The Mech Touch

When Veronica and Master Willix entered the Oblivion Empress' meditation room, they did so with a considerable amount of reverence and restraint.

Although she was 'merely' the self-crowned ruler of a hazardous region that was located near the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, the power, wisdom and most importantly scheming ability of Cynthia Larkinson could not be underestimated!

As a qi cultivator who not only thrived during the cutthroat competition to climb to the upper echelons of the Five Scrolls Compact, but also managed to escape its fall and survive for over four centuries in one form or another, her mysterious life trajectory was just as legendary as that of a god pilot!

Though Veronica played a crucial role in dragging her back from nihility and granting her the conditions to resurrect herself in full, this did not diminish her aura and reputation in the slightest.

This was an old survivor who repeatedly thrived under dangerous and adverse circumstances.

She fought for every advantage that she could get and even gained the courage to challenge the hegemony of the Big Two!

That last part was one of the main reasons why Veronica felt so fearful of her own mother.

Not just anyone sought to undermine the Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance. t took a certain kind of madness to even think about plotting the downfall of the reigning authorities of human civilization.

Though Veronica learned of the reasons why the Oblivion Empress not only desired to tear down the Big Two, but actually thought she could pull it off with the help of many allies of circumstance and convenience, she doubted she had the full story.

There had to be a lot more history behind Cynthia's ambition to tear down the Big Two. Veronica couldn't help but feel curious about her mother's past experiences, but she was too afraid to ask.

If the Oblivion Empress thought that Veronica needed to be enlightened, then the powerful True God would do so at a time and place of her choosing.

It was useless to ask. Veronica had already grown more and more familiar with her mother's temperament. Ignorance was bliss. Sometimes, people were better off if they did not know about the ugly truth that shaped the society they lived in. Many old-timers also had a vested interest in hiding their shameful deeds and behavior.

The harder people sought to hide their past, the more incriminating the truth must be. What great secret lay at the heart of Cynthia Larkinson's mystery? What sort of taboos had she committed that she could not even bring herself to share her story with her own flesh-and-blood child?

Veronica tried her best not to let her growing questions and doubts about her mother distract her from her current task.

The Cyborg Cat floated forward and used float a data chip in front of her body.

Minor application of her spatial abilities to

"We have completed our mission, mother. Contained within this data chip are the fully packaged design files and schematics of three different mech templates of the Rule Breaker Project. The mech templates cannot be used to fabricate mechs directly. Mech designers stationed in different regions of the galaxy will have to use the specifications of the mech templates to design their own mech designs that can be directly produced and sold en masse in their specific regions."

Cynthia Larkinson remained in a lotus seating position as her 'daughter' issued her report.

The mother soon opened her powerful and perceptive eyes.

"I am familiar with the concept and purpose behind mech templates. Time is of the essence. How soon will mech designers be able to derive their own localized mech designs from these mech templates and start the production and sale of Carmine mechs?"

"It depends." Master Willix answered this time. "If speed is prized over other considerations, then: t can be done in as little as a week. The quality and degree of conformity of the rushed mech designs will not be up to standard, but the Carmine mechs produced this way can still form Blood Pacts with norms, allowing any healthy human being the opportunity to become a Carmine mech pilot. Any flaws and imperfections in the rushed designs can slowly be made up for with future updates." "What if the mech designers seek to complete a proper mech design derived from these templates?" Cynthia continued to prod. ʀἈɴöꞖΕŞ

"Then it may take a month. The duration is highly dependent on the amount of mech designers who are working on the project and their ranks. Top-tier localization teams that consist of at least several Master Mech Designers each can complete a viable mech design faster, but they will not choose to do so. Instead, they will go through multiple rounds of prototype testing and conduct many trials in an attempt to match the best possible materials to their designs. While it may take them longer to complete their exhausting work, the resulting mech design will closely match or may even surpass the standards of our original designs."

"The Rule Breaker Project is inherently designed as a budget mech." Veronica voiced her own opinion on the subject. "That means that it will be difficult for third party mech designers and manufacturers to differentiate themselves on the market. There just isn't as much leeway to do stuff better with such limited options. This is especially the case for the second-class and the third-class versions of the Carmine mech. Even if third parties invest more time and effort into developing the closest possible match to the original mech designs, the performance difference won't be great enough to beat the

Advantages secured by first movers.

"How does that affect the spread of Carmine mechs in this galaxy?" Cynthia asked about the issue she cared about the most.

To her, Carmine mechs was not a revolutionary invention that opened up the world of mech piloting to 96.5 percent of the population of original humanity.

