Ves had the impression that the Caskar Pike design was a wolf in sheep's clothing. It adopted a simple mech concept, but it probably hid a lot more nuances under its hood.

For this reason, Ves spent an entire hour studying the design schematics in greater detail.

In the past, whenever Ves attempted to study the work of a high-ranking mech designer, he faced a significant amount of danger. When he was an Apprentice, his design philosophy was still in a nascent state, which meant it was highly malleable.

While this malleability allowed Ves to constantly adjust and improve his design philosophy, it also made it vulnerable to outside influence!

Before, the Skull Architect deliberately tortured Ves by exposing him to designs and information that threatened his design philosophy.

If Ves did not possess a stronger-than-average Spirituality, then he might have succumbed to outside influence.

"Fortunately, that didn't happen."

He knew his limits and properly paced his information intake.

Now that Ves once again came in touch with the Skull Architect's work, he found that he didn't have to bother with those precautions anymore.

His design seed solidified his design philosophy, making it much more resistant against outside influence. While that didn't guarantee that Ves was immune to very strong attacks against his design philosophy, at the very least he could face the work of a Senior without fearing contamination.

"No wonder the Skull Architect placed higher expectations on me. He knows exactly how much better my design abilities have become now that I'm a Journeyman."

Even though he was no longer an Apprentice, Ves still failed to figure out the secret behind the Caskar Pike. He spent a lot of time in trying to study the abstruse portions of the spaceborn missileer's design, but other than enduring a moderate amount of strain, he did not notice anything problematic.

Ves set aside the design. "I have plenty of time to tackle this problem. Right now, I've just returned. I'm in no mood to work on a mech design right now."

He stowed away the data chip into his toolbelt before returning his System comm back into his Inventory.

"What a convenient function." He sighed in admiration. "It should have come with this ability from the start."

Once he returned everything to normal and tidied up his desk, Ves nursed his head for a moment.

"Ugh. I'm still suffering from my earlier loss."

The main reason why he wasn't in a mood to work on a mech design was because of his depleted spiritual energy. He expended way too much of his reserves when he attempted to fuse his mind with Ylvaine's spiritual fragment and supercharged its aura.

Although his mind would eventually replenish what he lost, Ves expected that it would take months for his spiritual energy levels to return to its former glory.

Now, Ves constantly suffered from the illusion that his mind was empty. Although he could still work on a mech design, he couldn't summon any of his usual passion and vigor towards his craft.

"It's like I'm suffering from the mech designer's equivalent of a writer's block!"

Although Ves did not have any ongoing design projects on his plate right now, he did not wish to remain in this listless state while he tackled the Skull Architect's designs.

"I need to recharge my tank somehow. There should be a way to accelerate my recovery."

Ves folded his fingers into each other as he considered how he could accomplish something unheard of like this. He knew that spiritual energy was quite valuable and hard to come by.

His excursions into the imaginary realm and his exposure to the holy relics of the Ylvaine Protectorate provided him with two possible avenues to plunder spiritual energy.

"Yet it's never simple as that."

Spiritual energy came in many different attributes. Ves didn't know what his own attribute was, but it was probably related to mechs.

Ves had no way of knowing if his spiritual energy encompassed mechs in their entirety or a specific type of mechs. Perhaps his spiritual energy attribute was wholly unique to his mind and his design philosophy.

If this was the case, then it was impossible for Ves to replenish his spiritual energy from other sources without converting their attributes.

Not even Qilanxo's spiritual fragment attempted this conversion process! This showcased how difficult it was to accomplish such a thing!

In any case, Ves did not even know if it was safe or wise to resort to external sources in the fist place. While he witnessed the likes of Eloise Pelican and Jannzi Larkinson breaking past their limits with the help of an external boost, the side effects were quite severe!

At least in the case of Jannzi, her mindscape had been forcefully expanded to the point where some holes opened up that caused her to leak out her force of will!

Right now, Ves didn't know how much she recovered during the months she advanced to expert candidate. Because of her enlistment into the Apocalypse Heralds, Ves couldn't call her up or request her current status.

"Well, I haven't received any alarming notifications so her recovery is probably going smoothly."

Considering that Jannzi was likely okay, Ves figured that it was an acceptable risk for him to supplement his spiritual energy with an external source

The question was where he should get it. The most straightforward source would be to plunder the mind of another mech designer, but Ves had attempted it before. What if his target found out? What if he encountered fierce defenses?

"I shouldn't underestimate mech designers. They're equivalent to expert pilots."

While they were completely different in many ways, on a spiritual level they possessed an equivalent amount of strength. It was just that their professions caused them to diverge in their application of spirituality.

On a basic level, a Journeyman like Ves possessed a very solid and concentrated design seed which was very difficult to crack. Surrounding that was a thin cloud of loose spiritual energy.

Ves was very short of the latter right now. Although it didn't appear to be as important as the design seed, their absence really hampered his enthusiasm to design a mech!

On the surface, this model indicated that it shouldn't be too difficult to steal some portions of this loose spiritual energy in the mind of another mech designer.

