Chapter 7458  Difficult Choice

"URI-2461-V6 is an interesting product." Ves explained with an amused expression. "It is quite funny, actually. Exsanguino and Triton-Remose-B are both accidental creations. The Cybers did not set out to invent them, but managed to make them anyway after they messed around with different alloy formulas. URI-2461-V6 is different as the Special Materials Tower of the Cybernetic Empire sought to develop a means to bestow life to inanimate objects from the beginning."

"That sounds… difficult." Isobel responded. "I think I understand the logic here. Strong enough willpower can turn the impossible into reality. These Cybers probably thought their best chance of replicating your living mechs was to invent a resonating material that could give high-ranking mech pilots a shortcut to doing so. Am I correct?"

Both mech designers looked impressed. Her guess came pretty close to the truth, at least the one disclosed by the Cybers!

It was not without reason why the Larkinsons considered Isobel to be one the more intelligent champions of their clan. Her extensive cybernetic conversion had only further accelerated her mental processes.

"From my perspective, their experiments sound silly… but worth trying." Ves said with a hint of appreciation. "Boundaries exist to be tested. Nothing is truly impossible. The Cybers may have well been able to succeed so long as they decipher the correct rules or got extremely lucky one day. Unfortunately, they have probably wasted a lot of high-quality manpower and resources into this project without yielding a satisfying return. Instead of getting caught up in a sunk cost fallacy, the supervisors in charge probably decided to make the rational decision to cut their losses."

Ves actually felt a little regretful after learning about this decision. He had developed quite a strong interest in this strange resonating material. Even though it failed to satisfy the Cybernetic Empire's stringent requirements, it still promised an alternate means of bestowing life onto mechs.

"All of that sounds interesting, but what does this new resonating alloy actually do, and why do the Cybers consider it a failure?"

"That demands a bit of an explanation. URI-2461-V6 was made to turn mechs alive, but instead of doing so, it can only grant the 'illusion' of life onto inanimate objects. Its effects don't really work on the mech itself, but can affect most objects within range. What I mean by that is that it can animate random objects such as a drone, a shuttle or even a barrel's worth of phasewater. Even if they are devoid of active control, you can bestow them with a measure of false life that makes it so that they can take autonomous action."

"I see. So it is similar to turning them into bots."

"That is a good description, Isobel. By bestowing them with bot-like intelligence and autonomy, you can turn them into tools that follow your instructions. However, extensive testing by the Special Materials Tower has revealed that the effects are not too remarkable. URI-2461-V6 has never come close to breaching the barrier to true life. The affected objects steadily lose their conditions over time. Their intelligence is rather basic and cannot obey precise or complex instructions. It is similar to ordering a bunch of children around. While all of these descriptions may sound bad, we still believe that this so-called failed product can add wings to the Promethea Mark II."

"Explain, please."

Gloriana smirked as she explained their reasoning. "For all of the experiments conducted by the members of the Special Materials Tower, the Cybers are not experts in the field of living mechs. We are different. We are the inventors and the pioneers of living mechs. We have also expanded beyond this narrow category and bestowed the gift of life to a diverse range of subjects. My husband and I have a strong belief in our ability to make MURI-2461-V6 resonate like nothing else in our hands. Even if we are being overconfident, the measured effects are already useful to your ace mech. We believe that it can easily be adapted to turn all of the flames produced by your battle partner into a living, burning army."

She waved her arm, activating a projection that displayed a simulated combat scenario.

In this projection, the Promethea Mark II flew in from a distance before launching a volley of searing energy beams from her Ignitron Mark II.

Each beam accurately struck and burned through the azure energy shields that protected a formidable armada of alien homeships as well as orbital facilities.

Every strike not only inflicted immediate damage on contact, but also generated purple flames.

These initial fires might not look impressive compared to the scale of the enemy vessels and constructs, but they possessed a degree of intelligence and persistence that was unnatural!

One flame in particular happened to be larger and hotter than others.

Kiroshi had manifested at the flame that struck the largest orbital facility. The companion spirit not only possessed a mind of her own, but also served as an extension of a powerful ace pilot.

This made it a lot easier for Kiroshi and the flames she fanned to burn their way into the orbital station and ignite the most critical parts within their reach!

While all of this seemed relatively familiar to Saint Isobel, that did not apply to the other flames!

Isobel was accustomed to the fact that she could not easily strengthen the flames left on other targets.

She only had one companion spirit, after all. The fires started by her ace mech's attacks usually propagated at a much lower rate. Enemy damage control teams and automated countermeasures also succeeded quite often in dousing the flames.

Previously, the only way for her to overcome this resistance was to launch repeated attacks at these ships or constructs. She could either concentrate her attacks on a single section to build up an overwhelming firestorm or disperse her attacks to different points in order to overwhelm the fire-fighting teams.

