"Are you sure you can open up a new dimension breach within a month?" "To be honest, no." Ketis’ physical projection responded as she idly grasped the hilt of the Heavensword attached to her back. "I will try my best to work and push my limits. If I have proved myself worthy, then I may be able to obtain a reward that will benefit all of us. I do not want to see our society collapse and force my children to live in fear just because I failed to do my utmost." Ves nodded in understanding. "Many people are depending on you. On us. It is good to hear that you are taking your responsibilities seriously. This is what mech designers are supposed to do. Even if we cannot defeat the enemies directly, we must do our utmost to give mech pilots the weapons they need to do the job themselves." "I am not being entirely altruistic in my attempt to open up another breach to the Blue Dimension, Ves. Immediately after Yernstall popped out of the greater spacetime bubble, the Mech Supremacist Faction has massively increased the amount of support they are providing to the First Sword Mark III Project. There are hundreds of assistant mech designers working to debug and test our design solutions. The mechers have also allocated one of their most powerful supercomputers based in Yernstall to us. I have access to so much processing power that calculations that normally take days to complete now generate all of the answers I need several milliseconds after I have pressed the activation button." That… was an exaggerated amount of processing power! It was far more than what the SF-02 could generate by itself! Of course, the two weren’t comparable in the slightest. The SF-02 was small, compact and efficient enough to fit on any decent-sized capital ship. It was also loaded with the Red Fleet’s exclusive smart AIs to further increase the speed and efficiency of its operations. The supercomputers offered by the Red Association were probably large enough to fit inside several factory buildings and probably consumed enough energy to power a heavy cruiser. Their AIs and algorithms were probably a lot stupider, so they required extensive manual instructions and adjustments in order to increase their efficiency. However, it didn’t matter too much so long as the mechers offered up these benefits for free! "Congratulations, Ketis." Ves smiled. "With the additional help, you will be able to complete the First Sword Mark III Project a lot sooner than anticipated. That is good news because Saint Dise will definitely need the power of a next-gen mech sooner rather than later." "One of the reasons why I am eager to open up an entrance to the Blue Dimension as soon as possible is because I want to turn the First Sword Mark III into a true superdimensional mech. Ever since I saw what the Fist of Defiance could do… I knew that Saint Dise had to possess this kind of power as well. Now that she is a bona fide ace pilot, I expect her to be able to outduel lesser phase lords right away when she makes use of the Mark III. Once she has a few months of training and fighting under her belt, it is not impossible for her to challenge greater phase lords…" Ves reacted with surprise. Ketis expressed a lot of confidence in Saint Dise’s fighting capabilities! Enjoy more content from freewebnovel However, if Dise was able to match her excellent fighting capabilities with an ace swordsman mech that was purpose-built to counter enemy phase lords, then she may just become the archetype of defeating the strong as the weak! He immediately thought of the implications of all of the changes. "Can you give me a sketch of what you are trying to work towards?" "Sure, Ves." Ketis transferred an image that showed the ideal image of the First Sword Mark III that she wanted to realize. Compared to the older iterations of her vision, the latest version obviously exuded an invincible momentum. Much of it had to do with the improved and much more high-end armor system. Master Lilian Recins of the Mech Supremacist Faction originally worked on applying her signature TEVA Armor to the First Sword Mark III. It was a fairly light armor system that relied on vibrating transphasic hyper alloys to produce considerably greater resistance against superdimensional weapons such as Saint Piercer arms. Of course, this was still an imperfect solution. TEVA Armor was only meant to give the First Sword Mark III a buffer that was good enough to save Dise’s life. It was never meant to give the swordsman mech the ability to fight with confidence by withstanding repeated direct hits. The revised armor system was meant to give the First Sword Mark III full confidence when dueling phase lords wielding Saint Piercer arms! The use of proper armor-grade superdimensional alloy hyper armor plating massively increased the First Sword Mark III’s hard defenses. Ves noted that the mechers were willing to apply much of their recent research findings into developing this new armor system. The superdimensional armor plating may seem rudimentary, but it was already great that they found a way to combine superdimensional matter with hyper materials! "The First Sword Mark II has long needed to be careful about taking risks as her armor system isn’t strong enough to withstand too many powerful hits. This will change once you can upgrade the mech to this extent." Ketis smiled in satisfaction. "That is the idea. By the way, have you taken a look at the sword fey?" Her new vision also included notable changes to the sword fey that was supposed to make the First Sword Mark III more unique and versatile. Ves previously locked onto the armor system of the high-ranking swordsman mech, but now that he examined the sword fey in closer detail, he noted that their entire structures had been converted into superdimensional matter! He first thought that