Chapter 6898 One Trick Ponies Ves was sure that his decision had massive implications for the Red Collective. Eliza Mo Ragadan had explained it clearly to him. The RC was running short on funding and resources. This inevitably exacerbates the disputes within its halls. Though Ves did not think it was necessarily a bad idea to invest into the proliferation of human phase lords, it was too one-dimensional in his opinion. The cost effectiveness of raising human phase lords was questionable. Unlike Ves, other humans needed to absorb a huge amount of phasewater just to transform their bodies. In a climate where humans continually lost ground to the native aliens, how could the RC possibly justify the decision to invest in a resource-heavy means of body cultivation? Even if the immediate combat effectiveness of a human phase lord was undeniable, it was impossible for red humanity to field thousands of them at a time. There simply wasn't enough phasewater to cover for this expansion! While Ves was aware that red humanity was able to earn huge windfalls of phasewater by defeating enemy phase leaders and salvaging their carcasses, this was not a stable source. Plundering the battlefield only worked as long as humans won the battle and retained control over the star system. In many cases, human forces suffered so much losses that they had little choice but to retreat. This not only prevented them from salvaging the battlefield, but also surrendered all of the wreckage and phase lord carcasses to the aliens! Therefore, relying on plunder to supplement resource shortages was not a reliable solution. As Ves eventually sought out Casella Ingvar and reported his decision to her, the Saint Commander fell silent for a moment. "Did you think I made the right call?" Ves asked. "There is no right or wrong decision, sir. Both offers sound valid in my ears. They mostly present different possibilities. If you accepted Flesh Choppers, then I could have worked with them. With their low-concentration superdimensional gear, they should be able to make quick work of lesser phase lords. This is a nearly foolproof strategy against most adversaries. The Flesh Choppers can hold back the secondary threats, thereby giving Saint Dise all of the opportunities she needs to defeat the primary threat. Simple does not necessarily equate to ineffective." Ves nodded in agreement. "You are right, though I am not accustomed to thinking that way." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 "In fact, it is not necessary to deploy all 12 Flesh Choppers to the front. It is wiser to dispatch half of them at most, leaving the other half behind in reserve. The latter can guard our fleet and possibly use their raiments and their spatial barriers to block sneak attacks targeting our vulnerable starships. This is a much better way to employ the Flesh Choppers. It is more important to protect our fleet than to defeat our enemies." It was difficult to estimate the combat power of a human phase lord equipped with low-concentration superdimensional gear. Ves did not have any solid references to base his estimates. For now, he loosely predicted that a single human phase lord should be stronger than a high-tier expert mech but weaker than a junior ace mech. They were much more suited to fight against alien phase lords than human ace mechs. This meant that their strength was very much welcome in a campaign aimed against the native aliens. Fighting the enemy without a squad of Flesh Choppers put the Premier Fleet at risk. The only ace mech that would remain behind was the Minerva Mark II, which was not that powerful in individual combat. The First Sword Mark III was wasted on defense. She was much more at home when going on the attack, which meant that the superdimensional ace mech had to fight far away from the Premier Fleet. This introduced a very obvious vulnerability. Clever and prepared enemies might seek to lure Saint Dise away and ambush the starships of the Premier Fleet! If Ves had chosen to accept the offer of the Phase Lord Department, then he basically did not have to worry about this potential danger. A squad of 12 Flesh Choppers was overkill in many situations, so it was no big deal to put them on guard duty. Even if the Flesh Choppers were not particularly effective at defeating particularly powerful or devious phase leaders, they could at least delay the sneak attackers long enough to recall the First Sword Mark III! Ves felt a little sorry for passing over all of that extra security. "It is okay." The Saint Commander said as she noticed his turbulent feelings. "Our strategic plan originally did not account for contributions from the Red Collective. As far as I am concerned, the collies did not deprive us of additional protection. We just never received it in the first place. We can still complete our objectives without the Flesh Choppers at our disposal. I happen to agree with you that leveraging the mixed group of qi cultivators will eventually make us stronger than if we maintained our dependence on these human phase lords." Ves picked up a sense of dislike in her tone. "You don't approve of turning humans into phase lords?" "No." Casella crossed her arms. "Humankind has often managed to vanquish their alien adversaries by stealing the strengths of the latter. However, this only works if the stolen solutions are a good fit for our race. I do not agree with the premise that making our own phase lords will increase our chances of winning the Red War. Unlike the native aliens, we are short on phasewater and lack a comprehensive heritage in this form of cultivation. It is also intrinsically designed for aliens, and is only truly compatible with the phase whale race. All phase lords are inferior copies in my opinion." She identified many of the same problems as Ves. They both agreed that it was not appropriate to squander so much phasewater to nurture a handful of human phase lords. "What do you think about the formation masters, curse