Great, we're doomed now!

But Barbatos's brute force eventually worked, and the strange machine was forced backward by the residual force, temporarily pushing it back.

"Damn it, thanks!"

"This guy is suspicious. We need to concentrate our forces and not give him any room to maneuver!"

The ensuing battle was incredibly tough. The strange machine displayed astonishing combat skills, its attack patterns were varied and deadly, and its mobility was almost ghostly. The two Gundams were already quite coordinated in their tactics, but it always managed to anticipate their moves, finding and exploiting any openings in their defenses.

Later, neither of the two Gundams could win. After the satellite was completely suppressed, all forces were deployed, and the disadvantage was suddenly reversed.

The battle lasted for nearly ten minutes—a long time for a fight between MS.

Finally, seizing upon a minor overheating malfunction in the opponent's thrusters caused by continuous high maneuvering, Barbatos's powered greatsword broke through its defenses and smashed the power transmission device behind it.

Magasiah, with his only remaining intact arm, fired an extremely accurate shot through a gap in the armor, hitting the sensor array on the enemy's head.

Now it's time to concentrate our firepower!

...The strange machine finally stopped moving, the light in its eyes went out, and its broken body remained in place, emitting black smoke.

"Clear the battlefield and gather all valuable intelligence and data!" Magasiia's pilot ordered, panting heavily, his eyes fixed on the strange machine that had nearly capsized their ship.

The subordinates got to work... Soon, the people in charge of the technical search made an astonishing discovery in the wreckage of the strange machine.

"Sir!" A man ran over, his face filled with disbelief. "We found the pirate leader in the cockpit of that weirdo. It looks like his internal organs were shattered by the shockwave... But that's not the point. We also found... a combat support system inside."

"Hmm? Isn't this quite common?"

"But according to the prisoners, this system... it can instantly predict what will happen in the 'future' based on information from the surrounding environment, and then connect with the brainwaves and the [psychic frame] to give the human brain the ability to 'predict'!"

"—!"

"impossible!"

The two Gundam pilots exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

How could space pirates possess such technology?

A bunch of guys who don't even know how to hide their rabbits in three burrows have developed an artificial intelligence that can even temporarily suppress Gundam?

"Where did they get this thing?"

“That’s an abandoned shipyard in Jupiter’s orbit… They found it when they went ‘treasure hunting,’ but because they didn’t have the equipment to replicate it, only the leader has been using it.”

What was finally delivered to the two of them was a multifaceted structure the size of a reactor, with a layer of blue light occasionally sweeping across its surface, like a person breathing...

"Continue the torture, and have the prisoners lead us to that wrecked ship."

Barbatos's pilot glanced at it and immediately made a decision: "Record this battle and compile it into a report to submit to the [Inner Ring]. I suspect that this AI's intelligence level has exceeded security regulations, and we must trace its source!"

Only 250 years have passed since the Calamity War. It is a fundamental principle of modern society not to create overly powerful AI for military purposes!

"Hello? What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing... Well, it is indeed necessary to find out what happened."

The other pilot nodded, but his companion didn't notice that as he took a deep look at the dilapidated Magasiia and then fixed his gaze on the polyhedron, a flickering flame was hidden at the root of his eyes...

-

"This is all the content that has been fixed so far."

"It's pretty ordinary; it's just internal strife."

Lucy and Ruri finished reading the second half of the record and didn't feel there was anything particularly noteworthy.

Things were surprisingly simple:

A disagreement over AI led to a falling out between close friends.

Ye Shou's expression, on the other hand, was much more serious, especially after reading the entire article, he seemed to have a thoughtful yet enlightened feeling.

"So I guess I'm pretty lucky... It's been three hundred years, and I can still see an old friend~"

As for fratricide and the fall of heroes...

Fifty years ago, Magasian pilots became interested in polyhedra. While their mothership was investigating Jupiter's orbit, they secretly studied them and conceived the ambition to use AI to enhance the power of the Tower of Babel and bring back the Demon God Legion.

