Under the escort of the ELS, Yang Hui and the others safely returned to the Promis Legion. Along the way, looking at the wreckage scattered everywhere, everyone's mood was not entirely pleasant.
"Wait, why is there only our wreckage? Where are the ELS?"
"They went back, of course."
"Went back?" Hearing the ELS's response, Yang Hui was stunned for a moment, but he soon understood the meaning of those words.
For the ELS, a physical body was not a necessity. If a body was destroyed, the consciousness would return to the collective and then create a new body to live again. As for the wreckage left behind, as long as the consciousness remained, it could continue to transform and then return to the collective on its own.
"How convenient..." Yang Hui's mouth twitched. This really was eternal life. As long as they didn't encounter an enemy capable of eroding consciousness, they were an invincible race.
However, the universe was vast and full of wonders. Who knew if there were races or weapons that could harm consciousness? As far as he knew, the festum was a race that could assimilate and devour consciousness.
"Do you need help? You can do it too!"
"Uh, no thank you." Yang Hui understood that the ELS consciousness was inviting him to be assimilated so his consciousness could enter the ELS collective. But Yang Hui didn't want to become a silicon-based lifeform; who knew how much of life's pleasure he would lose after becoming one!
"Oh, alright. Humans really are a complex race."
"..." Yang Hui remained silent, taking it as a tacit agreement. Among all the races he knew, humans were indeed the most complex.
Of course, it was also possible that his knowledge was limited. Who knew?
Yang Hui and the others returned directly to the Celestial Being. When the four women—Sumeragi, Kati, Marie, and Natarle Badgiruel—saw Yang Hui, Yurin, and Cima return safely, they couldn't help but cry out. They rushed over and hugged them tightly. The moment they saw the signals for the Dawn Gundam and the other machines disappear, they had almost collapsed. Yang Hui was the leader of Prometheus Fortress, the pillar for everyone, and their lover—the existence they would give everything for. They really couldn't imagine how their future would continue if Yang Hui were gone.
There were also Yurin and Cima, both of whom were their dear sisters. If any one of them were missing, their hearts would have a hole that could never be filled by anyone.
The battle was over. The next tasks were cleaning up the battlefield and reporting. The details of the operation and the current status of the ELS would be sent to the New Government. In this battle, the grand fleet that the New Government had put all its efforts into preparing had lost more than half its strength, leaving it in a worse state than when the New Government was first established. Furthermore, the two Genesis units built at great expense were destroyed, causing absolute structural damage.
Therefore, the New Government naturally requested some compensation. The two most important points were the communication rights with the ELS and the quantum leap system. These two items were of immense importance.
The former determined the relationship between the New Government and the ELS, while the latter determined the future of humanity.
The New Government's demands were quite cunning, especially the request for the quantum leap system. Currently, the known necessary conditions for the quantum leap system were: high-level Innovators, the Quantization System, GN Drives, and the Twin Drive system. These things were among the most guarded secrets of Celestial Being—no, rather, Prometheus Fortress. It was certainly impossible to hand them all over to the New Government. Because of the unique nature of this world, even if they were to connect the worlds, Yang Hui did not intend to let the New Government know of the existence of Prometheus Fortress.
The Promis Legion would leave this world along with the ship Celestial Being, continuing to hide in the identity of "Celestial Being" as a sort of deterrent and balancing force for the world.
Of course, it was impossible not to give the New Government anything. VEDA would manufacture a sub-unit to be handed over to the Federal Government, with a completely blank database and slightly lower calculation capabilities than VEDA.
At the same time, the manufacturing technology for GN Drives would be handed over to the New Government. Even in the Gundam OO World, a mass-production environment did not exist. In the original plot, the New Government took over everything from Celestial Being and reached a mutual understanding with the ELS, and the peaceful coexistence of the two races lasted for at least 50 years.
But in those 50 years, even with the help of the ELS, the New Government hadn't produced many Original Solar Furnaces. They only had enough for the new deep-space exploration carrier, the Sumeragi, and the Sakibures on board. In total, there weren't many, certainly not enough for mass production.
So, by handing the GN Drives over to the New Government, Yang Hui could also solve part of the problem regarding low GN Drive production capacity.
Aeolia Schenberg had originally intended to hand everything of Celestial Being over to the New Government. But now that he knew about Prometheus Fortress and realized more possibilities and futures, Aeolia Schenberg was no longer so wholeheartedly devoted to the humans of this world.
"So... they really just came to play?" Char asked Yang Hui with a distorted expression.
"Yeah..."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Attending the meeting were all the high-ranking members of the Promis Legion, along with Kati and Sergei as representatives of the Earth Federation Forces. In this battle, Sergei, Heli, and Andrei had all participated. With their excellent piloting skills and the specialized high-performance machines Yang Hui had prepared for them, the "Old Bear" couple had managed to preserve themselves amidst the ELS swarm. The "Little Bear"... he had been sent directly to the rear reserve units. His engagement with the ELS was the latest and shortest, so he managed to survive by sheer luck.
Everyone choked when they heard Yang Hui confirm their previous suspicion. They had fought for the survival of humanity with everything on the line, and the other side was literally just playing!? This was difficult for them to accept.
