Chapter 6910 Material Producers
Chapter 6910 Material Producers
The day after Ves returned from the city of Sandan with a powerful gift in his possession, he and his wife quickly handled their morning obligations before they finally directed their attention to the cylindrical container.
Alexa Streon and Jovy Armalon also joined the design lab.
Each of them possessed a degree of fascination towards the so-called Radiant particle and eagerly operated the lab instruments in an attempt to learn more about its properties.
Of course, they first read through the documentation in order to gain a small introduction to this mysterious substance.
The Terrans did not send as much information as Ves preferred. They only gave him the barebones data about the properties of Radiant particles along with a large amount of cautionary warnings.
While the latter provided a lot of clues, Ves still felt a little frustrated about how little the documentation explained the underlying reasons behind the Radiant particle's existence.
"From my interpretation, a Radiant particle is a materialized seed of the power wielded by the Light of Sol." Jovy Armalon voiced. "It is not a conventional exotic material, but a form of energy that is mostly turned into matter. Under specific circumstances, we can reverse this transformation and turn it into a potent form of persistent energy that we can use to amplify the performance of different parts."
Gloriana paid attention to another important factor. "What is interesting is that the Radiant particle ostensibly behaves as a highly specialized energy cell of sorts. Using up the energy locked inside the particle will cause it to grow exhausted, but it can restore its reserves by absorbing light E energy as well as high amounts of electrical energy. As long as we are cautious enough to never completely expend the reserves of the Radiant particle at once, it will always persist. The greatest shortcoming is that it cannot multiply independently. No matter how much energy it devours, it will eventually reach a limit, but doesn't split in half."
That was indeed a major restriction to Radiant particles. They were extremely special and had to be produced in a special way.
It was also one of the reasons that protected Radiant particles from theft.
As a former Terran, Alexa Streon possessed greater insights into the Light of Sol and his famous 'products'.
"I have heard of Radiant particles, but I have never had the pleasure of encountering it in person, either in raw form or in a processed form. I must warn you to treat it with great respect and remain on your best behavior. What Jovy has said is correct. A Radiant particle is a shard of energy that the Light of Sol has materialized in the form of a solid particle. When he has attached a small measure of his willpower to it, then its original connection with its maker is still active. This means that the Radiant particle can also function as a communication channel that directly connects to the Terran god pilot."
"..."
It was not every day that Ves received a miraculous communication medium that possessed so many other useful functions.
Ves felt a bit apprehensive at handling a precious material that could directly put him into contact with the Light of Sol at any time!
Yet… the power promised by the Radiant particle made it worth all of those difficulties.
The four mech designers conducted a series of lab tests. They kept the Radiant particle inside its container, but occasionally brought it out and used special implements in order to harvest direct measurements.
"Amazing! The temperature immediately around the Radiant particle is rising."
"I did not feel anything that I can identify as the gaze of a god pilot. Have the Devosans sent us the correct Radiant particle?"
"It may take more for the Light of Sol to take a personal interest in our research and development. We have not even talked about how to utilize this gift."
Ves and his fellow mech designers continued to spend the entire morning and parts of the afternoon on collecting a large amount of basic data.
Not all of the information was accurate and relevant, but it provided them with a more thorough baseline.
"Okay, the data that we have gathered largely support our expectations. We still have many more studies to conduct on the Radiant particle, but we can already plan ahead based on what we have gathered. How do you think we should use the Radient particle?" Ves asked.
A short pause ensued as people looked at each other.
Alexa Streon eventually decided to break the silence. "You can integrate it into the Rainbow Shield of the Bastion, or the next iteration of this high-ranking mech. Integrating a Radiant particle into a weapon is the most straightforward choice, but your clan is not lacking in killing power. What you need more is a strong and reliable protector. As long as Venerable Jannzi is able to become a saint, it is well worth it to grant her protection that is far beyond the norm. A superdimensional tower shield is already strong, but it is still vulnerable against superdimensional arms. Empowering it with the Radiant particle may just grant it the advantage to withstand such threats."
That actually sounded like a good suggestion. It was a possibility that Ves had not entertained, as it was not an obvious choice.
"We can respond to threats more confidently if we can kill them faster as opposed to letting them pound our defenses." Alexa said in mild disapproval. "Remaining passive has rarely worked well. Enemies will keep pressing your defenses if our counterattack power is not sufficient. Since that is the case, using the Radiant particle to empower a sword or rifle will result in far better defenses, as we can mop up the threats much faster than without such a gift."
Alexa's argument made sense, but Ves knew that combat was not that simple. Accidents could always happen. It was due to these 'low-probability' events that Ves had to be on guard at all times.
Empowering the Bastion by bestowing her a Radiant tower shield sounded like a decent investment for the future. The living mech could offer far superior protection, especially if her battle partner managed to advance.
No one was entirely certain when that would happen. Venerable Jannzi had yet to break through, but that may be because she was slowly polishing her foundation.
"If Jannzi doesn't break through, then we are failing to make proper use of the might of this Radiant particle." He said. "This is not a period of time where we must mindlessly hoard our wealth and resources. It is always better to exchange them with stuff that can help us win a fight and kill the aliens faster."
