Gundam: From Piece to Player

"No, I'm about to establish a new country in the asteroid belt. We'll be founded this May."

Chapter 211 Alliance Founding Day (Please Subscribe!)

In 0082, the Earth's sphere, asteroid belt, and Jupiter's sphere experienced a rare period of calm during spring and summer.

After four months of revisions by the expert technical committee, the Space Alliance's Declaration of Nationhood was finally completed.

On June 7, a high-powered radio broadcast was transmitted from the asteroid belt Juno, and the live footage, delayed by 1.5 astronomical units, was also uploaded to the Earth Sphere Network by AE Media.

The declaration was read by Kalmar, who was the chairman of the committee, in the newly completed Starry Sky Hall.

After explaining the territory, origins, national spirit, and political system of the Space Alliance, which is the conference alliance system, this was his favorite part.

"To all members of the Space Alliance residing in the asteroid belt, New Humans, we have achieved absolute freedom in military, political, and economic matters."

"Given time, we will break through the barriers of identity labels and attributes in the Earth Sphere—ethnicity, race, nation, and history."

"Where I am now is more than 2.5 million kilometers away from Earth's former home. Everything here—the air, the water, the energy, the survival—will be created by ourselves."

"If we don't create a new situation with our own hands, it only proves that humanity is a civilization that can only survive on Earth-like planets. Conversely, if we overcome this, we will have completed 'evolution,' and we will also sweep away all obstacles to interstellar space colonization."

After the declaration was read, 50 delegates, led by Kalmar, began to sign the declaration on a stone using laser pointers.

Following the nation-building ceremony, the first Minister of Defense, Elisa Haywin, then read out an important national policy.

[Asteroid Belt Embargo]

"In the early days of the Alliance, the Earth Federation government went to great lengths to sabotage the Alliance, sending expeditionary forces to try to seize the Alliance's territory, causing an economic loss of 6000 billion helium. Therefore, all transport fleets with interests in the Federation must voluntarily pay 10% of the value of the ships and cargo to offset this amount."

"If the shipment is found to be undeliverable and seized, we will confiscate all cargo on board... This is a transport ban until the federal government pays this compensation to the Union."

This economic loss is equivalent to a side's annual GDP, so they don't even intend to discuss it anymore.

Compared to the impact of the founding of the Space Alliance, the power of the [ban] immediately caused a huge uproar in the Earth Sphere.

What kind of cargo could be sent to the asteroid belt? Isn't it just helium-3?

At the moment the message was released.

The price of helium-3 in the Earth's sphere skyrocketed 15 times in just a few hours.

Despite the Federation's statement that it has sufficient helium-3 reserves, the market is still in a state of panic—the expeditionary force's military performance has shown that they are simply not capable of maintaining the safety of the shipping lanes (in reality, they do have channels, but the Federation has not made the existence of the Jupiter Foundation public).

Whether the Jupiter Flotilla can successfully bring back Helium-3 remains to be seen.

To bypass the Space Alliance's blockade, the only option is to use a non-Federation route—

Due to the federal economic sanctions, Zeon cannot leave.

Should we go to SIDE6?

The ban was quickly amended – “If a ship is found to be flying a flag that does not match the actual flag, all cargo on board will also be confiscated.”

SIDE6, of course, does not have transport ships capable of long-distance voyages, and market anxiety has not yet been resolved.

It looks like another economic crisis is about to be triggered.

Sirocco, who had become the governor of the moon, made a suggestion that the federal government considered a lifeline.

They agreed to ease the already flawed trade embargo between the Moon and Zeon.

Helium-3, through re-export trade, seems to have finally circumvented this ban.

Judging from the economic policies of this "new country," the number of ships transporting gas and extraction vessels will increase in the future, and market supply can be guaranteed.

It appears that helium-3 from countries and organizations under the federal government can be purchased through the moon as an intermediary.

Subsequent events proved the feasibility of this approach—while the energy crisis seemed to have been resolved, it also meant that the federal economic encirclement had been torn apart.

The helium-3 collected by the Space Alliance can finally be transformed into resources and wealth, enabling the Alliance's 100 million members to achieve energy freedom and also essentially achieve material freedom.

The minerals and industrial raw materials obtained through the Helium 3 trade revitalized the prosperity of Zeon's (SIDE 3) heavy industrial base, and with the economy improving, Char Aznable's life became much easier.

As for the Moon People, they were simply sitting back and winning. The entrepot trade alone almost suffocated them, and Sirocco also used this crisis to win over the hearts of the Moon People.

In other parts of the Side, the rising cost of living due to the increase in helium-3 energy prices... In order to avoid directing public hatred toward the government, the Federation had no choice but to use its propaganda machine to direct their hatred toward the new country that implemented the helium-3 ban, and to label this new country as "Space Zeon".

In the original history, the Federation did not like to study the composition of the rebel forces. Many of the forces that appeared later in the Universal Century were called Zeon, such as Jupiter Zeon and Mars Zeon. In fact, some of them had nothing to do with Zeon, and some were more Titans.

Of course, the smooth progress of the matter was inseparable from the cooperation of one person and his team.

"Well then, Paptimas, congratulations on becoming the governor of the moon."

"I will never forget your kindness."

Sirocco laughed, saying that in April of this year, he was quickly promoted and appointed as the Governor of the Moon by the Federation Army, and the secret cooperation between the two sides on energy continued, with only a small adjustment—before the ban was announced.

He even made investments, using insider information before Kalmar announced the trade ban to manipulate the market through financial instruments on the federal stock exchange...

He spares no effort in exploiting the Federation to strengthen his own power.

With strong business acumen and the ability to go along with the crowd and flatter, he is indeed well-suited to the corrupt environment of the federal government.

