The Mech Touch - Chapter 7413 Air of Death
Chapter 7413 Air of Death
Once the team started on their tasks, Ves decided to take another look at the tier 3 Destroyer spear.
He already studied it a few times before, but it did not hurt to take another glimpse. Perhaps he might be able to uncover a hidden facet or gain new inspiration.
Studying the tier 3 Destroyer spear was not a trivial matter, though.
A high-tier Destroyer weapon was a dangerous object and had a habit of eroding its surroundings. Just removing it from its container put a lot of stress on the Tarrasque’s shield generators and other nearby implements.
Even if the powerful armament behaved at the moment, there was no guarantee that it would remain this way. Ves did not take this danger lightly and maintained a respectful distance from the weapon now that it had been taken out of its protective container.
“Papa!”
“Meow!”
An unexpected pair decided to drop by at this time!
Ves interrupted observations and turned around to hug the girl that had confidently jumped in his arms!
“Andraste! Why are you here? Don’t you know how dangerous it is to approach this section of the ship?!”
The young girl kissed his cheek before she adopted an earnest grin. “That’s exactly why I wanted to take a look! Destroyer weapons are so powerful. I really want to see one up close. Maybe I even want to request one as a birthday gift.”
She definitely had a purpose in mind. Destroyer weapons generated a lot of fascination among people.
Even the rise of superdimensional weapons had not significantly harmed the prestige of this signature Terran weapons technology.
In fact, many people expected that the combination between Destroyer technology and superdimensional technology could produce an incredibly amazing result!
While such a development was at least several years away from realization, Andraste did not think so much. She just wanted to take a very good look at the weapon that Rosa Orfan used to demolish the Ixith Goliath and put up a valiant fight against the Voice of Liberty.
Ves still held Andraste in his arms even as she gazed at the Destroyer weapons beyond the protective screens.
“Meow…”
Lucky meanwhile floated around while keeping a protective eye on the little Larkinson. The gem cat appeared relaxed, but he still took his duties seriously. He could easily drag the girl back if an accident ever occurred.
“So what do you think, my cute little pumpkin?”
Andraste expressed genuine interest and fascination as she observed the floating weapon.
The as-of-yet-named Destroyer spear never truly rested. Even in its relatively dormant state, its speartip still generated a leaking corona of destructive energies that constantly tried to wear down the nearby azure energy shields.
The Tarrasque had to divert a significant amount of energy just to contain the weapon’s destructive effects!
After a few more seconds of quiet contemplation, the girl finally attempted to articulate her feelings.
“It is really powerful. Even I can feel it from this distance. All of my danger instincts are warning me to stay away. I am not even close to ready to wield this weapon.”
“Would you like to do so one day?”
Andraste shook her head. “Sort of. I don’t want to take Rosa’s weapon away from her. I want to wield my own Destroyer sword.”
“If you truly want to, you might get your chance one day.” Ves smiled back at his second daughter. “It is not easy for me to get my hands on the high-tier stuff, though. The low-tier stuff is a lot more common, especially at the infantry scale. Still, it is best to wait a while before the Terrans have successfully developed a superdimensional version of their iconic weapons. Combining the extraordinary cutting power of superdimensional matter with the all-encompassing destructive potential of Destroyer particles will definitely result in a fusion that cannot be resisted by anyone.”
While that might sound like an exaggeration, it shouldn’t be too far from the truth. Perhaps only True Gods would be able to defend against direct attacks from such armaments!
His girl certainly looked enamoured by the possibility of wielding such a magical weapon. She was a miniature swordswoman alright. As one of Ketis’ biggest fans and student, Andraste no longer thought about pursuing other passions aside from maybe marksmanship, and even that played second fiddle to her pure and genuine love for swordsmanship.
“Maaw.”
Yaika emerged from the red-haired girl’s head. The partially grown kitten maintained a curious expression as she single-mindedly gazed at the tier 3 Destroyer spear.
“What is it, Andraste?”
“My companion spirit’s perception is special.” She replied. “Yaika is a lot more connected to death, just like auntie Helena. She can feel a subtle air of death infused within the spear. It is not easy to distinguish it from all of the other harmful energy, but it is definitely present.”
“Oh? That sounds interesting.” Ves grew intrigued. “Can you tell me more? Is there anything special about this ‘air of death’, and is it affecting the weapon in any way?”
Even Blinky hadn’t been able to make this observation despite his sensitivity towards E energy! This was the difference between a specialist and a generalist.
Andraste and Yaika both began to frown. “I don’t know. I feel like the death energy is supposed to do something to the spear, but because it is already filled with destruction energy, nothing is happening. It is… strange.”
That sounded interesting. “What is supposed to happen normally, then?”
“I cannot say for sure, but when I studied other weapons, Yaika was able to notice a small difference between them. Weapons such as Ketis’ Bloodsinger have spilled the blood of hundreds if not thousands of humans and aliens. All of that killing has coloured that weapon with their deaths. I can’t really describe it better than that. The more the weapon is killed, the more it becomes affected by the power of death. I don’t know if it makes any difference. I don’t believe Ketis has noticed that her weapon has become deadlier because of that. It is probably nothing important.”
