The Mech Touch

Chapter 6940  Not Gone

When Ves finally managed to leave the tribulation or whatever it was, he immediately noticed that a significant amount of time had passed in reality.

All without his notice.

That was not necessarily alarming in itself.

What truly alarmed him was that his true body did not remain still during this interval of time!

The fact that he was standing and looking as if he had just beaten a few enemies with his newfound size and strength meant that someone other than himself had driven his true body!

Another observation that alarmed him was that the underground facility clearly suffered an attack.

Not only did a massive impact crush the ceiling and all of the floors above this chamber, but the mechs that previously stood guard all looked like they had completed a short scrap!

Many of the Dracoloids and Omega Threshers showed clear signs of struggle. The muzzles of their firearms were still smoking while their melee armaments were still stained with dark residue.

Not all of them had incurred damage, but the enemies they fought against couldn't have been weak.

One Omega Thresher conspicuously lost its arm. Ves was not sure whether he picked up the limb from the ground or tore it out directly.

What also stood out to Ves was that there were no obvious enemies in sight. He could not spot any debris or corpses belonging to hostile mechs, phase lords or other types of enemies.

The only incongruent signs were the splotchy dark marks that were splattered across the walls and floor.

From the way these dark splotches began to fade by the second, Ves came up with the guess that they may have been the residue left by the attacking party!

As for why they had not left any bodies behind, perhaps their forms were not that solid in the first place.

He could not imagine how physical enemies could sneak their way into the operation chamber when there were hundreds of mechs as well as two ace pilots on guard!

Ves quickly directed his attention towards the First Sword Mark III and the Minerva Mark II.

Both mechs had clearly been active.

The superdimensional mech still held out her greatsword. The powerful cutting edge still bore fading dark stains.

The Minerva Mark II held out her Irvan rifle in submachine gun form. The slight signs of heat emanating from the weapon showed that it had been firing intensely not too long ago.

The surrounding mechs had also been Commandeered and Enfeoffed. The Saint Commander had yet to relieve them from their current empowered states.

She feared that even if the original attackers had left, other enemies might see the defenders in disarray and feel tempted to launch their own strike!

Fortunately, nothing happened.

A strange sense of quiet ensued even as Ves kept his body locked and frozen in a strange stance.

Ves would have been able to cope with all of this, but the problem was that he still did not have control over his true body!

What was worse was that his connections to his incarnations also remained dampened!

Ves was unable to communicate with anyone as he remained stuck as prisoners of his own true body!

Just as Ves hoped that Blinky would detect that his current condition was iffy and intervene if necessary.

His true body began to move by itself. It smirked before dropping the mech arm.

He then proceeded to fold his true body, causing it to shrink in size.

This was where Ves slowly regained control over his body.

The smaller he became, the more his tether to his true body returned.

It was as if Ves only earned back control over his body when it had shrunk into its visually weak and human form!

Ves had no clue why this was the case, and he had little interest in figuring out the reasons.

He just felt reassured that his previous state was not permanent. He had been incredibly afraid that his response during the strange tribulation event may have caused him to turn into a prisoner inside his own body!

He felt so pleased that the worst case scenario did not come to pass that he had overlooked how tense everyone had become!

From their perspective, they had just fended off a brief but dangerous attack!

"...Sir! Sir! Please board the shuttle. We must take you back to safety right away."

Ves blinked. He shook his head and tried his best to restore his awareness of the present.

Even when he had regained control over his body, he still had not recovered from his previous experiences. He still exhibited a certain degree of disconnect from reality.

"Sorry." He said. "I need rest. Please take me away. I trust in your judgment."

He followed his Larkinson bodyguards into an armored shuttle that had flown through the gap and hovered right above the debris-filled floor.

Ves noted that his usual escort of Apocalypse Wardens were absent this time.

The Larkinsons must have grown paranoid to the point of driving away anyone who was not a formal member of their clan.

Wise decision.

The First Sword Mark III remained close at hand and made sure to cover the shuttle and everyone inside with her Saint Kingdom.

The sharp and prickly sensations made everyone uncomfortable. Saint Dise clearly remained in an agitated state.

Despite gaining control over a powerful superdimensional ace mech, she failed to eliminate the threat right away!

This told Ves a lot about the enemies that appeared. They had to be formidable in their own way if they were able to keep the superdimensional ace mech at bay even for a short amount of time.

After Ves got hustled into the armored shuttle, he strapped himself down onto a seat.

He could feel the vehicle beginning to move. His new phasewater organs was able to track motion a lot better than before, so he could clearly feel the shuttle did not ascend all that much, but remained low to the ground.

