A large group of people made their way grandly to the conference room of Celestial Palace City. However, the conference room wasn't large enough to seat everyone; many people were huddled together, standing against the walls.
"First, let me introduce someone you've all been waiting for: Aeolia Schenberg, the founder of Celestial Being."
The lights in the conference room dimmed, the screen lit up, and Aeolia Schenberg appeared once again.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. I am Aeolia Schenberg." Aeolia already knew who everyone present was and was aware of the matters regarding Prometheus Fortress. When Yang Hui and the others were chatting, they weren't just speaking to Neil and the others; they were also speaking to Aeolia. As the one who secretly controlled all permissions within Celestial Palace City, the city was essentially his backyard. Nothing that happened here could escape his ears and eyes.
Flit, Jehart, Revil, Char, and the others all stood up and bowed slightly toward Aeolia. This man, whom they had always heard of but never met, was someone they all respected and had long looked forward to meeting.
"Old Man, tell us—what's the current situation?" Once the introductions were out of the way, there was no need for pleasantries or small talk; they got straight to the point.
"Indeed, the current situation..."
Immediately, Aeolia Schenberg began to explain the present state of Earth and the Earth Federation to the assembly.
After the Earth Federation was established, Ribbons Almark had indeed become the man pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He had established the independent security force, A-Laws, to blockade and oppress Middle Eastern nations, violently eliminating anyone who opposed him. Using A-Laws as his blade, he had massacred countless innocent people. He stopped at nothing to achieve his goals, leaving the world in a state of chaos even after the Federation's formation.
Various anti-Federation forces emerged one after another, and internal factional struggles within the Federation were constant. Once discovered, these factions were subjected to bloody purges without a shred of mercy. Just a few days ago, A-Laws used the Orbital Satellite Laser Cannon to carry out an orbital bombardment on Suil, the Middle Eastern nation with the most stubborn resistance. In the blink of an eye, the entire country was reduced to ashes, leaving only a massive crater and countless casualties.
The most egregious thing A-Laws did was to arrest anyone they disliked or even slightly suspected. Without any investigation, they would fabricate various charges, drag people away, and send them to certain locations to serve as forced labor. Once their usefulness was exhausted, they were subjected to inhumane massacres, with the blame then pinned on anti-government forces.
This was the primary reason why anti-government forces continued to spring up across various nations. The recent orbital strike on a sovereign nation had completely ignited the powder keg of conflict. According to Aeolia's intelligence, anti-government forces had joined hands with a segment of the Federation government and certain elements within the Federal Army; they were preparing for a major move.
Then there was the current state of Celestial Being. Because of Yang Hui's intervention, the tragedy of the Hathaway family was prevented. Louise did not join A-Laws to seek revenge for her parents; instead, she found a way to contact Celestial Being and became their new Overseer and financial provider.
Kinue Crossroad was also alive, still active in various regions as a journalist, gathering intelligence for Celestial Being. However, she was currently being hunted by A-Laws and had temporarily ceased activities to go into hiding.
Kati and Sergei had consistently followed the advice Yang Hui gave before he left, holding onto their respective units within the regular army. They had refused multiple conscription orders from A-Laws. Because their subordinates were die-hard supporters and they had kept to themselves without overstepping, combined with their titles as heroes, A-Laws was temporarily unable to do anything to them.
But this was only temporary. Aeolia's intelligence suggested that the reason Ribbons hadn't moved against them yet—aside from the reasons mentioned—was that he was wary of Yang Hui. After Yang Hui and the others vanished a year ago, Ribbons could find no trace of them. He wanted to capture Kati and Sergei to pressure Yang Hui, but he didn't dare act rashly.
But now, Ribbons had grown impatient and intended to move against them by force, without needing an excuse.
Professor Eifman and Old Wang had already been secretly placed under house arrest by the Innovators. Neil and the others had planned multiple rescue missions, but they could not find the specific location where the two were being held, so they hadn't acted.
Billy Katagiri, on the other hand, had accepted conscription into A-Laws and become their Chief Technical Officer. It wasn't that he had defected, but rather that he had been coerced; Professor Eifman and Old Wang were being used to threaten him.
Originally, Ribbons wanted Professor Eifman and Old Wang to lead technical development for the Innovators and A-Laws, but both elders were stubborn men; they wouldn't agree even if they were killed. Ribbons was unwilling to discard two such important chips, so he kept them under house arrest and used them to threaten Billy Katagiri.
It was worth mentioning that the current A-Laws was vastly different from the A-Laws in Yang Hui's memory. It was confirmed that there were over fifty Artificial Innovators, all holding key positions within A-Laws.
