The crisis that the Larkinson Clan got caught up in caused a lot of work to be delayed.
As the head and lead designers of the Living Mech Corporation, Ves and Gloriana held extremely important responsibilities that could not be replaced by anyone else.
Every hour of their time was worth a lot of money. It was quite wasteful for them to spend time on activities other than designing fantastic new mechs.
Yet on the first day after the survivors of the civil war returned to the expeditionary fleet, the married couple completely shoved aside their responsibilities in order to satisfy their emotional needs.
Mech designers were humans as well. Ves did not feel like getting back to work right after surviving another harrowing crisis.
While Gloriana did not endure any threats to her life this time, she suffered just as badly as him due to her persistent fears.
She had become so clingy after he returned that Ves even felt that she was the one who needed healing instead of him! She was so emotional that she almost broke out in tears when she described what she had been going through while she helplessly waited for his return.
"You are a meanie, Ves." Gloriana pouted as she softly pounded her fist against his chest. "Next time, don't do these kinds of visits yourself. These stupid states have no right to demand your presence. If anything, they should be the ones to pay a visit to us in order to exchange greetings! If the local authorities insist on meeting someone important, then just send one of your lackeys."
Ves sighed as he continued to embrace her while they were sitting on a comfortable couch in their stateroom. "We are still lacking a suitable diplomat who can represent our clan to foreign entities. It's not easy to find someone I can trust to represent us in the best possible light."
"Why do you keep complaining about this? There ought to be plenty of diplomats who would be happy to work for us in this capacity."
"I don't want a regular smooth talker." He shook his head. "I need someone who possesses enough business acumen and industry knowledge to make deals on behalf of our mech company. I also need someone who understands our military capabilities in order to adopt the appropriate stance towards different powers. Finally, I need someone who can do more than obey instructions. We need to make a lot of new friends in order to survive in a place as chaotic as the Red Ocean."
Diplomats of this caliber were in short supply. Most of them were already attached to other states and organizations due to the nature of their profession.
Still, Ves was willing to wait to hire a good diplomat. He could always lower his standards if he failed to find anyone by the time his fleet reached the beyonder gate.
The two mech designers continued to chat a bit. They did not always talk about clan-related matters. Both of them were already content with enjoying each other's company.
"Miaow."
Naturally, their cats also familiarized themselves with each other again. Clixie looked curiously at the infirm gem cat who was resting on a soft red pillow. She didn't understand why Lucky was sick. She nuzzled his neck and licked his face a few times, yet barely managed to get a response in return.
"Meeeeoooowww…"
Clixie turned her head and called out into the air.
"Miaow!"
Nyaaaa?
The Golden Cat half-materialized her glowing body into existence.
"Miaow miaow miaow."
Nyaaaaa.
When Goldie floated over to Lucky, she cautiously licked the closest thing to a father to her. Different from Clixie, her licks actually produced a small but notable effect.
"Meow…?"
"Miaow!"
Nyaaaaa!
Though the effect wasn't very strong, Goldie succeeded in alleviation Lucky's exhaustion, iif only a bit! As she continued to lick Lucky's face, a tiny fraction of spiritual energy transferred over to the gem cat's spirit.
It was too bad that Goldie couldn't continue to supplement Lucky's shortage. Their spiritual energy compositions differed substantially from each other, so Lucky couldn't absorb too much foreign energy before compatibility problems emerged. The only reason why he was able to absorb some of Goldie's energy at all was because of their 'familial' relations.
Still, when Ves observed this brief interaction, he became quite surprised. He didn't know this was possible.
"For a man who just survived a civil war and the release of a berserk biojuggernaut, you don't seem to have suffered as much as I thought." Gloriana remarked.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ves innocently responded.
"You can't fool me, Ves. I know you quite well. While you are undoubtedly relieved to return to the fleet, you are way too upbeat compared to the others who had come back from a nightmare. Did you make any gains while you were on the surface?"
Ves couldn't completely hide his glee at the gains he managed to secure from the pinnacle lab. Coming back with the research files along with five finished vials of high-grade serum was such a great accomplishment that he couldn't completely contain his satisfaction!
He offered her a disarming smile. "I'm just happy that we managed to solve our acute manpower problems. We not only gained a large batch of mech pilots, but also solved our shortage of doctors and other biotech specialists. The Dragon's Den that we have recently put into operation will become very useful for my future plans. I'll be sure to make good use of the research vessel's large habitat areas over the coming years and decades."
"Are you planning to raise some bestial proto-gods?"
He coughed. "It's difficult to obtain good design spirits that can offer unique benefits to my mechs. After I discovered that exobeasts and designer beasts have the potential to expand my collection of design spirits, I think it's worthwhile for us to dedicate an entire capital ship to the growth and breeding of mutated beasts. As long as I can obtain more creatures like Arnold, I can empower my future mech designs with a greater variety of abilities!"
