Ves did not say yes to Gloriana's 'modest' request. It did not exactly go well. "YOU SELFISH BOY! YOU HAVE OVER 660 MILLION MTA MERITS IN YOUR ACCOUNT! IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR YOU TO SPEND A FRACTION OF THIS SUM ON HELPING ME KEEP UP WITH YOUR PROGRESS?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BECOME A STAR DESIGNER WITHIN A LIFETIME IF YOU KEEP SABOTAGING MY PROGRESSION SPEED! DIDN'T WE PROMISE TO EACH OTHER THAT WE WOULD ACCOMPANY EACH OTHER TO THE TOP OF THE MECH INDUSTRY?!" "Meow!" Lucky became so disturbed by all of the shouting that he decided to run to another room so that the overstated cat could enjoy some peace and quiet. Ves on the other hand tried his best to calm his wife down. "I never told you I would say no! I just said I need more time to look at our available options and figure out whether we can save on MTA merits. You're talking about spending 120 million MTA merits on an overpriced implant and the complicated surgery required to put it in your head!" "THE FIRST-CLASS IMPLANT THAT I HAVE CHOSEN IS NOT OVERPRICED! IT IS WORTH EVERY SINGLE MTA MERIT AND IT IS ALSO ONE THAT IS USED BY MANY MTA MECH DESIGNERS! WHY ARE YOU STILL HOLDING OUT ON ME, VES?! I WORKED HARD TO DESIGN MANY OF THE MECHS THAT WE DEPLOYED INTO BATTLE AS WELL! DON'T YOU THINK I DESERVE REMUNERATION FOR ALL OF THE SERVICES I RENDERED?!" "Calm down, please! I've told you many times that there is no reason for you to yell and raise your voice. You will wake up the kids if you continue to shout like a banshee!" "ARE YOU CALLING ME A BANSHEE?!" Gloriana screeched! In any case, Ves managed to survive his wife's latest outburst by doing what he did the last times. He simply outlasted her. It took a lot of anger and energy for Gloriana to keep berating him like this. Her stamina wasn't the greatest so she halted her tirade when her voice finally grew hoarse. Ves did not particularly enjoy a pleasant night of sleep after that. He could feel the anger and resentment coursing through the body of the woman lying next to him on their shared bed. The next day, Gloriana put on a more gentle guise as she mothered her children and made sure they were ready to attend their classes for the day. She bent down to hug and kiss her two daughters on their cheeks. "Aurelia and Andraste, try and absorb the lessons taught by the tutors as best as possible, okay? We paid a lot to convince those first-class tutors to do an earnest effort into helping you keep up with your future peers. Not only are they responsible for helping you master all of the coursework that you have missed, they will also be monitoring your progress and filling up a report that we can use to prove your superior learning abilities. So whatever you do, try your best and complete all of your homework, okay?" "We will, mama~" Once their kids went off to start their next virtual lessons, Gloriana turned to her husband and directed a pointed stare at him. She hadn't given up on her request. Ves sighed. "Don't start with me again, please. I have decided to refrain from spending any MTA merits until we return to Davute. I can't decide on spending so many MTA merits on isolation when there are many other possible major items that we might want to acquire. A Hyper Chamber already costs us at least 100 million MTA merits and the upgrades to the Spirit of Bentheim will take even more MTA merits." Gloriana snarled at him. "I will wait for now, but do not take too long. I am expecting to achieve parity with you so that we can bring our relationship back into balance. You have your weird improvements, so give me a chance to keep up with you through the upgrade of my cranial implant. As long as I can obtain a first-class implant that are just as good as the ones used by MTA mech designers, I will be able to complete my design projects three or four times faster as well! We will be able to complete the newest batch of expert mechs much sooner if that is the case." That indeed sounded like a compelling reason to grant Gloriana's request. Ves did not set out to be selfish or anything. He genuinely wanted what was best for the woman he loved. He just didn't want to sign a check that instantly drained 120 million MTA merits from his account. A cranial implant was more than a simple handbag! It was a life-changing product that had massive implications for Gloriana's future career! "I'd love to chat with you more, but I have an appointment to make. Goodbye, honey. I'll see you soon in the afternoon!" Ves eagerly distanced himself from his dearest wife and moved away as briskly as possible. Fortunately for his sanity and stress levels, the next woman he was about to meet was not a screeching banshee. Once he entered his office and received his daily briefing, he opened up a communication channel with Chief Shipwright Vivian Tsai. The woman that emerged from the projection looked as if she had been working nonstop for several nights on end. Though she did not look as fresh as normal, her eyes shone with so much passion and eagerness that she did not look tired in the slightest! "Patriarch. Have you called me for a status update?" Ves nodded as he leaned back on his office chair. "That's right. From my understanding, you have been in discussion with a ship design team from the MTA in order to figure out a refit plan for my flagship. How are the talks proceeding?" The woman gave him a half-smile. "Not entirely well, to be honest. The mechers are... difficult to work with, sir. Their noses are turned so high that they have difficulty with the more restrained budget and demands that we insist upon. I cannot fault their skills and professionalism, though. Once they