"Boom—!!"
Standing in the distance, watching the flames soar into the sky, Yang Hui and the others were filled with complex emotions—especially those standing behind him like Cima, South Burning, Jung, and Kajima Yuu, who had all come from this very base.
This was where they had started, and now they were watching it turn into ruins with their own eyes.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Where it began, there it shall end," Yang Hui said flatly.
Regardless of his current status or position, this base could never see the light of day. If those with ulterior motives found out about it, it would cause trouble—just as Revil and Gopp had once suspected Yang Hui of having ambitions that transcended the Federation.
Thus, the base's destruction had been fated long ago. Conveniently, Haman Jamitov had provided Yang Hui with the perfect opportunity. When people asked later, they would simply say this was a secret base Jamitov had prepared for his rebellion, and they had discovered and destroyed it.
A perfect shifting of blame!
The old man was dead, after all. Even if people didn't believe it, no one was going to speak up for a dead man.
"Let's go."
"Understood." XN
...
A month and a half later, just as Yang Hui had predicted, the remnants of the Zabi family did indeed return. It wasn't the large fleet he had expected, but rather a series of small, predatory fleets returning to the airspace where Side 3 was located.
However noble their previous aspirations had been, their current actions were utterly despicable. They were preying upon the very Zeon citizens they had once sworn to protect—the space dwellers, their own compatriots.
For people who had lost their honor like this, Char and the soldiers of the Zeon Republic showed no mercy. They skipped the persuasion stage entirely and commenced a slaughter.
Char remained calm, however. He didn't let his blood boil and kill them all instantly. Instead, he intentionally let a small portion escape and followed them to find the remnants' headquarters: the colony Marzaha, which was still quite a distance from Mars.
"How hideous," Char muttered coldly, looking at the wreckage before him and the countless corpses floating in space.
"Your Highness, the Zeon remnants have been completely eliminated," Shin Matsunaga reported.
"Did any escape?"
"None. Total annihilation confirmed."
"Send men into Marzaha and bring it back." Constructing a colony required a massive amount of time and resources. While they had avoided damaging Marzaha as much as possible during the attack, it couldn't be completely unscathed, but standard transport was still feasible. The Zeon Republic was currently facing financial issues, and they needed to save wherever they could.
At the same time, far away on Earth, Yang Hui also knew that Char had eliminated the Zeon remnants because...
[Main Quest: Defeat the Principality of Zeon, eliminate the Zabi family, ensure the existence of the Earth Federation, take control of the Earth Federation... Calculating completion... 100%... Due to restrictions, quest rewards increased... Calculation complete. Rewards: 3 Construction Opportunities, 3 Enhancement Opportunities, 6 Skill Draw Opportunities, 6 Skill Enhancement Opportunities, 5 Large Supply Packages, 2 Extra-Large Supply Packages.
Main Quest determined as the final quest of this world. Calculating World Deviation Level:
Secretly controlling the Bist family—4%
Early elimination of Martha Vist, Haman Jamitov, and others—21%
Early contact and cooperation with Char—10%
Survival of Johann Abraham Revil—6%
Accelerating the completion of the Earth Federation's MS units—23%
Leading the development of new technology, significantly increasing the Earth Federation's technological level and military combat power—36%
Survival of Lalah Sune, Dozle Zabi, Karma Zabi, Degwin Sodo Zabi, and others—13%
Establishing the Twelfth Independent Technical Division, bringing massive changes to the course of the war—61%
Assisting Char Aznable in restoring the Zeon Republic—25%
Early surrender of the Principality of Zeon—31%
...
Total World Deviation Level: 261%. Exceeded 100%. Combined completion of five Side Quests: [Capture Kycilia Zabi], [Obtain World Core Item], [Capture Dozle Zabi], [Deikun's Revenge], [Capture Karma Zabi].
[Capture Karma Zabi]: Every member of the Zabi family is a core world figure. Capturing or killing them greatly changes the world's progress. Reward: 1 Enhancement Opportunity, 4 Medium Supply Packages.
Comprehensive Statistics: Rewards obtained: 10 Construction Opportunities, 9 Enhancement Opportunities, 6 Skill Draw Opportunities, 6 Skill Enhancement Opportunities, 12 Medium Supply Packages, 15 Large Supply Packages, 8 Extra-Large Supply Packages. Additional World Deviation 100%, total 361%.
Qualification granted for connecting Gundam UC World (One Year War era) with Prometheus Fortress. Commander, please determine the connection location and establish a Two-Way Channel.]
(PS: It was Char who finished off Gihren Zabi, so that Side Quest did not trigger.)
In the mansion of the Bist family, the nine of them—Yang Hui, Lacus, Murrue, Natarle Badgiruel, Kira, Athrun, Creuset, Gai Murakumo, and Arnold Neumann—were gathered together. Upon receiving the news of the quest completion and seeing the total rewards, they all broke into joyful smiles.
"As expected of a Restricted Quest; these rewards are quite substantial," Creuset commented.
"Mainly the material rewards. The other rewards aren't that numerous, likely because the quest difficulty of this world is quite low," Murrue analyzed.
