?Chapter 6453 New Networking Opportunities Ves began to entertain increasingly more alarming concerns about the Xenotechnician. He was still willing to believe that the Xenotechnician genuinely wanted to serve red humanity. Yet there were very different ways to do so. If the Star Designer thought that red humanity was on its way of destroying itself by continuing to cling to the ideals of human supremacy, then he could easily justify the decision to induce painful losses in order to discredit these beliefs! The Xenotechnician had to be extremely careful about making his moves, but a Star Designer had so many options available that he could probably get away with his deeds! It was difficult for Ves to reconcile his initial impression of the Xenotechnician as an amiable grandfather figure with a ruthless ideologue that had more in common with the Cosmopolitan Movement than the Red Association! Ves suddenly understood why Closier-17 regarded him with so much suspicion. Self-appointed saviors had the potential to ruin everything while they attempted to do the opposite. The Xenotechnician possessed this capacity. The Huntsman possessed this capacity. Even Ves had the ability to tip red humanity into a spiral of defeats. This was why all of the scrutiny had become necessary. Tier 1 galactic citizens received a lot of protection and other privileges not just because they were able to make enormous contributions, but also because everyone needed to know about their enormous capacity to trigger their doom! The Polymath was just the first of her kind to make an attempt. That did not mean that the other 13 existing Star Designers in the Red Ocean were any less dangerous! Ves hated the revelations he received. A part of him still wished he could regain the ignorance of before. The Secret Keeper had fed him so many poisonous secrets that he had become jaded at the great individuals he once looked up to. Their accomplishments were historic to be certain, but whether they remained helpful or a threat to red humanity was in constant doubt! "Chief Councilor Larkinson." Closier-17 called, causing Ves to emerge from his dark thoughts. "Your fears are understandable, but you do not stand alone. Red humanity still has many defenders. Each of them are flawed, but as long as they agree to work together, a single rogue element will not be able to break the existing order. There are entire organizations devoted to monitoring and predicting the actions of elevated sources of risks such as the Xenotechnician. On top of them, he is also being stared at by his chief rivals." "Who are his rivals?" "You should know them already. You already bear their gifts." Ves blinked. He looked down at the active super-class signal jammer. He also lowered his arms to touch the hidden super-class personal shield generator and super-class emergency multi-use personal teleporter. While it shouldn't have taken too much time and effort to fabricate three masterwork-quality gadgets, the materials used to raise their quality to the highest standard were exceedingly precious! Only super-class materials such as EE-343F-00334R could be used to make devices that surpassed the already amazing performance of first-class products! "The Marmedions." Ves gasped. The Secret Keeper expressionlessly nodded. "Precisely. Charles Marmedion, the Energy Warder, has lived longer than the Xenotechnician. Both of them have lived through the last years of the Age of Conquest, but they have developed in radically different directions. The Energy Warder is one of the most outspoken human supremacists among the Star Designers. It is no coincidence that he has established himself as the leader of the RA Expansionist Faction. Although his goals are much harder to realize after the Great Severing, he still believes that red humanity shall ultimately weather the Red Tide Offensive and launch a sweeping counterattack that will end with the total conquest of this dwarf galaxy." That... sounded rather optimistic to Ves. Too optimistic. The Xenotechnician clearly possessed too little confidence in red humanity, but the Energy Warder was guilty of the polar opposite if the Secret Keeper's description was accurate! Even Ves did not dare to think that red humanity would magically unleash its potential and steamroll all of the native alien forces that stood in their way. "Is the Energy Warder crazy?" "Who can say? You must first define the word 'crazy' before we can apply a test to determine whether the Energy Warder deserves this label. This is much harder than you think because 'crazy' is notoriously difficult to define. Where you see ambition, others see madness. Where some people recognize bravery, other people only see idiocy, Whether the Energy Wardere is insane or not is irrelevant. What matters is whether he is an asset or a liability to our civilization. Currently, his ideology and actions are much more acceptable to us. Humans should never give up so easily. That was another clear message to Ves. Was the Evolution Witch encouraging him to develop closer ties with the Energy Warder and the other Marmedions? The RA Expansionist Faction was practically the strongest power bloc within the Red Association and possibly the rest of red humanity. Ves saw many advantages in befriending the Marmedions. It was not necessary for him to ally with them. He just needed to be on good terms with the Expansionists. "The Energy Warder is an old Star Designer. What we know, he knows as well. His network and power base is incomparable to that of the Evolution Witch. His Excellency is probably in the possession of far greater intelligence than our Secret Department. He is also an old acquaintance of the Xenotechnician." That meant that if the Xenotechnician ever tried anything radical and crossed the line, the Energy Warder would be the first to take action against his fellow Star Designer! The two were political adversaries. There was no way they could reconcile with each other, not when they had grown so old and powerful while drawing strength from their earnest ideals. Ves never stood a chance if he tried to stop the Xenotechnician from imperling human