With the Human Reform League's retreat, Celestial Beings naturally had no reason to remain in this contentious area. After the Ptolemy recovered Gundam Virtue's head (which should actually be considered Plutone's), they quickly withdrew from this space zone and hid deeper in space.
"The Human Reform League is too ruthless," Sumeragi remarked, deciding they could no longer exploit the convenience of staying near the Human Reform League's orbital elevator just to maintain easy communication with Wang Liu Mei.
From now on, even if they needed to approach Earth, they would have to do so from the AEU side. Their material transfer loopholes were relatively larger, making it impossible to evade intelligence personnel.
With Celestial Beings' withdrawal, Reid and the others were naturally teleported back to the CE Universe by the system.
However, since ninety percent of this assessment period had been vacation time, Reid and his companions didn't feel particularly exhausted. Upon returning, they each resumed their respective duties.
Reid glanced at the World Change Fluctuation Value and, seeing it locked at 23.272%, paid it no further mind.
The current priority was to head to the Factory Module and feed it both the data disk Ribbons Almark had provided through Wang Liu Mei and the Gundam Nadleeh.
Reid was particularly eager for the detailed technical data of the GN Drive. Moreover, Gundam Nadleeh's Judgment System likely contained an interface to VEDA - there was a good chance he could secretly access VEDA later for some experimentation.
The only drawback was that all this would require another day of waiting.
After completing his tasks, Reid went to bed early that day, like an elementary school student excited for the next day's field trip. This made Ange mistakenly believe he was genuinely tired, sparing him from what would have been a stern lecture about charging into battle alone.
Unaware that his behavior had saved him from a lecture, Reid woke up early the next morning and rushed to the Factory Module to check the analysis results.
What he saw made him grin from ear to ear.
Gundam Nadleeh had been completely analyzed - the GN Drive, Trans-Am System, Judgment System, and VEDA Link Operating System had all been successfully decoded.
Don't assume the latter two systems were unimportant. In Reid's view, the VEDA Link Operating System was actually the most significant discovery, making the Trans-Am System look like garbage in comparison.
Reid had always wondered how Tieria managed to maintain real-time connection with VEDA on the Moon.
Even assuming no signal interference and perfect light-speed communication, the round-trip response time for any command would take at least 2.56 seconds.
Yet the animated scenes clearly showed Tieria communicating with VEDA in real-time. Even the combined effects of Neutron Jammers and Minovsky Particles hadn't been able to intercept Tieria's connection with VEDA - it was only when Reid cut off Virtue's head that the link was severed.
Now Reid understood: severing the head hadn't disrupted the VEDA connection because of those two antennas on the head.
The real reason was that he had damaged components of the VEDA Link Operating System, which turned out to be a quantum entanglement communicator.
According to the system's analysis, this quantum communication technology wasn't fully mature yet - it had merely cracked open the door to quantum communications.
That's because achieving quantum communication required both parties to be enveloped in high concentrations of GN Particles.
Reid already knew that GN Particles could manipulate space when utilized to their extreme potential. This communication system essentially employed similar principles.
However, this system is like building your own computer—you just need to know what goes where and how things connect. As for the specific operational principles? I'm just assembling the parts; I don't need to understand all that.
Of course, the system does provide the principles behind GN Particle quantum communication, but it's far beyond Reid's knowledge.
In fact, Reid even called over Elvira Hill, Tem Ray, Kirst Mosjous, Hoshino Ruri, and Nein. Among them, Hoshino Ruri, who has the strongest learning ability, said she'd have to start from scratch, estimating conservatively that it would take at least five years just to get the basics.
As for the others, one of them mentioned ten years—likely because everyone else estimated single-digit years, and he, trying to save face, said ten, though in reality, it would probably take even longer.
As for Nein, she said she'd be able to apply the technology once she downloaded all the data. As for the principles, she just cutely said, "Nein doesn't know~~"
So Reid decided to give up. If it would take minds like Hoshino Ruri, Elvira Hill, Tem Ray, and Kirst Mosjous five to ten years just to get started, with his own brain, he might as well wait until he obtained administrator privileges for the Super G Universe System and achieved immortality before slowly studying it.
For now, he could only leave it to Nein—being able to apply it was enough. As for the other three doctors, they could study it in their spare time or wait until after the war in the CE Universe to learn it slowly. For now, they needed to focus on technologies that could quickly enhance combat power.
