A new era had begun for the Larkinson Clan!

The conclusion of the Nyxian Gap Campaign and the marriage between Ves Larkinson and Gloriana Wodin permanently shifted the landscape for the clansmen.

The clan founded by Ves permanently found its footing among the upper ranks of society!

Though most of this clout would become invalid as soon as the Larkinson Clan departed from the local region, some of it would still endure no matter where they traveled.

The prestige of the Larkinson Clan received a substantial boost by achieving feats that others could only dream about. From parading around captured warships such as the formidable pirate heavy cruiser called Gravada Knarlax to convincing an MTA delegation to personally attend the marriage boosted the profile of the Miracle Couple to insane heights!

As attention to their wedding increased, so did the sales of their mechs. The older models offered by the Living Mech Company experienced a resurgence in sales. Though the Komodo Star Sector's mech market had already reached saturation, sales in neighboring star sectors doubled or even tripled shortly after the wedding!

Though it was hard to imagine the Larkinson Clan being short on money these days, the endeavor it was about to embark upon demanded even greater investment.

Several years after Ves conceived of it, the grand expedition he long dreamed about finally came within reach! By his reckoning, he and the rest of his clan could formally begin their long journey across star sectors, star clusters and even galaxies in just a couple of months!

Of course, a lot of preparation still had to be done before the Larkinsons got to that point. The Nyxian Gap Campaign not only killed many clansmen, but also destroyed a lot of ships and mechs.

An even greater consequence of the continuous battles against the vicious Nyxian pirates was that it exposed the inherent weaknesses of the fighting forces of the clan. The Living Sentinels led by Commander Magdalena Larkinson exposed the dangers of fielding third-class mechs and starships against enemies that wielded greater power.

The Larkinson Clan could no longer entrust its safety on the cheapest and weakest tier of war machines.

In order to safely traverse the wider galaxies, the Larkinsons had to upgrade their entire fleet and mech roster.

So far, the newly-married couple of Journeymen Mech Designers only designed a handful of second-class mechs at the moment. What was worse was that two of them were Hexer mech designs.

There was no way for Ves to realize his dream of outfitting his mech forces with his own mech models in the short term!

To prevent his grand expedition from stalling, he had no choice but to allow his clan to purchase commercial mechs from the market. This was a complicated matter, not only due to the prohibitive cost of purchasing second-class mechs, but also the selection of models.

For obvious reasons, Ves could not buy his mechs from the two dominant second-rate states of his home star sector.

The Friday Coalition would rather kill itself than sell a single mech to the Larkinsons.

The Hexadric Hegemony was more than willing to pass some of its mechs onto Gloriana's husband, but hardly any Larkinson relished the prospect of piloting mechs that discriminated by gender!

The Larkinsons had no choice but to purchase their stopgap mechs outside of the Komodo Star Sector.

In short, the problems of the Larkinson Clan just kept piling up. Ves had a lot of long days ahead of him as his duties only piled up after the wedding.

Ves opened his eyes and stretched his arms. After he exchanged vows with Gloriana the day before, the rest of the evening was filled with celebration.

From giving speeches to receiving gifts, he and his new wife enjoyed the attention lavished upon them by their guests.

After witnessing the arrival of Master Moira Willix of the MTA and experiencing the power of glows exuded by the Larkinson Clan's two heirlooms, many guests acknowledged the Miracle Couple's incredible potential.

Even if Ves and Gloriana were merely Journeymen at the moment, they might become very influential Masters a hundred years later!

To the far-sighted leaders of the region, befriending them and giving them some valuable gifts was a worthwhile investment.

Receiving so much free stuff certainly brightened his day. What pleased him even more was enjoying his first night of honeymoon with his beloved.

A silly smile appeared on his face as he recalled that special night. One of the benefits of possessing a cranial implant was that he could remember every single detail.

"Meow?"

"Miaow."

The newly-wedded couple weren't alone. Aside from their bodyguards, their cats had also accompanied them all the way to the bedchamber.

Though Ves used to feel disturbed about the lack of privacy he enjoyed, he eventually got used to the new status quo.

He was too important of a person to be left unsupervised. The Larkinson Clan depended so much on him that it would definitely fall into ruin should he and Gloriana ever disappear!

Considering that their cats were secretly their strongest bodyguards, Ves had little choice but to tolerate their presence during their first honeymoon night.

"Did the two of you enjoy the show?" Ves yawned and asked.

The pair of felines lounging on the headboard paid little attention to him. The biological and mechanical pets weren't interested in human mating rituals.

They were cats.

Lucky had gotten rid of the little tuxedo but still retained his tail ribbon. Clixie retained both her head bow and her tail ribbon. It seemed she liked her new accessories very much.

"Nyaaaa~"

A third cat materialized into existence. Different from the other two cats, Goldie's glowing form emerged right in the middle between Ves and his beloved!

"Hmm…?" A female voice murmured. "Oh, Goldie! You sweetie. Do you want some cuddles?"

Gloriana satisfyingly opened her eyes and gazed at the half-physical form of the Golden Cat. Despite her identity as the ancestral spirit of the Larkinson Clan, Goldie was really just a year-old kitty.

