Chapter 3563: Belly of the Beast

Chapter 3563: Belly of the Beast

"So this is an astral beast of the Red Ocean." A researcher remarked as his suited form flew outside of the shuttle that had flown into the inner belly of the Titania. "How… grand."

Hundreds more people equipped with hatard suits and scientific gear had already arrived in previous waves.

It took a bit of time, but once the Larkinsons became more certain about their conclusions, they were finally willing to bring in actual personnel in order to explore the dead astral beast in detail.

Several many different clansmen had volunteered to undertake the potentially dangerous task of examining and poking the giant carcass. Although it was a dangerous assignment, the Larkinsons did not lack for daredevils who wanted to experience the might and terror of the biofauna of the Red Ocean up close!

Bioresearch teams dispatched by the Dragon's Den took samples while trying to puttle out the functions of different organs and groupings of flesh.

Salvage parties sent by the Graveyard had also begun to harvest any pieces of biomass that contained valuable exotics.

More people were performing other functions such as rigging explosives, installing shield generators, drilling tunnels in different directions and other engineering-related activities.

It was an inspiring sight to many. This giant beast was previously a threat, but now humanity had subjugated it. This was the moment where they could all enjoy the spoils they deserved.

Several minutes later, a larger and more ostentatious shuttle flew through the flesh tunnel.

Its arrival had been preceded by the entry of numerous Avatar and Battle Crier mechs as well as a couple of expert mechs in the form of the Dark Zephyr and the Shield of Samar.

Both of these exceptional machines were present in case the Titania or a portion of it was not as dead as everyone thought.

Once the shuttle opened up its hatch, numerous heavily-armed and armored bodyguards floated outside. Their large and black shapes formed a protective envelope around the exit.

Soon enough, an additional form passed through. Every Larkinson knew that the patriarch had come as he emerged with his distinctive Unending Regalia.

Ves had upgraded it over the past month. Given that he was in a completely new environment, he replaced and upgraded numerous modules in order to increase its usefulness in different situations. The more advanced products and tech available in the Red Ocean had made it a lot easier to improve the combat armor's performance.

Aside from improving its functions, Ves also paid greater attention to its appearance. He upgraded its visual design and made it more grand and regal. He wanted it to reflect his identity as a leader of a prosperous and growing clan, not a Journeyman who was still in the early stages of his career.

The makeover was a success. Every Larkinson who saw it appreciated his work. The grand cape, the rich red coating along with the golden accents made him feel like a king.

"Well, maybe it should be a little bit bigger."

Of all of the sovereigns and leaders that he had met so far, none of them made a stronger impression on him than the Iron Emperor.

Though Rion Aaden was just a dwarf, his massive armored suit massively boosted his physical presence. All of that added height and mass caused the former emperor of the Vulcan Empire to come across as a giant rather than a heavy gravity variant human, and that was quite useful in certain social settings!

"I don't have enough Unending alloy, though." He frowned.

He attempted to look for more samples of this highly valuable and useful material in the resource markets based in the Red Ocean, but no one had ever heard of it. Unless Ves took a trip back to the old galaxy and revisited the Nyxian Gap, the chances were low that he would ever come across this special alloy again!

"I need to look for substitute materials." He frowned. "If I can get my hands on a substance like Galenta Bone, I can start making new mechs and gear that play well to my capabilities."

The main advantage of Unending alloy was not its resilience which was comparable to that of a cheaper first-class mech.

The real reason why he wanted them so badly was because they also functioned as spiritual energy containers!

Ves looked down at his own Unending Regalia. The suit of combat armor had gained a greater sense of presence and identity after he equipped it numerous times.

Though he didn't deliberately fill up its spiritual reserves with his energy or the energy of his design spirits, he still marked his equipment with his imprint each time he wore his combat armor.

Although the changes weren't too obvious at the moment, Ves could already sense that the Unending Regalia was evolving into something… greater.

As long as he continued wearing it for a number of years, enough of him would rub off on the combat to reach threshold where it gave birth to a natural consciousness!

"It's like piloting a mech, but slower and not as effective." He remarked.

Though he didn't interface with his Unending Regalia like a mech interfaced with mechs, the rich spiritual interactions between them served as an adequate alternative.

Once he finished admiring his own handiwork, he turned his attention back to the reason he came here. The internal cavity in the center of the Titania was large and vast. Ves could easily imagine erecting an entire city inside. If space was not a concern, then a million people could easily inhabit the belly of the astral beast!

Of course, no one was stupid enough to make such a suggestion. It was extremely reckless to build an entire city inside the belly of a dead organism that was bound to deteriorate and break up over time!

