UC will eventually reach the stars

"It really is a beautiful scene." Although he didn't take off his sunglasses, Xia smiled very naturally, his eyes fixed on the somewhat disheveled family.

Although the father was tired, he kept his eyes on his family. The mother was coaxing her baby daughter, while the son chattered away with the little girl leading the way.

Are you envious? Maybe a little, but not much.

“Yes, Miss Sera has done her best. Now SIDE 5 is a safe haven for everyone, but for some reason, there are always people who want to destroy all of this.” The burly man behind him looked at Xia with hostility. “Right, Major Xia?”

"Oh, I've been found out." Xia didn't care at all. "But just like I said, I really meant no harm."

“That’s right, Miss Sera has agreed to see you. We need to search you and check your bags. Sorry, you know what Zeon did back in Moore.” The burly man in front put down the phone.

"Oh, whatever. The pistol is registered; I can hand it over before I see Sera." Char raised his hands. He didn't mean any harm, after all, she was his sister. And right now, in the entire universe, you can't mess with Sera, no matter who you mess with. This was the consensus between the Zeon and Federation forces, because often, in the very end, she might be your last hope!

"Come with me." Seeing how cooperative the other party was, the two only did a simple body search before leading Xia to another part of the port area, which surprised Xia somewhat.

"Doesn't Miss Sera Maas live in the mansion on Side 5?" As he was being pulled forward by the handrail, Xia asked casually. Through the port window, he could see what the Texas space colony on Side 5 looked like. A large number of agricultural machines were turning over the soil, whether planting or harvesting, he didn't know. Everyone was busy organizing production and trying to save themselves. This scene was indeed completely different from the fear and anxiety of other colonies.

To put it nicely, it's full of life!

“Because all the land that can be farmed has been used for farming, the Maas family’s ancestral home is now the site of an equipment repair workshop, and Miss Sera basically sleeps on the ship now.” The burly man leading the way patted Char on the shoulder. “Although I don’t know why you came to SIDE 5, you should know what Zeon has done, so don’t do anything reckless. A lot of people are watching you.”

"Don't worry, I would never hurt her," Xia said seriously. On the contrary, anyone who tries to harm Sera is his mortal enemy! Hmm, maybe Ye Yun should be included!

"Come in!" Sera's voice came from inside. She looked up and said, "Oh... Zeon's hero, Major Char, please have a seat. It's a pity there's no tea or coffee here, only some energy drinks. I hope you don't mind." She tossed over a packet of energy drink powder that Ye Yun had given her, but Sera had already poured out half of the powder.

She herself was frugal with her drinks, yet she gave this heartless guy half a bag. Sera even felt that she had been too soft-hearted.

"Thank you." Xia didn't pay much attention and put it aside. "Well done, Artesia."

“Thank you, Brother Casval, but you’re not here today in this capacity, so…” Artesia closed the file in her hand, “Major Char Aznable, I don’t know if you’re representing Dozle or Kycilia.”

The girl's tall and proud figure and arrogant expression made Xia Ya feel dazed for a moment. He suddenly had the illusion that he was sitting in an interrogation room under bright lights. A feeling of fear and unease lingered in his heart, but soon, Xia Ya smiled and shook his head, dispelling this feeling from the bottom of his heart. Hmm, Ye Yun deserves to die!

“Al… no, Miss Sera Maas.” Xia didn’t take off his sunglasses. Since Sera had made this choice, this was now an official conversation.

“I’m listening.” Sera stared at her brother. Since he had chosen to return here as a member of the Principality of Zeon’s army, he should understand what he was doing! The people Zeon killed had his blood on their hands! So who betrayed Deikun!

"Lady Kycilia asked me to convey her gratitude for the Zeon soldiers you rescued earlier," Char said, smiling as he looked at the girl before him. "If possible, Zeon hopes to reach some agreements with Side 5."

"Tell me about it." Sera seemed to have expected this, remaining noncommittal and gesturing for Char to continue.

"I heard you're recycling supplies, and Zeon is willing to pay a high price for the rare metals among them..." Before Char could finish speaking, Sera slammed her hand on the table.

