The Piranha Prime left the base after loading up on extra supplies. In order to minimize its energy usage, Venerable Tusa disabled or lowered the power setting of numerous systems.

The mech also carried a customized backpack module that it was able to dump onto the ground whenever it needed to fight. The backpack was filled with extra energy cells and other supplies.

It didn't take too much effort for Ves to cobble it together in a way that molded it to the form of the light mech without shifting its balance too much. He also made a few other tweaks to the Piranha Prime in order to increase its performance when it had its feet on the ground.

"I hope he manages to make it back." Ves worryingly sighed.

"Venerable Tusa prepared extensively for this trip." Commander Casella said as she stood by his side. "He studied the map of Veoline and memorized every noteworthy location. We also held several discussions on how he should respond when faced with difficult situations. He's not going in blind."

"All of that sounds great, but there's no way you can anticipate every possible outcome. I hope that Tusa doesn't make any stupid decisions over the course of his adventure."

The departure of Tusa caused the base to lose a powerful defender. The Piranha Prime's unique properties were extremely well-suited to the current situation. It had the power to break up entire formations and challenge even the most powerful opponents as long as they weren't expert mechs.

If any hostile party launched an attack on the base while the Piranha Prime was away, then the defenders would certainly suffer greater casualties due to lacking a core mech!

Venerable Tusa knew this, but he still insisted on going on a solo jaunt. From his perspective, the intelligence and other assistance that he was able to provide in the field was far more valuable than staying in place!

For example, the expert pilot could be on the lookout for any large troop movements that could pose a threat to Gentle Lotus Base. He was also tasked with scouting several nearby biomech production and servicing facilities.

The latter task was especially important. Due to the breakdown in central communications, Ves and the rest no longer had access to real-time data on what was happening throughout the planet.

The only way to get a solid look at various locations was to dispatch scouts. In order to make sure that the stranded Larkinsons obtained the data they needed to stay on top of the situation, they also dispatched lots of scouting drones.

Hundreds of small bird-sized drones spread in every direction. Each of them acted on specific programming that told them to scout a complex route that wouldn't give anything away if any of them got captured.

Ves didn't have much hope in the drones. There were too many methods to detect, interfere or shoot them down. However, it was worth sending them out if even 1 percent of these disposable drones returned!

After seeing the Ferocious Piranha off, Ves reentered the base and began to inspect the few metallic mechs that were currently off-duty.

With the departure of the prime mech, the Larkinsons on the ground only had seven LMC mechs at their disposal. This was a depressingly small number, and the implications would have been worse if the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan failed to bring their mechs as well.

As it was, the base occupants were still able to keep their footing with the mechs they currently had at their disposal, but only barely. The refugee camp that the escapees from Veoline had erected outside of the base posed a latent threat.

If the distressed Lifers transformed into a mob that turned against the Larkinson Clan, then the damage they could do was enormous!

For this reason, Ves emphasized the importance of converting the refugees into Larkinsons. So far, this process was slow going, but that was mostly because the clan had already absorbed the most willing groups early on. The remaining Lifer citizens still had too many misgivings.

"I never really thought about it, but after spending time with fellow Larkinsons, it seems obvious now. My former people are too insular." Captain Rivington said with a wry expression. "The LRA forms the center of their reality. Whatever lies beyond is alien and unfathomable. The people who come from other states are so alien to Lifers that we can't even understand why they cling to tech that is centered around cold hard metal instead of warm and reassuring flesh."

Ves looked puzzled. "I can understand if Lifers from a rural settlement think that way, but aren't you exaggerating a bit when it comes to the citizens of this planet? Prosperous Hill is a port system! This planet alone is a nexus of trade, and lots of foreigners conduct transactions here all of the time!"

"That's true, but you overestimate how often the people here get exposed to foreigners. Visitors and traders like you only show up in downtown Veoline. Outside of the city center, the less exciting districts are almost indistinguishable from an ordinary domestic settlement. Every citizen lives in the same bubble as everyone else. With few or no opportunities to meet and interact with foreigners, they don't really know what foreigners like you are truly like except what other people have told them. I'm sure you can imagine how well that goes."

This indeed sounded troublesome. The Larkinson Clan adopted an open and tolerant culture because it was made up of people with many different origins. It was also vital for every clansman to learn how to cope with strangers with radically different outlooks of life. Otherwise, how could the Larkinsons ever be able to survive in the Red Ocean?

Being able to make friends with strangers would likely become a vital survival skill in the new frontier!

The Lifers didn't have to do all this. Since they only intended to live in the same state, star system or planet for their entire lives, they had no need to be tolerant and open-minded. Instead, their society encouraged them to put their own people and values above everything else, because this was an easy way to maintain internal cohesion!

