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Though the Mars undoubtedly possessed an advantage at range, it was still a highly capable fighter at other ranges!

Patriarch Reginald's lust for battle became stoked as he mapped out his upcoming duel against Saint Jeremiah Gauge.

A fresh new ace pilot like him who never fought against another of his kind on an equal basis needed this kind of opponent!

As long as he vanquished his counterpart or at least fought the other ace pilot to a standstill, he would be able to validate his combat prowess and learn where he stood as a Saint.

One of the worst nightmares for Patriarch Reginald was that he would have no one else to test his strength against.

Ever since he advanced to ace pilot, he found that his old sparring partners simply couldn't challenge him anymore.

Even if every expert pilot of the Larkinson Clan, Glory Seekers and Cross Clan joined forced against him, the combination between an ace pilot and the Mars was simply far too outrageous.

It was lonely at the top!

Though the Cross Clan attempted to approach the other power blocs of Davute to arrange secret sparring sessions, these talks pretty much went nowhere.

No one wanted to expose the details of their own ace pilots and ace mechs so easily, especially towards their immediate rivals!

Though there was no reason to blame these parties for maintaining the secrecy of their trump cards, Patriarch Reginald developed a low opinion of these groups.

If the Larkinsons managed to nurture an ace pilot, then there was no question that he would have a good time!

True friends and comrades did not shy away from comparisons!

As of now, Patriarch Reginald's greatest problem was that he lacked real combat experience against his peers. This was a considerable shortcoming that might cause him to fall into a disadvantage at first.

In other words, the upcoming battle was Reginald's baptism of fire as a Saint!

Either he would survive the storm, or perish at the hand of Jeremiah Gauge!

Several hours passed by as Ves, Reginald and Benedict continued to chat and share each other's views. They thoroughly picked apart whatever details they could glean from the Neo Amadeus and came up with several possible tactics to deal with whatever the ace mech could do with its many bladed weapons.

Ves stood up at the end of the discussion.

"I've enjoyed our talks, but it remains to be seen whether the Neo Amadeus will fight as we anticipated. While it is true that the Multi-Armed Designer has a penchant for designing certain kinds of melee mechs, I'm not sure whether the mech is capable of wielding its additional swords and daggers with phantom arms."

Patriarch Reginald did not look impressed. "It doesn't matter how many blades Jeremiah wields. I'll be able to beat him whether he holds one of them or twelve of them. Quantity does not equate to quality."

Ves curled his lips. That was quite a statement considering that the Mars was loaded with weapons as well!

The ARCEUS System, the transphasic shotgun, the modular shoulder hardpoints, the transphasic axe, the whale-cutting saber and the close-ranged offensive capabilities of the Abasis Armor resulted in a fantastic offensive package that allowed the Mars to effectively exert strength at any range!

The ace hybrid mech was so outrageous that it did not possess any obvious shortcomings.

"Reginald."

"Yes, Benedict?"

"No matter what you do, you need to maintain a strong and confident demeanor."

Ves nodded in agreement. "You're a symbol and a source of confidence to everyone. If you do badly against Saint Jeremiah, then the morale of all of our troops will drop. If you do well, then everyone on our side will fight with greater vigor and confidence. The progression of your duel can have a real and drastic influence on the rest of the battle. Do you understand?"

Patriarch Reginald slowly nodded. "I understand. I am not unfamiliar with this responsibility. My father… my father used to fulfill the same role. Every warrior from the Garlen Empire knows the score. You don't need to worry. I am more than capable of shouldering this responsibility."

That was probably what Lord Hemmington Cross thought as well before he foolishly got stabbed in the back by two of his supposed allies!

This example illustrated that even if ace pilots were powerful assets on the battlefield, they could still be fooled and lured into traps!

"The same applies to the Gaugers." Ves noted. "If the Neo Amadeus is obviously struggling against the Mars, then the Sundered Phalanx will lose a lot of confidence."

Master Benedict shook his head. "It is a fantasy to assume that Saint Jeremiah and the Neo Amadeus can be bullied so easily. The Gauge Dynasty is not weak and its Masters have done good work. Considering how powerful the Neo Amadeus may be at close range, the best we can hope for is that Reginald can go even against Jeremiah. As long as we can force a stalemate at this level, we can rely on our advantages at the lower levels to achieve a breakthrough."

"Hey! Don't count me out soon! I'm going to school this ace pilot!"

Ves suddenly thought of the man's name and identity. As a direct member of this prominent dynasty, Jeremiah possessed greater significance than just his combat strength!

"Saint Jeremiah Gauge is probably one of the pillars of the Gauge Dynasty." He analyzed. "He carries both military and political weight. I bet he is one of the assets used to ensure that the Gauge Dynasty maintains strong control over its colonies as well exert strong influence in the rest of the region. If Jeremiah gets taken out, then that will have major geopolitical implications to the Magair Middle Zone."

