Ves hadn't met with Gloriana's immediate family very often. This was quite regretful as the imminent departure of the Wodin Warriors meant that this might very well be the last opportunity they would be able to speak with each other in person.

When the newlyweds boarded a shuttle that brought to one of the fleet carriers of the Wodin Warriors, Ves did his best not to get annoyed by how weird the Hexers decorated their ships.

From their hexagon-shaped corridors to their hexagon-sided tables, the female supremacists found plenty of ways to express their love for the number six.

The Parma Imago was still an impressive ship regardless. Her modern technology along with her advanced materials meant she could play a very useful role once the Wodin Warriors took part in the Komodo War.

As Ves and his new wife boarded a floater platform that brought them to the upper deck of the fleet carrier, they passed by plenty of male and female crew.

Ves frowned even further as every Hexer male assigned to the Parma Imago was no taller than 1.66 meters.

He was already familiar with this sight about the Stellar Chaser. The difference was that the Parma Imago boasted a much larger crew. While all of the women occupied important positions, the boys were responsible for all of the grunt work.

"Why do you Hexers even cap the growth of your male Hexers?" Ves couldn't help but ask.

"That's because they're boys, silly."

"This is unnatural!"

"That's the point, Ves. Nature is wrong. Nature is outdated. Ever since our civilization has developed to the point where boys aren't needed to defend their tribes anymore, their barbarism and propensity for violence aren't necessary anymore. Unfortunately, our civilization has developed too fast for our evolution to catch up. To prevent boys from deriving too much confidence in themselves, the matriarchs ordered their growth to be capped at a below-average height."

"And this actually worked?"

"The Hegemony considers this policy to be a massive success! There have been less rebellions ever since boys all have to look up to women all the time."

"Not every boy is cut short. Your siblings are just as tall as any other man in the galaxy."

"That's because they're good boys! Mother has raised them well. The Hegemony offers to unlock the growth of any boy who is exemplary enough. This reward gives hope to every boy in the Hegemony. Many of them work harder than ever in order to be recognized as a good boy!"

Ves could easily imagine why. He couldn't imagine the pain of being vertically challenged while living in a state where every woman was taller!

"Who exactly decides whether someone is a good boy?"

"There are different panels or other institutions that are dedicated to monitoring, rewarding and punishing boys. My mother happens to be in charge of one of them in the Scimitar System. She has punished many boys and rewarded a few of them over her career. Don't worry, Ves. You're a good boy to her, so she won't punish you anytime soon!"

Ves twitched. Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?

"I'm a man, Gloriana. Not a boy."

She turned lovingly at him. "Of course you are! You're not just a man, but you're my man!"

Well, at least she had her priorities straight.

The floater platform finally delivered the pair to the entrance of an observation chamber.

Once they passed through the hatch, they looked up to see an impressive view of the stars. The dome was oriented towards Cinach VI, so the pair also enjoyed an impressive view of the planet from above.

After admiring the open view, they walked across the wide deck until they reached an open terrace.

Constance and her brood were already present. Even Venerable Brutus sat next to his older brothers.

"Ves. We have been awaiting your arrival." The mother greeted him before turning to admonish her daughter. "Youngest, you've been out of contact for two straight weeks. Melody keeps telling me you have locked yourself up in your mech workshop."

"We were busy, mother!"

"That's no excuse to cut yourself off from the rest of your family!"

The exchange lasted for a minute. After she finished rebuking her daughter, Constance turned her disapproval to her new son-in-law.

"I see the both of you have been very busy in the last two weeks. Both of you look very tired. Have you been exerting yourself too much these days?"

"Uhm, fabricating mechs is intensive work." Ves modestly replied. "This is especially the case when attempting to create new masterworks. It's through putting a lot of effort that we have already succeeded a couple of times despite our young ages."

"Very well. Did you succeed?"

"We came close in our last attempt. We're quite happy with the result. Maybe next time we'll achieve our goal."

His mother-in-law inquired a bit more about their work. She exhibited some interest in the mech designs he recently completed.

"These third-class mechs are a waste of your time. According to my daughter Kellandra, your clan is more than capable enough of fielding second-class mechs. Your most important clients such as our state also urgently need more mechs from you. So far, a year has gone by, but you have only delivered two designs out of the eight that you have promised."

Ves nervously smiled. "We.. were busy in our own affairs these past few months. It will be different now. I don't foresee any major distractions in the coming months and years so I should have plenty of time to complete the commission."

His commitment seemed to satisfy Gloriana's mother. "Good. Work hard and deliver the remaining mechs in a timely manner. We will reward you for every success. In fact, the Hegemony has recently approved a bonus for you considering how much your Blessed Squire and Valkyrie Redeemer designs have helped us defeat more Fridaymen."

The older woman elegantly waved her hand, causing a projection of a very familiar-looking capital ship to appear into view.

