With the Earth Federation Forces' Ahead units fleeing, an awkward scene unfolded on the battlefield.
The Guyana-class ship carrying Abert Lint was left isolated, facing off against Reid's forces in a tense standoff.
Seeing the SDP Mobile Suits turning toward him, Abert Lint nearly broke down in tears. He urgently ordered the helmsman to change course immediately—any direction would do, as long as they weren't left stranded there.
Reid, noticing the remaining Earth Federation Forces warship was also turning away, decided not to press these unfortunate soldiers any further. He ordered everyone to return to their ships.
There was no longer any need to protect the Celestial Beings' Mobile Suits. After all, once Bushido realized he couldn't quickly defeat Setsuna, he would retreat to preserve his strength, and the Celestial Beings would escape as well.
Given the speed of the Ahead units, how could they possibly catch up to the Celestial Being Gundams once their Trans-Am System was activated?
Once the Celestial Beings broke free, the Gran Chaos would automatically return to the CE Universe.
However, while Reid and the others had vanished, the impact they left behind remained.
The A-Laws high-ranking officials' ball was canceled. Since most of them were still present, they decided to hold an impromptu meeting right then and there to discuss how to define the SDP moving forward.
Additionally, the appearance of a living Dragon was sure to energize religious organizations worldwide. Figuring out how to suppress this wave of feudal superstition was another topic they needed to address.
As for Ribbons, having been beaten to a pulp, he naturally didn't attend the meeting. Instead, he left the venue immediately.
Ribbons planned to return and use Veda to compile global technological data, aiming to accelerate the Earth Federation's development of new Mobile Suits.
Furthermore, the Innovators' Mobile Suits also needed modifications, and Reid Isaac's Golden Burst Mode required thorough study. With so much to handle, there was no room for waste.
Thus, Ribbons didn't even bother with Regene Regetta, who remained trapped under steel beams. The latter could only pray that the guards inspecting the damage would discover him soon.
Wang Liu Mei also left the venue directly, as she had only attended the banquet as a guest of cooperation.
However, after leaving the venue, Wang Liu Mei couldn't stop smiling, which puzzled Hong Long, who was driving. He wondered what could have made her so happy.
Still, Hong Long managed to restrain his curiosity, remaining silent throughout the drive.
Wang Liu Mei, however, couldn't contain her restless excitement. Out of the blue, she asked Hong Long:
"Hong Long, do you think I should seriously consider fully aligning myself with Reid Isaac? He once said that Sister Ange has the Dragon Bloodline, and today's events basically prove he was telling the truth.
By the way, Hong Long, maybe you should really change your codename. Otherwise, it might be awkward if we ever encounter a real red dragon."
Faced with Wang Liu Mei's two seemingly random questions, Hong Long admitted he didn't know how to respond. But not knowing didn't matter—he simply had to follow his usual approach.
Thus, Hong Long replied very calmly:
"Whatever you decide, Miss. Whether it's joining Reid Isaac's side or me changing my codename, I'll do as you say."
Wang Liu Mei hadn't expected any constructive advice from Hong Long in the first place. She had just asked out of pent-up restlessness. So, after his response, she declared firmly:
"Yes, you just need to follow my lead. Hong Long, you must stay by my side for life. That's what you owe me."
"By the way, you need to get familiar with that new Mobile Suit as soon as possible. I have a feeling we'll get our chance to officially make an appearance soon."
Reid had no idea about the subsequent actions of A-Laws and Wang Liu Mei after his retreat.
The Gran Chaos didn't stay cloaked for long before being sent back to the CE Universe. Combined with the World Change Fluctuation Value being locked at 8.101%, it seemed Celestial Beings had escaped completely unscathed.
As for the 0.002% drop in the World Change Fluctuation Value, Reid suspected it was caused by subtle changes after Louise was brought back to Celestial Beings.
At this moment, the next assessment mission appeared: the African Orbital Elevator (originally the AEU Orbital Elevator) coup incident.
This was indeed a major event—the first time all factions in the AD Universe united to accomplish something together. Of course, it would have been perfect if not for the ending where Soma Peries killed his father.
However, this didn't affect what Reid needed to do next.
Reid could roughly guess that the appearance of the golden GN Particles was due to the miracle triggered by the Star Inheritor. But to understand exactly what had happened, Reid still needed to analyze the data recorded by the Mobile Suit.
Before the analysis, Reid followed the usual routine: first dismissed everyone, then holed up in the Factory Module to organize the gains.
