"How could this happen?"

Commander Rivington — who recently received a promotion in order to increase his authority — helplessly shook his head.

"The feeder pools inside every growth hall are controlled by a centralized regulating system. In theory, only a single authorized supervisor is able to control every aspect about the pools. In practice, someone above the supervisor implemented many restrictions that limit abuse. In the case of filling the feeder pools with a corrosive formula, the central system should have refused to implement the new instructions unless someone with greater authorization arrived to inspect the situation."

"Then why did that not happen?" Ves asked as he continued to look upset.

"These safeguards never fired off because we hacked the central system, sir. We are not authorized to run this facility since we are not part of the original staff. Our only option to make use of the feeder pools is to break the security measures. During this process, our staff also inadvertently removed the additional safety precautions. We basically returned most options back to their factory setting, which is much more permissive than we'd like."

"I see."

They were working with borrowed hardware. There were bound to be problems. Ves just didn't think it could lead to such a major incident.

Ves and Commander Rivington stood behind an observation window that showed a typical interrogation room.

Just hours ago, a disaster had taken place inside the captured biomech production facility. A biomech designer who had recently joined the Larkinson Clan deliberately ruined twenty valuable organic machines by replacing their regular feeder stock with an alternative formula that just happened to be highly corrosive against many substances!

The fact that someone was able to circumvent every safeguard, escape the suspicion of several people and even overpower the compulsion from the Larkinson Network led to one of the first true acts of treason within the clan since its founding!

No Larkinson had ever acted so brazenly against the clan! Not only did the traitor rob the airfleet of twenty valuable biomechs, but also aroused a lot of unrest and uncertainty within the airfleet.

Ever since Ves started raiding, he and his fellow leaders took exceeding care in selecting their targets. They searched a lot of databases, inquired many people and performed multiple scouting attempts before they committed an attack.

With the help of these preparations, the Larkinson Clan and its allies always achieved a clear victory!

The constant successes not only caused the airfleet to gain momentum, but also raised the morale of the participants to an unsurpassed height!

Everyone believed that they could win every battle while doing no wrong! As long as they stuck to their current approach, the Larkinsons believed they could easily survive this crisis!

This was a far cry from before where their groundside presence was much smaller. With just a couple of dozen mechs at their disposal, they constantly had to worry about getting squashed by a stronger force.

Now, through the actions of a single traitor, Ves felt as if his forces had gone back to this state of mind. The material damage inflicted to his forces was much less significant than the drop in morale!

While Ves was happy to see that his Larkinsons were still confident, it was hard to shake the impression that the good times were over. Much more difficult trials might be up ahead.

It would have been better if his forces maintained their high spirits, but at this moment, the desire to continue their string of raids had diminished.

Instead, more people began to think that it would be much better if they just stayed put and settled for their current conquest. After all, a full-sized biomech production facility already provided them with most of the amenities they needed.

Ves was very annoyed with this growing sentiment. He wanted to conquer more facilities! How else would he be able to gain more loot and rescue more highly-skilled biotech experts who might accept the offer to join the Larkinson Clan?

As long as the civil war continued to be fought across the surface of Prosperous Hill VI, he could continue to perform raids with his airfleet!

Ves peered through the observation window. He did not have a good impression of the culprit on the other side of the window. Despite Dr. Nigel Redmont's obvious guilt, the older man smiled and looked as if he did not do anything wrong!

"What do you know about the accused?"

"He's a mediocre biomech designer, I would say." Commander Rivington said. "Instead of designing biomechs, he took on a lower job of a biomech technician and started to work his way up. The reason why we put him in charge of the feeder pools was because he has a lot of experience in optimizing feeder stocks for different biomech models. Dr. Redmont knows more about feeder stock than anyone else in our clan, so he was the natural candidate to take full control of the hacked regulating system."

His clansmen had been too complacent. Even though Ves put a lot of stock in the Larkinson network, that did not mean it was infallible.

He always insisted on being careful and not relying on trust to assume that everything would go right.

Unfortunately, the large number of new recruits in his ground force resulted in a lot of shortcomings! The Larkinsons who had been with Ves during one or more campaigns would have never lowered their guards as much!

"Have you found any clue whether Dr. Redmont is a member of the ultralifers or another extreme organization?"

"His record is clean. We have not found any mention that he belongs to some dangerous organization, but then again, records can often be wrong or incomplete."

"That's true. I guess we won't be able to find answers until we ask."

"The suspect might not choose to answer."

"Then we have to make him talk."

Commander Rivington remained in the observation room while Ves stepped out and moved to the entrance of the interrogation room.

Someone else had already arrived in advance. Samandra Avikon smiled serenely at Ves as her glowing reptilian eyes blinked in an unnerving fashion.