But... unfortunately, they had to accept it. After all... if the ELS hadn't been playing, humanity would have been wiped out already.
"Alright, the operation is over. Clean up the battlefield and compile the list of casualties. As for the Federal Army's side, let the New Government handle that. On our end..."
"The count is already finished. However, for now, everyone is listed as missing. After all, we don't know how many are truly dead and how many had their consciousness swallowed by the ELS."
"Mm, we won't know all that until Setsuna returns from the ELS home planet, right? Mephis."
[Yes, Commander.]
Mephis's voice echoed in everyone's minds. Except for Kati, Sergei, Neil, Allelujah, and others who had not yet joined Prometheus Fortress and could not hear it, everyone else could.
[The completion requirement for this Legion Task is to achieve mutual understanding with the ELS while ensuring human civilization can continue. 'ELS' refers to the entire species, not just the branch before us.]
"Well, it looks like we'll be staying in this world for fifty years," Yang Hui sighed. Those fifty years wouldn't be so easy to pass. After the battle with the ELS, the Promis Legion had been completely exposed to the New Government, including many core members. With the threat of the fleet, they wouldn't do anything too excessive, but there would definitely be no shortage of trouble, such as recruitment attempts.
In their eyes, Celestial Being was an organization composed of the world's top elites, and every member was a target worth recruiting. For instance... "Striving for the future of humanity"?
Local members might be fine, but the members of the Promis Legion would certainly not accept. They weren't from this world to begin with, and their own worlds hadn't even developed yet—why would they work for you?
Since recruitment wouldn't work, surveillance would definitely not be lacking. Although the other party didn't dare to take excessive actions, no one liked being watched by countless eyes at every moment, right?
"Fifty years, huh? Is this considered a vacation?"
"A vacation full of constant trouble... yes."
"Sigh, we'll just have to make do."
"That's all we can do. The entire fleet will withdraw to Celestial Palace City. I've already reached an agreement with the ELS; Celestial Palace City will move into the ELS Great Tree to hide, along with the fleet. As for the personnel, we'll set up a rotation."
"No problem."
The broad strokes for the future were decided, and the crowd dispersed to attend to their own affairs. With such a large battlefield, it would take some time to finish the cleanup.
Furthermore, Celestial Being did not disband after completing the final mission. Instead, they waited for the moment the task was completed for everyone to pack up and enter Prometheus Fortress. After all, the members of Celestial Being were definitely the elite talent of this world, and they were all people of firm conviction, naturally meeting the qualifications for Prometheus Fortress.
"Mephis, can the ELS join Prometheus Fortress as members?"
[Yes. After the Legion Task is completed, Prometheus Fortress will unlock higher permissions. One of these is the inclusion of other species civilizations into the Fortress.]
"Other species civilizations!"
[Commander, the path of the Fortress has never been a lonely one, nor has it ever been a special privilege for humans. Mutual understanding, mutual cooperation, and advancing together have always been the sole themes of the Fortress.]
"Is it... not a violation of the rules to tell me about the permissions I'm about to obtain in advance?"
[...]
Mephis remained silent, but Yang Hui clearly saw a greater ripple on Mephis's face, which was usually like ten-thousand-year-old ice. The corners of her mouth and eyes twitched slightly.
"Ahem, so... what other permissions can I get?"
[...Insufficient Permissions.]
"Uh, ahaha." Yang Hui gave a hollow laugh and stopped asking. He could hear the annoyance in Mephis's tone. As the head housekeeper of Prometheus Fortress, it was best not to provoke her.
...
Fifty years passed in a flash. The New Government acted exactly as Yang Hui had predicted, merely attempting to recruit and monitor them without taking any drastic measures. Yang Hui hadn't completely ignored the New Government either; at least in the field of scientific research, he had helped out—especially in the manufacturing of GN Drives and the development of the deep-space exploration carrier Sumeragi and the Sakibure.
Well, one could say the appearances were identical to the original plot, but... since Yang Hui was involved, it was naturally impossible for the mothership and MS to be unarmed and purely for tourism like in the original story.
Armaments were definitely present, and they were as insane as they could be. The Sumeragi reached a total length of five kilometers, with no fewer than 100 GN Beam Cannons all over its body. Weapons like CIWS Arrays and Missile Launchers were too numerous to count. Even a small-scale Genesis and a small-scale T.N.T. Cannon were installed, along with four Lohengrins.
Under normal circumstances, the Sakibure was a work-use machine without any armaments. But if it encountered a situation requiring combat... the universal interface on its back would show you just how many tricks its backpack could perform.
"Even if it's for friendly exchange, how can we demonstrate humanity's standing without sufficient force? What if we encounter space pirates?"
With these two reasons, he left the Moderate Faction, who advocated for no armaments at all, speechless.
And today was the day the Sumeragi was to set sail. To cope with long-duration space travel, most members were Innovators or semi-metals who had merged with the ELS.
On this very day, a day of profound significance for the humanity of the Gundam OO World, an uninvited guest arrived by a flower field in a certain mountain village. The long-missing OO Q Gundam, in a brand-new form, landed lightly amidst the flowers. The cockpit door opened, and a handsome young man with silver-gray hair stepped out.
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