The tour continued without Ves. Unlike his Braves, he did not have the time to explore the entire breadth and depth of Ulimo Citadel.

No matter what great and impressive sights this fallen pirate base offered, the Larkinson Clan was not on a sightseeing tour. The Larkinsons needed to tally and take away as many valuables as possible within a week.

After that, the task force finally began its long journey back to civilized space.

Though it would have been better if the fleet lingered at Ulimo for another week, Ves did not wish to take too many chances. Even if Calabast was correct that most existing pirate groups just wanted to wait until the Larkinson Clan left on its own, who knew if the Allidus Alliance secretly dispatched a punitive fleet to take revenge for Lord Drogen death.

In the few months that Ves and his clansmen spent in the Nyxian Gap, they recklessly killed many groups while provoking many more!

Ves wasn't ignorant to the cycle of hatred he perpetuated. Aside from provoking the mighty Allidus Alliance, he probably attracted the undying hatred of other powerful pirate organizations who supported some of the Larkinson Clan's victims in the shadows.

He was very much aware that his task force couldn't act as unscrupulously as before. With the loss of hundreds of mech pilots and the even larger amount of mechs taken out of commission, the clan and the Penitent Sisters no longer possessed the strength to conquer another Ulimo Citadel.

As Ves spent more and more time in the Nyxian Gap, he realized that its poor population density and industrial development did not mean that the local pirates were pushovers.

Anyone brave enough to hunt down Task Force Predator would certainly bring enough firepower to wipe it out when it was still in its prime!

Ves quickly wanted to process every matter that required his attention at Ulimo Citadel.

He met with various Larkinson officers and managers to discuss various issues.

He inspected various warehouses and secret vaults in order to judge which valuable materials to plunder and which ones to leave behind.

He visited the holding facilities which held the surviving members of the Dry Snakes and its allies to pick out the pirates with spiritual potential.

Even though he hadn't spent any time on his experiments lately, he still kept them in mind. Witnessing Jannzi's breakthrough and exaggerated demonstration of power gave him a couple of new ideas, all of which required testing. Ves therefore spent a considerable amount of time on inspecting every pirate captive with his spiritual senses in order to obtain more test subjects.

While a lot of pirates had died during the Battle of Ulimo Citadel, many thousands of them still remained alive. Ves found it rather fortunate that he picked up more than a couple of dozen useful test subjects from their ranks.

As for the rest, Ves couldn't care less. A quick execution was the best they could hope for. After losing a lot of mech pilots and surviving an artificial anomaly, many clansmen weren't in the mood to grant any leniency towards the Dry Snakes and the other pirates.

During his visit, Ves also met with the Xona Stalker defectors. Before and during the battle, they provided invaluable aid to the Larkinson Clan. The traitors not only supplied a lot of information, but also risked their lives to sabotage a lot of essential systems and even turned their weapons against their own comrades.

The defectors sacrificed a lot of their men and women as a consequence. Even so, when Ves met Captain Reina Ember, she did not look particularly depressed.

"We all knew the risks when we turned against our own side." The surviving highest-ranking leader of the defector spoke. "My fellow conspirators and I are all members of the original Xona Stalkers when we were exiled from Majestic Teal over two decades ago. We did not choose to become pirates. We were forced to do so. That has always troubled us inside, but…"

"Not everyone insisted on staying true to their original selves." Ves guessed.

The old woman nodded. "Life is harsh in the Nyxian Gap. I don't deny that we had to resort to desperate measures in order to survive. Years of living under these circ.u.mstances has converted more and more of us to the pirate way of life. The problem became more and more severe when we started to recruit local Nyxian pirates in order to replace our losses and expand our strength."

That sounded like a surefire way to transform a former civilized intelligence outfit into a ruthless pirate organization. As long as a couple more decades past, most of the original old guard would likely die and make way for the new generation of pirates who were crooked from birth.

The captain's explanation helped Ves understand the defector mindset. No matter how much time they spent in the Nyxian Gap, they still remained true to their original values. He admired them for that. He wasn't sure if he would make the same choice if he was in their shoes.

Of course, the Xona Stalker defectors paid a heavy price for their decision. The defectors willing to join the side of the Larkinsons only consisted of a minority within the ranks of their group. The ensuing battle caused many of them to perish, thereby dwindling their numbers to a shadow of their original strength.

Even so, the survivors all consisted of older but very competent second-class intelligence operatives! It was no wonder that Calabast l.u.s.ted over them like Lucky l.u.s.ted after valuable exotics.

"You know the deal, right?" Ves posed. "Aside from those of you who are too old or injured to be of use, the rest of you will become a part of the Larkinson Clan."

"We know. Many of us have studied your clan and like what we see. We can find no better home for us once we have obtained our pardons." Captain Ember replied.

