One of the more interesting design traits of the new Instrument of Doom cannon was that Ves focused on increasing its inherent firepower as much as possible. By making sure that the luminar crystal cannon already started off with unreasonably high single-shot attack power from the beginning, Ves could help it attain ridiculous damage results by applying multiple forms of amplification! For example, if a weapon like the Instrument of Vengeance rifle possessed a base damage index of 100, Venerable Stark might be able to increase that figure to 400 or something after resonating with the weapon. This was the limit that she could achieve with her resonance strength and other factors. One of the design choices that Ves sometimes regretted was that the Instrument of Vengeance did not come with any further amplification mechanisms. Many ranged expert mechs were usually capable of boosting the firepower of their weapons by making use of the right resonating exotics. Instead of trying to increase the damage potential of the Instrument of Vengeance further, the Larkinsons had instead opted to emphasize its ability to target weak points by integrating it with Opticonium. This was the resonating alloy that enabled the Amaranto to bend and curve its energy beams. While Venerable Stark had definitely managed to play a crucial role with the help of this unusual ability, it was still regrettable that the Amaranto had no further means to overcome tougher resistance. The only exception was to take the advantage of the fact that the Instrument of Vengeance was a masterwork were Ves was able to connect to it and amplify its next shot with the power of Worclaw energy. Considering that Ves and Blinky had to rely on their own efforts to generate more Worclaw energy and replenish what they had lost, this was a trump card that could only be used once every few months! In any case, the Amaranto mostly had to make do with topping its damage index to 400 or maybe higher at times if Venerable Stark exceeded her limits. This might already sound impressive, but these were fairly typical results for expert mechs at this level. What Ves sought to accomplish with the new Instrument of Doom was to use this second chance to implement a different design direction! As the Amaranto fired several more shots after tapping some of the potential of the Instrument of Doom, Ves already formed an estimate of its damage indexes. The base damage index relative to the Instrument of Vengeance was easy to calculate in advance due to the lack of any metaphysical shenanigans. "A full-powered laser beam attack from the Instrument of Doom should already have a damage index of around 300." This might not sound like much given the enormous differences between the luminar crystal rifle and the luminar crystal cannon, but Ves had already done his best to cope with the law of diminishing returns. "Venerable Stark is not yet familiar with the Instrument of Doom, so her ability to resonate with it in the beginning is not as good. The weapon also has a lot more volume which further reduces the effectiveness of true resonance. It is already fairly good that resonating with the cannon can allow it to reach a damage index of around 800 to 900." This might not sound as extreme as Ves was hoping for, but he was sure that Venerable Stark would be able to increase the damage potential of the Instrument of Doom over time! Once she became intimately familiar with her new weapon, Ves wouldn't be surprised if the Amaranto could reach a damage index of 1200. This was already at least three times as powerful as the damage that the Amaranto was previously able to inflict! "It will get even better over time as Venerable Stark's resonance strength is constantly getting better." Resonance strength was a measure of an expert pilot's extraordinary capacity to distort reality. The higher the number, the more ridiculous the expert pilot could impose his or her own rules in the material realm! Once Venerable Stark became a high-tier expert pilot, Ves wouldn't be surprised if she could reach a damage index of 1500 or higher! Compared to the repeatable damage output that she was able to produce in the past, the difference was enormous! This example clearly illustrated why high-tier expert pilots could crush their weaker counterparts in battle. Their exceptionally strong willpower not only allowed them to amplify the performance of their weapons to an absurd degree, but also enabled them to do the same for their resonance shields, their armor systems, their flight systems and more! Of course, Ves had to remind himself that blindly chasing after multipliers was not the only way to increase the performance of a mech. A more convenient way to increase the indexes was to increase the base performance of a weapon or mech. This was why Larkinson expert mechs such as the Riot and the First Sword were barely capable of competing against the Shockshell! Their Unending alloy and other expensive parts and tech significantly strengthened their technical performance! This allowed them to get away with lower amplification factors, though only to an extent. In any case, the testing session was far from done. After collecting enough data on how much stronger the new cannon had become after Venerable Stark resonated with it in a more general manner, she finally got to try out a feature that was absent from her old luminar crystal rifle. "The next tests will be a lot more exciting for us all. I don't want you to resonate with the cannon on a normal basis this time. Instead, I need to resonate specifically with the resonating exotic contained within the weapon. Can you sense it, Davia?" "I can." The expert pilot replied. "It is already calling out to me. It is impossible to ignore its presence." Ves smiled. "That is an indication that you possess a remarkably high compatibility with Urthan Silver. Have you read the briefing on this resonating exotic?" "I do. It is a naturally occurring resonating material that is fairly common in both the Milky Way and the Red Ocean. It is not particularly rare or valuable, and its effect isn't the strongest. Many expert pilots can easily get along with Urthan Silver. The sole job of this resonating exotic in an expert mech is to amplify the damage inflicted by an energy attack by 80 to 200 percent depending on the resonance strength of the expert pilot." This was actually a fairly mediocre effect. There were other resonating exotics that could achieve better results. The primary reasons why the Larkinsons settled for Urthan Silver was because it was easily available and because it was highly compatible with Venerable Stark. Compatibility