Chapter 6758 A Fair Deal

Ves did not possess an overwhelming need to acquire a derived World Tree Seed.

However, he thought that it was better if his clan had one in its possession than not. Who knew when it could be useful one day.

World Tree Seeds were probably especially useful if his clan ever embarked on a deep strike expedition.

Ves was not sure anymore whether red humanity could even pull off the Deep Strike Plan at this stage, but as long as there was an opportunity to go on an attack, the Larkinsons could attain drastically more results with the help of this special seed.

Aside from that, if the worst outcome ever took place, then Ves might have an urgent need for a biological superweapon that could quickly terraform a planet to make it liveable for lots of human refugees.

He would first have to find a safe haven that was out of the reach of the native aliens, but he could tackle that problem at a later date. It was not necessary for him to have everything ready the moment he gained possession over the World Tree Seed.

Since Ves did not consider the World Tree Seed a must-have item, he bargained hard for this strategic weapon. He was well aware that a second-generation seed did not come close to the value of a first-generation seed, so he was determined not to get scammed.

In comparison to his relaxed stance towards the World Tree Seed, the Devos Ancient. Clan was a lot more eager to conduct a large trade.

The Devosans and the rest of the Terrans were eager to learn the more sophisticated design applications in the field of living mechs.

The product category originally invented by Ves had gained immense strategic value. By definition, all Carmine mechs were living mechs. It was impossible to form a Blood Pact with a lifeless mech.

The Terrans had even greater reasons to value living mechs because of their inherent synergies with World Trees and other Terran biotechnology applications.

As for superdimensional material, Master Laila Rebecca Devos was desperate to obtain as much of it as possible.

Though Ves had generously agreed to donate a luxurious batch of structure-grade and hull-grade superdimensional matter to her, this would only allow her to conduct research.

A mech designer did not progress by engaging in science. It was only when a mech designer applied his existing understanding of the arts and sciences that he conformed to the expectations and obligations of his profession!

If Master Laila Devos wanted to make serious progress in advancing her design philosophy, she needed to design and produce tangible superdimensional mechs. She could not do that unless she obtained a lot of tons of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional matter!

To her credit, Master Laila had been incredibly transparent about her lack of progress and her hopes that superdimensional matter would allow her to design the nearly perfectly miniaturized mechs of her dreams.

On this matter, the two sides were on complete opposite ends.

Master Laila wanted to gain a massive amount of high-grade superdimensional

matter.

Ves did not want to cripple his own clan's utilization of superdimensional matter. If he truly had to make a choice between adding superdimensional mechs to the mech roster or acquiring a derived World Tree Seed, Ves would always pick the former over the latter!

The shrewd Terran Master clearly managed to deduce that from Ves and adapted her negotiating strategy accordingly.

Eventually, the two sides found a middle ground that was somewhat acceptable to both sides. The two reluctantly shook hands.

"It's a deal, then." Ves said. "Whenever our clan harvests armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional matter, you will get 50 percent of our haul. This division will continue until you have enough to produce 6 standard-sized superdimensional mechs. On top of that, I will teach you how to design more advanced living mechs. At the very least, I will give you my textbooks, articles and notes on how to design second order living mechs as well as the fundamental theories related to Carmine mechs and the Carmine System."

"That is correct, but do not forget that you must fulfill the superdimensional matter quotas within 2 years. If you exceed this time limit, you must pay a sizable penalty."

"I remember," Ves tersely replied. "In exchange for all of that, you will hand over a second generation World Tree Seed in my possession by the end of this week along with all of the knowledge required to make use of it. Your clan must also provide supervision and scientific support to us when we attempt to modify or upgrade the seed."

Their deal actually encompassed a lot more clauses, but they were relatively minor details that could easily be hashed out by their lawyers.

Ves let out a deep breath. "The mechers and the fleeters will be pissed. They never approved of third parties and private individuals getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction."

risk a breach in their relationship with you over violating a single taboo. They depend too much on your works to defend their outdated principles. Aside from that, have you forgotten about your identity as the chief councilor of the Upper Council of the Red Collective? You are a collie, Ves. That means that it is legal for you to own your own superweapons as long as the RC gives you permission. This should not be a difficult. task for a man who has amassed as much clout as you in recent years."

"The Red Collective is a big mess, and you know." Ves retorted. "It is not even close to matching the cohesion of the Red Association and the Red Fleet."

