Chapter 6095 Too Smart Mechs

Chapter 6095 Too Smart Mechs

When Ves thought about what he needed to do in order to rectify the problems that he had overlooked, Alexa Streon looked thoughtful as well.

Compared to her mentor, Alexa was still new to living mech design. She had received a lot of lessons from Ves over the years, but her mastery and ability to design living mechs by herself was far inferior.

There was not only a gap in comprehension, but also a gap in experience.

It couldn't be helped. No matter how quickly she was able to absorb knowledge, mech design had never been a purely theoretical occupation. It was vitally important for her to stay true to her profession and actually design mechs that became desirable by a lot of mech pilots.

For this reason, she did not react as strongly as Ves towards their latest discoveries. She wasn't even able to fabricate a third order living mech, so what did it matter if their cognition affected their cultivation efficiency?

However, Alexa knew enough about her mentor's work to understand that this insight was of great significance to him. This was why he had fallen silent for a few minutes.

"Sir? What do you intend to do now that you have managed to make your theoretical framework more complete?"

"I am not entirely sure." Ves admitted. "I need to think about this a lot more. At the very least, I have already decided to rethink the cultivation methods that I have devised for my living mechs. I think it is best to start over from scratch. I can either devise a single universal method that is a lot more adaptable than the Greater Larkinson Metal Guardian Mantra, or I can come up with a bunch of different specialized cultivation methods that align with each individual mech role or mech archetype."

Alexa frowned. "The former approach is difficult to produce optimal results. A one-size-fits-all solution will never be able to fully service the needs of mechs as diverse as the Fey Fianna and the Transcendent Punisher Mark III. The latter approach is far too time consuming if you have to do all of the work yourself. I doubt that any of the researchers over at the T Institute possess the necessary expertise to devise cultivation methods for your living mechs. If you have to make one for each individual mech line and each individual high-ranking mech, you will not have enough time left to design your own mechs."

She was right. Ves found it difficult to decide between the two approaches. That was why he failed to make a decision. He needed to conduct more tests and explore his options a bit further before he committed to a strategy.

"I will figure this out later." Ves said while he made a dismissive shrug. "There is a need for change, but it is not urgent for the time being. All of my existing living mechs are continuing to grow and make progress with the help of the current Larkinson Metal Guardian Mantra. Even if they are not developing their greatest strengths, the gradual boost in resilience at least increases their chances of survival and do a better job at preserving their mech pilots. That is not a useless development."

It was not his preferred solution, though. He was a big believer in the idea that specialized mechs should mainly develop their strengths. Mitigating their weaknesses was not detrimental, but it did not really yield as many benefits, especially if different machines fought together.

Now that Ves was able to make detailed observations on the effectiveness of the Larkinson Metal Guardian Mantra on all of his living mechs, he became a lot more confident in his ability to develop a superior solution.

The insights that he managed to obtain from studying the Elegant Rage would definitely play a crucial role in this upcoming endeavor!

The Elegant Rage's brand new focus on thorns had given Ves enough empirical data that strong cognition mattered more than fancy techniques.

In fact, Ves should already be familiar with this dynamic. His mother had already taught him that a lot of cultivation methods placed a huge emphasis on artistic conceptions, but he never fully understood why that was the case.

Now, he knew.

According to his current analysis, the reason why the Elegant Rage was able to passively cultivate at such a high level of efficiency was because Venerable Lanie had forcefully imprinted her own 'artistic conception' into her living mech!

This act was so overbearing that the Elegant Rage's very essence was reshaped into thorns.

Ves wanted to replicate this method. If he was able to succeed...

Ves briefly wondered whether it was possible for living mechs to undergo willpower cultivation.

They would undoubtedly grow a lot stronger if that was possible. If their mentalities became increasingly more single-minded and focused, then their cultivation efficiency and power utilization should both skyrocket!

However, Ves had never heard of high-level artifacts developing such exaggeratingly strong willpower. Objects such as the Oceancaller and the Flower Parasol were not only a lot less sapient, but they also possessed inherent cognitive gaps that made them unable to fully emulate actual humans.

"It is impossible for them to strengthen their egos past an extraordinary threshold."

That made Ves consider whether his living mechs were subject to the same restraints.

"Becoming more intelligent and human is not entirely bad." He suddenly thought. "Sure, there are many more opportunities for them to go astray, but if they knowingly and consciously develop their egos, they may be able to break through as willpower cultivators one day!"

This was one of the most outrageous ideas that Ves had formed as of late!

The notion that mechs would actually be capable of breaking through and developing strong willpower that could rival that of expert pilots was absurd!

It was impossible! It could never happen! Mechs were not supposed to break through in the first place!

The reason why everyone held these assumptions was because they all treated mechs as objects. Even his living mechs were just special objects that still did not escape the definition of property rather than people.

Yet what if that was not the case anymore?

What if Ves continued to develop his living mechs according to their current trajectory?

"My third order living mechs are special because they have successfully managed to acquire a myriad of human traits." Ves surmised. "That is both their strength and their weakness. However, an important detail is that not every human is equal. They can be distinguished in many different ways, but the most important one is rank. A human of the first major cultivation rank is not comparable to a human of the second major cultivation rank."

The question now was whether it was possible for living mechs to acquire the traits of much stronger humans.

Ves thought back on the Elegant Rage. What if the mutated mech's repeated exposure to Venerable Lanie allowed the machine to learn how to strengthen her own willpower and obsession?

What if the Elegant Rage successfully managed to break through and develop extraordinary willpower of her own? How much stronger would she become, and how much more exaggerated would the synergy between the living mech and Venerable Lanie become?

The results were bound to be shocking!

Ves even suspected if such a crazy mech could truly emerge, the transcendent machine may have become the first fourth order living mech in existence!

"Fourth order!"

He did not dare to know for certain whether this was even possible. He only knew that if he actively pursued this development direction, he would truly diverge from the ancient traditions of high-level artifaction production and truly open up a brand new discipline!

So long as he was able to reproduce this result and teach others how to make such an amazing living mech, Ves was confident that the mech community as a whole would definitely embrace his design philosophy in full!