set their mind on a task, they have shown great skill and speed in producing high-quality design proposals in a matter of minutes." "Have you been able to ensure that no matter what changes the Spirit of Bentheim goes through, our factory ship will retain her original character and intangible traits as much as possible?" pAn,D a-??? ?1,c-o-m "I am not so sure about the latter, but I have tried my best not to transform our flagship too much. As to whether she will be able to retain enough of her 'original character' as you have said, I will leave that up to you, as you are the expert in this matter." "Show me, then. What is the best proposal that you can present to me at this time?" The chief shipwright mumbled a few words to herself before she transmitted a high-quality sketch that depicted a different version of the Spirit of Bentheim. Before Ves commented on it, he made sure to take the time to study the proposed changes carefully. The quantity of changes was overwhelming. Hardly any corner of the vessel remained untouched. "Since we are commissioning the MTA to transform the Spirit of Bentheim, I thought it was best to implement as many deep, structural changes as possible." Vivian explained. "Other shipyards including the Diligent Ovenbird and the ones operated by Murphy & Sons cannot overhaul an existing capital ship's inner structure without breaking too many ship sections in the process. Only the MTA has the technological capabilities to replace weaker hull structures with stronger replacements without causing the surrounding compartments and other ship elements to warp or collapse." As Vivian continued to explain the technical challenges of trying to overhaul the guts of an existing capital ship, Ves continually nodded in understanding. Mech designers generally had no experience with working on metallic megastructures, but the language of science and engineering stayed the same. The biggest and most extensive changes that Vivian insisted on pushing through were twofold. "If we ever want to increase the internal volume of our factory ship while minimizing the negative repercussions as much as possible, then this is our best possible opportunity. The only shipyards outside the MTA that can do a better job at increasing the length of her hull is the CFA, and I do not think you have any desire to take your business to the fleeters." Ves frowned in concern. "To be honest, I have indeed thought about increasing the size of our factory ship. While her current capacity is already sufficient for our needs, it will become increasingly harder for her to meet the demands of our expeditionary fleet in the future. Still, there are good reasons why we have limited the length of the Spirit of Bentheim to around 2 kilometers. Extending her length will increase her mass and make her much more unwieldy in space." "That was true at the time, but as long as we upgrade her sub-light propulsion system to match or exceed her increase in mass, she will not prove to be a drag on our fleet. We have formulated two possible extension plans. The more conservative one extends her length by 500 meters and the more radical and resource-intensive one will increase her length by 700 meters." "Why not go all the way to 1 kilometer while we are at it?" Ves curiously asked. The woman shook her head. "We don't have the spare materials to extend her any further. We are not resorting to second-class materials to upgrade the hull structure and extend the length of the Spirit of Bentheim. They are too weak by our current standards. If we want to turn our flagship into an impregnable fortress that can protect you and our most strategically valuable mech designers and assets, we need to employ large quantities of genuine first-class materials. Buying them in bulk costs astronomical sums of money, and it is an incredible waste of money to use up much of our valuable MTA merits on these goods. Luckily for us, we happen to have large quantities of first-class ship salvage in our cargo holds that we can repurpose." Ves straightened his back. "That's right! I was just wondering how much it costs to procure so many tons of first-class alloys, but we don't necessarily need to buy any when we have salvaged entire chunks of hardy alien warships from the previous two battles." Most notably, the debris and salvage taken from the largest and most formidable alien battleships of the last two encounters presented the best quality materials! "We cannot substitute all of the required structural materials with reprocessed salvage." Vivian noted. "We still have to purchase plenty of tons of first-class alloys that excel in different jobs. We have tried our best to be as economical as possible, but it will still cost us a hefty amount. Together with the fee we need to pay in order to commission the MTA to overhaul our flagship, the total cost will amount to around 140 million MTA credits if we extend the hull by 500 meters or 290 million MTA credits if we extend the hull by 700 meters." Though Ves welcomed as much space as possible, it was not cost effective to opt for the latter option! He waved his arm. "Let's stick to the more modest extension plan. I understand that we might not easily have the opportunity to increase the length of her hull in the future, but if we really run out of capacity one day, we should easily be able to acquire a second factory ship." "Very well. You've made our lives a lot easier with this decision, sir. We not only have to purchase as many first-class alloys, but also limit the increase in mass. This makes it easier for us to increase the mobility of the Spirit of Bentheim by upgrading her main thrusters and maneuvering thrusters."