"Before I begin to share my perspective, let me begin by stating that I am basing all of it on second-hand information. In our line of work, sources matter. Since we don't have a strong foundation in the LRA, the information we have gathered is not necessarily true. That can skew our analyses."

"I'm already aware of that, Captain Ember. Just proceed with what you think about our situation." Ves impatiently said.

"Very well, sir." The Xona Stalker officer said as she collected her thoughts. "There are many possible plots at work so I cannot determine with a high degree of confidence which one is true. I can only state that the most likely purpose of blowing up your upcoming design duel is to exert pressure on the conservatives."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "Just that?"

"What you need to understand here is that the conservatives are already under a considerable amount of pressure. Criticism and opposition to their steady approach has been mounting for centuries. If your products succeed in trouncing Dr. Navarro's creations, then the conservatives will be humiliated in full view of the public. When this shameful outcome is combined with other sources of pressure, the conservatives may no longer be able to rely on the public support they used to have!"

Many ordinary Lifers were either indifferent or supportive of the conservatives. In their ordinary lives, they were content with the stability provided by the current regime. One of the reasons why the Supreme Sage was in charge for over four centuries without interruption was because he essentially guaranteed that the lower half of society was able to live well!

The generous benefits and other helpful policies might end once other factions took charge. The radicals were eager to take risks and change the current course of the LRA, but that might lead to disaster if handled incorrectly!

This was why the conservatives remained secure despite the weakening support from other researchers. The LRA was both a state and a research institution, and right now the former played a decisive role in keeping the dominant faction in power.

"Still, that doesn't sound like the complete story." Ves replied after he thought about it. "Why pick out this particular design duel? Why not another one that involves Seniors or Masters competing against each other. Those clashes are a hundred times more interesting than an ordinary design duel between two relatively young Journeymen."

Calabast frowned as well. "It definitely has something to do with your identity, but we don't have enough information to make a judgement. There is just something about you that has convinced the masterminds to fit your design duel in their plans. Maybe it is because you design a different kind of 'living mech' that contrasts more poignantly against biomechs. Maybe the plotters want to take advantage of your existing reputation. Also, the fact that you are just a Journeyman and not a higher-ranking mech designer means that you are much easier to target."

That was true. Ves seriously doubted whether a local faction wanted to screw with him if he was an honored Master. Just the power, wealth and influence that he would have at his disposal would be enough to deter anyone from casually messing with his life!

"That shouldn't be all there is to it, right?" Ves still frowned.

Captain Ember reluctantly nodded. "From our talks with our relatives, we have learned that the internal stability of the LRA has become more shaky in the past few decades. The conservatives are definitely feeling the heat while the opposition has become more active. While much of this turbulence is kept out of the eyes of the public, every Lifer feels that a major shift is in the making. Eventually, one side has to give."

"And how will my potential victory against Dr. Navarro play into this situation?"

"Aside from what I have already mentioned, the Supreme Sage himself will face significant pressure. As brilliant as he is in pushing the boundaries of his research fields, he is not a true leader. The pinnacle research facilities I've mentioned were mainly set up to further his own projects. They only became available to other LRA researchers when too many of them fell idle when the Supreme Sage was done with his studies. Still, at any given time, he occupies a large amount of labs that could have been used to accelerate the progress of plenty of rising talents."

"Ah."

Captain Ember began to explain this angle.

This was a dispute concerning research allocation. For a long time, the Supreme Sage was the pillar of the Life Research Association. His strength and authority maintained the current regime for a very long time.

As long as everything was well in the LRA, the other researchers had no qualms in letting their leader hog the best labs that had been funded by the entire state.

Yet if the rest of the LRA clearly wasn't doing so well, then it became less and less justifiable for Supreme Sage to occupy so many pinnacle research sites!

No matter how much respect he deserved, the LRA was not supposed to be a personality cult. The interests of the collective outweighed the interests of the individual. If a mech designer like Dr. Navarro fared too poorly against Ves in a design duel, then that was a sign that the current policies were weakening the LRA's biotech industry.

The Supreme Sage was already old and wouldn't last longer than a century or so. When he was finally gone, how could the remainder of the biotech industry fill the void he left?

Continuity must be ensured. The LRA had to maintain its position as the strongest center of biotechnology in the star cluster! If not, it was highly doubtful whether it could maintain its current level of prosperity.

In the worst case scenario, other states might invade them in order to steal their precious pinnacle research facilities!

In this context, blowing up a single design duel out of proportions made more sense to Ves.

