The Mech Touch

Chapter 6567 Changelog

[Welcome to the Mech Designer Version 4.0, user. With three successive upgrades, the Mech Designer System has become more complete and capable of solving problems. The latest upgrade is built on top of the previously chosen upgrade tracks, thus many of the upgrades have led to an improvement of its existing functions. Some of the changes are listed in the following notification.]

Ves narrowed his eyes when he read that. This was similar to how upgrades of existing mechs were largely constrained by design choices made in the past.

For example, it was acceptable to add sword fey to the upcoming First Sword Mark III, but it was completely nonsensical to convert her into a rifleman mech!

He quickly proceeded to read the list of changes, though he made sure to remind himself that the System never claimed that it was complete.

[Changelog:

The option to rent storage space in the Vault of Eternity for a limited time has been converted into permanently buying the same volume of storage space at the same prices.]

Ves raised his eyebrows. "Damn, I am already beginning to like these improvements. The System is no longer as stingy as before. I can save so much AP now that I don't have to pay the same amount to keep several cubic meters of space. It is also much more worthwhile to buy larger amounts of storage space and stuff all kinds of survival equipment inside."

Ketis nodded in agreement. "I am already planning to buy enough storage space to store an FTL-capable shuttle stuffed with supplies and basic fabrication instruments."

"That's a good idea!"

[The Wishing Fountain grants the option for users to redeem multiple identical lottery tickets at the same time to significantly increase their chances of winning a desired prize.]

"This is also a good option!" Ves immediately judged. "It might not necessarily be worth it to waste multiple high-end lottery tickets, but it is definitely worthwhile to sacrifice a lot of golden lottery tickets to obtain the best item in the prize pool."

"I haven't earned enough lottery tickets."

"Try and do your best to turn the First Sword Mark III into a masterwork mech, Ketis. The System will award you with a radiant lottery ticket if you do. That is one the nicer ones you can obtain. That is where I managed to get my artifacts."

[The Divine Bazaar will permanently offer a large selection of basic goods for sale at any time, thereby explicitly excluding them from period rotation.]

"This is not a dramatic change, but it is actually quite helpful." Ves commented. "Products such as Attribute Candies aren't always available. I hope that the Divine Bazaar will also make Qi Restoration Potion available on a permanent basis. Even if each potion costs 80 Ascension Points, they can be literal lifesavers in the right situation. Don't skimp on them, Ketis. I suggest you buy at least two and keep them in the Vault so that you can recharge your spirit and possibly your willpower as well."

As a warrior, Ketis understood the importance of such aids, so she definitely intended to follow his advance.

The only issue was that Ascension Points did not fall from trees. She already had to spend AP on other priorities, so it would probably take a while before she had enough to spare for this purchase.

Ves already looked further down the changelog. The most important facility of the System Space by far was the Tree of Possibilities. Any improvements made by it had the greatest impact on his life, so he was eager to find out what had changed!

[The Tree of Possibilities can grow golden enlightenment fruits that can be freely claimed when fertilized by the carcasses of powerful opponents. The carcasses must be at least 90 percent intact, less than 1 standard day old and based on enemies that the user has either defeated in person, or defeated by a mech designed by the user.]

This... was a massive change. It drastically changed the way Ves valued the Tree of Possibilities.

The Mech Designer System had so many areas to spend Ascension Points on that it had become a big burden for Ves and Ketis to afford so many goodies.

For the Tree of Possibilities to present users with way to get these so-called golden enlightenment fruits for free was a massive benefit!

While the restrictions made it so that Ves could not get away with shipping dead bodies all the way to Diandi Base, he just had to move a little closer to the frontlines in order to secure a steady channel of alien bodies.

However, what did the System mean by 'powerful opponents'?

If this criteria meant that it would only work by killing enemy True Gods, then this was a useless upgrade!

"Have you already tried out this function yet, Ketis?"

The swordmaster nodded. "I did. It is harder than I expect to meet all of the requirements. Most guns are so powerful that they completely obliterate alien bodies if they are hit. Small arms are more reasonable, but weapons such as laser rifles, positron rifles and especially plasma rifles destroy so much organic tissue that it is nearly impossible to keep 90 percent of the carcass intact. It is best to rely on poison or a good sword to kill an enemy while preserving most of the body."

That sounded handy for Ketis. It was easier for her than others to kill enemy aliens with surgical precision.

"So how many times did you manage to succeed?"

"Once, and that is not for lack of trying." She sighed. "The problem is as you suspect. The Tree of Possibilities looks down on the bodies of ordinary grunts. It was only when I sacrificed the body of a high-caste orven captain of an alien battleship that I finally managed to satisfy all of the conditions. The golden enlightenment fruit is still growing last I checked."

...I see. This means that we can't grow endless golden enlightenment fruits. Figures. Hopefully, the knowledge imparted by a golden enlightenment fruit is based on the enemy from which it is derived. The more powerful the enemy, the more powerful the reward!"

Ves actually looked forward to stopping by the Tree of Possibilities to see whether Ketis' first golden enlightenment fruit had ripened.

He also wanted to see whether he could steal her fruit, not that he would actually commit such a despicable act. He just wanted to know whether it was possible and make

the right precautions.

