Chapter 6857 Second Superdimensional Mining Operation As much as Ves held a vested interest in having Casella expand her family, it would take at least a generation for him to benefit from this development. It was still better to tackle this issue early rather than later. The stronger the Saint Commander became, the more problematic it was for her to raise her own child. After sending Casella, Ves dealt with another important development. While he and his wife studied the data collected from all of the tests in order to figure out whether the Minerva Mark II needed further tweaks, Ketis had been particularly active over at the expeditionary fleet. On the same day the Minerva Mark II had taken shape, the famous swordmaster finally opened another temporary gateway into the Blue Dimension. It had taken a lot of work and effort for her to be able to do so in a short amount of time. Ves had become too preoccupied with his present affairs to handle this business. The Minerva Mark II Project and the Final Glory Project demanded so much commitment that he could not afford to add another major distraction to his life. Casella demonstrated mental fortitude then him. She not only dedicated much of her time in realspace on rushing the First Sword Mark III Project, but also spent even more time inside the System Space on completing a large amount of Missions. Even if she limited herself to picking the low-hanging fruit, she still spent multiple months on designing different mechs and performing different swordsmanship feats without anyone else knowing any better. In fact, she did not have to bother with hiding her efforts to complete different Missions anymore. She could openly request the Red Association and Red Fleet to supply her with special materials or technical support. She merely had to pretend that she was trying to fulfill the expectations of the Heavensword. Ketis found it disgustingly easy to fool the mechers and fleeters into supporting her endeavors. They only observed what they wanted from her. She even felt a little guilty about drawing on their limited resources when they had to juggle many other responsibilities. This was why she tried to repay their trust and material support as best she could by scrounging enough Ascension Points to open another dimension breach. Due to lack of time and suitable Missions, Ketis still took around 2 months to earn a little over 400 Ascension Points. That was not enough to purchase any of the consequential upgrades of the Dimension Observatory. This was why Ketis decided to invest part of those AP into herself. She reserved 200 Ascension Points on various enlightenment fruits as she urgently wanted to absorb new knowledge and strengthen her foundation as a mech designer. This was not a purely selfish gain. The greater her competence as a mech designer, the easier it was for her complete mech design-related Missions. Once she digested all of the enlightenment fruits that expanded and deepened her knowledge base, she spent another 200 Ascension Points on opening a passage to the 365th dimension. Of course, many powerful groups had been waiting for this move. Ketis made sure to give the clan as well as all of the other powerful players advance warning before she opened the breach. The Larkinson Clan, the Red Association, the Red Fleet, the Red Collective, the Terran Alliance, the Rubarthan Pact, as well as delegations from other major groups quickly gathered their harvesting fleets. Each of them had built a large number of more thoroughly designed mining demimechs and vehicles. Each of them were precisely designed to move in and out of the 5 by 20 meters breach as efficiently as possible. Human High Command had even empowered a committee that was responsible for organizing the 24-hour mining extravaganza. They sorted out the traffic rules, the qualifications for participation, the quotas on vehicles and demimechs, the construction of defenses and prefab mining bases, the taxes levied on superdimensional matter and so much more. Ketis and the Larkinsons felt grateful for all of this preparation work. They could never organize the next superdimensional mining operation as quickly and effectively. The intervention of a higher authority also prevented any single player from throwing its weight around. Although the distribution of vehicle quotas and so on was not completely fair, the committee had done its best to keep everyone at least somewhat happy. Different from past expeditions into the Blue Dimension, the major players also brought more exploration and research-related craft and personnel. The major players were grateful that Ketis and Heavensword gave them an opportunity to harvest generous amounts of superdimensional matter, but it was not healthy or sustainable to rely on this pairing for so much of their strategic resource needs. The Red Three and the first-rate colonial superstates had already dedicated a large amount of funding, resources and institutional support to developing an alternate way to access the 365th dimension. Ves was not in a position to know how much progress they had made, but he had no doubt that they saw the second opening into the Blue Dimension as an opportunity to conduct critical experiments. Neither Ves nor Ketis minded their activities. It would be great if they succeeded. That way, few people would become so dependent on Ketis to secure another trip to the Blue Dimension. Due to the much more extensive preparations this time, all of the participants who entered the Blue Dimension during the 24-hour window managed to bring back a considerably greater haul of superdimensional matter than before. "The density of floating islands is a little less than in the area that corresponds to the Davute System." Ketis reported to Ves over the comm. "It appears that there are locations where superdimensional matter is more readily available than others. We got lucky the first time." "Did you end up harvesting less strategic resources than before?" "No. It is the opposite. We have prepared many more mining vehicles and facilities this time. We also organized a much more professional crew. All of this has helped us secure 50 percent more superdimensional matter than before." "How much mid-grade and high-grade superdimensional matter did you secure this time?" Ketis briefly recalled the numbers. "I estimate that we have harvested enough hull-grade superdimensional matter to cover the hull of two 500-meter long sub-capital ships. Our harvest of armor-grade is disappointing. We managed to secure enough to cover an entire superdimensional mech along with 30 percent of another machine. We have managed to obtain the same amount of weapon-grade superdimensional matter as last time, which is disappointing." In other words, the second haul yielded more mid-grade superdimensional matter but significantly less high-grade superdimensional matter. That was good news when it came to constructing a warship or a juggernaut, but it was bad news to mech designers who wanted to create more superdimensional mechs. