Gundam: From Piece to Player

Chapter 184 Breaking the Ice

Inside the bridge, watching Sirocco's MA disappear into the horizon... even though a large number of verbal agreements had been reached.

Karma is generally considered trustworthy. However, whether Sirocco is trustworthy is another matter entirely.

Of course, the most useful gains were the large amount of intelligence he obtained about the Jupiter sphere (to be confirmed), and also the data from Sirocco's MA.

—It can only be said that Jupiter's technological level should be viewed dialectically.

On the one hand, their engine and radiation protection technologies have made significant progress due to the influence of Jupiter's environment.

On the other hand, their integrated circuit electronics and armor technology lag behind those of Earth.

As for the armor level of the Sirocco machine, it's not some high-end Luna titanium alloy... it's the same as the GM armor. As for electronic and software protection, Alice can sneak in and out without being detected... it even has some backdoors.

So what exactly makes this advanced engine technology so advanced? And how does it maintain a cruising speed of over Mach 30?

The key lies in the way the oil is burned—

The core of Jupiter's propulsion system, the Wood Furnace, converts fuels such as He-3, which are difficult to store, into a plasma state before fusion.

It is then encased and stored within the reactor using an I-force field. This method not only improves fuel density and energy release efficiency,

This allowed the MS to reach an astonishing output limit and have a greater range... while the Siloc MA had not yet integrated the relevant technologies to their fullest potential... He even felt that this MA was a bit "roughly" made, what kind of space version of the MiG-25 was it?

As the saying goes, reinventing the wheel is not as effective as learning from (or copying) technology.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and the weapon modifications for the European Ocean were completed.

Karma also planned to immediately conduct a dive... to thoroughly investigate the source of the signal.

With the help of exploration equipment, Kalma found a relatively weak ice layer.

Kalmar ordered the fleet, positioned high in the air, to launch a series of synchronized orbital bombardments using mega particle cannons and missiles.

...Locked on by radar, precision-guided armor-piercing bombs relentlessly blasted through the glacier within a radius of less than 50 meters.

Although the ice layer was very thick, the original geyser opening was "dug" into a small mountain pass under the ravages of the Kalmar fleet's artillery fire.

"Go down, Alice."

"receive."

Alice, piloting the Zuda, leaped off the cliff.

With a splash a few seconds later, Zuda submerged into the underground ocean of Europa.

On the glacier, Karma, driving a snowmobile, began to follow above the ice.

While the hovering thermonuclear engine often malfunctions due to obstacles on Earth, it seems to have found a new purpose on Europa... where there is very little debris... allowing for unrestricted speeding.

Alice's projection also appeared in the cockpit... The ice layer, as a solid, is an excellent medium for sound conduction, and Kalma was able to immediately receive the signal from Zuda below.

[Brother, we've arrived at the signal location.]

"Activate passive sonar."

【clear.】

High-frequency electromagnetic waves discovered

Wow, 20 meters long... Sigh, it's coming towards me, and its speed... 120 knots.

It can reach speeds of 222 km/h in water, which is roughly equivalent to the top speed of the Great Demon on land.

"Alice, hurry to the evacuation point!"

[Pump, spray faster!]

【————】

The communication was cut off, which clearly indicated that a battle had already taken place.

"Initiate orbital bombardment."

Karma immediately issued the order to bombard the area near the battle zone.

He called this operation an icebreaker, because if the opponent was some kind of living creature, ZUDA wouldn't gain any advantage underwater.

We have to make a big hole in the glacier.

Let's see what this is.

What could possibly react instantly to a 30-kilometer-long ice layer?

The Mega Particle Beam Cannon, that orbital bombardment takes at least 10 minutes.

Karma knew that there was only one weapon that could create a hole in a short time.

That is the [Peace Messenger].

Furthermore, it is necessary to pre-install... [Peace Messengers] that react simultaneously in a line.

Only then could they blast an escape route through the 24-kilometer-deep ice and rock at extremely low temperatures.

The ground trembled.

Then the reaction occurred, but it was as if nothing had happened.

The density and solidity of Europa ice are far superior to that of pure ice on Earth... Currently, humanity's most powerful thermonuclear weapon is still insufficient.

It can only create a cavity with a diameter of about 20 meters.

But that was enough... ZUDA broke through the underwater barrier, flew rapidly upwards through the hole dug by the nuclear weapon, broke through the ice, and suffered damage to its legs and arms. The blue of its tail flame was mixed with impurities, indicating that it had been damaged in the underwater battle.

Then, the monster behind them also burst out of the air.

