Half an hour later, the communication with Revil and Gopp ended, their faces grave. Char, who was sitting to the side, also had his head lowered, lost in thought. In any case, his expression kept changing, switching back and forth between anticipation, excitement, horror, and fear.
Yang Hui didn't disturb Char. It would indeed take some time to digest so much information that defied common sense.
"Are you... really over a hundred years old?" Char finally asked after a long while, raising his head.
"You don't believe me?"
"I have no choice but to believe you." Char covered his face and slumped onto the sofa. "Otherwise, nothing makes sense—the MS blueprints, the warship designs, your advance preparations, your strength."
"Mm, it seems you believe me now."
"Believing it doesn't mean I accept it, you bastard!" Char cursed. He never would have imagined that his childhood best friend and rival was actually an old geezer over a hundred years old. No wonder he repeatedly got the better of him, no wonder he could always produce astonishing things, no wonder he was always several steps ahead of everyone else.
Yang Hui shrugged, offering no opinion, and waited for him to slowly process it.
"If everything you've said is true, then... hehe, everything I've dedicated myself to... what does it even amount to?" This was the hardest part for Char to accept. His lifelong hatred, his lifelong obsession, amounted to less than a tiny speck of dust in the face of infinite worlds and an external enemy that could destroy worlds.
"A collection of small wishes becomes an immense wish. That's humanity, isn't it?" Yang Hui said calmly.
"That kind of platitude doesn't work on me," Char said irritably, glancing at Yang Hui.
"Oh? You saw through me," Yang Hui shrugged, unconcerned.
"Sigh, so, your intention from the beginning was to recruit us?" Char asked.
"Our objectives in any world are always threefold: stabilize the world, gather talent, and collect technology."
"To sum it up, it's to occupy this world, right?"
"We haven't occupied a single world," Yang Hui objected. "We have currently connected to two worlds, and we haven't interfered in the internal politics of either. For us, a stable rear base is sufficient."
"Is there a difference? The moment chaos erupts, or people or factions opposing you appear, you'll immediately dispatch troops to clean them up."
"If you're going to talk to me about 'humanitarianism' or 'freedom of speech,' I'll start to question your intelligence, Char."
"..." Char was speechless. Those words were all nonsense. As a person in power himself, if people or factions opposing him appeared, he would also dispatch people to eliminate them at the first opportunity to ensure the stability of his rule.
And that was just for a ruler of a single world. Not to mention the enemies Yang Hui and his group had to face and the heavy mission they shouldered. The rear was absolutely not allowed to fall into chaos. If it did, the root of the chaos had to be severed in the shortest possible time.
"So, are you in?" Yang Hui asked.
"Heh, can you stop pretending like we have a choice?"
"Haha."
Char was right. They had no choice at all. After learning all this, joining was their only option.
Setting aside how many contingency plans Yang Hui had to silence them, they simply couldn't refuse after learning about the infinite worlds beyond their own. As long as one wasn't a lazy good-for-nothing, they would feel anticipation and excitement for the unknown, endless worlds.
Moreover, Revil and Gopp were old. For ambitious old men, the temptation of restored youth and immortality was impossible to resist.
It wasn't that Char hadn't considered killing Yang Hui and seizing control of Prometheus Fortress. In fact, Char believed that Revil and Gopp must have had the same thought. But he dismissed the idea as soon as it appeared.
What kind of existence was a Void Fortress capable of traveling to infinite worlds? How many life-preserving trump cards would its owner possess? And what was the situation in the two worlds it had already connected to?
With these questions in mind, unless Char's brain malfunctioned, it was an impossible task. Revil and Gopp couldn't do it either. They didn't know what awaited them if they failed, but it certainly wouldn't be a good outcome.
"So Miss Ramius, Arnold Neumann, Kira Yamato, they are all...?"
"Yes."
"Since she's your woman, Captain Badgiruel must be one too. Who else?"
"Take a guess?" Yang Hui wasn't joking; he was telling Char, "You haven't joined yet, so why should I tell you?"
"...I've already said, I have no choice."
"Heh."
"Yang Hui!"
"Continue your clumsy performance. I'm watching." Facing Char's anger, Yang Hui remained as elegant as ever, as if watching a movie.
"..." Sure enough, as soon as he said that, Char's expression changed like a Sichuan opera face-changer. He immediately suppressed his anger and looked at Yang Hui with a profound expression. He had indeed been acting just now, wanting to see what position he held in Yang Hui's heart and to test Yang Hui's attitude.
The result was that he was seen through, rendering it meaningless. He had made a fool of himself, though he hadn't expected it to work in the first place.
"Go on."
"Heh."
