After local inspectors spent days going over every ship of the expeditionary fleet, the Golden Skull Alliance finally received permission to engage in their planned activities.

"Finally!"

Incoming cargo vessels operating under the purview of the local government already flew in to facilitate the first trades.

The cargo vessels brought raw materials to feed the production halls of the Spirit of Bentheim and lots of supplies to replenish the fuel, ammunition, energy cells and other goods consumed over the course of the Battle of Reckoning.

In turn, the cargo holds of the expeditionary vessels also emptied a little as they transferred some of their valuable salvage.

More deals were being made with each hour that passed. The Larkinson Clan, the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan all made their separate arrangements, though they occasionally banded together in order to leverage their combined bargaining power to receive more discounts for their bulk purchases.

Even though Ves spent most of his time in the design lab, he made sure to remain apprised of the logistics.

"The PHTS hasn't allocated nearly enough transport capacity to us." Gavin complained during a meeting. "Even with the added quota the Infinity Guards have delivered to us, we still need several weeks to offload our salvage and receive our ordered goods at this rate. If we could just get our fleet in orbit of Prosperous Hill VI, then we could have everything done in a week."

Pretty much every visitor in this star system loathed the Prosperous Hill Transportation Services. It was a nationalized consortium of intrasystem transport and transit companies that all operated in unison.

Since everyone relied on the PHTS to get anything done, the people and managers working for this company were not as efficient, to put it lightly.

"As long as they bring the goods we need while taking away the junk we are trying to get rid of, there's little point in complaining. Our fleet is just too big. It's a huge challenge to any transportation network to take care of the needs of a fleet that approaches that of an entire mech division."

Instead of wasting his time on useless complaints, he preferred to go over more interesting topics. "Has there been any progress in searching for a good deal for the Auralis?"

"Ah, the results are as you expected. Our buyers are much less enthusiastic about acquiring the capital ship once we aired the possibility of keeping her long-range FTL drives for ourselves. If we sell the ship as a whole, we can probably gain one really good capital ship as well as a bunch of extras, or we could choose to obtain two cheaper but serviceable capital ships. If we keep the FTL drive for ourselves, we can probably get a decent capital ship, but don't expect too many bells and whistles."

"Hmmmm. That sounds within my expectations. These options aren't as exciting as I hoped for. Maybe we should just put up with the potential risks and find a way to incorporate the Auralis into our fleet."

Gavin grew concerned. "Everyone in the clan I've spoken to about this matter isn't confident we'll be able to make the Auralis safe. There are even some who believe the vessel is haunted due to how many people died at once."

Ves paused. "Do people really believe in that superstition?"

"You can't blame them, boss. It's really creepy if you think about it. Even I wouldn't even want to step aboard the ship. We all feel it's better to get rid of her and start with a more neutral vessel."

"That sounds really stupid, do you know that?"

Gavin simply shrugged.

"Tell me about the ships that we can acquire instead. Are there any fleet carriers or other interesting vessels in the mix?"

"Oh, there are numerous second-hand fleet carriers as well as a larger assortment of non-combat vessels available for selection. We can even acquire some of them with cash if you think we can handle the financial burden. They're all cleaned up and prepared for sale as best as possible. They've even been certified as safe for use by purchasers, so we shouldn't worry too much about hidden dangers. If anything goes wrong, we have the possibility to ask for compensation from the sellers."

That was actually a clever market development. The demand for starships was huge, but just like Ves, not everyone looked forward to acquiring a second-hand vessel that was still rife with traps set by their original owners.

In order to reassure potential buyers that their ships wouldn't suck out all of the air in their quarters while they were asleep or increase the gravity on the bridge by 50 times all of a sudden, the sellers had to make their products more attractive.

The way to do this was to hire a lot of specialists or contract the services of companies that excelled in these jobs. Certifying institutions made sure that these companies remained honest and that they were competent enough to know what they were doing.

Of course, whether this entire industry could be trusted at all was another question, but it was still reassuring to know that it existed.

"Keep gathering more offers and fill me in whenever there is a ship that sounds useful to our expeditionary fleet. Also keep on the lookout for any good bargains that we can acquire for cash."

"Will do. In fact, our resident shipwright is already looking into the dossiers of various capital ships."

Ves began to ask about other issues.

"How is the recruiting landscape. Is there any great demand to join the Larkinson Clan?"

"Well.. at the very least, our clan is attractive enough to spark the interests of some second-raters. The issue is that we aren't getting the kind of people we are truly eying."

"That's to be expected." Ves sighed. "For all our recent claims to fame, we are still upstarts as far as most people are concerned."

Second-class job seekers were far more critical than their third-class counterparts. It was actually pretty easy to find any ordinary workers in any highly-populated star system like Prosperous Hill.