The problem with those tedious strategies was that all of that took precious time and energy that she could have used to fulfill other objectives.

The simulation demonstrated a potential way to inflict the same amount of destruction with a lot less effort!

The individual flames all gained a semblance of life. They took on the shape of different fantasy creatures such as phoenixes, helldogs and dragons!

Still, no matter what external facade they assumed, each of them executed different plans to burn their respective targets into ash.

The phoenixes flew around and conducted hit-and-run attacks at different exterior points. Their mobility along with their random flight paths made it difficult for alien firefighters to control every blaze in time.

The helldogs on the other hand fought more aggressively and directly. They burned their way into the interior and deliberately hunted down alien soldiers and critical components in order to conduct sabotage as opposed to indiscriminate destruction.

The dragons had the least amount of numbers, but possessed the greatest statures. They concentrated large amounts of flames, enabling them to overcome much of their opposition by relying on a combination of brute force and strategic targeting!

They did not mindlessly try to burn through the toughest barriers, but deliberately sought out weak points only to break through with overwhelming power!

"This is only a handful of possible applications of URI-2461-V6 that we have devised in a hurry." Ves affectionately said. "URI-2461-V6 may not be able to grant new powers or explosive special attributes to your attacks, but they can make nearly every flame started by your attacks into a somewhat intelligent and directed construct. Perhaps you can't make them as alive as a flame commandeered by Kiroshi, but you will still be able to command an army composed of temporary intelligent fire creatures."

The visual impact of observing a flame army attempting to burn down a large alien defensive stronghold by itself was considerable.

While the ace pilot felt confident enough to be able to complete her objective without relying on these fancy tricks, it would have taken a lot more time and energy to take out all of those warships and orbital facilities!

"I see." Isobel said in a tone that betrayed none of her feelings. "What about enemy champions? How can this new wonder resonating material help me defeat alien phase lords and other powerful opponents?"

"We haven't created a simulation that can give you a striking example of what you can do, but URI-2461-V6 can still be useful in those encounters." Ves replied. "You can spread your flames more intelligently and target specific weak points with the forms of your choosing. However, the effectiveness will admittedly be more limited against most phase leaders and Goliaths. They are just too massive that it is difficult to defeat or kill them in a short amount of time. It takes brute force or a truly effective counter to slay them efficiently. Exsanguino can potentially do so, but URI-2461-V6 cannot because it does not fundamentally make your flames more damaging."

Gloriana gave another warning. "There is also another caveat that you must be aware of, Isobel. The flames animated with the help of URI-2461-V6 are all sustained by your true resonance. This means that enemies that possess the capabilities to neutralize this property can revert your flames. This mostly applies to ace pilots or god pilots with stronger willpower than yours. In more concrete terms, senior ace mech can suppress or outright snuff your flames with their domain fields alone. Even if the enemy saint is equal or slightly inferior in resonance strength to you, your flames will still lose a large amount of definition, making them barely better than uncontrolled fires."

This was a major disadvantage.

Though Saint Isobel Kotin did not consider herself to be an avid duelist like Saint Dise, she still possessed her own pride and ambitions.

She did not truly want to become known as an exterminator of the weak.

While she recognized that she could do so on a much larger scale than her peers and rivals, she still yearned to defeat the powerful.

Her frown grew deeper as she entered into an inner struggle. She had actually been troubled by this matter for many months. She had been doing her best to push it aside, but the choice of key resonating materials brought her conflict up to the forefront of her mind.

Both Ves and Gloriana possessed enough of an understanding of their client to know what was going on. This was why they specifically presented these options to her. They wanted her to start thinking seriously about what kind of champion she wanted to become.

Did she want to become a nightmare to alien monstrosities by transforming their blood into their own nemesis?

Did she yearn to break down alien infrastructure on a massive scale by spreading highly demoralizing firestorms?

Or did she want to target the weak points of her opposition more effectively by commanding her own army of temporary flame beasts?

"You are forcing me to make a difficult choice." Isobel looked and sounded irritated. "None of these options match my expectations. They are not necessarily bad, but it is difficult for me to immediately determine their full worth and potential. I will need more time to consider my selection. I do not feel comfortable with making an impulsive decision based on my initial impressions and feelings. Can you wait until I have made up my mind?"

"That is… a wise and prudent approach." Gloriana carefully responded. "It is not our intention to pressure you into making a hasty choice. Nonetheless, it is still better for all of us if you do not take more than a few days to present us with your answer. The Promethea Mark II Project has already reached an advanced enough stage where we must urgently work to incorporate resonating materials into the overall design. The absence of choice leaves far too many gaps in our work. Please decide quickly so that we are not left with too many uncertainties."

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