“Mr. Aznabu.” Sera’s eyes flickered, but there was no smile in them. “Have you forgotten that we are neutral? Side 5 will not sell any supplies that will be directly used for military purposes to Zeon or the Federation. If you are really interested, you can go to Side 6 and the middlemen on the moon to buy them!” To be honest, Sera was a little annoyed by Char’s reaction.

As a lobbyist, he failed to adequately present the stakes; as an elder brother, he brought trouble! "If there's no better offer..."

“No, there’s more…” Xia placed the box he brought on the table and opened it. “Your men have already checked it; there’s no signal source.”

"...This chest of gold might allow one person to live a good life for the rest of their days, but for the entire SIDE5, it's just a drop in the ocean." With her vast wealth at her disposal, Sera completely looked down on this chest of gold.

“Indeed, but…” Xia handed over a piece of paper, “I’ve found you a suitable buyer. If you’re willing, this box of gold is a deposit.”

"Vist? The people from the moon?"

"Yes."

Chapter 129 was requested by Char Aznable.

“To be honest, I don’t know whether I should thank you or laugh at you…” Sera waved the document, or rather the contract, in her hand. “The price is good, but it’s too low for an exclusive franchise. And while their listed grain prices are indeed low, the prices listed are calculated based on market prices. In other words, it’s a floating price. One is a fixed price, and the other is a floating price. Do you understand the difference?” Sera looked at her brother. “If you were a company manager, you might have already been fired because of this contract.”

Sera's words startled Xia. He hadn't really considered this aspect; he simply wanted to help his sister. Common sense dictates that a stable sales channel for goods and a reliable source of food shouldn't be a problem, but he hadn't expected such an issue.

"This is yesterday's lunar trading market price and trend for rare metals, this is yesterday's grain price, and the Bister family is special. Their relationship with the Federation is good, but also a bit delicate. They're the type I'd rather avoid if possible," the girl said curtly, handing over the documents. Then she turned on her laptop, scrolled through the files, and showed them to Xia.

“There’s only one exception: these guys aren’t targeting me.” Sera tapped the contract, indicating that Xia was completely wrong. “But it doesn’t matter. If they really think that way, they’ll have plenty of headaches to deal with.”

"Ye's Heavy Industries..." Xia Ya had to agree with what Sera said. Yes, to reiterate, Ye Yun deserves to die! After glancing at the data and noticing the annotations, he frowned. "So the rumors are true?!"

"About the news about SIDE5's cooperation with Ye's Heavy Industry? Didn't Kycilia tell you? 7% of the ships I have were bought from Ye's Heavy Industry, it's no secret. As for Industrial Rio, didn't you check him out the whole way? How many did you count?" Celatan said frankly, "As for the claim that I'm being kept by Ye Yun, ha..."

Sera got up to get some documents from the filing cabinet, and Xia vaguely heard his sister mutter, "A coward who kissed someone and then ran away."

Xia was shocked. "I'm going to fill Ye Yunshuan's cannon with bullets!"

“By the way, the little girl you brought back to SIDE3 in India, she’s still a minor, right?” Sera glanced at Char. “And sending her to a research institute, isn’t that a bit much?”

"...How do you know all this?" Xia looked at his sister as if he had never known her before.

“We’ve arrived at the location, and the information sources will naturally increase.” Sera crossed her arms, completely unconcerned. “Just a reminder, Zeon is the place that devoured our parents and has been hunting us ever since.” Sera glanced at her foolish brother. It seemed that Char himself couldn’t quite handle what Kimba Ral had been telling him, but he had still absorbed some of it—this was the worst-case scenario!

You can learn from others' abilities, that's fine. But it's best to have your own way of thinking and values. That's what they mean by "those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die."

"Then I won't hide it anymore, I want to bring down the Zabi family..." Xia leaned back in his chair, exuding an aura of arrogance.

"The best way is to take your birth certificate to the gates of the Federation Parliament, accuse the Zabi family of usurping the throne and being utterly depraved, directly deny the existence of the current Zeon, and then join the Earth Federation Forces to beat up the Zeon forces! Without a doubt, you'll gain the support of the Federation government. As long as you're capable enough, when you charge towards Side 3, the Federation will give you an entire main fleet," Sera said irritably.

