Chapter 7197: Divine Treatment Ves was done playing the Oscillating Fist’s game. He had taken over the negotiations because he refused to let this rebellious bastard manipulate the Dark Apostle like a puppet master. He made a reckless gamble. Ves knew that he was pushing his luck. The consequences of noncompliance were drastic. The Ascended Giants watched closely in order to see which of the two had earned the right to lead their group. So far, Ves did not think he had been doing so badly. Since the Oscillating Fist was allowed to act like a scumbag, he should be able to do so as well. In fact, he ultimately believed that acting in an assertive manner was key to winning over the Ascended Giants. They clearly wanted to be led by an alpha figure. They rewarded boldness and rejected cowardice. Their primitive sensibilities drove them to worship the strong. It just so happened that there were many different ways to express strength. Showing off your martial prowess in a duel was one of them. Another way was to leverage influence to command allies to do your bidding. Right now, Ves reminded the Oscillating Fist that he could rely on the latter to make any dissident Ascended Giant’s life miserable. Red humanity could not tolerate rebellion of this scale. It would definitely invest a huge amount of resources to make an example of this high-profile case of defection. It didn’t matter if it was not cost-effective enough to hunt down so many scattered Ascended Giants. The Oscillating Fist and all of the Ascended Giants only needed to believe that Ves could make it happen. The threat of turning into a fugitive that would always be hunted by crazy human ace pilots should be enough to make them think twice about abandoning red humanity! Although Ves had made the unilateral decision to intervene, he felt grateful that his other self did not stop him or contradict him in any way. The Dark Apostle silently accepted the other personality’s rebuke. He had given up too much ground for free and was almost on the verge of letting the Oscillating Fist step on his face. That would have represented an invisible defeat that would cause him to lose respect from the Ascended Giants. It was better this way. Even if the Oscillating Fist rejected the counterproposal, at least he would not be able to drum up as much support given how much his own worldview depended on willful ignorance. At this moment, the polemarchos carefully weighed the suggestion. He looked suspiciously at Blinky and the Dark Apostle. Was there a trap buried within this term? "Your martial virtue is deficient. When faced with my challenge, you immediately think about borrowing the power of others. You can only defeat me with numbers. Where is the honor in this? The two of you are hypocrites." "We reject your accusation. If you want to talk about who has tarnished his honor more, then you are the clear winner." Ves immediately shot back. "Your refusal to abide by the terms of a contract is a much greater violation of trust. Nobody will be able to trust you again if you manage to make it out of here alive. Both humans and aliens will learn that you are a traitor, an oathbreaker, a selfish opportunist and a misguided fool. The Ascended Giants would be crazy if they think they can prosper under such a poor leader!" The Dark Apostle offered his own response. "Fighting with the help of design spirits is a symbol of strength, not weakness. It is not our fault that you cannot call upon your own gods for assistance in battle. Besides, why are you so scared? They are not gods, at least according to your own perspective. You can prove who is the more authentic god by striking us down while we are borrowing the power of ’false gods’. If you refuse to accept our term, then you must admit that you fear human gods." Hehe, the alternate personality finally got into the action. The Dark Apostle was always capable of this. He just had to overcome the suppression exerted by the Oscillating Fist. Neither Ves nor the Dark Apostle feared their final opponent anymore. The Oscillating Fist may be the best among the Ascended Giants, but he was still a lesser phase lord in the end. There was no reason to put too much stock in his claims. "Fine." The polemarchos conceded through gritted teeth. "Have your way, then. Design spirit or not, I shall crush all opposition with the power of my fists. I shall rip apart your borrowed wings and prove once and for all that we only ever need to rely on our personal strength to assert our godhood. I will agree to fight with you under these terms, but only if you give me an extra guarantee." The leader may have recognized that he could not proceed without making a concession, but he had not lost all of his wits. He still knew how to bargain. "What is it you want? Do not tell me you want to call additional Ascended Giants by your side." "No. I can finish you myself." The Oscillating fist arrogantly declared. "What I am concerned about is that the Red Collective and your many friends will not accept the outcome of our duel. I know you have a working relationship with the Evolution Witch. I need her to issue a guarantee that she shall grant me and any Ascended Giant that is willing to follow me safe passage out of human-occupied space in the event of victory. This is my bottom line." While Ves could insult the Oscillating Fist about how much he feared and respected a human god pilot to demand a guarantee from one, another person intervened first. The projection of Department Head Demetrius Sol Klavia appeared beside the Dark Apostle. "We can provide you with this guarantee. The Evolution Witch is paying attention to this duel. She has already signed a document that will promise you safe passage, but only on your way out. After