Setting aside Ribbons' peculiar description of what weapons might be developed later, the Gran Chaos had actually been silently guarding the submerged Ptolemy II while cloaked. It was important to note that the surrounding area was now filled with numerous rogue forces. If the Ptolemy II were discovered during its departure, they would likely have to fight another battle.
Therefore, Reid simply ordered to determine the position of Ptolemy II based on its uninterrupted signal and escort it out. After all, once the system judged that Ptolemy II had successfully retreated, it would naturally return to the CE Universe.
This brief escort mission went very smoothly. After Ptolemy II submerged and moved into the signal loss area, Reid returned to the CE Universe.
Upon returning, Reid naturally headed straight to the Factory Module to feed the captured Ahead, in order to obtain the already detoxified Pseudo GN Drive.
After completing this, Reid opened the system to check the technological gains from this Otherworld Invasion Mobile Suit and the next assessment mission.
Entering the system, the previous assessment mission was naturally completed, and the World Change Fluctuation Value had directly dropped to 7.475%, lower than when he entered.
Reid was somewhat baffled. Did destroying over ten thousand Earth Federation Forces actually reduce the World Change Fluctuation Value? Could it be that the system thought the Earth Federation Forces had too many Mobile Suits?
Of course, the idea that the system considered the Earth Federation Forces to have too many Mobile Suits was certainly a joke. After a moment's thought, Reid roughly guessed the truth.
It must have been the Ice Phoenix Gundam's single strike that created a sense of crisis within the Earth Federation, prompting them to heavily invest in military development.
The ultimate goal in the AD Universe was undoubtedly for humanity to establish communication with the ELS.
The more powerful humanity's weapons became, the longer they could prolong the battle with the ELS, giving Setsuna more time to communicate, which naturally caused the World Change Fluctuation Value to drop.
However, when he looked further down at the next assessment mission, Reid was momentarily stunned again.
Because the next assessment mission was the A-Laws High Society Ball.
This event was actually quite famous, largely because Tieria in women's attire was truly a sight to behold.
In terms of event significance, it was also qualified. In the original storyline, this event solidified Tieria's resolve regarding the path he would take afterward, and the Celestial Beings clearly understood that the Quasi-Innovators, led by Ribbons Almark, were the source of the world's distortion.
However, for Reid, this mission posed a significant problem.
Because a ball certainly wouldn't require the use of a Mobile Suit. He couldn't just watch them dance and wait for the Otherworld Entanglement to occur.
As for blowing up the ball with artillery, that wasn't appropriate either. Without severing Ribbons' connection to Veda, killing him was impossible.
Killing a bunch of A-Laws higher-ups was completely meaningless. For Ribbons, finding new A-Laws leadership would probably take about a second—like finding a three-legged frog, which might even require lab cultivation.
Moreover, this banquet included five relatively important individuals: Setsuna, Tieria, Andrei Smirnov, Louise Halevy, and Wang Liu Mei. Blowing it up was out of the question.
But upon careful consideration, Reid suddenly realized that this ball had quite a complete attendance. Not only was Ribbons present, but Wang Liu Mei was also there. It seemed he really needed to attend.
As for why Ribbons dared to appear exactly as in the original storyline despite knowing Reid was hunting him, Reid concluded it was nothing more than a tactic to lure the snake out of its hole.
Having wiped out over ten thousand Earth Federation Mobile Suits in one go this time, Ribbons must have realized human wave tactics were ineffective. As for elite combat, Reid doubted Ribbons had the courage for that.
Since Mobile Suit battles couldn't defeat Reid, Ribbons inevitably had to consider alternative methods.
Ribbons likely thought that since his consciousness could be uploaded, and Reid hadn't managed to locate Celestial Being to deal with him in four years, there was no immediate threat to Veda's core system like before. Thus, using himself as bait carried little risk - luring Reid out to see if he could be eliminated through ambush became a low-risk, high-reward operation.
After understanding these connections, Reid decided to find Une later to explore possibilities of turning Ribbons' scheme against him.
For now, he focused on examining the technology provided by the interdimensional invasion Mobile Suits, hoping for substantial gains this time.
Scrolling further down the system interface, Reid was pleasantly surprised to find the technological offerings from these interdimensional invaders were quite respectable.
The Full Armor Red Falcon Gundam contributed its Propellant Wing Beam Cannon, Kapursli Muninn provided the Fedayeen Long Barrel Beam Rifle, while the Gundam Swan yielded the FHA-05M02 Type MEGA Beam Launcher.