"Don't worry. We haven't forgotten about our promise to stop by the Life Research Association in Majestic Teal. I'm not sure how long our fleet will linger there, but you'll have plenty of time to reunite with your families and possibly invite them to become a part of the clan as well."

The defector leader smiled in relief. "That is all we want. We are not ungrateful. We are willing to commit to you and the clan. Anything is better than to see ourselves and our fellow comrades degenerate more and more. The Nyxian Gap is a great corrupting influence. You can't imagine what it is like to be confronted with harsh choices over and over again. Each time, there is a voice on your shoulders that urge you to opt for expediency rather than maintain your conscience."

"That truly does sound difficult." Ves lied. "Anyway, one of the reasons I agreed to bring you to our former state is because I already considered putting it on my list of future destinations. Our clan is very lacking when it comes to biotech-related services and it sounds like visiting a second-rate state that specializes in this area is a good way to remedy this shortcoming. Can you tell me more about the place you used to call home?"

"We have been gone for over two decades, sir. While we have tried to keep up with the latest machinations and developments, I'm sure the political situation has changed. Don't underestimate the importance of that. The way the LRA is run means that the policies and interests of its highest leaders can lead to significant swings."

"You Majestic Tealers try to complicate everything related to politics."

Reina Ember apologetically shrugged. "It's not that puzzling once you realize that everyone is constantly pushing their own interests. As long as you figure out their agenda, you can already figure out whether you can work with them or whether they'll betray you at the first opportunity."

"Considering your history, it seems you Xona Stalkers haven't been vigilant enough."

"That's.. fair. Don't follow our example. When you enter Majestic Teal, please keep in mind to remain on guard against anyone you meet. No matter who they are, as long as they are powerful or wealthy enough, they are inevitably masters of deception."

"Is the stereotype really true?"

"For people at our level? Not necessarily." The Xona Stalker ruefully smiled. "However, it seems that there is a universal rule that anyone at a senior position is inevitably selfish. That doesn't necessarily mean that they will betray you, but you can't afford to expose any vulnerabilities to them. Don't think that being a foreigner will protect you. In fact, that might make them even more unscrupulous."

"It must be pleasant to live in this star sector." Ves mildly said.

"We all took it for granted. It wasn't until we were forced into the Nyxian Gap that we started to see Majestic Teal from an outsider's perspective."

If scheming was one of the most prevailing customs at Majestic Teal, perhaps Ves might be able to find an excellent diplomat to partner with or absorb into the clan. He could use such a person to help him navigate the complex web of interests in the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy.

The Xona Stalker Captain began to reveal more about her former state.

"The Life Research Association started off as a genuine research organization." She began. "Back then, it was merely called the Life Research Institute. Due to its valuable research and commercial success, it constantly earned more money. The Institute invested most of its earnings on acquiring more and more territory and power. With more territory and production facilities, it began to earn even more money, which fueled even greater expansion."

"At some point, it began to buy planets, right?"

"Correct. Planets, star systems and entire space regions gradually fell under its sway. When the Supreme Sage of the time suggested the Life Research Institute to change its name to the Life Research Association, its transformation into an actual state was set in stone. The LRA is much more than a biotech research institution these days, though it is still the market leader in many related fields to this day."

The LRA was a technocracy. Its highest leaders and government officials consisted almost entirely of researchers and scientists. Not only that, but many of them actually specialized in genetics, exobiology and many other biotech-related disciplines!

With so many researchers obsessed with biotech in charge, it was a given that the LRA was set up to facilitate their research as much as possible!

While there were many defects associated with this system of government, to outsiders the LRA was a regional holy land for biotech goods and services.

There were multiple reasons why Ves wanted to bring his fleet to the LRA.

Considering his promise to provide every survivor of the excursion into the Nyxian Gap a basic set of second-class implants and gene mod templates, Ranya Wodin needed a lot of reinforcements to tackle this enormous workload. Bolstering the Larkinson Biotech Institute was one of his highest priorities.

Aside from that, Ves also had a more personal reason to stop by the LRA.

The state literally had the word 'life' in its name. How could he refuse to explore the research-oriented state and debate the philosophy of life with its famed biotech researchers?

Ves had a feeling that he might be able to advance his design philosophy considerably as long as he explored the meaning of life with some of the foremost experts on this subject!

In addition, he also had a professional reason to visit the LRA. The state was one of the few in the Yeina Star Cl.u.s.ter that utilized biomechs on a large scale.

Their mechs were alive in a very different way. Whereas his LMC mechs were merely conceptually alive, the famous and sometimes horrifying biomechs of the LRA were literally living organisms!

How could he not explore this fascinating subset of mechs? Ves couldn't wait to visit the Life Research Assocation!