Chapter 6947: 5.1 Percent |
"The Larkinson Clan is undergoing a leadership transition!"
"Did something happen to our patriarch?!"
"What is wrong with the Larkinsons? Why is Patriarch Ves Larkinson resigning from his post? This is one of the worst times to enact such a massive change! This only makes sense if the Larkinsons have decided that he is completely unsuited to lead them through these turbulent times."
"An election in two weeks? That is too soon! Our clan has never held such an important election in the past! Do you know how much of an organizational nightmare it is to check all of the necessary boxes in so little time!?"
The news came as a shock to the Larkinson Clan and other parties!
Suffice to say, nobody expected the Larkinsons to hold an election to replace the current patriarch.
Plenty of parties quickly inquired whether Ves Larkinson was still alive and well. While his office replied that he was still alive and in good condition, the staffers declined to mention the reason for his abrupt decision to resign from the highest seat of the Larkinson Clan.
The lack of answers confounded everyone. Only a small circle knew the true reason why Ves needed to distance himself from such an important position.
The news about his possible compromised state would leak out sooner or later. Ves and the others never held any expectation that it would stay a secret for long.
Right now, the leadership of the Larkinson Clan had been making decisions out of haste. They only saw a single instance of Ves going out of control before immediately deciding to replace him as their leader!
If Ves hadn't personally set the rules and contingency plans relating to this issue, he would have assumed that his own clansmen were plotting to commit a bloodless coup!
As it was, Ves did not resist the current initiative because he would have made the same decisions if he was in their place.
An organization should never tolerate a leader who could no longer guarantee that he could diligently and unswervingly serve the interests of his constituents.
If Ves truly cared about the Larkinson Clan, then he would never subject it to incompetent or unreliable leadership.
It was pure selfishness if he insisted on remaining in charge.
He would only tarnish his legacy and harm his fellow Larkinsons if he tried to cling to power like a failing despot.
In any case, after the conclusion of the meeting that decided how to approach the succession of the Larkinson Clan, Ves decided to get to the bottom of his current issue.
After contacting the recently arrived representatives of the Red Collective, he moved to the medical bay of the Moloch in order to thoroughly examine his altered condition.
The flagship of the Moloch Squadron may be on the smaller side, but she possessed numerous facilities that especially catered to cultivators.
The medical instruments over there provided greater help when examining cultivators of many varieties. They were even able to gather greater information about human phase lords, though not as much as everyone hoped.
Ves had taken a measured risk by turning to the resident members of the Red Collective for help.
He did not think his own clan could provide significant assistance in solving his current problem.
The Larkinson Biotech Institute was way over its head when it came to dealing with phase lord matters.
While the Phase Lord Department should be able to provide the greatest amount of assistance, its lack of cooperation with the rest of the Red Collective put its reliability into question.
The abundance of human phase lords over there who may have made the other decision when confronted by the same dilemma caused Ves to distrust this increasingly more infamous department even more!
There were still clear risks when it came to entrusting the other departments of the Red Collective with information about his… condition… but who else could he turn to for assistance?
Unless he was determined to address this problem by himself, he needed to seek out experts who could cover the gaps in his own understanding.
Formation Master Andrea Vos, Vice Director Maria Abselon and Professor Vector Loban presided over several teams of biotech experts and other specialists.
They all crowded in the control rooms and meticulously studied the sensor readings.
For safety reasons, Saint Dise and the First Sword Mark III stood close at hand. While the mech was not able to enter the medical bay due to size restrictions, the Moloch was nonetheless able to displace a sword fey directly into the compartment, though the light cruiser's teleportation system endured far greater stress than usual.
With these tentative safety measures in place, Ves voluntarily allowed himself to get poked and prodded.
He maintained his most compact human form throughout this entire ordeal. Although that would have made it a lot more difficult to scan his true body in full, Ves did not want his alter ego to suddenly pop up and start a fight deep inside the hull of the Moloch.
That was why the superdimensional sword fey literally hovered over his body like the sword of Damocles. Its appearance alone should be sufficient to deter any unhealthy thoughts.
Fortunately, Ves' second personality did not emerge throughout the entire examination. He remained so stable and in control over himself that he began to entertain doubts whether his problem still existed.
"So what did you find out?" Ves asked.
"The concentration of phasewater in your blood has increased from 3.8 percent to 5.1 percent." Vector Loban said. "This might not sound impressive, but it represents an abrupt increase of more than 34 percent in a very short span of time. According to our instruments, your true body has reached a height that is roughly 5 times as tall as a typical mech, which is up from 3 times. You are actually significantly taller than you appeared during the recent assassination attempt."