These three Gundams had essentially surrendered their primary weapons. Though these weapons held little value for Reid's elite squad, they represented exceptionally advanced equipment for the regular forces of the New Misurugi Kingdom.
The other three Mobile Suits proved even more valuable. The Z Plus A1 produced the FXA-01K Type Flight Armor, FAZZ contributed its specialized MEGA Capacitor, and the Ex-S Gundam provided its Detachable Mobile Frame.
These components held greater significance for Reid than the previous three units' main weapons.
The FXA-01K Type Flight Armor was specifically designed for atmospheric flight units - precisely the technological blind spot in New Misurugi Kingdom's research, where everyone had been focusing on developing more advanced special armor while ignoring such "common" variants.
The regular forces still relied on Union Flags for atmospheric operations. With this armor, they could consider complete fleet modernization, while converting all phased-out Union Flags into Mobile Doll cannon fodder.
The FXA-01K represented cost-effective atmospheric armor, while FAZZ's specialized MEGA Capacitor was a godsend for long-range support units.
This component significantly optimized both MEGA particle consumption and the energy required for their activation, serving as the crucial component enabling FAZZ to operate its Large Hyper MEGA Cannon.
Finally, the Ex-S Gundam's Detachable Mobile Frame was essentially a skeleton specially optimized for mass production.
Compared to ZZ Gundam's Three-Section Frame, this skeleton featured rapidly detachable components extending to individual finger joints. This design allowed for extremely convenient interface replacements, enabling Mobile Suits using this frame to employ numerous weapon types and install auxiliary components according to combat requirements.
Moreover, the strength of the detachable mobile frame was not compromised by the extensive detachable design. Even using materials from the original UC era, the mobile suit's arms could withstand the recoil of the large MEGA beam cannon and the Magnum rifle.
After reading the technological introduction, Reid immediately felt that this assessment mission was a huge gain. It seemed he could combine these technologies with the ones he had previously collected to directly develop the Rezel.
Sure enough, when Reid entered the Factory Module's tech tree and searched for the Rezel, it was already available for activation.
Without hesitation, Reid activated it and exported a series of related technologies.
The design of the standard Rezel didn't contain many elements that needed to be kept confidential. Reid planned to have the core sensitive components manufactured in Star Palace City's factories, while distributing the production of other parts to military factories across the nation.
In the CE Universe, Reid and Une had discussed the timing for the outbreak of war. The operation of a country was overly complex, even in an autocracy like the New Misurugi Kingdom. Ultimately, they concluded that a one-month preparation period was relatively reasonable.
With complete blueprints in hand and the current production capacity of the New Misurugi Kingdom, it would be entirely feasible to produce several dozen Rezels within a month for elite pilots.
Of course, Reid wouldn't solely focus on war preparations during this month. He also needed to return to the Iron-Blooded Universe to acquire Hashmal, while simultaneously initiating pre-war propaganda, reconnaissance, and sabotage operations.
After confirming his gains and transferring the data, Reid left the Factory Module and immediately began causing trouble for the Eurasian Federation and the Atlantic Federation.
Over the next few days, civilians in Europe and North America noticed people around them spreading rumors that, due to insufficient frontline troops, their governments had resumed clone experiments.
Frankly, neither country was currently experiencing a troop shortage. However, since the frontline was indeed deadlocked with occasional setbacks, many civilians actually believed the rumors.
Then, Reid dispatched agents to expose the locations of several biological laboratories—known to other nations but kept secret from the general public—belonging to the Eurasian Federation and the Atlantic Federation. They also spread rumors that clone experiments were being conducted inside.
This stirred up trouble. Some idle individuals actually went to investigate these addresses and were captured by the guards. With the help of tabloid media that had been bribed to fan the flames, the information quickly spread. Civilians living near those laboratories gathered around, effectively confirming the laboratories' existence.
Une had carefully selected these laboratories. It was unclear whether they were conducting clone experiments, but the experiments inside were definitely not entirely compliant. Once exposed, it would be enough to cause significant trouble for the Eurasian Federation and the Atlantic Federation.
As a result, both federations were suddenly thrown into chaos.
The two rumors—one about heavy frontline losses requiring clone reinforcements, and the other about secret laboratories conducting clone experiments—were extremely difficult for the Eurasian Federation and the Atlantic Federation to explain.
How could they publicly disclose frontline troop losses? Even if they tried to explain, they would have to use rhetoric like "our squad heroically held off an enemy fleet before being completely wiped out" (referring to the annihilation of a reconnaissance team).
