Chapter 7281: The Ark

"How many people know?" Ves quietly asked.

"Not many." Jovy responded. "Aside from myself, all tier 1 galactic citizens, many tier 2 galactic citizens and just a small number of tier 3 galactic citizens are aware that you are somehow able to maintain a presence in both galaxies at the same time. I can tell you that this is not necessarily bad for you. It raises your value further because you can take advantage of the rich conditions of original humanity to accelerate your own development. The stronger you become, the more you can help red humanity survive. That is what matters the most."

Ves believed him. "That is... reassuring to hear."

"Look, if we have problems with your conduct over in the old galaxy, I will convey those concerns to you in person. While we have heard that you have made a number of questionable decisions, we are not the nannies of original humanity. They already enjoy the protection of the Chosen Human and many others. Their failure to remain united in a time of great change and unrest is a reflection of their own failures. The introduction of Carmine mechs shouldn't have caused security levels throughout the old galaxy to deteriorate so suddenly. Any major incident would have caused the enemies of the Big Two to rise up and take advantage of any openings."

That was a nice way to rephrase Ves' responsibility for plunging the Milky Way Galaxy into chaos. He was merely the trigger instead of the mastermind.

Perhaps if he chose to stay quiet, the Big Two would have reigned over human space for several more mech generations without interruption, but their empire would fall sooner or later.

At most, Ves brought this crisis forward with the unveiling of his shocking invention.

As the Auto Heretic mechs continued to feed into the power fantasies of repressed norms, the MTA paid for its centuries-long inability or unwillingness to solve the genetic aptitude tyranny.

"So why did you choose to bring up this matter first?" Ves asked.

"What is happening in the Milky Way Galaxy is partially mirrored in the Red Ocean Galaxy." Jovy responded. "Every tier 1 galactic citizen has their own friends and allies back in the old galaxy. Then the latter have begun to fracture into their own separate power blocs, the former may have chosen to follow suit. While red humanity is governed by the Red Three, the first-rate colonial empires and the Cybernetic Empire on the surface, the actual truth is that we are becoming increasingly governed by different power players. Hard power and personal interests are beginning to trump unity. Factions are growing more powerful but also less trusting towards each other."

"Warlordism." Ves mentioned the phenomena at play in the Red Ocean. "I have already noticed the signs myself. I don't understand why this is happening. I also think it is better if we set aside our differences and focus on what is best."

Jovy sighed. "I cannot fully understand what is going through the minds of all of those tier 1 galactic citizens. It is above my station to speculate on their motivations. For now, I can state that relations between the Survivalist Faction and the Transhumanist Faction have cooled all of a sudden. Neither the Fist of Defiance nor the Xenotechnician harbor much trust towards the Evolution Witch. From the rumors I heard, the latter has proposed a number of plans that are too extreme for the rest. She is not making herself well-liked by advocating solutions that are rumored to violate the bottom line of our race and civilization."

Ves couldn't help but smirk. "Figures. I don't know too much about her myself, but even I can tell that the Evolution Witch is a radical at heart. She doesn't hesitate as much as others, and she holds nothing sacred. As far as I am concerned, that should be a quality that the Survivalist Faction is best known for. I have no idea why your tier 1 galactic citizens are balking at the Evolution Witch's plans."

He could make a number of guesses based on the secret mission that he received.

Of course, he would never mention that to a Survivalist like Jovy.

"I am sure you are wondering where you stand with our faction at the moment. For now, we still value you. We are aware that you do not like to pledge your loyalty to a singular entity and that you are trying to have your cake and eat it too. I must warn you that it may not be possible for you to continue this game. If relations between the two factions deteriorate to the point where they regard each other as enemies or obstacles, then it is best that you step away and avoid any active involvement."

"I would have thought that you would work hard to persuade me to take your side."

"That is unlikely to succeed." Jovy sighed. "We are not blind, Ves. We have performed a detailed analysis of your personality and decision-making. The probability that you will side with the Evolution Witch and the Transhumanist Faction is distressingly high. It makes too much sense. The Evolution Witch is not only a founding member of your Oblivion Gate Consortium, but you are also much more ideologically aligned with the Transhumanists. Perhaps the only reasons why you are still willing to cooperate with the Survivalists is because we provided you with help during critical times and because you value your own survival. That is not enough to buy your loyalty."

"I am not completely siding with the Transhumanists either." Ves defended himself. "Sure, I like the fact that the Transhumanists are so supportive of my research initiatives and so on, but I am not obsessed with the same goals as them. I am still my own mech designer. In my opinion, we are merely taking what we need from each other. This also describes my relationship with your faction. We have a good thing going at the moment. It would be regrettable if I have to break off one of those profitable relationships."

