Chapter 7088: Investing in Personal Friendships

"So what is the point of listing out our closer and more dependable allies?" Ves asked.

The returned spymaster smiled and spread her arms. "You should have been able to guess already. I have conducted a deep analysis on the accelerating changes to our society. I have tried to match that with your development trajectory and how it may likely collide with future trends. To sum everything up, I foresee with a reasonable confidence level that you will not be able to maintain friendly relations with everyone in the long run."

"Is it because I refuse to take sides?"

"That is part of the answer. You are willing to help everyone as if you are a principled mercenary, but what you do not realize is that others are able to figure out what you are doing. To them, you can be a helpful ally on one day, but an infuriating opponent the next day. Each of them are able to perform calculations which allow them to estimate whether your ’relationship balance’ is positive or negative. If the sums dip too far into negative territory, then whatever help you provide to them is not enough to make up for the disadvantages."

Ves furrowed his brows as he thought about what she described.

"This is very abstract to me. It also sounds as if it won’t be a problem until a decade or a few decades later at the very least. I am just a Senior Mech Designer for now. Many people have an interest in living mechs, and I am the best person to popularize this innovative approach to mech design. It will not be until I have become a Master that it will be more difficult to maintain friendly relations with everyone."

"Since you can foresee such a future, then it is better to make preparations in advance." Calabast argued. "You do not want to be caught flat-footed when you are inevitably betrayed yet again. A mech designer with your colorful history should know better."

"Do you really think that it will come to that, Calabast?"

"I do. Red humanity is on its way to fracturing, and you do not want to be caught in the open when that happens. Think about it. Even if I am wrong in my assessment, can you truly gamble on an optimistic outcome? It is better to make preparations in advance. When push comes to shove, you need to be ready to flee to a strong and dependable ally. Look, it would be best if our clan can stand on its own two feet, but that is simply not possible for the foreseeable future. Ace pilots are not enough to shelter us all in this day and age. Only god pilots or those close to them can grant us near-absolute security in the Age of Dawn."

That would not always be the case, but Ves could think about that in the future.

"There is a problem with your proposal." He said with a frown. "Right now, I have done my best to maintain a balance between my relationships. That has worked out well so far even if the others know that I am unlikely to commit to their organizations. If I start to act on your intentions to build up a closer relationship to one ally over another, the balance will be skewed. Go too far and it will break, not because of external geopolitical events, but due to my own actions. Isn’t this counterproductive?"

"At least you are being proactive about it, Ves. If the universe changes according to your actions, then you are still in control. The surprise factor is no longer as threatening as before. Does that not sound preferable to the alternative?"

She made a decent point. Ves instinctively felt that there was a problem with her argument, but he could not articulate why he had misgivings about her proposal.

"Okay, let’s say I am willing to follow your advice. What should I do in concrete terms? Should I stop trying to make friends with everyone?"

"Not exactly." Calabast shook her head. "I am not telling you to completely abandon your neutrality posture. Favoring one ally is different from trying to make enemies for no reason. You should maintain your current relations strategy, but begin to show more bias towards two or three allies that you favor more than others. You cannot remain subtle about this. You must make a commitment in order to show that you are being serious."

"And this gets me what?"

"It will cause your relationships with multiple parties to cool, but you will also forge much more dependable ties with those that you favor. This may not sound like a good deal to you, but it may very well save your life and that of your family when everyone else has turned against you for whatever reason. You have only two choices to make. First, you can completely isolate yourself and go into hiding. Second, you can take shelter with an ally that is willing to overlook your supposed transgressions just enough to defy public opinion. What would you rather like, the first or the second scenario?"

"The second, of course. As a mech designer, I cannot afford to become completely rejected by society. I can only sell my products to the masses if I remain in good standing with the people I serve."

Calabast gave him a cold smile. "Then you should know what must be done. Let us go back to the names that you have listed. If my judgment is correct, your top 3 allies are the Destroyer of Worlds, the Renewer of Terra and the Evolution Witch. We have a Rubarthan, a Terran and a mecher."

"That is correct, but... that is too simplistic of a description." Ves said while shaking his head. "The Destroyer of Worlds was originally a second-rater. She has become an adopted Rubarthan, and takes her responsibility of guarding the Rubarthan Pact seriously, but she does not come across as a nationalist to me. From what I know, the Spacelock is the quintessential Rubarthan and a diehard loyalist. I have the feeling that there is a certain degree of friction between the two god pilots due to their radically different backgrounds."

Calabast grew a lot more excited than before!