"Their strong pride in their identities as Lifers is the greatest obstacle we face right now." Captain Rivington explained. "While Captain Ember and I are slowly working to draw out the most desperate and most open-minded among the refugees, I'm not optimistic we'll be able to win over more than half of the people camped outside."

"How many mechs are we missing out on, then?"

"That figure changes every day, particularly since we are receiving a trickle of new refugees every day. For now, we're talking in the range of a hundred biomechs. Most of them aren't impressive in terms of performance, but they can still contribute in any battle."

This was a serious difference. Ves hated the thought that there were so many biomemchs within reach, but ultimately wasn't under his control!

If any battle commenced, then these cowards would be the first to flee! Since they didn't owe anything to the Larkinson Clan, they were under no obligation at all to risk their lives and expend their precious assets to fight someone else's battle.

The only way to remedy this was to turn them into Larkinsons themselves! This way, any attack on the Larkinsons turned into their battle as well!

Ves looked sharply at the former competitive team leader. "Do you have any good ideas on how to convince these stubborn Lifers that they're better off with joining our clan?"

The man grimaced. "I don't have any good solutions at the moment. The insularity that I've talked about makes it difficult to get anything through their skulls. Even though they already lost their homes and livelihoods, the most stubborn refugees still insist that the government will make everything right!"

"The government can't even take care of itself. These Lifers are delusional." Ves contemptuously remarked.

They were at an impasse here. Ordinary measures wouldn't work. No matter what kind of logic or persuasive argument they used, closed-minded people simply wouldn't bother to listen.

Ves encountered these types of people many times in his life. His wife was a good example of that when it came to Hexer matters.

He knew that only powerful or forceful means were capable of penetrating through their thick skulls.

Yet resorting to these solutions was not in the cards right now. Venerable Jannzi would likely put an end to any attempt at coercing the Lifers outside to become a Larkinson.

He didn't want to leave this problem unaddressed.

"Since I can't use force, maybe I can use a more subtle means…"

Ves came up with an interesting idea, but in order to implement it, he had to explore what the refugees were like. So far, he hadn't spent any time with them after returning to his base.

He called up Lucky and all of his honor guards. He also requested a couple of Bright Warriors to accompany him from afar.

Due to the impressive appearance of his Unending Regalia, there was no way for him to hide his identity. The people who sat at the edge of the refugee camp already noticed his arrival and quickly began to spread word!

"These people are certainly industrious." Ves commented as he saw the refugees begin to talk and gossip about him. Not everything they said was nice.

"If these Larkinsons didn't visit our state, we wouldn't have lost our homes!"

"Look at how scared he is of us. He doesn't even dare to expose his face. The stronger and thicker the armor, the more the wearer is afraid. Don't fear him. Pity him instead."

"Stay away from him! He's no friend of ours. According to the galactic net, everything he says is a lie. You can't trust any foreigner, but this guy is worse than everyone else!"

Ves accepted to hear some snide remarks towards him, but he didn't think it would be so bad. The Lifers, despite sheltering right outside Gentle Lotus Base, possessed remarkably little gratitude towards the people who helped them escape the dangerous city!

While there were plenty of people who had better words to say about him, the stupid and negative remarks already convinced him that he should not be lenient towards these people.

He resolved to treat them better once they became a part of the Larkinson Clan. As long as they saw the light, he could forget about their prior opinions.

As Ves and his guards stepped close, anyone nearby conspicuously stepped aside. No one wanted to mess with the heavily-armed guards that were constantly on the lookout for possible threats.

The Bright Warriors looming at the back could not follow Ves inside. When the refugees settled on this location, they made use of hastily-erected structures made out of scavenged debris or some sort of fast-growing tree product to form a chaotic town.

The refugees clearly didn't discuss their plans with each other because the structures were all placed that did not make sense when taken as a whole.

Children ran along the uneven corridors. Their parents were either sitting uselessly outside or busy with performing the tasks that were necessary to keep the camp running.

None of them wanted to speak to Ves. His honor guard alone was enough to deter anyone from getting within 10 meters of him! His intention to talk to the locals in a comfortable setting obviously wouldn't work at this rate.

Just as he thought about sending away his guards, an object launched from the top of a nearby tree structure and rapidly approached his position!

Ves didn't do anything. He merely waited as his honor guards already made their moves.

A small gravitic projector mounted on one of the heavy suits captured the object in the air. The gravitic hold steadily began to push the round fleshy ball further into air until it exploded and attempted to spread out corrosive acid!

The gravitic projector wasn't able to contain all of the released acid, so plenty of drops and splashes managed to spread to the sides and splatter onto the roof of a tree building.

The affected organic structure quickly started to sizzle!