Published at 20th of October 2026 8:54 am

Chapter 7603: Risky vs Steady

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"So what is your verdict, doctor?"

"Your body is healing at a slower rate." The medical professional calmly spoke to the man sitting on an examination bench. "To be more specific, it is not restoring your shoulder injury according to the model that we have derived from studying the physical recovery rates of other human phase lords. According to the current data that we have collected, we estimate that it should take at least 3 more months to fully recover from your substantial exposure to the substance currently known as blackwater."

The news clearly worsened Ves’ mood.

"I see. Why is my body responding so slowly?"

"Our team has not formed a definite conclusion, but I have developed a personal theory. If my hypothesis is correct, then your body is not just trying to restore your true body to full health, but is also simultaneously developing an evolutionary adaptation that may probably offer greater resistance against future exposures to blackwater. Much of the reason behind this delay may be the simple fact that your true body is struggling to autonomously deduce an effective configuration of organic tissue that can form a more effective barrier against a toxin that had previously caused grievous damage."

That sounded like a plausible theory!

Even though the doctor had not been able to provide conclusive proof that this was the case, Ves already believed that there was a 90 percent chance that it was true.

"Is this a normal phenomenon among phase lords?"

"Yes, but... not to this degree, sir." The other man responded. "Phase lords are derived from phase whales. The latter possess many remarkable strengths and advantages. It is clear to any discerning biotech professional that phase whales cannot possibly be produced through natural selection. They are clearly artificial in design. One of the less prominent features of their exquisite organic design is a high degree of resistance against environmental hazards. As you are probably aware, phase whales tend to grow inside enormous phasewater-rich gas giants. These are extreme environments where juvenile to adolescent organisms must endure extreme pressure, temperatures, turbulence and possibly other wild predators. Phase whales can never thrive in so many different extreme environments without developing the capacity to quickly become resistant to extreme hazards."

"That.... Makes a lot of sense, but your tone suggests that this only applies to phase whales."

The doctor nodded. "Correct. It is common consensus that phase lords are diminished or inferior versions of phase whales. The former attempt to match the grandeur of the latter, but cannot never succeed because their alien biologies can never replicate the many advantages that phase whales take for granted. This is why a phase lord is always more fragile and less durable than a phase whale of equivalent mass and phasewater concentration. What is... unusual in your case is that your current body response does not align with that of a phase lord. It does not fully align with a phase whale either. It is a unique case that cannot neatly fit in a single category. You are... unique."

"That does not tell me much."

"I have only studied phase leaders for less than a decade." The doctor helplessly spread his arms. "I have heard of greater experts who have studied phase whales and phase lords for several more decades. They were the members of the original MTA and CFA who entered the Red Ocean long before the Big Two commenced the Phasewater Generation. They might not have been able to acquire and study a large amount of research samples, but the fact that they resided in the new frontier for so long means that they may be able to give you a much better explanation. However, it is difficult to speak to them as the RA and the RF hoards them like a dragon hoards its treasures."

Ugh. Selfishness rears its head again.

The Red Collective was supposed to be a relatively open superorganization where every party could come together in order to advance a common cause.

Those early entrants to the Red Ocean should have contributed their knowledge and expertise to the Red Collective, which possessed a much stronger mandate when it came to studying phase leaders and phase lord body cultivation.

Unfortunately, pretty much every power always held back the good stuff.

While they were readily willing to donate common knowledge, manpower and resources, anything with true value rarely became available to the ’public’.

It was behavior like this that prevented human civilization at large from making greater advances!

To be fair, Ves had to admit that he and the Larkinson Clan did not exactly set a good example either.

He held back plenty of advancements in order to secure an advantage for him and his power base.

It would have been much more difficult for them to stay ahead of their rivals if they did not possess their own trump cards!

Although Ves had put serious effort into sharing his goodies, he still had a long way to go before he could truly call himself altruistic.

At least his contributions so far were much more massive than the life’s works of many other Master Mech Designers put together!

"We recommend that you continue to maintain your elevated consumption level until your next scheduled checkup." The doctor wrapped up the session. "Your true body is not only burning a substantial amount of resources in order to heal its injuries, but is also diverting some of it to experimentation. I cannot tell you how long it will persist in doing so or whether it will ever cease if an acceptable solution is not forthcoming. If your condition continues to suffer because of this, we may need to resort to manual intervention."

That was a very real possibility!

After all, who knew how clever and competent Ves’ true body could be in developing a more effective form of defense against blackwater.

Ves and a number of other experts of the Larkinson Clan had already spent a bit of time on studying the minute sample of blackwater and attempted to figure out a way to resist its incredible lethality.

None of them had made any progress! They did not even fully understand the full nature and properties of blackwater at this time!

The only solid conclusion they had made so far was that it was clearly a variation of phasewater, but that was far from enough to comprehend its essence.

They had not even managed to confirm that blackwater incorporated superdimensional matter, though a lot of scientists secretly believed that this was definitely the case.

They just needed to find solid proof.

This was why they still needed to conduct a lot more research in order to learn something actually new or useful.