"Let me be honest with you, Char. There are only two people in this world I have my eye on. One is Revil, and the other is you."
"Then I'm truly honored, heh."
"But you need to understand one thing first, Char. Having my eye on you doesn't mean I can't do without you. Every world has a vast amount of talent, and my companions include people more outstanding than you. So..." Suddenly, Yang Hui's smile and gentleness vanished. His entire face turned ice-cold, his eyes filled with a seven-colored light. The immense pressure made Char feel as if he had been plunged into hell. "...don't get too carried away."
"This is...!" Cold sweat dripped down Char's face. He had never felt such heavy pressure before. The most terrifying part was Yang Hui's eyes—eyes that did not belong to a human.
"Consider it a special favor for you." The ice receded, the seven-colored light dissipated, and the pressure vanished. Char was able to breathe normally again. "Innovators. They are also psychic energy users who evolved under certain special circumstances at a low probability to adapt to the space environment."
"Innovators... Evolved New Humans?"
"You could say that. They're similar to Newtypes, but there are still differences."
"Newtypes... You've already confirmed the existence of Newtypes?"
"Rita is one, Lalah is one, and so are you."
"Me too?" Char was stunned. He had never experienced the special sensing ability that Lalah Sune had.
"Yes, you too. It's just that you're different from Rita and Lalah. There are many kinds of Newtypes. For example, Revil..."
"Wait, General Revil is one too?"
"During the Battle of Loum, the observers didn't notice anything, but he had a premonition. Wouldn't you say so?"
"...Alright, I understand. What about you? Are you one?"
"A fortunate coincidence." Yang Hui nodded. This level of information could be given to Char.
"...What do you need me to do?" Char asked directly.
Hearing this, the corner of Yang Hui's mouth curled up. He knew Char had accepted the invitation and said, "Just carry on with the plan."
"No problem on my end, but the Federation..."
"Revil and Gopp will make the right choice."
"And if they don't?"
Yang Hui didn't answer, but the dangerous curve of his lips was his answer.
"...The people around me..."
"Is there still a need to ask?"
"...Indeed, there isn't."
Char's mouth twitched. Yang Hui had already made it clear who he had placed around him. Not to mention Murrue, Arnold Neumann, and Kira, who were definitely members of Prometheus Fortress, there were also Hardie Steiner and the other members of the Research Squad, as well as the crew of the Gwadan. They were definitely Yang Hui's people.
In the entire Phantom Corps, only the MS pilots he had handpicked were his own people. The rest were not. How could he possibly win?
It was like a joke where a man is looking for the mole in his team, only to discover that everyone is a mole except for himself, leaving him confused as to who the real mole is.
"Where are you going?" Yang Hui asked, seeing Char stand up.
"To find them..."
"Please, be on your way." Yang Hui looked at him as if seeing off a martyr, even using honorifics.
"..." Char's eyes went dead. Although he didn't know what Yang Hui meant... at this moment, he felt like he was a Newtype. Danger alarms blared in his mind, and his survival instinct made him sit back down on the sofa.
"Go on."
"I'm not going. I thought of something I want to talk to you about."
"But I don't want to talk."
"It's enough that I want to!"
"..."
...
On Earth, Revil and Gopp sat in their office in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
"...Do you think it's credible?" Revil asked.
"Does its credibility matter?" Gopp asked in return.
"...Heh, you're right. It's not a question of credibility, but... it's impossible not to believe." Revil laughed self-deprecatingly.
"The problem we've been worrying about all this time, I never expected the answer to be something like this, heh."
"What do you plan to do?"
"I plan to intervene in the Federal Assembly."
"You've decided?"
"My decision isn't important. What's important is that he intended for me to be in charge of the Federal Assembly from the very beginning."
"...Rau Le Creuset."
"That's right. That man must be from there as well."
"Tch, that brat. I was almost fooled by him."
"Haha, there aren't many people who can get the better of you, old friend."
"Hmph, I haven't had a moment of peace since he showed up! Are you really willing to go along with his plan?"
"Haven't you decided as well?"
"...Alright, I admit I'm tempted, but I'm not resigned to it."
"Not being resigned doesn't mean you won't accept it. Besides..." At this point, Gopp's smile faded, and he glanced toward the door. "...we don't have a choice."
"..." Revil understood Gopp's meaning. Right after their communication ended, a faint killing intent had locked onto the two of them. "That damn brat! Hmph!"
"Alright, old friend. Compared to what we're losing, we're gaining much more."
"Mm... Sigh, that's not what bothers me the most. It's the thought of having to work for that brat for the rest of my life that really pisses me off!"
"Hahahaha..." Seeing his old friend throw a tantrum like a child, Gopp held his round belly and roared with laughter.