we will certainly use to fuel our growth. Second, we are a new and dynamic alliance that does not carry as much burdens as other groups, so our prospects of promoting to first-raters are considerably higher. Third, it is clear to discerning people that we enjoy an excellent relationship with the MTA, which means that any newcomers can benefit from this as well." There were many more reasons why other parties would want to join the party. Selfish as their motives may be, Ves didn't mind so much as long as they took the same risks and endured their fair share of pressure. "Above all else, people have become more convinced by our string of successes." The minister summed up. "We have acquired a strong winner's halo, and others want to bask in it. So long as we manage to keep it up, everything will go smoothly." "And what if we lose this valuable halo?" "Then it will be up to us to ensure that our new alliance partners will remain committed during times of adversity." The circumstances did not sound ideal, but they were better than before. Attracting stronger pioneers who had already proven their ability to survive in the frontier would make for strong additions to the expeditionary fleet. The upcoming pitstop made for an ideal moment to meet with the promising candidates and evaluate them thoroughly. "Which of the pioneering organizations that we fought alongside the last time have decided to join our little alliance?" "So far, the Third Fleet of the Adelaide Mercenary Corps and the entirety of the Boojay Family have signaled their strong interest to join our alliance." Minister Shederin seriously responded. "In our initial exchanges, we have already judged that they are sincere about their intentions. Their terms are reasonable and they have already shown a good amount of willingness to abide by our many rules." If Shederin said so, then it must be true. This stood in stark contrast to many of the offers that the Golden Skull Alliance received in the past. pǎпdǎ Й?νê1,сòМ Usually, stronger parties expected to come in and throw their weight around. Some did not even do a good job at disguising their intentions to outright take over the alliance by usurping its leadership from within! Ves didn't know what those guys were thinking, but at least the Adelaides and the Boojays had better sense than that. Their decision to approach the Golden Skull Alliance without leveraging their individual superiority already demonstrated a willingness to bow their heads. It also helped a lot that he had good impressions of both during the time the Gemini Family had gathered them all together to assault the Palace of Shame. Both the Adelaides and the Boojays came across as sensible and practical people, unlike a certain other group that developed unusual cultural practices to say the least. "Did we happen to receive any interest from the Gemini Family?" Ves curiously asked. "No." "Thank the heavens. We can do without their brand of weirdness. I don't want our Golden Skull Alliance to turn into a cesspit of weirdos, exiles and miscreants." "I believe our clan already has that area covered, sir."