Chapter 2746 - Novel Recruitment Material (2/2)
This instantly ignited a small storm in the local mech community!
Mech pilots started to pass through the entrance of the recruitment hall in droves. While a portion of them were freelancers, the majority were already employed.
Despite that, they still showed willingness to defect to the Larkinson Clan!
What was even more astounding was that non-potentates wanted to meet with the expert pilots as well! Many people in the galaxy simply never enjoyed the privilege to see a demigod in the flesh.
”What is this clan doing? Expert pilots are honorable heroes!”
”Who cares? I’m going no matter the cost!”
”What gives the Larkinsons the right to parade their expert pilots like trophies? It’s unseemly! Someone should stop them. They are tarnishing the prestige of these heroic soldiers as we speak!”
”Heh, you’re only angry because you’re jealous. Your mercenary corps is too average to retain an expert pilot. I bet if you had one, you would be doing the same thing as the Larkinsons!”
While there were plenty of people on Prosperous Hill VI who disapproved of this measure, the Larkinsons paid no mind to them. As far as people like Ves were concerned, there were no rules against using their expert pilots as recruitment material! just because the military were too prideful to do the same was not a valid excuse!
Tens of thousands of people flooded into the recruitment halls each day!
Security had to be beefed up and the staff applied harsher criteria to filter out those who were merely sight-seeing. In order to avoid testing the patience of the expert pilots, only those who were genuinely interested in applying to join were granted the opportunity to meet one of the heroes!
Of course, the expert pilots in question did not enjoy their latest duty. First, they were compelled to take part in some of the testing sessions of the last prototypes. Now, they were ’expected’ to meet lots of strangers in the hopes of luring them into the clan!
In order to placate them, Ves promised to compensate them for their time. They earned several Larkinson merits each hour they spent on duty. This was quite a generous reward as it could quickly add up to hundreds of merits as long as they continued to show their faces!
Larkinson merits reflected their contribution to the clan. Everyone could issue special requests or obtain special goods and privileges with enough merits. No one said no to having too much of it, not even the expert pilots!
One of the assumptions that the expert pilots kept in mind was that they might be able to exchange Larkinson merits for a better expert mech.
No one wanted their future machines to be weaker than the ones piloted by their fellow peers.
This was why even Venerable Jannzi Larkinson deigned to take on this distasteful duty!
Even though she disapproved of this vulgar stunt, she cared for her Shield of Samar. She was cognizant enough to know that her relationship with Ves wasn’t the best right now, so she needed merits even more to make sure her needs were still met.
Besides, the Larkinson Clan truly needed more members. While she felt a bit ambivalent about bringing in more people who might possibly die for someone else’s cause, the existing members of the clan were also at risk.
Her conflicting feelings resulted in an odd sight. When a batch of mech pilots and other talents were allowed to enter a small auditorium where Venerable Jannzi stood in front, the entrants quickly became engulfed by her unsettling force of will.
The will manifested by Jannzi adopted a guarded posture towards any outsiders. Her bad mood caused her presence to gain a bit of sharpness.
Yet despite conditions, plenty of people raced to the front seats! The mech pilots among them were more eager and better able to withstand Jannzi’s turbulent aura. They eagerly claimed their seats and looked at the young expert pilot with pure admiration?
Jannzi crossed her arms. ”Do you know what you are getting into by coming here?”
”Please instruct us, Venerable Larkinson!”
”I’m warning you. Don’t join our clan unless you are willing to gamble your lives away. You have at least 50 percent chance of dying if you fight on our Patriarch’s behalf. He is an ambitious and greedy leader who doesn’t hesitate to spend his soldiers like currency. Even if I do my best to protect you all, the enemies we face are too great. We are already enemies of an entire second-rate state. In the future, we will doubtlessly provoke more terrible foes. If you don’t have the courage to fight against a military force without any state to back you up, then stand up and turn away now while it’s not too late.”
No one stood up. Each of them had gone through a lot of trouble to meet an expert pilot. Why would they possibly leave when only a couple of minutes had passed?
This unique opportunity was enough for them to brag about this great experience to their buddies for weeks!
”Please tell us how you crushed the pirates in the Nyxian Gap!”
”Will we be able to pilot fantastic mechs like your Shield of Samar?”
”I heard that you are tutoring mech pilots! Will I be able to learn how to pilot knight mechs like you if I become a clan member?”
Venerable Jannzi grew more and more irritated. The Larkinson Clan’s manipulation knew no bounds. These star-struck idiots were completely dazzled!