Her eyes glinted with intrigue as she processed his gossip. "How certain are you about this information?"

"I haven’t actually met the Spacelock." Ves admitted. "I only have second-hand descriptions of him. He is not that mysterious of a god pilot, though. His public persona is well-defined. As for the Destroyer of Worlds, she doesn’t show up as much in public, but that doesn’t matter when I have met her in person and talked to her on numerous occasions. I can absolutely imagine that the two cannot really get along. It is only their shared mission that is keeping their relations cordial."

"Interesting." Calabast began to grin. "If this is the case, then it is imperative that you cultivate your relations with her, preferably on a personal basis. The Renewer of Terra should be put on a lower priority. Relations between the Terrans and the Rubarthans have warmed up considering that they are two peas in a pod, but that may change in the future. Whether General Axelar Streon is able to survive a breakthrough or not is also a point of concern. If he makes his attempt and fails, then you will instantly lose your most dependable ally among the Terrans."

"Isn’t that a good reason to invest in my relationship with him?" Ves pushed back on her argument. "In my current state, I cannot offer too much direct assistance to Divine Irene Mox at this stage. She is too strong while I am too weak. The power disparity is much lower with the Renewer of Terra. So long as I provide him with material aid, his gratitude will be much greater. Sure, there is a considerable risk that my investment will end up in vain, but what if the good general succeeds?"

His spymaster grew thoughtful as she considered his argument. "You are correct to an extent. It does not hurt to try and see if you can help him in a material fashion, but I do not think it is the correct decision to put all of your eggs in this shaky Terran basket when you already have a much more solid Rubarthan one at your disposal. If you have to make a choice between the two, which one do you prefer?"

Ves genuinely looked conflicted. He could not bring himself to favor one side over another. If the Terrans and the Rubarthans remembered their historical grievances against each other and turned hostile for this reason, then Ves really did not want to pick a side!

Calabast obviously noticed his discomfort and dismissively waved her hand.

"Never mind that for now. You are correct in stating that the Terrans and Rubarthans are in the same boat. It is detrimental for them to rehash old conflicts when they are being threatened by new enemies."

Ves relaxed after hearing that. The Red Ocean was supposed to be a new start for immigrants. It made little sense to import old conflicts from the Milky Way. It would be better if everyone left that behind in the galaxy they abandoned.

"What about the Evolution Witch? What do you think my stance towards her should be?" He asked.

"The Evolution Witch is an ambitious god pilot." The spymaster analyzed. "You are correct that she is younger, brasher, more radical and less predictable than the other god pilots of the Red Association. However, I see that as an advantage rather than a disadvantage."

"How so?"

"Because she is not all that beholden to the constraints of her organization. You know her history. You know how much the establishment led by the Chosen Human has always opposed her and hindered her at every turn. Her actions after the Great Severing proves that she has a very different vision of what humans should become. So long as you can find common ground in her ambition and choose to help her in any way, she will not turn against you, especially considering that she already maintains a profitable relationship with your mother."

Ves blinked. He never saw it this way. Calabast rephrased the facts to portray the Evolution Witch as a much more dependable ally than he previously thought.

In hindsight, he let his personal dislike of her nosiness and her habit of dictating orders to him taint his evaluation of her. As a woman who had lived on the edge for most of her life, Evolution Witch did not care about superficial matters. This often caused her to give off a rude and maybe even antisocial impression.

Was she truly as scary as Ves imagined, or was it all in his head?

As long as he understood her entire logic, she no longer appeared as chaotic as before.

"I think I understand what you mean." Ves said as he rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "There is actually a lot of potential for further cooperation. It also helps that the Evolution Witch has always been rather estranged from mainstream mechers. This means that if the Red Association has forsaken me, the Evolution Witch will not automatically follow its lead. She is her own person."

Ves also suspected that the Evolution Witch may harbor intentions to go independent one day.

This was not as outlandish as it sounded.

The Cybernetic Empress had already taken this step in advance, and the head of the Hunting Association was only a few steps away from making the critical break.

So long as the Red Association became a hindrance to her one day, she probably would not hesitate to break away!

If Ves had to make a choice between which side he should favor, he would be much more inclined to support the Evolution Witch than the remainder of the Red Association.

Compared to the more impersonal and transactional relationship he maintained with the RA, Ves had much more faith in maintaining a stronger and resilient friendship with Divine Lucie Miyazaki.

There was one more powerful individual that the two Larkinsons had yet to mention.

"What about the Polymath?" He asked.

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