Chapter 7221: Excessive Preparations The time had finally come to upgrade the Riot Mark III. No more delays. Ves found it difficult to set aside all of his other affairs and focus on completing the Riot Mark III Project. Taking over the Phase Lord Department heaped a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He had to supervise the transition to a new regime and make sure that the original members of the department got along well enough with the newcomers transferred from the other parts of the Red Collective. The old guard and the new guard differed drastically from each other. The former consisted of people who almost literally worshiped the Ascended Giants as their gods due to strange psychology. They were fanatically loyal to the object of their worship and frequently disagreed with the newcomers who sought to bring the Phase Lord Department back in line. The latter therefore generated a lot of disruptions as they could not wait to bring everything back in compliance. Their refusal to acknowledge that the Ascended Giants were gods had already led to brief fistfights that immediately got interrupted when the security systems forcibly ended the scuffles. The strategoi occasionally stepped in to defuse the tension, but their inclinations often caused them to neglect the mortals around them. It was difficult for them to bring themselves to care for whatever trivial matters kept the mortals occupied. They were little different from ants from the perspective of a human phase lord. Ves needed to come up with a comprehensive plan to make the two sides coexist with each other. Perhaps it was too much to hope that they would meld into a single group, but he at least expected them to work together under a shared goal. There were other matters that required his attention as well. The Secret Department sought to bring him up to speed, not even waiting for the big shots to increase his galactic citizenship tier. After all, he had already become a department head by this time. That was the true reason why he became qualified to come into contact with highly classified information. He would need to take these hidden factors into account when he decided how to deploy his armed forces in the future. It would be really detrimental for Ves to unknowingly ruin a master plan that dozens of other high-tiered galactic citizens relied upon! While he was already looking forward to receiving the first of multiple intelligence briefings, Ves had nonetheless made the difficult decision to reschedule these appointments for another day. There was no urgent need to widen his perspective and peel back the layer of fog that hid many truths. "I am a mech designer first." His status of department head was exalted, but he knew that he only managed to make it this far because he dedicated so much of his life towards mech design. He had been straying too far into other activities. He still remembered the warning he received very early in his career about not letting his side activities surpass his main activity. It did not matter if he became the polemarchos with a force of 359 Ascended Giants at his disposal today or the Holy ’Daughter’ of the defunct Metal Shrine tomorrow. In his heart, he was still the same old mech designer who started off with a humble second-hand 3D printer all the way in Cloudy Curtain. To keep his true passion alive and well, Ves forcibly shoved aside all of his other responsibilities and planned to dedicate 7 whole days to the transformation and reinvention of the Riot Mark III. This should be more than enough time to complete the transformation of the Riot Mark III and account for any unforeseen accidents and delays. "Gloriana should be happy." He smiled. One of the other reasons why he prioritized this job over others was to get himself in his wife’s good books again. It actually shamed him that he realized that his wife had been doing a better job of working as a mech designer than himself. With a wife at his side who shared the same passion for mechs, Gloriana often served as his benchmark for success. He always considered Gloriana to be a serious competitor. She might not be as versatile and creative as him, but she also had to deal with far fewer distractions due to her more focused and disciplined career trajectory. This meant that she was constantly making progress towards becoming a Master Mech Designer. Ves grew nervous at the thought of letting his wife become a Master Mech Designer first. This was not supposed to happen! Although Ves only wanted the best for his wife, his pride as a mech designer still treated her like a competitor! "I can’t lose this race." Everything had already been prepared. Gloriana had already upgraded and calibrated the production machines of her personal workshop. She especially worked together with the Mech Supremacist Faction of the Red Association to develop customized machines that were able to produce archemetal a lot more effectively than standard machines. She also made sure that they were rated to work with superdimensional matter, though this turned out to be a really difficult matter. The production machines themselves had to be made with superdimensional matter as well, and that introduced its own complications. Ves had not bothered to keep up with this development. All he understood was that this was still an ongoing issue. It didn’t matter. Partial progress was better than no progress. It should be considerably easier to fabricate a high-grade superdimensional mech than before. Recent advancements in superdimensional theory as well as applications meant that the Riot Mark III was already technologically superior compared to the most recent First Sword Mark III. Ketis had opted to make the latter without archetech for multiple reasons, but one of them was definitely because the Larkinsons had yet to figure out how to combine superdimensional alloy with archetech. This problem no longer existed anymore. While the Resonance Smith had only given the bare minimum to Gloriana, she had spent enough time on