The Mech Touch

Chapter 7583 Demonic Ultimatum

The demon responded.

Not with words. Not with sound. Only feelings and impressions.

Ves was already accustomed with this non-verbal method of communication. He parsed the demon's surprisingly clean and noiseless message with near-native speed and fluency.

Blinky's feline expression immediately drooped.

"Are you serious? I am asking you to accept a boon that is highly beneficial to you. I am willing to do this even knowing that it will directly put Saint Orfan at a disadvantage. Yet instead of choosing any of the obvious options, you are asking for this of all things?!"

"..."

The demon did not convey much in reaction. It merely emphasized its determination.

The Prophet's Bane was not joking. This was not a decision that he made on a whim.

Ves felt even more disturbed by that. He could have dismissed a careless demand if it was merely the product of madness. Yet the Middle Demon had displayed enough rationality that such an excuse could not be made.

"I cannot accede to your request. It violates the fundamental principles of human civilization." Ves pushed back. "I will never permit the brutal practice of sacrificing the lives of human beings just to sate your perverted bloodlust. If you truly insist on harvesting the lives of sentient beings, I can agree to sacrifice the lives of captured alien soldiers. Their souls may possess different flavors, but they are just as 'nutritious' as human ones, if not more due to their participation in the Red War."

The Riot Mark III conveyed a strong feeling of rejection in response to his words!

The demon acknowledged Ves' words, but that was all. He still insisted on human sacrifice!

Ves felt increasingly more upset with the direction of this negotiation. "You are doing this to hurt us, aren't you? You want to take revenge against me for bringing you into existence, only to lead a life of pain and suffering. It is not enough for us to feed you with the lives of sentient beings. You want us to become complicit in this foul deed. You want to stain my hands with human blood until I become just as dark and corrupted as yourself."

"..."

The Middle Demon did not bother to reject this accusation. He conveyed a strong pulse of pleasure and anticipation! That was a clear sign that Ves was right on the mark!

Damn.

The Prophet's Bane was a vindictive bastard. What was worse was that he also happened to be fairly intelligent.

The combination between these two traits produced a monster that knew exactly how to strike back at his captor where it hurt the most!

Ves had been prepared to make quite a few concessions, even ones that directly set back Saint Orfan's chances of winning her perpetual struggle against her own demon.

Yet when given an opportunity to gain a direct advantage against his current prey, the Prophet's Bane did not grasp it, but instead sought to target an entirely different individual!

The mech designer quickly weighed the proposal. The lack of time made it difficult to mull over it for too long. Ves needed to hurry up and make up his mind within a minute or less.

The noble and more human side of him insisted on rejecting this ridiculous demand. He could never allow a demon to dictate terms to his owner and controller. Giving ground at this junction would not only put Ves in a lot of trouble, but also change his relationship with the D-mech in an undesirable direction.

Yet the urgency of the current situation pushed him to disregard the ethical problems and acquiesce to the demand. Who cared about morality when survival was at stake? The early invasion of the deathborn race posed such a great threat to red humanity and all other life in the Red Ocean that lesser principles had to give way to greater priorities!

As Ves felt torn between these two mindsets, he ultimately bowed down to the altar of necessity.

Although a high-ranking mech pilot would never betray his own principles like this, Ves was not a saint.

He was a mech designer.

He was a man who had grasped enough power to become the youngest tier 2 galactic citizen of red humanity.

He knew enough about how the people at the top of the hierarchy operated that he had learned a fundamental truth.

Almost no one who operated at that level kept their hands clean.

Each of them had broken the rules more than once in their rise to power. Even the noble and honorable god pilots had defied their superiors or rules at least once, or else they would never have been able to break all of the shackles that held them back from attaining godhood!

That said, people should never take this decision lightly. For every successful tier 1 galactic citizen who broke the rules, there were countless aspirants who made the wrong judgment and faltered in their climb to power!

Ves feared that if he agreed to the D-mech's outrageous demand, he was far more likely to belong to the second category rather than the first.

Yet… his sense of obligation and duty to his own race and civilization did not permit him to shy away from foul but ultimately necessary decisions.

He still chose to spend a number of seconds on proposing alternatives, only to get shot down time and time again.

"...Fine." Ves said as if he had just spit out a foul morsel. "Your request will be difficult to meet, but I will promise you I will do my best to satisfy your… bloody appetite. The quota that you have set is excessive. I cannot possibly deliver hundreds of human beings to the slaughter on a daily basis. The bloodshed is too much and the logistics will be problematic. It will invite too much backlash from my own clan and other do-gooders."

Ves did his best to haggle a less bloody agreement. He had to work hard and make use of all of his charm and experience just to persuade the Prophet's Bane to accept a more modest proposal!

Fortunately, the Middle Demon may be smart, but he was not an excellent negotiator. He partially fell sway to Ves rhythm and lowered his demand until he suddenly woke up and refused to budge any further.

Blinky's translucent fur had grown darker and less luminous regardless. Agreeing to any form of human sacrifice added a stain to his soul.

Though he had engaged in numerous initiatives that had led to the loss of many human lives, the context was entirely different.

Encouraging mech pilots to take risks might cause them to suffer greater casualties, but also produced more heroes and legends.

He was well aware that Helena had committed grave acts against human souls in order to satisfy Ves' demands for Minor Demons and Middle Demons. He could only console himself that he was making use of a much more abundant resource in the old galaxy. Besides, he had long absolved himself of all responsibility for the fate of original humanity.

In any case, only red humanity recognized his status and authority as a tier 2 galactic citizen.

No one who resided in the Milky Way Galaxy was willing to grant him such a status, let alone permit him to have a real voice in the highest halls of power.

Since that was the case, original humanity may as well be no different from human-shaped guinea pigs in his eyes!

They were human enough to serve as excellent test subjects, but lacked the reasons to force him to feel responsible for their lives and wellbeing!

If only he could use their souls to sate the Prophet's Bane need for suffering.

Unfortunately, the Middle Demon's specifications made that impossible.

Perhaps he had already thought about this potential solution and made sure to shut it down.

If Ves truly agreed to the D-mech's demand, then he would essentially have to bring a bunch of humans before the Riot Mark III and permit the machine to slay the victims through physical violence!

The slaughter could not be done through more humane means. The cruelty and bloodshed was the point. The demon would not feel satisfied with clinical executions.

Fortunately, the Prophet's Bane was not entirely unreasonable. He had made no demands on the morality or the innocence of the human sacrifices.

With his status and power, it should be trivially easy for Ves or the Larkinson Clan to acquire large batches of human traitors or serious criminals.

They did not have to be Larkinsons or first-class citizens for that matter. Ves knew very well that there were billions of worthless third-raters who lived in the cracks of human space.

Even if it had been years since he last interacted directly with these scum, it should still be easy to round up thousands of pirates, murderers and other low lives in a relatively short amount of time.

The quantity was never the problem. It was the principle of the matter that held him back.

But only for a moment.