Ketis had extravagantly applied armor or even weapon-grade superdimensional alloy to all 32 sword fey. Then he took a closer look and sighed in relief when she made do with more abundant hull-grade superdimensional alloy. "Interesting choice of materials." "I did not want to make the sword fey too precious." Ketis responded. "I do not want to pressure Dise into cherishing the superdimensional spurs as if they are priceless treasures. I want her to use them and abuse them until they are worn out and spent. By making them with inferior but still fairly impressive hull-grade superdimensional matter, we can produce a lot of spare superdimensional sword fey and stuff them all in a storage container. When the First Sword Mark III lost or destroyed a handful of her fey in combat, we can quickly supply her with replacements." The loss of a fey was supposed to be not that big of a deal because the spiritual component always lived on. Making the living spur too precious was counterproductive and contradicted the original intent behind their existence. Ves looked a lot more appreciative at her work. "I approve. The penetration power of those sword fey won’t be as good, but I think that Saint Dise’s true resonance can make up for the gap in performance for the most part. If she truly encounters an enemy whose defenses can withstand their power, she can use her new superdimensional hyper greatsword to overcome all obstacles." "That is the point." "Well, the First Sword Mark III will be extremely helpful to all of us if we can gather all of the special resources needed to realize this upgrade." Ves concluded. "You will be relying on an awful lot of RA resources and manpower. Are you sure you are okay with the mechers getting their paws all over your favorite high-ranking swordsman mech? If you rely too much on their generosity, then it will become doubtful whether your work will become an RA mech." "Don’t worry. I already thought about that. While it is true that the mechers will become a lot more involved in this project, you and I will still control most of the essential design choices. The armor system will definitely play a greater role to the First Sword Mark III, but I am okay with that. I trust the mechers to keep their word and do a proper job." "Okay. Since this is your project, it is your prerogative to make these kinds of decisions. Just note that it is not good for our clan to depend so extensively on the help of our partners to develop one of our core high-ranking mechs. You need to be able to continue to iterate on the design of the First Sword in the event that you have a falling out with the Red Association." The swordmaster’s expression turned more serious. "You can rest assured that I will pay attention to that. I have not been ignoring this potential danger. At worst, I will downgrade the First Sword in order to simplify her design. I do not think this is a good choice at this time. Saint Dise will need all of the power she can obtain. Speaking about power, how is your progress of designing an Ultimate Module coming along?" "I have been spending most of my time on other projects, so I wasn’t able to spend as much time on this Ultimate Module as I wished." Ves apologetically said. "In hindsight, this may have been a fortuitous decision, because the availability of superdimensional matter has completely changed the game. This was my original draft for the Ultimate Module by the way. It is supposed to function as the 33rd sword fey." He projected a sketch and incomplete design of a sword fey that looked visually distinctive from regular sword fey by including golden accents. Ketis studied it with a bit of skepticism on her face. "What can it do? Is it just a stronger sword fey, or does it possess a gimmick that sets it apart?" Ves smirked. "The Prime Sword Fey is the leader among sword feys. Its first job is to direct the sword feys in the absence of direct instruction from Dise or the First Sword. It will be more intelligent and possess greater initiative. However, this is just a minor benefit. Its main purpose is… well, I haven’t gotten that far yet. I still need to figure out its main function." "Are you kidding me?! You went out of your way to invent the concept of a Prime Sword Fey without even determining its main purpose?" "Hey, I am not completely devoid of ideas! I just need more time to research the best choice!" Ves defended himself. "Right now, I am entertaining several potential ideas. One of them is to make it so that you can physically install it on top of the Decapitator to extend its blade. Another idea is to integrate electronic warfare components so that whenever it plunges into a warship or other technological device, it can hack nearby systems and take them over. A third idea is to integrate a small azure shield generator into it so that it can form an energy barrier that can shield friendlies from attacks they cannot withstand." Ketis frowned and crossed her arms. "None of those ideas fit the First Sword Mark III. They are all awful. Do you have any other harebrained ideas?" "Hm… not for the time being. I keep trying to find a way to combine this Ultimate Module with superdimensional matter, but my mind is coming up blank at the moment. I need more time to figure out a good solution." "Don’t force yourself, Ves. If you can’t find a way to make a good Ultimate Module for the First Sword Mark III, then just leave it out. My mech is already powerful enough with all of the existing features that we have planned." That did not sit well with Ves. "I am not going to leave this Ultimate Module out of the picture, Ketis. As I have said, I just need time to properly figure this out. Let me get back to you in a few days. Maybe I can find an interesting new tech or material that can spice up my Prime Sword Fey." "Okay…"