The Mech Touch

Chapter 6507 ERC Luminar Crystal Weapons

Ves and Harry talked more substantively about luminar crystal technology.

Since both of them possessed deeper knowledge and insights into this alien tech than many other mech designers, they were quickly able to discuss in depth about advanced topics.

They both enjoyed the exchange as they possessed different interpretations of the same subject.

By sharing their own thoughts and perspective on the same tech, they expanded their horizons and learned new facets about luminar crystals that they never could have devised by themselves.

As they spoke, Ves became repeatedly impressed by Harry Kaikkonen's take on luminar crystal technology.

The Journeyman not only understood Ves' own writings and designs on luminar crystal weapons, but had already begun to branch out and develop his own knowledge base on the same subjects.

"Lightbringer has greatly assisted me in understanding how the extinct luminars treated their own tech," Harry said as his cube-shaped companion spirit bounced around his hands. "I have not been able to decipher the working principles or underlying theories that underpin luminar circuitry, but... I have accidentally managed to discover the functions of a few circuits that have remained unused in your previous products."

A few circuits inside Harry's companion spirit began to light up, causing it to convey a sense of... excitement.

The demonstration ended shortly after that, but Ves remained impressed by the mysterious display.

"What did you do, Harry?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I triggered the activation of the alien circuitry that I mentioned before. It is difficult if not impossible to understand their function from the outside, but now that my companion spirit is literally a close replica of a crystal cube, I have gained an instinctual understanding of it, which is why I know how to activate these circuits. After a few months of experimentation, observation and analysis, I have recently managed to convert these initial gains into a new design application. I believe that you will be pleasantly surprised by what I have managed to make. It is a luminar crystal weapon unlike anything else you have made."

"Oh? A few months is a remarkably short time for you to derive a completely new design application based on luminar crystal technology. Can you show me what you have made?"

"Why certainly, sir." Harry replied before glancing back at the two heavily armored soldiers dispatched by the Red Collective. "I would like to retrieve a firearm that I am

carrying on my person. Please do not overreact.""

Ves waved at his Apocalypse Wardens yet again to relax and withhold their judgment. His new honor guards were still unfamiliar with him, so they did not understand all of the rules and customs that his previous guards had picked up over years of loyal service. Even if Harry wanted to attack Ves, the Journeyman had virtually no chance of success. Ves was not only enjoyed the protection of super-class defensive gadgets, but he was also a phase lord whose true body was much more massive than his human-scaled facade.

It was unthinkable for an infantry weapon to be able to threaten his life, so Ves did not care in the slightest if Harry pulled out a weird high-tech gun.

If Ves made a horrible misjudgment and got himself killed over it, then that was completely his fault.

Fortunately, that extremely unlikely possibility did not happen this time.

Harry simply retrieved an infantry-grade luminar crystal weapon.

A lot of thought and care had been put into its design and fabrication. The crystals were polished so smoothly that they almost became as reflective as mirrors. Harry also carved a lot of unnecessary facets that nonetheless made the outer components of the weapon look like a jewel in the shape of an energy pistol.

While the gun had not reached masterwork quality, it was still a fine artisanal product made with enough sincerity.

It was a clear expression of individuality and personality. Harry had clearly tried to distinguish his work from the luminar crystal weapons designed by Ves.

After showing off the gun while making sure to never point its muzzle in the direction of Ves, Harry began to look around for a target.

"Do you have a target I can shoot at, or should we move to the firing range?" "There is no need to bother with that. This is a second-class firearm, right? It is not even transphasic, though I see that it does incorporate a lot of hyper materials. Anyway, you can go ahead and shoot at one of my Apocalypse Wardens. Their defenses are in a whole different league."

"Are you sure? Are your guards okay with this decision?"

"Go ahead."

One of the Apocalypse Wardens merely responded by raising a thickly armored hand and performing an inviting gesture.

That was as clear of a signal as any.

Harry Kaikkonen rose from his seat, turned around and adopted a beginner's shooting stance optimized for the use of directed energy weapons.

Just because he dedicated his career to designing laser weapons and more recently luminar crystal weapons did not necessarily mean he excelled at using them in person! "I am about to fire a standard hyper laser beam in 3, 2, 1, NOW!"

FLASH!

The entire office lit up for a moment as a bright red hyper laser beam struck the azure energy shield generated by the Apocalypse Warden's sizable combat armor! Ordinary people would have squinted due to the sharp spike in luminosity, but a phase lord like Ves was able to observe the discharge with his eyes open.

Even though he had not pulled out any scanners that could spit out precise numbers, Ves had enough experience with laser weapons to roughly gauge the damage output of

the weapon.

"That is... not that different from a luminar crystal pistol of my own design" Ves honestly replied. "I take it that you have fired this shot in order to set a baseline, is that correct?" The Journeyman Mech Designer nodded while maintaining his rigid stance. "That is correct, sir. This is a degree of output that is attainable by the best luminar crystal weapons outside of masterworks that you can make based on the available materials and mass limitations. It represents the current ceiling of what our clan can produce. What I s that I have managed to surpass this baseline with my own small

want to show you

innovation."

