Ves spent a lot of time under Major Verle. The mech officer wore the hat of both the Mech Corps and Flashlight.

Someone who was part of both the military and a notoriously ruthless intelligence agency should not be treated as someone average!

As one of the leadership examples that Ves always looked up to, Major Verle was someone who was very adept at social manipulation. The man was a maestro at using words to sway people into doing what he wanted.

Though he didn't acquire a fancy nickname for it, Ves always considered Major Verle to be the true Devil Tongue!

Unlike Ves who employed spiritual manipulation to augment his social manipulation, Major Verle didn't depend on this advantage!

The Brighter mech officer was highly capable of establishing his authority through mortal means alone!

This advantage alone meant that Major Verle was a very highly-prized asset.

One of his persistent concerns about running the Larkinson Clan was the overall leadership deficit at the top. People like Melkor Larkinson and Magdalena Larkinson possessed a lot of mid-level leadership experience, but there were scant few clansmen who could truly command a force of thousands of mechs!

With someone as experienced, capable and tested as Major Verle at the top, Ves could feel relieved his mech forces weren't mismanaged.

The fact that he wasn't a trueborn Larkinson would also insert some much-needed diversity and differences in perspectives at the command level. So far, the senior leadership of the clan was still vastly slanted towards the trueborn.

Was this bad? Not necessarily. At least Ves and his bloodline still remained in firm control over the clan. Yet the lack of different backgrounds meant that many of the biases held by the Larkinsons would go unchecked. Too much harmony wasn't always a boon!

Yet there was more to Major Verle than met the eye. He also held a position in the Firestarters, a secret action group of Flashlight. While Ves wasn't sure what kind of role Verle played, he was far more similar to Calabast than he appeared on the surface!

Ves never liked spooks. They were duplicitous, treacherous and dishonorable. It was fine if he was the one that hoodwinked others, but it was far from ideal if he was on the receiving end of this behavior!

Right now, just because he and Major Verle were war buddies didn't mean that they were on the same side!

Both of them had cut their ties to the Bright Republic. Both of them became independent. For all intents and purposes, there was no intrinsic reason that the Larkinson Clan and the Flagrant Vandals should move together.

Everything depended upon the negotiations that took place at this very moment. Ves couldn't afford to go too soft on Major Verle just because he considered the other man a friend!

Ves crossed his arms while Lucky hovered nearby while stared curiously at Major Verle.

"Major, please understand my position. As the leader of the Larkinson Clan, I have a duty to be very careful about the people I bring into our midst. Do you know how many citizens of the Sentinel Kingdom have been knocking on my doors these days? Some of them even possess similar backgrounds to yours, but our clan has rejected their entry. Do you know why?"

"They're not trustworthy enough?" Verle guessed.

"That is one of the reasons. Another important reason is that the rejected applicants don't bring enough value to the table. Your Vandals.. if you came as a complete mech regiment, then we would be having a completely different conversation. As it is.. How many mechs do you have? 120?"

"A bit more than that." Major Verle responded. "The Princely Jackal can hold more than a standard mech company. Our combat carriers may not be the most cutting-edge vessels of the Mech Corps, but they are all capable of dropping into hazardous war zones. Our military pedigree is also something that shouldn't be discounted. Our tactics, discipline and use of formation is not something that regular mercenary corps can match!"

"All of that is true, but my Avatars come pretty close. Don't forget that much of my relatives are veterans. They have passed on all of their training and know-how to the mech forces of my clan. Even if we can't match the qualities of a professional military unit, we can still come close!"

Besides, with mechs like the Bright Warrior and other upcoming machines, the comprehensive battle power of his Avatars and other mech troops would undergo a complete transformation in the future!

The two continued to trade various remarks. Ves constantly tried to press down the worth of the Flagrant Vandals and made it clear that it was not a unique and indispensable asset.

For his part, Major Verle did his best to parry the attacks on his boys and emphasize the benefits that the Vandals could bring to the clan.

Eventually, they ran out of arguments. Rather than circle around and repeat the same points, Ves cut to the chase.

"My point stands, major. I already have a well-rounded force composition. The Avatars of Myth is my elite mech troop. The Living Sentinels is good for general-purpose combat. My Battle Criers can perform many of the same errands as your Vandals. If discretion is paramount, then I can turn to the Black Cats and the Swordmaidens. Let me ask you again. What reason do I have to invite your Flagrant Vandals into the Larkinson Clan as a package deal?"

After all of the arguments that Ves had made, there shouldn't be any. Major Verle looked vexed. He probably never expected Ves to be too strict with regards to their requests to join.

It wasn't as if Ves enjoyed it either. The Larkinson Clan was growing bigger every day, so as clan patriarch he had to become a lot more selective about the people he added to the ranks.

Major Verle sighed. "We have an expert candidate. Captain Orfan may be rough around the edges, but she is a true warrior. She also gets along very well with Commander Dise of your Swordmaidens. Aside from that, our boys are true Brighters, which is something that your Larkinson Clan is sorely lacking."

