Ves desired more mutated beasts with spiritual potential.

Being able to find a treasure like Arnold proved that he could find new ingredients among the vast amount of organic products for sale in the LRA.

Prosperous Hill VI sold trillions of different beasts every day. Granted, much of that figure was taken up by tiny bugs and industrially grown organisms bred for medicinal or other production-related purposes, but there had to be a lot of undiscovered mutants out there that were just waiting to be taken!

At least, that was what Ves thought.

He spent five precious days of his schedule touring various different venues.

He visited huge preserves similar to Wexal Park. Each one operated the same way. The only way to distinguish the parks from each other was by observing which beast designers and beast suppliers they cooperated with. Each group, alliance or faction seemed to operate mostly amongst themselves.

He also entered downtown compounds where high-end beasts were put on display in cramped spaces. The exclusive stores either charged at rip-off prices or put the organic products on auction where the customers themselves drove up their value.

He even visited a few shadier establishments. While Ves wasn't able to find or locate any black or grey markets on Prosperous Hill VI, there were a few sketchier places that were nonetheless tolerated or supported by the local authorities.

These were mostly marketplaces where lots of smaller suppliers sold their low-end products. Beginner beast designers, foreigners looking to make a living and many more struggling people attempted to scrabble for a living in these places.

Quality control was inconsistent in these places. The mandatory checks that every beast had to go through were good at detecting short-term threats, but they weren't sufficient when it came to long-term issues.

What if an exobeast suddenly released poisonous mist when they reached the end of their lives?

What if a designer beast went crazy and attempted to mate with a human when in heat?

What if a beast used for cooking deposited an ill-understood substance inside a human body that turned into a brain-eating substance when combined with another harmless ingredient?

The beast industry was fraught with peril, yet the demand for them was quite high. The public marketplaces attracted lots of traffic as there were plenty of people who sought to purchase beasts for one purpose or another.

Gourmets happen to comprise a large amount of the clientele. Ves simply couldn't understand their mindset. They paid the equivalent of tens of thousands to millions of hex credits to obtain a special beast only to butcher the precious animals before putting their parts on the grill!

Ves actually held a lot more expectations when he visited these places. The lack of advanced lab equipment and the unwillingness to perform extensive testing should have resulted in more mutated beasts flying under everyone's radar.

Unfortunately, his expectations fell flat.

None of the creatures he observed with his spiritual senses met his criteria. The low-quality beasts for sale were less exquisite than the ones that were sold in places like Wexal Park, and that might have something to do with the low odds.

While the busy marketplaces did indeed sell some mutated products, the specimens that Ves encountered were mostly physically deviant. Their unstable genes went fritzy which caused them to grow abnormal limbs or teeth that were three times longer.

These worthless mutations did not interest Ves in the slightest. He sought to encounter a creature that experienced a more profound change, yet despite passing through marketplaces where billions of creatures were available for sale, none of them possessed the spark that made them different from the rest!

In the end, Ves decided to give up his search. The odds of encountering what he wanted was too low. It would have been great if he could delegate the task of combing through the marketplaces for spiritual mutations to his subordinates, but that wasn't possible.

The more time he wasted on this fruitless search, the more urgent it became to cultivate a batch of spiritual adepts. It was beneath him to seek out spiritually strong beasts in person.

His time was too valuable to be spent on menial tasks like this! The security risks were too great as well. None of his bodyguards enjoyed the extra effort required to guard him against threats while he passed through crowded halls and corridors.

It was too bad that he was years away from raising suitable spiritual adepts. He could only bow down to reality.

"Never mind, then." Ves muttered. "I guess I'll just settle with Arnold for now. I already have everything I require to finish my remaining two mech design projects."

Only two design projects remained in active development, though his design teams already ceased to perform any work on them. The Devious and Blinding Mech were auxiliary mechs, so their technical complexity did not come close to the likes of the Bright Warrior IB or the Ferocious Piranha IB.

The only reason why the two designs remained incomplete was because Ves still had to finalize their spiritual properties.

"I guess I can't delay it any longer." Ves sighed.

He had been putting off this task because the circumstances weren't ideal. He was seriously lacking in ingredients and other amenities such as large spiritual reserves and solid theory.

If he had a choice, he would have wished to complete the two auxiliary mech designs a decade later. He bet that he would have been in a much better position to turn the Devious and Blinding Mech into the products he originally envisioned.

Sadly, he couldn't afford to wait that long. The projects were very time sensitive and the client was already asking for status updates every day.

"I also need to move on to other priorities." He reminded himself.

Development had already started on the five mechs that Ves wanted to prepare for his upcoming design duel. He also had to reserve some time to fabricate the first production copies of all of the designs he completed.

When Ves looked at his schedule, he saw that his remaining hours were pretty much jam-packed with commitments. He even had to cut down his sleep schedule in order to reserve enough time to perform all of his remaining tasks!

