Chapter 6498 Who Chooses "Only a fool like you would think about rejecting the Evolution Witch's goodwill." "You don't know her as well as I do, Gloriana. Everything she says has double meanings and everything she does is tinged with ulterior motives! The Evolution Witch's infamy is completely justified!" "She is your backer! She is on your side! Why are you being so unreasonably suspicious about her motivations? Get a grip, Ves! Saint Isobel Kotin deserves better than remaining stuck in a vat with just her brain and parts of her spine intact. Who knows whether the LBI that you love so much is capable of fully reconstructing her body? You are expecting far too much from your biotech researchers! Rather than make this uncertain gamble, we are all better off if you transfer Saint Isobel to the Evolution Witch's care." Ves let out a frustrated grunt as he pushed back against the projection of his wife. "You are being too naive! This situation is anything but simple! You are disregarding the value of keeping all of our efforts in-house, and you are overestimating the Evolution Witch's good intentions! Just because she is a god pilot doesn't mean you have to chuck away all of your common sense and engage in blind obedience!" "I cannot believe how you can still remain stubborn when the life of one of our precious ace pilots is at stake! Do you think Saint Isobel wants to remain incomplete and infirm for 5 whole years?! It is pure torture for a model soldier like herself to remain stuck in recovery! Your caution is well-founded at times, but this time you are completely off the mark! You are being too paranoid for no good reason!" "I am just doing my due diligence as a clan leader! It is you that is wrong! You accuse me of being paranoid, but the way I see it, you are way too gullible for your own good! The clan would have been ruined already if you were in charge!" "YOU INSOLENT BOY! DO NOT ACCUSE ME OF BEING INCOMPETENT WHEN YOU HAVE FAILED TO ARRANGE SUPERIOR TREATMENT TO SAINT IS—" Ves emphatically transmitted the command that forcibly ended the call. It also blocked any form of communication from his wife for at least two hours. It also transmitted an instruction to his personal assistant and his staff to not convey any messages sent from his wife. He had issued this string of commands so often that he had turned it into a custom macro command. It only took a single thought to activate this handy sequence of instructions. There were times when talking with his wife could lead to productive results, and there were times when they were less than useful. As much as Ves grew annoyed at his wife's lack of caution, he could not entirely dismiss her arguments. She was not actually stupid. She just tended to put way too much undeserved trust in female authority figures. If Ves removed this particular factor, he could still find arguments that favored the Evolution Witch's proposal. As tricky as she may be, she still adhered to a bottom line... even if it was a lot lower than that of other god pilots. In any case, the Evolution Witch had formed a close partnership with his mother, so it was unlikely that the female god pilot would stab him in the back anytime soon. That did not mean that the Evolution Witch was not allowed to do anything at all. She could 'legitimately' attempt to poach Saint Isobel Kotin and bring the ace rifleman mech expert under her wing. The god pilot would be obligated to pay compensation to the Larkinson Clan, but no amount of goodies could make up for the loss of a young ace pilot that had not only demonstrated enormous offensive capabilities, but also possessed excellent growth prospects! How could the mechers possibly resist the urge to convince Saint Isobel to fight on behalf of the Red Association? Although Ves believed that Isobel Kotin had developed a moderate attachment to the Larkinson Clan, it was not as strong as it could have been. Unlike Tusa, Jannzi and Joshua who married fairly early and already began to raise kids among the Larkinsons, Saint Isobel remained committed to her career. Ves was not aware that Isobel possessed any notably strong friendships within the clan. This meant that there was an absence of strong anchors that could keep her tethered to the Larkinson Clan. As long as an outside force offered enough incentives, Isobel Kotin may very well choose to go elsewhere! The best way to avoid this possibility was to prevent Saint Isobel from getting into contact with the Evolution Witch and the mechers. As Ves mulled over his dilemma, he began to feel more and more inclined to stick to his original plan. The only problem was the expected recovery period. 5 years was way too long for his liking. So much could happen during the Red War. People were still uncertain whether the 4th defensive band would fall within a month and whether the 5th defensive band might fall within a year. The ebb and flow of warfare constantly changed, but those who understood war the best could still imagine the next broad steps. Their predictions of the future were pessimistic. It became a lot more important to get stuff done in the short term than to plant a lot of seeds hoping that they would sprout a few decades later. Ves could not afford to make more ideal decisions if they failed to yield any returns in the immediate future. Short-term gains mattered above all. If the Evolution Witch did not try to poach his precious ace pilot, Saint Isobel Kotin might be back and ready to fight in as little as 1 or 2 years! He sighed. He needed to gather more opinions in order to make sure he got his priorities straight. "I think your wife, as unpleasant as she may sound at times, is correct on this." Gavin said. "You are placing your own interests above the wellbeing