Ves felt burdened by the fact that the System was waiting for an answer to him. It was not as if it was exerting some sort of force on him, but he had the feeling that it would not be good for either of them if he postponed his decision for too long.

This was why he did not dare to take his time trying to make up his mind. Shortly after the System booted him back to his body, he rose to his feet and left his office.

As he headed towards the exit of the Royal Mansion, he formed a small but growing list of people that he wanted to consult.

Though it was easiest for him to seek out his wife, he instead opted to board his shuttle that brought him straight back into orbit under escort.

The reason for that was because the person he wanted to speak to was Calabast.

As the person who arguably knew the most about him, Calabast was a person that could speak frankly and honestly about sensitive matters.

It also helped that she was damned smart and a lot wiser than himself. He just knew that she would be able to navigate the abundance of choices with greater clarity and awareness.

His vehicle slowly arrived at the Blinding Banshee. Compared to a few years ago, the capital espionage vessel had undergone an extensive transformation.

The Larkinsons managed to upgrade almost every aspect of her construction and configuration in order to bring her up to the standards of the Red Ocean.

Her armor system and many key structural parts had been replaced with stronger and more resilient versions that could keep the ship together a lot better.

The clan also invested a lot in overhauling her sensor systems, scanner systems, analytical engines, ECM and ECCM systems.

What Ves was particularly happy about was the massive improvement to her short-ranged and long-ranged detection measures.

Huge investments in the Blinding Banshee’s sensors and scanners meant that hardly anything could sneak up to the expeditionary fleet without triggering a detection alarm!

Aside from these obvious changes, the Blinding Banshee also received a lot of other additions and upgrades that were much more confidential.

Ves did not pay a visit to the ship in order to discuss all of these changes, though.

As soon as he stepped onboard the ship, he headed straight to Calabast’s office. He knew the route quite well as he had visited her pretty regularly in the past few years.

Though he found it a bit inconvenient that he had to fly to orbit each time he wanted to hold a secure discussion with her, Calabast argued that she was best able to control the environment aboard her own ship.

He soon reached the entrance of her private domain and entered it without issue.

As the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan, no barrier within his fleet could stop his advance.

Of course, the Director of Intelligence was already awaiting his arrival.

“Ves. I must say that I did not expect you to visit me today.” The woman who hardly looked as if she had aged in the past few years spoke out as she turned away from the projected window. “As far as I am aware of, there are no new initiatives or unexpected surprises that could have prompted you to travel to my little ship in person.”

Ves smirked. “That’s because you don’t know everything. There are still ways to circumvent your surveillance. How are Cassie and Cleo, by the way?”

The dark-haired woman strode forward as her boots clacked against the tiles of the compartment. She moved over to a floating animal bed where an eight-legged creature was dozing off without a care in the cosmos.

She softly stroked Arnold’s back as her expression turned uncharacteristically gentle.

“Squeak.”

“Cassie has started to attend kindergarten, thankfully. Raising an energetic and eager daughter can be a handful, especially if she is a designer baby who develops faster than normal. I’m sure you have plenty of experience in this regard.”

“That’s what nannies such as Shannon are for. As much as I would like to spend all of my time with my family, our work never ends.”

Calabast sighed. “You are right on that account. I’ve dropped Cleo off at the Purnesses since they have plenty of retired people who are more than willing to babysit a bunch of brats.”

Calabast was a mother, not that she looked or acted like one most of the time.

Cassie and Cleo Purnesse-Larkinson were both designer babies that carried the DNA of both Calabast and Novilon Purnesse.

As the offspring of two high-ranking executives of the clan, they were almost just as prominent as Ves’ own kids!

Both of them spent a few minutes on exchanging their woes as parents before Ves was ready to address his actual purpose.

“Can we talk?” Ves asked.

“Sure. Let’s move to a more secure chamber if you think that is necessary.”

The two along with Lucky and Arnold moved to the center of the Blinding Banshee where the Larkinsons had recently set up a ultra-secure meeting chamber.

Surrounded by 20 meters of thick and signal-inhibiting alloys on all sides, the modestly-sized compartment was most definitely the most secure place to hold a confidential discussion!

One of the purposes behind its construction was the need to create an absolute safe space where Ves could hold talks that would not get leaked to the MTA.

Therefore, all of the solid alloys were only a part of the measures to prevent eavesdropping!

Ves had personally designed and built all kinds of jammers and other pieces of tech that scrambled any attempts to monitor what went on inside the space. He did not dare to utilize any preexisting components or devices for fear that they were compromised by the MTA.

