After Ves struck a new deal with the Tovars, the benefits of strengthening their relationship soon became clear.

The LMC's regulatory burden decreased. Permits were granted faster and inspections became less frequent.

These sounded minor, but to a company as huge as the LMC, they were very welcome.

The Tovars also allowed the LMC to transact with exclusive wholesalers and suppliers of raw materials.

Some of these companies were owned by the Tovar Family. Others maintained long-standing ties with the founding family. Whatever the case, the LMC managed to enter this circle.

This meant that the LMC not only gained access to cheaper materials, but also didn't have to worry as much about unanticipated shortages.

Another benefit of the new deal was that his refugee recruitment quota had tripled. He could hire a lot more gems in the rough than before.

Ves had already tasked the LMC to go through the list of refugees that the Bright Republic recently settled on Cloudy Curtain.

Among the billions of refugees, there were many treasures hidden in the crowd. The government had no time to look up their identities thoroughly, so the refugee database was far from complete.

Nobody believed it was accurate. With many official records and databases gone, it took too much time and effort to verify the statements made by the refugees.

Perhaps a self-proclaimed Journeyman Mech Designer turned out to be nothing more than an Apprentice.

Perhaps the lead programmer of a famous software company was a hacker who committed identity theft.

Perhaps a former military mech officer with a stunning record was a pirate leader who got mixed in with the refugees!

In short, the refugee database couldn't be trusted at all! It could only be used as a reference. In order to be sure that they hired the right people, the LMC organized several trips to the farming settlements in order to investigate the refugees up close!

Ves decided to accompany one of the visits. He boarded a shuttle which flew to a distant farming settlement. The reason for stopping by this specific settlement was because it supposedly held an exobiologist!

And not just any exobiologist, but a brilliant and talented one!

As Ves reviewed the exobiologist's flimsy registry data, he frowned a bit.

"I'm not sure whether this fellow is the real deal." He muttered.

"We've confirmed that Dr. Lupo Guernica really exists." Gavin replied from the opposite side of the shuttle. "We found mention of him throughout the galactic net. We found reliable sources that confirm that he has graduated with a degree in exobiology."

Ves looked up from the data pad. "He also appears to be a cooking enthusiast who participated in several cooking contests and wrote his own cookbook. It sounds rather strange to me that Dr. Guernica is both a biotech expert and a chef!"

Though the combination sounded dubious, it was not enough to dismiss Lupo as a blowhard. The proof they found on the galactic net was reliable enough to take this refugee seriously.

If this exobiologist was the real deal, then Ves would be happy to take him in. Not only did he graduate with distinction from a renowned university from a fallen border state, he also acquired a broad array of skills.

Though he mainly appeared to be an exobiologist, Dr. Guernica also dabbled in various other biotech fields.

Ves saw a lot of promise in this man. As long as he could convince the doctor to study implants and human augmentation, he might be able to become proficient in implant surgery.

It was very difficult for Ves to recruit a biotech expert who specialized in implants. It was even harder to get his hands on a qualified implant surgeon. The field of augmenting human capabilities was so complex that many doctors and biologists simply weren't good enough.

Ordinarily, someone as capable as Dr. Guernica would never be available. Companies scouted talents like him in their first or second year of studies and offered them juicy preliminary employment contracts. After they graduated, they instantly disappeared from the public.

Now, all of those arrangements were moot. Entire states had fallen. Many local companies and institutions fell as well, thereby freeing up a lot of valuable experts.

"What do you think, Nitaa?" Ves asked his bodyguard.

"I have nothing to add, save that we should be thorough in testing his capabilities." The tall woman said. "It's rather odd that he's still available."

That was true. Ves was not the only employer who wanted to recruit some local refugees. Many of the most promising refugees received multiple recruitment requests.

If that ever happened, the government randomly allocated a winner who received the right to approach a specific refugee first.

The LMC already requested to recruit a couple of hundred highly-skilled refugees, but only received permission to approach a fraction of that number.

To fill up its quota, the LMC had no choice but to consider other refugees.

Soon enough, the shuttle arrived at a farming settlement situated in the middle of nowhere. As Ves exited the shuttle, he briefly glanced at the mechs of the Avatars that escorted him before studying the settlement.

"These houses actually look pretty decent." Ves remarked.

"It was much better than before." Gavin noted. "The refugees used to live in metal boxes that were barely habitable. A lot of riots and social problems followed because the living environment was really depressing."

The houses in front of them might not be as classy as the ones in Freslin, but they looked much more pleasant than the industrial housing that they expected.

The brightly-colored pastel walls and fiery red roofs gave the impression of an idyllic village. If not for the lack of history and culture on the streets, Ves might have been convinced that it was older than a couple of months.

Of course, Ves spotted plenty of incongruities that revealed the very cheap and hasty nature of the construction effort. He could immediately tell that the construction companies hired to build these pleasant houses had cut a lot of corners.