At that time, the world order maintained by the Tower of Babel had already begun to deteriorate, with various forces stirring up trouble. He believed that this was because the Legion's strength had greatly diminished, and internal factions were rampant, resulting in insufficient deterrent power.

This AI can give a second-rate pilot the superior skills to suppress Gundam pilots... It's only natural that he would be tempted.

Of course, the Magasian pilot was also cautious, after all, the tragedy of M.A. was a shared memory for everyone. As time went on, he became convinced that this AI was really just an auxiliary system, without decision-making power itself, and not even specifically designed for military use; no core data related to M.A. was found within it.

Only then did he begin to formally install AI on his machine—which was the cause of the tragedy.

Perhaps due to system compatibility issues, Magasiia experienced frequent errors and significant information interference after installing AI, making it impossible to function properly.

During the repeated maintenance and modifications, his friend, pilot Barbatos, noticed this and began to investigate the specifics.

He probably thought there were spies or something on the mothership, but he never expected to find out that his childhood friend was researching the taboo subject of "highly intelligent AI"!

The two men turned against each other and fought on the spot... or rather, Barbatos unilaterally beat Magasiia.

Because of their guilty consciences and the constant bugs in their mecha systems, the two, who were originally of similar strength, ended up dominating each other in battle.

however!

Barbatos only wanted to render his friend powerless and bring him back to Earth to be questioned by the Inner Ring; he never intended to do anything to him.

Magasiia suddenly sprang up while kneeling and stabbed Barbatos through the cockpit with his sword!

—The angle, timing, and force of this sword strike were completely inconsistent with his previous performance.

According to Ye Shou's speculation, either this person opened up the Ren and Du meridians in that short moment, or... the "BUG" was forcibly fixed by the AI, which completely took over the machine and "sacrificed his own family for the greater good" on behalf of the pilot!

As for how Barbatos was lucky enough to survive, how he escaped, and how he ended up on Titan... that's another story.

Ye Shou was only concerned about this AI, because it reminded him of some absolutely terrible things!

"【Magazia】...I remember the first pilot of this machine was surnamed... 'Elian'?"

drop!drop!drop!

A short message from Earth appeared on the personal computer screen. The content was nothing special, except that it highlighted the delegation that Earth had sent.

The Earth side's sincerity is evident from the selection of personnel alone, as it includes a prominent figure such as the commander of the orbital fleet!

“Lesdal Elian… things can’t be that coincidental.”

-

-

PS: I've been writing 8,000 words a day lately, and to be honest, I'm finding it a bit too much. I'll adjust my schedule today, so there won't be another chapter. I'll continue to update more tomorrow to pay off my debt.

Chapter 268: I Never Thought of Betrayal (4.5K)

Ye Shou's temporary residence is located in a high-rise building in the redevelopment zone of downtown Vulcan. The soundproof windows shut out the noise outside, leaving only the faint hum of the air purification system.

The room lights were dimmed to a warm yellow, creating a calming and peaceful atmosphere.

He leaned against the spacious bed, his upper body bare. His well-trained yet not bulky muscles were clearly visible in the soft light, and his skin seemed to still retain the heat generated from his previous "busy" activity.

For his female companion, being hugged was as comfortable as a heater in winter, causing him to be firmly entangled and unable to break free.

Ye Shou's left arm was naturally outstretched, and Liu Li nestled against it.

The maid had shed her usual meticulous appearance and changed out of her maid outfit early on, wearing only a soft silk nightgown. The delicate straps slipped down to her arms, revealing her rounded shoulders and delicate collarbones, as well as some faint red bruises that had not yet faded, making her look as wet as cherry blossom petals that had been knocked down in the rain.

—She actually prefers skin-to-skin contact, and usually at such times she would just cover herself with a blanket to hide her graceful body that was clinging tightly to the "tree" like a koala.

