Chapter 7074: Fire Heart Tissue After introducing a very valuable relic in the form of the damaged imperial banner of the Sixth Star Emperor, Raul Ottaviani began to present a number of less astonishing goods. Ves’ enthusiasm cooled as he beheld the items that the trade broker had curated. Each of them were valuable in different ways. They just did not fit his needs as well as he hoped. These goods encompassed powerful exotics, rare hypers, a handful of alien relics, incomplete qi cultivation scriptures and samples of exoplants and exobeasts. The trade broker was able to offer a surprising amount of the latter. The claim that Ottaviani & Partners built up a good relationship with the Hunting Association appeared to be true. There was no way that Raul was able to present so many different organs of powerful alien exoflora and exofauna without getting into the good books of the Hunters. Unfortunately, these organs were so weird that it would take far too much trouble for Ves to figure out what to do with them. Just because they held power did not necessarily mean that he could graft them onto a mech and call it a day. It took a lot of expertise and understanding to decipher them and learn how to extract the stuff that was the source of their power. It was similar to the trouble with phasewater organs. The Larkinson Clan managed to harvest another batch of mostly pristine phasewater organs from the Battle of Screed Tanner VI-F, but all of them would probably remain stored in the freezers for a very long time. The Larkinson Biotech Institute lacked the expertise to quickly and efficiently understand the more complicated phasewater organs and convert them into human-compatible ones. The same applied to all of these bizarre organs. So what if he came across a gland that could produce a highly acidic slime that could dissolve transphasic and even superdimensional matter? Without understanding the cause behind this effect and finding out how to increase the potency of the dangerous slime, it would take forever for its application to melt a hole through a warship hull. Another organ that sounded valuable but was actually pretty useless to him was the fin of an aquatic calamity beast. It possessed the strange property of increasing the acceleration of a mech by 40 percent and larger vehicles by a lower percentage proportionate to their mass. This might be a priceless relic to certain clients, but Ves already had access to Lucky’s gems. He knew that the effects of these gadgets were strong for standard mechs and useful for expert mechs, but mostly lost their power for ace mechs because a Saint Kingdom overpowered everything. Since that was the case, Ves had little reason to bid for the fin. The only other excuse to purchase it was that it was not restricted to mechs. Yet even then he declined to acquire it because it was not cost effective to use this expensive calamity beat organ on anything else. As Raul received rejection after rejection, he did not look surprised. He maintained a professional demeanor and did not convey any disappointment. This was the reality of his business. Trade brokers tried their best to match buyers to sellers, but the nature of their demands were so strange that the two sides simply had no way of reconciling their demands with each other’s bottom lines. A case like this took place when Raul presented an object of undeniable value to Ves. It was a heart. An alien heart, to be precise. Ves happened to be familiar enough with phase whale physiology to recognize it came from this species. The heart was massive in scale. It was a giant biological engine of power that ensured that phasewater-infused blood flowed through every vein of the phase whale’s titanic body. What was unusual about this heart was that it was on fire. The projection did not show a still image, but a video capture. Even when it was secured in a special preservation chamber, the heart still blazed with strong fire energy. "What the hell is this?" Ves eventually asked. "Did a phase whale experiment on himself by trying to leverage the fire element and actually turn his heart into a furnace that eventually got himself killed?" "Not quite, professor. The greater phase whale who this heart belongs to was a casualty of the Red War. In his death throes, he wanted to deny his human opponents the opportunity to carve into his carcass and cut away his precious phasewater organs. He used the last drops of his power to teleport himself into the local star and surrender his true body to the searing flames." What a brave decision. The greater phase whale probably made the best choice under the circumstances as it was well-known that humans were able to squeeze a lot of benefits from the corpses of phase leaders. "Given that this burning heart exists, I take it that the phase whale’s attempt to deny resources to red humanity has failed." Ves stated. "Correct. The forces at the scene only retrieved a handful of remnants. Bones, mostly. This heart is by far the most notable exception. It is a mutated organ that has technically died, but still shows signs of activity. Attempts... have been made to transplant it into a starship, but it has failed to act as an enhanced power generator due to the fact that it is ’dead’. The owners therefore proceeded to slice small to moderate pieces from the organic anomaly. The tissue samples harvested through this process boast a number of useful and exceptional properties." The trade broker transferred a report to Ves that detailed exactly what the abnormal tissue samples were capable of. Even if they were cut into ribbons, the thin flesh of the enormous heart was still able to produce a surprising amount of fire energy by converting it from other energies! Ves studied the data carefully. He also began to visualize how he should work with it and how he could convert it into a useful component to his