The Mech Touch

Chapter 7189: An Accidental Discovery

What the Divine Harpoon asked from him was a bit much.

It was like asking the Oscillating Fist to hand over the secret to how he was able to shake internal organs apart whenever he punched another phase lord!

Demanding to learn another person’s trade secrets was taboo in both the mech industry and many other fields!

Yet… it was undeniable that letting the Ascended Giants master and make extensive use of the Sacrificial Spear Throwing Method would undoubtedly benefit them a lot.

This was a special means for phase lords to inflict massive damage by throwing the cultivation equivalent of an explosive munition.

While Ves could argue that the Ascended Giants could attain similar effects by carrying missile launchers into battle, the damage potential of most missiles at this scale would not be able to match the potency of a good-quality sacrificial spear.

“Your request is problematic.” Ves answered through Blinky as the silence dragged on for a bit. “You should be aware that the method to make this happen is anything but unusual. One of its traits is that it is hard to detect any object that is built to produce a powerful blast. If our secret method gets leaked… not only will random people be able to throw initially unassuming stuff around that can breach the hull of starships or cause a space station to rupture from the inside.”

The Divine Harpoon acknowledged the potential for damage that this action could precipitate.

“The fact that you are concerned about such matters is proof that you care to a certain extent. What I am asking for you is indeed a serious demand, but that is the best way for us to ascertain whether you are sincere about assuming stewardship over the Ascended Giants. You should understand that sharing your remarkable method of throwing exploding spears can do much more good if you share it to all Ascended Giants. We will not force you to do so, but choosing to keep it to yourself will send a different message to the men and women you hope to lead.”

That did not sound good.

It became clear to Ves that the shrewd strategos of the Faceless Giants intended to put the challenger on the spot.

Many Ascended Giants had indeed taken a liking for his 35-AP spear throwing method.

It might not be worth that much in absolute terms, but it was practically perfect for the Ascended Giants!

They were able to reach more and more exaggerated proportions as they made more attainments in phase lord body cultivation.

This would allow them to wield increasingly larger and more destructive spears.

Even if they were made out of cheaper alloys in order to save on costs, the spear could still produce a powerful enough explosion as long as its volume was large enough!

The potency of the Sacrificial Spear Throwing Method would only grow higher in the future.

Lesser phase lords were only able to scale up so much.

Greate phase lords reached much more exaggerated proportions. They were already able to approach the size of small to medium-sized moons.

When they were large enough to generate their own gravity wells, what would happen if they launched massive sacrificial spears at a planet?

The globe would definitely suffer an extinction event!

Of course, the cost and effort needed to construct even a single massive spear was prohibitive.

Ves doubted that there was any production facility in the Red Ocean that could fully mass produce such an insane product.

He threw aside such unrealistic notions. There was no need to entertain such ridiculous thoughts to realize the greater value of the Sacrificial Spear Throwing Method.

“What do you think?” Ves privately asked his alter ego.

“Do it.” The Dark Apostle straightforwardly said. “I don’t like to share my toys, but… if I have to choose between keeping the Sacrificial Spear Throwing Method to myself and winning over the Ascended Giants, I would choose the latter every time. There is no comparison between the two. So what if others will be able to throw exploding spears? Hyper technology and E-technology is never exclusive to us. From the moment we showed off what was possible, the Red Cabal and all of the other powers have probably started their own research groups dedicated towards replicating what we have done. Sacrificial spears aren’t as difficult to replicate as living mechs, so they will succeed sooner or later.”

He made a good point. Ves also took into account that since the Mech Designer System was able to provide a copy of the Sacrificial Spear Throwing Method, other copies may be available elsewhere. Ves was not stupid enough to believe that he obtained the only copy.

“Very well. Since this is the case, I will allow you to make the trade. It is a pity to give up exclusivity on this method so soon, but it may be for the best. Just think of how much more powerful the Ascended Giants will be once they all carry around the same exploding spears. This will be an expensive arms program, but the results will speak for themselves.”

The other Ascended Giants shouldn’t be able to produce explosions as powerful as the one that trounced the Unshakeable King.

The spear that Ves sacrificed was not only comprised of lots of high-grade fire hypers and other expensive materials, but had also turned into a D-arm.

There was no feasible way for Ves to hand over such D-arms to his Ascended Giants en masse.

Fortunately, the scale of these weapons were fairly small. Most of the Ascended Giants had not made that much progress in their body cultivation, but that would change over time.

Once they became as tall as biological juggernauts, any spear they threw should be able to strip the spatial barriers of most lesser phase lords upon impact!

Not that this would be strictly necessary. Ves already formulated plans to equip the Ascended Giants with superdimensional arms.

This was a massive expenditure that the Larkinson Clan would have to cover, but the gains should be more than satisfactory.

