Chapter 5781 The Third Way

Chapter 5781 The Third Way

5781 The Third Way

As Ves unfolded his true body to the public for the first time, thereby inadvertently giving much of the public their first actual glimpse of a human phase lord, he successfully grasped the rhythm of the public inquiry by force!

Whether it was to his benefit or not, Ves most definitely commanded the attention of pretty much every red human with his reckless stunt!

The sheer physical and non-physical power radiating on his unrestrained form captivated a lot of people.

No matter how bad their perception may be, there was something fundamental in the ability for life forms to recognize those who were vastly more powerful than themselves.

The people who were physically present in the grand chamber could feel the power contained in Ves' enormous body the most, but the spectators who watched from remote also managed to appreciate the enormous disparity depending on their projection systems.

While many ordinary folk were trying to process what Ves had turned himself into, the principal members of the opposition quickly gathered together after they had previously been pushed from the speaking pit.

Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jameson looked concerned on the outside, but sounded a lot more jubilant on the secure communication channel about the outburst that she managed to incite from the infamously temperamental mech designer!

[Larkinson has taken the bait! We knew this would happen! He clearly takes after his mother, but clearly lacks her experience and cunning. Our mission is complete. The Devil Tongue will finally sink his cause, with his own speech no less!]

The other members of the opposition generally sounded pleased as well, but Professor Kacuk Chabran did not join in the celebration.

[The session is not over yet. Do not count your chickens before they hatch. Professor Larkinson may yet be able to recover from his disadvantageous position. He has done so in the past. He can do it again. The risk that we will lose all of our gains is small but not negligible. We should have never pursued this risky strategy. If we consolidated our gains from the second session, we would have been able to guarantee an outcome that would have been slightly in our favor.]

That caused the others to dismiss the Terran scholar's overly cautious posture.

[We know you were reluctant about enacting this radical plan, but we cannot afford to settle for a weak compromise.] Master Alice Cantor dismissively responded. [There is no reason to second-guess ourselves when our trap is clearly working as intended. The inexperienced mech designer believes he can demagogue his way out of his problem. He will only exacerbate it as his conduct only reinforces the negative traits associated with cultivators, his mother included.]

Even as Ves readied himself to issue a rebuke against all of the mud that had been flung in his direction, he could faintly feel the smugness radiating from his adversaries.

Ves did not disregard Sigrund's analysis.

He recognized that his impulsive action indeed played into the hands of his opponents.

However, Ves believed he had no choice.

The game was already stacked against him. If playing by the book did not give him a viable pathway towards victory, then he could only flip the board and hope that he could improvise his way to a favorable outcome!

Though Ves did not allocate much time and thought towards figuring out a winning strategy, he already had an overall idea in mind.

It came to him as soon as he metaphorically flipped the board.

Defense was a losing approach.

Ves always operated a lot better when he was on the offense.

He decided to settle on this direction and go all the way!

Forget about defending his mother!

Forget about trying to redeem cultivation!

Forget about portraying his living mechs as cuddly pets!

Ves was done with making excuses!

He wanted to do what he did best, which was to promote something new!

Though he recognized that this was an exceedingly risky plan that would definitely cause him to burn a lot of bridges, he did not want to give his adversaries the satisfaction of remaining smug!

"LISTEN TO ME." His gigantic form repeated as the water completely pressed around him. "YOU ARE ALL MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE."

This surprising admission caused people to temper their hopes a little.

"SO WHAT? WHY BE SCARED WHEN THERE IS SO MUCH POWER WITHIN YOUR REACH? TAKE YOU SAFETY INTO YOUR OWN HANDS! DO NOT ENTRUST YOUR ENTIRE SAFETY TO MECHS AND WARSHIPS! ABUSES ARE INEVITABLE, BUT CULTIVATORS ARE NOT FERAL. THEY CAN BE CONTROLLED. SO LONG AS ANY CULTIVATOR RECEIVES THE RIGHT INCENTIVE, THEY CAN BE PERSUADED TO FIGHT AGAINST OUR REAL ENEMIES, THE ALIENS WHO SEEK TO MAKE OUR RACE EXTINCT!"

Ves was approaching his second central argument.

"I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL OF THE DIVISION BETWEEN MECHS, WARSHIPS AND NOW CULTIVATION. WHY CAN'T WE ALL SIT DOWN AND RECOGNIZE THAT THEY ARE ALL VALID AND EFFECTIVE TOOLS TO EMPLOY AGAINST OUR REAL ENEMIES? EXCLUDING ANY OF THEM WILL SET BACK THE WAR EFFORT. CASUALTIES ARE CONTINUING TO MOUNT. IT IS QUESTIONABLE WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH INTACT MECHS AND WARSHIPS LEFT TO RESIST THE ONSLAUGHT. IF WE CAN ADD HUMAN PHASE LORDS ALONG WITH OTHER KINDS OF PHASE LORDS TO OUR DEFENSIVE FORCES, WE CAN SAVE FAR MORE HUMAN LIVES THAN WILL BE LOST BY THE OCCASIONAL CULTIVATOR LOSING CONTROL!"