Alexa looked slightly disappointed. "Does that mean you will reject my proposal?"
"I am afraid so. Don't take this too hard. Mech designers regularly come up with new ideas, but few ever get realized. I think I will put your plan in reserve. Who knows whether one of our enemies comes up with a superweapon that can bypass all of our existing defenses. Perhaps in those circumstances, a physical tower shield that is indirectly blessed by a god pilot can make a critical move. If we have a second or third Radiant particle, it should be a worthwhile investment."
That mollified the younger woman. Her proposal truly had merit, but the needs of the clan demanded a weapon as opposed to a shield.
Ves nodded in acknowledgement. "You are right. If there are no better options, then we will design an upgrade to the Instrument of Vengeance that will turn it into an even more lethal weapon than before. It will make the Amaranto Mark III even more skewed towards extreme firepower. It will pose such a great threat to the native aliens that they may throw away everything they have in order to ambush and destroy our ace marksman mech."
His wife made another proposal. "What about embedding the Radiant particle into the armor system instead? This will strengthen the defenses of the Amaranto Mark III, thereby increasing her chances of surviving an ambush. Due to the exceptionally high proportion of hyper materials used to construct the archemech frame, this empowerment will indirectly feed back to the Instrument of Vengeance, thereby making it somewhat more powerful, though not as much as a direct boost."
"The Amaranto Mark III." Gloriana said. "There is no need to say anything more. The combination speaks for itself."
Ves nodded in acknowledgement. "You are right. If there are no better options, then we will design an upgrade to the Instrument of Vengeance that will turn it into an even more lethal weapon than before. It will make the Amaranto Mark III even more skewed towards extreme firepower. It will pose such a great threat to the native aliens that they may throw away everything they have in order to ambush and destroy our ace marksman mech."
His wife made another proposal. "What about embedding the Radiant particle into the armor system instead? This will strengthen the defenses of the Amaranto Mark III, thereby increasing her chances of surviving an ambush. Due to the exceptionally high proportion of hyper materials used to construct the archemech frame, this empowerment will indirectly feed back to the Instrument of Vengeance, thereby making it somewhat more powerful, though not as much as a direct boost."
"Your alternative proposal goes against the vision of the Amaranto." Ves shook his head. "That alone is not a reason to reject it, but if I have to make a choice, I would rather turn the Amaranto into an even more extreme glass cannon than a more rounded machine. At worst, we will just assign other ace mechs to guard the Amaranto Mark III from threats. Again, this is a more realistic proposal if we have more Radiant particles in our possession. Alexa, how easy is it for the Light of Sol to produce more?"
"What little information I have about this case is that the act of making these particles puts him under strain. That is a vague description, but that is the best I can do." Alexa slowly answered.
That was indeed a useless response. Alexa at least made it clear that the Light of Sol likely could not produce millions of Radiant particles.
"Have you found out how common these Radiant particles are? It would be helpful for us to know how rare they are compared to Destroyer weapons."
Alexa thought for a few seconds before giving a cautious answer. "I do not have extensive information about this, but the secrets that I have come into touch with suggest that the Light of Sol has not previously explored this ability. He has a relatively lower drive towards uplifting humanity. He is not as keen as the likes of the Evolution Witch when it comes to leveraging his God Kingdom as a resource generator. Many god pilots believe that fixating on material production is a form of debasement."
God pilots much preferred to enter into combat and beat up powerful aliens with their cutting-edge technologies and their transcendent willpower.
Their opinions had merit. They were True Gods. They had crossed one of the most difficult thresholds imaginable and ascended to godhood. Of all of the obligations they must fulfill as the ultimate protectors of the human race, expending their willpower to produce resources was among the most banal and unimpressive one they could imagine.
There was no glory in becoming a True God-level material provider.
God pilots much preferred to enter into combat and beat up powerful aliens with their cutting-edge technologies and their transcendent willpower.
During the Age of Mechs, there were not that many reasons for god pilots to go into action in person during those peaceful days.
Many god pilots only engaged in the production of rare materials because their power would otherwise go to waste.
Such an excuse no longer existed in the Age of Dawn. Red humanity had become embroiled in total war. God pilots could kill all of the native aliens they wanted and still not do enough to deplete the incoming enemy soldiers!
Under those circumstances, the fact that the Light of Sol saw merit in diverting a measure of his power to produce a will-infused Radiant particle for the Larkinson Clan held greater significance.
Ves frowned for a moment.
He did not believe for a second that this gift was free. It sounded more as if the god pilot shrewdly wanted to invest in Ves.
By giving him such a powerful gift, he would have to reciprocate in the future!
While Ves felt good for proving himself worthy enough to attract the favor of another god pilot, he soon remembered the reasons why he tried to avoid contact with these unreasonable soldiers.
Ves really did not want the Light of Sol to use the Radiant particle as a medium to establish direct contact.
Once that happened, the Terran god pilot might choose to issue orders to him with the expectation that he should never betray his obligations!