Gundam: From Piece to Player

The captain gripped the control stick and turned it all the way to the right, causing the MA to perform a maneuver that could potentially cause structural damage.

A beam of light grazed the MA's edge, and the heat burned one of its wings.

From the source of the beam, a blazing blue meteor hurtled toward them, its tail flame alone stretching for several kilometers.

The captain acted swiftly, immediately shutting off the throttle.

The three rice cookers on the MA also began to roar, and the number 20 on the LCD speed display on the screen continued to jump up... 21, 22, 23.

Faced with the captain's turn, the other party's sharp turn was also very smooth, and you could see a thick tail flame turn into four flames, and then back into one.

The distance between the two sides did not increase; they maintained a relative distance. It was just that the roles of hunter and prey had been reversed at this moment.

"To think they can keep up with my MA, these mobile suits in the Earth Sphere are quite something," Sirocco muttered to himself. "Does making the mobile suits humanoid have any advantages?"

Karma, piloting the ZUDA, was enduring the immense G-force of the machine, and her face was slightly pale.

The continuous flooring of the accelerator also put a considerable strain on his body... ZUDA can also reach speeds of around Mach 27.

This is the first time that ZUDA, known for his speed, has been outpaced by his opponent.

---

Even after encountering the enemy, our side still demonstrated excellent combat skills.

Upon receiving Kalmar's "request for support" laser communication, the warship immediately launched Minovsky particle dispersion munitions into the airspace in this direction... to ensure that it would not be attacked by enemy missiles again.

Meanwhile, Haywin drove the ZUDA to the location where Kalmar had sent the signal.

A rapid transfer was carried out—Haiwen drove back to the Type 78 and took a burden with him.

Then ZUDA was handed over to Karma.

In terms of ZUDA's design features, it is quite suitable for this kind of high-speed mobile warfare.

The scenario that we anticipated—that the enemy would be taken down in one fell swoop—did not occur; the enemy's response was remarkably timely.

The locals here should be experiencing the Minovsky particle dispersion for the first time... Logically, they should be in a state of chaos due to radar malfunction.

No matter how hard it is to believe,

The initial attempt to kill failed.

The other party still noticed his approach and successfully avoided him.

That's truly a master... Taking this as a reference, the Federation paid a considerable "tuition fee" when faced with such unreasonable dissemination.

"Big brother, the machine can't hold on any longer. If it keeps flying like this, the core temperature will reach the critical value."

Alice activated the electronic speed limiter as she spoke, and Karma realized that if things continued like this and they didn't defeat the enemy, she would probably be "fried chicken" (a slang term for being burned alive).

Karma slowly released the accelerator; the ZUDA's radiator was already glowing red from the overload caused by the high-speed movement.

The unfamiliar machine didn't slow down at all, its blue trail disappearing into the night sky. Not only its top speed... the enemy's mobile armor could also cruise at Mach 20 or higher for at least ten minutes.

In contrast, ZUDA can only fly like this for 5 minutes.

In terms of rice cooker and radiator technology, the opponent's machine is clearly a level superior.

"Have you given up, brother?"

Alice asked from the side.

"I suppose so," Karma thought, if the other party didn't come back.

As Karma answered, she switched the weapon selection on her mech.

If possible, he still wanted to capture the other party's machine... that way he could largely skip the new technology class.

Allowing the machine to be propelled by inertia, and with the release of something, several silver threads seemed to be cast out from behind ZUDA, and an invisible "net" was unfolding in this area.

On the high-speed MS, the captain slowly released the throttle, a puzzled look on his face.

"Lord Paptimas?"

"The machine that was chasing us just now didn't catch up."

“Then let’s retreat. We’ve already gathered quite a bit of intelligence.” Sarah said, showing the captain the images of the aircraft captured by the high-speed camera.

...I've seen that machine, Sirocco, in intelligence reports.

Although he was actually curious and wanted to go back and take a look, when he looked back at the quiet space over there...

A surge of energy spread through the universe.

His intuition told him that the enemy was plotting something...

Long-standing caution led Sirocco to change direction while maneuvering the MA, leaving this space region far behind.

Twenty minutes later, Karma stared at the countless stars in the sky without saying a word... feeling that she was about to give up thinking.

"Brother, the other side should have retreated."

"Ah."

Realizing she was outsmarting thin air, Karma had no choice but to reluctantly shut down the fully deployed weapon system.

Meanwhile, ZUDA slowly retracted the countless metal wires in the airspace. These metal wires straighten when energized, so there was no tangling or anything like that.

The new weapon failed to effectively capture its prey... No matter how perfectly a spider weaves its web, it's useless if the prey doesn't attack—that's the limitation of this weapon.