Given how much the researchers were already struggling with blackwater, Ves had little hope that his true body could do any better.

That said, he did not dare to rule out every possibility.

If his anomalous true body somehow managed to formulate an effective defense, then Ves had no qualms about imitating it so that he could apply the new solution to his Superdimensional Giant Regalia!

After all, he would rather rely on external defenses to withstand blackwater exposure.

He did not want to encounter the Blackwater Summoner once again and allow the greater phase lord to melt his insanely valuable and ruinously expensive raiment into ruin!

Perhaps it didn’t matter.

It may very well be that Ves and his forces might not encounter the Blackwater Summoner in the future.

However, Ves had become so spooked by how quickly blackwater ate through armor-grade superdimensional alloy that he still suffered lingering trauma from his last encounter!

For his own peace of mind, he did not mind diverting a bit of manpower and resources to getting to the bottom of this mystery material.

If the Red Cabal was clever, then it would definitely ’persuade’ the Blackwater Summoner into coughing up the secrets into this amazing trump card.

It was too wasteful for a single phase whale to hide this insanely effective weapon against the toughest defenses that red humanity had just begun to employ!

If more phase whales and phase lords began to implant the organs capable of producing, storing and controlling blackwater, then a lot of high-ranking mechs would get into trouble!

If this ever happened, then it became even more important to find a way to resist its exceptional corrosiveness!

Just like how the emergence of Terran Destroyer weapons had spurred a frantic development into Destroyer-resistant alloys, Ves believed the same technological pattern would take place once again.

If he was lucky enough, then his own true body may very well be the first to make a breakthrough!

"Is there anything else I should know before I go, doctor?"

"There is nothing pressing for the time being aside from the fact that you are not spending enough time resting. Phase lord or not, you are still recovering from a severe injury as well as a significant overdraft of your strength. Although your remarkable physique makes you much more tolerant of abuse, I do not advise you to work long hours. Proper rest and relaxation should produce the most ideal possible outcome. Any substantial exertion can set back your recovery."

Ves briefly winced. "I see. It is... difficult for me to cut back on my responsibilities. There is just too much on my plate at the moment. I will try my best to optimize my schedule, but... time is precious."

As he exited the examination room and made his way back to his office, he thought about his progress so far.

He spent much of his time on finalizing the Arboreal Project. None of it was in vain. Together with his hard-working Terran colleagues, they had already implemented hundreds of tiny and subtle tweaks to the Woodsap mech designs.

Even though hardly anything had changed to an outside observer, the differences were quite substantial to a serious mech designer like Ves!

They had managed to sand off the edges and fix tiny flaws that they never noticed in the previous phases of the collaborative design project.

What was ’odd’ was that many of these fixes actually decreased the performance of the Woodsap mechs by a small margin.

To put it in different terms, the current iteration of a Woodsap mech had actually become weaker to the older prototype Woodsap mechs utilized by the combined fleet!

Ves did not choose to go in this direction. The Terrans insisted on it. Their rules and regulations were so strict that they had no other choice.

In cases where rare glitches or coincidences could produce catastrophic consequences, the Terrans would rather alter a set of components to safer but less optimal implementation.

Ves personally did not like doing this because it diluted the cutting-edge nature of his products.

It was the equivalent of making a mech ’fatter’.

He would rather trade the fat for muscle because the latter tended to be a lot more useful in most cases, but the Terrans evidently prized stability over absolute superiority.

In truth, Ves did not actually think their approach was wrong.

The Terrans simply erred more on the side of caution, while the Larkinsons had a habit of pushing the boundaries.

This probably had a lot to do with the age of their traditions.

The Terrans had long moved past their youthful exuberance.

After living through so many millenia, the Terran people no longer needed to resort to radical measures in order to grow or maintain their power base. They could afford to be patient and adopt a long-term perspective.

The Larkinsons on the other hand only formed their clan for a relatively short amount of time. Before that, they were insubstantial. Ves and his fellow clansmen had a lot to prove, and they were not shy about taking risks in order to get ahead. Their past successes had only reinforced their habit of pushing their limits!

Although Ves had long been aware of this difference in perspective, he never fully realized how it bled through in his design work.

It was only now that he deeply collaborated with a group of Terrans that he understood how his usual approach to his work clashed hard against their much steadier attitude towards the same work!

"Aren’t you guys at risk of falling too far behind if you keep this up?" Ves asked Master Laila Rebeca Devos over a communication channel one day.

"Not at all." The physical projection of his chief collaborator shook her head. "You cannot paint our entire mech industry with a single brush. There are many hungry and less established Terrans that have something to prove. As long as their theories and work deserve recognition, they should eventually be able to pass on their contributions to us. In addition, we are not close to the greater mech community. We occasionally work with third-party partners such as yourself. What matters is that we control the process. We only accept instability as long as we can set the terms. That may put us slightly behind compared to the Rubarthans, but we do not generate as much wasted effort."

That sounded rather clever, though Ves found this approach to be far too rigid and inflexible for his taste.

Oh well. This was none of his business.

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