With the East Asian Republic and the Eurasian Federation successfully supporting Reid and Ange's nation-building through the trade of Anti-Neutron Jammers, the opinions of others no longer mattered.
Oh, you might mention the Atlantic Federation, but if they want to redeem their Pacific Fleet, they have no choice but to support the establishment of the new nation—that was the bottom line set by Reid and Mina.
The Atlantic Federation had already backed down. Now that the other two major powers had given their approval, they wouldn't want to lose face by dragging their feet—they'd grudgingly acknowledge it sooner or later.
As for the other nations on Earth, Une had negotiated with the government of the Equatorial Union. In exchange for their support, she secured a series of energy supply and trade aid agreements. Additionally, the islands of former Papua New Guinea—originally occupied by ZAFT and now under the control of the New Misurugi Republic—were sold to the New Misurugi Republic.
Truthfully, the Equatorial Union didn't want to sell their territory. But since ZAFT had already seized the land, and the New Misurugi Republic had taken it from ZAFT, it had effectively become disputed territory.
Moreover, the Equatorial Union was suffering immensely. ZAFT treated their region like a backyard battleground, clashing repeatedly with the Earth Alliance forces there, not to mention the endless minor skirmishes.
By now, the Equatorial Union could practically rename itself the "Union of Extreme Poverty." The government was desperate for this life-saving aid.
The real kicker? The people of former Papua New Guinea, upon hearing they could join the New Misurugi Republic, didn't even need Une to organize anything—they instantly held a referendum to abandon their Equatorial Union citizenship. They declared that anyone who stood in the way of their better life would face their wrath.
And these people weren't bluffing. The moment Equatorial Union officials set foot on the islands to suggest "reunification," they were beaten up and thrown into the sea, nearly sparking a major diplomatic incident. (No deaths meant no major diplomatic incident ψ(._.)>)
If even the Equatorial Union—the closest neighbor—had been dealt with, then the more distant Muslim Conglomerate, African Union, South African Unification, and Scandinavian Kingdom would naturally raise no objections.
These nations already had little international influence, and the rise of the New Misurugi Republic wouldn't affect them. With two of the three major powers in agreement, no one would dare make trouble.
Thus, the nation-building process advanced swiftly with unanimous approval. Ange also led a group of Star Palace Colony Satellite immigrants to land in Australia.
The reason Star Palace immigrants came was simple: Australia was vast and sparsely populated. Plus, seawater desalination was no longer an issue in this era—much of Australia's land could be cultivated with minimal effort.
The Oceania Union only cared about producing enough food to sustain themselves and support ZAFT, but Reid's instincts wouldn't allow so much arable land to go to waste.
The problem was, Australians were notoriously lazy. Even with generous welfare incentives, few were willing to farm. So, Reid had no choice but to lure Star Palace immigrants to pioneer the land.
Back then, the Star Palace Colony Satellite's immigration policy was simple: come and get a house and a job.
Now, Reid's pitch to attract immigrants to Australia was: come and get a small farm. Those willing to actively cultivate untamed land could even receive a larger farm.
Of course, the land still belonged to the state—the settlers only had usage rights. But for the first three years, all profits would be tax-free.
Having plundered the wealthy elites of the former Oceania Union, Une had plenty of money and resources to spare. Building houses, laying pipes and wiring, and reducing agricultural taxes were no trouble at all.
For the space colonists, the chance to return to Earth was already quite tempting. Most of them had been driven into space by hardship and war. The sense of security in a Colony Satellite couldn't compare to solid ground—especially now that their nation was so strong.
Thus, aside from a few who genuinely didn't want to move again, all the residents of the Star Palace Colony Satellite agreed to follow Ange to Australia for development.
Ange arrived with the first batch of settlers, with several more groups to follow, aiming to complete the resettlement within three months.
As for the future of the Star Palace Colony Satellite, Reid declared that it had fulfilled its historical mission. From now on, it would transition into a military-industrial Colony Satellite, with 90% of its population being original settlers, and serve as a deep-space research facility.
Of course, the production of the Satellite Cannon wouldn't stop, and the Artemis Fortress wouldn't be relocated. The Star Palace Colony Satellite would remain as a fallback—for instance, if their battle against Genesis failed and Earth turned into hell, they'd still have somewhere to flee.
The last few days of July passed with Reid busily preparing for the nation's founding.
By August 1st, Ange delivered a speech in Canberra, announcing to the world that the New Misurugi Republic would henceforth be renamed the New Misurugi Kingdom, established in Australia. The capital would be the still-under-construction Star Palace City, with Canberra serving only as a temporary administrative center until the new capital was completed.
