The Mech Touch (Web Novel)
chapter-6436

The Shrine of Light fell completely silent.

Aside from the Evolution Witch's divine speech, no other sound was allowed to interrupt her historic address.

From the moment she began to express her views, it already became clear how she viewed the Red Ocean and humanity's place in this dwarf galaxy.

According to the god pilot, the Age of Dawn had the potential to become a golden age for red humanity.

The Red Ocean may lack the size and strong imprint of human civilization, but it may serve as the starting point for humankind's collective evolution!

The Evolution Witch clearly saw exposure to exotic radiation from Messier 87 as a blessing rather than a curse!

Even though the Great Severing had already put red humanity in the crosshairs of the overpowering aliens from that dreadful supermassive galaxy, the Evolution Witch possessed far too much courage and ambition to bow down to this threat.

Instead, she used the impending threat of the Subjugation King to fuel her urgency and push herself to improve past her limits.

She was no stranger to this desperation strategy!

After all, back when she was still a mortal, she constantly fought to outpace her own congenital defects. She trained and fought harder than her peers because she had no room for complacency. Her life was literally on the line, and only by evolving fast enough was she able to postpone the deadline of her passing time and time again!

Her willpower accumulated rapidly during those desperate days. She was not like the other mechers who could afford to take their time and polish their skills over a longer period of time.

The Evolution Witch had entered a race to overcome her own early death from the moment it became clear that her own body was failing her. Instead of letting her diseases and disabilities break her mentality, she persevered and endured all of the pressures of her life until she finally ascended to godhood and completely wiped out the afflictions that haunted her for the entirety of her mortal life!

Though Divine Lucie Miyazaki had distinguished herself as one of the fastest mech pilots to complete her transcendence among the later generations, her breakthrough turned out to be a blessing as well as a curse.

She had lost her great cause. She had lost the motivation that propelled her to success at a pace that could only be matched by a few other god pilots and a total freak like the Chosen Human.

Lucie thought that ascending to godhood would become the start of a wonderful new life as one of the strongest powerhouses of human civilization.

The reality turned out to be less rosy than she imagined.

Sure, she managed to completely liberate herself from her many mortal failings, thereby crossing a chasm that the vast majority of mech pilots could never cross, let alone approach!

Yet from the moment she became a god pilot, she understood that she had ascended from the top of mortal society, only to start off from the bottom of a new society made up of divinities!

The optimistic Evolution Witch quickly got taught a few painful lessons by her senior god pilots.

How could a fresh god pilot possibly stand a chance against those who had decades if not centuries of lead time?

Even though there was no structured way for god pilots to progress any further, the god pilots who had emerged a lot earlier did not sit still.

They collaborated with Star Designers to implement priceless upgrades to their god mechs.

They strengthened their raw willpower through the stupidest methods such as challenging each other.

They expanded their knowledge and experimented with different methods in order to broaden their problem solving capabilities.

No god pilot neglected the development of their own combat power after they ascended to their current rank. The Evolution Witch became awfully discouraged after getting beaten by practically every god pilot she sparred against.

Fortunately, a woman who had crossed the road to no return did not wallow in her depression for too long.

She regained a bit of the motivation she had before!

Although her life was no longer on the line this time, she still managed to gather enough conviction to grow stronger, if only so she could no longer embarrass herself by getting beaten down by the likes of the overwhelming Technomancer or the incredibly silly Triangle Guardian!

Yet this did not prove to be enough to regain her old stride. Nothing posed a threat to her life anymore. Unless she deliberately set out to endanger herself and travel deep into the other half of the Milky Way, there was no way to regain the sense of urgency that enabled her to become a god pilot against all odds.

What was even worse for Lucie was that her glorious ascension did not allow her to exert that much actual power.

Human civilization in the Milky Way had already been carved up by older and more established powers.

The older god pilots who still possessed an attachment to worldly power had already claimed their own territories for themselves.

The MTA Transhumanist Faction had already been claimed by the Chosen Human. Under his cautious leadership, every biotech researcher and scientist working to promote the cause of human evolution endured a lot of hindrances in their work.

The Evolution Witch had no stomach for all of these rules and regulations, but there was no way for her to do anything else.

She could never beat the Chosen Human in a fight!

Not only did Divine Hussain Albedo become a god pilot much earlier than Lucie, but his ridiculously high genetic aptitude made him utterly unique among his kind.

He was able to gather followers much easier. Everyone considered him to be the literal chosen one of the human race, or else he wouldn't have earned his title.

What further cemented his leadership among the Transhumanists was that his ideology perfectly matched the paranoia and caution of all of the old school mechers.

