The Mech Touch

Chapter 7200: Krytak Seashells

Intellectually, Ves understood what his ‘mother’ tried to convey.

Ves still thought like a mortal. He treated every personality as a separate individual. This was a common sense response towards this phenomenon.

His ‘mother’ clearly had a more… open-minded perspective on the matter.

She still loved him… but she also loved the Dark Apostle.

Even if the latter had become indoctrinated by the heavenly authority of the Red Ocean and thought of himself as an Ascended Giant, this was a trivial issue to a True God.

This was one of the reasons why he did not like to interact too often with his mother.

Not only did she admonish him and criticize him all of the time, she also had a tendency to impose her weird ideas on him. She was a woman who was fundamentally disconnected from modern human civilization, and she never attempted to correct this problem.

Instead, she was much more likely to force everyone around her to conform to her own views!

She certainly had the capital to do so considering that she was a True God. The strong devoured the weak, and between the two of them, Ves was definitely the weaker party at the moment!

Ves tried his best to shove his identity problem aside. He could only process so many subversive ideas at a time. There was a time and place for him to sort out what he learned, and that time was not today.

“I did not summon you here to consult you on my current condition.” Ves said. “I called you here because I want to borrow your power to fuel our next attack. The Dark Apostle and I are currently locked in a life-and-death match against the human phase lord over there. He has already managed to tank one of my special attacks. I only have one high explosive blast lance left, but I am not confident I can breach his special armor.”

The subjective time slowing effect was still in force, which meant that Ves and his other self could afford to spend the time to have a proper discussion with their mother.

He was grateful for that. The gravity of the situation became a lot less severe. Even if his mother said no and refused to intervene, the additional time gave him enough opportunities to devise an emergency solution or two. He would not be proud for resorting to less honorable tricks, but victory mattered more than anything else.

He still desired his mother’s aid in this situation. She could almost certainly handle this problem a lot better if she was willing to exercise her power.

Naturally, she could not stop herself from admonishing him again.

“Reckless fools. Both of you have proven to be just as mule-headed as your father. Is it not too much to ask for you to reject a duel against an adversary that is obviously superior? Your pride may take a blow, but that is better than losing your lives. Having good judgment and eyesight is an essential survival skill. You only need one mistake to forfeit your life. Having the courage to accept shame is another skill. There are many times in your life where you must admit defeat despite your unwillingness to do so. A survivor is an individual who can recognize reality and accept dishonor before death. Your society idolizes those who do the opposite, but when do others have a right to pass judgment on you? You should have abided by your logic over your pride.”

Both Ves and the Dark Apostle felt like bowing their heads in shame and disappointed.

She was completely right. The more prudent decision would have been to reject the fourth duel and rely on the Red Collective to suppress the Oscillating Fist.

Even if doing so would cause them to lose the respect of the Ascended Giants and cause a small portion of their number to defect to the Red Cabal, at least Ves and his alter ego escaped a fight that would lead to their deaths if they proved inferior.

There was no real need for them to put their lives on the line.

“I have learned my lesson, mother. I shall do better next time. I cannot unmake my last decision, so both of us are in big trouble at the moment. Can you help us deal with the current situation?”

His mother sighed.

“I shall do so this time. You are right to enlist my aid. Children like you are prone to making mistakes from time to time. As a parent yourself, you should know that it is better for you to suffer the consequences of them so that you will learn better and act more cautiously next time. However, your current situation does not allow you to do so. I recognize the outer material that your adversary uses to protect himself. He has great taste… and great connections. Not anyone can gather so many pieces of Krytak Class A Seashells and build a suit out of it that grants full coverage.”

Ves reacted with surprise when she was able to name the mysterious shells that formed the scales of the Oscillating Fist’s raiment.

“You recognize them? What are Krytak Class A Seashells?”

The Superior Mother smirked.

“It is an organic material harvested from the old galaxy. I believe that the MTA has classified it as a super-class material. From what I know, these shells come from exomollusks that have evolved from a peculiar planet located in the galactic center. Due to exposure to a high number of toxic materials, deathly radiation and more unusual energies, a small number of organisms have evolved to convert the local exotics and radiation to grow a special substance that eventually takes the form of these unusually resistant seashells.”

That did not sound like a particularly unique story. There were many instances where humans stumbled upon an untamed planet and discovered many wild evolutions and adaptations that presented solutions that were far superior to anything they could reproduce with their current masteries in technology.

Nature was just as good as an engineer if not better than intelligent races.