Since this time there had been a Biological Invasion—something never seen in previous Otherworld Entanglements—Reid was quite looking forward to what various Dragons might drop.
He was also quite eager to see what Villkiss, the Twilight Armor, and the Aurora Goddess would drop.
But at the top of the list were still the dropped skills.
In this assessment battle, Reid's side had only taken down one person qualified to drop a skill: Ali al-Saachez.
(Although Louise was captured after Hoshino Ruri infiltrated her Mobile Suit, the one who captured her was Tieria, so it didn't count as a defeat.)
The skill dropped by Sachez was very fitting for his identity and also quite practical: Mercenary (when equipped, all weapons of the Mobile Suit receive a slight increase in power).
Reid noted that while a slight increase in power for all Mobile Suit weapons sounded a bit abstract, sometimes breaking through defenses comes down to just that little bit. So, Reid equipped it directly.
After all, he had once been the leader of the Crimson Wings Mercenary Group for a while—having a Mercenary skill was only natural.
After the skill drops came the technology drops.
To Reid's surprise, this time the two types of Dragons from Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon actually dropped technologies—two of them, in fact.
The technology dropped by the male Dragon was Radiation Contaminant Energy Conversion Technology.
This was a biotechnology capable of cultivating a type of fungus that consumes highly radioactive contaminants. It seemed to be a special probiotic (probiotics in the human body include both bacteria and fungi) inside the Dragon, specifically used to absorb radioactive contaminants and convert them into energy the Dragon could absorb.
However, after reading the description, Reid knew this thing most likely couldn't survive in the human body.
Leaving aside the fact that no one would willingly consume highly radioactive contaminants, even if someone did and the fungus successfully took root in large numbers inside the human body...
After converting the highly radioactive contaminants into energy, that energy couldn't be absorbed by the human body. In the end, the person would only meet a gruesome, explosive death.
So, this thing was only suitable for filtering things like nuclear wastewater or directly cultivating it to clean up areas contaminated by nuclear explosions.
However, although this fungus cannot turn humans into superhumans capable of harnessing special energy within their bodies, it is still quite useful in the CE Universe.
During the CE Reconstruction War, large areas of Earth were contaminated by nuclear explosions. Even decades later, those heavily polluted regions remain unsuitable for human habitation.
But with these fungi, by studying their process of handling radioactive contaminants, it should be possible to develop equipment to resolve nuclear pollution. Once achieved, Earth's contamination could be significantly improved.
Moreover, as a last resort, this fungus can consume nuclear waste to produce a special type of energy. While this energy is unlikely to be the unique Lonium Element from Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon, it should definitely be possible to convert it into electricity.
The first technology was relatively practical, so Reid eagerly looked at the second one.
Immediately, Reid furrowed his brows.
Because the second technology was extremely sensitive: the Human-Dragon Gene Enhancement Sample.
This item is essentially the same type of gene used by Coordinators in the CE Universe for genetic adjustments.
According to the system's description, this gene can perfectly adapt to the human species and can even be implanted postnatally.
In other words, regardless of which world a person comes from, implanting this gene would grant them the basic physical capabilities possessed by the gene-adjusted humans created by Embryo in Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon.
It's worth noting that even though Reid has been neglecting training lately and his physical fitness is no longer on par with Rosalie and Chris when they first arrived, he would still be considered an absolute powerhouse in Coordinator society. This gives an idea of how absurdly potent this gene is for physical enhancement.
However, a new gene sample is far too sensitive in the CE Universe, even if Reid could claim it was a new sample extracted from himself as a Newtype.
The key point is that this gene sample doesn't need to be injected during the embryonic stage like with Coordinators, because the original dragon species in the Angel and Dragon world transformed from adults.
Once this gene emerges, wouldn't all Coordinators go into an uproar? While it doesn't enhance intelligence, it boosts combat prowess.
If all Naturals were enhanced in one wave, the advantage Coordinators have in piloting Mobile Suits would instantly reverse. There wouldn't even be a need for Natural OS—Naturals could simply seize Coordinators' Mobile Suits and use them, because by then, Naturals' reaction speeds and physical agility would surpass those of Coordinators.
Most crucially, this gene enhancement carries no risks, doesn't affect human reproduction, and can even be passed down through generations. Descendants wouldn't need additional enhancements.
This gene would be the heavy hammer that completely phases out Coordinators in the CE Universe. Once widespread, all Coordinators would be crushed.
Sensitive as it may be, Reid still plans to gradually introduce it, albeit under a different guise to avoid triggering a Coordinator uprising.