was extremely important. Expert pilots were rarely capable of drawing out the full potential of most resonating materials. However, if they were capable of doing so, then even average resonating materials would be able to produce fantastic results on the battlefield! As the Instrument of Doom began to light up even brighter than before, Ves could sense the horrible power accumulating within the weapon by observing the live feed. His intuition warned him that the regular firepower of the Instrument of Doom had greatly exceeded the regular firepower of the Instrument of Vengeance! "Fire!" When the Amaranto unleashed a blast, over a dozen target dummies that had been placed on line did not even last a fraction of a second before the massive resonance-empowered laser beam disintegrated them before striking clean through the body of another asteroid! Not only that, but an asteroid that was lined up behind the last one also received significant damage! "Damn! The power of that attack can equal the Star of Liberation's best efforts!" "No high-tier expert mech can come away unscathed after getting struck by this ridiculous laser beam!" The Larkinson Clan already had plenty of reasons to celebrate if the testing session ended at this point. None of their expert mechs had ever managed to inflict so much damage with a single repeatable attack! Outside of trump cards such as battle formations and the remote energy channeling of masterwork mechs, the Amaranto wielding the Instrument of Doom would henceforth serve as the top damage source of the Larkinson Clan! Ves eagerly studied the data and performed a quick analysis to loosely estimate the damage index of the latest shot. "If my calculations are correct… then the damage index of that latest attack has definitely exceeded 2000!" That was already an astounding result even if Venerable Stark did not come close to maximizing the potential of Urthan Silver! This was the first time that the expert pilot worked with this kind of resonating material, so Ves already expected Amaranto to perform a bit rough at first. As the Amaranto carefully accumulated more energy before unleashing another stupendously powerful attack, Ves clearly noticed that the raw numbers had jumped a bit. This was already a sign that Venerable Stark was already mastering the art of resonating with Urthan Silver. The Amaranto continually showed that it was capable of inflicting enormously powerful blows with its new weapon! "How are you doing, Venerable Stark?" "My mech and I are doing fine so far, but we cannot keep up this intensity for long." She honestly replied. "It is a lot more exhausting for us to use the Instrument of Doom." Ves nodded in understanding. "That is the price of using such a large and powerful weapon. Let us hurry up with the final two tests." The expert mechs of today relied extensively on phasewater to give them an extra edge, and the Amaranto had just joined this expanding club! While Venerable Stark still resonated with the Urthan Silver like before, this time she also activated the transphasic function, thereby causing the luminar crystal cannon to glow brighter and radiate more power than before! Faint spatial distortions surrounded the Amaranto before Venerable Stark finally pulled the trigger. The subsequent massive energy beam did not look that much different from the last couple of ones, but the difference was that it managed to pierce through one asteroid before spearing another one that was floating in the distance! Not only that, but the remaining energy of the laser beam ultimately dug into a third asteroid before stopping. "Damn! This is awesome!" Even though the hardness and density of an asteroid was nowhere comparable to a purpose-built warship, Ves could already imagine how many meters of solid hull plating the Instrument of Doom could bypass and overcome! Though the damage of the latest energy beam had actually spread out over the three asteroids due to the effects of phasewater, what was important to Ves was that the transphasic laser beam had affected a third asteroid this time! "The damage index of this attack should still be around 2000 or so, but the penetration factor should be multiple times greater." Phasewater caused attacks to inflict less damage to the exterior but more damage to the interior. This meant that it was no longer easy for Ves to compare the damage potential of the Amaranto's expanded attack methods. "Let us proceed with the final and most important test, Davia." Ves transmitted to the Amaranto. "Follow my instructions but listen to your instincts. If there is any point where you feel that the Instrument of Doom is exceeding its limits, don't hesitate to abort the test." "I will keep that in mind." Venerable Stark answered. She concentrated her mind and will and began to perform all of the necessary steps to properly make use of the new blessed weapon. She not only resonated with the Urthan Silver and activated the transphasic function, but also reached out to the design spirit of the mighty weapon and requested his intervention for the following attack. "He's coming!" The Phase King had already been standing by as this historic testing session unfolded. As soon as Venerable Stark opened a channel, the powerful design spirit readily made use of it by sending down his presence as well as his spiritual energy! Soon enough, the entire Amaranto lit up as if it had turned as bright as a star! The silhouette of the Phase King briefly overlapped with that of the expert rifleman mech before shrinking down towards the luminar crystal cannon that was made in his image! During this time, the presence of the Phase King temporarily suppressed that of the Illustrious One, causing the Amaranto to look and feel as if it had become the living embodiment of phasewater! As the whale head muzzle of the Instrument of Doom became so bright and lifelike that its decorated red eyes conveyed vitality, Venerable Stark eventually gathered the strength to pull the trigger! "DESTROY!" A flash of energy so bright that it seemed to cut through space itself instantly struck the edge of the asteroid belt! Numerous floating rocks irrevocably changed as the bright and piercing laser beam successfully drilled and phased through an enormous amount of matter! A huge number of witnesses within the fleet had become speechless. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺 They could no longer process the latest result as it was so far beyond their expectations that their minds still needed to catch up to reality. Ves finally broke the silence in the observation compartment. "How… how many asteroids?" "Sixteen…" His wife replied.