Karma was also able to see its shape—

It resembles a 15-meter-long living torpedo, with a dark green, iridescent outer shell and a perfectly streamlined pressure hull, which is key to its survival in Europa's subsurface ocean.

Its head consists of eight openable sensor "petals" that enclose a strange yellow single eye.

The tail section features three variable-angle propulsion fins and jet nozzles... which are clearly the reason for its high-speed swimming.

The ability to levitate means that, like Zuda, he is an all-terrain MA capable of operating in space, sea, and air.

The moment it appeared, it was met with concentrated fire from the beam weapons of the two MS units summoned by Karma.

Its I-field protected it from the beam's attack.

However, it failed to intercept the accompanying solid missile, and the scales on its surface quickly began to fall off... This appears to be some kind of Chobham armor.

Just as Karma was about to summon the main force to turn this guy into sashimi, the strange iron fish plunged back into the ice cave, passed through a tunnel several kilometers long, and burrowed back into Europa's underground ocean.

"It doesn't seem as strong as I imagined."

Although this MA looks tricky, it's actually within the realm of common sense... The fact that it can break through defenses speaks volumes.

Karma looked at Alice in the projection with some skepticism. Could the artificial intelligence be throwing the game?

Alice sensed his suspicion and glared at him with her hands on her hips, clearly displeased.

"Brother, you should go and meet this guy in the water. ZUDA's top speed in the water is only 90 knots. Do you think that extra 30 knots is just for show?"

"Okay, don't be angry anymore. As an apology, I'll have your mother give you a new body as a [birthday present]."

That's more like it.

After calming Alice down, Karma began watching the battle footage that had just been transmitted back and started thinking about the purpose of this machine's existence in the underground ocean of Europa.

—If there are no other forces involved, then this machine should belong to the Jupiter Foundation's fisheries.

But why develop such high-performance aquatic products specifically for the seabed of Europe?

Chapter 185 The City Reversed

It re-entered the seabed, rapidly drawing in seawater from both sides of its body. After being heated and ionized by superconducting heat, it ejected high-pressure water jets backward, gradually moving away from the ice hole. It is unknown how long it swam.

The yellow mechanical eye rotated, activating the searchlight at the front of the machine, slowly cutting through the darkness. Then, the outline of the city emerged, not from below, but from diagonally above. The light grew brighter and brighter as the strange fish approached, until finally the ice above became so bright that it was hard to look directly at it.

The city beneath the ice is not composed of individual buildings, but rather dozens of enormous pressure domes that look like countless inverted glass domes.

From a distance, they look like inverted castles inside crystal balls.

The strange fish entered one of the dome entrances, then the rear entrance closed, and the water drained out quickly, much like a dry dock.

The cockpit of the strange fish slowly opened, and a slender hand pushed open the pressurized hatch. Several female guards in white military uniforms approached.

"Lady Serena, are you alright?"

"It's alright. Karma Zabi is indeed as ruthless as Grax said... He used a nuclear weapon without even thinking, which scared me a bit."

She looked at the guards and smiled, her eyes crinkling slightly.

The woman looked very young. She let her golden hair down from its neat updo and tied it into a single ponytail that gave her a very mature, wifely look, draped over her shoulder.

But she is actually only 5 years younger than the conglomerate’s young successor, Grax de Katch, and is almost 31 years old this year.

As Lord Dekach oversaw the construction and pioneering work of the colony every day, Miss Serena was the only woman who provided him with warmth and understood his thoughts during these difficult years.

The people of the cities of Europa and several colonies in the Jupiter sphere all knew about their relationship.

It's unclear why the two never got married or had children.

"Where is he?"

"The master is having a remote call with General Tiam."

“We, the people forgotten by the Earth Sphere… are probably only remembered at times like this. I’m going to find him.”

As a city beneath a glacier, Europa's inverted dome is riddled with interconnected pipes like a dense root system, buried deep within the ice. While transportation in traditional cities is usually underground, Europa's public transportation is above the ice—above the entire city.

The office building where Grax de Kaczy, as the city's administrator, was located in the central dome, the furthest point from the ice and the "closest" point to the seabed of Europa.

Serena waited for two hours before the remote communication ended.

The blond Jupiter governor, with deep-set eyes and a sharp gaze, pushed open the office door, poked his head out, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips: "Serena, have you been waiting long?"

"1 hour, 56 minutes and 02 seconds".

"I heard you even piloted the [Abyssal Conch] to intercept Karma Zabi's plane today?"

"You're not going to say 'This is dangerous,' are you?"

"I'm just curious why he's still alive. Did you spare him?"