The Mech Touch

Any reliance on outside help made it a lot harder for god pilots to complete this necessary mental evolution.

In that sense, Patriarch Reginald Cross actually adopted the right approach in advance. His purity and insistence on relying more on himself would help increase his chances of advancing in the far future.

Ves furrowed his brows. "I understand. If mech pilots eventually have to cut off their ties to the Kingdom of Mechs, what do they do once they become god pilots?"

"They assume a different responsibility." Master Goldstein answered with a smile. "If Star Designers can be equated to the administrators of the Kingdom of Mechs, god pilots are its strongest protectors and guardians. They are the soldiers who voluntarily deploy across its borders and deter any external enemy from harming their greatest benefactor. You have to remember that god pilots have all developed an enormous sense of gratitude towards the kingdom. Each of them are principled enough to repay it, and there is no greater means to do so than guarding it from the enemies of humankind."

This clarified a lot. It explained why the filtering mechanism paid so much importance to the integrity and the promises made by mech pilots. Only those who developed an honest personality could be trusted to serve the Kingdom of Mechs even if they evolved to a point where they no longer needed it anymore!

Besides, god pilots were still human in certain ways. They had families, friends and subjects who still needed to rely on the Kingdom of Mechs in many different ways. Volunteering to defend it was a win-win arrangement for both sides.

The overall setup became clear after this. The Kingdom of Mechs continued to prosper long after its creation due to the active efforts of two different groups of people.

The Star Designers served as the kingdom\'s civilian officials. They were incredibly smart and had personally contributed to its growth. These clever people were highly analytical and could form highly effective plans to ensure that it continued to run smoothly. They guaranteed that the Kingdom of Mechs remained internally healthy and stable.

God pilots served as the kingdom\'s military officials. Ves had no idea whether the evolving spiritual construct possessed self-defensive capabilities of its own, but there was no denying that god pilots were the most individually powerful combatants in many capacities! They could not only repel attackers, but also take the fight to the enemy and eliminate threats far away!

The Progenitors of Mechs truly put a lot of thought behind their kingdom. If they did not pay so much attention to the attitudes of the Star Designers and god pilots, the Kingdom of Mechs would probably get messed up due to excessive infighting, extreme differences of opinion and interference from malicious parties!

Master Goldstein emphasized this aspect. "The Kingdom of Mechs is a gift to humanity. We must never squander it or tarnish it. The more powerful you become, the more you are obliged to protect it and build it up. Many prior generations of humans have worked hard to make it stronger so that future generations of our race can benefit even more from our collective contributions."

The Master reminded Ves several times on the importance of duty and responsibility. Everyone who worked with mechs benefited from the Kingdom of Mechs, so they always had to give back.

"If this is the case, then does that mean that people who are more committed to contributing to the Kingdom of Mechs can gain more help in advancing up the ranks?"

"That is partially true, Mr. Larkinson. Do not think that becoming a fully altruistic mech designer or mech pilot will trigger the Kingdom of Mechs into elevating you by force. It will never grant people power that they cannot handle and do not deserve. If mech designers want to advance, then they must work hard, design excellent mechs and research highly effective design applications. Mech pilots on the other hand must train their skills, accrue more combat experience and temper their willpower into an unbreakable force. These are the basic requirements for both professions to advance."

In other words, the Kingdom of Mechs only plays an assisting role. Humanity needed to rely on its own strength and effort for the most part.

If the Kingdom of Mechs did more and actively held the hands of mech pilots and mech designers, then it would be no different from worshiping a god.

What would be the point for humans to actively become stronger? They would all become increasingly weaker and useless as they became increasingly more dependent on the Kingdom of Mechs to do all of the hard work!

"What happens if the people who benefited from the Kingdom of Mechs are not so eager to contribute back?" Ves asked another question. "What if they act in a way that is detrimental to its interests?"

Master Goldstein smirked in an ominous manner. "The Kingdom of Mechs has a hidden punishment mechanism. Those who have intentions to damage it, those who leak information about it to unauthorized parties and those who seek to assist its enemies will all receive less help and positive feedback. The greater the severity of their crimes, the more backlash they receive from the kingdom."

"I never knew that this took place!"

Ves shook in fear. He quickly thought back on his complicated history to figure out whether he had done anything that caused him to receive a spanking from the Kingdom of Mechs!

