The Mech Touch (Web Novel)-Chapter 6882 Kid at Heart

A little boy squealed and enthusiastically clapped his hands as he sat on his mother's lap.

"That's it! That's the juggernaut that I want to make! It looks so cool!"

Perhaps the sketch made by Ves did not exactly match Marvaine's vision, but it conveyed his idea so good that the differences didn't matter to the boy.

Ves had to admit that the notion of an FTL travel-capable biojuggernaut with the power to conquer entire planets — or wipe out all signs of life and civilizations on their surfaces — appealed to him in a savage manner.

This was far more power than any mech outside a god mech could ever hope to wield.

This was a complete reimagining of what mechs should be. The biojuggernaut had moved from a powerful tactical weapon into a powerful if ludicrously expensive strategic weapon.

In an ideal situation, Ves could see how the biojuggernaut could work. It was best if it could be employed against enemies that possessed vast territories, but lacked the armed forces to defend the entire stretch..

As long as the native aliens had expended much of their warships and no longer had enough left to defend all of their star systems, these biojuggernauts could easily take advantage of the gaps in the defenses and cripple large swathes of planets that were part of the enemy infrastructure.

However, as powerful as this biological terror may be, the difficulty of realizing it was too great.

"Marvaine." Ves spoke, causing his son to interrupt his little celebration. "Your idea is bold and imaginative. I like that. You are one of the few people who is brave enough to push the boundaries of what mechs are supposed to be. Far too many people insist on a narrow definition of mechs and outright refuse to open their eyes to what can be done with technology. You should try your best to hold on to this quality of yours. You will go far if you leverage your imagination in your career as a mech designer."

Marvaine beamed as Ves showered him with gentle praise.

"However, there are good reasons why not a single mech designer has made a serious attempt at realizing your vision." The father continued. "Money does not grow on trees. Our clan may be wealthy compared to many others, but we do not have the resources and infrastructure to tackle such an ambitious project. Juggernauts are enormous and require a disproportionate amount of manpower, resources and time to develop. Biojuggernauts impose even greater demands. Trying to merge organic monstrosity with a World Tree Seed raises the requirements so much that few groups have the resources and facilities that are necessary to develop such a work."

His son was not stupid. From the moment Ves pointed out the cost issue, the boy finally recognized the problem.

"Your father is right, my boy." Gloriana said. "A mech concept that is powerful but prohibitively expensive and difficult to make is not a viable product. It is a wish fulfillment fantasy. World Tree Seeds are weapons of mass destruction that cannot be produced through conventional means. Trying to grow them is costly and difficult. Attempting to combine them with biojuggernauts introduces so much complexity that our clan simply cannot realize this vision of yours. As a Mekanos designer, you should understand that more complicated Mekanos are more difficult to build. The same applies to real mechs."

Marvaine grew glum when his mother criticized his idea. "I thought it would be okay since our clan has already grown so much. Won't it be bigger a few decades from now?"

His mother shook her head. "You should learn how to walk before you learn how to run. A concept as ambitious as yours is what mech designers only dare to tackle when they are already Master Mech Designers or Star Designers. Until you have reached that point, it is better if you confine your ambitions to more modest targets. It is already extravagant enough for you to invest your time in developing ordinary juggernauts. Your father and I are still willing to support you if you want to specialize in juggernaut design, but we cannot guarantee it. Our society needs to remain strong and our clan must have a solid foothold in it to support your ambitious and costly endeavor."

As much as Gloriana liked to spend her time on designing quasi-first-class or first-class mechs, even she started off with designing more modest products.

Every mech designer needed to know the limits first.

It was not a good idea to give a mech designer an unlimited budget and access to every luxurious facility imaginable.

The mech designer needed to earn the right to tackle greater projects.

Marvaine looked glum. "So if I want to design juggernauts, I have to design the more basic ones first?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Ves responded. "You need to learn how to design mechs before you tackle their bigger cousins. Becoming proficient in mech design will teach you to be more frugal in using up the capacity of a machine. Only when you have become accustomed to treating every spare capacity with respect will you be ready to design a juggernaut. You should start off at a relatively modest size before gradually working your way up. Designing a juggernaut that is half a kilometer tall is too big of a design project for you to tackle right at the start."

This should be the proper trajectory to becoming proficient in juggernaut design. If Marvaine skipped out on mech design and worked on juggernauts directly, then he would miss out on way too many necessary lessons related to good design.

Juggernauts were large and massive. They could tolerate a lot more mistakes and shortcomings than smaller and flimsier mechs. They were bad choices to start with as a mech designer would learn plenty of bad habits while working on these giant machines.

