The Mech Touch (Web Novel)
chapter-6204

Saint Phineas Murry was a loser.

There was no other way to describe it. For all of his success in piloting mechs, he had come no closer to fulfilling his most cherished goals.

It was a good thing that Saint Phineas was no stranger to hardship.

Every peak ace pilot possessed his or her own story. The narrative that could be spun from the life of a pilot that had the potential to become a god could make for a thrilling read.

Phineas did not think his tale deserved to earn the appreciation of others. Not yet. This was because he had yet to make any progress in completing his great mission.

As a member of the Transhumanist Faction, Phineas enjoyed the rare pleasure of befriending the most impressive human to have been born in reality.

Though many people disputed over whether he was truly the best specimen of the human race of all time, there was no shred of doubt in Phineas Murry's mind that the Chosen Human deserved all the recognition and more.

Phineas still felt as if he was dreaming when he met with Divine Hussain Albedo the first few times.

Even after years of working together to preserve the essence of the human race and prevent humanity from degenerating into genetic freaks, Phineas still felt deeply undeserving to receive the Chosen Human's attention, let alone respect!

"We became friends anyway."

The public mistakenly thought that the Chosen Human was so spoiled and elitist that he looked down on everyone else.

That was a mistake.

Perhaps there may be a kernel of truth about this impression, but Phineas always believed that the Chosen Human only treated humans with less respect because it was seriously questionable whether those people could still be classified as humans.

The Chosen Human was a racist, and that was a good thing.

The legendary god pilot believed with all of his heart that the human race in its purest form possessed endless potential.

Augmentations, particularly the kind that modified one's very own genes, only diminished people's humanity and caused them to go further and further astray!

Though Phineas was not as committed to this extreme standpoint, the Chosen Human had always stood by this belief as he led the Transhumanist Faction in the Milky Way with a firm hand.

Biotech researchers had a tendency to go out of control and engage in all sorts of illegal and gruesome experiments if left unchecked.

This was why the Transhumanist Faction had always acted as a yoke around the biotechs that constantly sought to push the limits, if only to satisfy their curiosity.

When the Red Ocean opened up, the Chosen Human understood quite well that his ability to restrain the biotech researchers over at the new frontier was a lot more limited.

He needed to transfer a trusted confidant with plenty of strength of his own in order to act as an agent and convey the will of the leader.

Saint Phineas Murry was that person.

Though he loathed the assignment that would take him away from perfection incarnate, the Chosen Human's will could not be defied.

"I need you there, my friend." The radiantly glowing human with absolutely perfect proportions spoke to the ace pilot in person at the time. "I have already received notification that the Evolution Witch is ready to relocate to the Red Ocean, possibly on a permanent basis. Her intentions are obvious, especially when she is taking along many of her sycophants. So many of her fellow radicals are representing our faction in the new frontier that very few people are left in the faction branch that holds my trust. None of them can stand up to Miyazaki. They will fold like a house of cards. I need a human who can issue my directives to her without being reduced to a gibbering fool."

Phineas was familiar with the problem case known as the Evolution Witch. Ever since she explosively rose into power, she had been stirring trouble every chance she got. The Transhumanist Faction had turned increasingly more divided as acrimonious debates took place between the supporters of different sides.

The Evolution Witch was single-handedly responsible for increasing the influence of members of the Transhumanist Faction that favored the ideology of posthumanism!

She had become such a problem to the traditionalists within the faction that they even attempted to smear the female god pilot by calling her the Human Biodisaster.

In hindsight, that game plan backfired.

The Evolution Witch not only embraced her second moniker, but also used it as a badge of honor, as if there was something to be proud of by recklessly playing with genes and causing untold biological hazards!

"I… am honored that you chose me to be your voice in the new galaxy, but the Evolution Witch might not treat me with any greater respect."

The Chosen Human placed his sacred hand on the ace pilot's shoulders. Phineas instantly felt as if he was being blessed with the purest power that a human could produce!

If he was not already a peak ace pilot, his resonance strength may have grown by a few dozen laveres!

"You carry my mark, so she will treat you with decorum, because doing otherwise is an insult towards myself. Even Miyazaki does not wish to cause an incident that gives me enough of an excuse to enter the Red Ocean and reprimand her in person. Do you understand your purpose?"

"I do. I will endeavor to do my best to monitor and restrain the Evolution Witch."

He didn't care. Phineas was there to lay down the law.

In the initial years, Saint Phineas indeed managed to maintain a good grip on the Transhumanists in the Red Ocean.

When Phineas transferred to the Red Ocean and effectively took charge of the branch of the Transhumanist Faction over there, he was not greeted with enthusiasm.

He didn't care. Phineas was there to lay down the law.

In the initial years, Saint Phineas indeed managed to maintain a good grip on the Transhumanists in the Red Ocean.

Sure, the radicals who wanted to escape the stifling atmosphere of the old galaxy constantly tried to exploit loopholes and evade proper supervision, but the staff working under Phineas were sharp enough to catch these attempts.

All went well during this period.

Then the Great Severing occurred.

Of the many catastrophic changes that took place when red humanity found itself cut off from original humanity, Phineas believed that the Evolution Witch's takeover ranked among the worst!

Far too many people dismissed his claims as fear-mongering, but Phineas had tangled with Miyazaki enough times to understand that she was an all-out beast on the inside!

"FROM TODAY ONWARDS, THE TRANSHUMANIST FACTION OF THE RED MTA IS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT."

That was all she needed to say before her lackeys initiated their coup and took over all of the institutions of the Transhumanist Faction.