"In this stage of the Red War, you are hardly the only private party that has discreetly acquired superweapons. Many individuals are beginning to fear the worst. A superweapon may not be able to preserve their homes, but they can still be used to deter the native aliens from persisting in their pursuits. The prohibition against superweapons that the mechers and the fleeters have upheld for over four centuries has become unenforceable. As long as they are faltering in their attempts to hold back the native alien invasion, they are losing their legitimacy. More and more 'space peasants' are waking up to the fact that the RA and RF cannot be relied upon. The only

Ves pressed his lips. "Don't think I am unaware of what you are trying to do. I already mentioned it before. You are trying to drag me onto your pirate ship. By turning my clan into a power that holds a superweapon, it has become much more aligned with the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact. As more and more groups break off from the taboos imposed by the original Big Two, we are sliding more and more into warlordism."

Master Laila Devos leaned back while smiling in satisfaction. "And you are allowing yourself and your clan to get pulled into our ploy. That indicates that you do not possess enough faith or trust in the mechers and the fleeters. Otherwise, you would not have made a decision that is certain to alienate and distance yourself from them. Even if you are able to maintain cordial relations with them, they will still remember

this slight."

The Terran Master was very much correct about that. Ves actually saw this as a good opportunity to make a strategic realignment.

The Larkinson Clan had become too close to the Red Association. This did not fit his

desire to maintain his independence.

If he wanted to Red Association to treat him and his clan as friends rather than vassals, then Ves needed to cozy up to other major powers and prove that he could

gain assistance elsewhere.

The deal that he just concluded with the Devos Ancient Clan should make it abundantly clear that Ves had no intention of becoming a sycophant of the Red

Association!

That did not mean he wanted to cozy up to the Terran Alliance Ves needed to

carefully balance his relations with all of the major powers in order to maintain his independence.

He stood up and made a short bow towards the Master.

"Thank you for all of the words of wisdom that you have given to me today. I need to go back and explain my decision to trade away a huge amount of superdimensional

matter to my wife."

"Goodbye. I shall be in contact the moment we are ready to transfer the derived World

Tree Seed,"

Later that day, Ves briefly summarized his new deal with the Devos Ancient Clan. Just as predicted, his wife was none too happy with this commitment. "Why do we need a superweapon?! Are you that insecure about our safety? If you

wanted to obtain a weapon of mass destruction so badly, why did you accept the first proposal offered by the Terrans? You should have set aside this ridiculous World Tree and obtained a forbidden solution that is actually effective in space!"

"Gloriana, the value of this World Tree Seed is higher than that of other superweapons.I admit that it is impractical to use in space, but it can create a lot of stuff for us if we plant it on a resource-rich planet. It is a weapon as well as a terraforming machine and production plant rolled into a single organic entity. I have a feeling that there may come a time where we will all be grateful for the capabilities bestowed by this seed."

His wife scowled. "You were played, Ves! The Terrans understand you so well that they

exploited your impulses to conduct a dubious trade. They only had to dangle a single shiny superweapon in front of your nose, and before you knew it, you traded away enough superdimensional matter to build 6 whole superdimensional mechs! SIX! Do you understand how many expert mechs and ace mechs we could have turned into nigh-unbreakable masterworks with that many tons of superdimensional matter?! You did not even consult me before you agreed to the contract in principle!" Ves rolled his eyes. "I do not answer to you, Gloriana. This is a fair deal considering what a World Tree Seed can do. We just need to make good use of it in the next few years. I am not too worried about fulfilling the most critical obligations. The next time Ketis opens up a portal to the Blue Dimension, our clan will be ready this time. I have already tasked the relevant departments of our clan to stockpile mining shuttles, mining demimechs and other relevant gear. Our personnel are also undergoing training to learn how to operate this mining equipment as effectively as possible. I estimate that we can easily triple or quadruple our harvest of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional matter next time. We can even get away with more if Ketis has found a region that corresponds to a location in the Blue Dimension that is more saturated with solid matter."

He knew that the mechers and fleeters had already started to figure out how to

conduct surveys in the 365th dimension.

If they were good enough, then Ves and Ketis might be able to ignore the existence of

the Dimension Telescope and its expensive upgrades!

They could completely rely on the scouting conducted by the scientists of the Red

Two to open up dimension breaches to dimensional locations that were rich in superdimensional matter or other materials!

The Terrans had conducted a trade based on the assumption that the harvest of armor-grade and weapon-grade superdimensional ore would only undergo a moderate increase in subsequent runs.

Ves did not believe that the yield would remain so low.

He believed that his clan would definitely be able to obtain a lot more

superdimensional matter at a time!

Master Laila Devos would have her precious superdimensional matter sooner rather

than later.

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