Ves truly envisioned a possible future where the artificial barriers between mechs, warships and cultivators collapsed.

Why did they have to fight against each other when they could clearly achieve comprehensively better results by combining forces?

The audience clearly looked swayed by this argument, prompting Ves to press on ahead.

"YOU HAVE HEARD THE FLEETER DESCRIBE MANY OF THE KILLINGS, MASSACRES AND OTHER VIOLENT DEEDS PERPETRATED BY MY MOTHER. WHILE I AM SINCERELY APOLOGETIC THAT MY MOTHER SAW CAUSE TO COMMIT THOSE AWFUL CRIMES, THE EXAMPLE SHE HAS SET ONLY STRENGTHENS THE NEED FOR A MORE PROACTIVE AND SENSIBLE APPROACH TOWARDS CULTIVATION. DO NOT EXPECT IT TO REMAIN OUT OF REACH. THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY REMNANT TRACES OF THE SECRET ORGANIZATION IN OUR SOCIETY TO STAMP THEM ALL OUT. RATHER THAN TRY TO SUPPRESS IT, WE SHOULD EMBRACE IT, JUST LIKE WE HAVE DONE IN THE DISTANT PAST!"

His eyes burned with passion and conviction as he was finally to present his ultimate proposal!

"IT HAS BECOME CLEAR TO ME THAT NEITHER THE RED ASSOCIATION NOR THE RED FLEET ARE PROPERLY EQUIPPED TO ADMINISTER CULTIVATION IN OUR SOCIETY. THEY ARE FAR TOO ORIENTED TOWARDS MECHS AND WARSHIPS RESPECTIVELY TO TREAT CULTIVATION BY ITS OWN MERITS. RATHER THAN ALLOW THESE CLUMSY ORGANIZATIONS TO BUMBLE AROUND, I PROPOSE WE FOUND A THIRD REGULATORY INSTITUTION WHOSE MANDATE SOLELY EMPOWERS IT TO GOVERN THE WEAPON KNOWN AS CULTIVATION!"

What?!

Neither Jovy, nor Sigrund, nor anyone else had any inkling that Ves would be crazy enough to present such a crazy idea!

Ves managed to provoke more shock, surprise and outrage with his radical suggestion than he had done by unveiling his true body!

The mere notion of creating another competitor to the Red Two was such a heretical idea that no one else had the guts to voice this proposal in public!

Of all of the people in the Red Ocean, only Ves had the fame and the courage to make this exceedingly risky move!

"THE AGE OF CONQUEST WAS DOMINATED BY WARSHIPS. THE AGE OF MECHS WAS OBVIOUSLY SHAPED BY MECHS. THE AGE OF DAWN IS BOUND TO BE DEFINED BY CULTIVATION. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE LATTER WILL TAKE OVER EVERYTHING. IT CAN EXIST AS AN EQUAL HUMAN WEAPON ALONGSIDE MECHS AND WARSHIPS. THE LATTER TWO HAVE ALREADY COEXISTED UNDER AN ATTENTIVE REGIME. ADDING ANOTHER COMPONENT TO THIS STRUCTURE WILL NOT BREAK THIS MODEL."

People were much less confident about that. The Big Two and by extension the Red Two had reigned above their heads for so long that they could not imagine what would happen if a third major player joined their group!

Ves didn't seem to harbor any fears about what could go wrong.

"NOW THAT I HAVE MADE MY PROPOSAL, I AM ASKING YOU WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH ME OR NOT. THE NEW ASSOCIATION CENTERED AROUND CULTIVATION IS NOT MEANT TO REPLACE THE RED TWO, BUT IS MEANT TO COEXIST ALONGSIDE OUR EXISTING INSTITUTIONS. IT CAN EVEN BE LED AND MANAGED BY EXISTING MECHERS AND FLEETER FOR ALL I CARE! IF YOU WANT TO DENY THE FIFTH ENFORCEMENT FLEET AND GAIN ACCESS TO THE ABILITY TO WIELD RAW POWER LIKE MYSELF, THEN VOICE YOUR SUPPORT! WHO IS WITH ME, RED HUMANITY!?"

A few awkward seconds ensued as absolutely no one in human space succeeded in summoning the courage to back Ves' crazy proposal.

However, a small flame began to appear inside the air pocket surrounding his true body.

Those flames slowly formed into a familiar-looking god cat!

"<nullb>MIEW!"

Ves grinned at Emma's appearance.

His gamble paid off! He knew that he could count on her support!

"THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS HAS SECONDED MY PROPOSAL! WHO ELSE AGREES WITH THE NECESSITY OF FOUNDING A THIRD ASSOCIATION?"

Just moments later, another powerful presence emerged!

This time, it came in the form of a physical projection that nonetheless radiated far more power than Ves in his full physical form!

Every red human was able to recognize the human figure that emerged. Her appearance and her aura were so unique and distinctive that her identity became clear right away!

"<nullb>I SUPPORT YOUR INITIATIVE."

The Evolution Witch had spoken!