"Do not be too concerned, Mr. Larkinson. The rules governing the punishment mechanisms are not too strict. Many different humans are connected to it. Each of them come from vastly different states and cultures, and each of them possess their own values and principles. The Kingdom of Mechs is inclusive and tolerant by necessity and will not punish minor transgressions. It will only act on serious misdeeds. For example, do not violate its secrecy. The Kingdom of Mechs acts harshly on anyone who exposes its existence to low-ranking mech designers or unrelated people."

This fell in line with the overall policy to reduce the awareness of psionic power and extraordinary manifestations as secret as possible.

The more people who became aware of the Kingdom of Mechs, the more crooked ideas they formed in their minds. It was best not to give crazies any chance to get up to no good.

The punishment mechanism effectively restrained both mech pilots and mech designers.

The consequences to the former were more severe as they could directly impair their growth in strength if they acted against their own integrity.

Ves wasn\'t sure how it affected mech designers as their work and decisions were much more complicated and ambiguous.

"Is there a way to off-set a punishment or plead for forgiveness?"

Master Goldstein chuckled. "It takes a certain individual to ask such a question. As far as I am aware, there are indeed methods to counteract a punishment. The most straightforward solution is to contribute more. The Kingdom of Mechs only cares whether you are a positive or negative addition. More brilliant mech designers tend to stumble more in this regard, but as long as their work is of enormous value, the kingdom will forgive everything and bestow great favor on them. Keep this in mind."

Ves had a feeling that Master Goldstein did not mention this particularity to every mech designer.

"Considering that the Kingdom of Mechs is such a sensitive topic to humanity, why do mechers like you take the initiative to reveal it to Seniors such as myself?" Ves asked.

"There are several reasons for that." The MTA Master responded. "Seniors have gone through several layers of screening by the Kingdom of Mechs. Each of them can generally be trusted to protect it and maintain its secrecy. It is also more beneficial to humanity if Seniors understand the necessity of assuming greater responsibility and working for the good of our civilization as a whole. Aside from that, if they wish to realize their design philosophies, they must learn a special ritual that is needed to offer their contributions directly to the Kingdom of Mechs."

"Ah? You can\'t just do it automatically like before?"

"That is the case. Once you become a Master, you will begin to interact with the Kingdom of Mechs in a more significant fashion. It cannot be hidden from you at that time. The ritual can be regarded as a formal entry fee and an initial investment. The ritual may be… archaic, but it originated from the Progenitors themselves. The Star Designers have never removed it in order to show their respect for the sacrifices made by the founders of the kingdom."

It also made it a lot harder for rogue mech designers who never came into contact with the MTA to get past this hurdle.

Master Goldstein proceeded to spend the next fifteen or so minutes on teaching Ves this ritual.

It was indeed archaic and removed from modernity. It actually had the flavor of the Five Scrolls Compact, which only strengthened his suspicion that the Progenitors of Mechs used to be cultists themselves!

"I have remembered everything that you have taught." Ves solemnly said. "It\'s a little weird, but I suppose it is fine as long as it works."

"Do remember to not conduct this ritual unless you are absolutely certain about your initial contributions. If you have not exhausted your options as a Senior, then I recommend that you hold off and continue to flesh out your research."

Ves frowned. "If that is the case, why did the Polymath advance to Master when she was around 50 years old? A mech designer as smart as her could have definitely increased her contributions by an enormous degree. Is there any benefit to moving faster?"

"That is a rather advanced topic, Mr. Larkinson. There is a tradeoff. Contributing more will increase your foundation in the Kingdom of Mechs and will help you avoid many detours in your attempts to become a Star Designer. Realizing your design philosophy faster will strengthen humanity much sooner than if you wait for an additional century or two. You will also retain more lifespan that you can work towards advancing to Star Designer."

"I see…"

"To put it in different terms, as long as your current contributions are massive enough, there is no compelling reason to delay your promotion. The Polymath confidently realized her design philosophy sooner because it was already comprehensive enough to put her on a strong footing to become a Star Designer. She is intelligent enough to analyze her options and select the most optimal path that can save as much time as possible. Few mech designers possess this capacity for forethought."

This answer had a lot of relevance to Ves. If he succeeded in his insane ambition to open up the ability to pilot mechs to every human individual, then his contributions were bound to be massive!

As long as he succeeded in that research, he could skip the wait and advance to Master well ahead of other people!

Of course, the premise to all of this was that he could smoothly develop the Carmine System and the Blood Pact further.

Another assumption was that he wouldn\'t get distracted by his many minors.

When Ves thought about his habit of developing an interest in all kinds of random research topics, he wasn\'t too sure whether he could advance to Master by the time he became a century old!