"Sir. Welcome to the Titania." A senior researcher from the Dragon's Den greeted the patriarch. "Please be careful. There is lots of work being done inside this carcass. We have already suffered a number of near-accidents in the form of blood vessels bursting out, detritus being flung out at high speeds and tunnels squeeting shut due to instinctual contractions. Although we are certain that the Titania is dead, not every portion of its body has gotten the news as of yet. They are like parts of a broken ship. As long as they still have access to their own local backup power reserves, they can still act up when subjected to certain stimuli."

"I see. I will make sure to keep my distance from the areas being worked on, then. Now, before we proceed with a tour, have you found any phasewater?"

"No, sir. We have employed all of our new scanning equipment that are tuned to track phasewater, but none of them have pinged even once. The good news is that they have not detected any trace quantities of phasewater inside this cavity."

"And why is that good news?"

"It means that the massive internal damage inflicted by our expert mechs most likely did not break apart any organs responsible for enabling the Titania to engage in warp travel. For now, we are continuing our search but it has become increasingly more apparent that this suspected organ is not present in this cavity."

Ves looked disappointed. In the worst case scenario, the organ had either broken apart at an earlier time or the Titania never possessed it in the first place!

"What are your theories?"

"We are still working on the assumption that such an organ exists, sir." The biotech researcher replied. "Phasewater is a dangerous and unstable substance, so the astral beast may have evolved to store it in a different location of its body. It is best to place it away from its key organs and closer to the exterior so that the astral beast can eject the warp travel organ if it ever grows unstable."

"That sounds similar to how an FTL drive is installed on a warship. Once it become dangerous for any reason, the FTL drive has to be dumped out of the vessel before it can trigger a greater catastrophe."

The other man nodded. "Exactly. While the Titania is not a starship, the principles are still the same. We have already deployed most of our phasewater detectors to the exterior as we believe we may have better luck outside."

"I've got something even better. Two things, actually."

Although Ves had faith in the modern scanning equipment the clan acquired back in Vulit, he possessed better solutions.

The first of which was a scanner that he had not used in a long time. He first transmitted a command that called the Everchanger over.

"What are your orders, sir?" Venerable Joshua asked.

Ves smiled as he saw his work up close. The Everchanger performed well despite not showing off its full capabilities. Just its ability to amplify glows and improve the performance of battle formations turned it into an indispensable asset for the Larkinson Clan!

For now, Ves had no use for its combat capabilities, so he quickly brought out a highly-advanced piece of equipment.

"Stay still while I install this special sensor inside your mech."

He had already brought a floating toolbox along with him to facilitate his work. Since he designed the Everchanger himself, he had no problem prying off the luminar crystal that served as the expert hero mech's symbolic eye.

In its place, he carefully installed the Odineye inside the socket, which just happened to be designed and constructed in a way that accommodated this piece of high technology!

Once Ves became satisfied with the installation, he quickly distanced himself from the massive mech and lifted his arm.

"Okay, Joshua. Please direct your attention on the sensor and scanning settings of your expert mech. A new option should have appeared. Carefully turn it on but don't go full blast yet. Try and gradually raise the power setting in order to avoid overloading this sensor module by mistake. We don't have any spares."

The Odineye at its current level had cost Ves 4OO,OOO DP in total. It was an absolutely precious device that could play an extremely useful role in situations like these. If not for that, he wouldn't have risked bringing it out today!

Though Venerable Joshua felt nervous for handling something so valuable, he did as commanded.

Within a minute, Ves began to feel as if his body was being massaged down to his bones. This was a typical sign that he was being subjected to powerful scans.

"This… this is amating." The senior researcher said as he received a feed of all of the detailed observation data the Odineye had begun to gather. "Whatever sensor that you have brought is much better at reading and identifying the composition of the surrounding flesh. We can accelerate our research schedule if we can continue to make use of this wonderful sensor!"

Ves raised his palm before the biotech researcher could say anything more. "I'm sorry, doctor, but our main purpose is to search for phasewater. I'll have Joshua fly his Everchanger over every accessible section of the Titania so he can help you map the creature's body, but as long as its search is not done, he won't be around to perform any detailed scans."

Aside from employing the Odineye, Ves also turned to another solution. His suited form turned back to the shuttle.

"Lucky! Are you going to keep hiding inside or do I need to drag you out?!"

"Meow!" Lucky complained through the communication channel as his tiger-striped metallic form unsteadily flew out of the hatch.

The moment his artificial green eyes gated around the internal cavity, the gem cat made a barfing gesture.

Lucky felt sick at seeing so much disgusting grey flesh! There was so much organic matter around him that it was as if he had entered an unregulated and untreated garbage pit!

"Meeeoow! Meeeooow! Meeeeoow!"

"No excuses, Lucky. I brought you to a resource market once so you can become familiar with phasewater. Now is the time for you to put that familiar to good use! Start scouring the Titania's body or I'll make sure you're only eating iron ore for dinner for the next month!"

"Meeeeeooow!"