Tem Ray, Elvira Hill, and Nami officially joined the workforce.
Reid almost immediately experienced the benefits of having professional researchers on board.
Nami was the first to prove her worth. Having never received formal education, Reid directly enrolled her in the academy established by Star Palace—at least until she completed high school. Given her aptitude in STEM (anyone who can code generally possesses decent logical thinking), graduation shouldn't be an issue (unlike Kid Salsamille, who barely graduated by specializing solely in mechanical engineering).
During her free time, Nami assisted Kid Salsamille in developing the AI for Mobile Suits, much like how Kira had worked at Heliopolis Academy.
Simultaneously, she took the lead in developing the AI for Cosmic Battleships. The Laurasia-class ships originally stationed at Artemis Fortress, along with the captured pirate vessels, were all brought back to serve as Nami's test platforms. Progress advanced by leaps and bounds—if no obstacles arose, the super AI auxiliary system for Cosmic Battleships could be completed within a month.
Meanwhile, Tem Ray and Elvira Hill remained deeply engrossed in their studies, practically living in their respective labs. They only emerged occasionally to conduct practical experiments based on the materials they were reviewing.
Reid didn't rush them. Even for geniuses, the sheer volume of Gundam-related technologies at his disposal was overwhelming. Just skimming through what interested them would take considerable time—especially for Tem Ray, who, according to the data retrieval logs, had pulled every MS manufacturing technology already in practical use.
Even though the system had restored Tem Ray's health, Reid still worried he might overwork himself to death in the archives. He assigned lab personnel to check on him hourly and mandated monthly health checkups.
Despite still being in the learning phase, these two didn't hold back on demands. Top-tier lab setups were the bare minimum. Elvira Hill, for instance, requested Psycho-Conductive Material—a specialty of the Full Metal Panic universe—by the kilogram, likely a bad habit left over from her previous habit of hoarding research supplies.
Reid pointed out that the G-Coin store sold it by the gram. A single MS didn't even require 100 grams—the material was spun into ultra-fine threads to mimic human neural pathways. "Are you planning to braid it into a rope? What organic brain could handle the data throughput of such thick neural wiring?"
In the end, Reid only approved 200 grams for Elvira Hill, warning her that cross-dimensional procurement was costly—this was a six-month supply, and once it ran out, there would be no more.
As for Tem Ray, perhaps scarred by material shortages during the RX-78's development, he kept submitting requests for armor tests at full MS scale. "A one-square-meter sample should suffice, no? Are you planning to build entire units just for control group experiments?"
Reid admitted even he couldn't sustain such extravagance—especially with Nanomembrane Armor, where a single MS's worth cost as much as three Lunatitanium Alloy frames.
The same went for Gundarium Alloy from the AC universe—a superior alternative to Lunatitanium. However, the CE universe lacked several elements required for its production, forcing Reid to purchase it from the system store at a steep markup.
In any case, the initial research alone cost Reid over ten thousand G-Coins in just a few days. And this was clearly just the preliminary investment—who knew how many more tens of thousands of G-Coins worth of materials awaited him in the future.
But Reid also understood that scientific research was expensive. To avoid being left with nothing if the system ever vanished, these investments were necessary. Even if it was a bottomless pit, he had no choice but to keep pouring resources into it.
However, it didn't take long for Reid to realize that the financial black hole of research seemed relatively small—deep and endless, with no guarantee of tangible results, but at least the required investments were still bearable.
Because Reid soon discovered that there was a far more glaring pit waiting for him in military manufacturing—one he had dug himself.
Here's how it happened: While everyone else was busy, Reid wasn't idle either. The Factory Module took three days to analyze the gains from their trip to the AC universe.
When Reid finally pulled up the list, he found complete blueprints and technical data for five Gundams (including their weapons), as well as construction schematics and technical documents for the cosmic "battleship" [Barge], along with technical data for the Leo Mothership and Duras Mothership.
For grunt units, full documentation on the Leo and Duras was available, along with an unfinished version of the Mobile Doll System 2.0 program (lacking pilot simulation data). Naturally, the Duras-compatible Mobile Doll System 1.0 was also included.
Honestly, Reid's first thought upon seeing all this was to build a [Barge]-class cosmic "battleship" himself.
The CE universe currently had no cosmic battleships of this scale—Messiah was a mobile fortress, far larger than the [Barge].
But Messiah's movement speed was glacial, barely faster than Reid's Solar Wind Engine-propelled Artemis Fortress.
The [Barge] battleship, however, was different. While it couldn't match the speed of high-velocity warships and was even slightly slower than a Nelson-class heavy battleship, it was still fast enough to qualify as a proper cosmic battleship—not a sluggish crawl.
Its [Barge] cannon packed firepower comparable to Requiem, though its range fell far short, and it couldn't adjust trajectory.
