"I do have to apologise, but we don't have the same cultural standards." Sumerati Lee Noriega tried to explain why she is not 'kneeling'.
"Besides, we are in space, it's hard to kneel." She motioned at their situation.
"Clever as ever. Leesa Kujo." Marcus chuckled at her excuses. He doesn't mind their behaviour.
Everyone looked at Sumeragi, and they realised that this guy just called her by her real name.
"I was the best at what I do." She ignored the part where he called her by her name.
"I do wish to ask several things, if you don't mind." The Captain said with a respectful tone.
The Gundam Meisters and CIC crew realised that their Captain was extremely cautious in how she spoke to him.
"Very well. I shall grant you that. After all, Ptolemaios' crew deserve that after all that work you did." Marcus chuckled as he closed his eyes for a second. He leaned back as he got comfortable.
"Were you the one who hacked Veda?"
"Yes, I was." He leisurely answered her question, making the whole crew look at him with wide eyes.
"...How?"
"Do you want the long version or the short one?"
Sumeragi looked at her crew for a second. She can tell that they are curious. This guy was an Emperor of Humanity from another reality. He most likely knows things that they can only dream of.
"We don't mind the long version."
"Very well. Let's start from the very beginning. This is related to everything because we share the same origins." He hummed for a bit as he organised his thoughts.
"Our civilisation rotates in cycles. Around every 12 thousand years, there is an event that can end our civilisation.
By this point, our civilisation is the seventh one. Our distinctive feature is that we focus on building technology around us.
The previous civilisation was different. They sought spiritual enlightenment. In that pursuit, they achieved things we can only dream about.
Among them is the ability to speak with the dead, and reach the afterlife in a physical sense, and the means to travel between realities.
This civilisation sensed that its end was approaching. So they built means to travel to a different world.
Instead of going to different planets as we desire now, they chose another Earth, since they knew Earth could support them perfectly and that they already knew its geography.
And so they rebuilt their civilisation almost exactly as it had been in my world.
You can still find their infrastructure all over the world.
The pyramids in Egypt or the ancient cities of Central America. The missing cities in their food hubs in Brazil, or their research facilities in Peru.
They are still there; all I need to do is find a bit of their working tech and use it to hack a Quantum Computer that was built to interact with the human brain.
Do you think a mere piece of machinery can resist a Thought Accelerator that means to ascend one's Consciousness? I didn't hack your computer, I rewired it.
It's no longer Celestial Being's Central Computer but the Holy Byzantine Empire's assistant." Marcus chuckled that they thought that he hacked it.
"... You used the Previous Civilisation's technology to take it over." Sumeragi looked baffled by this response!
"I doubt old man Aeolia predicted that." Lockon Stratos didn't know whether to laugh or look terrified.
"He didn't because the Quantum Computer was like a lighthouse begging to be found," Marcus smirked while saying that.
"I see…"
'This is something I haven't anticipated. Previous Civilisation Technology? He is even more dangerous. I do not know what he is capable of or what to look for.' Sumeragi was even more concerned as she couldn't act.
"Can I ask… what do you want from this Earth?"
"I am a Conqueror, I conquered my world when I was seventeen."
"!!!"
'That's quite an achievement.' For a second, she paled.
"This world's people originally belonged to my world. I am simply reclaiming what was originally mine in the first place."
"... then you will continue…" She realised that he was dead set on conquering this world.
"I never said that I stopped. You already did what I needed anyway. People from AEU and the Human Reform League are on their way to my Union to discuss an alliance.
Before long, I will be the Custodian of Earth to fight the threat of Celestial Being."
"Is there no alternative?" Sumeragi frowned as her crew was not equipped to fight this kind of threat.
"Alternative? Neesa, what do you think your group's true goal is? You desire to end all wars between humans.
That is what you are doing, and I am moving towards the same thing.
Once Earth is under my rule, there will be peace. I achieved the same thing in my world. I already have colonies on Mars and Venus, and soon on Jupiter, with a goal in mind, my Empire is expanding at a rapid pace. There are no internal conflicts because there is a guide that is showing them the way."
"..."
His words did put a pause to her train of thought.
"... Even so… you are selfishly taking away people's freedom and telling them what to do." All of a sudden, Setsuna spoke as he floated forward.
"You are that twistedness that is spreading through the world." He said with deep belief.
"A megalomanic that desires to control all of humanity."
Sumeragi paled a bit as she realised that this… could get out of control.
"..."
"Pff–hahahaha, as expected from a fellow Gundam lover. You are like your mobile suit, Setsuna F. Seisei.
You abandoned your old name and surname to forget your past and embrace your new life.
I am exactly the same.
Unlike your world, Imperialism dominated my world, and our past shapes us.
Isn't it right? You experienced the horror of war. I experienced the horror of powerlessness."
Now they wondered what had happened to him that had caused such a monumental change.
