Chapter 3311: Means to an End Creating an omnivorous design spirit was just the basis of creating the most spiritual incarnation for himself. Ves did not pursue power for its own end. That was useless and counterproductive. "Vulcan is just a means to an end. I should always remind myself that my main identity is a human and that my main profession is a mech designer. If whatever I'm doing is not conducive to my mech design ambitions, then I should just forget about messing with this stuff!" If Ves wanted to obtain a sustainable source of spiritual power, then he could already rely on Blinky for the most part. At best, Vulcan could serve as a reliable and loyal source of input for the spiritual cat if his other design spirits were unwilling or unable to donate their reserves. What truly mattered to Ves was how Vulcan could augment his mech design capabilities! Ves already knew what he was strong at. He was able to imbue his mechs and potentially other products with life, causing them to develop greater power that was controlled by an independent consciousness. However, his focus on this aspect did not provide him with any advantages in physical mech design. Though he was able to compensate for this shortcoming by borrowing Gloriana's specialty and relying on his increasing affinity for mechs, it was exponentially harder to create even better transcendent works! "There are so many Master Mech Designers in human space but the number of known Star Designers only amount to a hundred or so." Ves stated. "The greatest implication of Senfovon's Ladder of Craftsmanship is that the difficulty of climbing higher is unimaginably great. I don't even dare to bet that I am talented and capable enough to reach the third rung of the ladder by relying on my inherent talent and capabilities!" If he assumed that one of the key requirements of becoming a Star Designer was to be able to create a grand work that qualitatively surpassed every masterwork, then Ves did not object to reaching this incredibly high standard through unorthodox means! This was how he always worked. Instead of following the crowd and hope that he was able to outperform everyone, he preferred to play his own game where he could easily skew the odds in his favor! This was the kind of lateral thinking that Ves had always relied upon to get ahead! He was confident in his ability to succeed not because he thought he was better than other mech designers, but because he was daring and creative enough to find alternative solutions to his problems! Perhaps other mech designers would think he had gone bonkers for coming up with an idea as radical as creating a spiritual incarnation of himself. This was also why he didn't bother to inform Gloriana of his ambitious plan. "Other people are too confined by their own ignorance to understand my brilliance. The only way I can prove that I'm right is to succeed!" To that end, Ves thought a lot about how Vulcan was supposed to express his power. Ves did not care about Vulcan's dwarf domain. He only included it because it was already a part of his existing portfolio and because dwarves were meant to serve as an extra source of spiritual feedback. "A real god needs to take care of his flock because he will lose his source of spiritual sustenance if his believers forsake his belief." He smirked. "My spiritual incarnation is different because he can just switch to other sources of spiritual feedback." It would be nice if more ignorant dwarves became hoodwinked into believing a false god, but it would never become a priority to Ves. This was why he placed a much greater emphasis on Vulcan's other two domains. A focus on both mechs and craftsmanship had the potential to synergize with his design philosophy! Vulcan could even replace the role that Gloriana played in his professional career! Of course, Ves loved Gloriana too much to push her aside if she ever became redundant. Vulcan and Gloriana contributions to his mech designs did not necessarily have to conflict. "In fact, their effects can probably superimpose on each other, leading to even better results than if they are separate!" Ves optimistically predicted! The main purpose that Vulcan was supposed to play in his mech designs was to increase the likelihood of copies turning into masterworks. He did not expect anything too unrealistic like a 100 percent success rate. However, if he was able to double, triple or quadruple the current odds, Ves would have a bit more assurances that the upcoming Bulwark Project or Chimera Project would turn into masterworks! "My current odds of success are too low!" Ves shook his head. "The Amaranto is already a fluke. I'm not confident enough that I can replicate this success so quickly without enough luck and accumulation." The existence of a design spirit like Vulcan was supposed to replace or even exceed the role of luck and accumulation. Ves wasn't sure about the exact mechanics behind these variables but he had implemented several creative solutions in his spiritual incarnation's design that should all contribute to this desired effect. The simplest way to describe Vulcan's role in creating masterworks was to consider the design spirit as an attempt to turn uncontrollable variables into controllable variables! Only when Ves was able to grasp more factors that determined the quality of a mech in production would he be able to accelerate his progression! "Even if the ability to make more masterworks doesn't help with advancing or realizing my design philosophy, I can still derive a lot of benefits by making more of them. Each one is a treasure that I can use to empower my subordinates or trade away to others." He could boost Venerable Joshua's progression and provide him with a smooth ride to ace pilot by turning the Chimera Project into a masterwork expert mech. He could receive the gratitude and protection of an ace pilot early by fulfilling Patriarch Reginald's request. