Chapter 7375: Unreasonable Voice The Voice of Liberty issued a strong demand. He spoke from his heart, deliberately choosing to defy the current order that had already decided to exploit stolen resonance technology. By doing this, he had crossed a very important line. No matter what, Saint Conrad Morgenstern could no longer remain an upstanding member of red humanity. His unilateral actions directly opposed the plans and intentions of not one, but all of the major players! From the Rubarthan Pact to the Red Fleet, none of them felt pleased that this impulsive and rebellious ace pilot wanted to destroy the research specimen and force the researchers to renounce their studies. Shortly after the Voice of Liberty issued his ultimatum, the Ves and the Dark Apostle received numerous urgent messages. They all conveyed the demands of the superorganizations that had a stake in the current affair. The captured Ixith Goliath could not be allowed to perish at the hands of this rebel pilot. The research value of this amazing exobiological specimen was enormous. In the days that had passed since the Battle of Philaster Crestia, the Goliath Hive had yet to present any other Goliaths with stolen resonance capabilities. Who knew how long it would take for the mutated voribugs to produce other ones. The enemy might even decide that growing them through a laborious process only to see them captured by greedy red humans may be a self-defeating maneuver and suspend this initiative. If that was the case, then the captured Ixith Goliath’s value would skyrocket! As the only biological construct of its kind, its uniqueness had to be preserved and studied at all cost! This possibility, though faint, raised the stakes of this confrontation even further. Even if the Goliath began to pump out more Level 8 Goliaths in a few months, the head-start that researchers could enjoy by getting their hands on the research specimen could make a huge difference in the war effort. Therefore, Ves could not afford to give up the research specimen even if the Goliath Hive began to produce comparable biological monstrosities in the future. Ves knew that he could not remain silent for long. Remaining speechless was a sign of weakness. No matter what, ever since he became a high-tier galactic citizen, he knew he assumed an obligation to protect the interests of red humanity. Although people could argue what was best for their race and civilization, there was a proper time and place to debate on weighty decisions like these. It was absolutely not acceptable for a single rogue ace pilot to unilaterally force a decision on an issue with galactic implications! "Respectfully, Saint Morgenstern, we do not recognize your authority." Ves slowly responded through his purple companion spirit form. Despite its small and furry appearance, it did a decent job of maintaining a dignified demeanor. "You are a powerful ace pilot, and that grants you a louder voice than many other people. Yet you are no god pilot of Star Designer. You are not an admiral of a serial innovator. You do not lead any major departments or rule over a sizable territory. You do not represent anyone’s voice aside from your own. Why must we listen to your voice over that of others?" Point out that the Voice of Liberty lacked both authority and legitimacy was a good way to take the wind out of his sails. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of this argument was heavily limited when applied to individuals who never respected authority in the first place. "Semantics. My galactic citizenship is not as high as yours, but letting the top make every decision is wrong in itself. I had hoped that you would be more sympathetic, Larkinson, seeing as you founded the Red Collective, but your words have betrayed your true colors. You are just as elitist and power-hungry as other so-called high-tier galactic citizens. Power is poison. From the moment you rise above the grassroots that form the true foundation of our civilization, you have already begun to treat yourself as a god among mortals. You have become so far removed from the plight of the humble that you are gradually transforming into a cancer of red humanity." The naked accusations ignited a spike of fury within Ves! Though people often regarded a powerful ace pilot’s words as truth due to their hatred of falsehoods, they could still be wrong! Reality was much more subjective to high-ranking mech pilots. When they gained the power to distort the fabric of the universe around them, they became accustomed to judging everything through their own highly distorted lenses. Ves believed that the Voice of Liberty suffered from a particularly bad case of this phenomenon! "You do not know me nearly enough. I have done far more to contribute to the life and prosperity of our people than nearly everyone else. I care about the common folk. I used to live alongside them in the first half of my life. The difference between us is that I have embraced the leadership responsibilities that come with higher status. There is already a mature system on how decisions are made. It is not perfect. Nothing ever is. However, we are operating in war time. It is only natural to concentrate much more decision-making power on the most worthy and knowledgeable among us. We cannot afford to waste years on debating the same matters and allow our bureaucracy to get bogged down by useless minutiae." Though Ves believed he was making a reasoned argument, the opposing ace pilot grew frustrated by all of this talk! "BLABLABLA! All I hear are useless excuses! Sweet talkers like you just love to use words to confuse and gaslight the weak and powerless into sacrificing their time, money, labour and eventually their lives! You say that you and the other high-tier galactic citizens possess the authority to decide on whether to make use of stolen resonance technology. Well, I and every mech pilot disagree with this notion! The