As for whether it will lead to a dangerous situation?

All I can say is that we should focus on making money first.

"How is the 'revenge' plan progressing for Side 1 and Side 4 in their quest for revenge against Zeon? How is their national strength increasing? Are there any noteworthy people or events recently?"

Putting aside the topic of Helium-3, Karma decided to first learn about the intelligence aspect... Another role of Sirocco was to provide intelligence channels for the Federation.

"Your Excellency, it is worth noting that... the national strength of Side 1 has shown signs of increasing. The Eight States Group has announced a plan to revitalize and rebuild the old colonies. Currently, 20 colonies are undergoing renovation to strengthen power supply and infrastructure so that factories will be available after new businesses move in."

"Side 4's national strength has not changed significantly, and has even declined due to the recent financial crisis."

Although Sirocco said that, Karma still knew that Side 4, as a post-Gende colony, was much newer and was not weak to begin with. Even if it declined further, it would still be much stronger than Side 1.

"How is SIDE2, the headquarters of the Eight States Group, doing?"

"They have established a large number of military factories, increased their share of helium 3 procurement by 60% year-on-year, strengthened the construction and layout of heavy industry, and doubled their manpower. It should be noted that... compared to other colonies, they are particularly close to the Federation."

Given this attitude, is it still necessary for us to fulfill our promise of 20 colonies?

Let's talk about it later.

Chapter 212 Holy crap, the ice cream vendor needs a real punch!

SIDE1 Shangri-La, headquarters of Air Group.

The new headquarters, standing at 120 meters tall, overlooks the entire city and symbolizes a new pinnacle for Shangri-La and even the entire SIDE1.

The Federal Minister of Health arrived here with a request from higher authorities.

"Chairman... Your company's SWSM-type drug is in high demand by countless patients in our federal government. Why did you announce a supply disruption after September?"

Leaning back on the sofa, Anna El, dressed in a suit, simply smiled and stroked the orange tabby cat in her hand.

It seemed that the minister's words had woken it up; it breathed heavily at the minister and then scrambled onto a nearby wooden cat tree.

“Minister, medical use is medical use. If you transfer the drugs to military use without authorization... then the price will have to be renegotiated, and our company will face huge reputational risks.”

"What are you talking about, Chairman?"

"Minister, you can go back now. Just tell your superiors that if they still want the drugs, they should send someone who can make decisions to talk to me, Anna El... If they don't want to talk, that's fine too. We will develop different special-supply drugs for the SWSM supplied in October, depending on the specific circumstances."

The other party quickly issued an order to leave, and a few days later, a special envoy from the federal government with an even more prestigious identity visited Shangri-La.

It was still in the same room.

"Chairman, what is your mention of military applications?"

Oxner Clift, a staff member of General Reiber during the One Year War, the newly appointed assistant to the Prime Minister of the Federal Government, and a strong contender for the next Prime Minister, crossed his arms and looked at the girl in front of him who was "much younger" than himself.

Upon hearing this, the girl pressed a button on the table, and several photos were projected into the air: a body with a digital number at the crematorium, a body bag from Augusta Medical University, and the ID cards of several deceased individuals.

"Does the government seem to want to create 'superpowered beings' like Zeon?"

A single, simple sentence conveyed a wealth of information, and Cliff frowned.

SWSM is a neurological drug with special effects that was accidentally discovered during experiments by the Federal Murasame Research Institute.

When taken by humans, it produces a strong hallucinogenic effect, causing the brain to experience unusual pleasure and a significant increase in brainwave activity.

What's remarkable is that it has a low addictive rate, similar to cola... This gave the Federation Army the idea to conduct related experiments on an active-duty unit to see if ordinary soldiers could also be given this drug by injection or oral administration during combat.

Even in a few minutes of fighting, they turned ordinary soldiers into "supermen".

Although the federal government has also commissioned other medical research institutions to attempt reverse engineering.

However, they discovered that the manufacturing and synthesis of this drug was far more difficult than they had imagined, and Alphard Pharmaceuticals clearly possessed some special pharmaceutical technology.

That meant they had to increase the demand for the drug, and once the demand increased... Alphard Pharmaceuticals immediately noticed.

—It's like waiting for the federal government to raise the price again.

"Could it be that the Flanagan Corporation also supplies goods to your company?"

Seemingly to avoid losing the initiative in the negotiations, Cliff threatened.

“Unfounded accusations only expose your ignorance,” Anna said. “This drug was already on the market in UC0050, when my mother was still the president of the company, for the treatment of mental neurological diseases. Although it is relatively expensive, it is not unavailable. Zeon was only established in UC0059.”

"Chairman, I misspoke... Please name your price. The government will not treat companies that have made significant contributions to the Federation unfairly."

“Congressman Cliff, I am not a profit-driven businessman. We can restore the drug supply, and the cost will remain the same... But our Al Group also hopes to participate in the Murasame Research and Augusta Institute’s ‘superpower’ research and development program.”

Cliff's eyes darted around after hearing this, but he nodded calmly. "I'm afraid I can't make that decision, but I will report it to the important leaders."

Anna simply smiled.

After saying some trivial things to cover up his true thoughts, Cliff left.

Aronnax emerged from behind a hidden door. "Professor, are you really going to participate in the development of enhanced humans?"

“I would like to participate, so that we can proceed gradually—you have already read his mind, yet you still ask me this.”

Anna stood up and picked up the sleeping cat. "If you can't get what you want, just use force, kill and steal, force companies to submit—is this what the Federation was like in its heyday?"

"Send out the enemy attack signal and have the civilians take shelter in the bunkers. Is Little Harman ready?"

"She is ready."

"That's fine, we're entrusting our lives and fortunes to her."

.