"Indeed. You see, my father was the Emperor; he sent me away to a country he later invaded. I personally saw soldiers who were supposed to fight for me were trying to kill my sister and me.
At that time, I decided that I wouldn't allow anyone to dictate my life; I would be the one who did it. It was where I built my first Gundam, superior to anything my father's empire could produce.
I used it to wage war for independence, and I won." Marcus explained with a bit more emotion than he wanted to show, but it was a crucial time in his life.
"So you experienced the horrors of war, and it changed you, twisting and turning into this." Setsuna looked at him and his Gundam; now he understood what he saw.
Though the rest of them were not like him, Lockon wanted to grab Setsuna and cover his mouth.
"That is rich coming from someone who doesn't know anything but destruction.
What I learned is that to fix problems, I help those who need help; I allowed thousands of people to live normally; I made hunger a thing of the past; and I gave humanity the desire for greatness. I am the Emperor of Humanity; my desire for stars is what allowed my Earth, that is in the 21st century, to surpass yours, that is in the 24th century.
So don't tell that you have higher moral ground, Setsuna, because at the end of the day, you are the enemy, you wage the war on humanity because you think you know better.
But at the end of the day, you don't, you didn't even build your Gundam; it was given to you, your ideals were given to you.
Before this, you were just an aimless child without purpose and full of hate.
I was there before, but I achieved those goals with my two hands, and I will do it again, and again, as many times as it takes.
Because I know that I am right."
'Oh no. This is not good.' Sumeragi panicked as she realised that Setsuna most likely had triggered him!
"And now, you will learn that the hard way. The Holy Byzantine Empire shall declare war on you, Celestial Being. We shall meet in the field of battle." With that said, the call has ended.
"Setsuna! Are you insane!? That was not some simple opponent you can just cut apart! We simply have no concrete information on him or his assets!" Lockon immediately wanted to rant, but the next drop of information stopped him.
"...umm… Miss Sumeragi… we have problems. All of Veda's support just went silent." Christina said after noticing a wall of texts.
"Ugh… Retreat to a safe distance and prepare for war. Expect a massive amount of mobile suits of Gundam level threat… and tell Ian to hurry with GN Arms, we don't have time anymore." Sumeragi massaged her forehead. Things just went from good to bad to horrifying in a matter of minutes.
"And follow the news on Earth, we should expect some sort of announcement soon."
"Understood, leave it to us, Miss Sumeragi." Feldt nodded slowly.
~~~
After ending the call, the Gundam Meisters were on standby, and there was enough time to talk.
"He is manipulating the world, twisting everything in his path. How can I allow him to continue? We are here to eradicate the war, while he is the one who is allowing it to spread."
"Is it, Setsuna? Did you see how much Azadistan has changed in just a few days? He threw millions into developing that country.
The Union Peacekeeping force is keeping the peace, and Anaheim is spreading advanced technology that helps people.
Hospitals, markets, all of them are reopening, and peace is returning to that country, and it was not us who changed it." Lockon Stratos said with a sigh.
'Why does it feel like we are the enemies here?'
The Sniper Gundam's pilot frowned at that thought.
"He has resources and manpower to do as he pleases. If he wants to show a benevolent face, he will. But we all know in the end he wants to rule the world." Kyrios Gundam pilot said, frowning.
While what he said is the truth, will it be that bad if he is the ruler? Do they have a better choice?
"People don't care who rules whom; all they want is happiness; if he can give it, does it matter?" Lockon explained with crossed arms.
He was shaken just like everyone, especially by the fact about the previous civilisation's abilities. Can he talk with dead people? How advanced was their technology, and how much does he understand about it?
"We are still Celestial Being, and it's Gundam Meisters, we have a mission to do." The Gundam Virtue Pilot said to get the Kyrios pilot and Dynames to regain their composure.
"Win or die, we will do it as Gundam Meisters."
"Yes." Setsuna clenched his fist as he was ready to fight.
~~~
The Heiress was minding her business as things slowly turned in her favour, sadly, the only issue for her was that she could rarely see her future husband.
Then she got a message from Veda, or more like Marcus.
"Oh… that's not good for Celestial Being." Wang Liu Mei looked at the message.
"I can feel the anger from the text." She commented after rereading it a couple of times.
"Since it's the case."
"...Mistress?" Hong Long looked at her. Wondering what is going on.
"Cancel funding for Celestial Being." With a lazy hand motion, she instructed him.
"You can refocus that wealth for Anaheim's Robotics Foundation."
"As you wish."
In a single stroke, every single sponsor was put on ice. While Wang Liu Mei was Marcus's future wife, he only needed to instruct her.
The rest were not that lucky, as their personal information began to leak online.
Information on Celestial Being donors, companies, except for Wang Liu Mei and Marcus Anaheim, has appeared all over the internet.
Euphemia received her share of the data as well, and soon enough, she will appear on the news talking about it.
Destruction of Celestial Being has begun.
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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