The technology that could rapidly improve combat power was naturally the GN Drive technology—more precisely, GN Particles.
Of course, fully understanding GN Particles would again require research on a scale of decades.
But if each doctor focused on how to apply GN Particles within their respective areas of expertise, results could be achieved quickly—within half a year to a year.
Then the problem circled back to Reid: they now had all the manufacturing technology and materials for the GN Drive. However, just like in the AD Universe, manufacturing a GN Drive required the entire process to take place in a special environment.
But this constraint wasn't what Reid had initially imagined, such as gravity or magnetic fields, because these could be replicated with existing technology—at most, the equipment would be a bit larger and harder to conceal. After all, according to the system's requirements, a factory for building GN Drives would be about the size of a warship.
This special environment actually required a certain amount of Topological Defect Material during the manufacturing process (topological defects are special phenomena in physical systems, existing in regions where local order is disrupted or non-trivial topological structures are present).
Jupiter's planetary magnetic field is the second strongest natural magnetic field in the solar system, effectively shielding against the bombardment of high-energy protons from the solar wind. It has long been speculated that topological defect materials are naturally distributed in significant abundance in the space around Jupiter.
Artificially manufacturing topological defect materials is extremely difficult in both production and preservation (I don't understand this either, so don't ask—just accept that Gundam doesn't need to go into such detail). Moreover, they can't be mixed with ordinary materials and must be refined separately, driving costs infinitely higher. That's why Jupiter became the optimal location for manufacturing GN Drives.
(Note: The limitation mentioned above is based on a speculation by a content creator on Bilibili regarding the manufacturing constraints of GN Drives. The author also finds the gravity limitation theory unreliable, as gravity can be simulated without traveling all the way to Jupiter. After all, Jupiter's gravity is only 2.5 times that of Earth, not 250 times.)
Honestly, with the technology currently available to Reid, traveling to Jupiter to manufacture a GN Drive isn't practical—primarily due to the slow speed.
While CE Universe technology has reduced the round-trip travel time from the original 14 years to under 10 years, this still falls short of Reid's expectations.
This goal can only be achieved after the Starlight Transmitter technology is developed and perfected in the CE Universe.
Reid doesn't require speeds as extreme as the UC Universe's "Wings of Light," which can reach Jupiter in a week, since there isn't an I-Field large enough to protect spacecraft and equipment accelerating to such velocities.
Reid's requirement is simply the capability to travel between Jupiter and Earth within a year—a feat already accomplished by Celestial Beings after the second season.
In the movie, the two new GN Drives "006" and "007" were manufactured in less than two years, likely achieved through continuous acceleration protected by massive GN Particles after the proliferation of GN-T Drives.
Since manufacturing a GN Drive isn't feasible, Reid's only option is to purchase one from the G-Coin store.
But when he checked the price, his face froze.
A single Original GN Solar Furnace costs as much as three Hermes Zero units.
Compared to this, Reid suddenly felt the Yata Mirror Armor wasn't that expensive after all.
Now Reid can't help but wonder: if a GN Drive is this expensive, how much would that custom Ahab Reactor—reportedly manufactured near the sun and claimed to be physically indestructible (though he highly doubts this, suspecting it's merely due to generally low output in the Iron-Blooded world, otherwise it'd be physically immune)—cost?
After all, while Ahab Reactors have modest output (Iron-Blooded Gundams use dual Ahab Reactors yet perform similarly to UC era mobile suits around UC 0090), their durability is exceptional—they can remain fully functional even after being buried for 300 years.
Despite his heart aching over the G-Coins, Reid knows he must make the purchase to test the compatibility between high-density GN Particles and his existing high-output engines.
It's important to note that GN Drives also have output limitations (the maximum quantum storage per drive is fixed, while generation rate varies—Innovator emotions and twin-drive resonance can significantly boost GN Particle production). This is evident in Season 1 where even the Exia, which rarely uses GN Particle attacks, couldn't match the Union Flag's short-range burst acceleration.
To maintain speed in GN Drive-equipped mobile suits, additional GN Particle-compatible thrusters are necessary—otherwise they'd end up like the Gundam Virtue F Type's unstable triple-thruster system that could explode at any moment.
Therefore, Reid never intended to use the GN Drive as the sole power source. His primary interest lies in its built-in anti-gravity function. He doesn't plan to equip all mobile suits with GN Drives either—instead, he'll use GN Particle storage tanks to achieve anti-gravity in atmospheric environments and enhance mobility.