If the frontline casualties were directly disclosed, even though the numbers wouldn't fundamentally harm the current Earth Federation, the public would inevitably think, "So many have died? The frontline troops must already be severely depleted."
As for clarifying that those laboratories weren't conducting cloning experiments—that's even more hopeless. Those labs can't withstand scrutiny; if investigated, everyone involved would face execution.
The most troublesome part is that the Eurasian Federation and Atlantic Federation's governmental credibility is truly lacking.
Especially the Atlantic Federation—less than two years have passed since the Mu incident, and even some military personnel believe these rumors.
There's no helping it. When every police raid catches you present, claiming you're just there to chat rather than solicit services—who would believe you?
Thus, the Eurasian Federation and Atlantic Federation could only repeatedly insist these were rumors, urging people not to believe or spread them, playing the part of mindless parrots while feigning ignorance.
Regarding the laboratories, civilian protests outside were tolerated, but anyone attempting to breach checkpoints was immediately shot.
Both governments adopted the mentality that "with enough lice, you stop itching"—let people doubt all they want. Without concrete evidence, these were just empty complaints that wouldn't threaten national stability.
While maintaining this facade, both federations were also hunting rumor mongers.
They didn't need to guess—the mastermind behind these rumors was clearly the New Misurugi Kingdom. But since they couldn't touch the kingdom directly, they targeted those paid to spread the rumors.
However, when these individuals were captured and the federations prepared to make examples of them to debunk the rumors, they discovered the New Misurugi Kingdom's shrewd selection: the original rumor spreaders were either gangsters or drug addicts. If such people publicly denied the rumors, would the public believe them?
Thoroughly disgusted by this public opinion offensive, both federations approached the East Asian Republic seeking counter-disinformation strategies.
Unfortunately, after hearing their requests, the East Asian Republic only replied: "Don't bother with counter-disinformation. This public opinion offensive is the New Misurugi Kingdom's pre-war signal. Major events will follow—return and mobilize your troops for battle."
The East Asian Republic guessed correctly. While launching the public opinion offensive, Reid was simultaneously setting traps for the Eurasian Federation.
Regarding the clone incident, both federations shared roughly equal responsibility.
But Reid harbored deeper hatred for the Eurasian Federation that provided his genetic material.
The Eurasian Federation was Reid's homeland in this life. Before obtaining his system, he had served faithfully as a soldier, only to be betrayed and killed.
Yet the Eurasian Federation openly shared his genes with the Atlantic Federation—this felt like ultimate betrayal.
Simply put, while military gene collection was standard procedure, soldiers complied out of trust. The Eurasian Federation's actions were truly chilling.
Reid knew that directly disclosing Neo Roanoke's genetic samples would give both federations countless rebuttal opportunities.
Therefore, he needed to escalate the situation beyond deniability.
Thus, Shinn Asuka's demoted Nameless unit received a temporary commander and a classified mission that could reinstate every member to regular forces: destroy a secret laboratory in the Atlantic Federation-controlled Faroe Islands.
Yes, according to the intelligence gathered by Reid's subsequent investigation, the secret laboratory in the Faroe Islands mentioned by Neo Roanoke had recently been reactivated.
However, it certainly wasn't conducting clone experiments anymore. Most likely, after learning that Neo Roanoke had been captured by Reid, the Eurasian Federation and Atlantic Federation urgently restarted the laboratory and completely shifted its experiments to legal activities.
This way, if Reid were to formally inquire through official channels, they wouldn't be left with a laboratory ruin that would only raise suspicions.
If Reid were to investigate secretly and discover that the operations inside were legal, he would have no grounds to accuse them in formal settings.
Therefore, Reid decided to simply blow it up, letting the Eurasian Federation and Atlantic Federation experience the frustration of being wrongly accused with no way to explain themselves.
The one temporarily assigned to the Nameless unit for this operation was Neil.
He had earned this minor punishment from Reid for stealing the kill from the Full Armor Red Falcon Gundam and slacking off during the orbital descent force engagement, allowing others to secure more eliminations.
Seeing that Neil had lost, Reid thought he seemed perfectly suited for such a covert operation, especially with his experience handling rebellious teenagers.
Additionally, since the upcoming mission to the Iron-Blooded universe would make beam-based Mobile Suits like the Jet Black Hunter Gundam unsuitable as primary attack units, Reid decisively assigned him to the Nameless unit as a temporary commander.
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