Chapter 7384: The Human Consensus The Voice of Liberty did not listen. This was typical for a rebel and an outcast like himself. For his entire life, he had never quite fit in with others. This was not due to selfishness or ignorance. He was simply a principled man whose values did not quite fit with the current society. As he continued to stimulate himself through unknown but undoubtedly costly means, he eventually reached the limit of his rank. Then he chose to push through this barrier without any intention of holding back or delaying this life-changing decision until he was better prepared! It was one thing to speak about it. It was another thing to actually go through with such a crazy plan! Ves and the Dark Apostle both felt incredibly shocked as well as more uncomfortable. They practically had a front-row seat to one of the most profound and impressive ascension processes that a human could embark upon! To Blinky’s spiritual senses, it was as if the potent extraordinary willpower of the opposing saint had chosen to compress itself to the point of breaking its equilibrium! "Saint Conrad Morgenstern has done it." Gloriana transmitted to Ves through a communication channel that gained slight interference due to the rapidly rising signal interference from the senior ace mech. "As of this moment, he has become the latest in a long line of ace pilots who have chosen to shed the remaining parts of their mortality in an attempt to become divine." Her words and tone conveyed a certain attitude that aligned with that of Ves and most others. Ves took a metaphorical breath and issued a proclamation. "Please let it be known that we stand witness to Saint Conrad Morgenstern’s attempt at attaining godhood. No matter his faults, sins, transgressions, it is all trivial compared to the potential rise of another deity of the human race. I, and the forces that answer to me, shall not do anything to inhibit or sabotage his breakthrough attempt. We shall stop and enact immediate punishment on anyone who defies this directive. At the same time, we shall endeavor to guard the Voice of Liberty against any third parties that possess malicious intentions." It did not surprise Ves very much that the forces that comprised the escort fleet did not object to his latest command. They very naturally agreed with the central idea that the rise of a possible ninth god pilot of red humanity outweighed every other concern or priority. The politics surrounding stolen resonance technology simply did not matter anymore. Even if the new god pilot would make every use of his newly gained power and influence to stop this controversial tech from proliferating, it was none of their business. The tier 1 galactic citizens that had previously chosen to ignore and belittle the Voice of Liberty could take care of this problem case! In fact, Ves doubted that any of the strong proponents of stolen resonance technology would take action to sabotage Saint Morgenstern’s effort and doom him to annihilation. Even they valued the rise of another god pilot that could shoulder the burden of protecting red humanity’s borders. This was a reflection of how much the human race valued its god pilots. In a sense, the Voice of Liberty’s fears may have been overblown. Despite the fast-moving changes of the Age of Dawn, high-ranking mech pilots still had little to fear of losing their honored status in human civilization. At most, they might have to welcome actual competition that could compete for them in terms of status and prestige. Yet the fact that they were undeniably strong and capable of single-handedly winning decisive battles could never be disregarded. The hope of gaining another invincible battle god was the main reason why everyone had suddenly taken Saint Morgenstern’s side at this time. Both of them may have been enemies earlier, but when it came down to it, they were both loyal members of the human race. Ves actually believed that even if the Voice of Liberty professed to be a member and an ardent supporter of the Cosmopolitan Movement, he would still invite everyone’s praise and service! As he and his other self continued to witness the incredibly bright form of the Sound of Revolution beginning to melt and become more amorphous, Gloriana suddenly shared her speculation. "I GET IT NOW, VES!" She announced! "The Voice of Liberty’s decision to initiate his breakthrough at this circumstance is not a spontaneous decision. It is part of a premeditated plan of his! He intended to confront our fleet and defeat our opposition from the start. He also did not plan to complete his stated goal before he chose to make an attempt at completing his path to godhood." Her speculation caused Ves to break out of his mindless admiration and apply a more critical perspective on the situation. Blinky’s glowing eyes widened in realization! It was as if a curtain had parted before his eyes. Now that he figured out the truth, it became quite obvious what the Voice of Liberty intended all along! "I think you’re right, Gloriana! This bastard of a senior ace pilot did not impulsively choose to forsake everyone’s expectations and defy the current order. He took a very calculated series of steps that not only caused him to burn all of his bridges, but staked his life on completing his stated goal! Only by defying all odds and succeeding where most of his kind has failed will he be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!" "Exactly!" The path to godhood was a long and arduous journey. Yet everyone knew that it was particularly perilous at the very end. It was as if everything that came before the road to no return was simply preparation for the ultimate transformation. Many ace pilots attempted to complete the final steps of their lengthy journeys, yet the overwhelming majority of them faltered and fizzled out, causing their legacies to meet abrupt and unsatisfying attempts. Due to these constant and persistent failures, many ace pilots have begun to be more creative