"This is my factory ship!"

Ves had already memorized the specific configuration of the Estralla Klavier-class vessel. As he studied the projected schematics, he immediately noticed some discrepancies.

There were a few more additions to the ship design.

"Wait a minute. That wasn't there before…"

Constance tapped the schematic, causing the alterations and new additions to light up in red. 

"In light of your great service to our great and righteous state, the Hexadric Hegemony has decided to reward you with an allotment of free upgrades. The schematic already contains some improvements recommended by the shipyard that is currently constructing your ship. You have the right to suggest other additions and alterations if you so wish."

"How much, ma'am?"

"800 billion hex credits."

That was quite a lot! This amount completely soothed his regret for not being able to earn any money from the sales of his Blessed Squire and his Valkyrie Redeemer.

Sure, he might have been able to earn even more money over the long run, but that would take way too much time. Considering the current needs of his clan, he would rather get a lump sum straight away when his factory ship was still under construction.

While much of the structure was already built and fixed, there was still a lot of leeway to make some structural improvements that couldn't be done once the ship went active.

This was a precious opportunity!

Some of the suggested improvements already looked quite impressive. The factory ship already came with two heavy-duty FTL drives, but the Hexers added a third one for additional redundancy!

The outer hull plating that had yet to be installed consisted of a better and tougher alloy without increasing the factory ship's mass. This was incredibly helpful as even a modest boost to defense could save a lot of lives in the future.

Due to the formidable size and surface area of the factory ship, neither Ves nor the Hexers could afford to incorporate materials comparable that to mech armor. It was simply too expensive. This was why Ves was still diligently saving up on Breyer alloy in order to mount a fantastic prow on his new factory ship!

The recommended upgrades all looked sensible to him. They improved the core parameters of his factory ship, particularly improving mobility and defense.

Of course, the inherent DNA of the factory ship was still the same. Compared to other capital ships, she was relatively slow and couldn't be used to tank a lot of hits like some moving fortresses.

The only downside was that these recommendations already ate into much of the budget of his factory ship. He only had a third of the bonus left to implement some additional improvements.

"Can we replace the supplied production equipment with better models?" Ves asked. "I'm particularly interested in obtaining a machine that can process ultra-hard first-class metallic materials."

Though his factory ship already came with a second-class manufacturing complex's worth of production facilities, none of them were rated to handle materials as hard as Unending alloy!

"I don't think we can afford such a machine yet." Gloriana answered. "Even in the Hegemony, such a powerful machine is unaffordable to all but the state and the most successful mech companies."

"A shame."

He should have expected this answer. It seemed that Ves would either have to rely on Lucky or find some other means to process Unending alloy. He couldn't borrow the Ubiquitous Force's mech workshop now that Master Willix already returned to Centerpoint.

Ves examined the ship design for any areas he wanted to add some extra modules or any aspects he wanted to improve.

However, his low state did not help him with this regard. He simply couldn't come up with any good ideas.

He suddenly remembered one of his latest hires. Didn't he recruit her to take on these matters?

"Can you give us some time to submit our proposed modifications?" Ves asked. "Altering a ship design is way too complex for any single person to tackle. I'm not specialized in ship design, but I have staff that do. I'd like to bring these design schematics back to my team so that my people can puzzle out a solution that satisfies my goals. Also, can we expand the available budget by putting in our own money?"

Constance nodded as if she already expected the answer. "I will get back to you on the budget matter.  You have a week to submit your suggested changes. After that, the construction of your factory ship will reach a stage where major alterations cannot be implemented without tearing open the hull again."

"I understand. How long will it take for the ship to arrive in our hands?"

"I am told it will take less than two months to deliver your factory ship, even accounting for your suggested upgrades."

"That's quite fast."

"Several institutions of our state are assisting in the construction. The fabrication of ship parts, the supply of materials and the amount of personnel have all received substantial boosts. You can thank us for this change. Our dynasty has lobbied the state to accelerate the construction effort."

Constance and every other Wodin in the terrace looked expectantly at Ves.

"Uhm.. thank you.. mother."

Constance smiled warmly in response. "Anything for my son."

Inwardly, Ves felt like puking. His mother-in-law didn't have to call him that! Why did he keep getting more mothers? Sometimes, he just wanted to go back to the days where he didn't have any. At least he didn't have to worry about meddling women trying to keep him on his best behavior!

With that done, they all proceeded to settle down and talk about other matters. Constance and many of her children were very curious about what Ves and Gloriana planned to do in the Red Ocean.

In a matter of months, the Larkinson Clan would finally depart from the Komodo Star Sector. Both Gloriana and Brutus would be accompanying Ves and his clan to an entire new region of space.

It was a given that Constance was quite concerned about the Larkinson Clan's plans. She wanted to make sure that Ves didn't lead her youngest son and daughter into another abyss!