“Although the Federation hates Deacon, they would like him if he were willing to stand with them against Zeon and Zabi. If you are willing, you can marry a senator’s daughter and become one of the Federation’s ‘one of their own.’ Deacon would then enter the social class that our biological fathers longed for but never set foot in.” Sera sneered as she finished speaking. “They all talk a big game, but do nothing but kill people.”

"Ye Yun didn't kill anyone?" Xia Ya was somewhat unconvinced.

“He did it to stop Zeon from killing more people. Do you understand the relationship between Zeon and Deikun? Shouldn’t you stop Zeon? Zeon hero of Loom 5! Have you forgotten who took you in and where you grew up?” Sera looked at Char, wondering how her original brother had turned out so wicked!

"..." Xia felt a little speechless. It can only be said that girls have an absolute talent when arguing, not to mention when they are in the right. Moreover, at this moment, Sera has an aura of superiority, and Xia was completely suppressed.

"Oh, sorry, I thought no one was here right now. Sera, I brought you lunch. This is mine, but please eat it if you don't mind. I'll go get another one." The person who came in was none other than Harmon, Ramba Lal's fiancée, oh no, now his wife. The two had a small wedding ceremony when they arrived at Side 5, officiated by Sera. This was Ramba Lal's insistence, which made Sera quite conflicted.

In terms of social standing, Sera is considered an upper-class member of the Lal family, and Lamba Lal sometimes jokingly calls her "Princess." Given Sera's current prestige and numerous honors, she is certainly qualified to officiate at the wedding.

However, there's a small problem: Sera herself isn't married yet! She doesn't even have a boyfriend! The guy she's interested in is a coward with a fiancée!

"Hamon! How is Ramba Ral?" Xia hadn't expected Ramba Ral to appear directly in front of him, especially since he was here today with a mission for Kycilia Zabi.

In terms of allegiance, the Ral family is a Deiken faction, which is at odds with the Zabi family. His father firmly believed that the Zabi family killed their father. In terms of position, Ramba Ral is a Dozru man and doesn't have much contact with Kycilia. Ramba Ral's departure is actually not a big deal to Kycilia.

Kycilia was worried that this would lead to a similar trend, because of the Principality of Zeon's past actions and its recruitment methods, many within the Zeon army already harbored considerable discontent with Zeon. Previously, they had nowhere else to go, but in SIDE 5…

If you can accept having nothing and having to work hard, SIDE5 accepts everyone equally! Even Sera, as the leader, eats the same food as them and lives in the cabin! Whenever they have free time, they organize the children to make snacks to replenish the energy of the adults on the construction site (a little boy who had just arrived was assigned to help in the kitchen).

"..." Harmon gave Char a reassuring smile. "We are all fine, please don't worry, Casval Rem Deiken."

"..." Xia was speechless when he heard Hamon's full name, a bitter smile appearing on his face. The Hamon before him was his mother's good friend, the one who had rescued him and Artesia from what was practically a prison, and the one who ultimately saw his mother off.

"So, are you happy lately?" Hamon stood next to Sera, whispering a few words with a smile, and Sera rolled her eyes at her.

"You don't need to tell me his movements in such detail." Sera waved her hand, indicating that she didn't care at all about the coward's victory. This type of scoundrel is the kind that will cause trouble for a thousand years. He's so strong, how could he possibly lose?

"Pfft." Hamon laughed. So what if they're engaged? Just take her! It's not easy to find someone who makes your heart flutter in this chaotic world. If you don't take the initiative to fight for them, you'll regret it for the rest of your life! Of course, Hamon could imagine how difficult it would be. Aina was not only outstanding, but she was also his childhood sweetheart, and they had been through all sorts of dangers together.

"Chicken sandwich, mashed potatoes, boiled egg, and an energy drink." Xia glanced at his plate. The calories were enough, and the nutrition was barely adequate, but... "Can you guarantee this kind of ration for every character?"

“These are the ones who work, and those who don’t work, or those who haven’t started working yet.” Harmon pushed out the mashed potatoes, then placed Sera’s portion next to them. “This is a day’s worth.”

