THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 6842  The Meaning of a Kingdom

"I will take your… advice… under consideration." Ves eventually said when he heard enough. "Can I share this with Gloriana?"

"You may. The two of you maintain enough parity that she deserves to learn about anchor mechs in advance. I am certain that this disclosure will delight her. It is a great honor to be able to contribute an anchor mech to the kingdom. It is one of the most important criteria that Master Mech Designers compare themselves to. Those that are able to develop more anchor mechs enjoy much higher recognition and status. You will often find them leading entire R&D institutions and important departments."

"So this is like a secret game between Masters like you." Ves voiced his thoughts. "The ones who earn the highest score get to rank higher than the ones who don't manage to do as well. This makes sense as any work that is qualified to become an anchor mech is unquestionably the best among millions of mech designs of the same category at that point in time."

Master Laila Rebecca Devos sagely nodded. "It is a crude but convenient means of measuring our worth and success. It is not the only means of evaluation, mind you. There are mech designers who have never succeeded to develop a work that has earned the designation of an anchor mech, but are still respected due to their useful innovations and design applications. You are a typical example of that. Your total contributions vastly exceed that of ordinary Master Mech Designers because you have introduced revolutionary new possibilities. Now, I am introducing another means for you to make a greater contribution to the mech community."

To develop a mech that earned the recognition of the Red Kingdom was one of the highest professional honors that Ves could obtain.

It was better than winning a shiny medal for pulling off a military operation or earning lots of money as far as he was concerned.

This was because he was a mech designer first.

All other accolades paled in comparison.

For the first time since he embarked on his career, Ves finally saw an opportunity to open a crack into the Red Kingdom.

This indescribable wonder was the holy land of all mech pilots and mech designers in the Red Ocean.

To be able to contribute to its evolution and reshape how it exerted its invisible influence over every professional that worked with mechs sounded exhilarating!

Ves gained a greater understanding of why the Kingdom of Mechs and the Red Kingdom were called this way.

The kingdoms set the standard of what mechs were supposed to be in the Milky Way and the Red Ocean respectively.

If beast mechs suddenly became more powerful due to technological or doctrinal advances, mech designers would definitely produce a lot of works that successfully earned the designation of anchor mechs.

Once these beast mechs started to become anchor mechs at a greater proportion, the kingdom would steadily tilt so that it favored them more.

This made it easier for other mech designers to design machines that chased this dominant trend, thereby granting customers faster and more convenient access to superior mechs.

In other words, the mech designers who supported the rise of beast mechs successfully conquered a large amount of 'territory' inside the kingdom!

Naturally, when there were winners, there were also losers.

Mech designers who supported humanoid mechs inevitably lost ground as the kingdom deemed their anchor mechs inferior or outdated.

They would receive less support from the Red Kingdom. The next generation of mech designers would also become encouraged to develop 'superior' beast mechs.

There was always a way to make a comeback. As long as supporters of humanoid mechs worked hard enough and developed innovative solutions that put them at an advantage, then they could begin to conquer the territory they had previously ceded.

Ves began to imagine the Red Kingdom as a literal piece of land that floated somewhere deep in the imaginary realm.

With every passing day, the territories of every mech grouping shifted. Some lost ground while others managed to gain it. Others remained stable as the popularity of their kinds of machines remained unshakable.

This was the true meaning of a kingdom. A kingdom of mechs.

Ves also made another important realization.

The separation of the Red Kingdom was a foregone conclusion.

It couldn't be helped. It did not make sense to group mechs from the Red Ocean together with the mechs from the Milky Way.

The wider availability of phasewater technology, hyper technology, E-technology and most recently superdimensional technology and their associated materials would cause the mechs of the Red Ocean to diverge increasingly more from their Milky Way roots.

What made for a good anchor mech in one galaxy did not necessarily make for a good anchor mech in another galaxy!

Without any ability to transfer goods and mechs from one galaxy to the other one, the effectiveness of the Kingdom of Mechs would degrade as the differences grew larger.

A split was the most sensible decision to make. The Polymath was merely the person who did what was necessary, like taking a dying pet to the backyard before putting the animal out of its misery.

In any case, Ves appreciated that Master Laila Devos chose to share this little secret.

It was like receiving an invitation to grab his first piece of territory in the Red Kingdom!

Of course, the existing landholders were not willing to give up ground so easily. Their anchor mechs were all pretty good in order to occupy places in the Red Kingdom, but Ves remained confident that he could muscle his way into a small corner.

It should be a lot easier for mech designers like him to gain a bit of ground in the Red Kingdom during a time of rapid technological advancements.

