The Mech Touch

The main reason why Ardam looked a lot larger and more developed than other settlements was because the Gauge Dynasty concentrated a huge amount of effort and resources into its construction.

Pima Prime was meant to function as a popular trading hub, so the presence of a large and well-built city was essential to facilitating transactions and attracting lots of business.

However, despite all of the rapid buildup, there were many places where the capital city showed its lack of age.

The many estates that occupied the best locations in Ardam were too new, for example. The passage of time had yet to age the facades and gardens to a point where they acquired an ancient air that served as proof of a family's heritage.

Despite this shortcoming and more, Lucky cared little about the kind of people that resided in these luxurious estates. The cat had lived in a place that was just as opulent if not more back in Davute.

In fact, it was Lucky's familiarity with all of the panic rooms, secret arsenals, escape tunnels and hidden vaults that the Larkinsons had built underneath the so-called Royal Mansion that he knew that he would be able to find a lot of hidden wealth today!

If someone like Ves was paranoid and cautious enough to stuff all kinds of hidden goods underneath his former home in Davute, the powerful and wealthy Gaugers who occupied the surrounding mansions should be no different!

Lucky skillfully navigated the underground landscape, relying on his powerful and sophisticated sensors to orient himself and prevent himself from getting lost.

He descended around 655 meters before he bumped into a square metal vault that was located directly underneath the biggest and most central mansion in the rich district.

Lucky did not impulsively tried to phase through the metal wall but instead circled around in order to survey the strange construction.

"Meow?"

What was weird about this vault was that it was completely enclosed and inaccessible. There were no obvious entrances on any of its sides. There weren't even any tunnels that allowed people to approach this hidden site.

If that wasn't enough, the vault was also covered by an external layer of sensor-dampening materials.

Lucky was no stranger to them as the Larkinson Clan also made use of them to hide its own stuff.

The materials employed by the builders of this secret vault were even better and more effective, allowing it to escape detection when the Larkinsons and other parties swept the city with penetrating scans.

The biggest reason why Lucky managed to detect this secret vault was because he was extraordinarily sensitive towards large concentrations of metal.

His nose was his best sensor! Nothing could beat his determination to eat the most valuable exotic materials within his reach!

Though the vault he found was highly suspicious, Lucky did not sense any acute threats. Knowing that time was of the essence, the gem cat slowly intruded the vault by phasing through its bottom side.

The training that Lucky received from the Black Cats had taught him that hidden vaults like these tended to have a lot of protection against intrusions.

This time was no different, but unfortunately for the owner of this vault, Lucky had also been trained on how to circumvent and disable all of these security precautions!

The cat never emerged in the open and continually remained in a phased state while he was passing through solid matter.

Along the way, his claws or his teeth skillfully snapped power lines, control chips, transmitters and other important security measures.

Lucky showed no impatience as he methodically disarmed the security system by himself. It was only after he was certain that nothing important would trip anymore that he cautiously poked out a black tail from the floor.

When no hidden laser turret or biological guard monster emerged to destroy this tail did Lucky poke out his ears from the surface.

No sounds. No vibrations. No obvious activity.

"Meow."

Lucky finally mustered up the courage to emerge inside the dark and silent vault.

Though the interior of this secret hideout was completely engulfed in darkness, Lucky possessed plenty of other ways to survey his surroundings.

For a moment, the vault completely disappointed him. There were no stacks of precious metal bars or containers filled with phasewater in sight.

The metal interior was completely empty and devoid of any crates, data chips, precious art or any other treasures that rich people usually stuffed in their hidden vaults.

Instead, the large hall was completely dominated by a single object, one that was so large and tall that the vault hardly had any room for other sizable objects!

"Meow?!"

As someone who had accompanied Ves for around a decade, there was no way that Lucky would be able to mistake the sight of a mech!

After confirming that the mech was completely inert and inactive, Lucky cautiously floated upwards while circling around its massive frame that was slumbering in the dark.

Lucky's exceptionally sensitive nose was already able to develop an impression of the quality of the materials used to construct the mech.

It immediately became clear to him that the mech was not a cheap or standard product. The exotics and other materials were too powerful for that. It did not take much time for the gem cat to conclude that he stumbled upon an expert mech!

"Meow meow."

After a few more seconds of examination, Lucky found out that it was special even among other machines of its kind.

The design and the materials were so good that Lucky judged it to be a high-tier expert mech!

The gem cat's clear green eyes glowed in the dark. Drool already leaked from his tongue as Lucky thought of all of the yummy materials he absorbed from a high-tier expert mech.

"Meow meow."

The cat grew a bit more curious about the expert mech.

Why was it hiding all the way down here?

Why hadn't the Gaugers used it during the battle in orbit?

How come its owner neglected to evacuate such a valuable mech before the invading forces reached the planet?