Although Ves could not guarantee that all of these measures were enough to stop the MTA from penetrating through all of these security measures, it at least minimized the chances as much as possible.

After completely closing off the space and activating every interference measure, both Ves and Calabast felt a lot less comfortable than before.

It was as if their entire bodies were being massaged by energy waves.

“Meow!”

“Squeak!”

Their pets were suffering quite a bit as well, but no one cared about their wellbeing at the moment.

Calabast turned to Ves while crossing her arms. “Alright, Ves. We’re here now. Talk.”

“I don’t exactly know how to say this, but I will try my best to describe my situation.”

He did not use too much obfuscation to describe the System’s return and its presentation of different upgrade paths.

Though he did not explain everything that he had on his mind, he provided enough information for Calabast to understand the gist of his problematic position.

She did not rush to supply her views on the matter. More than a dozen seconds passed by before he opened her mouth.

“My first impression of your situation is that you are way more fortunate than almost every other person in human space. Who can boast of receiving unprecedented opportunities from a piece of the actual Metal Scroll? You are truly blessed to be one of the few Holy Sons in existence. Trillions of people would literally go out to kill you if they can gain access to just one of those upgrade paths that you have mentioned. Now that you are in a position to pick any of them as you would like, your response is not to jump with joy, but instead you agonize over your inability to make a selection.”

Ves frowned. “Don’t you realize how serious this is, Calabast?”

“I do, but that doesn’t mean you should put too much weight on this matter. None of the choices sound bad, to be honest. They merely lead to different beneficial outcomes. Let me put this in a different way. No matter what you do, you will win a prize. One prize may be more valuable than the other, but you will get ahead in life no matter where your decision lands. I don’t think you need to quibble too much about lost opportunities or failing to maximize your profit when you stand to obtain power beyond any reason. I mean, who heard of a Journeyman who is able to become an expert mech who can pilot his own mech? You stand to be the first person to turn this possibility into a reality!”

Ves snorted. “Do I look like a combat junkie who is eager to hop into a cockpit and beat up our opponents with a mech? Let’s leave the violence to those that are more suited for the job.”

“Looks like you have already ruled out a few options.”

“Yes. I don’t think it is a good use of my time to become a super soldier or a mech pilot.”

“I would have chosen differently if I were in your shoes, but then again I am not a mech designer.” Calabast replied. “You have made a wise decision. However, the thing about wise decisions is that they are not always the correct ones. Perhaps the reality of your situation is actually different from what you think, which means that a good decision might actually turn out to be bad.”

“What is your point, Calabast?”

“My point is that there may come a time where you regret turning away from an opportunity to strengthen yourself. You might not be aware of this, but many smart people predict that the current age of peace and prosperity will not last forever. There is a limit to how extensively we can maintain the status quo without frustrating powerful interest groups. Whether it is the first-rate superstates, the CFA or the many alien empires that will make the first move to tear down the current order, it is practically inevitable that all of our comfortable lives will soon be a relic of the past.”

Ves had heard these kinds of remarks from many different people at many different times over the years.

A part of him felt that these fellows were wildly exaggerating the flaws and faultlines of human civilization. Humanity had managed to attain an unprecedented degree of peace and prosperity in the last four centuries. How hard would it be to proceed like this for another handful of centuries?

Another part of him recognized that if so many smart people like Shederin and Professor Benedict predicted that a calamity would take place in the not-so-distant future, perhaps he should take all of these experts seriously!

Ves’ expression grew heavy. “So you think it is better to prepare for the worst?”

“That would be my recommendation.” She nodded and replied. “From my point of view, the two strategies that you have outlined amount to two different outcomes. The first outcome is that you can win harder at something that you are already good at. The second outcome is that you can limit the damage that you suffer if you are ever in a situation where you have suffered a loss. In fact, if you possess enough strength, you can reverse defeats and victories, thereby saving your hide and everything you worked for. Isn’t that more precious than everything else in your life?”

“So you’re telling me that I should go for Mech Pilot Cultivation?”

“Not necessarily, Ves. I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to dismiss the other two self-defense options as well as the other ones that allow you to build up your own defensive measures. They both have their uses, and I can easily see how they can be useful in different scenarios. One of the biggest factors that might influence your decision is whether you want to commit more to mechs.”

“What do you mean by that, exactly?”

Calabast grinned. “Tell me, Ves. Do you think mechs will last forever? Will they remain strong enough for you to continue to rely on them, or will they be phased out by other, more superior weapons in the future?”

“That…”

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