In the original plot, Ribbons' Innovator subordinates—not counting the clones used as expendables—only numbered five, and one was a traitor. Now, that number had been multiplied by ten. Yang Hui realized that even with his involvement, if they relied solely on Celestial Being's combat strength, they would be doomed sooner or later.
This was also why Celestial Being was in such a wretched state. Aside from the location of Celestial Palace City, which Aeolia and Yang Hui had hidden from the start, all other bases—whether on Earth or in space—had been destroyed. Furthermore, with VEDA in Ribbons' hands and without Yang Hui or Sumeragi to devise strategies, every one of their missions ended in failure, and every escape was a narrow one.
"Yang Hui, what do you intend to do?" Aeolia Schenberg asked.
"I intend to sweep through," Yang Hui said with a smirk and a serious expression.
"That's too reckless!" Before Aeolia could even speak, Neil and the others stood up in opposition. "A fleet this massive would appear to outsiders as a force of unknown origin. No matter how unpopular A-Laws is, at least everyone knows they are a military force formed by the Earth Federation. But the Promis Legion entering the stage openly is not something Celestial Being can explain away."
"Exactly. We'll be treated as aliens. Not to mention VEDA is still in the hands of those Innovators; manipulating intelligence and public opinion would be simple for them."
"And they still have hostages."
"Mhm, I've considered all of that." The "sweep" Yang Hui spoke of wasn't a mindless charge of pulling all his forces in to steamroll Ribbons' power. "First phase: Liumei, return to Earth immediately and retake control of Celestial Being's intelligence network. Clean out what needs cleaning, and fill the gaps that need filling. Creuset, you go and help Liumei. Gai, Amuro, Cima, Gerard, and Rena will be your bodyguards. Find a way to bring your Mobile Suits as well. The primary objective is to find the location of Professor Eifman and Old Wang."
"Understood."
"Sumeragi, take the remaining crew of the Rainbow Piercer and continue with the armed interventions. Neil and the others will go with you. Note: do not expose yourselves completely. Make full use of the Mirage Colloid System."
"Understood."
"Char, Flit, take a portion of the men and follow me to find Kati and my brother. The rest of you are on standby for now. Revil, Jehart, space is in your hands. If any civilians discover you, put them under house arrest. If it's A-Laws, don't let a single one escape."
"Understood."
Soon after all the arrangements were made, the crowd dispersed to prepare for their upcoming missions. In the conference room, Yang Hui remained alone, and Aeolia Schenberg did not vanish.
"Old man, you can take back VEDA's permissions whenever you want, right?"
"I cannot. To hide my existence, I am relatively isolated from VEDA. I need to be within a certain distance."
"Has the location of the Celestial Being ship moved?"
"Not yet. Ribbons Almark is a conceited man."
"Mhm... is there anything else you want to ask me?"
"You... weren't originally from our world, were you?"
"Heh." Yang Hui chuckled and shook his head. Creuset and the others had discovered the existence of Prometheus Fortress early on, but Aeolia Schenberg had discovered even more. He truly was the greatest genius of the Gundam OO world... perhaps there was no one more brilliant in any Gundam world.
"So, the 'dialogues' I spent my entire life—even becoming quantum data—to witness, were actually completed over a decade ago, correct?"
"...Yes."
"Why?"
"I'd like to ask why as well," Yang Hui sighed with emotion. "I was originally just an otaku. Who knew disaster would strike from the heavens and my blue planet would be destroyed? If I died, I died; once you're dead, you don't need to know anything. But then I was chosen by Mephis and reborn in this world—a world I had fantasized about countless times. And then... I thought that with my 'cheat' and my memories of my past life, I'd quickly finish your damn plan and then take my wives to find a place to retire in peace. In the end, heaven played another massive joke on me. Prometheus Fortress, the order and balance of infinite worlds... that kind of responsibility... I'd like to ask why too."
"...From the looks of it, her choice was not wrong."
"Who knows?" Yang Hui shook his head. "It's only been two hundred years, and I already feel tired. Who's to say one day I won't get exhausted or bored and decide not to continue, or even turn dark?"
"You won't."
"Why do you seem to have more confidence in me than I do?" Yang Hui asked with a smile.
"Because you are not alone."
"..."
"I will also continue to watch you, observe you, and record you."
"It seems I didn't need to ask." Yang Hui shrugged, having received Aeolia Schenberg's answer.
"An ambitious man cannot refuse such a thing." It was a rare sight; Aeolia Schenberg, who had remained a stoic 'zombie face' as quantum data, was now smiling. He laughed happily, even fervently.
"Yeah. But... let's get through this hurdle first."
"Do you have intelligence?"
"Those fellows on Jupiter—the ELS. Extraterrestrial Metallic Lifeforms. Their characteristics are..."