Chapter 7348: Greed and Fear The escort fleet departed from the Philaster Crestia System in a rush. The higher-ups correctly judged that the grand prize needed to be brought back to safety as soon as possible. The entire Rubarthan frontline was on fire. The Goliath Hive may have faltered in the Philaster Crestia System, but they still had lots of swarms in the surrounding star systems. Who knew how long it would take for the mutated voribugs to dispatch another invasion force. For these reasons and more, the Bluejay Fleet augmented by detachments hailing from the Rubarthan Pact and other major powers collectively moved to the nearest Lagrange point before entering into FTL travel. What was important to note was that all of the ships in this newly formed task force consisted of fast movers. Each hull possessed a fairly modern superdrive, allowing them to travel to the Yernstall Central Star Node in weeks rather than months. Ves had cemented his role as the overall leader of this impromptu task force. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 As the only tier 2 galactic citizen in the neighborhood, no one else had the status or rank to contest his candidacy. Perhaps there may be a few old and respected Rubarthan senior ace pilots in the region that could take over for him, but they were already busy with defending crucial Rubarthan strongholds against the voribug invasion. The only other name that stood out was the 1365th Prince, otherwise known as Lord Richard Brownstone’s grandfather. While the man was an old and respected descendant of the Seventh Star Emperor, he was clearly so biased towards the Rubarthan Pact that he could not earn enough trust from the other major powers. The same argument applied to pretty much any other prominent name from the colonial star empire. This was why Ves managed to stay in charge. He may not be anyone’s first choice, but his strength was that he and his clan developed friendly connections with pretty much everyone. That turned him into a consensus choice that pretty much everyone begrudgingly approved. Ves felt honored by their trust. While he definitely harbored selfish motives of his own, he did not become a tier 2 galactic citizen by thinking about himself all of the time. He deeply understood the importance of keeping the research specimen safe. The native aliens would do everything to intercept it if they learned about its existence and its enormous research value. That was not all. There were many other groups that had developed a strong interest in the Ixith Goliath. Ves could not underestimate their greed and desire to monopolize this prize! "So how likely do you think our escort fleet will get intercepted along the way?" Ves asked. "We cannot calculate that probability, director." Secret Keeper Zariel-775 responded. The RC spy had been permanently attached to the Phase Lord Department for a while. Despite his prominent role and important responsibilities, it was easy for most people to overlook his existence. Whatever cultivation method he practiced not only made him easy to overlook, but also caused him to fade from people’s minds a lot faster than usual. This allowed Zariel-775 to observe a lot of people without making them too self-conscious about being observed. Not even Ves knew the full scope of the spy’s activities. He just knew that this was a necessary evil. The Phase Lord Department still had to do a lot to earn back the trust of the rest of the Red Collective. While Ves had taken this troublesome department over, he could only ensure the integrity of the top. Other collies had joined the Phase Lord Department in order to reassert the main organization’s control over the lower and middle layers. Nobody reported any issues to Ves, so he assumed that everything was proceeding well enough. Clearly, no problems had arisen that demanded his personal intervention. As long as that was the case, Ves was too lazy to address any management problems that had emerged. The collies clearly possessed enough competence to sort out their own issues. While Zariel-775’s main responsibility was to monitor the loyalty of the Phase Lord Department and prevent a repeat of the past, he also served as a bridge to the Secret Department. Right now, this mysterious department had collected a bunch of intelligence that necessitated a confidential meeting. "While we cannot give you a precise calculation on how likely it is for our fleet to encounter enemies along the way, the odds are not zero." The spy said. "We have gathered indications that multiple clandestine and not-so-clandestine groups are urgently in the process of gathering what forces they can mobilize and dispatch them to our route as quickly as possible." Ves furrowed his brows. "Since you guys know all of that, why haven’t you done something already?" "It is not that simple, Director Larkinson. The gathered forces may not necessarily be targeted against us. There are leaders who desire to acquire a Level 8 Ixith Goliath of their own, but they are also honorable enough to capture one themselves. They are urgently mobilizing their reserves in order to send them to the frontlines of the Voribug War. We cannot refuse their good intentions as you know as well as everyone how much the Rubarthans need the help." Many people cast their covetous gazes at the research specimen captured by the Riot Mark III, but not all of them were crazy enough to break the rules. Most leaders should be far-sighted enough to understand that it was best to earn one through their own efforts. Previously, fighting against the mutated voribugs had been a thankless job, so not many powers had invested a large proportion of their available forces to this front. This time was different. Aside from the collective responsibility of defending red humanity against a common alien threat, the opportunity to acquire and study groundbreaking new alien biotechnologies had drastically increased in value! The mutated voribugs had proven themselves to be a lot more innovative and ingenious than everyone