Instead, she solely saw it as a tool to sow mass discord on a scale unseen before the Age of Mechs!

"According to our predictions, the market for Carmine mechs will be split into two different categories." Master Willix calmly explained. "The first market will be based on speed, quantity and cost. The first movers will seek to earn their fortune by conquering the market first by rushing out their Carmine mechs in a short span of time. The quality of their products may lead to numerous problems that could have been avoided, but they should not affect the overall situation too much. As long as the Rule Breaker line remains the only Carmine mechs available to the people of this galaxy, the first movers will continue to ramp up production and seek to earn as much profit as possible before the inevitable crackdown occurs. Quantity will become their imperative. Aside from increasing their profits, they will also be able to increase their brand awareness to a massive audience that previously had no direct interest in getting to know mech manufacturers so intimately."

As soon as the existence of the Rule Breaker mechs broke original humanity's long-held belief that norms could never pilot mechs, many established rules and assumptions that had remained infallible for hundreds of years would suddenly crumble apart!

The mech industry was bound to undergo a massive upheaval as a result! The large and more bureaucratic companies would definitely be slow to react to all of the changes that would take place in a short amount of time.

This granted an opportunity for the smaller players to take advantage of this opening and swoop in to become the dominant players in the brand new market for Carmine

Mechs!

The Oblivion Empress smiled when she imagined all of the chaos that would ensue. The greater the disruption, the more the Mech Trade Association's hands would become tied

By the need to impose order on the mech market!

"That accounts for one category. What of the other?"

"There are mech designers who are not content with copying our homework and use their factories to produce Carmine mechs on our behalf." Veronica said. "They won't join the rat race that we have mentioned earlier, or if they do, they will only see it as a stopgap solution. While the current state of my design philosophy makes it difficult for them to independently design their own Carmine mechs, they can still take our mech templates and attempt to blend our work with their own vision. That will lead to the rise of millions of different variants of the Rule Breaker mechs over time. This is a good development because it will enrich the options available to norms and increase the

Appeal for Carmine mechs even further."

Product differentiation was important to stoke further interest in Carmine mechs. There were bound to be many people who desired to pilot a Carmine mech, but not one of the three versions that would come out at first.

Perhaps they looked down on all of the cheap budget options. Perhaps the modular options available at the start did not encompass their favorite mech types. Perhaps the standard options did not sufficiently match regional tastes.

Whatever the case, once a huge amount of highly skilled and commercially successful mech designers began to play around with the mech templates, they would definitely seek to stretch their works as far as they could without breaking the Carmine System! "How soon do you estimate this frenzy will persist before the Mech Trade Association attempts to ban or restrict the sale and use of your Rule Breaker mechs?" Cynthia asked another question.

"We cannot make a confident assessment on this matter!" Master Willix said. "The MTA is too large and complex to accurately model its behavior as an organization. We can tentatively predict the reactions from all of the factions and multiple individual god pilots and Star Designers, but it is the consensus that matters. There is a chance that they may decide to acknowledge the new reality and embrace Carmine mechs. However, this will cause the mechers to show weakness in a time where they must project

Strength and control."

Cynthia nodded in agreement. "The probability that the mechers will take this course of action should be low for that reason. They have remained in power for too long."

The MTA's inevitable pushback against Carmine mechs would serve as the catalyst to its

Eventual downfall.

By turning so many people against the hegemon, the MTA would find itself without the shield of public support.

The dramatic drop in reputation and respect would not only prompt more and more people to ignore its ban on Carmine mechs, but also embolden its enemies to appear out of the shadows and stir up even greater trouble!

The way the Oblivion Empress grinned while studying the projected mech templates made it seem as if the downfall of the Big Two was already set in stone! The female True God eventually accepted the data chip and nodded in satisfaction.

"With these mech templates in hand, we finally have a strong basis of cooperation with our current and future allies. Master Willix, you should devote your time to upgrading and further developing the Oblivion Gates. Our monopoly on trade goods from the Red Ocean will be vital to winning over allies and securing our place in this galaxy. The next trade will take place in less than 4 months. You must do everything in your effort to reduce the cost and burden of conducting another swap of goods and materials." The Master Mech Designer wordlessly nodded.

"As for you, Veronica, you should make preparations to depart from the Nyxian Gap."

That caused her to look surprised. "Huh? I am leaving? Isn't it dangerous to go outside?" "Not necessarily. Our negotiations with the Five Scrolls Compact have already reached the final phases. The absence of the Rule Breaker Project has held up our progress, but now that you have completed it, we can finally formalize our new agreement. To do so, we must enter the Ruined Temple in person and assume our rightful positions by the

End of this week."

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