That was a good choice. It was not wise to ascend too high in the face of unknown enemies. Who knew whether there were enemy ranged mechs lurking in the distance that were just waiting to snipe down a shuttle that was in the process of flying up into orbit.

As the shuttle presumably moved to a secure base located elsewhere on New Constantinople VIII, Ves continued his efforts to restore his composure and figure out what happened.

"Meow!"

He finally noticed that Lucky had planted himself on his lap and looked up at him with concern.

"Hey, buddy. I'm okay now. You don't need to worry. I am still the same old Ves." He said as he stroked the gem cat's metallic back.

This was clearly not the time to be inquisitive, so he stayed quiet while continuing to scope out the current situation.

From the urgency exhibited by his guards, they were clearly worried about encountering threats, but they were not too alarmed about what happened.

The previous enemies had pushed them onto their toes, but shouldn't have been strong enough to overwhelm them outright.

It was already quite concerning that the mystery enemies managed to hold back an ace swordsman mech as well as an ace command mech, but then again the pair were so strong that overpowering them was easier said than done.

Ves inspected his body for any discordant signs. He did not notice anything obviously amiss.

While he was aware that his true body had grown larger and that he had gained several brand-new phasewater organs, he personally did not experience any lingering pain or discordancy.

It was as if he already had this body.

Yet… Ves could not forget about the alter-ego that had not only spoken to him, but also controlled his true body while it remained in an unfolded state!

Ves had a very strong feeling that his other self hadn't disappeared. He could not sense its existence, but his intuition and logic told him that it was lurking and waiting to make a return.

He already had a pretty good guess on how he could bring his other self back.

Since it initially emerged during a tribulation triggered by the upgrades to his phase lord body, Ves guessed that his other self would return once he unfolded his true body again!

After all, he only managed to restore his original self when he shrunk back down to human size.

"How troublesome."

Suffice to say, Ves was not pleased at all with the prospect of acquiring an unwanted guest.

It could potentially take over his true body at any time, and not just when he unfolded his physical form.

Was this a punishment for failing to pass the tribulation event?

While he only briefly talked with his other self, Ves already made the judgment that his alternate personality possessed alarming traits.

From embracing the identity of a god to showing contempt towards the masses, the newest aspect of himself was clearly not reflective of his true self!

Ves refused to consider the possibility that it may be a repressed part of himself. That sounded way too juvenile and convenient of an explanation.

Nobody attempted to talk to him. Ves knew that he would only receive a briefing once he was brought to a secure location.

He also suspected that his behavior during the brief but violent incident may have triggered a few alarms about whether he was still the same Ves.

The Larkinsons should have been busy with trying to verify his identity.

He did not feel concerned. He had returned to his old self. Not only did he regain full connection to his incarnations, he also felt the reassuring warmth of the Golden Cat.

Still, the Larkinsons may still harbor concerns if his other self had not truly gone away.

Ves did not like the fact that he had become partially compromised.

This could turn into a massive and persistent problem if he couldn't get rid of this alternate personality!

As time passed by, the shuttle eventually reached its destination.

Ves did not look surprised that they ended up inside Diandi Base again. It was the only secure facility that was entirely in control of the Larkinson Clan.

While the Devos Ancient Clan had built much more secure fortifications across the planet, the Larkinson Clan had no jurisdiction over these sites.

The previous assassination attempt made it difficult for the Larkinson Clan to trust third parties.

It was much safer to reduce the risks as much as possible by driving away all uncontrollable variables.

The interior of Diandi Base looked a lot emptier than before. The Larkinsons had already moved a lot of furniture and hardware to the Tortuous Scream and the Vulcan's Glory in orbit.

Fortunately, the medical center still retained enough instruments to conduct a fairly thorough check on his body.

With the First Sword Mark III and the Minerva Mark II continuing to stand in the main corridor that was large enough to accommodate mechs, Ves could feel their domain fields scrutinizing him in detail.

It felt as if Dise and Casella were utilizing their domain fields to conduct a carpet search. Ves felt awfully exposed for this reason. The two women did not hold back in the slightest!

Ves made an awkward cough. "Can we talk now, ladies? Whatever happened back then, it's over now. Look, I'm fine at the moment. Even Lucky recognizes that I am myself again."

"Meow." The gem cat vouched.

A short pause ensued before the Saint Commander transmitted her response.

"So you say. Please forgive us for maintaining the necessary amount of vigilance. Not only did we suffer a massive security breach, we also fought against a strong group of aliens from a race that we have never known about or encountered in the past. We had no idea that such aliens had been lurking in the Red Ocean all of this time. They have demonstrated abilities that carry disturbing implications. Yet it is not the mystery attackers that concern us the most."

"...It's me you're worried about, right?" Ves asked in a resigned tone.

"I am afraid so, sir."