Chapter 6053 Remote Avatar Channeling Ves actually did not know whether other mech designers were able to employ the same trick with masterwork mechs. It was not as if he hung around a lot of other masterwork mech designers and inquired about this specific topic. That caused him suspect that they probably couldn't. One of the reasons why Ves was able to do this was because he could send out his companion spirit to a masterwork mech across vast distances. Unless other masterwork mech designers also possessed a way to project their spiritualities away from their bodies, it was probably a lot more difficult to get anything done. Still, Gloriana never demonstrated this particular ability despite possessing a companion spirit of her own. Then again, Alexandria wouldn't have been of much use as she did not possess any strong powers or abilities that could make a difference in a massive fight. Ketis was a different story. She managed to assist the First Sword through this method in the past. While the expert swordsman mech was not a masterwork per se, the Decapitator greatsword was one of her earliest but also most brilliant pieces! The excellent and transcendent properties of the Decapitator was one of the main reasons why the First Sword remained competitive to this day. The lastgen expert mech would have struggled to fight against alien warships a lot more if her offensive power hadn't been so outstanding. Laced with a resonating material known as Bissonat, the cutting power of this already sharp mech greatsword became so outstanding that it enabled its wielder to cut through thick transphasic alloys like a hot knife through butter! Of course, much of the reason why the Decapitator remained so deadly despite its lack of technological sophistication was due to the growth of Venerable Dise. The female expert pilot and hunter extraordinaire accrued more combat experience and developed her unique style of extraordinary swordsmanship to a greater height. Perhaps her self-developed sword style may still be short of reaching the standard of the legendary Heavensword Style, but the high-tier expert pilot's pure skills greatly surpassed that of every other melee expert pilot! In any case, all of this meant that the Decapitator's value exceeded that of the First Sword. Since Ketis developed it after she had learned a part of Ves' teachings, the mech greatsword actually possessed some of the traits of a high-level artifact. The fact that it possessed modest growth properties meant that Venerable Dise's willpower baptism consistently nurtured the Decapitator, increasing its ability to channel energy and improving Ketis' ability to connect with it with the help of her companion spirit. "Let's try it out." Ves' physical projection proposed to the straight-backed uniformed woman. "You sent out the strike force against a mysterious calamity plant we know little about. A few of the mechs and mech pilots are strong, but they won't be enough to defeat the Emperor Tree head-on, especially when they are predominantly accompanied by light mechs. I can understand why you limited the numbers. The strike force can move much faster, and there are a few good prospects that need a lot of pressure in order to break through. Did you tell Joshua to prepare the transcendence glow?" The Swordmaster nodded. "I did. I have inspected Lanie Larkinson and Taon Melin multiple times. They have received enough tempering over the years, and their hearts are in the right place. I am quite optimistic about Lanie. She possesses the drive to pursue greater strength. Her main issue is that she doesn't have as much steel in her spine as other expert candidates. This is not a major flaw, and it will likely become irrelevant if she manages to break through with a small amount of help. At worst, she will become an expert pilot similar to my husband, who still needs to find answers to a few questions before he is ready to take the next step." That was an insightful analysis. Ves believed in the words of a Swordmaster. "What about Taon? He has tried so hard to break through over the years as well. I originally hoped that he would become part of the same generation of expert pilots as Venerable Jannzi, if not Venerable Vincent Ricklin. Instead, he acts as if he is too weighed down by his burdens to undergo apotheosis." Ketis grimaced. "Taon Melin's problems are… complex. Even if you tried to apply the transcendence glow to him in the past, it probably wouldn't have made any difference. The good news is that he has steadily managed to work out his issues. He resigned from his command duties and slightly reshaped his relationship with Ylvaine. He still has a tendency to pray to Ylvaine rather than rely on his own strength to overcome all of his obstacles, but Joshua and I have been coaching him in preparation for this mission. This is probably his best opportunity to break through. If he keeps dragging on like this, his willpower will likely deteriorate due to thinking he is not good enough." Even if the conditions to trigger a breakthrough had been easing due to multiple external factors, that still did not change the fact that high-ranking mech pilots by their very nature had to possess an unreasonably strong amount of confidence in themselves. Willpower cultivators distinguished themselves from others by constantly believing in their ability to overcome all obstacles. Expert candidates had already proven that they possessed the courage and mettle to step onto the path of godhood as mech pilots. Now, they needed to develop their willpower and conviction to extraordinary standards in order to truly separate themselves from their first mortal shackles! Did Lanie and Taon possess the qualities necessary to break through? They both possess their own companion spirits, so their spiritualities should be in order. Ves didn't even need to take the initiative to augment the two expert candidates this way. They had earned more than enough Larkinson merits to redeem this coveted reward without needing