Chapter 7141: Dueling Rules Real power. The temptation was too strong for Ves to ignore. Ves knew that anyone who was able to command 361 human phase lords would become an individual to be feared. No one could tread easily around such a leader. Even tier 1 galactic citizens had to treat Ves like a serious adult instead of an immature child. How could Ves possibly resist the allure of taking command over the Phase Lord Department? Sure, in order to achieve this outcome, he needed to put up such a good fight that he defeated at least a couple of Ascended Giants. Then, he needed to persuade the Oscillating Fist and the rest of these brainwashed idiots that it was in their best interest to transfer leadership over him. That would definitely take a lot of convincing. Although Ves still thought it was nearly hopeless for him to win a bout, the difference this time was that he strongly wanted it to happen. How could he resist? As long as the reward was extravagant enough, Ves was willing to go through a great deal of suffering in order to get the job done! The fact that the Evolution Witch apparently cared so much about this development that she had taken the time to write a personal guarantee showed that this issue had become an even bigger matter. Somehow, Ves taking over the Phase Lord Department advanced the goals of the Evolution Witch and subsequently the Oblivion Gate Consortium. This reassured him a bit as he knew that his mother and her allies were watching over him. He might be able to call upon their help under certain circumstances. That reassured him a lot. After the head of the Enforcement Department conveyed his intentions to Ves, he worked wuickly. Even before he arrived at the Tarrasque, he and his extensive staff had already formed a game plan for Ves. Half a day went by. Ves patiently waited for the two sides to hash out the rules for the leadership challenges. He had already shown a willingness to reject the effort if it asked too much from him, so that should give the RC negotiators a lot of leverage. Once the two sides formed a consensus on the duels, Demetrius Sol Klavia directly visited Ves in his private office. Zariel-775 and Eliza Mo Ragadan were present yet again. This time, the Formation Master Andrea Vos of the Moloch Squadron attended the meeting as well. When the head of the Department Head sat down, he presented a secure data pad to Ves. "This is a summary of the rules of combat that both sides have agreed upon. We did our best to give you a fighting chance, but the human phase lords are not easy to deceive. Many of them are your fans and possess at least a passing knowledge of your demonstrated capabilities." Ves maintained a neutral expression. "Let’s see what you managed to secure." [Rules -Ritualized combat between 2 human phase lords/’Ascended Giants’ in the form of a leadership challenge. -The duelists will fight each other in the form of a phase lord scaled to 2 times the height of an average first-class multipurpose mech. -Any change in size and scale past a moderate threshold will constitute an automatic forfeiture. -Up to 4 duels will take place between Chief Councilor Ves Larkinson and the 4 highest-ranking members of the Phase Lord Department. -Duels will end upon submission or surrender. -Each duel has a time limit of 1 hour. When reached, the winner will be selected based on a points system applied by an AI. -Fatalities are discouraged but not prohibited so long as the deceased has not admitted defeat. -Subsequent duels will take place with no less and no more than 3 hours of recovery time in between. -Third parties are prohibited from intervening during the duels, which explicitly includes god pilots, Star Designers, qi cultivators, smart AIs, AIs with access to an excess quantity of processing power, mechs, Carmine mechs, exoorganisms and intelligent alien species. -Companion spirits belonging to the duelists are exempted from this rule. -Equipment and weapons are allowed when carried by the duelists and operated by themselves, but must abide by a total mass limit of up to half of the mass of a human phase lord at the specified scale. -No weapons of mass destruction. -No smart metal other than an undersuit meant to preserve modesty. -No products made with the direct assistance of a Star Designer or a god pilot. -No use of equipment originally made for mechs. -High-level artifacts and ’living equipment’ are allowed as long as the source of life is not external. -Use of phasewater technology is allowed, but not extra stores of raw or semi-processed phasewater. -Use of superdimensional technology and superdimensional matter is prohibited. -If Ves Larkinson wins 3 out of 4 duels, he shall take over leadership of the Phase Lord Department. -If Ves Larkinson wins 2 out of 4 duels, he will be permitted to participate in a fair election for leadership between himself and ’the Oscillating Fist’. -The order of duelists from the Phase Lord Department is chosen by Ves Larkinson. -If Ves Larkinson has become the effective leader of the Phase Lord Department, he shall be confirmed as its department head for a single 20-year term, which he will retain unless he has voluntarily resigned or severely abused his position. -Grounds for early dismissal can include openly betraying red humanity and mass murdering large amounts of red humans. -The Phase Lord Department under the leadership of Ves Larkinson shall enjoy a wide range of autonomy, but will still nominally belong to the Red Collective and retain access to its goods and services. -After the end of the first 20-year term, the Upper Council will vote on whether to renew his term for the same duration. -If Ves Larkinson resigns or is removed from his leadership position, the