Chapter 2616: Returning Girls The Golden Skull Alliance had already left the Sentinel Kingdom. The combined fleet passed through a number of random star systems in other states as it slowly made its way to the Komodo-Vicious Mountain border. At one of these stops, the ships of the Glory Seekers, Larkinson Clan and Cross Clan just transitioned out of FTL travel. Thousands of mechs quickly emerged from the carriers in order to set up patrols. The starships all converged together in order to correct for the drift that occurred during their traversal. A corvette that was already parked in the star system instantly approached the arriving fleet. The unknown vessel initially aroused a lot of vigilance from the fleet, but soon it became evident that the corvette belonged the Hexers. After some quick communication, the Larkinson fleet invited the corvette to approach the Spirit of Bentheim. The vessel was only a hundred meters long. Along with her narrow hull, practically every other starship in the Larkinson fleet looked like a giant in comparison to this tiny courier vessel! The Hexer corvette was not allowed to dock with the Spirit of Bentheim. Who knew if the ship was secretly packed with explosives or something? Instead, the factory ship dispatched a shuttle that briefly mated with the Hexer vessel's passenger hatch. Soon enough, the shuttle returned to the Spirit of Bentheim. Once the vehicle docked in the hangar bay, a number of Larkinsons dropped by in order to meet some returning people. "Meow." Lucky curiously looked at the shuttle as Maikel held the cat in his arms. "Are you looking forward to seeing Maisie Ann and Rennie again?" Maikel asked. "Meow." "I wonder if they have become smarter than us." Zanthar wondered. "We need to show them that our teacher has taught us well!" As Maikel and Zanthar shared their guesses, Ves calmly waited for the other two Larkinson seeds to emerge from the shuttle. Even though the Larkinson seeds weren't as important anymore, Ves had still accepted the responsibility of turning them into qualified mech designers. Every mech designer had a responsibility to teach the next generation. This custom was so ingrained in the mech industry that not even Ves wanted to defy this tradition. While teaching others took up precious time, he gained plenty of benefits along the way. In the future, he would definitely step up his teaching. He might even get involved in the Larkinson University of Technology in order to disseminate some of his ideas. That was not going to happen anytime soon, though. For now, it was already sufficient to provide one-on-one teaching or just make use of virtual schools. "They're coming!" The hatch finally slid open. Two women floated out and landed on the deck of the hangar bay. A strange silence swept in the area. The two young men studied the women carefully. Due to the latter's strict learning environment, Maisie Ann and Rennie weren't able to correspond very often with their families. All four Larkinson seeds had changed over the course of a year. The men had grown taller, though they still hadn't shed all of the traces of their youth. The main change lay in their demeanor. Ever since Ves guided Maikel into discovering his main passion, the young man had become more driven. Maikel spent a lot of time brushing up his knowledge on programming and artificial intelligences. While he hadn't accrued enough expertise to speak with authority on these subjects, he seemed less like a mech design student and more like an actual mech designer as of late. Zanthar's transformation was not as drastic. His interest in heavy firepower was not as unique and exciting. Nonetheless, his studies had definitely kept apace. No matter if it was kinetic weapons, energy weapons or missiles, Zanthar had gained a lot of insight in heavy guns. What particularly helped his progress was the release of the Transcendent Punishers! The heavy artillery mech was practically perfect for Zanthar. The student frequently visited the mech stables where the Transcendent Punishers were stowed. Ves didn't actually know what he actually did over there, but it was fine as long as Zanthar kept up his progress. "Hello boys." Maisie Ann greeted. The two girls seemed to have enjoyed a growth spurt. They had grown significantly taller, so much so that Ves actually suspected they had undergone a Hexer procedure to raise their height! That was not the extent of their physical changes. Though their sharp and militaristic Hippolyta uniforms did not show off their physique, Ves could tell that they were a lot more athletic than before. It appeared the two girls also went through a lot of physical training, which was not typical for a mech design program. Yet the biggest change was not how they looked, but how they acted. Even though Maisie Ann and Rennie hadn't spoken any other words, their stiff postures, confident body language and judging stares reminded Ves uncomfortably of his wife and other Hexers. Was he greeting a pair of Larkinsons or a pair Hexers today? As Maikel and Zanthar lost their voices, Ves stepped in to take over the greeting. "Welcome back to the Larkinson Clan, girls. I wish you would have been able to attend Hippolyta longer, but…" Both girls instantly loosened up a bit and bowed in front of Ves. "It's okay, sir." Maisie Ann said. "Our professors recommended us to go back as well. If the Fridaymen ever manages to cross over into the Hegemony, our safety can't be guaranteed. Your mech models inflicted so much damage on our enemies that they might aim to kidnap us. It was better for us to leave." "Have you made any plans or arrangements with regards to your future studies?" Rennie nodded. "Hippolyta already placed us into a virtual class. Our professors also got in touch with Miss Gloriana. She promised to supplement our program with practical lessons and hands-on learning." Ves did not expect to hear that. While he and his