The Survivalist liaison understood what Ves was talking about.

"Perhaps I am sounding too alarmist at the moment. I merely wish to caution you of possible future developments. It is not certain whether our two factions will become opposed to each other. We may have our disagreements, but we are not fundamentally opposed to each other. That may be enough for the Survivalists and the Transhumanists to maintain an uneasy peace between each other."

"Can you tell me one of the major reasons why you are disagreeing with each other, or is all of it classified?"

The returning RA mech designer did not immediately respond. He remained silent for a dozen or so seconds as he thought on how he should respond to this inquiry.

"Well, you are authorized to learn a number of secrets now that you have become a more notable galactic citizen. Let me introduce you to one of them. Take a look at this image."

Jovy activated a projection that displayed a giant ancient phase whale carcass.

The moon-sized organism looked vaguely familiar. Ves recalled that the Evolution Witch had managed to defeat and assimilate an entire ancient phase whale during a massive operation a few years ago. Was this the same creature, or had the mechers captured a different alien True God?

Whatever the case, the phase whale carcass looked much different from a fresh kill. A huge amount of human activity took place around and inside its dead but unrotting flesh.

Millions of engineers and construction workers were busy at work. They installed a huge number of technological systems, forcing them to exist alongside all of the flesh and bones that remained.

Ves immediately recognized the appearance of the Whale Ark, though this one was clearly far from reaching completion.

"I think I have a good idea of what I am looking at." Ves dryly remarked.

Jovy helplessly smiled. "It is not much fun when you have already become exposed to spoilers. This is indeed the planetoid-sized biomechanical ark that is designed to save the last seeds of red humanity... or embark on our first true intergalactic invasion."

"What is the ark's intended destination? Are you planning to send her to Messier 87, or one of the supermassive galaxy's other dwarf galaxies?"

"I cannot say." Jovy shrugged. "I believe that our leaders have yet to make a decision, partially because they are divided on what the destination should be. For now, the ark is still many years away from completion. The construction work can be rushed if necessary, but that will massively reduce the enormous vessel's safety, capacity, traversal velocity and other important capabilities. The more time we can buy, the better. It may not even be necessary for us to employ the ark in order to save our race."

That was the best case scenario, but neither Ves nor Jovy had much confidence that everything would go right.

"Why are you disclosing the existence of the ark to me, Jovy? I mean, I am clearly not involved in the construction work. I do not need to know about a big fat escape vessel if my involvement is zero."

"We have chosen to disclose this secret to you because you are wrong. You do have a role to play in the construction of this life-saving vessel. The problem is that your role differs depending on how we use the ark once she has become fully operational. Different leaders are in dispute on whether we should use the huge vessel as a means to escape the dangers of this galactic region or... go on the offensive."

Ves narrowed his eyes. "Are you guys seriously thinking about sending the Whale Ark directly to Messier 87 in order to fight our distant extragalactic enemies at their own turf?"

"Not many of us support this dangerous goal. Only a minority is in favor of this plan. There are more voices that advocate that we fill up the Whale Ark with our best and brightest before sending her off into deep space and traveling to another galactic cluster. This is an enormous endeavor. The journey alone may take a prohibitive time to complete unless we rely on special measures."

Ves furrowed his brows in thought. "There are not many ways I can think of that can speed up the superluminal travel of such a giant ship. Perhaps one of the better ways to speed up her journey is to employ huge amounts of phasewater and superdimensional matter."

Jovy nodded. "That is true. The current output of superdimensional matter is too small. We understand that numerous important projects are dependent on the supply of superdimensional matter, but there is too little left over that can be used to strengthen the ark's defenses and travel capabilities. It will take decades or centuries to develop and optimize drive for the colossal vessel at this rate. We need vastly greater quantities of superdimensional matter. It does not need to be high-grade. The mid-grade versions are sufficient for our purposes. We are even willing to make use of alien-grade superdimensional matter."

"Then shouldn't the plan be obvious?" Ves asked. "I can tell you that you shouldn't expect Ketis to open up too many dimensional portals to the Blue Dimension. The only other available source is the Red Cabal. Why don't you send out the Fist of Defiance into alien-occupied space and have him smash his way into our enemy's secret production facilities?"

"We have formulated plans that sound similar to that, but... we first need to find where the phase whales are producing their precious 'godbones'. That is a challenge in itself. Our intelligence branches are working hard to find the answers, but alien space is so large that we do not have much hope of finding the answers in the short term. That will leave the Whale Ark underpowered for an extended period of

time. That does not serve our interests."

"Then what do you want from me, Jovy?"

"We want... you to help us find the location of the true headquarters of the Red Cabal." (More chapters in Buyers club for TMT)

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