you have left human space, you and your defectors are fair game. Is this acceptable?" The Oscillating Fist readily nodded. "As expected of the Patient Builder. You are an excellent leader among mortals. It is regrettable that you lack the stomach to ascend and become a giant like myself." The projection of the chief enforcer twitched his lips. "My fighting days are over." A strange pause ensued as they waited for the mysterious document to arrive. Minutes passed by as Ves and the Dark Apostle quietly conferred with each other on how to make the best use out of the right to borrow the power of design spirits to give them a boost in combat. There was not much for them to choose from, so their discussion did not last too long. They quickly recognized one obvious shortcoming. "We lack a design spirit that is aligned with the darkness element." Ves told his other personality. "We could have leveraged our darkness hyper tech much better with the assistance of an outside expert that specializes in this particular element. The alternative we have chosen may be able to wield it with a measure of skill and proficiency, but I would rather resort to a more reliable option." "Then make one." The Dark Apostle urged. "I will be leading from the front going forward. There will be many times where I will be fighting against enemies while making use of similar gear. It would be convenient if I can call upon the power of a design spirit that can facilitate my attacks. It would be best if that design spirit excels in an aspect of darkness that we are not good at. For example, if we specialize in corrupting our enemies with the power of darkness, then the design spirit should facilitate stealth or instant annihilation." He made a good point. Ves already had a framework of an idea in mind. "We can achieve better results if we repurpose the power of a mutated beast that is aspected towards the darkness element. We will have to contact the Larkinson Biotech Institute or the Hunting Association to see if we can get our hands on such a beast." The Hunting Association recently sought reconciliation with Ves, which meant that the Hunters should be more than happy to give him what he wanted. A shuttle flew in from orbit. This craft followed a fixed trajectory in order to appear as non-threatening as possible. After descending from above at an angle, it finally arrived a short distance away from the Oscillating Fist. The hatch opened up to reveal a bot carrying a large package to the Dark Apostle. When the Ascended Giant received the package, it automatically opened up, revealing a reinforced scroll that was conveniently sized for this current dimensions. It spelled out the guarantee in standard language and contained the signature of a god pilot. Just that last part almost seared the Oscillating Fist’s gigantic eyes! He quickly rolled up the scroll and put it back into the container. "Acceptable. Please transfer this to my headquarters." Many people must undoubtedly feel jealous at this traitorous bastard at the moment. He had managed to force a concession from a god pilot! The value of his guarantee was priceless. Even if it had no functional use in other people’s hands, the fact that it carried the signature of the Evolution Witch was enough to turn it into an heirloom! "If we win this duel, the document automatically turns into our possession. We can consign it to a grand auction and earn an insane amount of profit from it! Even if you cannot bear to get rid of it, we can always put it into our collection and earn the admiration of our guests." "We should not get ahead of ourselves, Ves. The Oscillating Fist is glaring at us with murder in his eyes. He will fight to his utmost to succeed in his gambit. We are all that stand in the way of his freedom and ascend to godhood." It was only now that Ves and the Dark Apostle truly began to feel how scary it was to confront the former champion boxer in a duel. The Oscillating Fist slowly lowered his faceplate, causing his angry expression to be replaced by two ominous red glows. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦 A supreme sense of martial confidence and invincibility emanated from the polemarchos. His strong posture reminded Ves a lot of Ketis when she was in her swordmaster mode! Had the Oscillating Fist or his companion spirit gotten started in willpower cultivation? No. That should not be the case. Blinky’s senses were extremely sharp and he did not detect anything similar to swordmasters and expert pilots. It did not take long for Ves to come up with a reasonable explanation. The Oscillating Fist was an outstanding warrior. His willpower had definitely surpassed the extraordinary threshold, but he lacked the inheritance or ingenuity to achieve any success in willpower cultivation. There was no boxing equivalent to traditional swordsmanship as far as Ves was concerned. If it did exist, then it was obvious outside of the other Ascended Giant’s reach. This shortcoming meant that however much the Oscillating Fist strengthened his willpower, he could not become strong enough to distort reality to the same exaggerated degree as Ketis. What a pity. If the polemarchos dedicated his martial career to swordsmanship, then he would definitely become a much stronger Ascended Giant! Ves and the Dark Apostle would not even dare to confront him in duel even if they could borrow the power of a design spirit. That was because the extraordinary willpower of a swordmaster was extremely resistant towards all spiritual phenomena! Perhaps the Oscillating Fist had done himself a disservice by separating from the Red Collective so soon. Who knew whether the RC gathered scriptures that could have given him a proper start in willpower cultivation as a pugilist.