The Gundam UC World (One Year War) era was the starting point for all Gundam worlds. Both sides of the war were in the early stages of technological innovation. Even the Principality of Zeon, which had taken the lead, had only been developing MS for less than a year. Because the nature of warfare was being completely overhauled, the Federation's pride—its "Big Gun, Big Ship" doctrine—had suffered a devastating blow. Therefore, the difficulty level of this world for them was even lower than the Gundam SEED World, and it couldn't even compare to the Gundam AGE World.
After all, Gundam AGE had black technologies like the EXA-DB even before the main plot began. The technology within it was something Prometheus Fortress still hadn't fully cracked even now, which spoke to how terrifying it was.
"The biggest gain this time was the Side Quests, but the trigger mechanism..." At this point, everyone fell silent. Yang Hui and Creuset rubbed their foreheads.
Based on the preliminary guesses of Yang Hui and Creuset, the trigger mechanism for Side Quests was the same as World Deviation: it started by changing the original historical trajectory. That much was certain.
But... they also discovered that to trigger high-difficulty, high-reward Side Quests, one might have to go against the Main Quest. For example...
Instead of siding with the Earth Federation and Char to eliminate the Principality of Zeon and the Zabi family, if they had sided with the Zabi family to crush the Earth Federation and kill Char, they might have received unimaginable Side Quest rewards.
Though the rewards were tempting, they could never do such a thing.
First, they could not agree with the Zabi family's madness; they were destined to be enemies. Furthermore, a man like Gihren Zabi could never be allowed to know of Prometheus Fortress's existence. If he did, countless worlds would fall victim to his ambition, eventually leaving them scarred and ruined.
Second, the greatest resource of the Gundam UC World was not high technology or manpower and materials, but the endless stream of talent. The talent appearing in the UC World far exceeded all other Gundam worlds combined. Most of these talents would never associate with the likes of Gihren Zabi. If they chose the high-reward Side Quests, they would have to abandon these talents, which would be putting the cart before the horse and simply not worth it.
"When we get back, each team will do a debriefing to see if they can provide any other information," Yang Hui said.
"That's all we can do. If it really comes down to it, we'll just have to give up on the top-tier Side Quests," Lacus said.
"Not necessarily. If a completely opposing quest objective doesn't conflict with our primary needs, we can consider it." Creuset was indeed Creuset; he never cared about being a protagonist or a villain, nor did he care about stances. He only cared about how to procure the maximum benefit.
"..."
Feeling the strange gazes of the group, Creuset shrugged and didn't defend himself. Everyone present knew him well. His job was the dark side; he only needed to consider how to gain more benefits and rewards for the team and Prometheus Fortress.
As for being a hero shining in the light... that was someone else's job, and it had nothing to do with him.
"Alright, get ready. Once Char returns to Earth, it will be time for the final showdown. Creuset, is everything okay on Gopp's side?"
"Perfectly fine. The former Chairman and the former councilors are all sensible people."
"..." Everyone rolled their eyes. With guns pointed at their heads, how could they not be "sensible"?
"That's good then. Let's relax for the next few days. Eat and play as much as you want. Except for Lacus, none of you have really had a chance to enjoy this world."
"Not interested." Creuset was the first to wave his hand. "Rather than eating, drinking, and playing, I'd rather see how Chairman Gopp's 'new official fires' are burning."
"Truly expected of you." XN
Everyone marveled at Creuset's twisted sense of humor.
"Athrun, let's go together," Kira said to Athrun.
"Sure. I happen to want to see if there are any local specialties worth buying to take back."
"...Is there really that much of a difference between this world and ours?"
"Ahem, who knows? There might be something different."
"Heh, then I'm going to go have some fun. Gai, want to come?" Arnold Neumann asked Gai Murakumo.
"No, I have my own plans."
"Fine then, I'll be all on my own."
They dispersed, preparing to relax and tour the world properly. Yang Hui, naturally, took his three lovers—no, four lovers—plus the now-idle Cima, for a proper tour to enjoy a bit of the easy life.
...
At Jaburo Headquarters, the new Chairman of the Federal Assembly, Gopp, still felt this place was more comfortable.
"No need to worry about the Assembly's affairs?" Revil asked Gopp.
"I've made the arrangements; let the people below handle it. I can't learn Yang Hui's or your way of doing things." Gopp leisurely enjoyed his afternoon tea.
"Haha, that's why I said you weren't cut out to be a soldier. My eyes didn't fail me."
"That's why I changed careers."
"Heh."
"When did they say?"
"Once Char comes down from space. Expecting a week from now."
"That's soon. Who are you planning to bring?"
"Tianem and Hawkins. I haven't decided on the others yet."
"What about his subordinates?"
"You said it yourself, they're his subordinates. Why should I worry about them?"
"True."
"And you?"
"Me? Bring those politicians?"
"Fine, pretend I didn't ask."
"Revil... I'm really looking forward to it."
"Yeah... that damn brat. Being kept in suspense is too frustrating. Once I get younger, the first thing I'm going to do is give him a beating!"
"Hahaha, you can't beat him."
"I have more people!"
"Are you sure?"
"..."
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