The Mech Touch

Chapter 7055 Have A Cup Of Tea

As Ves settled down on his seat, his mind remained on edge.

As human as the Web Mistress appeared, her true nature was completely different from her corporeal shell.

Ves imagined he was sitting next to a vast spiritual web of untold power and scale. Even if the 3 century-old woman did not possess the same concentration of high-level energy as the other Star Designers, her reach was undoubtedly greater and vaster.

He had the illusion that every human had already been caught in her web, no matter if they knew it or not. It felt as if she could easily take over red humanity and influence their thoughts with her invisible web. She was the ultimate nexus, the beginning and the end of networks.

Ves inwardly shook his head. He needed to maintain his focus and stop entertaining these strange delusions. His overactive imagination often caused him to become distracted in times where it was not needed. Perhaps he was speculating way too much based on half-formed impressions and hints.

As Ves sat down on the low table opposite to the Star Designer, he keenly felt the seconds ticking down.

He only booked a highly coveted 2-hour time slot with the Web Mistress, so he did not want to waste time with this staring game.

It was only due to the Star Designer's exalted rank that he did not express his impatience, though he was sure the clever and perceptive woman sensed it from him somehow.

The Web Mistress abided by her own schedule. She did not let his impatience speed up her own pace.

After several minutes of cloying silence, the Web Mistress finally made a move.

She raised her finger. Two teacups floated in from somewhere beyond Ves' vision and gently landed on the table.

The Star Designer proceeded to grasp her delicate cup with her ring-adorned fingers and took a small sip.

Ves picked up his own steaming cup and followed suit since that was the polite thing to do he guessed.

His eyes slightly widened in astonishment as he could feel actual taste from his sip.

His taste buds had never been normal after his initial transformation. There were instances where it had turned normal again, but then his body mutated even further, causing him to lose a lot of progress on this front.

In any case, it was rare for him to enjoy the taste of anything he put in his mouth. Most foods he ate came in such tiny portions relative to his true body that eating anything was like putting a miniscule grain of sand on his tongue. It was hard to taste anything at all due to the enormous disparity in size.

This was why he became surprised and delighted that he could actually taste the pumpkin-like taste of this exotic brew.

He decided to break the silence first.

"This tea tastes marvelous to me. What did you put into it that makes it different from all of the other foods and drinks that I have enjoyed?"

The Web Mistress merely smiled at him before voicing her answer in the same ethereal and slightly multi-layered voice that many True Gods somehow acquired.

"The tea is blended with phasewater."

"Really?!"

Ves hadn't paid attention to his cup as he directed most of his attention to the Star Designer in the large hall. He belatedly shifted his focus on his cup.

It looked and felt like a simple porcelain cup, but he could sense that it was remarkably tough despite not being transphasic.

The cup was still strong enough to hold a liquid that had a phasewater content of around 7 to 12 percent according to his estimates.

Now that he thought back on his initial sip, he should have noticed right away that he was ingesting phasewater. It was just that the novelty of experiencing a pleasant taste for the first time in a long while had commanded his attention.

He had always been rather single-minded. The Web Mistress playfully toyed with his tendency to tunnel vision on stuff that caught his attention, thereby causing him to miss details that took place outside of his immediate awareness.

Ves took another sip, but this time he paid careful attention to what was really taking place.

How lovely.

Phasewater fortified the tea in a way that caused it to gain actual substance and volume to his senses.

He could finally experience the subtle flavors of the spiced drink in a way that harkened back to the humanity that he had lost during his rise to power.

The more he progressed in his life and career, the further he moved away from what he used to be all the way back when he started out as a mech designer.

Whether it was because of the flavor or because of a mysterious drug mixed into the drink, Ves couldn't help back but think back to simpler times when he was just an ordinary third-rater trying to pursue a career in the mech industry after finding out he did not possess the right genetic aptitude to pilot mechs.

It was surprisingly difficult for him to recall specific memories. He could still recall specific names and events, but he had lost his comprehension of how he was able to enjoy the simple pleasures in his life.

Somewhere along the way, he had lost the ability to feel and think like an ordinary civilian.

For better or worse, Ves shared more in common with the elites that truly held all of the power in human society. It was a depressing conclusion, but one that could not be denied.

As his expression grew more mixed, the Web Mistress took one last sip of her cup before she carefully set it down.

The cup disintegrated as if it never existed.

So did the cup that he previously held in his hand.

"Wait, what?"

The cup did not disappear due to a fancy technological effect. The cup simply faded from his perception as if it never existed.

A frightening guess entered his mind.

"Was it all an illusion?"

"You can think so, Ves."

He shuddered. There was absolutely no reason for a high-and-mighty Star Designer to respond with a lie, which meant it must be true.

He never realized that the entire cup of tea was false.

In hindsight, he should have accounted for this possibility.

The cups floated in despite not passing through most of the empty chamber.