Just days after the battle, Zeon sent back some noteworthy news to its transit point in the asteroid belt.

The Federation established an Exoplanetary Expeditionary Force, led by Colonel Wallen, a defeated general who had lost Luna II.

They've clearly come specifically to cause trouble for me... but they won't arrive here for another six months, which is April of 1981.

Chapter 179 Niche Crowding

Despite the minor incident during the battle, Kalmar did not forget that only by cultivating the land could a nation be established in this region.

"Your Excellency, are you asking me to cultivate vegetables, raise insects, fish, snails, and quails?"

"You have a problem with that?" Kalmar said. "The Eco-pod project is one of the most complex projects in the universe. It can also generate considerable economic benefits and greatly improve the happiness of residents."

“No, I have no objection,” McToni quickly said. “I just wanted to ask if there are any more cutting-edge projects.”

"And this too."

Karma lifted Erubie, who was playing with building blocks on the office mat with a blank expression, with both hands: "My niece is a young Newtype. You need to figure out the biological reasons why Erubie can use Newtype abilities."

"Find out why ordinary humans don't have this ability. Of course, scientific research is scientific research, but you can't cause any harm to my niece's body."

"If that's not enough samples, can I clone the sample instead?"

McToni seemed somewhat embarrassed, and then brought up the Plu Project again.

"No."

But Karma didn't want to set that precedent; cloning would inevitably lead to tragedy.

In the original timeline, Elubi was killed by her own second self.

"My bottom line is that I can only accept organ transplants at most. For example, if it is a brain, I can only accept a 'whole brain' organoid that integrates multiple brain regions, which is a 40-week-old fetus that cannot feel pain. I will not accept any transplants beyond that period."

After listening, McToni sighed, "Okay, I understand."

Biochemical researchers naturally hope to have no taboos, but they cannot easily abandon social ethics. If they don't apply the brakes now, they won't be able to apply them later.

Karma thought for a moment and then added one more thing:

"Of course, there are some artificial new humans who don't have much time left, are suffering from terminal illnesses, and have signed agreements."

"Artificial new humans?"

"Yes, the federal government may establish relevant research institutions in the future."

It's basically about enhancing humans. Considering the possibility of future prisoners... it's understandable to do some research, right?

In any case, it was the other party who violated human rights and ethics first.

Karma didn't know if the Federation's world line would produce any more oddballs.

Although he occupied Japan at the time and did not find any trace of the Murasame Research Institute, it is possible that he may have opened a new research institute elsewhere.

Compared to the new humans, enhanced humans actually make it easier to understand what exactly happened during the "evolution" from the old humans to the new humans... just the part about turning ordinary people into superhumans.

The Federation has always been more technologically advanced because, frankly speaking, Elobi's clones are created because the original Elobi possessed the abilities of a new human.

"Besides figuring out the biological principles behind the abilities of the new humans, there is another project that you need to research."

Thinking about Anna's lifespan... Karma still told McToni about her selfish project.

"soul?"

This statement made McToni's expression stiffen... because Karma didn't look like she was joking when she said it.

"After I learned from Commander-in-Chief Char that a Newtype member had died, I had a brief telepathic conversation with him (fictional)."

"If we can understand the connection between the living body as a container and the soul, and whether the soul can be transferred between living body containers, it may mean human immortality."

Even though McToni was used to all kinds of storms, he couldn't help but marvel at how extraordinary the Zabi family was... He thought Karma's words were a complete joke.

General Killian is abstract in some ways, while his brother, though seemingly normal, is also abstract in some ways.

Just like those emperors in history who pursued the "elixir of immortality".

But he had no choice. Since the boss said he needed to find someone, he could only reluctantly continue working there.

After assigning McToni a number of new tasks, including farming, animal husbandry, and biochemical research.

Kalmar's energy was immediately consumed by another task.

- The Zeon second-generation gas collection ship, which uses technology purchased with gold from Anaheim, has also been successfully developed, enhancing its defenses against high-energy particle radiation belts.

Because it is not particularly far from the Jupiterian ring, the Zeon gas ship is only 300 meters long, so it does not need to be built as huge as the 2-kilometer-long Jubilee.

The first mining operation is of great significance and will directly test the attitude of the Federation Jupiter Fleet...

After Sharia was summoned, Karma discussed this issue with him.

Are you concerned that a conflict might occur during the mining process?

“Yes.” Kalmar readily agreed. “When you were collecting Helium-3, were the Jupiter fleet present?”

"No... We didn't encounter any other spaceships throughout the entire mining process."