The local and regional news publications already began to spin a hundred different narratives after the end of the first phase of the design duel.

[Life Research Association is on its knees! Its biomech industry has fallen behind the times!]

[Clash between flesh and metal ended in a decisive victory for real technology!]

[Catastrophe! Foreign mechs succeeded in bullying our homegrown biomachines!]

[Doctor Frederico Navarro must resign! He is unfit to represent our biomech industry!]

[Beware the Devil Tongue! Doom follows in his wake! Not a single state survived his psassage intact!]

All of these overblown headlines accompanied even wilder claims spoken by pundits and analysts of all stripes. The Lifers had become utterly obsessed over a single design duel that shouldn't have merited all of this attention.

All of the gossip and speculation significantly riled up the locals. The Prosperous Hill System became more turbulent as Lifers of all stripes expressed their anger, frustration and hopes all at once!

When the spectators began to leave their viewing platforms, Ves and his fellow Larkinsons gathered together. Even the two expert pilots had bid goodbye to their Lifer counterparts.

All of the initial excitement at Ves' favorable standing had passed.

"Let's not celebrate too soon." Ves warned his fellow clansmen. "I am only ahead by 1 win, and Dr. Navarro might be able to gain the upper hand in the second phase. Also, don't forget about the real win conditions. I need to win over enough mech pilots to win the design duel."

Everyone nodded.

Venerable Orfan clicks her tongue. "The Lifers are only mildly upset right now, but they'll definitely become a lot uglier if we prevail in the end. We should start worrying about how we can depart from this planet if we manage to humiliate the Lifers for real."

That was a valid concern. Ves didn't think she was blowing the situation out of proportion. He wanted to win, but he didn't want to endanger himself and every Larkinson either!

A part of him wanted to lose so that he could go back into obscurity, but his pride, reputation and his integrity as a mech designer prevented him from doing so. He was willing to bend many principles, but some of them were too indispensable to his self-image.

A mech designer must be bold. A mech designer must stand up for his own work. A mech designer must have the courage to face a challenger!

If he acted in an opposite manner, then one of the strongest pillars that propped up his identity might collapse. This would be a disaster since this kind of collapse could easily cause the foundation of his design philosophy to crumble!

His spiritual domain centered around life and mechs. Each of his actions must align with these two attributes. The more he acted in accordance with his domain, the faster it grew. Ves even speculated that it might evolve after receiving enough nurturing!

So far, Ves noticed that his domain was very weak and immature in comparison to the domains of other mech designers. Dr. Navarro possessed a more solid and developed one while the Masters were in a league of their own in this regard!

He turned his attention back to his current concerns.

"Gloriana?"

"Yes, honey?"

"When you go back to Gentle Lotus Base, please tell General Verle and the rest to exercise more caution and prepare for a hasty departure."

"Why?" His wife frowned.

"I've lived through several situations where the situation got hairy, so I'm very sensitive towards volatile situations. While I'm not certain if this star system will blow in the near future, we should prepare for the worst and prepare some contingency plans just in case."

He began to pass on some simple instructions. He wanted the Larkinsons to either abort or accelerate some of their preparations. He wanted every non-essential Larkinson to leave Gentle Lotus Base and return to the expeditionary fleet as soon as possible.

"The latter is going to be a problem." She warned him. "Even if we book tickets right away, it will take days for thousands of Larkinsons to gain passage aboard one of the passenger transports of the PHTS. The service is way too overburdened."

"We should do our best regardless. Anyone we move back to the fleet is one less headache we need to solve if the situation on the ground turns chaotic."

He also issued a few other instructions. He wanted his Larkinsons to speed up recruitment. It didn't matter if they rushed through the vetting and testing procedures. As long as the new recruits gained Goldie's approval, then they shouldn't be a problem!

"Ah, and don't forget about the capital ship swap." Ves said. "Rush the exchange if possible, but don't hesitate to drop it if it takes too long to gain control over the new vessels."

Trading capital ships was different from trading cows. All kinds of steps needed to be taken in order to conduct transactions responsibly. Even if the new additions to the expeditionary fleet fell into their possession, the Larkinsons still needed to round up a couple of crews in order to activate the two vessels!

Gloriana and the rest took in the words and nodded. Even if they didn't share the same concerns as Ves, they had gone through several turbulent events themselves. They didn't think there was anything wrong with overpreparing.

"I hope the situation doesn't deteriorate, but if it does.. It's better if we're already prepared." Venerable Joshua concluded.

As the Larkinsons were about to depart, some of the people on the VIP platform approached Ves for a chat.

The first person to approach him was a familiar presence. Professor Werther Cline looked a bit more impressed at Ves than before.

"While I have thrown my support behind Dr. Navarro, I am impressed by your work."

"I'm sure you can design better mechs." Ves humbly replied.