The soft green glow emanating from Lucky's eyes raked across a portion of the upper body of the expert mech and happened to expose a few markings.

One word immediately caught the cat's attention.

AMADEUS

"Meow?!"

Realization dawned on Lucky's feline face. It turned out that he had inadvertently stumbled upon the vault that belonged to Saint Jeremiah Gauge himself!

The Amadeus was the high-tier expert mech that Jeremiah had once earned a lot of acclaim with during his participation in the Komodo War.

The Sundered Phalanx had engaged in many offensive operations and campaigns that resulted in many pitched battles against hardened Hexer troops.

Despite his high pedigree, Jeremiah Gauge did not shirk his responsibilities and actively sought out powerful enemy Hexer expert mechs.

He became notable in how many powerful Hexer heroes he managed to defeat by relying on his pure and highly polished swordsmanship.

Sure enough. When Lucky flew to the back of the Amadeus, he was able to spot the famed sword that had accompanied the high-tier expert mech for a long time.

Jeremiah had piloted the Amadeus long enough for him to develop a close relationship with the expert mech. Even if it wasn't a living mech, years of getting exposed to a powerful expert pilot caused it to be affected by an extraordinary influence that transformed it in many subtle ways.

That wasn't the only reason why this expert mech was special.

What turned it into a particularly precious and unique expert mech was that it was the machine that helped Jeremiah undergo his second apotheosis!

The Amadeus was the machine that Jeremiah achieved Sainthood with! That alone was enough for it to gain the qualification to be displayed in a prestigious museum!

The story became clear to Lucky. Saint Jeremiah may have gained a new ace mech after his breakthrough, but he couldn't bring himself to let go of his old machine.

The ace pilot brought his expert mech with him to the Red Ocean and buried it deep below his personal mansion in order to keep it safe and fairly close at hand.

As a cat that accompanied Ves or his family almost every day, Lucky was well aware of the significance of this historical expert mech.

The original Amadeus not only contained a wealth of Fridayman tech and design applications, but could also facilitate research into the growth of mechs and the effect of willpower baptism on non-living mechs.

The value of the Amadeus was already high to most people, but it was even more precious in the hands of a mech designer like Ves!

It was practically a certainty that Ves would be able to learn a lot of lessons and derive a lot of inspiration from studying this expert mech!

Ace pilots were rare throughout human space and the chance of encountering them and their ace mechs were practically minimal.

Though Ves still had opportunities to get in touch with Patriarch Reginald and his Mars, it was not as if he could randomly visit the Cross Clan to poke around as he wished.

Besides, there was only so much data he could gather from a single.

As long as he was able to obtain the Amadeus and study it in detail, Ves could make comparisons and figure out additional details that eluded him in previous studies.

He could derive additional insights if he was able to study the Neo Amadeus and the remains of Saint Jeremiah Gauge that Patriarch Reginald had claimed as his spoils!

The mysteries surrounding ace pilots and what it took for an expert pilot to take the next step would become a lot clearer to Ves if he was able to gain possession of this crucial link.

It was not impossible for Ves to speed up his possible advancement to Senior if Lucky brought back word of the Amadeus!

"Meow."

Gloriana could also benefit a lot from studying the high-tier expert mech as well. No matter how much she hated the Fridaymen, their Masters were extremely competent in designing mechs.

Lucky paused for an entire minute before he decided how to handle this discovery.

"Meow."

Half an hour later, a certain black-clad cat popped out of the ground and returned to the surface of Pima Prime V.

His tail playfully swished back and forth while his belly seemed to strain against his Misfortune Harness a bit more than usual.

An incredibly lazy and satisfied expression graced his expression.

"Meeeooooww…"

An invisible intelligence operative made contact with Lucky now that he entered into communications range again.

"You're finally back. Where have you been, Lucky? Did you discover anything good?"

The cat let out a soft burp.

"I take it you found something but claimed it all for yourself, am I correct?"

Lucky nodded. "Meeooowwww…"

"Did you leave anything for our clan?"

"Meow meow…"

"Can you be mindful about sharing your finds next time? I don't want to return empty-handed. Will you at least be able to hold back next time you find a hidden stash? You look as if you have already eaten your dinner. Is your stomach full? It has to be. There is no way a cat as small as you can strip the entire planet of metals."

"Meow…"

"Well, let's proceed. We still have plenty of hours left to explore the buried treasures that other elites have left behind. I haven't been idle all of this time. I took the liberty of using my scanners to examine the neighboring estates. I have marked a few lots that might contain other worthwhile goods. Can you take a closer look at these locations and inform me of your findings?"

"Meow meow."

Lucky was in a great mood right now. He did not mind giving the rest of the Larkinson Clan a bone. After all, he had already obtained the grand prize as far as he was concerned!