only ones who are allowed to decide on the treatment of our profession are us and no one else!" Blinky did not look impressed. "There are 8 god pilots in the Red Ocean. Even if not all of them have shared their opinion on this matter, their influence is still great enough to advance or hinder the adoption of stolen resonance technology. Out of all of the mech pilots in our dwarf galaxy, they are the most worthy to decide on matters related to your shared profession. I can tell you right now that certain god pilots such as the Evolution Witch are in favor of embracing this new technology. Of course, they have also imposed additional demands in order to make sure that we use it safely and responsibly. If you stand down and leave right now, you may be able to earn a seat at the table. The details can still be negotiated." "NOT ENOUGH!" Saint Morgenstern roared, causing many people in the vicinity to feel a surge of anger boiling within their hearts! "YOU ARE TRYING MY PATIENCE, LARKINSON. IF YOU SOUGHT TO CONVINCE ME TO STAND DOWN, THEN CONGRATULATIONS, BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THE OPPOSITE. SO MUCH FOR THE ELOQUENCE OF THE DEVIL TONGUE. EACH WORD YOU SPEAK IS POISON TO MY EARS. YOUR DISDAIN FOR THE COMMON MECH PILOTS GROWS EVER MORE OBVIOUS. YOU AND THE GREEDY MONSTERS THAT YOU REPRESENT WOULD GLADLY SACRIFICE THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF EXPERT PILOTS AND ACE PILOTS IF THAT WAS WHAT IT TAKES TO PRODUCE AN EQUIVALENT NUMBER OF STOLEN RESONANCE WARSHIPS." Blinky’s tail whipped around in a more agitated fashion. Ves found his words failing at this time! His heart already sunk as he found himself stumped at how to disarm this tense situation. High-ranking mech pilots were too unreasonable! Ves belatedly realized that if he did not outright make concessions to the rogue ace pilot, the latter would likely resort to violence in order to meet at least one of his goals. That would be a disaster. It would also be a huge failure on his part. He would not only get blamed for reigniting human-to-human conflict, but also bear responsibility for the substantial damage and deaths that might ensue! He took a mental breath before carefully formulating his next words. "I am genuinely sorry that you feel this way. It should never have come to this. If you controlled yourself better, then you could have made your case at a more proper venue than in the middle of space. While I can acknowledge that you are fighting for a cause that you believe is just, there is no right or wrong in this situation. Stolen resonance technology has too much potential. When the lives of billions if not trillions of humans are at risk of perishing in the coming year, we need to resort to extraordinary measures in order to prevent these calamities. I am not saying we have to sacrifice the lives of our most admired heroes in order to make this possible. There are always multiple solutions available. Trust me. A lot of groups have already begun to research alternatives to minimize the cost of this nascent technology." A short moment of silence ensued as the ace pilot seriously parsed those words. "I cannot take that chance." Saint Morgenstern said in a more subdued but menacing tone. "You have managed to earn back a little respect from me. I can tell you are being weighed down by the same terrible equation that plagues every leader. However, if you think that this can persuade me to give up, then you are wrong. What you are describing is a slippery slope. No matter how little you traverse it, you will eventually slip and slide to the bottom. The best way to prevent you and everyone else from falling to the depths is to destroy the slope entirely. If there is nothing slippery left, then no one will ever make the mistake of tripping and sliding to the abyss." He believed in this with all of his heart and will. The Sound of Revolution became more intense. Its Saint Kingdom expanded slightly while lighting bolts started to crackle inside of it. The thrum of notes made people increasingly more apprehensive. The enemy ace mech shifted its grip on its hybrid weapon and musical instrument. It looked about ready to burst into action. Saint Rosa Orfan clearly sensed the elevated threat. Her powerful ace mech floated protectively in front of the Dark Apostle. The tier 3 Destroyer spear exuded a bloodthirty aura. It felt as if the weapon wanted to challenge this powerful opponent head-on! If Saint Orfan still had control over her body, then her lips would have curled in frustration. Her mech and weapon may be eager to test their mettle against the Sound of Revolution, but Saint Orfan did not possess as much confidence in her ability to fend off this opponent! The Ixith Goliath was not as threatening as the senior ace mech. The latter not only performed better in the areas that mattered, but was also controlled by one of the best and most skilled mech pilots in the new frontier, period! The skill and intuition of an old and experienced saint such as the Voice of Liberty could not be underestimated. They could easily make the difference between an even fight and a humiliating defeat! As the Voice of Liberty sounded more aggressive, Saint Rosa Orfan felt more and more pressured. It was as if a black hole threatened to strip her willpower and engulf her body and mech! Though the younger ace pilot tried her best to shore up her confidence, she could only do so much. She basically knew that she could not count on the rest of the escort fleet. They could provide distant fire support, but that was all. Even that would not be too effective as the Sound of Revolution was both fast and resistant towards attacks. Only the Riot Mark III could defeat the enemy machine. As the talking between the two sides fizzled out, the tension in the field grew increasingly more severe. Hostilities could break out at any second. The only question was who would make the first move.