upcoming Promethea Mark II design. It would be difficult but not impossible to turn it into a source of fire energy that could pus the Promethea Mark II to the next level. Ves did not know if the LBI was up to the task of performing the biological transformations necessary to turn it into a functional, stable and controllable mech part. He may have to approach the Transhumanist Faction or maybe the Red Collective to do the job. Once he obtained the transformed product, he should be able to plug it into the Promethea Mark II and witness the ace mech transform into a raging hot Bloodfire mech! "I need to disclose additional information to you." Raul Ottaviani said in a slighter graver tone than before. "The seller has demanded a steep price for this exceptional fire element heart tissue. He demands a quantity of weapon-grade superdimensional matter that is 100 times the mass of the quantity of fire heart tissue that you wish to acquire. If you want to obtain 5 kilograms of fire heart tissue, then the seller expects to receive 500 kilograms of weapon-grade superdimensional matter." "ABSURD!" Ves shot to his feet and almost slammed his fists against his desk as he heard this outrageous demand! "Weapon-grade superdimensional matter is the most precious strategic good in this dwarf galaxy! God pilots can practically kill anything if their armaments are upgraded with them. Their immense might is proportionate to their scarcity. There is so little of it in the Blue Dimension that even a kilogram is precious enough to hurt us if we have lost track of it. This fire heart tissue is admittedly interesting to me, but I will not squander the strategic resources of our clan when I can look for many other substitutes that are also strong in fire energy. Weapon-grade superdimensional matter cannot be substituted by anything." The trade broker nodded slightly. "That is the case for now. It may be different in the future. Are you certain of your decision?" Ves resolutely repeated his stance. "The final decision does not rest with me, but I cannot imagine that the new matriarch of our clan will agree to squander so much high-grade superdimensional matter for organic tissue that is available in much greater quantities. I do not believe for a second that other buyers have paid a price that is close to what the seller has asked. There are many more cost-effective sources of fire energy available. I just need to be patient enough and wait for other opportunities to arrive. In any case, I have no immediate demand for it yet. I can wait months to obtain a more reasonable and affordable alternative." Raul nodded in understanding. "Very well. I shall convey your words to the seller. Depending on the reaction, you may or may not receive a second offer." "Do you think it is likely to happen?" "To be honest, no." The trade broker said after a short pause. "The fire heart may be enormous, but it is an utterly unique and remarkable biological marvel. Nobody can explain its birth. It should have been impossible for the heart of the phase whale to survive the intense heat of a star, let alone transform into an element that is as far removed from the phase whales as you can think of. It is impossible to replicate the chain of coincidences and stroke of luck that has produced such a unique marvel. Every slice of tissue that gets removed from the heart represents a permanent reduction in reserves. This resource will eventually run out, forcing clients such as yourself to seek other alternatives." Ves did not look impressed. "That is a nice story, but I do not have to wait until this fire heart has been cut apart in its entirety for me to look for alternatives. My requirements aren’t too strict or specific. I would be happy if I could get a space rock, a strange hyper material or even the First Flame’s tears. It matters not as long as it is compact and can produce a stable and constant output of fire energy." He wanted to make it very clear that he did not appreciate the attempt to rip off the Larkinson Clan. Even if Raul managed to fool Ves, it was useless so long as there was someone in the Larkinson Clan that was smart and shrewd enough to recognize how stupid it was to accept the trade. Hopefully, Ves was able to make all of that clear and thereby prevent potential sellers from inflating their demands to such a ridiculous degree. Raul Ottaviani spread his arms. "The fire heart tissue is the final item that we have been able to identify and present to you. We can find more matches for you in a number of days, but this is the extent of what we are able to deliver to you at this early stage." "I am pleased with the service that you have provided so far." Ves said. "I understand that stuff like this takes time. You are the first trade broker to present trading opportunities to me, and I appreciate how quickly you have been able to deliver. I may not have agreed to look deeper in most of the items available for trade, but it is good that there are at least a couple of hits." "I shall do my best to present a more relevant selection of trading goods to you in our next meeting." Raul solemnly said. "Now that I have met you in person and gauged your reactions to different items, I have a better understanding of your interests and your budget. The more often we meet, the better I can calibrate future selections according to your needs. We hope that you will retain our services on an ongoing basis. I can promise you that other trade brokerage firms are not as timely as us, and very few of them possess as close of a connection with the Hunting Association than Ottaviani & Partners." Ves did not have a strong opinion on this matter. "We shall see. As I have said, you are the first trade broker that I have met. Your speed is commendable, but results matter as well. I will withhold my judgment and let your competitors have a chance to prove themselves."