Chapter 6430 Choice and Risk

Chapter 6430 Choice and Risk

Ves spoke a bit further with Eliza Mo Ragadan at the Astral Octagon.

He also evaluated the qualities of his new political assistant. She possessed the typical confident and highly competent bearing of a first-rater, but she lacked the arrogance of a citizen of the Greater Terran United Confederation or the New Rubarth Empire.

She likely originated from a smaller first-rate state that may have served as a buffer between the two giants. Those locations tended to raise people who knew that good diplomacy was a necessary trait to survive and thrive in a galaxy dominated by giants.

Her middle-aged appearance made her look as if she was around 40 to 50 years old, but Ves already knew that this was just an illusion.

Life-prolonging treatments and designer baby genetics meant that Eliza was probably closer to 100 to 150 years old.

She certainly possessed the demeanor of a woman who had lived long enough to lose the impatience of youth, yet did not gain the gravitas of an individual who had lived for over 2 continuous centuries like Talas Redmond.

In fact, compared to other remarkable people that Ves had met in the past few years, Eliza Mo Ragadan did not actually demonstrate excellence. She lacked the spark of brilliance that separated geniuses from ordinary folk.

There was nothing with that. Ves had met late bloomers once before who made steady progress yet never stopped improving where many others eventually hit a wall.

Ves also liked the selection that Gavin had made on his behalf. Eliza Mo Ragadan might not possess any exceptional talent or intelligence, but her current position did not require her to possess these traits.

Instead, it was important for his chief political representative at the Astral Octagon in his absence to remain stable, reliable, competent, discreet, flexible and good at social maneuvering.

Eliza scored well in all of the right traits. She probably did so deliberately in order to reassure her employer that she could represent him when he returned to New Constantinople.

All in all, Ves was satisfied with her so far. Combined with the fact that the Golden Cat accepted her entry into the Larkinson Clan without any hesitation, there was no chance that she was an agent of another player or a hidden cosmopolitan.

No method was foolproof, however. His kinship networks may work well, but they were only great because red humanity lacked anything similar. His creations were quite simple and even rudimentary in many areas.

Ves felt it was overboard for him to retain his paranoia towards Eliza. Distrusting everyone on sight was a good way to turn into a hermit who surrendered all of the initiative to others.

That sounded like a very real possibility. Ves needed to take the less ideal scenarios into account.

"If the HA refuses to bow to the pressure coming from their own member base, then so be it. I will archive my plans to design a Mergewater mech and think about designing a different elemental Carmine mechs that has nothing to do with Hunters." Ves shrugged. "I am not desperate to collaborate with the Hunting Association. It should be the HA that is supposed to be desperate about forming a collaborative relationship with me. If the arrogant and selfish Hunters cannot recognize that, then they are not worth interacting with. They will have to carve out a place in the Red Ocean on their own."

It would be bad if the HA failed to accept his offer, but Ves judged he could bear the consequences of failure. It was not as if other people could do any better. The root of the problem still lay with the Huntsman and his inscrutable plans.

As Ves settled into his seat and continued to stroke and play with Lucky, his chief of staff brought him up to date on other important affairs.

There was far too much to talk about, but Ves did not have much interest in spending too much of his attention on issues that distracted him from his true passion.

As the founding ceremony drew closer, the time had almost come for Ves to depart and make his way over to the ceremonial hall where the event was about to take place.

"Will there be any god pilots or Star Designers present?"

"As far as I am aware, several Star Designers have agreed to attend the founding ceremony in person. They have informed us that they will strictly be present as observers." Eliza answered Ves as they rose to their feet. "One god pilot, who is most certainly the Evolution Witch, will be present to provide absolute security at the Shrine of Light. No one should be able to disrupt the ceremony within her God Kingdom."

The mention of the Evolution Witch caused Ves to grow both excited and apprehensive.

He really wanted to have a good word with her, but he knew that she would probably ignore his wishes until three more days had passed.

That was the date where she intended to broadcast her own announcement.

Until then, Ves had to muddle through while hoping that the volatile god pilot did not object to his actions up to this point.

"I will be glad for the protection of any god pilot. My luck has not been good so far. Violent incidents always tend to happen when I am around."

A certain kidnapping event on Davute came to mind.

"The god pilot is not only responsible for providing security, sir. He or she is also tasked with discerning the loyalties of every high-ranking guest or official with the help of her God Kingdom. We are aware that it is not a foolproof method, but it should deter or catch all but the best infiltrators. As for the individuals that have slipped through the net, our new kinship network should expose the remainder."

Ves grinned when he heard that. "Good. The cosmopolitans need to be flushed out of our administration before they can rot our Collective from within."