The Mech Touch

In fact, Ves was 100 percent certain that the MTA had already taken plenty of snapshots and recordings of Blinky in his present time. He hadn't been particularly diligent in keeping his other self a secret. 

Besides, Ves had formally exposed the details of his companion spirits to the mechers in order to further his cooperation with the factions he was friendly with. It was futile trying to hide many secrets from the MTA, so he thought it was better to proactively offer them up in exchange for tangible benefits.

Jovy Armalon was already happily testing out his Eye of Providence on behalf of the Association. As long as the mechers confirmed that companion spirits were highly beneficial to their recipients, the mechers would probably embrace them on a wider scale.

This meant that from the moment Ves exposed Blinky to Irene Mox of the past, the god pilot known as the Destroyer of Worlds would definitely be able to track him down and figure out the connection between himself and what happened to her on Korinna V!

This was a dangerous move. Ves could land himself in a huge amount of trouble by showing off Blinky in two completely different locations and time periods.

Combined with the fact that the MTA likely found out that Blinky was Ves' companion spirit, an individual who had access to all of these clues may form all kinds of strange and unusual conclusions!

God pilots were known to merge with their god mechs, so their intelligence had definitely skyrocketed. There was no way that such a powerful human deity would be ignorant enough to miss all of these details.

Even so, Ves boldly proceeded to expose a select amount of information to a woman who would eventually evolve into one of the strongest human heroes alive.

Since he had already made the decision to break his earlier policy of non-interference and actively meddle with the events of the past, he might as well go all the way and maximize his gains!

Using Venerable Irene Mox as a medium to obtain another powerful backer his present time sounded like an incredibly dangerous but also incredibly rewarding way to get ahead!

Of course, he was well aware that his gamble could backfire enormously. He was playing with the life of a future god pilot. The power and status of The Destroyer of Worlds was comparable to that of the Polymath. Ves already had to watch his back in case he inadvertently attracted the latter's greed.

No sane person would go this far and hope for the best.

Ves was different.

He knew exactly what he was doing. His mentality towards this admittedly crazy and reckless strategy may be anything but normal, but this approach fell completely in line with his personality!

The reason why he was willing to bet on Divine Irene Mox's goodwill was because of two reasons.

First, what happened in the 'past' already radiated in the 'present'.

Since Ves had never heard anything from the Destroyer of Worlds up to the point where he chose to enter the System Space and pass through the Time Gate, then that meant it was unlikely that the female god pilot would have him captured.

In fact, the opposite may be the case. She may work behind the scenes and do her part to ensure that the Mech Trade Association did not treat him in an unreasonable manner.

The reason why he felt that this may be the likely outcome was because he already experienced the 'care' of the MTA in various ways.

Sure, his dealings with Master Willix and subsequently the Survivalist Faction and the Transhumanist Faction could explain how he managed to get away with a lot of shenanigans, but that might not be enough when an inscrutable existence such as 'Mr. S.' became involved.

Ves became increasingly more confident that if he had any secret backers within the MTA, then the Destroyer of Worlds must definitely be on his side!

It may be strange for him to fear the Polymath's entanglement while simultaneously welcoming a deeper relationship with the Destroyer  of Worlds.

This was because they were two completely different individuals.

The Polymath was a Star Designer and a suspected 'Holy Daughter' who secretly possessed a fragment of the Metal Scroll.

Ves and the most prodigal Star Designer in existence possessed a clear conflict of interest. Even if he had messed with her life in another time jaunt, he did not dare to bet on her goodwill if it became known that he possessed a secret relic that could massively strengthen her own design capabilities!

As for Divine Irene Mox, her moniker might sound scary, but she still had an excellent and upright reputation in human society.

Ves had dealt with plenty of expert pilots and numerous ace pilots in the past. Even if he had never interacted with a god pilot in the flesh, it was not hard to imagine that such an existence would retain much of her past traits and personality quirks!

Expert pilots were generally honest and fair in their dealings with other people. They always showed gratitude when they received a favor and despised betrayal.

Their promises held incredible value because they always abided by their word. If a high-ranking mech pilot ever broke their vows, no excuse would be able to save them from shattering their own way forward!

Since Divine Irene Mox had eventually transcended to a height that only a hundred or so of her peers had managed to reach, her trustworthiness probably ranked at the top of every human in existence!

Besides, unlike his entanglement with the Polymath, he did not have any conflicts of interest with the god pilot.

They may even share a cooperative relationship if he played his cards correctly!

All of this gave Ves a lot of confidence in cultivating a beneficial relationship with the Destroyer  of Worlds, especially now that he was interacting with her younger and much more naive self.

There was no way that Ves would have the guts to calculate a real god pilot!