wife didn't discuss everything, she should have told him about this beforehand! "Oh. I see." He replied. "I guess that is the best way to ensure continuity in your studies. It's too abrupt for the two of you to quit your orthodox education when you are already immersed in it for a year." "We're happy to continue our studies with the professors at Hippolyta. Gloriana has also earned their approval to take over some of their lessons. We don't need any other arrangements." "That's good to hear." Ves awkwardly replied. His plan to take over their study programs died in his mind. It seemed that Ves didn't get to raise them into qualified mech designers anymore. Well, it wasn't a big deal. If others already took care of Maise Ann and Rennie, Ves wouldn't have to split up his teaching time among too many students. "Well, Zanthar and Maikel can bring you to your new quarters. Since you are still students, you have been assigned to the lower accommodation decks." "It's enough." Rennie spoke. Since it didn't appear that Ves would become their mentors, he figured that he wasn't needed here anymore. "Well, I have to get back to the design lab. I hope you enjoy your stay aboard this ship." As Ves turned around and left, the four Larkinson seeds awkwardly faced each other. "Lead the way." "Uhm, okay. This way, please." A bot carrying luggage floated out of the shuttle and followed behind the two girls. After Maisie Ann and Rennie made sure they hadn't left anything behind, they prodded the boys to move. As the foursome exited the hangar bay and slowly made their way down the lower accommodation decks, the boys began to ask some questions. "How is Hippolyta?" "It's strict, but fair. Our professors pushed us as hard as we could, but we never let them down." "Was it hard being a foreigner over there?" "It was, at first. As I've already said, it got easier once our clan patriarch helped the Hex Army. Our classmates had begun to admire us in our second semester. It didn't matter that we used to be third-raters." Rennie strode closer to Maikel and patted his shoulder. "Hand him over." "Huh?" "Lucky. Hand him over." It would have been one thing if Rennie asked politely, but Maikel was affronted by her commanding tone. "I'm in charge of him right now!" "Meow?" Lucky looked confused. Instead of arguing with him further, Rennie swept forward and wrenched apart his arms! As soon as Maikel's grip loosened, the female mech design student instantly swept Lucky's body and dragged him away! "Hey! He's mine!" "Not anymore." Rennie harrumphed as she cuddled the befuddled gem cat against her chest. "Lucky is too cute to leave in your brutish hands." "Who are you calling brute!? Did those Hexers brainwash you or something?" "Don't talk nonsense, Maikel. We're still Larkinsons. We just gained more confidence as women." Attitudes quickly worsened. Maikel and Zanthar quickly learned that Maisie Ann and Rennie were very different women now. Hippolyta had taught them more than how to design mechs! "Give Lucky back!" "Haha! No way! You're too weak!" The Larkinson seeds didn't even make it to the lower accommodation decks. They descended into a chaotic wrestling match. By the time the security officers responded to an alert, they had to pry Maisie Ann and Rennie from the beaten boys! Throughout the tussle, Lucky phased out of Rennie's shoulders and floated to the side. His tail aimlessly flicked back and forth as he looked at the impromptu wrestle match in confusion. "Meow?" As this small incident took place, Ves did not return to the design lab immediately. Instead, he veered off to his personal workshop, otherwise known as his mancave. When Ves entered his personal working space, he lamented the lack of personalisation. Due to his design work, he hadn't been able to spend much time in his workshop as he liked. He hadn't even touched his ELKINE 3D printer! Hopefully, that was about to change. As Ves looked around, he already planned to bring in some additions. For now, he had more immediate concerns to deal with. As he strode forward to the assembly system, he viewed the mech that had just been brought into place. The Quint was one of his most spiritually-developed mechs. Only the Devil Tiger and the Shield of Samar topped it in terms of spiritual development. Soon enough, Ves felt a very harmonious force of will approaching from the other side. Venerable Joshua Larkinson walked up to Ves and opened his arms for a friendly hug. "Patriarch!" "You've come. Good!" As the two men shared a brief hug, they separated and directed their gaze to the Quint. "Sir, if I may ask, why did you order us to transfer the Quint to this workshop?" "I'd like to perform an experiment. Maybe several." Ves answered. Venerable Joshua looked uncertain. "Is it necessary to experiment on the Quint? It's working fine so far. While it is not entirely a second-class mech, its upgrades have made it quite competitive. The armor is especially good!" It had better be considering that it was made out of Unending alloy! Ves sighed. "The Quint is one of the toughest mechs we have, but it's offensive strength is too weak. Unless we replace its entire internal architecture, it won't be able to keep up against other second-class mechs. I think it's time to repurpose the Quint. I intend to reassign this mech and hand it over to another expert candidate." "Oh." Joshua's mood lowered. "That.. makes sense. I will miss piloting the Quint, but if it will help another clansmen, then I guess it's for the best." "Cheer up, Joshua." Ves patted his shoulder. "I've designed several second-class mechs that you might be interested in piloting." Joshua looked up in realization. "Will you allow me to pilot the Transcendent Punisher?!" "That's not exactly what I have in mind. A mech pilot as talented as you will fare much better with a mobile mech. I'd like to perform another experiment. Tell me, are you interested in piloting a Hexer mech?"