As Ves continued to show off the Minerva Mark II design to the Saint Commander, he also began to ask more philosophical questions. "Now that you have become an ace commander, you have come much closer to becoming a god pilot. You have also exercised your power many times since your breakthrough. Granted, you are still shackled by the Minerva Mark I, but you should at least have a much better idea of what you are striving towards." "What is it you want to ask?" Casella Ingvar asked with a frown. "Have you put more thought on how you wish to exercise your power on the battlefield?" Ves asked. "Last we talked, we had an interesting discussion about how the design of your ace command mech will shape the development of your domain and power expression. When you receive the Minerva Mark II, what will you focus on the most?" That was a difficult question to answer. There were many good things about the Minerva Mark II design. Casella was certainly impressed by what the Design Department had been working on. She truly believed that it was worth it to come early and provide her input so that her upgraded machine better reflected her preferences. "I think that the Victrix adds a large amount of possibilities." She says. "Range is one of the greatest limitations of my Command Field. If I can extend it beyond my normal radius, then I have a large room for maneuver. From attacking two defensive strongholds at once to Enfeoffing a squad of stealth mechs that have painstakingly sneaked behind enemy formations, I can employ many more strategems than before." As the main individual responsible for designing the Victrix, Ves smiled with pride. "I have tried my best to make sure it delivers on its promise. The Victrix shall be an interesting living fey that will grow with you and your battle partner over time. I am not too sure how it will improve, but I think that it is possible to extend its maximum operating range over time." Casella’s eyes grew sharper as she thought of another possibility. "The ability to use the Victrix to extend my Command Field to another location in the same star system is already powerful enough. However, what I really want to know is… will it be possible to extend its range to the point where I can deploy it in a neighboring star system?" "That… is a big question." "Please think about it seriously." Ves fell silent as he seriously considered this idea. The Victrix should not be able to operate too far from the Minerva under ordinary circumstances as they still constituted one single living mech. However, the use of a Mentalist Crystal, the Saint Commander’s companion spirit as well as her remarkable Command Field gave him a reasonable amount of confidence that the living command fey could operate a bit further away without any serious repercussions. Even so, there ought to be limits. Being able to send the Victrix several light-hours away was much different from shipping it to a star system that was several light-years away! One of the characteristics about high-ranking mech pilots was that their power was always concentrated on themselves. Every god pilot was defined by this characteristic. It was their source of strength as well as their universal shortcoming. God pilots derived their strength from concentrating their extraordinary willpower as much as possible. It sounded antithetical for them to spread out their domains. That would only dilute their strength and weaken their martial strength. Only the rare god commanders such as the Archistrategos dared to spread out their God Kingdoms across multiple light-hours in order to spread out their resonance-empowered subjects. Even then, unless they hid their true capabilities from the public, Ves was pretty sure that it was impossible for them to spread their Command Fields across multiple star systems! Ves slightly narrowed his eyes. From what he could pick up from Casella’s words, she may have developed an interest in breaking this rule. If there was one lesson that Ves had learned, it was that exceptions always existed. Nothing was absolute. Ves grew more intrigued. Was it possible for him to make this dream come true? He did not feel confident at the moment, but who knew whether that might change. Perhaps seeing the Minerva Mark II and the Victrix in action might give him an idea on how extend Casella’s Command Field across several star systems! "I can understand why it makes sense for you to be able to extend your Command Field across the same star system." Ves spoke. "It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to do this after you and your battle partner have grown. However, it is more difficult to help you extend your reach to other star systems. Is there a reason to pursue this in particular?" "Is it not obvious, sir? The war. The frontlines. If I was able to Commandeer mechs across multiple star systems at the same time, I will have the confidence to help humans win the necessary fights. I might not be able to do too much as an ace pilot, but if I become a god pilot…" She would become almost unbeatable on the battlefield. To be more precise, the mechs she Commandeered or Enfeoffed with her Command Field would have a great chance of repelling the enemy. God pilots were practically unbeatable on the battlefield! This also applied to god commanders, because the common weaknesses of command mechs were no longer as egregious as before. Even if god commanders did not possess any exceptional personal combat capabilities compared to other god pilots, the former still surpassed the bottom threshold! It was completely possible for god pilots who derived much of their combat power from their subordinate units to kill ancient phase whales for sport. The Army of One had proven this with his actions. The Saint Commander or whatever title she gained