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 "Do the numbers on armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional matter already factor in the concessions made to the Devos Ancient Clan?" Ves critically asked. Ketis nodded. "My report is based on the net figures. I have already included the taxes paid by various parties. I have also deducted all of the concessions and payments that our clan has made to different groups for whatever reason." That was good news. That meant that the Larkinson Clan probably managed to obtain more superdimensional matter from the Blue Dimension, but ultimately had to give away a lot of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional matter to meet its contractual obligations. Although it was painful for him to lose all of that high-grade superdimensional matter at this time, the Devosans had transferred the secrets of Destroyer Technology as well as a second-generation World Tree Seed to the Larkinson Clan. The latter might not have much use in the short term, but Ves still considered it to be a vital strategic asset. So long as the Larkinson Biotech Institute and the T Institute figured out how to upgrade its capabilities, the World Tree Seed could potentially become an amazingly effective tool for plunder. It could also be used to quickly transform a lifeless rock into a brand new home planet for the Larkinson Clan. "I suppose you have plans for the high-grade matter that you have harvested." Ketis nodded. "The First Sword Mark III will become the first full superdimensional ace mech of our clan. This is the right time for us to do this. The Mech Supremacist Faction has been very helpful in solving all of the technical problems and puzzles associated with trying to transform raw superdimensional matter into stable and workable alloys. The lessons that we can learn from upgrading the First Sword will help us in subsequent projects involving superdimensional matter. Besides… out of all of the high-ranking mech pilots of our clan, Saint Dise is the most suited to make the most out of the capabilities of a superdimensional mech." Ves fully agreed with her statement. It was not just a selfish decision to turn the First Sword Mark III into the first full superdimensional mech. "I have high expectations for Saint Dise and the First Sword Mark III. As soon as the two have completed the initial trials, I want you to transfer them to New Constantinople. Our Premier Fleet has received an amazing power-up by bringing the Minerva Mark II online, but that still leaves us vulnerable to enemy champions. We urgently need an ace pilot and ace mech that excels at dueling phase leaders, especially the mean ones that tend to be found in the Upper Zones." A bit of tension spread over the communication channel. The physical projection of Ketis clearly was not comfortable with this decision. She ultimately bowed her head. "Saint Dise is eager to tackle a greater challenge. I have seen the footage of the Minerva Mark II at work. That kind of amplification will attract a lot of unwelcome attention from the Red Cabal. The Saint Commander will need the strongest possible protection that our clan can provide. The First Sword Mark III is the undisputed best in this role." This could be regarded as the unspoken price for hogging so much superdimensional matter and using it to trick out her favorite mech. Besides, they all knew that keeping such an exceptionally powerful superdimensional ace mech in the Middle Zones was just asking for trouble. "Don't worry, Ketis. The Premier Fleet will take off in a month or two. We are just waiting for the Tortuous Scream to arrive and for the Saint Commander to complete the reorganization and expansion of our first-class forces. We are trying to minimize time spent in port because we cannot afford to remain idle while the aliens keep taking human territories." "Dise will be pleased to hear that." Ketis said. "By the way, aside from turning the First Sword Mark III into a superdimensional mech, I am also extending the same treatment to my personal gear. Once I have mastered the basics of working with superdimensional matter, I intend to upgrade my Bloodsinger and my combat armor with weapon superdimensional matter respectively." Ves raised his eyebrow. "I thought you intended to upgrade your suit of combat armor with armor-grade superdimensional matter." "That was my plan, but my 'partners' objected to that. They do not want me to get into combat without enjoying the highest possible protection. The mechers even promised to cover the weapon-grade superdimensional matter needed to upgrade my combat armor. I have no reason to reject their generous offer." Wow. That was a nice gift. A suit of combat armor did not require that much superdimensional matter to make, but every gram remained precious. "I look forward to seeing you in action with your new gear." Ves said with a smile. "You don't need to rely on a weapon as overkill as the Heavensword most of the time. You can slice straight through bulkheads with a superdimensional Bloodsinger. Your suit of combat armor should also offer you ample protection against vehicle-grade or even mech-grade armaments. Don't get too arrogant, though. I am pretty sure you can still get blown to pieces if you are struck by a warship-grade cannon." Ketis sardonically smiled in return. "I am more worried about getting caught on an enemy warship that has self-destructed. This is why my partners insisted on wearing a suit of heavy combat armor instead. The additional mass and buffers massively increases my chances to survive a calamity. You should see all of the nifty high technology at my disposal."