None of the traditionalists under Saint Phineas Murray's command dared to offer any resistance.

After all, the Chosen Human was 50 million light-years away, while the Evolution Witch was right next door!

Ever since then, the Transhumanist Faction degenerated into a haven for biotech researchers who had long sought to exceed the limits of what it meant to be a human!

With the Evolution Witch's explicit blessing, much of the Chosen Human's overly restrained policies went out the window.

In their place came a whole new set of rules that sounded so permissive that the mechers were openly allowed to experiment on humans with only the flimsiest of excuses!

Perhaps Phineas was exaggerating a bit, but in his impression, the Transhumanist Faction had turned from a preserver of human integrity to one of its greatest threats!

Alas, who wanted to listen to a confidante of a god pilot that was so far away that he might as well not exist anymore?

Any ordinary person would have given in to despair and given up the noble struggle.

Indeed, as the Age of Dawn entered its third year, Phineas watched with disappointment as more and more Transhumanists who previously earned his appreciation changed their ideologies and joined up with the radicals!

The remaining traditionalists had been reduced to pariahs who wielded zero power and influence.

This caused Phineas to feel more than ever that he had failed to live up to the trust and expectation of the Chosen Human.

Was there a realistic way for him to resist the Evolution Witch's takeover?

Perhaps. If he had been sharper and more willing to seek outside help, then he could have met with a number of god pilots and convince them to force the Human Biodisaster into a compromise.

It was too late for that now. Miyazaki had entrenched herself in the Transhumanist Faction so much that it was too difficult for outsiders to interfere with her private dominion.

Seeing that there was nothing left that Phineas could do inside the faction, he began to think about seeking absolution outside of its confines.

His logic was simple.

"The main reason why the Evolution Witch is allowed to get away with her radical policies is because our civilization is driven to the brink of desperation by the alien races."

The native aliens posed a huge threat towards red humanity. Until this cause had been dealt with, there was no political basis in reining in the Second Biodisaster!

Phineas had thought long and hard on how to attain an unlikely turnaround. It was thinking about the second moniker that the traditionalists had… successfully… slapped onto Miyazaki that he gained an epiphany that changed his entire life.

"For all of her many faults, the Evolution Witch undeniably succeeded. What makes her so strong? What allows her to become a god pilot while I am still hindered by my bottleneck?"

His epiphany gave him a brilliant solution that allowed him to hit two birds with a single stone!

The biggest issue was that it was so crazy that he doubted whether any radical or traditionalists would support his scheme!

This was why he decided to go at it alone.

One of the lessons he learned from the Evolution Witch was that he could get away with a lot of unscrupulous actions when red humanity was distracted by other crises!

This was what eventually led his ace fleet in front of a defeated alien assault fleet.

Saint Phineas had monitored the progress of the Red Tide Offensive and roughly guessed where he needed to go in order to intercept a group of defeated orvens.

Compared to defeating an assault fleet at full strength, it did not take any effort for a peak ace pilot to completely immobilize this collection of ragged ships!

He smiled in the cockpit of his ace mech before he transmitted his will to the aliens with the help of his Saint Kingdom.

"Dear orvens. You have been chosen. You are one of the first beneficiaries of an experiment that seeks to change your lives for the better! When I am done with you all, you will rejoice for you have ascended to a new and much more blessed form!"

Before the orvens could offer their refusal, Phineas took action right away.

His ace mech, which he renamed the Exalted Savior not too long ago, began to channel a huge amount of power into its Saint Kingdom.

As a peak ace pilot, Phineas was still far from channeling the strength of an actual god pilot, but there were a few areas in which he could get very close to imitating their reality-defying powers!

As the ace pilot strained his willpower with all of his newfound conviction, he eventually managed to initiate a mass transformation that utterly horrified his unwilling alien test subjects!

Every orven crew member who fell within the range of the Exalted Savior's domain field began to melt before their own eyes!

Perhaps melting was the wrong word to use, as their biological shapes quickly started to morph into a different form!

The orvens lost their fur in every place aside from the top of their heads and other places.

Their rough dark skin turned supple and smooth. A few of the orvens inexplicably turned paler, causing them to look incredibly sick!

Their proportions shifted while their overall height and bulk experienced drastic reductions.

While all of these physical transformations ran their course, Saint Phineas also utilized his strong willpower to break open the alien minds and impose his own human ideals in their place!

The orvens would have screamed if they had the ability to do so! Instead, they suffered in silence as both their bodies and their minds stretched and warped beyond all recognition!

By the time Phineas was finished, the newly reborn 'humans' beheld their radically transformed bodies with horror.

"#$&$@monster&$."

"#enemy$&#&kill me&#$#!"

"#@#diediedie!"

As the orvens rejected their transformation to an intense degree, whatever transformation had taken hold of their bodies began to reverse to an extent!

The utter rejection from the orvens that Phineas had failed to 'convince' with his Saint Kingdom started to mutate into half-human, half-orven abominations that suffered a huge amount of health problems!

As their unstable bodies tried and failed to reconcile their human organs with their orven organs, each of them began to die as they could not physically sustain their lives anymore!

Saint Phineas watched with disappointment as his experiment failed to produce the desired result.

He sighed.

He was still a loser.

"The Evolution Witch endured her fair share of failures before she finally attained great success."

Phineas proceeded to try again with the next batch of orven captives. There were still plenty of test subjects at his disposal.

He did not intend to stop his experiments until he finally managed to transform an alien into a human!

Only then would he be able to simultaneously save these unfortunate aliens from their inhuman misery, but also remove the conditions which enabled the Evolution Witch to turn red humanity into her genetic playground!