But for a mobile version of Requiem, who needed range or trajectory adjustment? Those features were only developed because the original cannon couldn't move.
Of course, building a [Barge]-class battleship was far beyond the production capacity of the Star Palace Colony Satellite's factory. It would absolutely require the system's Factory Module to cheat.
Reid had already planned it out: First, manufacture all the components and disguise them as construction materials for the colony satellite, stacking them near the Sunshade Array. Once everything was ready, mobilize hundreds of thousands of natives piloting Iron Balls to assemble it like building blocks.
At that rate, the assembly could be completed in about three days. By the time the Earth Alliance and PLANT realized he was constructing a cosmic fortress, the outer shell would already be sealed—far too late to intercept.
Naturally, while building the fortress, the automated Mobile Suits would also need to be deployed. After all, Patrick Zala's rise to power was just two months away. Once he took office, ZAFT could attack at any moment.
Even if Patrick Zala wanted to eliminate the Clyne Faction first, one month should have been enough (Patrick Zala took office on April 1, and Siegel was already wanted by May 10).
So, Reid roughly calculated the cost of building this fortress.
Then, looking at his more than 540,000 G-Coins, he felt that his funds weren't actually that much.
Honestly, just building an ordinary warship—even one like the Archangel—would only cost a little over 10,000 G-Coins if materials were sufficient, with some key components that couldn't be produced purchased from the system and a bit of synthesis fee added.
But if all raw materials had to be bought from the G-Coin store, the price would instantly skyrocket tenfold. The amount of materials needed for a warship was something Mobile Suits couldn't even come close to matching.
The problem now was that Reid didn't have enough externally sourced materials to build a [Barge]-class battleship. Even if he dragged all the asteroids from the nearby belt back, smelting them would take time. Moreover, suddenly purchasing raw materials on an ultra-large scale would definitely alert both the Earth Alliance and PLANT.
Both sides would probably wonder: Why is the New Misurugi Republic suddenly buying so much metal material? They haven't commissioned them to mass-produce anything. Could the other side have secretly placed an order? No, until the answer is found, these materials can't be sold.
So Reid estimated that with his current 500,000-plus G-Coins, if he had to buy all the materials himself, it would barely be enough to build the [Barge]-class battleship.
That would leave no G-Coins to purchase key materials and equipment for Mobile Suits. Relying on satellite factories to produce MS, even in two months, they probably couldn't make more than a hundred units.
Thus, Reid decided immediately: from now on, external factories would stop producing Chobham Armor. After all, the current warehouse stock was enough to fulfill all external orders with some to spare.
All production lines would switch to manufacturing foam metal with high-tensile steel as the base (lowest cost, fastest production).
Reid figured that if he wanted to build the [Barge]-class battleship while also rapidly expanding his forces, those forces would have to be low-cost foam metal MS. Since they were all AI-controlled units, defensive capabilities didn't need much consideration—as long as the armaments were powerful enough.
Besides, the defensive strength of foam metal wasn't worse than the armor of a GINN. Units made from this material would be more than sufficient as cannon fodder grunt suits.
Of course, just the [Barge]-class battleship and its accompanying MS wouldn't be enough. The East Asian Republic had only ordered one Carrier Base-class battleship, and Reid would definitely need to build several more later for use as ordinary escort ships.
As for specialized flagships like the Archangel, Reid planned to postpone their construction for now—he simply didn't have the funds.
After all, the national treasury of the New Misurugi Republic had to cover the wages of the immigrant defense forces and the reconstruction of the Artemis Fortress. There was also a Colony Satellite under construction, leaving little surplus.
So these warships would have to be bought directly with G-Coins. Even if the cost was lower than the Archangel, it would only be about one-third less at most.
The financial pressure for this part would have to be shouldered by the final battle—the decisive battle of Gryps II in U.C. 0088.
But to participate in that battle, he first had to go to Earth and retrieve the mothership built by the East Asian Republic.
Actually, the East Asian Republic has already completed building their warships and is just waiting for Reid's custom mobile suit blueprints to finalize delivery.
So in the end, Reid still needed to produce the East Asian Republic's custom unit first and make a trip to Earth.
Fortunately, Reid already had rough drafts for the East Asian Republic's custom unit. The mobile suit would primarily incorporate technologies from the G Weapon series.
Reid planned to prepare two blueprint designs, allowing the East Asian Republic to activate their "I want it all" adult buff again, after which he could obtain more warship materials from them.
First, using the Altron Gundam as the main design concept, the Gundarium Alloy would be completely replaced with Phase Shift Armor. The frame would utilize the X100 skeleton from the G Project.
Other components like the cockpit, optical systems, and communication equipment would follow the Strike's standard specifications.