However, under certain circumstances, even when she was exhausted, she would still put on her pajamas before resting. Ye Shou didn't quite understand this behavior, but the so-called girlish reserve was probably just that subtle.

She nestled her face against Ye Shou's shoulder, her long, black hair, now reaching her shoulders, spread slightly messily between the pillow and his chest. Her eyes were closed, her breathing deep and heavy. Her usual competence and composure melted into something as sweet as honey, making her incredibly endearing.

Ye Shou's fingers were gently combing her soft hair, one stroke at a time.

In stark contrast, Lucy stretched out her arms and legs casually, almost pressing her entire body against him. Her soft, firm breasts were squeezed and deformed against Ye Shou's chest, and he could feel a slight tremor with each heartbeat.

She was wearing only shorts, with large expanses of smooth back skin exposed to the air, extending all the way to her beautiful waistline before being covered by the bed sheet.

The air was filled with the scent of young girls, mingling with Ye Shou's warm, sun-kissed aura, weaving a languid and ambiguous web. In the stillness, only the mingling of their heartbeats and breaths could be heard.

The reason things turned out this way was mainly because Ye Shou didn't know how to thank the two hardworking ladies, so he bravely sacrificed himself for the sake of all humanity.

Okay, actually, it's just a simple desire to do it, and Lucy and Ruri feel the same way.

They had been lusting after Ye Shou for a long time. Although they had already succeeded, each time was still fresh and exciting. The pleasure during the process and the satisfaction afterward were irreplaceable by any other action, as if they could never get enough of it.

Who says all men are lecherous? Women are just as lecherous!

Ye Shou glanced down at the two sleeping faces, and perhaps because his mind was exceptionally clear at the moment, he began to analyze the fundamental reasons and driving forces behind "flying with both wings".

—It's just that I'm so bored.

Love is irrational, and women naturally have a possessive and competitive nature in this regard, making it virtually impossible for "good sisters" who can coexist peacefully.

Therefore, the idea of ​​having multiple wives is often just a beautiful but unscrupulous fantasy. If you think that as long as you have enough power and status, you can control women and make them obediently share with others, then you are sorely mistaken!

Moreover, Ye Shou is burdened with a love triangle, and the women he attracts are no ordinary people...

If no extraordinary elements appear and the story continues to develop within the everyday worldview, it will most likely end up being a boring development like "a wealthy family's engagement banquet, where a phantom thief maid beats the young master to his knees, kidnaps him, and forces him into a sex slave, while the noble lady is heartbroken and becomes a love detective to relentlessly pursue him."

But this flawed world has unfortunately thrust Ye Shou into the eye of the storm!

Ye Shou, who is reliable in everyone's eyes, is actually very fragile in their eyes.

Liuli and Lucy either assist Ye Shou in his work or accompany him to and from the battlefield, witnessing firsthand how he mocks death and fate in one crisis after another, and knowing that his life is full of unpredictable accidents.

Chika was the same; after witnessing Ye Shou's crazy act of turning back against the flow of people to confront the monster, she also discovered another side of her childhood friend.

She had assumed that Ye Shouhui would naturally remain in her life forever, but suddenly realized that losing him could happen in an instant.

Therefore, Ye Shou is not a trophy to be fought over, but something as fragile as a snowflake that needs to be cherished by everyone.

Simply put, their care for Ye Shou surpassed their own competitive instincts.

...It could also be said that she awakened her maternal instincts.

"Maybe I'm actually quite lucky," Ye Shou muttered to himself after realizing what had happened.

No wonder he found it unbelievable that someone as easily prone to extremism as Liuli not only never showed jealousy (openly), but also went to great lengths to help him win over his harem. Despite having a very strong sense of self-respect, she still took the initiative to propose "flying together on both wings."

Because they are not competitors, but the Guardians Alliance!

—Perhaps these girls themselves didn't even realize it!

Once I figured this out, I couldn't help but want to pamper them!