The Mech Touch

eer in the Komodo Star Sector for the unknown doesn ’t make any sense! ”

It did made sense.
Just not to someone working on incomplete information like Gavin.

Even if Ves did not communicate the threat of the Five Scrolls Compact to Gloriana, she still bought his excuses of accelerating his progression by experiencing new cultures.

”Look, I ’ve already made up my mind on this decision.
I ’ve also filled Gloriana who has already begun to make her own preparations on her end. ”

Seeing how it was hopeless to persuade Ves from changing his course, Gavin moved on to the consequences.

”The LMC back home won ’t be the same without your presence. ” He stated.
”Mech companies are highly defined by their lead designers.
Unless you can find a mech designer with stature to hold the fort, the LMC ’s growth will inevitably be hampered. ”

”I ’ve already said that it ’s fine.
We can compensate for the slowdown in growth in the Komodo Star Sector by fostering growth elsewhere.
That ’s one of the purposes of the grand expedition. ”

”I ’m not sure if you ’ll be able to succeed.
You ’re still a foreigner, after all. ” Gavin pointed out.

Ves smirked.
”I think the unique advantages that my mechs have to offer will definitely appeal to customers regardless of their origins or cultural backgrounds. ”

They began to discuss the greater implications to the company if Ves really brought a significant chunk of people along.

”The company will be split up if you do this, boss.
The employees who volunteer to join your expedition will develop in a different manner than the employees you left behind.
Will the latter still hold any admiration towards you when you ’ve been so distant for so long? ”

Ves casually waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
”Most of the LMC ’s workers aren ’t critical.
They are cogs in the machine.
If a couple of cogs have turned rusty, we can easily replace them with new ones. ”

”Is that how you see your employees? As cogs in a machine? ”

”I ’m a mech designer, Benny.
As long as someone is replaceable, they ’re not worth excessive consideration.
If my employees get grumpy just because the boss of the company isn ’t physically present, then why are they working for the LMC in the first place? ”

”You..
it sounds as if you don ’t care about the LMC anymore. ”

Ves shook his head in denial.
”I still care, but it ’s not as critical to my development as you think.
As long as the company falls in line, it is still a valuable asset. ”

He needed to make a lot of money if he wanted to fund his future research and development projects.
The only caveat was that the money did not have to come from the LMC.

Gavin still looked disturbed.
He could foresee the enormous amounts of damage the grand expedition might do to the LMC ’s cohesion.

As someone who was involved in the company at its earlier stages, Gavin possessed a lot of emotional attachment to the LMC!

”If you ’re gone from the LMC, you still need to leave someone behind at its headquarters to represent your interests. ”

”Calsie has been doing a good job so far. ”

”She might not be enough. ” Gavin warned.
”Even though she ’s my friend, she is far from ready to assume the highest post.
She has made her doubts pretty clear to me during our private discussions.
You ’ll have to find someone else to take the helm of the portion of the LMC that you are leaving behind. ”

That was a difficult issue.
Other than Calsie, Ves could think of no other person to lead his mech company in his absence.

”Um, what about you, Benny? ”

”Hahahaha! I ’ll be honest.
I never thought about sitting on the big chair.
I don ’t have what it takes to inspire confidence and to ensure stability over the company! ”

Well, that left Ves with very little names aside from the senior retainers sent by the Larkinson Family.

Just as Ves was contemplating some alternatives, Gavin made a strange suggestion.

”Why not place a Larkinson at the top? There are so many Larkinsons in your family that have the leadership ability and experience to preside over a company.
While they might not be up to speed on how to run a mech company, they can always learn on the job.
The most important factor is that they have the spine to be in charge of thousands of employees and billions of credits worth of assets. ”

That caused Ves to interrupt his other thoughts.
Put a Larkinson in charge?

If it was in the past, the idea would have repelled him.
The LMC was his baby, and he did not want his family members swoop in and freeload off his hard work and accomplishments.

Yet as the LMC continued to expand, his ability to influence the company continued to diminish.
It had grown too big for him to implement arbitrary decisions and expect the entire company to play along.

His extremely sudden decision to go on a grand expedition in the future was exactly the kind of development that might fracture the LMC!

This made it all the more important for him to place someone trustworthy but also authoritative enough to hold the LMC together when its lead designer merrily began his decades-long adventure.

In addition, ever since Ves advanced to Journeyman, he began to value his own progression over the growth of his company.
Although the two were intricately related, Ves would not face total ruin if the LMC ended up mismanaged.

”I think your suggestion has a lot of merit. ” Ves slowly said.
”Try and come up with a list of Larkinsons with the requisite leadership or business experience that can take over as director or CEO. ”

Obviously, Ves did not completely think through what his departure from the star sector would mean to the company he left behind.
He founded the Living Mech Corporation to help him fulfill his dream of propagating a different kind of mech.

If he failed to manage the upcoming changes properly, all of his previous efforts in building up his company might go to waste!

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