After all, in terms of destructive power, the high-energy particles from the AC Universe Miniature Nuclear Fusion Reactor far surpass GN Particles, and it can utilize the well-developed electric propulsion system of the CE Universe to easily achieve high-speed mobility for mobile suits.
However, all of this requires testing, as Reid wouldn't gamble with his own life. Previous research only confirmed that GN Particles would inevitably conflict with Minovsky Particles, meaning the two engines couldn't be used in the same mobile suit.
Due to its high sealing properties, the AC Universe Miniature Nuclear Fusion Reactor showed no issues in short-term tests under high-concentration GN Particle environments.
Now, the test would focus on how the AC Universe Miniature Nuclear Fusion Reactor performs under prolonged exposure to GN Particles.
This test couldn't be conducted on Earth, as any accident would result in an explosion with at least the power of a hydrogen bomb.
Therefore, the experiment would later be moved to the asteroid belt near the Star Palace Colony Satellite, where there were plenty of hollowed-out large asteroids. One could be modified into a testing site as needed.
Reid assigned this task to Tem Ray. Grodek Ainoa would pilot the Aries to transport him and the relevant equipment to the Star Palace Colony Satellite, with the Black Tri-Stars, Salya, and Hilda—five individuals in total—providing escort in their respective mobile suits.
Until Tem Ray completed the experiment and returned, Reid definitely wouldn't undertake any assessment missions.
Thus, Reid returned to his daily work, assisting Une and Noin in managing military affairs.
However, within just two days, a piece of news disrupted all of Reid's plans: Murrue was pregnant.
It's worth noting that Reid and Ange had been intimate for about a year without any contraceptive measures, yet there had been no signs of pregnancy. Even after Noin joined them, the situation remained unchanged.
This led Reid to suspect that his resurrection might have come with system-imposed restrictions on fertility. After all, one could argue that Ange had dragon genes in her makeup, but Noin had no such issue.
If there was a commonality between the two, it was that both had been resurrected by the system after death.
But when Reid privately asked the system about it, the system denied any such restrictions, telling him to look for the problem within himself if he couldn't conceive a child.
Reid retorted that there was no problem to find—after all, he was now a man capable of overpowering Ange.
With Murrue's pregnancy, Reid could finally rest assured that his reproductive functions hadn't been stripped away by the system.
As for why Murrue, a native of the CE Universe, was the first to get pregnant, Reid didn't dwell on it. Even if system-summoned characters had certain limitations, once he became the administrator of the Super G Universe System, everything would cease to be an issue.
What followed went without saying: Reid abandoned his work and promptly placed Murrue under royal care in the palace.
He stockpiled an entire warehouse with maternity and baby supplies, regardless of whether they would be used.
Moreover, Reid made no attempt to hide anything. In this country, he could ascend to kingship whenever he wished, and no one could dictate how many wives he married. Anyone who dared to gossip would lose their tongue.
Of course, such attitudes were for external affairs. Internally, a new round of "pressure" began, especially with Ange, who was particularly discontent. Though she showed no signs of jealousy, it was clear she also wanted to have a child.
This led Reid to genuinely disregard external matters.
Even news like Lacus and the others returning went unnoticed.
Reid mentioned he was still researching which breed of dairy cow to use for his future child's formula, and whether the pastures in Australia could produce grass adequate for the cows to yield qualified milk. He told them to go back and write their reports first, saying he would review everything with them after finishing this round of research.
Something about the South American War of Independence having ended, and the Atlantic Federation and the South American Independence Alliance negotiating a peace treaty.
Reid said they could negotiate if they wanted—what did it have to do with him? By the way, do we have any good diaper manufacturers in our country? If not, we need to build one quickly. We only have nine months—time is tight, the task is urgent, and we must ensure quality while speeding up construction.
Something about the Earth Alliance and PLANT inviting him to a closed-door meeting, claiming they wanted to sign a series of arms limitation treaties among all parties to prevent an unrestricted arms race.
Reid was just about to curse when Une, with whom he was already intimate, dragged him out of the room by the ear, saying the child didn't need him worrying about such useless matters. "Come out and help now," she insisted. "The entire Earth Sphere is focused on the New Misurugi Kingdom because so many peace negotiations are happening here. As the key figure, you can't slack off."
(End of Chapter)