For armaments, the Beam Lance would be retained, but the impractical flamethrower on the right arm would be removed. It would be replaced with an Assault Shield System on each arm.
This Assault Shield had two attack modes:
The first could use Mirage Colloid to condense beams into a Beam Greatblade for close combat. The shield contained flexible extending arms that could launch the Assault Shield (only usable in space) to increase attack range.
The second mode was a conventional beam cannon, though given the Assault Shield's caliber, it would fire Heavy Particle Beam Cannons, balancing both melee and ranged combat capabilities.
The final design resembled the EW version of the Altron Gundam, though it was essentially just a customized Strike variant.
For the second blueprint, Reid based it on the Heavyarms Gundam concept, keeping the armor, frame, cockpit, optical systems, and communication equipment identical to the modified Altron Gundam.
However, Reid planned to directly use the EW version's design for this unit, making minimal changes to its armaments—only converting the twin gatling guns to beam versions while keeping everything else unchanged. As an extra, he included the Strike's 320mm "Flame God" Ultra-High Impulse Cannon from its artillery pack as optional equipment.
With both blueprints completed, Reid secretly met with Ambassador Zhao Zhongjian that same night.
The secret meeting consisted of the same group as before. During their stay at the Star Palace Colony Satellite, the East Asian Republic delegation had been living comfortably—eating well and enjoying themselves. Their daily tasks mainly involved political maneuvering against the other three Earth Sphere nations. Thanks to Reid's policies, their conflicts never escalated beyond minor incidents, with the worst injuries keeping people bedridden for just three to five days—a perfect balance of work and leisure.
Reid noticed their spirits were much better compared to when they first arrived at Star Palace. Unlike himself, who was mentally drained during the day and physically exhausted at night, the East Asian Republic's gift of aged ginseng had long since been brewed into tea for consumption.
Heero's recently revealed Fortitude skill had also significantly alleviated Reid's physical strain. Otherwise, Reid would have had to attend the secret meeting with an utterly exhausted expression.
Reid was genuinely grateful to Heero now. The so-called "enhanced impact resistance" actually improved overall physical conditioning—including bone density, organ vitality, and more. Lately, Reid had truly been able to reclaim his dominance at night.
The East Asian Republic could be considered old friends by now. Among the three major Earth Alliance nations they'd interacted with, the East Asian Republic was at least the most outwardly friendly toward the New Misurugi Republic.
After all, Reid had just swindled the Eurasian Federation out of a fortress and even connected with the domestic noble factions who enjoyed privileges without contributing, putting pressure on both the government and military. Now, the higher-ups in the Eurasian Federation would get a headache just hearing Reid's name and wished they could resurrect Gerard Garcia just to execute him a hundred more times.
After all, the Artemis Fortress had been lost under Gerard Garcia's watch. Even if Reid had seized it back from ZAFT, their side could have at least justified reclaiming it. But Gerard Garcia had died too easily, allowing the fortress to fall into the hands of space pirates, only for Reid to swoop in and take advantage.
Moreover, Reid himself had originally been lost under Gerard Garcia's command—illegally loaned out, no less. With this "new grudge atop old hatred," even Gerard Garcia's most powerful backers couldn't save him.
Gerard Garcia was posthumously held accountable, stripped of all past honors. If not for the fact that he had died under ZAFT's assault, they wouldn't even have counted it as a death in battle.
His backers were also dragged down, as they were the ones who had elevated Gerard Garcia to his position. Even after the incident with Reid, they had kept him as fortress commander. These people had to bear responsibility for the loss of the Artemis Fortress.
As for the Atlantic Federation, they had long coveted everything the New Misurugi Republic possessed. If not for the thorn in their side that was PLANT, the arms dealers within the Atlantic Federation would have already found ways to carve up the New Misurugi Republic's technical data.
But the reality now was that they had acquired little of the New Misurugi Republic's technology, while the G Project—developed at great cost and resources by both their own nation and Orb—had ended up benefiting PLANT instead.
The problem was, PLANT was already an enemy nation. There was no outlet for their frustration.
Soon after, the New Misurugi Republic obtained the G Project's data and even developed new mobile suits. The Atlantic Federation could only swallow their bitterness in silence, unable to find a suitable pretext for sanctions. This wasn't peacetime—acting against the New Misurugi Republic without justification would only aid their true enemy.
Sanctions might be off the table, but they could still jot the New Misurugi Republic down in their little black book. Reckoning could always come later.
In truth, Reid had also screwed over the Archangel here. When the Eurasian Federation suffered losses, they vented on Gerard Garcia's backers. When the Atlantic Federation took a hit, naturally, they could only take it out on the Archangel.
Now that Duane Halberton of the Eighth Fleet was dead, Murrue had lost her backing. She had already been internally designated within the Atlantic Federation as the scapegoat for the G Technology leak. Even if she eventually returned the data, it wouldn't absolve her of guilt.