in planning their own attempts. Raising the stakes was a very normal approach to such a massive endeavor. Just putting their lives on the line was not enough for them to squeeze the limits of their potential during the most dangerous phases of the breakthrough process. By putting their goals, their groups or their entire life’s purpose on the line, they effectively raised the stakes and ensured that they had more sources of strength to draw upon when the critical moment arrived! Ves now understood what the Voice of Liberty was talking about when he mentioned that he would solve all of his problems if he succeeded, and that he would solve everyone else’s problems if he failed. This was a clear declaration of his intentions to those who had deduced his true purpose! "Wait." Ves made another realization. "Do you think the god pilots refused to parlay with him because they figured out his actual plan?" "...You may very well be right." Gloriana could see the viability in this possibility. "Their decision to remain silent is not only a stance, but also a deliberate provocation on their part. They gave the Voice of Liberty a strong reason to pursue greater power. They essentially told him in his face that unless he manned up and became one of their peers, he would never earn their respect and consideration. To an ace pilot who cared strongly about his respective causes, this is indeed an effective stimulant for his attempted breakthrough." The puzzle pieces fit together. It all made sense. Ves found it strange to attribute planning and calculation to a brash ace pilot, but just because they were exalted warriors did not mean they lacked brains. In fact, their accumulated age, experience and intuition often made them more thoughtful and insightful than many mortals. It was just that they were more decisive than others that they acquired a reputation for being stubborn and willful. They were all forces of nature in their own ways. "I guess his fight against Saint Orfan is just a warmup." Ves depreciatingly said. "It was a nice extra that our latest high-ranking mech gave him enough of an excercise to get his blood pumping." "You may be correct, but..." Gloriana hesitated a little. "According to the many rules and guidelines about the ultimate breakthrough, god pilot candidates often attempt to complete more dramatic deeds than bullying a junior ace pilot. Stepping on the road to no return is best done when you have built up as much momentum as possible. I am afraid that the Voice of Liberty has not done this as well as his colleagues. Then there is his inadequate resonance strength to consider. He has already started this irreversible process at a disadvantage." That was all true as well. Ves truly did not know what Saint Conrad Morgenstern was thinking when he made his choice despite not reaching his optimal state at his current rank. Perhaps in his mind, he invested so much in his cause and his goals that he believed that this could outweigh his slightly inadequate qualifications. This was not a gamble that Ves would ever make if he was in the other person’s shoes, but perhaps this kind of madness was exactly was an ace pilot needed to transcend to godhood. All would become clear soon enough. Most breakthrough processes did not take too long, though the actual duration varied considerably between different cases. Every ace pilot and ace mech was unique. There were way too many variables to formulate a predictive model. A part of Ves wished he was back at the ship so that he could stand behind a control panel and access lots of data. Another part of Ves wanted to stay right here. It was not every day that an ace pilot came by and abruptly stepped on the road to no return at a relatively close proximity! "What phase of the Mech Body Merger Process has he reached so far?" "It is still the first phase, Ves. According to our instruments, which are not quite calibrated for the momentous occasion at hand, Saint Morgenstern is still in the process of forming a complete operation union with the Sound of Revolution. They have already reached an advanced stage as far as we can tell." Blinky’s head nodded in agreement. "I can sense that the bond between man and machine has formed something that resembles a Blood Pact. There are many similarities, but this version is a lot stronger... and more intimate. The distance between the two is already quite close, perhaps dangerously so. Saint Morgenstern should only be able to maintain this state for a relatively short time before something bad happens, so he is truly forced to go all the way to the end." It became relatively obvious that the Voice of Liberty initiated the next phase of the Mech Body Merger Process. The saint had already made a head-start into compressing his Saint Kingdom, but now he was exerting a lot more force and will into compressing a high-level energy field that yearned to spread its wings! This was an incredibly difficult and exhausting process for that reason. It was as difficult as trying to compress a cubic meter of water in a container the size of a human thumb. This was normally impossible, so the only way to accomplish such an unreal feat was to break reality and distort the rules! "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The saint not only roared in pain and utter determination, but also played a faster and more energetic guitar tune at the same time! Despite the strange condition of his ace mech, it had never ceased to strum its Guitar-Battle-Axe! Ves could practically feel how much Saint Morgenstern was tearing himself apart as he forcibly tried to transform a fundamental part of himself. The Saint Kingdom of an ace pilot that had reached a resonance strength of 1545 laveres was the most difficult to compress out of all, yet that was exactly what he needed to do in order to complete a domain union! Only when his Saint Kingdom completely entered his ace mech would he be able to complete the second phase of the Mech Body Merger Process!