Chapter 7220: Hostile Mech Ves entered one of the cargo compartments of the Tarrasque. The Bluejay Fleet was originally supposed to set off for the Rubarthan Pact, but it suffered an unavoidable delay. The Red Three assigned last-minute reinforcements to the fleet. The escort of a tier 2 galactic citizen was much more substantial than that of a tier 3 galactic citizen. It was irresponsible for a department head like Ves to be accompanied by a fleet that contained very little capital ships. Unfortunately, the mounting pressure of the ongoing wars made it difficult for the RA, RF and RC to allocate enough mechs and warships to the Bluejay Fleet. While there were plenty of assets available in Yernstall, each of them occupied a vital link in the elaborate defensive envelope of the central star node. Even if everyone knew that a god pilot likely presided over the unofficial capital of the Red Ocean Union most of the time, the forces still had to stay in place in the event the native aliens or the mutated voribugs launched a massive decapitation strike. The Red Cabal had already sacrificed dozens of ancient phase whales in an attempt to remove vital locations such as Bridgehead One off the board. It did not matter if the native aliens had forsworn any further costly deep strikes. Just the threat of it was enough to force the Red Three to keep its forces in their most vital star systems. If they did not do so, many of the residents and visitors would feel unsafe and divert to other star systems. In any case, Ves had spoken to representatives of the Red Three and knew not to expect too much from the reinforcements. The Bluejay Fleet would mainly be getting more mid-sized sub-capital ships. They possessed enough throwing weight to make a difference, but were still small enough to make it economical to mass produce their hulls. Ves did not care too much. He quite liked it that the Bluejay Fleet consisted of relatively fast and small hulls. Having a battleship or three at his disposal might be advantageous in terms of soaking up damage or bombarding enemy positions with lots of large caliber guns, but he already secured superior assets. If Ves had to make a choice between fielding 30 huge, slow, lumbering and logistically demanding battleships and fielding 30 fast, versatile and much more compact Ascended Giants, he would pick the latter anytime! Although the human phase lords were sorely deficient in long-range firepower, they were better than battleships in every other aspect. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 So long as they could get close enough, the Ascended Giants could demolish entire warfleets by relying on their insanely durable spatial barriers, their wide area spatial abilities and their unstoppable wrecking power at closer ranges. Red humanity had never deployed a force that was relatively light on mechs and warships but disproportionately heavy on phase lords. Not even the native aliens had done anything like this. To them, every phase lord, even the least among them, was an honored god that had to be accompanied by a large force or attendants and worshipers. The native gods considered it a shame for them to be deployed in the field without a sufficiently large and intimidating fleet of mortal warships! It was actually rather exceptional that the Ascended Giants could resist this urge and tolerate their reassignment to a fleet that overwhelmingly consisted of escort vessels. With all of the attention directed towards the Ascended Giants as of late, Ves was well aware that discontent had spread to other forces. In particular, mech pilots started to feel neglected and overlooked. The combat power of their machines was only a fraction as powerful as a phase lord. Unless they were able to complete at least 2 major breakthroughs and turn into saints, it would be difficult for them to match a single Ascended Giant in combat! Many mech pilots had therefore begun to question whether they were on the right path. Could they have made more attainments if they pursued a career as a human phase lord? Were mech pilots about to be relegated into sideshows just like alien phasefighters? Ves personally did not think this was the case. No matter how powerful an Ascended Giant became, he knew that it was unrealistic for one to defeat a high-ranking mech pilot at the ’same’ level of cultivation. Other variables such as the use of superdimensional technology might change the equation, but so long as everything else was equal, Ves would still bet all of his chips on an ace pilot or a god pilot. The problem with Rosa Orfan was that she had yet to become a saint. She was still an expert pilot, much like many other champions of the Larkinson Clan. To some of them, breaking through to the second major cultivation rank had been a matter of chance. None of them had it too easy. Even Tusa went through a life-threatening stage as Ves had recklessly injected his phasewater-infused blood into his cousin’s body. Saint Commander Casella Ingvar gained her ability to Commandeer and Enfeoff other mechs en masse due to the indescribable grief she suffered when she learned of her brother’s death. The recently reconstructed Saint Isobel Kotin pretty much burned down her entire body until she was reduced down to a somewhat intact brain and spine. All of these examples showed that even the Larkinson mech pilots who enjoyed incredibly favorable conditions had to go through extraordinary measures to break past their bottlenecks. The question now was whether Venerable Rosa Orfan had what it took to follow their footsteps. Expert pilots were supposed to be fearless and without doubt. Ves found that the reality was much more nuanced. As long as they had yet to shed all of their mortality, they remained vulnerable to human frailties and weaknesses. Right now, the female expert pilot had chosen to sequester herself in this cargo hold because it happened to store a vital container. The black container was long and slender because it only held a single object of vital importance. The tier 3 Destroyer spear. Saint Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson had made excellent use of the weapon for a long time, but he was merely borrowing the weapon. The Terran weapon already had an owner as far as Ves was concerned. Whether Rosa Orfan would be able to wield it depended on whether she could make a breakthrough. A superdimensional expert mech still was not qualified to wield such a powerful and temperamental weapon. Even though