The Mech Touch (Web Novel)-Chapter 6856 Single Parent Option

Even an ace commander could get stumped.

Casella Ingvar never really engaged in this aspect of her personal life. Why should she? She had far too many responsibilities to spend her time on leisure activities.

Her work was her life. The Larkinson Clan needed a leader that the clansmen could look up to. Casella had tried her best to do them all justice, and she liked to think she did a better job than most people.

However, all of her dedication to the expeditionary fleet and the Larkinson Clan left her with little room to live a life of her own. She had no hobbies and maintained no friends who weren't directly related to her work one way or another.

The Saint Commander never really saw anything wrong with this. She had managed to trigger her apotheosis twice in a remarkably short amount of time, though the circumstances behind the last one were ideal.

Still, the Larkinsons clearly needed a strong ace commander more than a sentimental expert commander at this time.

It was only now that Ves directly broached this subject that Casella truly recognized this shortcoming in her life.

Her brother had always been the only family she needed in order to feel fulfilled. By investing so much of her feelings into Imon, he served as her all-in-one emotional pillar.

That made the consequences of losing him so much harder for her to stomach.

Now that she had lost the only relative she truly cared about, all she had left in her heart was a void that she never attempted to fill.

A part of that was because she still maintained the determination to restore her brother in the future. Why try to replace Imon when she could eventually get him back somehow?

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However, she recognized that this was not really a healthy way to process her grief.

It was too abnormal for her to have no one else in her life to receive her love and affection.

Her love life, or the absence of it, even became a matter of strategy!

The lack of a mech pilot who could bear her full love and power deprived her of agent that could help her defeat powerful champions such as the Wind of Destruction.

If a mech pilot such as Imon Ingvar or another loved one was in the field, the last practice session would have ended a lot differently!

Even if the Wind of Destruction ultimately came out on top, at least Casella and her agent would have made a decent showing.

"Don't you have anyone in your life that you would have a closer relationship with?" Ves asked with genuine concern in his voice.

The woman shook her head. "No. I have no attraction to others. I have always treated others with the utmost professionalism and respect. Never more. My busy schedule has often prevented me from socializing with others. Due to my command position, I am often obliged to maintain my distance to my subordinates. It is the best way for me to maintain my authority. Inappropriate relationships can get in the way of effective transmissions of orders."

Casella was one of the highest-ranking military leaders in the Larkinson Clan. She was certainly the most high-profile and famous one to be certain. All other leaders could not come close to matching her prestige.

This made it easy for her to take command and impose her own vision on the armed forces, but it also made her more detached and aloof from the lower ranks.

It was unthinkable for her to start any intimate relationship with her subordinates.

"What about the other expert pilots and ace pilots of the clan?" Ves asked.

Casella snorted. "They are not under my consideration. My peers pursue their own passions and goals. I can respect that, but we have little in common aside from the shared desire to protect the Larkinson Clan. Besides, many of them have already started their own families. They are more diligent in this regard."

"What about starting a relationship with an individual outside of our clan? I have never prohibited this behavior. Venerable Brutus Wodin is happily married to Commander Sendra Larkinson for example. Their pairing is rather unlikely, but they somehow made it work despite belonging to two different organizations. Is there anyone outside of our clan that you would like to know better?"

The Saint Commander did not resist this suggestion out of hand. She made an earnest effort to think about whether the thought of dating an individual outside of the Larkinson held any appeal.

Unfortunately, no name came up. She had met many respectable expert pilots and ace pilots from other groups, but she never detected any spark that could be nurtured into a serious relationship.

She shook her head. "I am afraid I must disappoint you. There is no one among the Glory Seekers, the Crossers, the Adelaides or the Boojays that I am interested in. Most of their expert pilots and ace pilots are predominantly at least two generations older than myself. As for mortals, none of them possess the mental fortitude to relax in my presence."

"Are you only taking men into consideration, or have you considered women as well? Have you also looked for candidates outside of the military? What about mech designers? They might not be able to match you in strength, but they should be able to keep up to you in terms of intellect. The contrast in professions can introduce a lot of novelty in a relationship. The two of you are less likely to grow bored with each other."

Ves kept introducing different possibilities, but none of them sounded appealing to Casella. The Saint Commander truly did not resonate with any of his proposals.

The woman raised her palm. "Stop. I appreciate your interest on the matter, but I truly cannot think of any person that I would like to develop a relationship with. You can order me to find one, but I do not think I can complete my objective. Love is not a product that you can engineer into existence. The fact of the matter is that I am simply not interested, least of all now. So long as the Red Tide Offensive continues to devastate our territories, I can never allow myself to relax. Not truly. I hope you understand."