"Well, let's get inside and find our exobiologist. We should also take a lot at the other hires in this settlement."

Ves, Gavin, Nitaa, Lucky took the lead. Accompanying them was a group of guards as well as some administrative personnel to vet the recruits.

Once this procession entered the settlement, they immediately attracted attention.

In fact, the refugees already gawked at their shuttles and their mechs.

Clad in basic, machine-washed clothes, their hopeless gazes gained some light as they admired and envied the well-dressed visitors.

None of the refugees approached. Public order was very strict in the settlements. After the outbreak of several riots, the government deployed a lot of humanoid patrol bots to prevent any further trouble.

Due to limited manpower, only a couple of officers and administrators ran the farming settlements from a central office building.

Ves first paid a visit there. He briefly met with the 'mayor' and discussed some of the formalities.

Once that was over, they exited the office building and headed to the outskirts of the settlement.

Numerous refugees had come out of their homes to peek at the newcomers. The contrast between their attire and demeanor was simply too vast.

As Ves carried Lucky on his shoulder, he couldn't help but notice that most of the refugees looked broken.

They had lost almost everything. Their jobs, their relatives, their confidence, their dignity and their home state were no more.

Only the kids showed some signs of life. They happily chased each other or cast their curious gazes at the tall mechs in the distance.

Their liveliness resonated with Ves. Even in the bleakest of times, life still found a way.

"We should do something to cheer these refugees up." Ves suggested. "Benny, why don't you see if we can apply to place some Desolate Soldiers at these settlements."

"There are too many refugee centers and settlements, boss. We'd have to output thousands of them just to cover all of the settlements around Freslin. All of those mechs are better put to use in other places, such as the battlefield or stabilizing the moods of productive citizens."

Ves sighed with regret. "You're right. It's too wasteful to deploy my mechs to cheer up these refugees."

They didn't really have any jobs except assist in the cultivation of fast-growing crops. Even then, the farming bots and machines did most of the work. It hardly mattered if the refugees regained some hope.

Once they passed the outermost circle of houses, a vast field of cultivated crops entered their sight. Ves knew that each of the plants weren't very palatable on their own.

Instead, they had been genetically modified to be incredibly nutritious and suitable to grow under the local circumstances of this farming settlement.

Ves knew that the harvest would be sent to an industrial food processing plant. There, the harvest would be mixed with other crops and ingredients before turning into freshly-made nutrient packs.

This was the fastest, cheapest and most efficient way to feed a large amount of population. While the Bright Republic wouldn't be running out of food anytime soon, it was best to take care of the food problem early.

As Ves approached a depot of some sort, he stumbled across a very foul air.

"Urgh!" Gavin gagged. "What is this smell?! Are the refugees treating the fields as their toilet or something?!"

The smell came from the soil and from the flying platforms in the air that dropped some very foul-looking matter onto a distant field.

Fortunately, Ves was made of sterner stuff. "Buck up, Benny. Where do you think the plants get their building blocks? They're so fast-growing that they'll quickly deplete the nutrients in the soil after a couple of harvest."

The fields on Bentheim required a lot of fertilizer to grow enough crops to feed a lot of refugees.

The bulk of the fertilizer had been shipped from Bentheim. Due to haste and necessity, the fertilizer had only undergone minimal processing, which meant that it wasn't possible to make it smell any better.

Once they reached the depot, Ves talked with the manager who led the group to what appeared to be an improved lab.

"NO NO NO!" A man with stringy brown hair and dressed in a soiled white lab coat yelled at a lab machine. "Why are my babies so inconsistent?! It must be the fertilizer! Why do those stinking farming consortiums mix up the fertilizer from so many different sources?!"

Ves instantly had a bad idea about this. Nonetheless, he needed to make sure he got the right person.

"Dr. Guernica?"

The man turned around and took in the sudden arrivals with a sharp expression.

Ves became disconcerted when he recognized the man's gaze. It was the look of someone who was fanatical about their research.

Ves had seen it before in people like Dr. Jutland and the Skull Architect.

That was not good news.

"You're the bigshot mech designer who wanted to hire me, aren't you?" The doctor probed.

"Yes." Ves stepped forward and tried his best to recover his poise. He couldn't afford to show any weakness against these types. "I'm interested in employing a smart and versatile biotech expert. You happen to catch my attention, so I decided to take a look and see if your record is accurate."

"Call me Lupo." The man said. "And yes, my record is very accurate. You can test me if you want."

"Please don't mind if we do. My subordinates will examine your knowledge and skills."

Lupo seemingly forgot about his experiment and began to grin at Ves. "Before we continue, please answer this question. Are you rich?"

Though the question came out of the blue, Ves decided to humor the man.

"I'm a Journeyman Mech Designer. My mech company sells over two-hundred thousand copies per month. I think you're smart enough to figure out the rest."

Ves could practically see the credit signs in the exobiologist's eyes.

"I have another question."

"Sure."

"Do you need a chef?"

"What?"