Ves hadn’t noticed this effect, and the same applied to others.
If a weapon truly became more lethal after reaping a lot of lives, then such an effect should have been measurable!
Since Ves had never encountered any reports that described such a phenomenon, then at least two possibilities existed.
Either the effect made no functional difference, or the weapons had not accrued enough kills to produce a significant outcome.
Ves was not quite sure what was true. He felt tempted to research this phenomena further.
Though he and Blinky were not able to detect and accurately judge this supposed ‘air of death’, it might be a good idea to bring Andraste along with his examinations of other weapons.
He was just about to reunite with all of the ace pilots of the Larkinson Clan. After months of hard fighting on their own, the Dark Zephyr Mark III, the Amaranto Mark III and so on had fought dozens of battles.
The Red War was so intense that the ace pilots truly were not lacking any fights!
During each engagement, the Larkinson ace pilots and ace mechs must have confronted numerous alien phase lords and wiped out thousands of alien lives.
All of that killing definitely caused their weapons to accumulate a greater amount of death.
Perhaps this phenomenon could be tied to another related phenomenon, one that became increasingly more common among the frontlines.
On occasion, mass killings and slaughter produced dark and ominous specters of death that mirrored their living counterparts.
However, their behavior and attitude was a lot more reminiscent of demons. They showed universal hostility towards the living and sought to drag the latter to their deaths no matter the species!
Ves turned his attention to the subject that truly mattered. As much as he wanted to investigate this thread further, this was not the right occasion.
As his daughter already described, the overpowering association with destruction prevented the tier 3 Destroyer spear from getting affected by the air of death.
Perhaps Ves might be able to change this somehow, but why would he go through so much trouble?
Trying to blend destruction energy with death energy might result in a fantastic synergy, but the more likely solution was that both would fight even harder against each other!
There was no way the two would be able to get along due to their characteristics. Just because they had a few things in common did not mean they were bosom buddies.
If he wanted to violate common sense and make them work together in a harmonious fashion, then he would have to put a lot of effort into developing a convoluted mechanism.
Ves did not think that such an effort was worthwhile this time.
“You should go back, Andraste.” He said as he finally put his daughter down.
The girl stood on the deck with a slightly stubborn expression. “No. I want to stay. Rosa’s weapon might not be a sword, but it is still cool. I want to stay!”
“Fine, but don’t do anything stupid.”
His daughter nodded before she and her companion spirit began to frolic around while throwing frequent gazes at the weapon in the distance.
The tier 3 Destroyer spear showed no signs of getting affected by all of the attention it was attracting.
Ves wondered whether that was an illusion.
He couldn’t help but ask whether Destroyer weapons were actually alive.
While the evidence he had gathered so far pointed out that the answer was a resounding no, he continued to doubt this conclusion.
There was no rational argument behind his reluctance. He just felt that there was more to the story of Destroyer technology than what he learned so far. The Terrans were definitely hiding a lot of details about their signature technology. The question was whether any of it was related to any hidden life.
“Damnit. Why is it so difficult to get real answers?”
He knew that there was no point in asking the Terrans directly. They were highly protective towards their effective monopoly on Destroyer weapons. No matter which galaxy they resided in, they unanimously chose to keep the secrets of this high technology to themselves!
Ves did not blame them for their selfishness.
As a mech designer who hoarded his own trade secrets, he knew the importance of protecting one’s trump cards.
Yet that did not diminish his frustration towards the Terrans. They gave away just enough Destroyer weapons and information to tease interested parties, but never enough to satisfy them completely!
This forced Ves and others to rely on their own imperfect means to generate their own answers.
For now, he only gained a possible lead on trying to form a connection between Destroyer weapons and the amount of lives they reaped.
Though he did not have a positive sentiment towards this research direction, it at least showed that there were more Destroyer weapons than was apparent on the surface.
Since a kid like Andraste was able to make a new observation on the Destroyer weapon, Ves thought about inviting others to make their own observations.
What would they notice?
What secrets might they uncover?
What truths had he overlooked?
The more Ves thought about it, the greater his expectations towards this approach.
Instead of inviting other people, Ves chose to engage his design spirits.
The fact that a companion spirit like Yaika was able to detect an unusual phenomenon hinted that other spiritual entities may be able to detect other hidden facets about the tier 3 Destroyer spear.
He first thought about bringing over the Superior Mother, but quickly reconsidered.
She could probably tell him more than anyone else, but she was also the least likely to volunteer any useful information.
“Let’s see. Who else can I invite?”
Perhaps it was better to start with another version of himself.
Ves was at least able to guarantee his own incarnation’s cooperation!
Blinky emerged from his head but quickly started to transform into a stocky and bearded dwarf.
“Hello again, Vulcan. What can you see?”