Both cat and human pressed up and enjoyed each other's warmth.

Once Goldie had her fill, she floated over to the other two cats who were arguably her parents.

Now that she was deprived of her feline companion, Gloriana finally shifted her attention towards the husband of her dreams. Pure love filled her eyes as several of her dreams had finally come true.

Her wedding may not have been absolutely perfect, but it was every bit as magical as she had hoped.

Not only that, she finally bound her ideal husband and partner to herself. Pure satisfaction flowing through her body as she raised her arm and admired her new wedding band.

Now that Ves became her man, there was no way he was ever going to leave her! The possibility that other women would be able to steal him away was gone!

"Hihihihi!"

"What are you laughing about, honey?"

She quickly composed herself. "Oh, nothing. I'm just happy that we're finally together like this. I almost feared this day would never come when you experienced some trouble in the Nyxian Gap. Don't ever put me in such a position again, okay?"

"Uhm, I promise! Don't worry, Gloriana. I've had my fill of adventure in the Nyxian Gap. I don't have any urges to repeat the experience. I have too much work to catch up to anyway."

One of the downsides of holding too many responsibilities was he couldn't enjoy a proper honeymoon with his wife. He would have loved to take a few weeks off and just forget about his burdens, but Ves couldn't stand wasting so much time.

Fortunately, Gloriana was kind of a workaholic as well, so she didn't mind spending their first weeks as a married couple on work.

Of course, not just any work would do. She attempted to pinch his skin, only to fail due to his toughened body.

"Now that we're married, we should take advantage of our good moods to fabricate some mechs! We've completed six design projects in the last month, but we haven't made any first production models as of yet! We've waited long enough to realize our mech designs. This is our best chance yet to make another masterwork mech!"

His first day as a married man and already his wife was making demands.

To be fair, she was already like this before they tied the knot.

She was right, though. Aside from the Valkyrie Redeemer, the other mech designs merely remained virtual existences despite completing them weeks ago. This effectively gave the pair five good opportunities to earn another masterwork certificate.

With each and every successful attempt, their affinity for mechs increased a little bit further. This was incredibly valuable as they had already become better mech designers due to their initial successes.

"Alright, Gloriana, but not immediately. I still have to handle some matters. I have some meetings scheduled with Master Willix, the Cross Patriarch and some of the wedding guests who will be departing soon. I also have to sort out the gifts we received. Some of them are quite valuable."

She grinned impishly at him. "I love the gift provided by my state. We have received permission to produce and make use of our own Hexer mech designs! This is such great news!"

"Yes.. great news…"

To be fair, this was nothing more than restoring some of the original rights that Ves had given away in his initial contract with DIVA. The eight Hexer mech designs he promised to provide to the Hexadric Hegemony incorporated a lot of exclusive design elements of the Hex Army.

For various reasons, it was not a good idea for states to spread out their military mech designs.

The Hexers made an exception for the Larkinson Clan. It made some sense now that Ves thought about it with a sober mind.

First, he was one of the lead designers of the Blessed Squire and Valkyrie Redeemer. He was familiar with all of their secrets already.

Second, the Larkinson Clan became permanently associated with the Wodin Dynasty after yesterday. Marriages were one of the most solid methods to secure alliances, and this was no different. Before Ves joined with Gloriana, there was always the faint possibility that the Larkinsons could have turned their backs on the Hexers and reconciled with the Fridaymen.

Now, that frightful possibility was completely ruled out. As far as the Hexadric Hegemony was concerned, the Wodin Dynasty succeeded in ensnaring the Larkinson Clan!

Since the Larkinson Clan effectively became attached to the Hexer state, it was no longer a big deal to release some Hexer-exclusive hardware.

In fact, the Hexers probably hoped that adopting more Hexer hardware would make the Larkinsons more aligned to their state!

Though Ves recognized the ulterior motives behind this seemingly magnanimous gift, he really did not want to pass it over.

Though Ves had no stomach for the Blessed Squire, the Valkyrie Redeemer was far too powerful for him to pass over!

Also, it just so happened that his clan recently absorbed a strong and cohesive group of former Hexer citizens.

"The Penitent Sisters will probably be happy to pilot our Valkyrie Redeemers."

"And so will my Glory Seekers!"

The gift also extended to the household troops of the Wodin Dynasty. There were no legal barriers anymore that prevented Gloriana's personal guardian force from making use of military hardware!

Ves yawned again. "Let's get out of bed, honey. We have a long day ahead of us. Every second is precious."

"Okay!" She smiled. "But first, I have to do this!"

She leaned in to peck his cheek. Her lips briefly pressed against his fine stubble.

"I love you, Ves."

"I love you too, Gloriana."

Their marriage solidified their relationship. Their commitment to each other had grown stronger. All sorts of pleasant emotions rolled through their minds as they seemed to sync with each other.

Both of them raised their hands. Their special wedding bands connected the two lovers in some way. Each ring was bound to a spiritual fragment taken from their minds and transplanted to each other. Aside from granting them limited access to the domain of their spouse, the rings also brought other benefits.