"That sounds great, but are you sure it will work? The Dragon's Den is a significant burden to our clan at the moment. She's not only fragile and lacking in defenses, but also requires us to divert more attention, funding and resources to biotech research. This is not an area that our clan is good at, Ves. We don't have to do everything ourselves. If you really want to obtain more mutated beasts, then why not shop around and leave all of the hard work to the professionals?"
How could Ves explain that he intended to leverage his high-grade serum to try and create powerful next mutated beasts who could also serve as his next generation of design spirits?
Though he thought about revealing some of the truth of what he had gained from Prosperous Hill VI, he eventually felt it was best to keep quiet.
She did not need to know everything. This was his business alone and she didn't possess the capabilities or expertise to assist him in this aspect. Her cousin Ranya was able to offer a lot more assistance in this aspect, so he deliberately chose to fill her in on some of his core secrets.
It was not that he distrusted Gloriana. As his wife, she had proven her loyalty to him on many occasions. They had already collaborated on many different endeavors.
He just felt it was a good habit to avoid spreading his secrets too much. He could already foresee that he would engage in even more secret projects as he became more adept in spiritual engineering.
Just like the Supreme Sage, there were some projects that Ves didn't mind cooperating with lots of other people, but there were certain activities that he needed to keep as isolated as possible in order to avoid unpleasant repercussions.
This meant adopting a more structural approach to divulging information. Those who weren't directly involved in his secret projects didn't need to know anything about what he was doing behind closed doors.
Fortunately, Gloriana did not press him much on this topic. This was a day of relaxation for them both and the last thing they wanted to do was to start another acrimonious argument.
"Where do you intend to take our fleet next?" She idly asked as she raked her hand over his black hair. "From what I've heard, we're heading to the border of the Winged Serenade Star Sector. Do you intend to pay a visit to one of the highly-developed star systems over there?"
The Winged Serenade Star Sector was the center of the Yeina Star Cluster and essentially functioned as its capital. A lot of fancy headquarters were based over there. Not only that, the development level was also the highest among the surrounding star sectors, so any visiting fleet could pick up a lot of high-quality ships, mechs and trained professionals as long as the money flowed.
Yet Ves shook his head.
"I don't plan to stop for an extended time over there. I don't want to get bogged down by too many pit stops. Our primary objective is to reach the beyonder gate that is situated in the Antilla Star Cluster. We have to travel through many star sectors and we can't afford to treat this trip like a pleasure cruise."
"Awww. It's possible that we will be leaving this region of space forever, you know. It's highly questionable if we'll ever return. We should at least make some new memories along the way. Of course, we'll only make landfall and visit planets that don't regulate how much mechs we can bring to the surface. I don't think it's a good idea for us to ever step foot on a restricted planet ever again."
He chuckled. "I think so as well, but as much as I would enjoy playing tourist, we have more important priorities. The Red Ocean is constantly evolving. I'm not satisfied with staying in this boring corner of the Milky Way anymore. It's a backwater, Gloriana. Just because some places of this rural part of the galaxy are a little more interesting than other places doesn't change the fact that all of it is backwards compared to the rest of human space!"
"Hmmm. Maybe you're right."
Winged Serenade was only impressive by local standards. There were many more star sectors in the galactic heartland that were at least ten times more developed.
"We won't stop recruiting or picking up goods along the way." He clarified to her. "However, our fleet will always keep moving. If I have my way, we'll just pass through the rest of the Yeina Star Cluster and cut right through the Bardo Star Cluster until we reach the Fermi Star Cluster. We'll only stop for an extended amount of time once we get close to the Smiling Samual Star Sector."
"Smiling Samuel again. What is it with you and this strange star sector, Ves? Why do you insist on visiting a bunch of xenophobic dwarves?"
"I have… business over there. It's difficult to explain. I hope it won't take too much time for me to complete my task."
Ves wasn't able to explain why he insisted on visiting the Vulcan Empire to everyone, so he simply brushed aside this matter. As the patriarch, he had the right to make decisions. It didn't matter if no one understood his intentions.
Actually getting in and retrieving the prize that he had buried over there was easier said than done, though. He had yet to hear back from Master Willix about a way to enter Smiling Samuel without getting a horde of angry dwarves on his back.
"By the way, Ves, my dynasty back home isn't doing too well these days. The Komodo War is putting more pressure on the Hegemony. The Glory Seekers have already welcomed a couple of batches of Hexers, and more are on their way. Don't be surprised if more Hexers rendez-vous with our fleet in the coming weeks."
"Oh. Okay. Just take into account that our expeditionary fleet won't slow down for anyone, so this window of opportunity won't last forever."