The rebels against the Five Scrolls Compact and the survivors of the dark days of the Age of Conquest always rejected unbridled human augmentations.

With the collusion of these old timers, the Chosen Human's position at the top of the MTA Transhumanist Faction became infallible!

Even if the Evolution Witch worked harder than any other god pilot just to defeat the Chosen Human and take over the MTA Transhumanist Faction, she still had no feasible way to advance the cause of human evolution!

This was because so many other god pilots would exert their own pressure and influence to stall her plans and prevent her from reforming the faction according to her own ideas!

There was no room for her in the Milky Way Galaxy. She gladly left for the Red Ocean at the first possible opportunity!

She decisively left because she wanted to get as far away from the disgusting Chosen Human and his hypocritical ideas about human purity.

The old school leaders were also very glad to see her depart from the old galaxy. That way, she would no longer be around to 'corrupt' people with her heretical ideology.

It was not as if she could affect any real change in the new frontier. Many of the upper and middle-level officials of the Transhumanist Faction that were stationed in the Red Ocean all belonged to the Chosen Human's camp.

Combined with the threat of an unwelcome visit from the Divine Albedo or any of his like-minded god pilots, the Evolution Witch only received a small amount of room to exert her own ideas!

Then the Great Severing took place.

Where many red humans saw this event as a disaster and the start of a life-threatening crisis, the Evolution Witch readily embraced this surprising turn of events as the greatest stroke of fortune in her life!

She took over the branch of the Transhumanist Faction and initiated a purge that decisively dismissed or transferred away all of the Chosen Human's orphaned lackeys.

Though that led to a temporary shortage in high-quality manpower, the attraction of one of the 8 remaining god pilots of red humanity was far too great. It had been easy for her to call up enough capable people to replace the missing personnel. She even managed to expand the ranks of the Transhumanists by several times!

What was even more great for the Evolution Witch was that the Age of Dawn brought everything she needed to thrive.

Exotic radiation forcibly placed red humanity on the path of evolution. No matter whether anyone liked it or not, they would continue to evolve and transform as long as Messier 87 continued to pump out E energy radiation into the galactic neighborhood!

As the 'Goddess of Evolution', helping red humanity grapple with their own evolution and setting them on the right paths directly and indirectly fueled her own cultivation!

This was especially after she exchanged deep insights with the Oblivion Empress!

The confirmation of strong alien beings in Messier 87 and proof that at least one God King was on its way to the Red Ocean perfectly replaced the threat of impending death that once caused the Evolution Witch to advance at a very fast pace.

This familiar engine rejuvenated the Evolution Witch so much that she had accomplished much when she fought in the border regions in the past few months!

The only god pilot that managed to smash more alien assault fleets and claim the lives of more alien phase lords was the Light of Sol.

This was understandable as the Terran god pilot was on his own. His speed also granted him a strong advantage in a war that encompassed many different territories.

Even so, the Evolution Witch managed to generate a lot of disruption by forcibly mutating a lot of alien spacers into her minions. The brainwashed aliens always turned their warships around and returned to alien space in order to wreak havoc among their former comrades.

If not for these disruptions, the native aliens may have gathered enough momentum to topple the 4th defensive band by this time!

At this moment, the Evolution Witch's reputation and prestige had reached a new peak.

Her contributions were many and undeniable, and her strong association with the Red Collective earned her the right to lead this founding ceremony.

Even if she was not able to lead the Red Collective directly due to political reasons, she could still pull many strings in order to steer the new superorganization to ensure it would continue to advance the cause of human evolution!

The only question was whether this was enough. Trying to establish her divine authority over every instance of human cultivation and evolution was extremely bold. It would be difficult for her to lay claim over such an enormous dominion, but the potential rewards were so massive that Lucie did not want to give up this high-risk gambit!

She was aware that a few god pilots knew exactly what she was doing and how she might threaten their own interests.

They might not confront her directly, but they would definitely hinder her and find a way to sabotage her plans.

The frustrating attitude of the Hunting Association was an example of this pushback.

However, the Evolution Witch remained confident she could overcome the opposition from within red humanity.

All she needed to do was wait for 3 more days. Once she was ready to enact her carefully laid plan, everything would change.

Although there was still a chance that not all of the pieces would fall into place, the Evolution Witch invested far too much in her grand scheme to stomach the idea of failing.

Her attention briefly landed on Ves Larkinson.

The naughty brat did not know it, but he had made massive contributions to her ambitions. The Evolution Witch would have never been able to put together her latest plan and gain the confidence to succeed without his indispensable assistance.

Soon enough, everyone would know that Ves Larkinson had contributed to the revival of red humanity.