The government shifted from retaining only a symbolic royal title while operating as a full republic to adopting a true constitutional monarchy.
After the proclamation, lavish rewards and titles were naturally distributed. However, to the surprise of other nations, Reid—who they expected might claim the title of king or at least prince under the new monarchy—ended up with only the positions of Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Military Commission, overseeing the nation's military affairs, and nothing more.
While the titles sounded lofty, Reid's authority was still constrained by Une, who served as both Prime Minister and Speaker of the Parliament. Domestically, he wasn't even truly second only to one, let alone standing above all others.
Of course, outsiders might have thought Reid's status was diminished, but in reality, even these positions were titles Une had forced upon him.
Originally, Reid had wanted to remain a shadow king under the guise of a mercenary captain. After all, no matter how high-ranking the officials were, they still had to obey him—the entire top leadership of the nation was under his absolute control. Why bother with a king's title that would only restrict his future actions?
But this time, Une firmly opposed the idea, arguing that times had changed. Now that they were establishing a kingdom, if Reid held no official position, other nations would grow suspicious.
Moreover, it would severely hinder the country's ability to attract foreign talent in the future. No one had contributed more to the nation than Reid—if even he remained a commoner, what hope was there for others to expect proper benefits and status from the New Misurugi Kingdom?
This reasoning convinced everyone, so now, Reid had no choice but to take charge of the nation's military power.
Of course, the division of positions was structured this way, but in reality, Une was handling everything. Reid had once again dumped all the work onto her, tasking her with managing other defense-related roles first.
As for Reid himself, he returned to Star Palace City to act as the "supervisor."
However, Reid made it clear that in another month and a half, the Earth Alliance would officially launch an attack on PLANT—a battle he absolutely had to participate in.
Reid knew that the reason the first war had ended in a ceasefire was because Genesis had devastated the Atlantic Federation's space fleet, obliterating both the Earth Alliance's lunar support fleet and their lunar base.
So, if PLANT didn't want to be completely overrun in one go, Genesis would still need to fire twice.
Reid wasn't worried that Patrick Zala, out of sheer hatred for him, would recklessly fire Genesis at Earth right away.
Because no matter how unhinged Patrick Zala was, his core principle had never changed—everything he did was for the development of PLANT and the interests of Coordinators.
Under the threat of the Earth Alliance's nuclear strike team targeting PLANT's homeland, Patrick Zala would absolutely not fire Genesis at Earth first.
This was something Reid, who also saw Patrick Zala as his greatest enemy—one of them had to die—firmly believed.
As for the second shot, once Genesis was exposed, its firing angle could be calculated. The moment Reid detected even the slightest hint of it aiming at Earth, he wouldn't let it fire a second time.
Of course, that was all for later. Right now, the newly established New Miserly Kingdom was facing another talent shortage, and Reid felt he needed to summon more help.
So, Reid planned to complete all three G Invasion missions in this round within half a month. He needed more Merit Points to summon new recruits.
As for G-Coins, Reid wasn't really lacking at the moment. The defensive battle at Star Palace Colony Satellite, the war against the Oceania Union, and the surprise attack on the Atlantic Federation's Pacific Fleet—these three battles had provided him with a massive amount of G-Coins. After all, any kills made by summoned characters piloting warships counted toward G-Coins, and the summoned and recruited characters had taken down plenty of enemies on the battlefield.
Especially Flay, piloting the Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ. Reid now truly felt that recruiting and enhancing her was worth it—at least two-thirds of the G-Coins earned from the battle against the Atlantic Federation's Pacific Fleet came from her kills.
The only regret was that kills from the Solar Reflector System and Mobile Dolls didn't count toward his G-Coins. Otherwise, Reid felt he could have achieved G-Coin freedom in no time.
But no matter how much he talked about it, the work still had to be done.
After all, these recent battles were either officially declared wars or surprise attacks initiated by Reid himself, so no emergency missions were triggered—meaning zero Merit Points earned.
Thus, as usual, Reid entered the Hermes Zero's cockpit in Star Palace City's Factory Module and deftly selected the year 2003, the Western Pacific's Merida Island, and the battle where Amalgam overran Mithril's headquarters. He chose to enter without faction alignment—this time, he was going all out to farm Merit Points.
However, just as Reid was enveloped by the familiar red code and vanished from the CE universe—
Within the cracks of countless dimensions, there existed a spherical space composed of the same red data code, its size comparable to the Moon.
At this moment, inside that space, on a grassy plain, a white-haired girl and a pink-haired young woman were having tea.