As an intelligence operative, Verle's intelligence was on point. He did his homework, at least.

"All of that is true." Ves responded. "That makes them worthy of individual recruitment. Yet that is not enough for me to retain your Vandals as a single organizational entity. While I admire the spunk of your former mech regiment, there are plenty of customs that I would rather do away with. When it comes down to it, your Vandals are partially feral."

"That is mostly due to the neglect and ill treatment that we have received from high command. As long as your clan understands our needs and treats us with respect, I'm sure my boys can be relied upon."

"That's not enough."

A brief pause ensued after Ves made that declaration. He patiently waited for Major Verle to finish his internal deliberations.

Whether Verle was putting up an act to give Ves the illusion that he was in control, it didn't matter.

Only one person in the conference room held all the cards, and it wasn't the visitor!

Having sparred with the likes of Calabast and the Living Prophet, Ves no longer dared to underestimate socially-adept individuals. The barriers that he put up shouldn't stump Major Verle.

The major eventually made an impactful decision.

"I have one more reason that might persuade you otherwise." The Brighter mech officer said with a disarming smile. "Do you remember the Aeon Corona Mission?"

What kind of question was that? He thought back on this long and harrowing adventure every day!

"I do." Ves mildly responded. "It's difficult to forget how many times I've brushed past death during a mission I never signed up for. I'm still peeved that we lost all of those Vandals and Swordmaidens just so that Senator Tovar can live an extra hundred years."

"That's the plight of small fellows like us. We were merely pawns of the state back then." Major Verle shrugged. "Fortunately, it's different now. Our Vandals, what is left of us, are no longer an arm of the state. You on the other hand are well on your way to become your own power!"

"While I enjoy the flattery, I'm not here to reminiscence about old times. My time is very valuable, so please get to the point."

"Very well, Ves. It's like this. While Captain Orfan and the few Vandals that have managed to enter the Starlight Megalodon haven't managed to accomplish much, they did manage to raid the vault of the battleship in the end. Despite the losses that we have suffered, the mission was deemed a success."

"I know that. Senator Tovar wouldn't have been ecstatic if we came back empty handed. He even made sure to award me with a bunch of shiny medals."

Major Verle looked around the conference room and noted Nitaa's quiet presence. "What I am about to tell you next needs to be told in absolute privacy."

"Nitaa can be trusted with everything you say." Ves quickly responded, affirming his trust in her discretion.

Her recent adoption in the clan made him even more reassured of her loyalty!

The room wasn't entirely secure, but that was easily solved. He activated his jamming device, enveloping them in an interference field that should be capable of blocking nearly every form of surveillance.

"It's safe to talk now."

Major Verle was very familiar with jamming devices. He felt the strength of Ves' self-built jamming device and was satisfied with its efficacy.

"Alright." The older man took a deep breath. "When we retrieved a container bearing the precious high-grade life-prolonging serum from the Starlight Megalodon, we didn't hand all of its contents over to the government. In truth.. we held one dose to ourselves."

A very profound silence ensued after Major Verle made his shocking declaration! Ves couldn't help but widen his eyes at his former superior!

"You.. absolute madmen.. you inglorious bastards! Do you know the value of what you claim to hold?! You can buy an entire star system in the Sentinel Kingdom with what you have! An entire line of decrepit old geezers will form in front of you as soon as you put up the serum for sale!"

The amount of leverage the Vandals held was a thousand times more value than Ves expected!

At most, he thought that Major Verle would boast about his connections to the remnants of Flashlight, or show off his access to some secret black ops bank accounts.

Never in his imagination did Ves expect that the Flagrant Vandals actually withheld an incredibly valuable dose that was capable of extending the life of someone who already extended their lives beforehand!

In fact, Major Verle took an enormous risk by revealing this explosive news to someone else. If Ves was unscrupulous enough, he could order the Penitent Sisters to storm the Vandals and take over their ships in order to search for the serum!

While Ves felt tempted to enact this plan, he quickly set this notion aside. Major Verle wasn't stupid enough to leave something so valuable within reach. He probably had some means to destroy the serum if Ves tried to steal it or simply stashed it in another star system.

"What are your terms?" Ves asked plainly after he regained his composure.

"We won't ask for much." Major Verle replied in a disarming tone. "My priorities remain the same. We want nothing more than to retain the existence of the Flagrant Vandals and be treated with respect. We don't require any pampering or favored treatment. Simply treating us fairly like you do with any other clansmen is sufficient to keep us happy."

That.. sounded remarkably mild for someone who held the key to longevity! Major Verle was massively undercutting his demands, and that immediately aroused Ves' suspicions!

Nothing came for free! The greater the value, the greater the price! That was always an adage that Ves abided by! There was no way that Major Verle was ignorant enough to give out something so valuable without a commensurate reward in return!

"I'm not as gullible as I used to be." Ves stated with a serious expression. "What's the catch?"

Major Verle smiled and crossed his arms. He successfully regained the initiative in this negotiation!