Gundam: From Piece to Player

The engineering team will also recruit suitable individuals within the Earth attack force who have few family ties, in preparation for future asteroid belt expeditions.

The 101st Division also needs a certain degree of personnel change... because not everyone is suitable for going to the asteroid belt.

A week after Kycilia's death, morale in the Delaz fleet completely collapsed... This time, not only the technical team, but even the soldiers and officers under their command didn't want to continue.

This is related to Char's announcement: any soldier who served to the end in the Zeon War of Independence (One Year War) is innocent and can continue to serve as a soldier or retire as a civilian, with the state paying a demobilization fee.

This inadvertently undermined their motivation to continue. Lord Gihren's revenge has been avenged, the country is independent, and all the (righteous) goals have been achieved. Everyone should live a good life... General Delaz, what else do you want to do?

Ultimately, thanks to Kalmar's mediation (who didn't want any bloodshed in Junoli), the old man's life was spared...

In keeping with the principle of doing a good deed to the end, Karma still gave him a retirement allowance equivalent to that of a Zeon general, enough for him to buy a house in Side 6 and retire without doing anything major.

Kado, to his end, did not betray Delaz and went to SIDE 6 with him... like a retainer in the era of Japanese martial arts.

"Sima has been captured by the Federal Army?"

"Yes."

Some time after the peace treaty was signed, Karma finally learned of Sima's whereabouts from the intelligence officer.

"To be precise, she was captured by the Federation Army in prison. She had been captured by Kycilia before."

Karma finally understood the whole story.

It can only be described as outrageous... After arriving in Granada, Kycilia, suffering from paranoia, began to hunt down the mole after the assault troops arrived in Granada.

He saw everyone as a remnant of Gihren's faction, and everyone as a spy bribed by Char.

Because Char wanted Shima's Marine Corps, they immediately became prime suspects.

Then Sima and her men were arrested in a state of complete bewilderment, without even being able to use force... It felt somewhat like they died from an unknown area-of-effect attack.

"What about the Zeon? Was it also captured by the Federation?"

Kalmar is particularly concerned about the leakage of technical equipment.

If the Zeon is captured, the Federation's development of the "Psycho Gundam" will be accelerated.

"No, the Zeon disappeared during the battle, along with its pilot, Lady Kycilia's handmaid... Haman Kahn."

Chapter 167 Formidable Enemy, Playing on Home Ground

"Continue to gather intelligence, and report back to me if anything comes up."

"Yes." The intelligence officer withdrew.

Because this part of the information was so lacking... Karma did not continue to make unfounded connections.

He took out a satellite phone capable of laser communication; it was time for the weekly routine check-in by phone, and Alice's lie detector was ready.

---Divider----

A week later, Juno began loading helium-3 fuel, while the supply channels were concealed to minimize the impact of the voyage plan.

Charlia Bull knocked on Kalmar's office door, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Come in."

"Your Excellency, reporting to you."

"You're such a busy person. I had to call Commander-in-Chief Xia to get you to come and help."

Karma looked at him.

"You flatter me too much... How can I compare to you, so busy as you are?"

"Charlie laughed."

On the surface, they were extremely respectful, but in reality, they reflexively began to read minds... and then they read a model image of some kind of engine, which kept changing with the thinker's imagination.

Well, this gentleman occasionally glances at the computer, using software to create 3D models, and his self-talk seems more like some kind of impromptu response.

This actually renders mind reading ineffective.

From another perspective, it is indeed very impressive.

"Captain Bull, I won't stand on ceremony. I'll get straight to the point. I have a very important project concerning the future of Zeon that I need your assistance with."

"I am flattered by your kindness, but I have already pledged my allegiance to the Commander-in-Chief."

Sharia thought to herself that the person in front of her was somewhat unfathomable, and even with an intelligence advantage, he was not someone to be trifled with.

In contrast, it was easier to predict the thoughts of Deakin's son, making him easier to "manage" as a superior.

When subordinates can completely read their leaders' minds, the informational advantage that superiors possess disappears.

Charia often uses verbal manipulation to achieve her goals and prepare responses accordingly.

The most convenient of the new human abilities he awakened from Jupiter was this mind-reading ability... which allowed him to gain an absolute informational advantage no matter who he was talking to.

It can also anticipate the enemy's hostility.

"I didn't ask you to join my ranks. I've already discussed this with Commander-in-Chief Xia."

Kalmar unrolled a rolled-up electronic screen from the desktop and then inserted a terminal storage disk into it.

"Come closer, I have some professional knowledge to ask you."

"Excuse me."

Sharia approached the spacious desk and discovered that it was a dynamic star map of the solar system, showing Earth, Mars, the asteroid belt, and Jupiter. In addition to the planets, there were densely packed asteroid positions and numerous markings of planetary satellites.