“Hmm… a reasonable arrangement.” Xia nodded. The workers need some preferential treatment and higher energy, which is fine. As for pure relief, just make sure they don’t die, and let the workers feel their “value.” “Artesia, your growth has surprised me.”

“No… this was Ning-jie’s suggestion. She even suggested that once supplies are more plentiful, we could distribute some currency on a small scale, then open up certain resource purchases, and then reduce relief supplies, euphemistically calling it distribution according to work, providing choices.” Sera said with great melancholy, “I can understand all her reasons—humanity, resources, motivation, sense of accomplishment, etc.—but…but…why divide them into different classes…”

“People are born needing ladders. You need to tell them that there is a mountain waiting for them to climb. Life needs dreams and goals. Even ordinary people need to have ordinary dreams, or even just dreams as small as whether they can have a good meal tomorrow.” Harmon sighed. “Miss Ning is really a terrifying person. I suddenly feel sorry for Mr. Ye Yun for having such a sister who sees through human nature.”

"He's pitiful? The Federation Army's invincible combat hero, a colonel, the founder of the entire MS training and combat system, one of the helmsmen of the Super Industrial Group, and the biggest winner of the Federation Army's expansion! Heh... Compared to him, the Zeon hero in front of us is really worthless." Sera's resentment was unclear whether it was directed at Char or some coward.

"..." Xia looked at his sister and suddenly felt that he didn't recognize Sera in front of him. He wondered if blasting that guy with a Zaku rocket launcher would be enough.

"By the way, since you're here, could you lend a hand? There are a few critical parts of the colony that need repairing, and my pilot isn't skilled enough to fix them. Since you're an ace pilot here, could you please lend a hand?" Sera, with the attitude of never letting a good laborer slip by, handed over a document that Harmon had brought and waved it at him. "We'll tell everyone that Mr. Char offered to help."

"Piloting the Leo? Aren't you afraid I'll leak the secret?" Xia took the document, glanced at the mission list, and said that they needed to go deep into the severely damaged colony to determine if there was radiation and try to restart the colony's internal systems.

"Ha... Don't think I don't know. Right now, the Federation and Zeon are both plundering Industrial Rio in space. You must have gone through it too, right, Mr. Char, who's two ahead of Uncle Ramba?" Sera teased Char with a smile. At this point, why are you still hiding things? Although the Zeon military hasn't launched a large-scale public search, their investigation must be ongoing.

“I forgot about that.” Xia sighed. When did his sister become so terrifying? “Aren’t Ye Yun and the others afraid? Zeon has mastered Leo’s technology and then started mass production.”

"He's afraid you won't use it. The supplies needed for the Battery War are far more than those for the Rice Furnace. Just because the Federation can afford it doesn't mean Zeon can." Sera shrugged. Different positions, different perspectives, so the conclusions are naturally different...

Chapter 130 Market Segmentation

As a beam of light pierced through the armor plate not far away, cheers erupted from the crowd. Even Gao Yun on the podium breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, there were no mishaps this time, and the phased results of Operation V were finally in! Now that Project G has been in operation for nearly five months, Operation V has finally completed the key node acceptance and achieved great success.

"Congratulations, Dr. Ray! All the hardships have finally paid off." Gao Yun shook hands with Tim Ray, the chief designer of Operation V, his eyes full of joy. In any case, with the completion of Operation V, the Federation Army's options will no longer be limited to Project G. The high-performance and highly versatile mobile suits subsequently produced by Operation V will also become important combat equipment for the Federation Army.

“Congratulations are unnecessary…” Tim Ray shook his head with a wry smile. “The G Project just updated its release page.” He turned the release page in his hand and showed it to Gao Yun. “Ye Ning is a terrifying person.”

"..." Watching the terrifying stream of surging particles, the six upright short sword shields were easily pierced as if they were taut sheets of paper. Gao Yun fell silent for a moment. After a while, he sighed, "Ye Ning, that woman, has been tricked."

"I heard someone say my name!" A sweet female voice appeared behind the two of them, teasing in tone, as if she was savoring what the other had just said.

