Chapter 6409 Forging a Carmine Dawn The question and answer session this time gave the attendees a chance to submit. questions on a wider variety of topics. Ves recognized that this was also a good opportunity for him to share his philosophies and spread his vision of the future. He keenly remembered that the founding ceremony of the Red Collective was scheduled to commence just 3 days later. The entire reason why Ves deliberately scheduled the product reveal of the Swarm Project for today was to give him an enormous boost to his ambitions related to the Red Collective. Now that he had already succeeded in liberating red humanity from the genetic aptitude tyranny, approval ratings had probably spiked to an unprecedented height! The more time passed, the greater people appreciated his massive contribution to the mech community. For the first time since mechs became a part of human society, every person possessed the ability to pilot a mech! Even if Carmine mechs came with all sorts of restrictions, most people had no problem with them. They just wanted to get their hands on a Yellow Jacket as soon as possible and fulfill their forgotten dreams of becoming a mech pilot, if only on a part-time basis. The stronger their obsession, the more gratitude they felt towards the man who made it all possible. They had probably turned into the most hardcore fans and supporters of Ves. This strengthened his political position and solidified his place in high society. Previously, Ves relied on the twin pillars of the Evolution Witch's backing and his control over the Coalition of Faiths to maintain his leadership position in the Red Collective. Neither pillars were reliable. The Evolution Witch may have good intentions, but her volatile nature made her inherently dangerous to be around. The Coalition of Faiths may have accepted Ves' authority for now, but his hard power was nowhere strong enough to suppress the unruly and self-serving religious organizations. As long as Ves was able to leverage his newly gained status as the Father of Carmine Mechs, he could finally secure his leadership position for real! This was because he alone earned the support obtained from gifting the Carmine System to red humanity. This was not borrowed strength, but genuine gains from his own work. No one could take this support away from him. Even if he completely disgraced himself in the future, he would always bear the gratitude of many norms who could live out their childhood dreams after so long. "Professor Larkinson, thank you for allowing me to pose my question to you. I sincerely admire the Yellow Jacket designs that you have published. I, along with who knows how many other mech designers, wish to license your work and design my own 'Carmine mech' around your existing template. Do you have any tips or guidance on how we can do so, and what do we need to be careful about when we are working around the Carmine System?" The Carmine System was such an amazing innovation that the entire mech industry couldn't wait to make use of it! They already recognized that a lot of customers did not have much use for the Yellow Jacket models and vastly preferred to pilot other kinds of Carmine mechs. Though Ves already revealed that he intended to design a more powerful Carmine mech in the future, who knew how long that would take. A single mech designer could never cater to the demands of the entire mech market! This was why Ves had no intention of keeping Carmine mechs to himself. He actually felt glad if the rest of the mech industry embraced his innovation and profilerated the Carmine System in different forms. "I do have a number of tips that I wish to share with mech designers such as yourself" Ves responded. "First, unless you know what you are doing, do not alter the organic components of the Carmine System. Second, the Yellow Jacket design is highly malleable and adaptable. Do not be afraid to experiment. Just make sure to preserve the Carmine System's surface contact with as many components as possible. The greater the connections, the easier it is for the pilots to interface with the Carmine mechs. Third, try your best to treat your works as living mechs. I highly recommend you study the lectures and reports on this subject that have become available on the galactic net. It is not necessary for you to possess a deep understanding of my design philosophy, but if you do not respect it at all, then do not be surprised if your attempt to design a Carmine mech will lead to a failed result. Remember that a Blood Pact can only be formed between two living entities." He shared a few other smaller tips on this matter before he let another person ask a question. This time, a senior administrative official from a powerful first-rate state took the word. After he introduced himself and explained his own position, he finally proceeded to voice his question. "Carmine mechs will change our society. That is a foregone conclusion. However, is it not too little too late? Bridgehead One is cut off from the rest of the Red Ocean. The Red Tide Offensive has already toppled 3 out of 5 our defensive bands. Our mech forces are being depleted at an unsustainable rate. The lack of resources and our limited industrial capacity is making it increasingly more difficult to feed our war machine. Are you of the opinion that this is a rational allocation of resources?" Ves shrugged. "I am a mech designer, not an industrial planner, economist or whatever. I do not concern myself with questions like these. The Red Association should have the relevant experts that are much more able to address these issues than myself. You should direct their questions to the mechers instead. I am merely the individual who develops a new technological solution. The fact that the Red Association has supported my Carmine System and the Swarm Project should