That disappointed Ves. No matter in the short term or long term, it was vitally important for the Larkinson Clan for Casella to find a partner that she could entrust her power with. The benefits were too great for the clan to miss out on. To allow Casella to maintain a solitary life was criminal from their perspective.

Both Ves and Casella agreed on this matter.

Yet trying to solve it was not that simple. Casella was right when she said that love could not be engineered.

Ves tried his best to come up with alternatives.

"What about… having a child while forgoing a relationship?" He offered.

That caused the Saint Commander to frown. "Are you being serious?"

"It is not ideal, but it is still a viable possibility for you. Rather than force yourself to fall in love with someone, you can skip all of this marriage stuff and simply have a child. The Larkinson Biotech Institute can easily develop a high-quality designer baby that is based on your genes and the genes of another individual. If you think that bearing the fetus in your belly is too dangerous or debilitating for you, the LBI can always put your unborn child in an artificial womb. It will only take 9 months of waiting for you to welcome a brand new son or daughter."

"..."

Her desire to serve her clan better compelled her to seriously consider this possibility.

The proposal made by Ves momentarily stumped Casella. She had not considered the possibility of having a child outside marriage. A part of her felt repelled by this suggestion, but another part of her considered it to be a practical solution to her problem.

Her desire to serve her clan better compelled her to seriously consider this possibility.

"I am not that eager to resort to this option, but… if there is no alternative, I may be open to taking this route." She reluctantly said.

"Great! I will send a message to Vice Director Maria Abselon. She will make sure that the LBI will prioritize this project above all others. The sooner the biotech experts start their preparations, the better the output. Your child deserves to be special. Our geneticists and specialists have developed a new series of designer baby formulas that rely on calculated insertions of mind-attributed and life-attributed hyper materials. The designer babies derived from these formulas should be a lot smarter and healthier than their baseline counterparts. They are also working on other series that possess other advantages, such as a strong affinity for one of the five classical elements. None of them are cheap, but our clan is fully willing to reimburse the expenses for choosing one of these powerful options."

The Saint Commander became a little overwhelmed by the impromptu sales pitch. She never paid attention to the designer baby industry. She had not realized that it had developed to such an extent.

It made a lot of sense now that she thought about it. Every parent wanted their children to be special and powerful in their own way.

If they had an option to spend money to produce stronger offspring, it would be stupid to ignore this option!

"I apologise, sir. I am not ready for this. I need to be more psychologically prepared to contemplate this option. I can only promise you that I will be open-minded when it is time to make this consideration. At the very least, if I have chosen to accept the mantle of motherhood, I will not be making use of an artificial womb."

That caused Ves to look slightly concerned. "Pregnancy and mech piloting is a problematic combination. It is one thing to do so during peacetime, but it is another thing to do so during wartime."

"If I go down this route, then I will take measures to avoid intensive combat." Casella promised. "It is easier for me to do so than others. An ace command mech is not expected to take direct action. As long as another ace pilot is present to share the burden, I have little concerns about my own safety and the health of my child."

"There are also the effects of your domain on your unborn child." Ves pointed out. "Studies have shown that children who grow up under the strong influence of a high-ranking mech pilot's aura tend to have… abnormalities. Not all of them are detrimental, but it would be wrong to say that all of the changes are positive."

Children of high-ranking mech pilots tended to mirror their strongest parent to a closer degree than normal.

They wouldn't turn into outright clones, but the similarities tended to be uncanny.

Some parents took pride in this mimicry.

Others became regretful at how little their children were able to pursue their own paths.

Casella had not made it far enough for her to develop an opinion on this controversial subject.

Ves was just glad that he and his wife did not have to worry about this problem. Their own children looked up to their parents, but did not get exposed to the strong willpower of high-ranking mech pilots on a daily basis.

There were even expert pilots and ace pilots that deliberately tried to avoid personal contact whenever possible just to preserve the 'free will' of their own children!

"I will think about it in my own time." Casella said. "All of this is too much for me. I am not accustomed to waging this kind of battle. It would be more ideal if I can find a spouse that I can put my guard down. A child deserves to be raised by two parents instead of one. I am afraid that even if I bear an offspring, I would not have enough time to give the baby the love and affection that he or she deserves."

"You don't need to be worried about that, Casella." He smiled. "The Larkinson Clan is one giant family. There should be plenty of Larkinsons who are willing to lend a hand."