civilization, but that was fine. The Secret Keeper was right that this was not his battle to fight. The Energy Warder's eyes and ears were probably trying to watch the Xenotechnician's every move. The formidable amount of people and assets that the Marmedions could muster was far greater than that of the Xenotechnician! This meant that if the two sides ever entered into an open confrontation against each other, the Xenotechnician would lose miserably! This realization gave Ves a lot of relief. A huge weight had lifted off his chest. He did not want to end up in a situation similar to the end of the Survivalist conference where he had to play a key role in saving red humanity. Ves was eager to offload this immense responsibility to the Energy Warder and company and get the hell away before he got caught in the middle. Even if he was more than willing to root for the Energy Warder's victory, that did not mean that Ves was willing to fight proactively against the Xenotechnician! Ves thought about his expensive gifts and finally comprehended the meaning of this expensive gesture. Nothing came for free. Everything had a price. Though Ves did not want to get dragged into a fight between Star Designers, the three super-class gifts made it very hard to remain a bystander. The Expansionists wanted Ves to join their camp. It was not enough for him to verbally offer his support to the ideals of human supremacy. It was also not enough to create a helpful spirit that took on the guise of Caramond. If Ves wanted to acquire the backing and generous support of the Marmedions, then he needed to enter their orbit and establish a more substantial form of cooperation. There were many possible advantages to doing this, but he was very reluctant to get dragged into other people's affairs. The Marmedions were strong, but that also meant that they threatened the interests of a lot of players. They had their own enemies and difficulties to contend against. The safest play would be to establish a shallow friendship with the Energy Warder and company. There was no urgent need to deepen his relationship with them any further unless they were willing to show him far greater sincerity than a handful of super-class gadgets. Ves understood his new positioning quite well. He was a very new player that had been launched to the top of human civilization. The speed of his ascension and his relative lack of familiarity with most established players turned him into a potential ally that could be won over. As far as his ideology was concerned, he did not possess any notable beliefs that solidly locked him in anyone's camp. He agreed with the Evolution Witch's core ideals, but he was not nearly as fanatic about realizing them as the radical god pilot. He actually thought that the Xenotechnician's Diplomacy Plan had a higher chance of success than the alternatives, but he was not able to overcome the stigma surrounding alien coexistence. He supported the Energy Warder's strident adherence to the ideals of human supremacy, but he was not willing to become one of the old Star Designer's footsoldiers. In short, Ves had not committed himself strongly enough to any camp that he still retained the ability to choose which one to support! "Secret Keeper." "Yes, chief councilor?" "By telling me all of this, aren't you afraid that I will choose to side with the Marmedions over the Evolution Witch? What if I decide that I can get a lot more done if I agree to work together with the three Star Designers of the Expansionist Faction?" Closier-17 did not look concerned in the slightest. "The Evolution Witch does not demand your obedience. She is confident that you shall willingly aid her in her attempts to evolve red humanity. If you choose to spur her generosity and choose to offer your services to others, then that is your choice. She will not bear a grudge towards you for turning away from her. Only she is to blame for failing to win you over," Ves resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He did not believe that the Evolution Witch was magnanimous enough to tolerate his rejection! The female god pilot had always acted with little to no restraint. She readily followed her whims and frequently meddled with his life. For better or worse, Ves had become too entangled with the Evolution Witch to separate himself from her. It was better to accept this reality and take advantage of the god pilot's backing. Besides, the Evolution Witch was not as neglectful towards him as he thought. She may have left him in the dark in the past half year, but he had probably passed her tests. Secret Keeper Closier-17 wouldn't have been as candid about him about many sensitive secrets if he failed. Besides, siding with the Evolution Witch did not rule out other friendships and alliances. Ves was still able to maintain a good relationship with the Destroyer of Worlds as she did not share an adversarial relationship with the Evolution Witch. If he wanted to diversify his network even further, then befriending the Marmedions was a perfectly valid choice. "Let's say I want to build closer ties with the Marmedions. How should I go about it?" Ves asked the Secret Keeper. "It is not appropriate for you to meet with any Star Designer directly. You can propose to work together with the RA Expansionist Faction first, but this will require you to be patient. If you want to earn an audience with one of the Marmedion Star Designers as soon as possible, then you will have to make a grander gesture that can earn you this privilege. Surprise them. Break their expectations. If you can help them achieve their goals considerably easier than before, then you will be able to earn their genuine support." That was certainly an attractive option. Ves just was not clear yet how he could do what the Secret Keeper described. It was not as if he could whip up a magical mech design that could make one of the three Marmedion leaders impressed. They were all Star Designers! They were the top dogs of the mech industry! Even if they lacked Ves' unorthodox capabilities, they were more than capable of designing mechs that performed better in almost every aspect!