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 There were countless other potential clients that would be willing to pay a fortune to obtain a masterwork mech tailored to their needs! His grand expedition in the Red Ocean would become a lot smoother if he was able to provide a valuable and indispensable service to all of the wealthy pioneers in the new frontier. "Without a competitive edge, my clan and I will never gain a foothold in the Red Ocean. There are too many pioneers out there that are better than us in every other way!" Whether it was designing mechs, harvesting phasewater or starting up colonies, the most powerful and ambitious players of human civilization were at least a hundred times better prepared than a Journeyman and an upstart clan. This was why Ves planned to create a new entity like Vulcan even if he never came into conflict with the Vulcan Empire. Perhaps he would have chosen a different identity for his craftsmanship-oriented design spirit, but the role remained the same. As Ves continued to stand before his collection of ingredients, he calmly ran through all of the steps he needed to take to create his desired spiritual incarnation. He could not be sloppy this time. The difficulty of creating Vulcan was much higher than creating a regular spiritual product. In the latter case, even if he made a mistake, it wouldn't affect him directly. Different from normal, Vulcan was supposed to be another extension of himself, so Ves had to exert much more control over the creation process than normal. "That's why I am using up so many ingredients at once." He sighed. "I would never be so extravagant with an ordinary design spirit." He had to save the best for himself, after all. By raising the quantity and quality ingredients, he would not only be able to exert greater control over Vulcan's capabilities, but also ensure he would start off stronger and more powerful than any other newly-born spiritual entity! Ves carefully picked up the vial of high-grade life-prolonging treatment serum. "I've never used up so much universal life energy at once. I wonder how far Vulcan can go with this much juice." There was a considerable risk involved with accelerating Vulcan growth to such a massive extent. In order to prevent his design spirit from growing breaking loose from his control, he implemented many other safeguards, the most important of which was to pass on more himself to Vulcan than ever before. In that way, even if the Unending One came back from the dead again, Ves would be able to overpower the dark god by relying on brute force! This was why he gathered a whopping 20 P-stones that Blinky had spent many weeks filling with spiritual energy. They contained far more spiritual energy than Ves could hold in his mind! All of its spiritual attributes matched his own and they also carried his own spiritual imprint which ensured his control over all of that energy. "With this much raw strength, I don't believe that any rebellious strains can overpower my control!" There were numerous other ingredients that played their own role. The most uncertain of which was his last Unstable Chaos Essence gem that Lucky once produced in the Nyxian Gap. Ves hesitated when he saw this gem. "It's effects are unpredictable, but they can also be quite potent." Ves adopted a gambler's mentality when he thought about using it. The Riot benefited a lot from Unstable Chaos Essence, but that was when the gem was used for its intended purpose. This time, Ves thought about infusing at least a portion of the energies contained in the gem to imbue Vulcan with greater power! The problem was that Ves had no idea what that would look like! He couldn't rely on his theories to make a prediction and his intuition wasn't able to help him out either. Still, he was reasonably certain that adding a bit of unpredictability and chaos to an overly-structured design spirit would do some good. It fit with his character and might even loosen some barriers to Vulcan's future progression! "No matter how Vulcan acts up, it will be fine as long as he remains under my control." Ves assured himself. The attraction of turning Vulcan into his strongest and most useful design spirit was too good to pass up! Ves just needed to possess enough confidence in his plans and precautions to go through with this risky choice. "Well, enough stalling. I've already made my decision so let's not waste anymore time." With the dwarven captives and his successful attempt to convert some of them into expert candidates and other transcendents, Ves had all of the ingredients he needed to create the so-called God of Dwarves, Mechs and Craftsmanship! Ves began to manipulate a number of controls that caused all of the dwarven captives to step out of the waiting rooms. Their mechanical limb locks forced them to move to the center of the cargo bay. Slowly, several expanding circles of dwarves stood still around a raised pillar. They looked as if they were about to take part in a sacred ceremony. The only problem was that their constant talking and shouting was ruining the atmosphere. "Free us, you dirty human!" "DEATH TO THE TALL FOLK!" "Help me… I want to go home…" Ves didn't need to give a way to channel their emotions anymore, so he activated a command that caused their mechanical limb locks to extend a mouth brace that gagged them shut! "Mfffh!" "Mfff mffff mmfff!" "That's better." Ves smiled. He picked up the Hammer of Brilliance and threw it in the direction of the center. The living totem automatically flew forward until it hovered right above the pedestal. The eyes of every muffled dwarf focused on the mysterious hammer. The most fervent believers of Vulcan all felt an irresistible allure to the totem! Seeing how much the dwarves desired to obtain the Hammer of Brilliance made Ves grin. "If a simple hammer can already mesmerize these stupid dwarves to this extent, then the Vulcan that I'm about to make will become even more irresistible to these people!"