His background as a space navigator made him realize the immense value of this star map, mainly because it required decades, even centuries, of log entries to create.

The solar system is more spacious than most people think. The distance between the Earth and the Moon is only 38 kilometers, while the average distance between Mars and Earth is 2.2-2.5 million kilometers, and the average distance between Jupiter and Earth is 7.8 million kilometers.

Interplanetary travel is a very long journey, so carefully designing routes to save fuel is also meaningful.

Therefore, a well-drawn star chart is quite expensive... Star charts are never static, but dynamic.

Take the absolute positions of Mars and Earth with the Sun as the origin of the coordinate system as an example.

Both Earth and Mars have shifted their orbital positions by a certain angle since the last time they met. From this perspective, the "coordinates" at which they meet each time are entirely new.

Every 14 years, Earth and Mars will be at their closest point (relative position), but it takes 79 years for the cycle to repeat (absolute position, but the time error is 4 to 5 days).

"Where did you obtain this star map, Your Excellency?"

"It was bought from AE Corporation. It was a retired crew member from the Federation's Jupiter Fleet. It cost several million."

Karma said, "I plan to use Juno as the capital and establish a space city cluster in the asteroid belt. We will drive Zeon's economic development through the sale of Helium-3 energy and the manufacture of related industrial products. We need industry to save the country's economy and break the Federation's economic blockade."

The asteroid belt?

Compared to building a cosmic metropolis at a Lagrange point, establishing a cosmic metropolis in the asteroid belt is an order of magnitude more difficult.

But the words spoken by a child and the words spoken by a hero have completely different meanings.

Charia actually made a prediction on her way back from Jupiter: Zeon was almost certain to perish.

However, the being before us created a military miracle single-handedly, winning the Battle of Odessa, capturing Luna II, pulling Zeon back from the brink of destruction, and treating the war as a massive engineering project to be tackled.

Judging from Karma's tone, this is just another large-scale project waiting to be tackled.

They always keep their word and do what they say. Although they don't have the abilities of the new humans, that is what makes them a legend of their time.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need your experience in outer space. I've heard that there was an accident in the Jupiter Flotilla, but you overcame it in the end."

“You overestimate me. I didn’t know why I ‘overcame’ it back then.” Sharia shook her head, a look of reminiscence in her eyes.

“At that time, all kinds of electronic systems were paralyzed by cosmic radiation. I was looking at Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, and the Great Red Spot was ‘looking’ at me. At that time, I was already thinking about committing suicide.”

"I'm sorry, I reminded you of something unpleasant."

"It's nothing, it's all in the past."

“Even failures are valuable experiences. Captain’s navigation skills and knowledge of helium-3 energy mining are unmatched in Zeon. You have indeed brought back a large amount of helium-3 resources to Zeon.”

"As for Commander-in-Chief Xia, I can appoint you as our liaison officer. You will need to report on the project's progress at all times. Is that alright with you?"

Faced with such a determined gaze, Sharia nodded from the bottom of her heart this time.

Its significance for Zeon and for humanity... of course, mainly because he himself became interested in the project.

I want to see just how far this legend can go.

"Of course, I'd love to."

“Okay,” Karma said. “By the way, there’s something else I want to ask you. Do you know Papidimas Shilock?”

Charlotte shook her head.

He then sensed the hesitation in Lord Kalmar's heart... This kind of hesitation is common when facing a powerful enemy or an opponent that is difficult to defeat.

"Who is this person?" Sharia asked.

"This person is the captain of the Federal Government's Jupiter resource exploration ship Jupiter Triss. I think there is a very high probability that he will become our enemy in the future... This is their home ground, while we are fighting on away ground."

Sharia also read the real reason for Karma's hesitation... the New Humans.

This Jupiter captain named Sirocco is a new human, just like himself.

This certainly fueled Charia's competitive spirit.

Both are captains of mining ships on Jupiter, but who is more capable?

Chapter 168 is not my favorite major...

Hundreds of kilometers away from Juneau, the SIDE7's cylinder rotated slowly.

Amro has been back in his hometown for a month now, as the large hole damaged during the war has been repaired.

Due to the war, it seems that Amuro's SIDE7 Middle School will not start school until February 0080.

When Amuro returns, to celebrate his miraculous survival on the battlefield and to celebrate world peace... humanity should learn from war and stop fighting.

Kay Sittin, Kobayashi, and their friends took it upon themselves to host a party and invited Amuro to attend.

Kay's home is a small villa, and quite large... Although he's not from a wealthy family, his father works for a federal government television station, so his income is quite good.

Kai's words always hit the nail on the head and make people angry... but maybe that's a talent too.