"You mean the luminar circuitry that lit up in your companion spirit?" Ves asked with

growing curiosity.

"Yes. After months of research and development, I have successfully managed to devise a means to carve this luminary circuitry into my crystal products and connect it to a proper trigger. This adds an additional means of enhancing the firepower of the weapon that is not comparable to other existing methods such as true resonance. Let me demonstrate. I will use my companion spirit for this in order to amplify the difference, but I can produce this effect without it, though the results won't be as obvious."

Harry flipped a switch that caused the luminar crystal pistol to activate a different

mode.

He then proceeded to stuff his companion spirit into the weapon, causing the crystalline contraption to glow and feel as if it came to life.

No. That was not all. Something else was taking place. Ves narrowed his eyes. He did not sense that the flow of E energy radiation had changed all that much, but he was nonetheless able to feel as if more energy was accumulating from within than before.

"I am about to discharge a hyper laser beam that is considerably more damaging in 3, 2, 1,

NOW!"

FLAASH!

A slightly brighter and more powerful hyper laser beam flooded the office in red before

striking against the same azure energy shield of the bodyguard as before!

This time, the energy shield clearly struggled a little bit more to block the damage from

the gun!

Ves remained wide-eyed as he processed what he just witnessed. He had already managed to pick up a few clues, but it was only when Harry pulled the trigger that he was able to notice the difference.

"Have you managed to discern the difference, sir?" Harry asked as he slowly lowered his

gun.

"I think I do. If my suspicions are correct, you have somehow managed to pour your emotional excitement into the luminar crystal pistol. The new luminar circuitry pattern that you have managed to adapt into the weapon is strangely able to absorb your emotional energy and somehow alter the properties of the resulting energy beam. If my estimates are correct, mixing your excitement into the laser beam has caused it to become at least 10 percent more powerful!"

That was an amazing result if Harry managed to attain this performance boost without increasing the production cost of his luminar crystal pistol!

In other words, this proof of concept alone proved that Harry Kaikkonen was able to design a more powerful luminar crystal weapon than Ves himself!

While Harry had briefly explained that he was able to add this power to his luminar

crystal weapon due to learning how to properly utilize a luminar circuitry pattern, Ves was not able to replicate this process by himself at the moment.

Harry sat down again, this time with greater confidence than before. He carefully

secured his pistol and placed it on the desk.

Ves reached out and carefully lifted it to identify the components that could be

responsible for boosting its power.

"So this gun can weaponize the emotions of its wielder? How the hell did you manage to come up with this design application?"

"I believe that this is an inherent trait to luminar crystal technology. The Journeyman Mech Designer began to share his theory. "I cannot present you with any convincing proof, but my experience with working with luminar crystal technology has led me to form a hypothesis that this alien tech base is not only inherently compatible with E energy, but is also fueled and controlled by the strong emotions of its original alien users. Despite their small sizes, I believe that they possess a much greater capacity to experience emotions. They have sought to exploit this by developing crystal-based tech that can help them channel the power of their heart into much stronger and more

pronounced effects."

That was quite a lot of information!

Much of it may be baseless speculation, but Ves couldn't help but feel that Harry's unfounded theories may actually have a basis in truth!

Ves looked at the gun with a much greater sense of appreciation. "I never suspected that

this might be the case. It seems that even I haven't fully managed to discover this truth

about the luminar race."

"There is no need to blame yourself, sir. As far as I am aware of, the researchers of the

Red Association are also oblivious of this possibility. So far, I call a firearm that is able to make active use of this luminar circuitry pattern an emotionally reactive charged or ERC luminar crystal weapon. There are distinct strengths and weaknesses to this design application. The main advantage is that there is little burden to adding and activating the necessary luminar circuitry to a weapon. I cannot add it to any existing luminar crystal weapons, unfortunately, I would have to redesign and fabricate the luminar crystal rifles of all of the mechs that are making use of it in order to bestow them with

this benefit."

Ves casually waved his hand. "That's fine. It is already good enough that you can make the next generation of luminar crystal weapons stronger. What else?" "The most notable disadvantages are that it can only absorb one strong and highly focused emotion at a time, and that every emotion produces a different effect. The magnitude of the effect also differs depending on the emotion and other factors. Not every emotion that can be experienced by a human can increase the firepower of an

energy attack. There are those that can actually make them weaker. Finally, baseline humans cannot produce strong enough emotions to produce drastic firepower amplifications. The effect of ERC luminar crystal weapons cannot reach their full potential when wielded by ordinary soldiers. Conversely, their effectiveness increases much more dramatically when wielded by humans, as well as companion spirits, who are capable of producing much stronger emotions. There is one particular kind of user that has shown excellent compatibility with my new design application..."

Ves quickly figured out the answer.

"High-ranking mech pilots!"

"Exactly, sir!" Harry enthusiastically grinned! "Expert pilots and especially ace pilots should be able to produce vastly greater power amplifications with my ERC luminar crystal weapons! Would you like to view a test shot made by Venerable Davia Stark?"

"Show it to me already!"