It was only because of the opportunity granted by the Time Gate that he thought he could get away with this outrageous move.

Of course, he knew that he could not go too far in this regard.

Ves understood enough about successful mech pilots to know that they became stronger by pursuing their goals in an unrestrained manner. The more they became burdened by promises that contradicted their true nature, the less likely they would be able to break through their limits.

In addition, people who tended to screw over high-ranking mech pilots did not last that long.

There were plenty of ways for a god pilot to retaliate against Ves if he attempted to turn a god pilot into his lackey!

No. The best way he could develop a safe and reliable connection with the Destroyer  of Worlds was to treat her past self with sincerity.

Expert pilots were already sensitive towards these kinds of matters, and they would become even more attuned to goodwill and malice as they advanced up the ranks.

It was not difficult to imagine the Destroyer  of Worlds recalling and reevaluating everything that happened during this special period of her life.

Every word, every action, every implication and every hidden clue would doubtlessly become exposed in front of the powerful and frighteningly clever vision of a god pilot!

Ves needed to restrain his greed to an extent and settle for a simple friendship with Irene Mox.

If he could ever make a fated human hero owe him a big favor, then he would definitely be able to harvest huge dividends in the future!

It would be hard for him to hide his true intentions to the Destroyer  of Worlds, so he did not work too hard to obscure his motivations.

She would eventually learn to understand that he wanted to gain her favor, but so what? The fact that he helped her in her time of need was undeniable!

Of course, saving her was anything but easy. Ves still needed to put in the work to prevent her from ruining her incredibly illustrious future.

"Mrow."

Venerable Irene Mox watched with incomprehension as the strange purple cat appeared outside of the cockpit of her expert mech and inspected the damaged cargo transport from various angles.

Occasionally, the intangible cat phased through the metal exterior so that he could inspect the internal condition of the industrial vehicle.

It took three minutes in total for the cat to return to the Iron Hedgehog's cockpit.

"Alright, I am done with my inspection. I have good news and bad news for you, Irene. The good news is that the transport vessel was hit by a ranged attack that likely damaged its thrusters and adjacent systems. The rest of the cargo vessel is minimally affected, so all it takes to make her flight worthy again in the shortest possible timespan is to replace a few broken parts with intact ones that this logistical center has in stock."

"It is that simple?"

The purple cat shook his head. "Oh, no. I am only talking about the most expedient solution. The repair job will not be pretty. I cannot guarantee the stability of the transport and its flight speed will likely remain impaired. Don't worry, Irene. I can probably restore enough lift power to transport a mech as heavy as yours, though it is not advisable to bring any further cargo."

The expert pilot's expression eased after she heard this. "What is the bad news, then?"

The Star Cat made another donut in the air. "As you can see, I am not only a cat, but also unable to hold and manipulate any tools. I will need your assistance to jury rig a solution."

"I am not a technician nor an engineer. I am afraid I will not be able to offer you the assistance that you need."

Blinky grinned like a cheshire cat. "Oh, I do not intend to rely on ordinary means to fix up this transport. I need you to open yourself up to me and welcome my presence. This will be a highly uncomfortable experience for you. I need you to suppress your instincts and extend your trust to me. I shall do the same and it is only through this method that I can control your body and perform the necessary repairs."

This immediately caused Irene to fall silent. A lot of thoughts flashed through her mind as she struggled to decide how she should proceed after hearing this requirement.

Ves was able to observe her private deliberations with no hindrance, but he did not speak any further because it all came down to trust rather than logic.

Was Irene willing to lower her vigilance towards 'Blinky' and entrust her body and possibly more to this strange and inexplicable existence?

There was no way that the expert pilot would randomly believe in a feline ghost that showed up for no apparent reason under normal circumstances, but this was different.

With the Bontues clearly looking to entrap and eliminate every Quillim invader on Korinna V, Irene was not stupid enough to reject any form of help even if it came in the form of the strangest package that she could imagine!

Ves even became amused at the theories she came up with during her moment of thought.

She briefly wondered whether there was a secret society of intelligent cats that secretly controlled and ruled over human civilization.

Was Blinky one of many animal agents who covertly pulled on humanity's strings in order to maintain the supremacy of the feline species?

There was no way for her to know the truth, so Irene quickly set those matters aside and eventually made her choice by following her gut.

As her powerful eyes stared at the ghostly purple cat that had only ever helped her since he showed up, she started to lower her guard with difficulty.

"I… agree. Please… help in any way you can. I cannot… let myself get caught by the Bontues."

"You have made the right decision, mrow~. Now, relax and try to harmonize with my presence. It will be difficult, but you can do it as long as you do not reject me in any way."