Yet there were lots of companies as well who were on the lookout to hire talented and highly competent personnel.

These talents were much more scarce because the people that tended to have promise enjoyed superior conditions. For example, their parents invested in an expensive cranial implant. They received quality genetic treatments that just happened to react extremely well to their DNA. They attended an elite institution that exposed them to excellent teachers who were skilled in maximizing the potential of their students.

Whatever the case, these harsh conditions meant that the pool of talented manpower was quite limited even in a state comprising trillions of citizens. In places like Prosperous Hill, most talents already had their next gigs lined up for them before they even visited the galactic net!

Ves thought that the allure of leaving their homes to an exotic place like the Red Ocean would attract a lot of daring adventurers. He speculated that the huge sums of money earned by the LMC would draw in those consumed with greed. He guessed that all of the incidents that caused him and his clan to rise in fame such as his wedding and the recent battle would draw in those who wished to ride on his coattails.

Yet the reality was much less encouraging than he thought.

"Why haven't we generated enough interest among high-valued personnel?"

"There's several reasons for that. First, we're not Lifers, so we don't hold much attraction to the locals who comprise the vast majority of the job seekers in this star system. Their mech pilots are unaccustomed to piloting classical mechs so they don't want to do anything with us. Their other personnel can find more attractive opportunities at domestic companies."

"What about the foreigners? A highly-trafficked port system like this should be home to plenty of foreign-born workers."

"That's true, boss, but we're actually not that famous around these parts. Majestic Teal hardly pays attention to anything that goes on in Komodo, so all of the feats we have accomplished have barely rippled in this star sector. Another factor that diminishes our importance is that we aren't the most prominent, famed or eye-catching organization around these parts. There are lots of other organizations that are much more renowned and prestigious among the locals."

Ves frowned. "Is that true?"

This was very different from their home star sector. Influencing the course of the Komodo War, defeating a pirate warship and designing numerous mechs that changed how outfits fought each other all caused him to become known to almost every citizen whether they were third-raters or second-raters.

Yet all of that merely amounted to a stone thrown in a lake.

"The lives of Majestic Tealers aren't as impacted by our work." Gavin pointed out the key reason. "The Komodo War doesn't directly intrude in their lives. You're not from this star sector so no one here has any reason to cheer for you. Most importantly, our increasingly more popular LMC mechs are all third-class models that are too weak to be fielded in the Life Research Association. As a result, our influence in Prosperous Hill is practically negligible."

That… was very disappointing to hear from Ves. He was still trying to adjust to life outside the Komodo Star Sector. It seemed that even if he earned a bit of attention from people in the rest of the star cluster, they mostly comprised of certain individuals from the upper society that paid attention to anything that could affect their own turf.

As for the average citizens who comprised the vast majority of people, they simply went about with their own day while treating any news relating to him as celebrity gossip.

Gavin noted his disappointment.

"There is an easy way to fix this problem, you know."

"What do you suggest, Benny?"

"Change your mind about the Ferocious Piranha Version B." His assistant daringly proposed. "I can guarantee you that as long as you release this model into the mech market, every second-rate state in this star sector and the surrounding star sectors will blow up. They will all want to purchase as many Ferocious Piranhas as possible because this mech is really a cancer against any weak-willed mech pilot!"

"It's not just the weak-willed ones that are vulnerable to the Ferocious Piranha." Ves mildly corrected him. "While I think you are correct, I'm afraid our clan will blow up as long as we release this model to the public. It's too effective, especially against melee mechs. A lot of vested interests will have a very good reason to follow in the Friday Coalition's footsteps as long as we introduce a mech that threatens their core business."

"We'll have supporters as well. Think about all of the loyal customers we'll be able to gain. Based on the performance of the Piranha Prime and the prototype Ferocious Piranhas, I can already tell you that every single light mech pilot will instantly get sold by this mech. In fact, a lot of other mech pilots who are accustomed to piloting medium mechs will probably want to pilot this ravenous beast regardless of their specialization!"

Ves knew that Gavin was right because a lot of mech pilots in the clan were already clamouring to get a piece of the Ferocious Piranha as well. The allure for this explosive new light mech that could turn many nearby mech pilots into paralyzed idiots was just too great!

In comparison, the Bright Warrior Version B that was just starting to roll out of the production lines of the Spirit of Bentheim hardly attracted any enthusiasm at all. While it was still a good performer by most standards, its lack of powerful glow and distinctive strengths made it hard for mech pilots to get hyped.

They were too spoiled in his opinion. Ves grumbled underneath his breath. The new Ferocious Piranha was a fantastic mech, but that did not mean the new Bright Warrior was trash!