thought! What was even more important was that the Ixith Goliath may not be the only strain that could unlock radical new technological breakthroughs. Perhaps a new voribug subspecies or Goliath strain may come along that could drastically improve another aspect of red humanity. From wondrous new alloys to unthinkable new human augmentations, the mutated voribug race had proven itself to be a proven source of innovations! A lot of ambitious people had already grown disappointed that they had missed a lot of opportunities to steal and adapt applications of phasewater technology during the early years of the opening of the Red Ocean. Now, they could make up for past regrets by joining the first echelon of technological pioneers in the Voribug War! Ves found it ironic that the desperate need to defend human civilizations from the omnicidal threat posed by the mutated voribugs failed to muster a lot of enthusiasm, but the possibility of radical new technological innovations had suddenly caused a significant spike in reinforcements! "The Rubarthan Pact must be really happy this time." "Yes." The hooded figure responded in an impassive tone. "This is not an ideal state of affairs, but it still constitutes an improvement, so we have no intention of discouraging such behavior. This also makes it difficult to discern whether these mobilizations are truly aimed at the mutated voribugs or this escort fleet." Ves rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "Even so, I don’t think that they should be stupid enough to try to intercept our shipment. Our task force is strong enough that only a large fleet has a chance to succeed, and it will definitely suffer a lot of casualties regardless of the outcome. It is impossible to hide the origins of all of those forces. Those who are already in high positions have no reason to throw away their futures and doom their entire organizations by harming the interests of every major player. Those who are weaker simply do not have the strength to contest our task force." He really did not understand how anyone could be both strong and stupid enough to take such an insane risk. However, Secret Keeper Zariel-775 saw it differently. "Do not underestimate the madness of the human race. There are certain individuals who view the Ixith Goliath as an existential threat to their class or their profession. Driven by ideology, they have already voiced their strong opposition to the possible proliferation of stolen resonance technology." "Ah. I see." Nobody had derived any useful applications from the Ixith Goliath at this time, but that did not stop critics from voicing their fears. Many mech pilots including high-ranking ones hated the concept of stolen resonance. The fact that it apparently relied on the willpower that had been forcibly taken away from existing expert pilots turned it into a forbidden method in their eyes! Not only did stolen resonance give people a reason to cause harm to high-ranking mech pilots, the existence of this phenomenon also introduced a ’competitor’ that could take away their jobs! Even if stolen resonance would always prove inferior to true resonance, the former could be applied to many more devices, which meant that they could surpass high-ranking mechs in value! The Red Fleet harbored this dream most of all. To them, the development of so-called artifact warships barely allowed them to maintain their relevancy in the Age of Dawn. If the fleeters truly wanted to become a force to be reckoned with, then they needed to produce stronger vessels, either dreadnoughts or the newly theorized stolen resonance warships! While the fleeters would be more than happy to explore the possibilities of stolen resonance to the fullest, the mechers may not harbor the same degree of enthusiasm. Mech pilots especially had reasons to reject this advancement. So long as they were powerful and organized enough, it may not be out of the question for them to spontaneously come together and form a hastily organized punitive fleet for the sole purpose of destroying the research specimen! Ves frowned deeper and deeper as he considered this insane but strangely plausible possibility. "So the real threat is not the native aliens, the mutated voribugs or even the Cosmopolitan Movement." He said. "What we truly have to be concerned about is a mob of fanatic mech pilots who are willing to undertake a suicidal missions to defend the status of mech pilots, is that what you are trying to convey?" Zariel-775 nodded under his mysterious hood. "Correct. There is so much movement taking place within the Rubarthan Pact and the Red Ocean Union that we cannot trace every single movement of starships and mechs. If the hostile parties are competent in counter-surveillance and so on, they may very well succeed in avoiding our tracking and secretly prepare an ambush at a point along our route." "If they actually manage to pull this off, what sort of threats do we need to take into account?" "The quantity of hostile mechs is unlikely to be high, director. If the movements become too large, they will likely be detected in advance. Our escort fleet can simply take a detour. The superluminal travel speed of our vessels are high enough that we can avoid contact against all but the most modern human forces. However, our enemies do not necessarily have to outnumber us in order to complete their objectives. It is not out of the possibility to encounter numerous expert pilots and even ace pilots." That caused Ves to frown even further. High-ranking mech pilots were all men and women with honor. Yet that also made them a lot more dangerous than other people. What if their warped thinking caused them to believe that the Ixith Goliath would enable the spread of evil? As long as they could justify it, these madmen were capable of anything! Ves could very well believe that certain high-ranking mech pilots would be willing to throw away their bright futures and fight against his task force just to destroy the possibility of popularizing stolen resonance technology!