Ascended Giants will conduct a leadership contest to determine his successor.] Ves thoroughly read the rules and came out impressed. It was truly comprehensive and did not seem too unreasonable for either side. "It looks as if you guys have thought of everything." The Patient Builder nodded. "Almost. The same applies to the Ascended Giants.This is only a summary. The full terms are much longer, but largely deal with exceptions and potential loopholes. There were a number of concessions that we failed to secure, such as permitting the use of design spirits or raising the mass limit of your raiment and weapons. The Ascended Giants acknowledge that there is more to a fight than relying on the strength of the muscles and your phasewater organs, but they will not acknowledge a victory attained through means that they themselves cannot or will not employ." In other words, Ves at least needed to adopt the pretense of fighting like a phase lord. It made sense as the Ascended Giants only wanted to follow a leader who exemplified their strength. He needed to present himself as a role model, which tmeant that he could not rely on underhanded means to secure his wins. Ves tried to evaluate whether he had a realistic shot at satisfying the minimum win condition. He reluctantly began to believe in that 30 percent prediction. The odds were still against his favor, but not to the point of making this leadership challenge pointless. "You are still asking a lot for me to fight multiple duels with only 3 hours of rest in between." Ves argued. "If the first duel has almost destroyed me and my gear, I won’t have time to recover." The Patient Builder remained optimistic. "You should be able to manage as long as you adopt a proper strategy. We fought hard to allow you to select the order of duelists. This is an extremely vital concession that opens up many options to stack the deck in your favor. You do not have to prepare a single set of gear for all 4 matches. It is permissible for you to customize 4 sets of weapons and raiments, each of which are precisely designed to counter the strengths of each individual opponent." Ves looked surprised. "They are okay with this approach?" "The Ascended Giants recognize that you are a mech designer as opposed to a professional soldier. We argued that you should be permitted to fight like one, which means designing gear that solves specific problems. They have accepted in the hopes that you can present a real challenge with the help of your toys." That sounded convenient to Ves. There was a lot of room for operation here. Even if these Ascended Giants had thought of almost everything, they definitely did not understand his full capabilities. He could think of several ways to exploit the rules! Of course, the Ascended Giants wanted him to be honorable and avoid any unanticipated loopholes, but Ves had no appetite for that nonsense. Honor was reserved for real soldiers! Since Ves was a ’civilian’, he felt more than justified with the determination to use every trick in the box to secure victory. So long as he made a convincing enough performance, the human phase lords shouldn’t quibble too much over the details! The more he imagined the possibilities, the more he grew confident that he could squeeze out at least one victory. There was only one elephant in the room. "What about Sev?" "As promised, we shall help you come to terms with this alternate version of your personality." Demetrius Sol Klavia promised. "We are preparing a treatment site as we speak where you can safely let out the beast without fearing damage or escape. We are also preparing special equipment that may help you secure control over Sev." The department head’s explanation was short on details, but Ves was willing to give him and his men a chance. "Okay. Assuming that I can get this done, a single 20-year term is quite different from my expectations. Does that mean I will lose my private army of human phase lords as soon as my term has come to an end." "We included this restriction in order to incentivize you to put your forces to good use, Ves. You may still do what you want with your Ascended Giants short of outrageous behavior such as defecting to the Red Cabal, but if you did not make a modest attempt at contributing to our defense, we will insist on taking back your department. Our circumstances will be much different in two decades. We should have many more means at our disposal that can force the Ascended Giants into compliance. You may have also grown strong to the point where you no longer need to rely on this unruly gathering to exert power." That was a good point. 20 years was an abnormally long period of time for stuff like this. Ves could do nearly anything with his troops without having to answer to anyone! "So if I want to retain the Ascended Giants, all I need to do is to let them do their jobs as they were originally supposed to do anyway?" "Yes. We will be lenient in our evaluation 20 years later. We do not strive for excellence. We strive for stability and prevention of setbacks." Ves did not entirely believe in that, but it was not too important. If it came down to it, Ves only truly needed to borrow the power of the Phase Lord Department for a decade or so. He would definitely be promoted to a Master Mech Designer during this period, thereby speeding up his power accumulation. He let out a deep breath and faced the department head in the eyes. "If we are doing this, then I need a workshop, access to high-grade resources, technical support and competitive dueling consultants." "We are already preparing them as we speak." "Okay, then. I am in, against my better judgment." The Patient Builder smiled. "You will not regret this decision, Ves."