to receive any special favors. Given that many of their other conditions should be fine, it all came down to their mentalities. This was exactly the sort of circumstance where the transcendence glow could play the greatest role and quickly make up for this final shortcoming. At least Ves hoped this would be the case. He still did not understand everything about breakthroughs and the mech piloting profession to believe he was right on everything. In any case, the two mech designers made themselves comfortable and tried to connect to their familiar masterworks. "Mrow." "Sharpie!" The process was both mysterious and instinctive. It took a bit of effort to reach across immense distances and successfully forge a connection with their masterworks. Ketis managed to form a connection first. She had an easier time reaching out because she was stationed on a fleet carrier that was orbiting around Reticula Corein V. As soon as she managed to create a tentative link with her masterwork, Sharpie disappeared from her side and appeared all the way inside a certain mech greatsword carried by an expert mech. Ves took a bit longer to do the same. He was situated on New Constantinople VIII, so he had to reach out to his favorite masterwork mech across different zones! The greater the distance, the harder it became to forge a stable and strong connection. Although the Everchanger's remarkable growth over the years made it easier for Ves to latch on, it was still difficult for him to maintain a persistent connection. When Blinky and Sharpie finally showed up inside the two masterworks, their arrival barely caused a disturbance. Most of the strike force remained ignorant that the patriarch and the swordmaster of the Larkinson Clan had successfully reached through the cloud of isolating Solus Gas and managed to become present in a sense! Ves had hoped that the weird rules concerning masterwork mechs created a loophole that he could take advantage of, and he was happy when he found out he succeeded! In fact, he already became excited when he realized the greater potential of this approach. The ability to reach out and allow him companion spirits to anchor his awareness to a distant location neatly solved one of his current dilemmas! Ves was an adventurer at heart. He loved nothing more than to get on a ship and lead his expeditionary fleet into new and interesting places. The more novelty he encountered during his journeys, the more insights and inspiration he harvested which he could use to progress his career. He happily accompanied his fleet on the Trailblazer Expedition not that long ago. Unfortunately, his antics had finally attracted the Red Association to the point that the mechers essentially ordered him to retreat from the border regions and keep himself away from danger! One of his worst nightmares had come true! 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 The mechers did not bring him back to one of the central star nodes before locking him inside a design lab that served as his cage, but Ves was well aware that he could no longer travel anywhere that the mechers deemed unsafe. This was agonizing to Ves because the more exciting regions of the Red Ocean all happened to be located on the opposite side of the border! Even though he could still get his fill of novelty by going on 'business trips' and visiting new and exotic planets, the sense of adventure was not as strong as before. Ves yearned to visit the true frontier. He dreamed of visiting the planets occupied by the major alien races and taking away any interesting tech and resources that his forces might stumble upon. It just wouldn't be the same if he stayed 'home' while the other Larkinsons were allowed to roam free. In order to address his yearning for adventure, Ves had been thinking about various ways he could be present during those adventures somehow. Relying on the galactic net to remain connected to his fleets was a decent but not great solution. The communication method was notoriously insecure and it could also be cut off through various different means. Ves also wouldn't be able to experience what was on the other side with the greatest degree of fidelity. Creating a new incarnation might work, but Ves was not eager to split his Spirituality any further for the time being. He intuitively felt that he had already gone a bit too far for the time being. He at least needed to undergo a significant metamorphosis and advance to Master Mech Designer before his Spirituality grew strong enough to support another incarnation. There were a few other potential solutions, but each of them came with their own flaws. This was why Ves grew so happy when he concluded that he could maintain a reliable connection with any remote Larkinson force so long as it carried one of his masterworks. Sure, the quality of the connection was not great for the time being, but Ves strongly believed his ability to project his companion spirit across vast distances would improve as his Spirituality developed further. As long as Blinky actually managed to reach the other side, the Star Cat and by extension Ves were able to experience what was going on with their full senses. The only limit was that if Blinky expended a lot of energy, it became harder to keep him in place, but that was not a dealbreaker. Ves even began to think about designing a robot avatar for himself! As long as he channeled enough passion and sincerity in this project, the chances were high that he would end up with a masterwork, thereby allowing him to 'participate' in future expeditions once again! This idea had great potential. Even if it did not work out the way he wished, he still believed it would yield decent results. The biggest question on his mind was whether he should design the robot avatar in the shape of a cat or a human. A human avatar would allow him to command respect among the clansmen serving on a distant fleet. A cat avatar would attract much less attention and allow him to act more like a mascot or a bystander. "Hmmm…"