Ves and Gloriana continued to cuddle with their son while gently guiding his thoughts and ambitions.

Much of their original plans for their children went into flux as red humanity continued to undergo a lot of upheaval.

The parents deeply hoped that a semblance of human civilization would still be able to survive the alien aggression. It would be much harder for Marvaine to become a qualified mech designer when the mech community had collapsed.

After Marvaine grew tired, his father and mother put him to bed.

Their minds remained fixated on the extravagant juggernaut concept proposed by their son.

"You are still thinking about it." Gloriana stated as she stared at her husband.

Both of them had retired to a living room on the upper floor. The windows granted them a good view of Diandi Base and the surrounding plains and forest beneath the night sky.

As Ves looked up in the stars lighting up the night, he wondered which ones were currently under siege by the native aliens.

With each passing night, a handful of stars may have fallen into enemy hands. The alien invaders would soon move on and threaten other stars.

A future might come to pass where almost every single star in the night sky had either been razed into ruin or completely come under the possession of the native alien races.

Ves obviously did not want such a future to come to pass. He needed to work hard in order to help red humanity survive the current crisis, but he was not sure whether regular measures could make enough of a difference.

That was why he had turned his attention to more unusual ideas.

"While Marvaine is rather silly for thinking that he can fully realize his terraforming biojuggernaut concept by himself, it is not as difficult to transform a World Tree Seed into such a machine. The resources are already in place and the hardest part is already over. We just need to find a way to turn it into a functional biojuggernaut without losing all of its original capabilities."

"..."

"What is it, Gloriana?"

"Are you serious? Are you truly thinking about converting a weapon of mass destruction into a pilotable biomachine?"

Ves smiled back. "It may sound a little dubious when you mention it like that, but it is not as crazy as it sounds. The Larkinson Biotech Institute has been struggling in their attempts to figure out the second-generation World Tree Seed that is in our possession. The biotech researchers are still too far away from trying to convert it into a more sustainable seed that doesn't degrade with every use. If we can't achieve our goal through conventional means, then maybe we will have better luck when resorting to unconventional means."

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His wife thought for a moment. She soon deduced what Ves had in mind.

"You want to convert the World Tree Seed into a living 'mech'." She guessed. "You want to do this because a sentient World Tree Seed has unparalleled control over its incredibly complicated internal structure. A living seed not only has the power to understand its own condition, but it also has the ego that is needed to defy its original programming and change itself to priotize self-preservation. If you can truly convert it into a functional biojuggernaut, then it will be able to enjoy all of the advantages of being a World Tree Seed while also possessing the ability to grow and evolve."

Ves grinned. "All of that sounds great, right? Why not try to convert it into a living biojuggernaut? If we have this wonder weapon in our possession, we can conquer any hostile star system! Better yet, we can convert the resources of a planet that was previously occupied by enemy aliens to produce enough forces to launch attacks to all neighboring star systems!"

"...You are just as silly and childish as our son, do you know that? Marvaine clearly inherited his madness from you. Have you forgotten about the speeches we made about the impractical nature of his idea? You are making the exact same mistake! At least our son can excuse his shortcomings due to his young and tender age. You are not allowed to resort to the same excuse!"

Ves crossed his arms. "I am not being unrealistic, honey. I understand your skepticism, but you need to follow the same advice that you have given our son. What is real and possible is much wider than you think. Even if we don't have a thorough understanding of the World Tree Seed, I still think it is within our means to convert it into a biojuggernaut of sorts. Everything will work out so long as I can complete the crucial transformation into a living biomachine. At worst, we can rely on external assistance to complete this transformation."

He could still offer plenty of concessions to the Devos Ancient Clan. He could also approach the Streon Ancient Clan for assistance.

The Red Association should also be willing to assist. He still had a few precious favors in reserve that allowed him to make 'minor' requests to Star Designers. Even if none of them specialized in biotechnology, they should still know enough to provide valuable help in converting a World Tree Seed into a biojuggernaut.

However, Ves would not be able to claim credit for such an accomplishment. He wanted to turn this wonder weapon into his own creation, but doing so required him to complete the most essential technological breakthroughs by himself.

A part of him felt that he needed this. Depending on outside help was okay, but if he wanted to reap the greatest benefits, he had to treat this like a personal passion project. Only by doing this properly would he be able to reap the greatest rewards.

Seeing how Ves still remained serious about this idea, his wife let out an exasperated breath.

"...You truly are a kid at heart."

"I view that as a compliment rather than an insult."

"That is the exact opposite of what I want."