[The Mission Hall offers three times more Missions on rotation.]

That was a straightforward but also incredibly helpful improvement. More Missions

meant more opportunities to earn Ascension Points!

It also increased the availability of acceptable Missions, which was even more important.

to Ves.

Not all of them were to his liking. He did not want to engage in any weird acts such as bathing in the blood of his defeated enemies or whatever!

"I can't ask for a better upgrade for the Mission Hall,"

"Well, the System could have quadrupled or quintupled the amount of Missions."

"True."

[The Workshop of Creation can be projected at a physical location near the current location of the user for 10 Ascension Points per 24 hours.]

Ves felt underwhelmed by this upgrade.

"I have to pay 10 times more AP to use the Workshop of Creation outside of the System Space. That... sounds like a ripoff."

"Not quite, Ves. Think about it. The facilities available in the Workshop of Creation are actually better than the ones in your own private workshop. The biggest problem is that only you and I can make use of it. Our best products are always collaboration works, so if you can project the Workshop of Creation in Diandi Base, Gloriana and several other mech designers can make use of the best instruments and production machines for a

whole day."

That... was actually a good suggestion. Ves knew that he had not been using the Workshop of Creation to its full potential. The inability to use it for collaborations was

one of the main reasons why he found it so inconvenient.

After this latest upgrade, Ves finally had another option available. As long as he had the

AP to spare, it might be worthwhile to project the Workshop of Creation to his physical location so that he could fabricate the best possible copy of an incredibly important

mech design!

[Ascension Points can be spent to undergo a Mastery experience in the mind of a mech

designer in the past.]

"...This is ridiculous. What is the point of a Mastery experience when we don't actually get to experience first-hand what it is like to pilot a mech?"

"Have you forgotten about your Carmine mechs, Ves? Now that they are out, it should be theoretically possible for you to enter the mind of one of those new 'pilot designers' or whatever they call them these days, Granted, you will only be able to travel up to half a year in the past if you pass through the Time Gate."

That... was actually true. Ves felt incredibly uncomfortable at the thought of going back a few months and entering a time period where his 'past' self was already highly active!

It would be so easy for Ves to take action that would directly affect his real self!

Of course, Ves believed that the Mech Designer System wouldn't make it so easy for him to mess with the timeline and possibly cause a temporal disaster.

[A large amount of Ascension Points can be spent to project the Dimension Blade into reality and use it as a weapon that is highly effective at tearing through tangible and intangible barriers and obstacles. The effectiveness of the Dimension Blade is based on its completed upgrades.]

"Now we're talking" Ves' eyes lit up. "I suppose you don't have much need for this new feature since you already have the Heavensword, but it is different for me. If I ever encounter a phase lord or phase whale, I should at least be able to get past the enemy's

defenses."

"The cost of projecting it is large, though. You should try your best to keep as much

Ascension Points in reserve."

That went without saying.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"We've been neglecting the Dimension Observatory for too long." Ves stated. "Even

though the timing isn't too great right now, we should really start to tear into a few dimensions and find out what sort of exotic resources we can obtain from them. There shouldn't be many obstacles left for you to expose this particular capability now,

correct?"

Ketis nodded and reached behind her back to pat the hilt of the Heavensword. "I still need to earn more AP, but as soon as I have enough, I will try and create a basic dimensional tear. I don't want to create a permanent one right away to avoid attracting too much attention. I will try my best to give off the impression that I am borrowing the

power of this artifact to create these dimensional breaches."

The Heavensword possessed so much mystique that nobody knew what it could do! That should make it trivially easy for Ketis to play innocent and pretend that the Heavensword was responsible for everything!

[A large amount of Ascension Points can be spent to transfer Chosen Envoys to physical

shells created by the user.]

This was another huge change. Although Ves only had a single Chosen Envoy at the

moment, being able to stuff him into a giant mech or war machine made him a lot more useful than allowing him to remain in a ghost form!

Ketis interrupted his thoughts by presenting a promising possibility.

"Do you think we can use this feature to bring Venerable Imon Ingvar back to life? We

only have to grow an organic shell that is as close to his original body as possible. The Saint Commander will be incredibly happy to reunite with her brother again." The idea held a lot of promise, but Ves doubted that would be so easy to resurrect the

deceased!

"I don't think Casella will be happy to see Imon in his current mental state." Ves shook his

head. "Have you talked to my Chosen Envoy? His mind has grown ten times duller than before. Not only that, he is unflinchingly loyal to me. It's like he has been reprogrammed into my slave. Casella is liable to kill me if she sees how much her brother has fallen. I

think it is best to shelve this idea."

"Ah, you are right, Ves. It is not a good idea for now, Maybe Imon will recover further

over time. I think she deserves to see her brother again in her lifetime. We can't hide your Chosen Envoy forever."

"I know, but it is too soon. Let's revisit this subject a few decades later!" That was the end of the changelog. Ves had no doubt that the Mech Designer System implemented a lot of invisible improvements, but mere users like him and Ketis did not deserve to learn about them. He really needed to figure out how he could improve his status. What did he need to do to put himself on top of Ketis and other potential users?