Existing anchor mechs quickly became outdated if they did not keep up with all of the nifty new tech and materials that became available.

By taking advantage of the lag between the updates of established anchor mechs, Ves and Gloriana should be able to sneak his work in their midst a lot easier than usual!

He fully expected the rest of the mech industry to narrow the gap by developing powerful design applications based on their own specializations, but at least Ves would have at least one anchor mech to his name.

It should be an especially good accomplishment if he managed to earn it while he was still a Senior Mech Designer!

He threw Master Laila Devos a knowing look.

This was probably another reason why she did not participate in the upgrade process. She wanted to give Ves and Gloriana enough room to demonstrate their capabilities and prove that they did not freeload off a Master Mech Designer who lived for over 3 centuries.

As Ves approached his wife, he tilted his head to the side.

She got the message and moved to the side where they could talk in relative privacy.

"What is it, Ves?"

"I just learned about something really cool from Master Laila Devos."

He quickly briefed her on the existence and significance of anchor mechs.

His wife's expression changed multiple times. Her evolution was similar to his own. She ultimately became a lot more fired up than before.

"I always knew that we were improving rapidly to the point where our works could finally begin to compete against the best. While I am surprised that this opportunity had come years sooner than I thought, I am definitely going to fight for this chance!"

"Aren't you afraid of failing to meet the criteria set by the kingdom?" Ves asked with concern. "The penalty for presenting a mech that is ultimately not worthy is quite severe."

Gloriana cooled her enthusiasm a bit after hearing that. "Hm, you are right. We need to be more prudent. Let us at least complete the upgrade project before deciding whether we should submit our work to the higher authority. We will know by then if the Minerva Mark II is good enough. As far as the design is concerned, I am confident that it holds a strong advantage in this aspect. The combination between my archetech and your E-technology results in an excellent combination. When we add in the other features, the Minerva Mark II is destined to become a first-class ace command mech that will define all command mechs that come afterwards."

Her personality did not allow her to back away from this challenge so easily.

This was a direct test of her confidence in her own abilities!

For the sake of her ego and self-esteem, she could not allow herself to take on this challenge, especially when Master Laila Devos had expressed her belief that the Miracle Couple would succeed.

Gloriana not only made the determination to work as hard as possible to turn her next work into an anchor mech, she also began to think about the significance about its existence.

"I think I understand what anchor mechs mean." She claimed.

"Oh?"

"They are the completed works that have come closest to perfection at that moment in time." She said. "True perfection is not within our ability to attain. We can only rank mechs by how close they come to being the most perfect solution given the materials and tools we have available. To be able to make an anchor mech is the most truthful recognition of excellence that you can obtain in the mech industry. The criteria is set by multiple Star Designers who can be trusted to be fair and impartial in their standards. Since it is the kingdom that does the actual judging, no single individual can play favorites. Therefore, if your work becomes good enough to receive the recognition of the Red Kingdom, it is truly the closest mech to perfection in its respective market category."

Ves found it interesting that her take on this anchor mech business was different from his own interpretation.

Gloriana saw this game as a contest to design the most perfect mechs. She did not pay any significant attention to the territory and influence aspects.

She did not really care about setting standards or starting a new trend.

Her ambition was ultimately centered around herself. Only she could design the perfect vessel. Gloriana did not think that anyone else was qualified to take this job away from her. She was born to fulfill this grand goal.

"Ves."

"Yes, Gloriana?"

"Do you think that producing anchor mechs is an essential requirement to advancing to the rank of Star Designer?"

Ves widened his eyes. He had not even thought that far yet! Although they did not have enough information to determine the truth, he had a feeling that his wife may be right.

Only by proving their ability to design the best mechs would they have the capital to become a legendary Star Designer. It was inconceivable for a Master Mech Designer to break through without satisfying this core requirement.

"I think you are probably right. This is a game that is almost exclusively played by Master Mech Designers. It must be extremely competitive given what is at stake."

Masters that managed to conquer more territory in the Red Kingdom would presumably gain greater assistance from this powerful construct!

That assistance may play a crucial role in facilitating their breakthroughs!

"I have made another deduction." His wife said as she continued to look at old facts in a different light. "Every god mech has to be an anchor mech. They are too powerful to be left out of the ranking. The designers of these god mechs must rank at the top of the charts!"

Whereas Gloriana saw this competition as a ranking contest, Ves preferred to interpret it as conquering the territories of the Red Kingdom.

From his perspective, that meant that the Star Designers had grabbed the largest and most coveted territories of this kingdom, thereby dividing it into multiple strong camps.

Ves began to wonder which Star Designer conquered the most ground at this time.

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