"Greetings, patriarchs. Ill tidings have come. I wish to apologize to you. My men and I should have scrutinized our fellow Lifers more. To profane our holy biomechs is a grave offense. These great machines should meet their end on the battlefield, not in the rear where they have suffered betrayal from their own side!"

Ves surprisingly agreed with her sentiments. While he felt that many of the stances held by Spiritus Sancti were rather kooky, their respect for biomechs closely matched his own. While they were rather misguided when it came to worshipping biomechs as blessed creations, they were not that bad for the most part.

Religious nuts or not, as long as they were on his side, Ves was willing to tolerate their eccentricities. He always believed that his clan was able to integrate a wide variety of people from difficult cultures.

Up until now, this assumption held true. Dr. Redmont managed to pass through Goldie's initial inspection, but was still able to execute a nefarious plot while remaining undiscovered until he had reached the final step!

This was both remarkable and deeply concerning. Ves was already aware that Goldie wasn't always effective, but her blindspots appeared to be greater than he initially assumed!

"Nitaa, book, please."

His bodyguard passed the Larkinson Mandate into his armored hands. Ves concentrated his mind a bit and began to commune with the Golden Cat.

Nyaaaaa….

"It's not your fault. Not entirely." He whispered. "We are all new at this. Our current circumstances are anything but ideal, and we were truly pushing our luck by recruiting so many dubious figures into our clan."

After soothing the ancestral spirit, Ves turned his attention back to Samandra.

The woman waited calmly for Ves to proceed.

While the former priestess of Spiritus Sancti had always been dutiful since she and her fellow cultists joined the clan, Ves couldn't help but grow a bit suspicious.

If Dr. Redmont was able to bring himself to betray the clan, then every other Larkinson had the potential to do so. Just like the accused, Samandra was a Lifer who possessed a very different mentality than the Larkinsons and she was also a recent recruit.

Together with other risk factors, Ves realized that he had been dangerously complacent around someone who was very new but already gained a measure of authority within the clan!

Even though she used to be part of a religious cult in a supposedly secular state, her beliefs earned a lot of respect from the Lifers.

In fact, it might be a bit inaccurate to state that the Lifers were secularists. Their strong obsession towards biotechnology was practically a religion in itself!

Their behavior was too irrational to Ves. If they were truly respectful towards science, then they should have adopted a more sober perspective towards biotechnology!

"What is the matter, Patriarch Ves?" Samandra looked concerned. Her glowing eyes softened. "You seem troubled."

"Why do you serve the Larkinson Clan?"

"I have already told you the answer." She replied in the face of his suspicion. "The works that you have presented to us are proof that biomechs can only prosper at your hand. While we still hold great respect towards the Life Research Association's biomech industry, centuries have passed without resulting in a significant breakthrough. We know enough about the local biomech designers to know that none of them possess the brilliance that is required to elevate their creations to the next level! Their products always fall short of our ideal!"

"And you think that I'm different?"

"We know you are different." Samandra grinned. "We have heard the stories about you. There are numerous veterans within your clan who are willing to share their perspectives on your many exploits. We have patiently heard how you fought against gods, called upon blessings, made mechs alive and provided a path to transcendence to your clansmen! The quaint group of people called Ylvainans have been particularly forthcoming."

Ves groaned. "The Ylvainans possess different beliefs from yours. Why do you even listen to them? They don't even like biomechs, I think!"

"Different paths lead to the same destination. While we have our disagreements, we are still fellow Larkinsons. We have also managed to gain an understanding with the Hexers. Whether they are Penitent Sisters or Glory Seekers, we acknowledge the divinity of the Superior Mother. She is far beyond an average biomech!"

What the hell was he listening to? Ves felt as if he was going mad! These stupid assumptions made no sense, yet Samandra sounded as if she did not doubt anything she just said!

At least he knew she was sincere. While she was spouting all of her nonsense, Ves carefully observed her while holding the Larkinson Mandate.

This granted him an especially intimate connection to the Larkinson Network, which happened to maintain a direct connection to her mind.

Since this connection bypassed any external barriers and disguises, it was practically impossible for Samandra to hide her true intentions from him! If she harbored any ambiguous or ill intent, then Ves would be able to spot it even of Goldie couldn't!

Yet… all Ves managed to sense from Samandra's mind was complete sincerity. She truly meant it when she said that she had alluded that she had turned her back against the LRA. She was also completely serious when she stated her willingness to follow him due to his ability to elevate biomechs to a higher level!

It would have been easier if Samandra was more similar to Dr. Redmont. If this was the case, then Ves could have acted on his discomfort towards Spiritus Sancti and kicked every member of the cult from his clan!

As it was… Ves could not justify this decision. Mere dislike was not a reason to deprive any Larkinson of his or her identity.

This was why he decided to drop the matter.

"Let's go inside." He tiredly sighed. "I'm curious to hear what Dr. Redmont has to say."