Chapter 508. Clashing Ambitions (1/2)

Ves smirked as the aspirants who wanted to take over his position tried to weasel their way out of a design duel.

He had to admit that he worried about the issue before he came up with the idea of a duel. He anticipated some of the reasons that others might bring up, and he couldn't completely retort them all.

The main sticking point lay in the seniority argument. Though the oldest and most experienced mech designer wasn't necessarily the most qualified one for the job, they offered a lot more assurances to everyone compared to an external mech designer that had been drafted into the Mech Corps.

Ves spent hours wracking his head on this issue when he first got the news. He came up with various arguments, lies, schemes and tricks before he metaphorically smacked himself on the head.

”Why am I trying to accommodate a bunch of weaklings? As far as I'm aware of, I'm the best mech designer within a range of several light-years. In terms of knowledge, design experience and skill, nobody can hold a candle to me. They want to pick a fight with me? I'll show everyone what fools they are for challenging me!”

He really needed that kick in the butt. Ever since then, he dropped most of his schemes and simply aimed to steer the gathering into a design duel.

Ves ignored the half-hearted arguments between the most ambitious mech designers and threw his gaze at the high-ranking mech designers that kept themselves out of contention and the low-ranking mech designers who formed the silent majority.

Both these groups appeared to be unconvinced by the counter arguments put forth. A mech duel might inherently benefit Ves, but that did not mean it was a bad choice. It was the most direct and uncomplicated option available, and relied directly on the personal capabilities of the mech designer to get ahead.

As for votes or other means of deciding the winner? All of them looked weak in comparison. How could anyone think to take over the position of head designer by currying favor among the mech designers?

No matter how good the likes of Mercator and Trozin built up their reputation among the mech designers, their refusal to accept a duel marked them as a coward.

Ves maintained his ever-present smirk as he sat back and let his rivals come to terms with the inevitable. Once he threw out the suggestion of a duel, nobody would be able to retract from the challenge without affecting their reputation.

Personally, he never liked duels. It was a barbaric practice that had initially been revived by mech pilots wanting to prove their mettle.

Mech designers picked up the tradition and tweaked its format to allow for an even playing field for competing designs.

Design duels formed a controversial means of settling an argument, because it could never be completely fair. Nonetheless, it wasn't outwardly unfair either, and the outcome would always be clear and unambiguous.

Once the mech designers in the crowd started to nod off, Ves decided that he let the aspirants prattle around long enough. He clapped his hands, forcing everyone into silence.

”If my esteemed colleagues are finished, let's proceed to the design duel. I've already prepared the venue.”

He spoke of his rivals as if they were children, causing their faces to sour even further. Compared to their evident frustration, Ves looked like a beacon of calm. His confidence oozed out of his body. It was as if he never doubted he would lose at anything.

”Come along now, we don't have all day.”

In actual fact, Ves booked eight hours in one of the large-scale training rooms. When he booked the training room, a ship officer immediately got on the line and asked him why he needed so much time.

Training rooms were very valuable because they allowed for extensive simulations with high-quality projectors. The mech squads aboard the Shield of Hispania competed against each other for time in the training room, and here came Ves to snatch their favorite cookie from their grasp.

He answered the ship officer in the simplest terms. ”I need this training room to put some unruly children in their place.”

Once the Vandal officer heard that Ves intended to hold a design duel, the man smiled in understanding and wished him luck.

The duel was sacred and enjoyed a lot of respect in human society. That was why none of the mech designers retreated from the challenge. Backing out before a fight brought a lot more shame than suffering an outright loss. At least in the latter case, the losers proved their valor to go through with a fight.

Over the next eight hours, a slow-moving tragedy took place. The mech designers looked on from a distance as Ves and four ambitious mech designers took the time to design a mech out of a selection of random parts and mech sections.

From time to time, small groups of off-duty mech pilots and servicemen strolled into the training room. Word of the duel spread throughout the entire ship, and everyone who arrived expected to witness a riveting battle.

All they saw were five mech designers meticulously putting their designs together. To those who lacked a technical background, it was as exciting as watching paint dry. Though some of the ship engineers chose to remain, the disappointed mech pilots always left immediately after.

In the interest of maintaining a veneer of fairness, Ves set a completely random selection of parts at the spot. This way, Ves proved that he hadn't prepared a complete design beforehand.

He wouldn't be able to prepare beforehand because the selection process only picked out a couple of hundred components out of a basket of billions different options. Each new scramble drew out a completely different selection of parts.

All of the parts came from mech and component designs published over two-hundred years ago. Their simple and outdated nature allowed his competitors to work with them more proficiently as they didn't need to spend too much time trying to figure out.