The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5954 The New Clearing

Large quantities of energies concentrated over at the latest clearing on the mountain top.

Whatever the System decided to add evidently did not take a lot of room, because the clearing was smaller than the ones that hosted the Mission Hall and the Tree of Possibilities.

When Ves glanced at the Time Gate, he noted that it remained unchanged.

Perhaps there may be a chance for him to evolve it into the Time and Space Gate in the future, but Ves did not think that the System would present him with the choices at a later date.

Even if it was possible for the System to implement the features of Portal Exploration or Random Being Acquisition, Ves did not have the AP to upgrade and make proper use of them all. He did not even have enough AP to fully exploit the possibilities that would soon be available!

Minutes passed by as the System Space continued to change. Once the renovation had reached its end, Ves suddenly appeared at the bottom of the System Space.

[Thank you for your patience. The Mech Designer System Version 3.0 has completed its latest revision. The Dimension Observatory has been constructed and is available for use. Unlike other facilities provided by the Mech Designer System, the Dimension Observatory is a unique structure that can undergo targeted improvements through the spending of Ascension Points. Existing features can be upgraded. New features can also be added. More possibilities will be added after the Dimension Observatory has developed further according to user direction.]

"Finally!"

He regained his body, though he questioned whether it was real. It was probably a simulated version of his physical form. His actual body still remained in realspace.

Ves did not waste any time on pondering about this question. He immediately set off and climbed the steps leading up to the top.

Though he originally intended to move towards the newly opened clearing, he reluctantly changed his mind and visited the other stations first to see whether anything had changed.

The Vault of Eternity, the Wishing Fountain, the Divine Bazaar and so on all remained unchanged. The transformation initiated by submitting EE-343F-00334R did not appear to improve any of the other functions of the System.

This meant it became even more important for him to check out the latest facility!

As Ves neared the top, he resisted the urge to turn towards the Dimension Observatory and headed over to the Sacred Temple in order to check whether it had changed.

Ves became a bit more reassured when he confirmed that nothing had changed. The soul mark had not grown stronger while the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown remained as docile as ever.

He also checked his status to check on his budget.

"Damn. 132 AP is not that much."

He recently spent a fair amount of AP on a Qi Restoration Potion. It was AP well spent, but that had also brought his reserve down to an uncomfortably low point.

There was a very real possibility that he might not be able to make good use of the Dimension Observatory when it was at its most basic state!

Ves needed to pay attention to the Mission Hall and be more proactive in completing different Missions in exchange for hefty sums of AP.

Now that he returned to New Constantinople VIII, he should be able to squeeze enough time in his schedule to work on a few side projects.

"Let's see what the latest upgrade has introduced."

He could no longer hold himself back anymore. He left the Sacred Temple and moved down the steps.

Soon enough, he stood before the facility that the System called the 'Dimension Observatory'.

Its name was certainly apt. It looked like a classic surface-

bound star observatory. There was a large telescope that extended from the oval-shaped roof and pointed directly into the skies of the System Space.

The exterior looked familiar at first glance, but it possessed a number of mystical elements that Ves was not able to decipher.

"Interesting."

The fact that the all-metal structure adopted the form of an observatory signified that the new features did not just center around breaching dimensions.

Being able to look inside them was also important. It would help save a lot of AP by opening a tear that led into resource-

poor dimension.

Once Ves was done with admiring the interior, he approached the entrance and entered the darkened space inside.

The interior of the Dimension Observatory was dominated by two obvious features.

One of them was clearly the base of the massive telescope. A terminal that looked like nothing else allowed for users to operate this massive device.

The second feature was the giant pillar in the center. Strong spatial energies emanated from the pillar that was suspended in the air.

He decided to approach the terminal of the telescope first.

An interface popped up as soon as he came close enough.

[Dimension Telescope Operation

Observe Dimension (5 Ascension Points): Can observe the interior of dimensions #20 to #1000 for a maximum duration of 5 minutes.]

Ves wanted to scratch his head. This was a very brief description, though Ves was able to deduce a lot of clues already.

The ability to peer into dimensions numbered 20 to 1000 was a powerful function!

Ves knew that this was only a fraction of the total dimensions in existence. Being able to look into 1000 of them was not that impressive in the greater scheme of things.

The real value of the Dimension Telescope was that Ves would be able to scout the wealth and dangers of different dimensions in advance.

In most cases, Ves expected to find absolutely nothing.

On other rare occasions, Ves could accidentally stumble upon a horror dimension that was filled with monsters beyond his comprehension.

It would be catastrophic if he opened a gateway to such a terrible place!

This was why scouting his targets in advance became so important.

It was just that the price of doing so was not light.

"5 AP for a single glimpse is not a big deal, but the costs will quickly add up if I use it on a repeating basis."