Yet Ves suspected that the mind of a mech designer will surely offer a lot of resistance.

The primary reason why he thought so was because he felt the design seed was a lot more complex than he thought. It was like a sleeping giant that mostly kept to itself but roused when something intruded into its domain.

"Maybe I should take the safer option instead."

Rather than intruding in the mind of a mech designer, Ves would rather plunder an inanimate source instead.

Yet that brought forth its own issues. Where could he find the equivalent of a holy relic that incited people to revere a mech designer instead of some holy figure?

After a bit of thinking, Ves suddenly made an important realization.

"This is the Age of Mechs! Most people today worship mechs!"

Ves thought back to when he visited the mech museums and exhibition halls in Bentheim. The noteworthy mechs on display in these prestigious venues attracted billions of visitors every year!

Even if the visitors were predominantly Brighters who didn't believe in a higher existence, they were still very religious when it came to mechs!

"Some mechs inspire their own worship! They're that amazing!"

What was even better was that Ves happened to excel in this area! Each new mech grew stronger and stronger in their ability to inspire worship and admiration from the public. While this effect had grown to the point of attracting a lot of scrutiny and suspicion, it was undeniable that Ves would have no difficulty in attracting countless worshippers!

"Pff!" Ves suddenly shook his head. "Why am I suddenly imagining myself as a cult leader?!"

It took hundreds of years for devout Ylvainans to build up a significant amount of spiritual accumulation to a holy relic that was tied to the great prophet himself.

Ves could not expect any of his mechs, including the copies of his astounding Aurora Titan and Transcendent Messenger designs, to match this degree of accumulation in a couple of months or years.

Most people did not possess anything but a microscopic amount of spirituality, and only a fraction of that passed on to the object they worshipped.

This meant that Ves could not rely on his own mechs to plunder their spiritual accumulation to replenish his own shortfall.

"Still, knowing this is useful for the long term."

For now, Ves would have to rely on older mechs designed by other mech designers as a potential source of replenishment.

There were plenty of impressive and historically-significant mechs on display throughout human space. Ves merely had to take a trip to Bentheim to view hundreds of them. Yet did their spiritual accumulation really match his own attribute?

"I don't have enough information. I can only try and see if it works."

Ves decided to plan a trip to Bentheim after he celebrated his birthday on Cloudy Curtain. It would be his first stop to the Centerpoint System which was home to the sector headquarters of the MTA.

For now, Ves set aside any further speculation. He had worked long enough and didn't enjoy a single rest since he returned to Cloudy Curtain.

Once he took a good night's rest, he woke up the next morning and felt a bit more refreshed.

Leland, who had kept his head down throughout the entire business trip, suddenly requested a meeting with Ves in the morning.

They met in his office.

"Leland." Ves said with a mild tone of voice. "What can I do for my favorite spy?"

While Leland hadn't particularly made himself useful during their stay on Kesseling VIII, that was mostly because Flashlight held little sway there.

Now that they returned to the Bright Republic, Leland possessed a much more confident air around him. This was his old stomping ground!

Leland activated his signal jammer.

"I've reported back to Flashlight on the events that took place on Kesseling VIII. They've already been following the news reports from the Protectorate, so they have a good idea on what has happened."

"Of course." Ves pressed his lips in a thin smile. "What do they want? If they expect me to take over the Ylvaine Protectorate by abusing my status as the Bright Martyr, then they should really get their heads checked."

"We do not harbor any such intentions." Leland innocently replied. "We merely believe it may further both our interests if you keep developing a close relationship with the Ylvaine Protectorate. As you know, the Bright Republic always ignored this state in favor of concentrating most of our attention to the hostile Vesians."

Ves nodded. "Now, that's in the process of changing. The Ylvaine Protectorate is slowly opening itself up to the rest of the galaxy, and as its neighbor the Bright Republic can ill afford to ignore them any longer."

"I'm glad you understand, Ves. Considering your unique connection to the Protectorate, we would like you to continue to cultivate your ties to the state and especially Madame Cecily Curin. She's a remarkably friendly and open-minded Ylvainan. Flashlight believes that she can be an invaluable partner for our attempts to cultivate a positive relationship between our two states."

"I think you shouldn't focus too much on Madame Cecily." Ves tried to suppress the ridicule threatening to engulf his face. "Neither of us are diplomats. We're merely business partners."

"Fostering greater trade between our two states is a high priority to the Bright Republic. I'm sure you can assist us in facilitating larger business deals through your connection with Madame Cecily. Her jurisdiction covers the entire Ylvainan mech market, after all."

Leland's insistence on this matter told Ves that Flashlight and the government cared a lot about this. Perhaps the Tovars directly issued instructions on this matter.

"Let's just say I'll do what I can, but don't expect much of me. You're better off approaching the the Ylvaine Protectly directly than rely on a backdoor." Ves sighed in exasperation.

He was just a mech designer. Since when did he turn into a diplomat and a dealmaker?

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