Regardless of the outcome of Operation Saturday Market, the domino effect of this direct collision between the Gauge Dynasty and the Hex Federation was bound to produce a lot of ripples!

It was a pity that neither Patriarch Reginald nor Master Benedict cared about the implications of capturing or killing a personality as important as Saint Jeremiah Gauge.

Everything would change for the Friday Colonies and the Hex Federation, but what did that matter to the Crossers? They didn't even have any major industries and commitments in Magair!

Before Ves returned to his flagship, he considered whether he should make one more move.

He struggled to decide whether it was wise for him to expose one of his secrets to the Crossers, but eventually figured that it was worthwhile to make this extra effort.

The Cross Clan had proven numerous times that it was a solid ally. Ves was also good friends with Patriarch Reginald and Master Benedict. The trust they forged over the course of numerous critical and dangerous battles could not be replicated through ordinary means!

"I would like to give you a gift." He told the two leaders of the Cross Clan. "I can't explain it right now, but I will show you what I have in mind if you can bring me the Mars. Can you take me to its hangar bay? I think it is best to show you in person."

The two Crossers were confused, but they complied without much hesitation.

The three moved to the private hangar bay that was solely reserved for the Mars.

As the most important asset of the Cross Clan, the Mars needed to be well-protected. Simultaneously, it also had to be quick and easy to deploy into space in case the expeditionary fleet encountered an acute threat.

Of course, Ves did not need to be too concerned about its security. The entire compartment was almost entirely closed off from the rest of the Hemmington Cross. Master Benedict personally remodeled it in order to prevent spies from leaking out the details of his own work.

When Ves finally laid sight of the Mars up close, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

The original version of the Mars was already a groundbreaking mech. After Master Benedict thoroughly elevated it to ace mech standards, it had become even more exceptional!

Ves actually didn't fully understand the design anymore because of that. It had grown beyond his ability to understand, and that was a pity.

This reminded him that the Mars officially belonged to the Cross Clan. Despite his crucial contributions to the ace mech, it was Benedict that led the design project and the Crossers that supplied the extreme amount of funding and phasewater to make it possible.

Now, Ves was about to suggest a measure that would substantially increase its performance in a way that the Crossers could not control.

After waiting for Master Benedict to activate all of the security precautions in the compartment, Ves calmly pulled out a special pouch from his suit pocket.

He pulled it open and retrieved a number of gems.

Though it had been years since Lucky last fulfilled his primary function, Ves had not forgotten about the last batch of gems that he produced.

The most annoying part of that time was that the System had already started to take an extended break during that period!

That prevented him from learning the properties of the five gems. Ves had even been forced to integrate one of them into the Everchanger in order to ensure it surpassed the masterwork threshold.

In any case, now that the Mech Designer System became accessible again, Ves easily identified the properties of the gems that he had left.

[Lament of Exod]

The regrets of a fallen artisan are locked within this gem. Increases the resistance of a mech against physical forces by 50 percent.

[Tear of Nerys]

The depression of a water demon is captured by this gem. Amplifies the performance of all transphasic parts of a mech by 25 percent.

[Rage of Ayef]

The fury of an unwilling warrior is stored within this gem. Increases the damage of all energy weapons of a mech by 50 percent.

[Doom of Remis]

The negative energy of a failed prophet is gathered by this gem. Increases the failure rate of all surrounding enemies by 25 percent.

All of their effects turned out to be strong!

Each of them could easily change the outcome of a duel or a greater battle!

If their effects fully applied to ace mechs without any weakening due to the law of diminishing returns, then their value was immeasurable!

There was even a gem that specifically amplified the power of transphasic mech parts! This was extremely strange to Ves as he had obtained this gem before he entered the Red Ocean.

As Ves became more exposed to the wonders of the cosmos, he no longer felt these gems were as incomprehensible as before.

While he still wasn't able to study whatever energies or substances that the gems stored inside their forms, he became increasingly more convinced that they derived their exceptional properties by taking advantage of the reality-defying abilities of powerful spirits!

This was the only reasonable way to explain why these tiny gems could change the properties of every mech they were attached to in such a broad and universal manner!

Though he still felt the System embellished the descriptions of Lucky's gems, he did not dismiss them as nonsense anymore.

The recent Spiritual Ascension upgrade track exposed Ves to an entirely different facet of reality. The existence of pre-divinity and post-divinity spiritual entities had opened up his perspective regarding energy life forms.

More specifically, learning about the nature of so-called True Gods suggested to Ves that Lucky's gems might have actually captured some of the essence of these powerful entities!

Making these realizations was incredibly important to Ves. Not only was he able to decipher some of the mystery behind Lucky's mechanisms, he also gained a possible roadmap on how to reproduce them without relying on a temperamental cat!