"The goal of these unknown masterminds is to emphasize the relative weakness of the LRA's biomech industry." Calabast summed up the situation. "If your design duel isn't enough, then they will simply pick more losing duels to create a sense of urgency. We have already identified three possible goals. The first is to weaken public support for the conservatives. The second is to pressure the Supreme Sage into giving up his hold over the pinnacle research facilities. The third is to convince every Lifer that they need to take a more drastic course of action."

Ves frowned and crossed his arms. "I can see how the radicals and the other fringe groups want to see my products smack down biomechs. What I can't see is why Dr. Navarro is the one who has taken the initiative to challenge me to a duel? If he's a conservative, then he should have been keeping his head down all this time. Why hasn't a radical come to challenge me instead?"

"The design duel won't have the same effect if you are challenged by the latter." Calabast shook her head. "There will be too many questions about whether your opponent deliberately held back in order to produce a dramatic loss. You needed to be challenged by someone who has every reason to aim for victory and no reason to throw the match."

"Dr. Navarro might have good reasons to spark this challenge even if it gives his own side a lot of difficulties." Captain Ember added. "The conservative faction is the largest, but that means that there is more diversity of opinion within their ranks. Navarro might be part of a group that thinks the conservatives need to change some of their policies in order to remain dominant."

Ves frowned. "When I talked to the fellow, I didn't really get that impression. Sure, the doctor recognized that the LRA's current strategy wasn't working so well. I haven't heard any words about wanting to start a revolution. He seems friendly and open to me. I never got the sense that he was plotting something behind my back."

That was a great inconsistency now that he thought about it. Was Dr. Navarro an unwitting pawn? Or was he just blind to the potential consequences?

Even Calabast couldn't figure out the biomech designer's motives. "He'll do his best to win the duel. He has to. Throwing the match will absolutely ruin him while also causing the entire design duel to come under suspicion. However, the question is whether he truly wants to win. There is a difference between pursuing a victory because it is expected and pursuing it because you want it. This can make a substantial difference."

"I don't think we need to suspect Dr. Navarro's willingness to win." Ves strongly stated. "I talked to him. I felt his passion. He is utterly sincere in wanting to prove that his way of designing mechs is superior to my own. This is something that mech designers can sense from each other. We are not just putting our pride on the line. We are also trying to validate our design philosophies through this confrontation. The winner will receive a substantial boost in confidence in his own design philosophy, while the loser will seriously begin to doubt his own research direction."

This was the danger of serious design duels! When the mech designers put so much at stake, then losing had serious consequences!

This was especially the case when the two sides held opposing stances on a specific matter. In this case, the central issue was which form of living mech was stronger.

There was no way that Ves wanted to see his mechs lose! Dr. Navarro should also be the same. Only an absolute degenerate of a mech designer would do something as heinous and self-defeating as trying to lose!

Both Calabast and Captain Ember took in his explanation. They both looked at each other for a second.

"This means that Dr. Navarro is definitely pursuing some sort of agenda." Calabast concluded. "Whether he is acting on his own or on behalf of someone else, he's not simple. Right now, we can't determine any more than that. We'll have to investigate the local undercurrent further in order to gather more clues. I'm already planning to allocate more personnel to dig out as many information as possible from the doctor."

They talked a bit further but gleaned no further insights. Ves was already happy with what he got. He had become aware of all of the interests surrounding the outcome of his design duel. To know that it could even affect the position of the Supreme Sage was daunting!

Yet no matter who wanted him to win or lose, Ves did not intend to do anything different. He still planned to prepare his dueling mechs to the best of his abilities.

In fact, in order for him to strengthen his mechs even further, Ves planned to perform major upgrades to their spiritual design!

A grin appeared on his face.

The rules of the design duel were fairly tight and all-encompassing, but they left out a major loophole.

The strength of a dueling mech was limited by their physical design and their cost. This meant that neither Ves nor Dr. Navarro could apply too many improvements to their respective machines.

Yet this was an area that Ves never specialized to begin with. He had always focused on furthering his ability to improve his mechs on a spiritual level. This meant that his dueling mechs could remain in their stock configuration but receive a complete makeover to their spiritual designs that drastically altered their capabilities!

Of course, the changes had to conform at least somewhat to the original designs. This meant that it would be absurd to apply the same glow of the Ferocious Piranha to all five dueling mechs. Still, Ves had no doubt that he had a lot more leeway in this area!

"I don't care which faction wins or loses in the LRA. I just want to win!" He declared!