of a young ace pilot who has suffered more fatal wounds than anyone else who is still alive today. She deserves all of the relief she can get. If you gave Isobel a choice, I am 87 percent certain that she would accept the Evolution Witch's offer in a heartbeat. No one wants to remain comatose and without a proper human body for so many years." "What if the Evolution Witch snatches my ace pilot?" "Then she is gone and you need to accept that, Ves. You can't get it right all of the time. You took a risk, and you lost. The consequence is that you have lost direct control over an ace pilot, while the Red Association is able to field another powerhouse. From your own perspective, you have undoubtedly suffered a heavy loss, but from the perspective of our society as a whole, you have allowed one powerful key combatant to return to the battlefield much sooner than anticipated. This is a great contribution and will make fighting against the native aliens much less stressful." Gavin made a good point. There were times where humans must show solidarity to each other and make sacrifices for the greater good. It was just that. Ves did not really like to allow other people to take advantage of him. The Larkinson Clan had painstakingly invested in Saint Isobel Kotin's growth. Ves and Gloriana earnestly designed the Promethea for her when she advanced to the rank of expert pilot. The clan also accelerated her growth by feeding her with general cultivation elixirs. The Larkinsons put so much effort into raising their champions in the hopes that they would mature and become powerful enough to dominate entire battlefields in their own right. Was it reasonable to ask for a return on investment by having a powerful ace ranged specialist fight the Larkinson Clan's enemies and earn lots of glory, prestige and war merits in the process? When a high-ranking mech pilot developed a Saint Kingdom, then that was the point where he or she could truly dominate a battlefield by himself! Ves hated the thought of losing out on such a strong ace pilot if he let her get moved out of sight. He decided to look for further feedback. "What do you think, Alexa?" His direct discipline looked thoughtful. "Unlike your wife, we Terrans understood the capriciousness and power plays of the Red Association much better than others. The mechers are highly duplicitous and often try to get away with incidents that would not provoke any further action. It is always prudent to take a step back and calmly take stock of your situation before making a decision." "So do you think we should give Isobel Kotin to the mechers for treatment and other stuff?" The physical projection of Alexa Streon paused for half a minute before issuing a reply. "Isobel herself should be the one to make this decision. Since she has not left any next of kin in the clan or this dwarf galaxy as far as we know, you have the right to decide on her treatment. This is a heavy responsibility, and you have an obligation to choose what is best for her, not necessarily what is best for you or the clan. Of course, it is best to form an arrangement that satisfies all three of you, but that is not always possible." "What is your recommendation then, Alexa?" "Do not make a hasty decision" Alexa strongly recommended to Ves. "As long as you still harbor doubts and concerns, try to resolve them. It is best if you communicate directly with the Evolution Witch, or a Transhumanist who is responsible for this matter. Good communication can erase a great amount of misunderstandings and bring the two sides together. By that time, you should be able to make a much more sober and rational decision." In other words, Alexa indirectly rebuked Ves' haphazard way he lived his life He preferred to take frequent action and climb the wall that I have never been able to ascend. Ves still appreciated her words. "You have done the right thing by putting yourself in the perspective of the wronged student. This is what every proper mech pilot should do. The fact that I failed to assume the right perspective was because I strayed from the mech designer's creed." A mech designer existed to serve mech pilots. This was a fundamental rule and principle that all mech designers should abide by, but rarely managed to do so in practice. Alexa's physical projection smiled in response. "You are welcome. Back to the topic at hand, I think you can afford to delay your decision by a week or two. Be warned however that the longer you remain undecided, the greater the chance that all of this would lead to massive explosions. There is a time limit. Doing nothing is worse than committing to a single path." "I see. I shall definitely take your words under advisement. By the way, how much have you progressed since you initially came up with the idea of building living mech dynasties?" "Do not get me started." Alexa looked glum again. "Original research is always the hardest path that we can pursue. It is still necessary for us to understand in an age of rising resentment and conflicts. The greater the violence, the less researchers are able to invest their time into materials science." Both Ves and Alexa understood the importance of original research. They did not want the clan to be filled with unimaginative engineers that were doing the bare minimum to remain employed on the ship. After Ves talked with a few more other familiar friends and family, he gradually started to lower his objections towards sending Saint Isobel Kotin to the Evolution Witch. Perhaps he had grown up and matured. Perhaps he was acting too impressionable to a crowd of strangers. Perhaps he ate the wrong food and felt bad all day. Whatever the case, Ves was gradually letting go of his paranoia and letting trust fill in the void.