it was not a D-arm, it pretty much behaved like one! High-tiered Destroyer weapons had ruined the lives of more than a handful of Terran expert pilots who thought they could be the exception rather than the rule. Without enough willpower, a high-tier Destroyer weapon could absolutely devour the mech and pilot that attempted to tame its devastating power. It was quite dangerous for Rosa Orfan to stand so close to the container. Even if the Terrans had especially developed this container to isolate the tier 3 Destroyer spear, total protection could never be guaranteed. Destroyer weapons were simply that dangerous. They only became obedient when they were wielded by pilots with sufficient willpower and conviction. Perhaps that was why Venerable Orfan approached the spear that she dreamt of wielding for years. Ves furrowed his brows as he let his footsteps announce his arrival. Once he reached her side, he took a good look at the dark container. "How are you doing?" He softly asked. "Fine." She said in an emotionless tone. "You do not have to worry about me. We have talked about my doubts and concerns multiple times in the past. I am not a delicate flower. I have endured worse situations in combat. This... is merely another test. I have spent more than enough time to prepare for the coming moment." Though she put up a brave front, Ves did not entirely believe she was in a good headspace. Still, it was already pretty good that she was able to sound confident enough in herself. She would need this in the times to come. "You have been able to witness my fights." Ves spoke. "What do you think of the Dark Apostle’s performance?" The change in topic caught her off-guard. She pulled herself out of her funk and thought about the spectacle she observed a week earlier. "I think... that others have already mentioned that you, or the other guy, fight like you have memorized a manual but never actually exercised your spearmanship in real combat. The disparity is painfully obvious, especially to me. Your moves are too textbook and lack the personal touches that make them uniquely yours. The short pauses and slow reaction times makes it obvious that you have not drilled your spear techniques until they have become as good as instinct to you. If you want to make the jump from a performer to a warrior, then you need to be able to put up a fight without consciously thinking and calculating every move." Ves nodded in understanding. "Others have also supplied similar advice. I completely agree with you. My other self definitely intends to work on it in the coming months and years. Maybe... the two of you can spar with each other." The expert pilot looked intrigued. "I am not entirely opposed to this. Your ’other self’ could certainly benefit from extra training sessions, and I am eager to get used to fighting against phase lords. Still... I would rather do so while piloting an ace mech as opposed to an expert mech." Ves gazed at the closed container holding the dangerous tier 3 Destroyer spear. "Don’t worry." He said. "Your qualifications are no worse than that of the other Larkinson ace pilots at the time of their second breakthroughs. The Riot Mark III will offer an immense boost to you once he has reached his latest form. However, you need to be prepared to face immense resistance the next time you interface with your machine. He will no longer be the same. The way you interact with your battle partner will be completely different. He may not be your friend anymore. The two of you will be like fire and water." "I already know what to expect, Ves. I have corresponded enough times with Joshua to know what it is like to wield a weapon that wants to kill you. I have one question, though. Will battle partner still be around after you have completed your upgrade, or will a feral demon take his place?" That was an important question. "To be honest, I have no answer for you." Ves reluctantly admitted. "I have never converted an existing living mech into a D-mech. The outside depends on the relative strength between the two. If the living mech is strong enough and makes effective use of his home ground advantage, he may be able to defeat the source of power of a D-mech and assimilate the evil entity. If your living mech fails... then he will become food for the demonic entity." "So even my battle partner has to undergo a test." Venerable Isobel sighed. "If you value your battle partner’s life, we can always skip this step. It is not necessary to convert your machine into a D-mech. Several of your former peers managed to break through before I gained the capability to produce D-mechs." Rosa immediately shook his head. "No. I will not let go of any advantage, even a dangerous one like piloting a D-mech. I know the Riot. He will not want me to give up on this opportunity. He will bravely confront a demon if that is what it takes to become my ultimate machine partner. If he wins, then that is great. If he loses, then I will mourn his death, but I will not let that stop me from imposing my control on the victorious demon and force my upgraded machine to obey my will." Her force of will surged and slightly started to shake the surrounding air and caused Ves to feel a little pressure. "I am glad you have a good attitude towards the potential sacrifices that you will have to make." Ves said. "We are embarking on a completely unprecedented destination. The Riot Mark III will not only become the first D-mech, but also one that has incorporated the Carmine System. The combination between the two will significantly increase your burden. Forming a Blood Pact is only the first challenge that you must overcome. If you have managed to forge this connection, the hostile D-mech will do whatever it takes to resist you and launch hostile attacks through the neural interface as well as the Carmine System. If you win, then you will gain incredible control over the Riot Mark III. If you lose, then you will endure twice as much pain and other punishment." The combination of different techs truly turned the Riot Mark III into a machine that was just as hostile to his pilot as Destroyer weapons, if not more! The fact that Venerable Orfan became so gung-ho about making use of hostile mechs and weapons underscored how desperately she wanted to stimulate her breakthrough! If she failed to trigger her second apotheosis after making all of these gambles, then she would definitely perform worse than other expert pilots who attained expert mechs of comparable strength!