"Ms. Ye Ning, this isn't fair," Gao Yun said irritably. Whether this thing was released sooner or later, it wouldn't have had a huge impact on Operation V. But today, right now... it can only be said that this crazy woman in front of him is seriously trying to sabotage Operation V!

The Artillery Federation already knew that the system was a pseudo-magazine system made by combining individual battery rice grain canisters with E-cap technology (the entire canister is replaceable, but it currently requires assistance from others), and then there was a terrifying Mega Particle Cannon capable of outputting 10MW.

Of course, Yip's Heavy Industries also offers a version that can be powered by rice stoves (because no agreement has been reached with the rice stove supplier, the initial estimate is to use some of the captured stoves to make up the difference), but the price will be a little more expensive (Fingertip Universe).

To put it simply, if the V-Operation beam rifle, with its 1.9MW power, gave the mobile suit near-battleship-level firepower, then the Mega Particle Cannon created from this backpack is essentially like directly transferring a Salamis-class main cannon into the mobile suit's hands.

There was no way around it; in this regard, Kinias, who stood aside with Ye Ning holding his arm and remained silent, was absolutely professional, and perhaps even more so than anyone else in the entire human sphere.

"How is that unfair? It's business warfare... everyone has to use their own methods!" Ye Ning didn't mince words. "After all, we know what kind of treatment V Operation receives and what kind of treatment G Project receives. And if we don't compete, you'll be the ones who panic, won't you?" Ye Ning shrugged, expressing his attitude.

"The RX78 design is fantastic! You're excellent!" Kinias Sakhalin nodded to Tim Ray, but his arrogant expression made it seem as if he was mocking Tim Ray.

"..." Tim Ray remained silent. He felt that Kinias's words were as if to say, "You've got all the data on my G Project, and after all this time, what have you developed..."

"The RX78 Unit 1, in every aspect of performance, completely surpasses the GAT-01B's Dagger B model," Gao Yun said with some dissatisfaction.

"Are you sure... you want to compare it to the Type B? That's a mass-produced machine." Ye Ning tilted her head and looked at Gao Yun, her uncertain tone as if questioning Gao Yun's intelligence.

“Give me one, and I can make it even stronger.” At this moment, Kinias suddenly spoke up.

"You!" Gao Yun was clearly stunned. Although the exchange between Project G and Operation V was agreed upon beforehand, and even after the RGM-79 GM had problems with its leg joints, it simply replaced the legs of the short sword and completed the test.

However, the two development teams were in strong competition. For someone like Kinias to directly ask for a precious RX-78 Gundam for research and development, and even say that it could make him stronger... To be honest, Gao Yun felt very uncomfortable and offended!

“Let the tech-savvy ones talk. We two can talk about our own things.” Ye Ning naturally understood what Kinias was thinking. Their tacit understanding was already very deep. She had already noticed the way Kinias’s eyes lit up when she was watching the RX78 No. 1 unit being tested.

Hey, what boy doesn't have a big toy? It's just an RX78, right? Watch me get you one! Hmm, then I can check Ye Yun's name on the list. My little brother is an ace, after all, his driving data should be very valuable.

"Okay!" Gao Yun watched as Kinnias smiled at Ye Ning when Ye Ning let go of his hand, then went straight to the somewhat astonished Dr. Tim Ray. The two quickly communicated about many technical details. Somewhat surprised, Tim Ray quickly followed up with Kinnias's words after a few sentences.

The two whispered to each other for a while, then argued fiercely, almost tearing their computer boards to shreds. They then asked the officer next to them for a large stack of white paper and began to do calculations, draw, and deduce something on the spot.

Ye Ning gestured to the security guards beside him to attend to the two men. Seriously, these two were the key figures in the Earth Federation Forces' G Project, and the core technical force behind the Federation's "Operation V," the Federation's flagship MS development program. Every word they uttered could potentially determine the future direction of the Earth Federation Forces' MS—these were patents, and they were money!

I didn't even agree, and you dare to eavesdrop?! Get out!

Gao Yun noticed Ye Ning's reaction, thought for a moment, and then had his adjutant summon a squad of military police to disperse the nearby people, ensuring that the two tech experts could have a full exchange of ideas without any leaks. "Miss Ye Ning, what do you intend to discuss this time?"