if she was able to survive the road to no return may also gain the same qualifications. At that point, it was not impossible for Casella Ingvar to defend a significant portion of the 5th defensive band! Ves’ expression grew complex as he stared at one of the Larkinsons that he personally recruited back in the Komodo Star Sector. She and her brother had come a long way since then. It was a pity that Imon was no longer able to accompany her sister. For all of the nobility and heroism demonstrated by the Saint Commander, Casella Ingvar was still a woman who was affected by her losses. The fall of House Ingvar, the death of Imon Ingvar and now her inability to help red humanity hold the line all affected her quite a lot. The reason for that was because Casella cared. She cared for her Living Sentinels. She cared for her clansmen. She cared for all of the innocent people that would suffer as a result of her failures. Some leaders believed that empathy was a weakness. Other leaders were convinced that empathy was a source of strength. Enjoy exclusive chapters from freewebnovel Casella clearly fell into the latter category. She felt so responsible for the lives of others that she worked hard to achieve better outcomes. Of course, that did not mean she was altruistic. Her overriding goal was to revive her brother in any way possible. She needed to survive and maintain the Larkinson Clan’s power base in order to keep this dream alive. This was one of the driving reasons why she agreed to let the expeditionary fleet withdraw from the Bortele System. Whenever her sense of duty clashed with her selfish desire to revive her brother, Casella must certainly not be feeling good. One of the ways to prevent that from happening in the future was to improve her capabilities. Aspiring to become the first god pilot that could effectively project her power across multiple star systems may be a way for her to make up for past regrets! "I genuinely cannot say whether it is possible for us to turn this ambitious idea of yours into reality." Ves honestly said. "The current model with relation to your companion spirit and the Victrix is not enough in my opinion. What I can tell you is that it may be possible for me to fulfill your goal by resorting to other means…" Casella perked up. It would be great if Ves had come up with a solid idea. "Please elaborate, sir." "First off, there is no known precedent for god commanders that possess their own companion spirits. Their limitations are not necessarily your limitations because you have a lot more flexibility. Can you show me Eleiha’s current state?" "Sssha." A silver winged snake emerged from Casella’s forehead. It had grown pretty powerful after her breakthrough. Ves nodded in satisfaction. "What a beautiful companion spirit. I am glad to see that she is still close to her original state." "How can she help me with extending my reach to other star systems?" Casella asked. "Deity cultivation." Ves simply responded. "I am not sure how much you know about it, but just think of how design spirits operate. Design spirits can reach out and channel their power in multiple locations in the material realm. They can do this as long as there are living mechs that they are connected to. They may be able to simultaneously reach out to thousands if not millions of different mechs at the same time. This is pretty much how a deity is supposed to operate." Casella widened her eyes as she saw what Ves was working towards. The ace commander stared at her companion spirit and tried to imagine the winged snake turning into an object of worship. "You think I can take advantage of Eleiha’s deity cultivation and extend my power to any worshiper that prays to my companion spirit?" "Maybe. I cannot give you any guarantees, Casella. All of this is completely unknown to me. However, I think there is at least a moderate chance for you to channel at least a small proportion of your God Kingdom to worshipers who are located in another star system. In fact, it doesn’t have to be a neighboring one. You may be able to lend your strength as an ace pilot or god pilot on the other side of the Red Ocean! The premise is that the worshiper possesses deep faith in your companion spirit." If red humanity was in a healthier state, then Casella might have felt disturbed by the notion of turning her companion spirit into an object of worship. However, the continuous setbacks in the Red War had caused the Saint Commander to not care about these pedantic matters anymore. No matter whether she had to become a god or devil, anything was acceptable so long as she became stronger! "Even if the chances are slim, I would like for you to look into this idea and see whether you can turn it into reality." Casella requested. "I can look into it, but don’t expect anything in the short term. Your current request does not fall into the scope of the Minerva Mark II. It is important for our Design Department to complete the upgrade project according to its current specifications. I may be able to figure stuff out later. We can revisit this matter when it is time for us to design the Minerva Mark III. Is this acceptable?" The ace commander nodded. "I can wait, but my patience is not limited. If it is truly possible for me to operate in multiple star systems at the same time, then I would like to make use of it when our race can still put up a meaningful resistance against the native aliens. We may already become extinct before you are ready to present your solution." "I think we have more serious stuff to worry about if that ever happens. In any case, try and keep Eleiha as straight as possible. Don’t let her practice any weird cultivation methods. I will try and see if I can figure out a deity cultivation method that specifically meets your needs."