Suddenly, the white-haired girl seemed to sense something. She pulled out a faintly glowing orb emitting green codes from her bosom, set down her teacup, and said to the young woman opposite her:
"My, my, it seems luck is on my side. Mr. Reid has returned to my associated world first."
The pink-haired young woman across from her immediately looked displeased but could only say helplessly:
"Tch, that heartless man. So how do you plan to approach him? Beat him up and drag him back directly?"
The white-haired girl shook her head, playing with the end of her braid as she smiled and replied:
"Of course not. I still have doubts about what Sister Amelia S told us. Moreover, Sister Amelia S herself said that Mr. Reid, who exists as the key, might not be aware of his own role. I'll definitely communicate with him first. For the sake of permanent peace across so many worlds, I believe Mr. Reid will understand."
Seeing the white-haired girl's naive expression, the pink-haired young woman also shook her head:
"You're underestimating Reid Isaac too much. He might not be completely unaware. From my past interactions with him, he seemed to know quite a bit about our experiences, which contradicts Amelia S's claims."
"Of course, Amelia S is still imprisoned now, only able to lend us her power to help retrieve Reid as the key. And since she can't directly observe Reid's situation—only trace his crossing patterns and deduce his location through our existence—she naturally can't make accurate judgments about him."
"Besides, as you said yourself, Amelia S's words are full of inconsistencies. There's no guarantee she won't become a world-destroying entity rather than a savior once freed. Though that contract she signed seemed legitimate enough, and the power she granted isn't fake either."
The white-haired girl nodded, acknowledging the pink-haired woman's points, but abruptly changed the subject:
"Alright, let's set this aside for now. Amelia S has called a meeting. We should attend first."
With that, the white-haired girl summoned a virtual projection screen. With a few light taps of her fingers, their surroundings instantly transformed—they now stood in a star-filled space, each positioned on pillars marked Ⅰ and Ⅲ respectively.
At that moment, another figure appeared on pillar Ⅱ—a not particularly tall teenage boy with a short braid.
The moment he appeared, the boy addressed the white-haired girl:
"Teletha Testarossa, I heard that Rau Le Creuset has appeared in your associated world?"
Teletha naturally knew who the boy meant by "Rau Le Creuset," but chose not to expose Reid's prank. She replied softly:
"Mr. Wufei, yes, the key has appeared in my associated world."
Chang Wufei's eyebrows shot up at this. Frustrated, he called out to the space above:
"Amelia S! Are you absolutely certain I can't follow others into non-associated worlds?"
No sooner had Wufei spoken than a projection appeared high above—a woman dressed primarily in red and black, with an azure cape flowing behind her.
(For readers unfamiliar with G Generation games: The figure shown above is codenamed Amelia S. Her true identity is a descendant of the old G System. In the games, she attempted to usurp the position of the true G System administrator, Aphrodite Nino, to become the ruler of the world.)
The woman named Amelia S calmly answered Chang Wufei's question.
"Chang Wufei, there's no need to rush. All of you have had contact with the Key and, for various reasons, independently desire to seek it. The Key will eventually return to each of your associated worlds."
After responding to Wufei, Amelia S then addressed Teletha Testarossa.
"Teletha Testarossa, this is our first contact with the Key. He will undoubtedly exhibit extreme caution, so there's no need to resort to force immediately. Moreover, we don't yet know how powerful the Key currently is."
"At the same time, I am constrained by the G Universe system. Within the same world, I can only provide assistance equal in strength to the Key (for example: if the protagonist is limited to one Mobile Suit entry, then my team can also only enter with one Mobile Suit, with equivalent level restrictions). So in terms of combat power, we may not have an advantage. Furthermore, once the Key leaves its associated world, I will be unable to track it again."
Teletha nodded upon hearing this and said earnestly, "Understood, Amelia S. For this first contact, I will prioritize communication."
Amelia S nodded in return, though inwardly she thought: If only she hadn't just awakened due to the world's fluctuations while still in a sealed state, forced to rely on these people to create greater disturbances to break the seal—otherwise, she wouldn't need to waste so many words. If she could just devour that man who mastered the G Weapon system, the world would become her playground.
But for now, she was bound by a contract with these individuals, promising to alter their respective worlds according to their wishes.
And this time, she couldn't impersonate Aphrodite Nino—if the Key had any prior contact with her, it would spell immediate disaster. What a hassle.
Despite her impatience, Amelia S maintained a gentle tone. "Very well, Teletha Testarossa. I will open the path of transmission for you to return to your associated world. I look forward to the results of your communication with the Key."
(End of Chapter)