A troop of Ascended Giants in full superdimensional gear should be able to defeat most native alien fleets, even the ones led by greater phase lords!

The Dark Apostle eventually voiced his response to the Divine Harpoon.

“I accept your proposition, but only if I assume leadership over the Oscillating Fist. I am confident in my ability to win this leadership challenge, but I will not tolerate any scams. I think that the rest of red humanity will not rest easily if you have gained the capacity to throw around these dangerous spears unless you answer to a man they can trust like myself. Do we have an understanding?”

The Divine Harpoon remained still for a moment before nodding.

“Yes. I would like to thank you in advance for making this contribution. The Ascending Giants are too new, and we have yet to fully flesh out our own unique martial traditions. Your contribution will accelerate this development and define our approach towards combat in the years to come.”

The mood between the two had eased. Neither Ves nor the Dark Apostle sensed any hostility from the Divine Harpoon. From the moment they struck the deal, the strategos of the Faceless Giants had effectively defected to his side.

That meant that this was the point where Ves and the Dark Apostle had ‘conquered’ the leaders of all three phalanxes of the Ascended Giants!

In other words, the Phase Lord Department was already in their pocket!

Of course, the ritual still had to run its course. The leadership challenge could not be aborted ahead of time unless Ves and the Dark Apostle abandoned their attempt.

The two human phase lords began to back off from each other.

They moved far away enough so that both of them still remained in comfortable throwing distance while still giving each other enough time to make split-second reactions after one of them threw their arms.

“Let me go first as I have brought more throwing weapons than you.” The Divine Harpoon said as he retrieved one of his bone-white harpoons from his back. “Do you know that my harpoons are made of fortified phase whale bones?”

“I already suspected that given their white exterior.”

“To be honest, I could have chosen to commission harpoons that are made out of stronger non-organic alloys.” The strategos said as he slowly began to adopt a thrower’s stance. “Do you know why I favor these bones even if they are arguably inferior in toughness, flexibility and other parameters?”

Neither Ves nor the Dark Apostle could come up with a good explanation.

“No…”

The Divine Harpoon finally displayed the first inkling of passion. “Well, you are in for a treat, because this is the first time I have taken the initiative to reveal this discovery. Since you have generously decided to share your exploding spear method, I shall make my own contribution. I originally commissioned these harpoons because I thought it is only fitting to hunt down phase whales with their own bones. It is only after I have practiced with them day and night that I have made an accidental discovery. If you have become so familiar with a weapon made out of the bones of a phase whale, you can form a deeper connection to it, if only briefly at first.”

That sounded interesting.

“You may be thinking why this is important. The more I have been able to connect with a phase whale bone harpoon, the more I am able to treat it as an extension of myself. Literally. Do you understand what this means?”

The Dark Apostle did not immediately get it, but Ves was different.

“Are you claiming that you can apply spatial abilities to it that normally limit themselves to affecting your true body?!”

“Yes. That is exactly right.” The Divine Harpoon smiled. “Think of the implications. Phasewater organs that grant us the power to increase our mass and density, allow us to warp or teleport elsewhere, make us tougher and generate a warp bubble around us can all be applied to my harpoons so long as I am able to ‘align’ with them if I may use my own terminology. In the past few months, I have quietly worked to develop and master the exploitation of this new phenomenon. While I do not think I have completed my work, I have made enough progress to demonstrate the power of Phase Whale Bone Alignment Technique in front of a wider audience for the first time.”

Great. That meant that the Dark Apostle would also be the first phase lord to enjoy the ‘privilege’ of serving as the target dummy for this demonstration!

Sure enough. The Divine Harpoon would not let Ves and the Dark Apostle take over the Phase Lord Department so easily.

At least this spectacle gave him the excuse to explain his new technique to the challenger beforehand.

It would have been a lot less pleasant to be subjected to his special attack without knowing anything in advance!

The Dark Apostle already shifted into a defensive stance. He took the Divine Harpoon’s impending attack extremely seriously, especially given what he heard.

“Ves.” He said over his private connection with the original occupant of his true body.

“I know. If these thrown harpoons threaten to pierce through all of your defenses and impale our true body, I will help you channel our Worclaw energy to prevent them from going any further.”

This might not be as effective as it sounded. Ves lacked practice in manipulating Worclaw energy, and he had a feeling that it was not supposed to be used this way.

At the very least, he would have to expend a significant amount of Worclaw energy to produce a positive result.

It shouldn’t be necessary to resort to this emergency measure right away.

The Dark Apostle could rely on multiple layers of defense. His spatial barrier was fully active, and so was the relatively weak but serviceable azure energy shield produced by his raiment.

If these energy defenses were not enough to block an incoming harpoon, then the unimaginably named Dark Shield and Dark Bulwark should be able to withstand the remaining force.

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