"Market segmentation, interested?" Ye Ning said with a charming smile. Clearly, she had been planning this for a long time. After giving him a rude awakening, she offered him such a sweet treat. There was no reason for him not to be tempted. After all, Ye Ning wanted more than just some V-combat techniques.

"Oh?" Gao Yun's face darkened; his nightmare had begun...

The Earth Federation Forces have already deployed the Dagger across the board. Its position is so secure that even when the more powerful Dagger 105 comes out, the first sentence in the notice issued by the Earth Federation Forces Logistics Headquarters to Ye's Heavy Industry and Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing is: "The decision to increase the production of the basic model of the GAT-01 Dagger remains unchanged. The production of the B model of the GAT-01B Dagger must not interfere with the production of the basic model of the GAT-01 Dagger."

While some individuals may have been pushing this together, this is Gao Pu's signature! How could it possibly be because of something like "to curb the performance improvement of the short sword"?

There's no way around it. On most battlefields, the Earth Federation doesn't rely on the superior performance of the Short Sword or the skill of its MS pilots; it simply relies on overwhelming numbers! Or rather, they can withstand attrition and don't mind being destroyed by Zaku! In the protracted war in North America alone, the Earth Federation has lost more than two battalions of MS, but as long as the pilots return, you can see how much the Federation headquarters regrets it.

One unit lost in battle? Not today, and tomorrow might be a bit difficult too... We'll get you two replacements the day after tomorrow! Can it be repaired? Okay, put it in your warehouse first, and we'll take it back for repairs when we deliver it.

This is the Federation's recent attitude towards the loss of short swords! The confidence stemming from increased production capacity across the entire Earth Sphere!

It could even be said that after the Federation Forces headquarters got used to the cost of the short sword, they looked at the Jim A, which had been produced ahead of schedule for testing, with a look full of doubt. With such a high cost, what kind of thing was produced? It was useless except for its ability to criticize.

What made Gao Yun realize that the heart attack wasn't just about the cost; when he was doing the assessment, he actually saw a statement that the parts could be interchanged with those of the short sword...

The Earth Federation Forces headquarters actually considered it a huge advantage!? But Gao Yun could understand, after all, the numerical advantage and the first-mover advantage of the short swords were there! Various spare parts, if you use short swords, it will reduce the logistical pressure on the Earth Federation Forces.

So unless Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing goes crazy, Ye Ning has already firmly secured at least half of the Earth Federation Forces' mobile suit market share.

As a result, in a sense, the Federation would not accept low-end MS other than the Short Sword, because its price was too low. The entire competition was over the moment Ye Ning made the offer!

Even with the Federation's vast military resources, military spending isn't unlimited. Until a decisive performance advantage emerges, why not spend the same amount of money to acquire more than twice the number of mobile suits?

This is absolutely devastating news for Operation V. Without the support of low-end aircraft, a small number of special aircraft alone cannot sustain the entire system!

Operation V is in a very awkward position right now. Its price is what it is, and competing on cost-effectiveness is a dead end. But let's not even talk about the price of the RX-78 Gundam. The price of the RGM-79 is much higher than that of the GAT-1B!

How does the RGM79 compare to the Dagger as a mass-produced machine?

In the absence of a generational advantage, the GAT-01 short sword is invincible at the Federation Forces headquarters in terms of procurement intentions...

"So... what does Miss Ye Ning mean?" Gao Yun looked at the girl in front of him and for the first time deeply felt how troublesome the Ye family's Nine-Tailed Fox's strategy of playing you like a fool was.

I've given you the choice, but I know you have trouble choosing, so I've crossed out the other options for you~ Single choice, are you happy now? No need to worry anymore!

“The price of the Minovsky particle reactor determines that the price of the mobile suit cannot be lowered. In that case, why bother trying to lower the price?” Ye Ning looked at Gao Yun in front of him. “Isn’t it great to increase the profit margin of each order? Wouldn’t it be better to make the Minovsky particle reactor a label for the Federation’s advanced mass-produced mobile suits? It’s good for both appearance and substance.”