tell you enough." "I acknowledge that you are a mech designer, but that does not absolve you from all of the responsibility that your invention has wrought upon our fragile society. Presenting norms the choice to pilot Carmine mechs may sound as if you have done a good deed, but it will also divert a large quantity of resources to form a large number of disorganized, undisciplined amateurs who are unqualified to participate in military battles for at least several years. If the native aliens press us even harder, the distraction and inefficient resource allocation generated by your Carmine mechs may indirectly cause us to lose control over the border regions. The collapse of our civilization will become unstoppable by that time! Do you not fear that you have done more harm than good with your product reveal?" The bureaucrat's implied criticisms attracted a lot of jeers and contempt from others. The supporters of Carmine mechs especially took offense at the notion that making the Yellow jacket models available to the masses would make human civilization worse off than before! Piloting mechs was never wrong! Ves merely smiled in response. "This is more than a numbers game. Carmine mechs represent much more than giving norms the ability to become mech pilots in the future. Yes, it is true that the combat effectiveness of most Carmine mech pilots will be substandard due to a complete lack of piloting ability. The story may be different in 5 or 10 years, but in the short term, I acknowledge that Carmine mechs will not be able to positively affect the progress of the Red Tide Offensive in a material sense. However, I do not believe my work is burdening our society when it has reached a state of fragility. Instead, I think the opposite has happened. Our society has become stronger and more robust. Do you know why?" "Please share your answer." "It is because we have hope again." Ves stated. "We have regained our optimism for the future. So many people have a chance to pilot a mech in their lifetimes. So many norms can now share the same experiences as potentates. Don't look at the numbers and the complicated mathematical models that calculate the resource usage of our society. Look at the people instead. Look at how much happier they have become. Look at how much they yearn to live in a future where they have a Carmine mech of their own. For the first time in months, red humanity has made a gain that is worth celebrating. These beliefs are strong enough to sustain our civilization in the midst of an ongoing crisis." His words inspired a lot of people. They truly wanted to fight for a future where red humanity not only maintained its foothold in the Red Ocean, but also gave each of them a chance to pilot their own Carmine mechs! How cruel would it be for Ves to release his Yellow Jacket models, only for the defensive bands to collapse and start the countdown of the destruction of red humanity? There was no way these people wanted to let this possible doom scenario come to pass! The collective will to resist and survive had never become stronger than before! "We will fight for a new future!" "We will fight for the right to pilot and master our own Carmine mechs!" "We will fight a new dawn, a Carmine dawn!" Ves spoke no further. The reactions from the enthused people who looked forward to piloting their own Carmine mechs already vindicated his argument. From the moment that Ves had raised the flag of the Carmine Revolution, every person he converted into a revolutionary regarded him as their spiritual leader! "Professor Larkinson, in three days you will participate in the founding of the Red Collective. As an organization that is mandated to promote and regulate 'cultivation, is it not a conflict of interest to give norms the possibility to pilot Carmine mechs? Piloting a mech is much more popular than investing your time in strange mysticism. In terms of combat, the former will allow you to control machines that can destroy cities, while the latter will only let you launch fireballs from your palm. To us, it seems as if you have directly undermined the Red Collective." Ves chuckled at that. "I do not see it that way. There are those who see mech piloting and more traditional forms of cultivation as diametrically opposite, but that is not how I see it. Piloting mechs is just a more specialized and powerful form of cultivation. Besides, there is no rule that states it is impossible for mech pilots, whether Carmine or conventional, to achieve success in other forms of cultivation." "The Red Association has already explained that it is impossible for mech pilots at the expert candidate level or above to engage in other forms of cultivation." "That is true, but there are always exceptions. Ves retorted. "The companion spirits that I have contributed to society are the perfect solution to solve this supposed contradiction. A mech pilot can devote himself to his primary profession while his companion spirit can practice one of the many cultivation methods that will soon become available at the Red Collective or one of the cults that operate under its sanction. You will learn much more about this in three days. For now, believe me when I say that mech piloting and cultivation are not in opposition with each other. I am of the opinion that they are actually complimentary. Just look at how powerful the Destroyer of Worlds has become with the help of Emma." There was no better example that Ves could use than a god pilot. Although it was difficult to compare the strengths of god pilots to each other, it was well-known that there were hardly any others that could exceed the Destroyer of Worlds in offensive power. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖 Was this because she was just that good, or was because she was relying on a secret weapon? Nobody could say for certain!