Of the 980 dimensions that the Dimension Telescope could peer into, how many of them were filled with valuable energy or materials?

Ves had no clue!

If only 15 out of the 980 dimensions contained the resources he needed to power up his mechs, then the probability of stumbling upon one of them was only around 1.5 percent!

He quietly cursed. "I will have to waste hundreds of AP before I can find a profitable dimension if that is the case!"

The good news, if there was any, was that a single successful hit was enough to allow him to earn back his investment.

Assuming that the dimension was not inhabited by a large amount of indigenous life forms, there should be a lot of resources that no one had ever exploited before!

All of it became ripe for the picking as long as Ves managed to breach this lucrative and untouched dimension!

"Where are the upgrade options?"

Ves fiddled with the interface before he managed to find the right page.

[Dimension Telescope Upgrades

Telescope Reach - Level 2 (1000 Ascension Points): Can only look at dimension #1000 to #10,000.

Observation Duration - Level 2 (200 Ascension Points): Can extend maximum observation time to 6 minutes.

Observation Clarity - Level 2 (200 Ascension Points): Can increase the visual clarity and the data collection of dimension observations by a small extent.

Observation Search - Level 1 (1000 Ascension Points): Can add an automated function to the Dimension Telescope that enables it to search a range of dimensions for designated parameters.]

His expression remained neutral while he processed the information.

The situation roughly matched his expectations. The System merely delivered the Dimension Telescope in its most basic form. It clearly had a lot of potential, but unlocking it required a huge amount of AP investment!

Ves focused his attention on Telescope Reach.

"1000 AP is a ridiculous sum. It takes lots of work to earn this much!"

He was not able to earn this sum so easily in his current state. He earned just a single AP for every completed mech design. This meant that he had to devote much of his time and attention on completing Missions.

Yet was it easy for him to do so? Many Missions required him to do a lot of weird stuff that he was absolutely not comfortable with! There were only a few normal Missions where he only had to design a very specific mech.

Ves felt more and more tempted to induct other mech designers into the System. Earning 1000 AP was a huge burden for a single mech designer, but if 4 users agreed to split the cost, then each mech designer only had to pitch in 250 AP!

He shook his head. He could think about this issue later. He still needed to process the latest upgrade and form a new development strategy based on the possibilities opened up by Dimension Breach Creation.

"Whatever the case, these upgrades are definitely worth it. I need to improve the Dimension Telescope as soon as possible."

Given his current situation, Observation Search - Level 1 was his highest priority.

The longer it took for him to purchase this critical upgrade, the greater the amount of AP he would waste by looking into completely empty or irrelevant dimensions!

"It only costs 5 AP to study a random dimension, but it takes 500 AP to look into a hundred dimensions!"

The cost of using the Dimension Telescope did not go away. It took energy and maybe other resources to operate it. Since that was the case, Ves needed to resist the urge to use it right away and start to save up lots of AP so that he could avoid wasting even more of it in the long term!

"Observation Clarity - Level 2 may also be necessary." Ves judged. "Data is important. If this upgrade can give me more data readings on the properties of unfamiliar matter and energy, I can quickly determine whether any of it poses a huge threat if they are brought back to the material realm."

It would be catastrophic if Ves inadvertently opened a dimensional tear that led to a dimension that was filled with antimatter!

Once just a tiny fraction of it spilled out, a cataclysmic explosion would take place that was powerful enough to blow up an entire planet, if not an entire star system!

"Telescope Reach will probably be necessary. It may unlock higher dimensions that may be filled with even more potent matter and energy. However, 1000 AP is way too much at the start!"

He really wanted to purchase it, but he would have to do too much work to earn so many Ascension Points. He needed to ration his time and resources and spent his AP on more essential upgrades first!

Ves lingered in front of the Dimension Telescope for 5 more minutes before he satisfied his curiosity for the time being.

He felt tempted to spend 5 AP just to try it out a single time, but this was an incredibly irrational and foolish waste of resources.

"Save 1000 AP first. Spend it on Observation Search - Level 1. Then I should be ready to take a peek."

He moved away from the terminal and began to approach a giant glowing pillar that was placed in a central location.

Ves could already feel the powerful spatial energies contained within this strange pillar. He could already deduce its function from that alone.

[Dimension Breach Operation

Temporary Breach (10 Ascension Points): Create a dimension breach of up to 20 meters by 5 meters that lasts for up to 10 minutes.

Temporary Breach (50 Ascension Points): Create a dimension breach of up to 20 meters by 5 meters that lasts for up to 1 hour.]

"Damn."

Ves was impressed that the giant pillar was able to create dimensional tears.

Ves was not impressed by how short they lasted. 10 minutes was not a long duration. It was only enough to conduct a quick retrieval operation!

"At least it is cheap enough for a starter option."