However, Reid was still unaware of the Atlantic Federation's decision regarding Murrue. Right now, it was time for negotiations with the East Asian Republic.
Both sides were familiar with each other, so Reid didn't bother hiding anything and got straight to the point:
"Ambassador Zhao, I've completed the custom unit blueprints. They incorporate quite a bit of the Atlantic Federation's G Project technology. Will that be a problem for you?"
Reid's words amused Zhao Zhongjian. Atlantic Federation technology? They were well-acquainted with that. For much of the last century, their own nation had developed new technologies by reverse-engineering the Atlantic Federation's former leading power.
Besides, all four G Weapon units from the G Project were seized by ZAFT, so the technology has already been leaked. Even if the Atlantic Federation comes knocking, we can just say, "What? The enemy can use your Atlantic Federation's technology, but we, the East Asian Republic as your ally, can't?"
So, Zhao Zhongjian smiled and replied,
"No problem, Mr. Reid. Feel free to incorporate it. The G Project tech is fair game for anyone now—all because the Atlantic Federation insisted on collaborating with Orb, only for ZAFT to hijack four-fifths of the finished products. They basically did all the work for the enemy."
After hearing this, Reid handed over two blueprints and said,
"Alright, same as before—I've designed one balanced mobile suit and another focused purely on firepower suppression. Take a look."
Zhao Zhongjian unfolded the blueprints and studied them alongside Major Li and three engineers.
Just like last time, the three engineers quickly confirmed that the designs were flawless.
Then Zhao Zhongjian and Major Li exchanged a glance—this time, they didn't even bother pretending. Zhao Zhongjian cut straight to the point:
"Mr. Reid, we want both of these mobile suits. Name your price."
Reid smirked, looking like he'd expected this all along.
"Simple. Last time, one blueprint got me a ship from you. Now, with an extra blueprint, one ship won't be enough for me. But once the ship is delivered, I'll be under heavy pressure from PLANT, so I won't ask you to build it—just give me the materials, and I'll handle construction myself. Ten ships' worth of materials should do."
Reid was clearly pushing his luck here. Mothership construction materials were strictly military-controlled. Things like Laminated Armor couldn't be produced by civilians even if they had the know-how—only a handful of licensed arms manufacturers could make them.
The East Asian Republic would've happily agreed to one or two ships' worth, but ten was pushing it.
After all, the New Misurugi Republic was just a single Colony Satellite in size. People had tolerated them swindling the Artemis Fortress from the Eurasian Federation—since the Star Palace Colony Satellite was in space, facing constant threats from ZAFT, having a fortress for defense was at least justifiable.
But everyone knew that when the New Misurugi Republic captured the Artemis Fortress, they'd also seized seven or eight warships from the pirates occupying it. Though they were just retrofitted older models from various factions, they were still proper space combat vessels.
Now they wanted materials for ten cutting-edge warships? Was the New Misurugi Republic trying to assemble a full-scale space fleet? Forget whether a single nation even had enough personnel to crew one—just the ambition alone was dangerous.
The East Asian Republic didn't want the New Misurugi Republic growing too powerful too quickly—it'd make them harder to control.
So Reid and Zhao Zhongjian began haggling. In truth, Reid's bottom line was materials for three motherships, but the East Asian Republic relented when negotiations reached five.
This time, it was Reid who was eager to close the deal. He assured them the mobile suits could be taken away the next day and that he'd personally lead his team to the East Asian Republic.
When Reid mentioned that the Unit could be transported out the next day, Zhao Zhongjian realized that Reid had already completed the construction and had everything prepared, knowing full well that their side would take all of them.
However, as a representative of the delegation, Zhao Zhongjian couldn't go back on his word—especially for a mutually beneficial and friendly deal like this. Even without a signed contract, backing out would be unacceptable. If word got out, who would be willing to negotiate private deals with them in the future?
Moreover, Reid's planned visit to the East Asian Republic was the best news Zhao Zhongjian could have hoped for.
In fact, the most critical part of Zhao Zhongjian's mission to the Star Palace was to find a way to lure Reid to their country.
Of course, the East Asian Republic had no intention of forcing him to stay. After all, no researcher could work effectively under coercion.
And if Reid were to harbor resentment, he might leave hidden backdoors in the Units he developed—known only to himself—and then somehow deliver them to the East Asian Republic's enemies. The potential losses would be incalculable.
Still, while force was out of the question, their nearly six-thousand-year history had plenty of softer approaches. Countless methods historically used to test officials could be applied to Reid. Even if it didn't work out in the end, leaving a good impression would make future cooperation easier.
Thus, Zhao Zhongjian was eager to lock in Reid's visit to the East Asian Republic, even approving Reid's request to bring his Mobile Suit along.
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