The CE Universe is already chaotic enough. If the future hope of Coordinators were completely snuffed out all at once, grinding their self-esteem into the dust, who knows if someone in PLANT might go mad and devise some world-ending plan.
Of course, Reid intends to enhance himself first. With this, his physical capabilities—already sufficient to spar with Ange under the support of various skills—would skyrocket. Three days and three nights would no longer be a test.
When it comes to a man's dignity in bed, any man would take it extremely seriously.
Therefore, Reid immediately sent this genetic enhancement data to Nanai Miguel, instructing her to organize the technology and integrate it into the medical pods.
It made sense that two dragons provided two types of biotechnology, so Reid continued reading.
The Aurora Goddess dropped its design blueprints.
However, these were only the ship's design blueprints. Things like the Type-N Cold Line Destruction Cannon were not included. The position for this cannon on the blueprint was left empty, though many interfaces were reserved for it later on.
Fortunately, even without the Type-N Cold Line Destruction Cannon, the Aurora Goddess was still an excellent submarine carrier. Its dual adaptability to water and air made it well-suited for operations within the atmosphere.
The New Misurugi Kingdom happened to lack suitable underwater vessels, so Reid planned to have the military factory build it according to the blueprints. The empty space left by the main cannon could be replaced with a smaller gun, and the extra space could be expanded into a hangar to accommodate more Mobile Suits.
After the Aurora Goddess came the Twilight Armor. The five Twilight Armor units essentially revealed all the core technologies of the Mobile Suit, including the Lonium Element Engine and the high-energy conduction structure.
But here was the problem: the most critical component of the Mobile Suit, the Lonium Element Engine, lacked the Lonium Element itself.
Unlocking technology wasn't the same as capturing a Mobile Suit and having the Factory Module reverse-engineer it.
Captured Mobile Suits came with the special elements from their respective worlds. Once analyzed, these elements could be purchased from the G Coin Store.
However, unlocking technology meant receiving the manufacturing blueprints. Missing elements? You'd have to find those elements first and let the Factory Module analyze them, rather than directly applying the technology that used them.
This directly rendered the Twilight Armor useless. If traditional power sources were used instead, the resulting units would only be as powerful as ordinary Paramails.
If that were the case, it would be better to further downgrade them into air motorcycles and release them into the civilian market.
Thus, the only gains from this batch might be the design for a small engine capable of handling ultra-high energy and the energy conduction technology.
In principle, Villkiss used the same engine and energy conduction technology, so these two things still held value.
Finally, Villkiss's drop was impressive—the Convergence Spacetime Cannon. This technology was directly unlocked.
However, Reid took one look and immediately dismissed it. The cannon was unlocked, but the energy it required came from the Lonium Element Engine.
Without the energy provided by the Lonium Element Engine and relying on electricity instead, the power demand would be astronomical.
Even if Reid built a power generation facility as large as Genesis, it wouldn't be enough to sustain the Convergence Spacetime Cannon's consumption. Not even converting the AC Universe Miniature Nuclear Fusion Reactor into a super-sized reactor would suffice.
Reid brought in Nein and Hoshino Ruri to simulate how to generate such immense voltage and current.
Hoshino Ruri directly provided the answer, suggesting that building a Stellar Dyson Sphere should solve the problem.
Reid replied that if he could build something like that, he would have already unified the CE Universe. What use would he have for the Convergence Spacetime Cannon then? To fight the Trisolarans?
However, during the discussion, Hoshino Ruri did one more thing.
She presented two super weapons: the Phase Shift Engine and the Phase Shift Cannon.
But, just like with the Convergence Spacetime Cannon, Reid's current technology was completely incapable of manufacturing these two things.
The Phase Shift Engine lacks several rare elements. Hoshino Ruri knows the refining techniques, but these elements simply do not exist in the CE Universe.
Without the Phase Shift Engine, the Phase Shift Cannon naturally cannot function properly. This overpowered weapon consumes energy at an absolutely terrifying rate—low-density energy sources like electricity are completely inadequate.
At this moment, Reid experienced the awkwardness of possessing a Dragon-slaying Treasure Blade but being unable to lift it.
It just goes to show that one must forge oneself strong. It seems that without a breakthrough in energy technology, these super weapons won't be usable anytime soon.
Watching the preview for the new Gundam series, I feel truly old—another installment I just can't appreciate.
When I watched AGE before, I thought the art style was too childish, but compared to the recent two series, AGE was actually pretty good.
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