mastering the initial teachings to be able to ensure consistent output. It would take many years of research to refine the existing method and improve from this basis, but these were all future considerations. For this particular project, Gloriana had meticulously updated the Riot Mark III design with the latest ’mature’ specifications. The recent delays allowed her to refine and verify her work even further, thereby boosting her confidence in her solutions. He could already spot her standing next to the old Riot Mark II. The old expert mech had remained in a neglected state for a long time ever since he incurred significant damage. The Larkinson mech designers decided that it was not worthwhile enough to repair the old and horrible outdated machine. It should have been much more convenient to upgrade him straight to his Mark III iteration. In hindsight, perhaps they should have spent a few days on fixing up the mech frame so that he became functional enough to keep Venerable Orfan occupied after her recovery. Due to numerous delays, she had spent way too many weeks with nothing to do aside from obsessing over her desired breakthrough. This was not a healthy way for an expert pilot to spend her time! Naturally, the expert pilot was already present, having entered the workshop earlier than everyone else. She had waited too long for this. Her impatience was already boiling over. Other mech designers were present as well, but most of them lacked the qualifications to assist with the work. "Good morning, ladies." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚 "Good morning, Ves. Are you truly ready to complete this fabrication run?" "Yes, honey. I have already consulted extensively with my assistant Gavin and my chief of staff Eliza. They will stall any incoming messages and postpone every matter that needs my consideration. The hastily reinforced Bluejay Fleet will no longer stay in Yernstall, but will instead begin its transit to the frontlines of the Rubarthan Pact. This will make it harder for others to get a hold of us. They can only contact us by remote." HIs wife looked a little happier. "Good. What about your agreement with your other self?" "The Dark Apostle will not insist on claiming his remaining quota for the entire week. He knows how important it is for me to devote my full attention to this fabrication run for the entire duration. As compensation, he is entitled to double his quota for the next week. I won’t be around as much as the Dark Apostle will spend more time up and about at the Armitage. He won’t stay in the Tarrasque as this ship is too ’small’ for his stature." The terms of this agreement did not surprise Gloriana. She already deduced this outcome. It was not particularly hard for her to do so as she only had to model the behavior of Ves with a braver but also stupider version of himself. No one understood Ves better than himself... and Gloriana. Ves turned his attention to the expert pilot and the ultimate recipient of the project. "Rosa. Do you understand your responsibilities?" She nodded. "I have already heard about what you will do from the other pilots. I will just sit here, join this design network of yours and make sure you understand the Riot from my perspective." "It is not strictly necessary for you to be present and awake for an entire week." Gloriana softly told her. "I have spent enough time on this project to learn how you approach your piloting and how to improve your fit with your battle partner." "I still insist on staying and observing everything." Rosa said as her willpower surged again. "This is a matter of faith to me as far as I am concerned. I cannot bring myself to lose sight of the Riot before he has completed his makeover." "Very well. If you insist. Just be aware that much of our work is highly technical. This will be a test of your patience." Ves and Gloriana made their final checks, not that it was necessary. They had already settled their children, who were permitted to visit the workshop compartment but knew better than to interrupt their parents when they were engrossed in their work. The Larkinsons had also put in a request to borrow spare processor capacity to facilitate their work. This will help make the production machines run smoother and work their way through errors and unforeseen situations faster. The materials were also fully in order. Gloriana had not only made sure to obtain batches of high-grade materials of superior stock, but already conducted a limited degree of pre-processing in order to save time. Of course, she made sure to leave the most important steps for the actual fabrication run. This had practically become a ritual for the two. They refused to break up their fabrication run despite the mounting complexity and other challenges. Only through a single focused dedication did they gain the confidence of turning a highly complicated superdimensional archemech into a masterwork mech! While Gloriana manifested Alexandria. The companion spirit soon brought Ves, Venerable Orfan as well as Alexa Streon into her design network. The Queen Cat did not extend any connections to other Larkinson mech designers who decided to observe the fabrication run. It was a pity, but the EdNet returnees such as Juliet Stameros and Sara Voiken had little clue what to do with archetech and superdimensional matter. They needed to complete extra classes in order the master the minimum amount of knowledge that was necessary to become a useful contributor in these high-end projects! Fortunately, the learning efficiency of these EdNet returnees were still high despite no longer benefiting from an accelerated virtual learning environment. Their effective study habits, their powerful cranial implants and their recent adoption of auxiliary qi cultivation methods should allow them to pass the threshold in a month or two depending on their schedule. This should turn them into effective contributors to all of their future high-end mech design projects, thereby allowing Ves and Gloriana to complete them faster!