Ves furrowed his brows. "That is a lot of extra phasewater. Have you confirmed that there is no phasewater missing from our vaults and other storage sites?"
"No one has detected any theft or unexplained transfers of phasewater, Ves. According to the data logs of the implantation surgery, your body spontaneously obtained more phasewater from an unknown source. It is… perplexing. It is as if a mysterious benefactor lurking in a hidden dimension periodically injected a generous quantity of phasewater into your true body right after the integration of every phasewater organ. If your heavenly authority theory is accurate, then that is the most probable culprit behind this unsolicited upgrade."
It was clear that not everyone could bring themselves to believe that the Red Ocean was alive and intelligent to an extent.
Although there were a lot of ancient sources that claimed that the heavens possessed their own personalities, people had yet to encounter solid proof that could corroborate those descriptions.
Ves knew that the galaxies were most definitely alive, but it was difficult for him to translate his personal experiences into convincing proof. His claims could only be regarded as hearsay in the scientific community.
"Any other findings?"
"Your phasewater organs have settled in nicely in your true body." Maria Abselon replied. "You can rest assured that none of them have provoked any rejection reactions. In fact, their integration is much more thorough than we expected. Are you experiencing any pain or discomfort in your torso?"
"No."
"That is a sign of perfect or near-perfect organ integration, sir. Pain is a signal. Its absence means that it is less likely for you to experience any problems with assimilating your new organs. That is actually more optimistic than we hoped. We are still new at developing phasewater organs and integrating them into the true body of a human phase lord. It is normal to expect complications to arise from experimental treatments and procedures. We can only attribute the lack of problems from the invisible influence of a third party."
That was actually quite an alarming conclusion. Her words implied that every procedure related to human phase lords may secretly be affected by the heavenly authority of the Red Ocean or a similar high-level entity!
After Ves asked a few more questions about his new physiological state, it was finally time to address the elephant in the room.
"What have you found out about my second personality?"
"Not much, as we have yet to complete our examination." Maria Abselon spoke first. "According to one of your theories, we need to observe you as you unleash your true body as a phase lord. You must deliberately bring out your 'second personality' under controlled conditions so that we can examine your physical condition under this abnormal state. We are also looking forward to interviewing your other self. We are sorely lacking in information and we do not have access to reliable sources. The best way for us to obtain the answers to some of our questions is to confront the problem rather than study it from an oblique angle. I am sure you understand what I mean."
As a mech designer and a scientist himself, Ves knew what she meant. It was often better for a researcher to gather primary data rather than rely on secondary or tertiary data obtained through other sources.
The obvious problem with this proposal was that Ves would put himself at risk by letting his second personality come out to play!
What if his other self wanted to stay and refused to relinquish control over his body back to its rightful owner?
Perhaps the only way to force his alter ego to retreat was to beat him into submission!
Still, Ves himself could not stand the fact that he knew so little about what was going on with his phase lord cultivation. He urgently needed answers. The only way he could obtain them was by taking a calculated risk.
"Fine." He said. "I take it that you don't want me to unveil my true body and bring out my other self in this cramped medical bay."
"We are already in the process of converting the interior of an asteroid into a somewhat secure and private testing site. It is not an ideal location to conduct this test, but it is the best we can obtain on short notice. We have made sure to inspect the surroundings and minimize the angles of attack."
They moved to the new testing site. The entire Premier Fleet and Bluejay Fleet mobilized to secure the section of the asteroid belt and prevent any repeat of the earlier surprise attack from occurring again.
For safety reasons, the armed forces of the Devos Ancient Clan remained absent.
The Devosans had already shown that they lacked control over their own assets. They had already locked down the orbital defense platform that had launched a superdimensional projectile without authorization.
Unfortunately, the inspectors that examined the compromised defensive platform found no answers. The party responsible for subverting its systems had left no discernable trail.
To be honest, Ves did not expect the investigations to bear any fruit. The masterminds behind the latest attack on his person were so high-level that their agents would never make any stupid mistakes. It would be a surprise if they left any clues behind that could enable the Larkinsons to identify the culprits behind the assassination attempt.
That did not mean the Larkinsons intended to give up so easily. The Black Cats and the other arms of the Larkinson Clan initiated their own investigations.
There were not that many parties that had managed to get their hands on the most exclusive weapon-grade superdimensional matter. The Larkinsons might as well try their luck and investigate each of them to find out whether they were up to no good.