Now that the assembly stage had begun, his glow had less dramatic effects on the processes, but still made a noticeable difference.
The way that everyone put together the parts became more harmonious. The design network already helped a lot with making this happen, but his glow enabled everyone to build up the Ghost Project in a manner that maximized its living properties!
Ves no longer treated his fellow collaborators as separate individuals who brought their own design philosophies to the table.
Instead, he started to see them as temporary extensions of himself!
By allowing themselves to get influenced by his glow, Gloriana and the others slowly incorporated his own interpretation of mechs in their work approaches!
This resulted in much more synergies and happy accidents, each of which elevated the quality of the Ghost Project in their own little ways.
Not even the most challenging steps of the fabrication run stumped Ves any longer.
He and Cormaunt carefully assembled the Geist System with the high-quality parts that they had fabricated with loving care.
Once the system became complete, Ves took exceeding care in integrating it into the internals of the expert stealth mech.
By connecting this powerful system to the expert mech in just the right manner, he ensured that the Ghost Project would be able to exert stronger control over the Geist System!
By the time the Ghost Project neared completion, Ves called over Zimro Belson and gestured at the slim but exceptionally dangerous machine.
"What do you think?"
"This has been… an unforgettable experience to me." Zimro humbly said. "I never imagined that mech design was so impressive and that my expert mech contains so much power. The way you look at mechs and work with them is truly beyond my comprehension."
Ves smiled. "I have exposed you to my glow for several days now. Your nature as an expert pilot makes it difficult for you to get affected by it, but you should still understand the principles of living mechs a bit better if I am correct."
"I am not qualified to judge whether that is the case, sir."
"No matter." Ves dismissively waved his hand. "While my colleagues and I have built up your expert mech, I couldn't help but notice how much you have opened yourself up to me. Even if Calabast instigated you down this path, I appreciate your willingness to dedicate yourself to me and me alone. You are probably the second expert pilot after Venerable Joshua that is willing to do the same."
"I am not identical to Joshua." Zimro softly replied. "He is an expert pilot that can better compliment your work. He is also an upright and honorable champion that is best at fighting your enemies on an open battlefield. I… can serve you in a different capacity. The Ghost Project and I can complete the missions that Joshua and the Everchanger can never pull off, either due to technical or moral constraints."
Ves looked intrigued. "I get what you are saying. In any case, I accept your service. I don't think I have an immediate use for you yet, but that might change in the future. For now, I want you to cooperate with me on a little experiment. I just received a bit of inspiration as I worked on this expert mech. I am not certain that it will work, but I am confident in my idea."
To his credit, Zimro expressed no doubt. He assented right away!
"I am at your disposal."
"Then come."
The two of them lifted off the floor and floated closer to the Ghost Project until they reached its upper torso.
"Can you feel how much life this expert mech contains?"
"I… do."
"Extend your willpower and feel how attuned you are to your expert mech. Do you feel how eager your new partner is to work together with you?" Ves asked with a smile.
"I do."
"That is not quite correct. Let's descend a bit. Try and extend your senses deeper into the machine. Can you feel the difference?"
Venerable Zimro slowly frowned. "There are foreign elements inside my machine that repulse my influence. I already recognize one of them from Object 335."
"That is the Geist System. The biggest flaw of your expert mech is that its performance is dependent on the cooperation of the living entities attached to this unconventional feature. If you want to leverage it more effectively, then you must increase your control over this important system."
"How can I do that, sir?"
"With blood." Ves grinned. "It won't be as effective as the Carmine System, but as long as you spill it with a drop of your blood, I can do the rest. The mech is already primed and ready."
Though Zimro felt reluctant, he did not want to go back on his pledge. He used a small knife to cut his own finger and spill a few drops onto the exterior of the Ghost System.
Normally, the coating should have caused the blood to slide away, the red liquid somehow remained in place.
Ves fell silent as he began to utilize his own abilities to inject a portion of the power hidden in Zimro's blood to a specific element of the Geist System.
Nothing seemed to happen for a couple of minutes, but once Ves forged the most crucial connection, the expert pilot floating by his side suddenly experienced a burst of pain!
"Ah! What is happening, sir?!"
"Don't resist! Open yourself up and lower your defenses! No matter how uncomfortable you feel, you must not resist!"
"Ahhh!"
The weirdest part about Zimro's outburst was that it wasn't his voice that was shouting in pain alone.
"Muw!"
The head of a black cat emerged from his head and yowled in pain as well!
This was his companion spirit Xavier!
However, the spiritual cat was not the source of his distress this time.
"It is time to bring you to completion."
He had already figured out an important theory as he channeled his powerful glow for so long.
A third and much more ominous voice escaped from his throat at the same time!
A flicker of darkness briefly overlapped with the expert pilot's body!
These frightening flickers became more and more frequent as Zimro continued to accept the changes without offering any excessive resistance.
Ves grinned at the sight.
What happened was not an accident.
Mephisto, who normally lurked in the Geist System, had suddenly forged a bond with Venerable Zimro!
With the power of Zimro's blood acting as a connecting medium as well as a catalyst, the expert pilot gained the ability to channel the leading fiend lurking within the Ghost Project!
Although the side effects were probably great, the benefits should be substantial!
Ves predicted that Zimro would be able to empower and exert more direct control over Mephisto.
The expert pilot might also be able to host Mephisto in his own body while he was away from the Ghost Project.
If the Ghost Project ever suffered an accident, then Mephisto could still be preserved as long as Zimro survived!
This was just a handful of all of the possible benefits.
Still, the main point of all of this was that Venerable Zimro shared more in common with the Ghost Project now. The two should definitely be able to cooperate with each other more effectively now that Mephisto acted as a bridge!
Now that Zimro became indisposed as he tried to adapt to his new connection with Mephisto, Ves turned back to his expert mech that had somehow become more exquisite in his eyes.
"It is time to bring you to completion."
He had already figured out an important theory as he channeled his powerful glow for so long.
It was a theory that he intended to exploit to the fullest!
"It's a pity that I did not make this realization when I was working on the Dullahan Project, but you shall definitely harvest a great benefit!"