Chapter 6097 Gavin the Terran

Chapter 6097 Gavin the Terran

"Meow~"

Lucky purred as he sat on Gavin's lap.

The assistant was highly familiar with the gem cat and knew just the right places to scratch.

Even if Lucky had transformed from a bronze to an obsidian mechanical construct, he was still the same old feline in many ways.

"Is Ves treating you well these days?"

"Meow!"

"Is that a no? It shouldn't be all that bad. There is still Gloriana and the children. Who do you think is better, Ves or Gloriana?"

"Meow meow."

"You actually think Gloriana is worse?"

"Meow!"

"I didn't expect to hear that from you. Why is Ves better?"

"Meow meow meow. Meow meow."

"It is unfortunate that I don't understand cat speech. I have no doubts that you have attempted to give me a deep and thoughtful answer."

Gavin continued to indulge and play with Lucky.

The sight warmed Ves' heart. It also reassured him that his personal assistant was likely genuine.

Though Ves did not think that the Streon Ancient Clan would dare to violate General Axelar Streon's personal guarantee and tamper with Gavin, he couldn't rule out the risk.

Technology had become so advanced that people could mess with people's minds in the most subtle and profound ways. No matter whether the brain was biological or electronic, a group as advanced as the Terrans probably had a million different ways to compromise Gavin!

Ves had already been examining Gavin in secret in dozens of subtle ways. A lot of different scanners had examined his body from top to bottom. Blinky also took a really close look at the assistant's spirituality in order to detect any signs of esoteric subversion.

The good news was that none of the readings gave Ves cause for alarm. His instincts told him that the Streons treated Gavin with utmost sincerity.

Ves could not completely trust these results. He at least wanted his returning assistant to undergo a thorough examination from the mechers of the Bluejay Fleet and the relevant experts of the Premier Branch.

Only then would Ves be willing to entrust Gavin with vital and sensitive duties again.

There was one additional test that he was able to conduct in person.

"Gavin."

"Yes, boss?"

"I want to take a look at your companion spirit."

"Sure. Here he is. Say hello to Simon."

Regardless, inertia was indeed a powerful force that prevented many groups from growing stronger.

The Larkinson Clan was currently undergoing rapid growth because it had a lot of room for expansion and still possessed a lot of inadequacies.

Once the Larkinsons grew to a state of comfort, the clan would no longer be able to grow as quickly as before. Too many needs had been met. Many clansmen would doubtlessly change from ambitious adventurers into risk-averse profiteers.

It was not necessarily a mistake to go from rapid expansion to consolidation. There was always a limit to growth. To push any further would turn allies into enemies and threaten the interests of the clan.

"Let me ask you this, Gavin. Given what you have witnessed over at the Streons, what do you think is the greatest shortcoming of our clan? What issues are we neglecting that we must try to address right away?"

That caused Gavin to furrowed his brows in thought. To be honest, he had a lot of ways to answer this question.

He never really understood how young and fragile the Larkinson Clan was compared to its peers.

Now that he had witnessed the grandeur of the Streon Ancient Clan from a very close perspective, he developed a completely different opinion about the Larkinson Clan!

Heritage and accumulation mattered. The Larkinson Clan was so young that it could never fully catch up to the Terran ancient clans and the Rubarthan principalities in so many aspects.

"There are many issues that the clan needs to address, but it is not easy to solve them in the short term." Gavin said. "For example, our clan administration has a severe lack of senior officials and managers. Many of the higher positions are occupied by clansmen who were originally second-raters or third-raters. There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, but as our clan becomes increasingly more integrated into first-class society, this shortcoming will result in drastic failures as our personnel cannot fully keep up with the demands of their jobs."

"I guess this is one of the downsides of rapid growth."

"It might not be a good idea for our clan to straddle between second-class and first-class, boss. None of the other first-class organizations has done so on a wider scale. Their core members are all first-raters. If they have any desire to absorb second-raters into their orbit, they will usually do so through subsidiary organizations."

"We are already doing that by setting up a lot of side branches." Ves retorted. "The Davute Branch and so on are largely autonomous, though they still have to abide by a lot of standards that are central to the clan."

Gavin adopted an impatient expression. "That is not separate enough. If one of the side branches ever gets targeted by a powerful enemy, there is a chance that these problems will not affect our Premier Branch. If the side branches bear completely different names, it becomes much harder for their problems to implicate first-class Larkinsons in the future."

"Is that how the Terrans stay in touch with the rest of society?"

"I can only say that this is the case among the Streons. I am not sure whether the other ancient clans are doing the same. It is probably the case, but the subordinated individuals will feel very reluctant to share their true allegiances.

In any case, Ves saw the merits of this approach, but he didn't think it was necessary to go this far.

"I don't think our circumstances are the same as those Terran ancient clans. Every clansman has a strong attachment and loyalty to our clan. Even if they are pushed onto a side branch that doesn't appear to be related to the Larkinsons on the surface, the Larkinson Network overseen by Goldie should keep the second-raters placated."

The existence of the Larkinson Network broke the rules and allowed for different possibilities. It was not necessary to force greater separation between the clan and its side branches.

It was too late anyway. Everyone knew that they were strongly related to the Larkinsons. Changing their names would not wipe away the memories to those that knew.

Ves actually had a better solution in mind. The side branches should be allowed to exist in their current form, but he would discreetly find a number of secret organizations that could do his dirty work.

It would be difficult to found these secret organizations without exposing their connection to Ves under the auspices of the Red Association.

Ves needed to find a way to reliably beat and fool the constant monitoring on himself. He was way too tired about letting the mechers scrutinize much of his life. It was as if he was starring in a perpetually active reality broadcast!

While he already came up with a few ideas on how to successfully operate behind the backs of the Red Two, he needed to be very careful in his planning and goal setting before he was ready to take concrete steps.

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While he already came up with a few ideas on how to successfully operate behind the backs of the Red Two, he needed to be very careful in his planning and goal setting before he was ready to take concrete steps.