"Oh, you don't need to belittle yourself. Your mechs have unique properties that we have never seen before. This is a good sign that you are pursuing the right innovation. While I cannot believe your mechs are alive, the fact that they are able to channel an effect that makes them exuberant is quite a novel sight to my fellow colleagues and I. You have opened up a new door for us. Perhaps there is merit in focusing more on the mech pilot and less on the mech itself."

As a Master, Professor Cline already realized his mech design. This made him a lot more open-minded towards other research directions.

Though Werther Cline exercised impeccable control over his body language, Ves could easily sense anticipation from the old fossil.

Ves experienced this kind of attention several times from Master Willix! He was long accustomed to people who expressed intense interest in the fruits of his labor.

"I still have a long way ahead of me before I am able to realize my design philosophy." He modestly spoke. "I've learned a lot from the first five matches. I thought my mechs were already fairly strong compared to the works of other mech designers, but Dr. Navarro has surprised me time and time again. His biomech designs are truly praiseworthy."

The professor casually waved his hand. "Dr. Navarro excels at transformation and related areas, but he isn't capable of designing mechs as varied as the Dragonscale Warrior and the Swarm Monarch without the support of the rest of our biomech industry. Each of these designs are collaborative works."

"That's only fair. My dueling mechs are derived from collaborative works as well. The only difference is that the influence of other mech designers isn't as obvious, at least for the moment."

Gloriana beamed at his words.

Master Cline did not come to lavish praises on Ves. He quickly brought up a more serious matter.

"I couldn't help but listen to your plans. You seem quite concerned about your safety."

"We are." Ves nodded. "I don't know whether I'll win the design duel, but if I do, I'll be surrounded by a lot of angry Lifers. Who knows whether one of them will be crazy enough to lash out. I originally planned to stay here longer in order to rebuild our fleet, but I think it is best if we cut our schedule short."

"I do not blame you, Mr. Larkinson. It is rather regretful that our state has been less than hospitable to you. While I am not in command of Prosperous Hill, I can still pull some strings to ease some of the restrictions you face."

Ves looked surprised. "You'd do that for us, sir?"

"I do not wish anything to befall a talented mech designer such as you." The old man said. "You have earned my respect. I can read the passion and drive you've invested in your mech designs. Witnessing five of your works in action has taught me that there are more directions that we can take our work. This lesson alone is worth the tiny amount of effort I need to take to aid your clan."

The honored biomech designer obviously expressed his goodwill towards Ves.

Even though it was rather unexpected, Ves truly needed all of the help he could get. "Thank you, sir. We appreciate the favor."

Master Cline nodded at Ves once again before he departed. Apparently, he didn't have any other plans in mind.

Another Master Mech Designer approached. Ves keenly remembered that this second powerful biomech designer didn't go along well with Master Cline.

"Mr. Larkinson, please don't listen too much to Master Cline. He means well, but he is a bit behind the times. He doesn't see nearly as much promise in your mechs as I. Let me state that I am impressed by your work. Your mechs truly have the capital to live."

Ves looked flattered. "Thank you. That means much from a Master."

Regardless of how suspicious this fellow seemed, he still possessed the wisdom and power of a genuine Master!

People at this level usually didn't bother to lie. Why should they? They sat near the top of their profession and every word they said would always be scrutinized. Each of them had a reputation to uphold, and as one of the best mech designers in existence, they were always sincere when it came to mechs!

"You need to stay sharp and make sure that you do not spend the next three days trying to restore your mechs to their old conditions. Dr. Navarro's mechs are famed for their malleability. Your dueling opponent can induce drastic changes in the span of a few days. The Dragonscale Warrior might not even be covered by scales in the next engagement, and the Swarm Monarch may even replace its beetle cannons with conventional guns. Do not expect any of his biomechs to fight your products in the same manner!"

This was quite an important reminder!

"Are you allowed to say that, sir?" Ves questioned.

"It's fine. My advice does not go as far as providing you with specific aid. You still need to develop your solutions yourself, or else the design duel will no longer have any meaning. When I was around your age, I dueled quite often against other biomech designers. My ideas are different from my colleagues, so I constantly had to prove the merits of my design philosophy in front of my naysayers. Regardless of the outcome, every challenge polished my approach towards my work."

"I know, but I'm a working mech designer. I am already juggling a lot of priorities. I can't divert too much time on duels."

"Then make sure you make the most out of this experience."

The strange Master didn't stick around for long. After chatting a bit more, he began to leave.

"Wait, sir! Could you tell us your name?" Ves asked.

"I am Master Leehay Brixton. I am based in Prosperous Hill IV. I am known for my cyborg mechs."

That last part immediately caused Ves to jolt!

A cyborg mech designer! That was someone who not only utilized both organic and mechanical components, but fused them together into an integrated whole!