Chapter 6419 Zooming Out

Chapter 6419 Zooming Out

Ves and Admiral Chelsea Mieli did not negotiate for too long.

One of the issues that hindered them from going too much into detail was that neither of them knew how much actual decision-making power Ves would gain over the RC. Since all of this remained unclear, the secret agreement that Ves drafted with Admiral Mielie would remain mostly informal until he gained the authority needed to put it into

action.

Still, it was quite advantageous for Ves to form an understanding with the Red Fleet. The distance between him and the fleeters instantly became reduced now that he had shown his willingness to cooperate with the RF and vice versa.

Aside from trying to negotiate more benefits for the RF, Ves also made sure to convince the fleeters to give him and the Larkinson Clan additional... privileges.

This would work out in various ways, from the Larkinsons being able to earn Warship Tokens with less effort to obtaining more technical support when developing new warships.

The fleeters, or at least the reformers among them, would naturally get what they wanted as well.

No matter what position Ves attained in the Red Collective, he would use his authority and his political capital to strive for greater cooperation with the Red Fleet.

Making sure that the RC established the so-called 'Artifact Warship Department' was the minimum requirement that Ves had to meet in order to unlock subsequent forms of cooperation.

If he was not able to accomplish this basic demand, then the fleeters would no longer deem him qualified to work together.

All in all, Ves and the reformers among the Red Fleet shared enough goals in common to forge a promising alliance.

Even if this cooperation contradicted the interests of the Red Association, Ves didn't care. He appreciated the mechers, but not enough to consider himself to be a part of their ilk. That made his dealings with the fleeters more important. Only when he was able to take advantage of both groups and play them against each other would he be able to maintain a state of relative independence.

As Ves shook Admiral Mieli's flawless hand, he made one additional inquiry.

"By the way, I have heard that Captain Zonrad Reze is being considered for promotion at the moment."

The woman looked slightly surprised that he would bring this topic up. "That is true. Captain Reze is one of my subordinates, so I am well aware of his case. He has made invaluable contributions, but he has also acted less than properly, and not only once.

That caused Gavin to pause and stare directly at Ves. "You do care, right? Have you lost your empathy somewhere during your attempt to climb up the ladder?"

That was not a simple question to answer. Ves initially wanted to brush off this question by telling Gavin what he wanted to hear, but it would be unfair and unwise to act dismissively towards a trusted advisor and confidante.

Ves briefly thought about how his thinking towards the common folk had changed over the years.

"I think... I am becoming more like the high-and-mighty figures that I used to curse back when I was a simple Apprentice or Journeyman." He honestly admitted. "I think this is an unstoppable trend. The higher I climb, the more responsibilities I assume. I am no longer charged with the protection of just my clan. I also hold a lot of responsibility towards our entire civilization. When you constantly have to think about how my actions affect the wellbeing of an entire population, it is very hard for me to care or spend any moment of my time on the plight of individual citizens."

"So you have lost perspective."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that, Gavin. A better way to describe it is that my perspective has zoomed out. I have given up on caring about individual citizens, but have gained a lot more perspective towards the overall state and wellbeing of humanity as a whole. I do not think this is a bad trade as I can do a lot of good stuff that can benefit our entire race. The release of my Carmine mechs is a fantastic example of this. I can still improve the lives of ordinary people through my work. I just work at an entirely different scale

nowadays."

His assistant thought over Ves' words. "I understand what you mean. As your assistant, I am also faced with similar issues. The messages that I pass on to you can change the course of history by influencing your perception and decision-making. It is not easy to hold this responsibility, especially after my most recent augmentation. It takes much more conscious effort to remind me that real people become affected by my work."

Ves shrugged. "Enough about this. Let's get back to business. I can understand the need for publicity stunts, but we also need to meet with the representatives of important stakeholders. I have already won the fleeters, or at least a faction of them, over to my side. I should also meet with other groups. At the very least, I need to meet with a representative of the Hunting Association before the date of the founding ceremony. Has there been any progress with arranging a meeting with those hunting addicts?"

"I do not think it is wise to speak of the Hunters in disparaging terms, boss. As for a meeting, I have successfully managed to arrange a relatively short appointment with a vice director of the regional headquarters of the HA after serious difficulty. The HA is not too enthused about opening up a dialogue with you at the moment." "The Hunters are probably annoyed at my incessant complaints about their ambivalent stance towards the Red Collective. They probably know that. I want to meet with them in order to find a resolution to this ongoing issue."

"You do know that they will not bow down to you, right?" Gavin asked. "The Hunting Association has the backing of a powerful god pilot. It does not need to rely on any other shelter in order to do well. As long as the Hunters have no strong incentive to submit to the Red Collective, they will continue to act on their own regardless of what we think." Ves briefly frowned. "Don't rule me out yet. I just need to talk to someone important enough within the Hunting Association to gain a chance to turn this situation around. Now that I am fresh off my latest product reveal, the Hunters should have a considerably higher respect towards me than before. As far as I know, many Hunters are norms who can only effectively enjoy their hunts by relying on their bodies and personal equipment alone. Now that they can pilot Carmine mechs, a lot more Hunters can tackle the biggest and most prestigious prey. They should owe a lot of gratitude towards me for giving

them this gift."

Ves needed to enter the Hunting Association's headquarters and personally gauge people's gratitude towards him. The more they respected and admired him for giving them a way to pilot a real mech, the more leverage he obtained!

This should at least soften the estrangement between Ves and the Hunting Association and open up tentative new possibilities for cooperation where there was previously

none.

As much as the Hunters revered the beliefs of the Huntsman, the god pilot was not the one that bestowed them with the capacity to pilot Carmine mechs. Ves was the person responsible for bestowing them with this precious gift! The implication here was that Ves should deserve the same respect as the Huntsman!