Faced with no other choice, he grudgingly proceeded to perform the spiritual procedures required to turn the Devious and Blinding Mech into usable products.

"I'll start with the Devious first." He murmured.

To be fair, the latest iteration already performed decently in tests. The Superior Mother's dust phase of existence already diminished the presence of the stealth mech in the minds of every nearby person.

It worked, but that was it. The Devious lacked sophistication and didn't possess as much value as his other Hexer mech designs. It was a product that barely made the passing grade, but Ves did not set out to design mechs that were only barely satisfactory.

In order to add something special to the Devious design, Ves decided to employ his latest asset.

He put quite a bit of thought into the idea ever since he acquired Arnold. While the arganid was unlikely to pass on its complete cloning and repositioning ability to any mechs, maybe some other benefits might pass on. There was more to Arnold than just his signature ability.

"Well, I'll just try it and see what happens. I can always reverse the procedure if I don't like the results."

Since this was the first time Ves intended to make use of Arnold as a design spirit, he stopped by Ranya's lab.

As he watched the eight-legged beast crawl contently through a special cave system that had been specifically constructed to make arganids feel comfortable, he noticed a curious new change.

"You fixed his lame legs?"

"Correct." Doctor Ranya nodded. "The two damaged limbs bothered Arnold all the time. They not only unbalanced his body, but also caused significant psychological distress. There is no need to prolong his suffering when simple cloning and regeneration treatments can quickly make the limbs as good as new. I have also addressed all of the aches and shortcomings related to nutrient deficiency. He's as healthy as a normal arganid at his age."

Arnold's joy was very evident. His strong spirituality had grown vibrant due to his happy mood. The male arganid eagerly scurried through the tunnels at speeds he could have never reached if he had to drag two defective limbs.

Though Ves and Ranya didn't plan on making Arnold's life too comfortable, it was still worth it to fix all of the exobeast's health issues.

Not only would the treatments ensure that his physical body would last longer, but all of the favors done to him had completely earned his favor!

When Ranya activated a command that caused a portion of the tunnel to open up, Arnold spotted the two humans standing just behind the observation screen.

The eight-legged exobeast eagerly raced over to the edge of the energy screen!

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

Ves grinned. "I'm happy to see you enjoying your new body."

He briefly chatted with Arnold. Due to the mutated beast's simple simple personality, the conversation didn't last too long.

Ves decided to proceed to business right away.

"Arnold, I'd like your help with something. Do you recall what I explained about your new role a few days ago? Now is the time to see whether it can work. This is going to feel quite strange to you, but please bear with it. I know you can handle it. Just tell me whenever you feel any pain, alright?"

"Squeak."

It was doubtful whether Arnold understood what Ves attempted to do, but that was not important. He just wanted his design spirit to accept the changes that might happen.

Ves activated his comm and projected the Devious design in front of his face. The wireframe model already exuded a subtle character that made it appear less noticeable than notable.

The exobeast on the other side of the transparent screen wiggled a bit. "Squeak..?"

"Ah, you notice something?"

"Squeak squeak."

"It appears you are quite a sensitive fellow."

It made sense. While the arganid clisenta species preyed on smaller creatures, it was small enough to serve as prey to many other threats. Due to his previous injuries, Arnold lived a very high-strung life. He had to remain alert to the most sensitive changes in order to ensure he was able to run away before any threat or rival arganid approached.

"Well, let me introduce you to the Superior Mother. She's very powerful, but she won't harm you. I think she might even welcome your company."

After he waited a few more minutes for Arnold to familiarize himself with the mech design and its current spiritual signature, Ves began the process of investing the small beast as its second design spirit.

This was not as straightforward as the other times. Unlike incorporeal entities such as Zeigra and the Superior Mother, Arnold was alive!

How could Ves tie a living creature to a mech design?

The biggest problem he faced was that Arnold's spirituality was fixed in place. Pulling it out and placing it elsewhere would definitely traumatize the poor exobeast.

"Hmmm."

Fortunately, Ves already thought about this problem. He came up with several possible solutions.

The simplest and the one with the highest chance of success was to harvest a spiritual fragment from his source.

Ves hesitated to employ this solution.

Arnold had only come into his powers recently and his spiritual strength was still in the process of developing. Crippling it when he was at this crucial growth period would definitely do a lot of harm!

Harvesting a small mote was much less harmful, but the results would probably be just as unnoticeable. There was no point to infusion just a fraction of Arnold's essence in the Devious design.

What solutions could he employ instead?

After letting his imagination go wild, he came up with an interesting idea that might just actually work.

Ves briefly left and returned with a box in his hand. He opened the box and pulled out a very accurate miniature model of the Devious design.

"This is for you, Arnold. Say hello to your new toy."

"Squeak?"