masters and so on? As useful as they sound, none of these cultivators are able to stand up to the enemy like the Flesh Choppers." Casella smiled. "That is completely fine as far as I am concerned. We are humans. We have established our own approach towards combat. Mechs and warships are all we need for direct combat platforms. You have correctly identified that we are deficient in support and logistical functions. This is where the mixed group of qi cultivators can mitigate our shortcomings." "Do you already have an idea on how to make use of them? Their abilities are diverse, but they are still fairly weak and lacking in experience at this time." "I have already taken that into account. We simply have to instruct them to specialize in a single application of their power above all else. The 'diviners' must be able to foresee possible ambushes that can lead to incurring a large amount of casualties. The curse masters should master curses that can weaken powerful phase leaders with keystone abilities that have a disproportionate impact on the battlefield. The formation masters should solely specialize in developing illusory spell arrays that can generate enough concealment to confuse enemy pursuers and buy enough space for us to retreat from a battlefield." Those actually sound like solid ideas. Ves was glad that The Saint Commander already had a solid plan in mind for the RC contingent. While the qi cultivators had many options at their disposal, it was clearly a mistake to urge them to pursue a broad skillset right away. That might make them a lot more versatile in the medium and long term, but it would clearly not help the Premier Fleet all that much in the short term! Therefore, the priority for the Larkinson Clan was to encourage the incoming qi cultivators to become 'one trick ponies'. What was wrong with only mastering a single trick? As long as a fireball became strong enough to hit like a meteor, then that was the only trick a wizard needed to attain victory! The key was to decide what tricks the different qi cultivators should master first so that they could provide immediate value to the Larkinson Clan. "I have a question, Ves." "Ask away." "Did the collies tell you who is responsible for covering the expenses of our latest guests?" "The Red Collective will cover their normal expenses more or less." Ves responded as he recalled the contract he recently signed. "If the troops suffer losses or require supplies that are above the normal level, then our clan is obliged to pay for the additional spending." "Hm. It is as I expected." Casella looked intrigued. "What did you figure out?" The Saint Commander smiled at Ves. "The Red Collective has extended a similar implicit offer to us as the Red Association and the Red Fleet. The collies are essentially daring us to take over the qi cultivators that they are placing under our care. Giving us room to cover for their extra spending is an obvious hint that we are permitted to train them as we see fit. We can deviate from the RC's policies and principles and impart our own outlook and methods to the guest cultivators. Their initial assignments will probably last years, and they can easily be extended to indefinite periods of time. Over the passage of time, the loaned qi cultivators will eventually become de facto members of our clan. The more they receive our training and investment, the deeper their attachment to us. It may not even take that long to convert them to our cause." He could see that. If Ves or Casella managed to charm them and offer them lots of support that they could not obtain within the Red Collective, then it should be easy to capture their hearts. Ves placed a lot of importance in this because many of the qi cultivators sent by the Enforcement Department belonged to elite professions. It was much more difficult for private organizations to raise their own formation masters or curse masters. Only the Red Collective which had become the holy land of systematic cultivation could churn them out in slightly greater numbers. The thought of it caused Ves to feel unwilling. "We need to develop our own cultivation professions." He decided. "We can't surrender all of the initiative to the Red Collective. If we have our own specializations, then we always have a foundation to return to if we ever lose the RC's favor." "Wise choice." Casella nodded in approval. "Do you have any ideas?" "Not yet." He said. "I already have a few tentative directions in mind. I think it would be helpful to involve companion spirits. This is one of our intrinsic advantages. Having a companion spirit opens up a lot of new options. I think we can make use of that to devise paired professions that rely on two separate cultivation methods to produce a powerful combination that is greater than the sum of its parts." Ves did not have any inspiration at the moment, so he intended to take his time on this. There was no need to hurry with this initiative. He would come up with a good idea sooner or later. For now, it was better to familiarize himself with the strengths and weaknesses of all of the professions that he would soon be working with. Only by understanding what the Red Collective was good at would he be able to identify a gap that the Larkinson Clan could fill. "Do not forget about our design spirits, sir. We can tie in their strengths as well, though it comes at the risk of making us more dependent on their existence and goodwill." "I think the priests have already covered that aspect." Of all of the professionals sent by the Red Collective, Ves felt the least comfortable about the priests. While he could appreciate their ability to call down blessings onto friendlies, he was not as enthused about their devotion to different 'gods'. Ves was not afraid of what would happen if the priests turned out to be charlatans. He was afraid of the influence the priests might gain over the rank and file if it turned out that their prayers were actually effective!