Ves did not sense the phasewater in his first sip because this particular illusion had yet to become active at that point.

It seemed implausible that a non-transphasic cup was able to completely stop the spatial instability of a liquid that contained a phasewater concentration that hovered around 10 percent.

When Ves took his second sip, he should have monitored his body more closely and determined whether he was actually putting more phasewater in his true body.

He should have done all of that if he was sharper and more attentive, but he clearly did not. The Star Designer managed to deceive his senses because he never expected her to pull a fast one!

A part of Ves felt betrayed. Why would a Star Designer as distinguished as the Web Mistress torment him with a falsehood? Did she possess a hidden sadistic streak? That should not be the case.

Ves did not intend to fall for a deception like this again. He rapidly sharpened his resolve and fully put up his guard this time.

He no longer considered this private audience to be an amicable gathering.

He viewed the Web Mistress with the same kind of attitude that he ordinarily reserved for the likes of the Polymath and the Xenotechnician.

"This is my first lesson to you." The female Star Designer calmly spoke as if she had done him a favor. "Everything and everyone living in this universe is connected to each other. The threads that connect us to each other may be invisible and unnoticeable to the vast majority of people including you, but that does not change the reality that they exist. Those with the right power or insight can alter the interaction between two different elements."

Ves wanted to scratch his head. "How does that relate to you fooling my senses into thinking that I was actually holding a cup of phasewater-infused tea and drinking from it? You can't form a connection with nothing."

"The cup of tea is not false. It already existed in my imagination. It gained definition in your perception as soon as I wove a thread between this imaginary cup and yourself."

Was that even possible?!

The illusion was far too realistic!

Ves had never heard of a method of fooling people by connecting a figment of your own imagination to the intended target!

This was an incredibly powerful ability when used at the right moments!

He shuddered again. He had underestimated what Star Designers and the Web Mistress in particular was capable of. He assumed that if she had any powers, it would mostly be supportive in nature, just like her signature innovations.

It turned out that he was wrong.

Though the atmosphere in the large and mostly empty chamber had cooled, the Web Mistress maintained her regal but not unfriendly demeanor.

Ves did not think she posed a threat against him, but it was hard for him to trust in her goodwill after the stunt she pulled off. Why would she do such a thing?

The Star Designer ignored his confusion and continued to control the conversation.

"You came here in order to use up one of the favors that you have accrued. That you have chosen to meet with myself rather than any other god pilot of Star Designer indicates that your requests are at least partially related to your work on your own networks. As the inventor of 'kinship networks', you likely find yourself lost and unable to understand how to improve them further. That concerns you. In your opinion, the Larkinson Network that is responsible for giving your clan its unique identity and uncommonly strong unity is flawed, outdated, rudimentary and most of all vulnerable against malcontents."

Well, Ves should not be surprised that a Star Designer managed to deduce a part of his motives from those clues.

"You are right, Your Excellency. I have more requests than that, but the vulnerability of the Larkinson Network is indeed one of my chief concerns. I would like to ask you whether you can help me strengthen it so that it cannot easily be assailed by enemies."

The Web Mistress remained silent for a dozen seconds before slowly tilting her head.

"The bonds that tie us all together are only weak if we believe it so. If you have genuine faith in the strength of your clansmen and the brotherhood that they have developed, then your enemies shall not easily be able to harm them. Even if your Larkinson Network collapses, it should not fundamentally change how much your Larkinsons already trust and respect each other."

Ves frowned. "Are you telling me… my clan and I have been using our kinship as a crutch?"

"You ask me a question when you already know the answer in your heart."

She was right.

He tried to object to her accusation, but he could not because he knew that she made a valid point.

The Larkinson Network was the glue that enabled the Larkinson Clan to rapidly integrate a large number of new members without worrying too much about double loyalties and treacherous mindsets.

Yet as the clan continued to grow past the point where it needed to rely on this measure to ensure internal stability, the Larkinsons still clung onto their connections to the Golden Cat as if it was their lifeline.

What would happen if the Larkinson Clan suddenly lost its Larkinson Network?

The short-term consequences would be pretty severe as a lot of Larkinsons would become disorientated and distrustful to those who they cannot sense any latent sense of brotherhood anymore.

Yet Ves believed that as long as the Larkinsons took stock of the situation and got used to interacting with other people like they did in the past, their acquired Larkinson identities should be enough to bind them together again.

He was rather optimistic about this because the Larkinsons had forged an identity and built up a brand name in the short time his clan became active.

Just like how the Terrans and the Rubarthans were able to inspire a strong sense of loyalty among their fellow people, the Larkinsons should also be able to maintain their strong culture and distinct identity through wealth and woe!

Once Ves made this realization, he looked at the Web Mistress' statement in a different light.

He bent his head towards her in respect. "I appreciate this lesson. It is one that I needed to learn."

"Good."

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