It certainly had a lot more time to do its job, which ultimately led to galaxies filled with all kinds of biological bounties just waiting to be discovered.

“The mechers have come to discover their value first and have taken direct control over the planet in order to erect a sustainable harvesting operation.” His mother continued. “Most of the seashells do not reach the quality of the shells used by your current opponent. They are categorized as Class C and Class B seashells. Only a tiny fraction are lucky enough to receive the superior label of Class A. These are the most perfect and flawless specimens that tick every box on the list. The protection they offer in their raw stat is unsurpassed. They are true treasures of the old galaxy.”

“I… see.” Ves said with a bit of awe. “So this guy managed to obtain all of these seashells from the mechers? Do they have a lot of these shells on hand?”

The Superior Mother shook her head. “I cannot say too much about their availability, but I have always considered Krytak Class A Seashells to be a rare product. It is inconceivable how the Oscillating Fist managed to gather enough bargaining chips to exchange for so many shells. The MTA normally reserves them for the construction of some of their most powerful true mechs.”

Now that was a phrase that Ves had not heard in a long time. He almost forgot that these kinds of mechs even existed in the first place seeing how rarely the Red Association deployed them in the field.

Granted, neither the native aliens nor the mutated voribugs made use of powers that warranted the deployment of true mechs. Ordinary mechs already sufficed.

“I see. If it is a highly desirable material to use in the construction of true mechs, then I fear that it is highly resistant to extraordinary effects, am I correct?”

“Good deduction. You are correct. Even I cannot easily overcome the properties of Krytak Class A Seashells. It is possible to rely on brute force to overcome their resistance, but you lack the raw power to accomplish this. Even with my assistance, there is a limit to what I can do due to the limitations of my current manifestation.”

Despite saying that, Cynthia did not sound particularly troubled or concerned.

She must have a solution.

“So how do we solve this problem?”

The Superior Mother pointedly glanced at his true body and his extensive equipment.

“In your desire to attain greater power, you have chosen to embrace the peril of darkness. You became seduced by its mystery and fell sway to its dark charm. You have taken a portion of this dark fabric and turned it into a part of yourself, forever staining your soul with the touch of the profane.”

“Do you… disapprove?”

“Not at all, my son. I neither approve or disapprove. It is true that experimenting with the element of darkness may not end well for you, but its potency is real. As long as you can stay true to yourself and explore this element with caution, you can become a powerhouse that no one dares to challenge. You only need to follow two rules above anything else. First, you need to be patient and accept that you are not ready to explore the more dangerous facets of this element. Second, you must always retain your awe towards power. The moment you lose sight of this principle is the moment you will suffer an irreversible accident in the near future.”

As much as Ves was annoyed that she was patronizing him once again, this was her right as his mother.

Besides, her advice was sound. There was nothing wrong with being patient and respecting power. He should have kept this in mind a lot more.

“I shall certainly not forget them, mother. That aside, can you still find a way to let us overcome the resistance of Krytak Class A Seashells.”

The Superior Mother smiled this time. Her smile was warm and full of love.

“Of course I can. No defense is truly infallible. Krytak Class A Seashells may not possess any obvious vulnerabilities, but you are fortunate that the armorers under your enemy’s employ do not truly understand how to process it into a fully cohesive layer of protection. This makes it possible to sabotage the protection of a small number of individual shells, enough for you to drive your lance through this gap and have it detonate inside his body. However, if you are not able to execute this step beforehand, then your lance will not be able to penetrate past this layer at your current level of power.”

Since she said that, then she must have a solution at hand. Ves began to relax. It felt nice to be bailed out by his mother.

“Then what must be done in order to penetrate the layer of seashells?”

“I can think of two different means to overcome this armor, one for each of you.” Cynthia stated. “For you, Ves, I see that you have developed a decent understanding on how to cast a withering curse. I can help you cast a much more advanced version of it that can drain the Krytak Seashells of their resistant qualities. After all, growth and decay are two sides of the same coins. These Class A shells have relied on the power of growth to become so powerful. The power of decay can easily reverse this process as long as you understand the principles.”

That sounded incredibly promising!

Ves immediately grew more interested!

His mother essentially told him that there was a lot more room for growth. If he wanted to be able to drain the power of organic obstacles such as the Krytak Class A Seashells by himself in the future, then it was worthwhile for him to develop a deeper mastery into the underlying concepts and principles of this curse.

In other words, he needed to move beyond the theory and application that he originally acquired from an enlightenment fruit!

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