Hoshino Ruri had already confirmed that there were no issues with the teleportation location. Reid glanced at the World Change Fluctuation Value, which was still at 23.272%. It seemed there were truly no extra distortion nodes this time.
Thus, Reid looked at the sun setting in the distance and asked, "Ruri, confirm the time. And look up Masoud Lachmadi, the leader of the conservative faction in the Kingdom of Azadistan, as well as news about the introduction of the solar power generation receiving equipment."
Upon hearing this, Hoshino Ruri immediately found the information Reid needed online and replied, "The current local time is 16:50.
"The news about Masoud Lachmadi is mostly about him holding speeches criticizing the reformist parliament and Princess Marina Ismail.
"The news of the parliament introducing the solar power generation receiving equipment was announced to the nation yesterday, and now the country's internet is filled with curses. However, this is just an illusion created by the conservative camp. It seems like the entire internet is scolding them, but in reality, less than one percent are actual netizens venting their emotions. The rest are paid posters."
Reid nodded, getting a better picture of the situation.
The civil unrest in the Kingdom of Azadistan originally took three to four days to escalate into a civil war before being swiftly interrupted by the Innovators, who took the opportunity to demonstrate to the world their philosophy of only wanting to eradicate war.
In the original story, the trigger for the war was Masoud Lachmadi's kidnapping by unknown personnel (the mercenary organization Sachez was in, which could basically be judged as the AEU sending people to stir up trouble after seeing the Union successfully gain influence in the Kingdom of Azadistan).
The kidnapping of Masoud Lachmadi had not yet occurred, proving that the system had teleported him here a day or a few hours early.
In the original story, the kidnapping happened at night, so it was very likely to be tonight.
As for the online backlash against the reformists for introducing the solar power generation receiving equipment, Reid could only say that even after several hundred years, the way online discourse was manipulated remained the same. Less than one percent of the people speaking out were representing the other ninety-nine percent. As long as they used paid posters to drown out the voices of reason and opposition, they could seize the high ground of public opinion, no matter how false and empty their theoretical basis was at the time.
Reid knew that Masoud Lachmadi actually supported Princess Marina Ismail. He was deliberately taking an opposing stance to control the opposition forces and prevent them from taking extreme actions.
After all, in a place like the Middle East, various terrorist attacks had almost become a daily occurrence. Therefore, Masoud Lachmadi's move was to reduce internal friction during the country's reforms.
This was also why Reid had originally hoped Athrun would return to PLANT and inherit the Zala Faction.
If Athrun had gone back to inherit the Zala Faction, even if he continued to oppose the Earth Alliance on the surface, Durandal would most likely have had to find other forces when it came time to push the colony satellite debris. That would have been easier to deal with, and it would have prevented Patrick from being blamed once more after his death.
However, Reid didn't want to get involved in the kidnapping incident just yet. In his view, even if the Innovators used the media to declare to those following the incident that they were truly acting to eliminate war, the overall global public opinion wouldn't change. After all, only a very small number of people—mostly media and soldiers from the three major powers—could pay immediate attention to the civil unrest in the Kingdom of Azadistan.
These people would be unable to speak up for the Innovators due to government control, making it impossible for the Innovators to shed their terrorist label.
What Reid needed to ensure was that Setsuna didn't get his Gundam stolen by Sachez during the operation to rescue Masoud Lachmadi.
After the Gundam Virtue fiasco last time, Reid didn't dare to bet that Setsuna and the Exia wouldn't also suffer a setback.
So, Reid turned to Orga and asked, "Orga, how's your acting?"
Orga was a bit confused as to why Reid would ask such a question, but he had already accepted Reid as his new boss. So, he didn't hide anything and said confidently, "Chairman, I've always thought that if I hadn't been messing around in the slums, I might have become an action star by now."
Hearing this, Reid could only retort in his mind, "If you weren't messing around in the slums, you'd definitely be a long-distance runner."
However, Reid did approve of Orga's control over his expressions and aura, so he said, "Then I have a mission for you. In this battle, you will operate independently as Tekkadan. I need you to act out..."
After Reid explained the plan, Orga patted his chest and promised to complete the mission. He then took the Gundam Virtue and all of Tekkadan's members, along with their respective Mobile Suits, and descended into the desert.
Since the Gundam Barbatos Lupus and the Garibaldi Rebake couldn't turn invisible, Orga and the others brought GN Capacitors and a special fabric that could hold GN Particles.
As long as the Gundam Barbatos Lupus and Garibaldi Rebake weren't activated, they could just throw the cloth over them and activate the GN Particle capacitors to achieve optical camouflage.
As for the others piloting the Ghost Jegans equipped with the Alaya-Vijnana System (the Alaya-Vijnana System didn't strictly require an Ahab Reactor; the Mobile Workers Tekkadan originally used weren't powered by Ahab Reactors), they all had electronic camouflage systems and could move like ghosts. This left Mikazuki and Akihiro to guard the camp as a reserve force.
After setting this backup plan in motion, Reid had Hoshino Ruri pilot the Granshaio, with its stealth on, to the skies above the capital of the Kingdom of Azadistan. Taking advantage of the fact that the chaos in the Kingdom of Azadistan had not yet begun, Reid prepared to have a good chat with Alejandro and Ribbons.
Alejandro and Ribbons's location was quite easy to find, as Alejandro Corner's visit as a UN investigator was public information.
As for where the Kingdom of Azadistan would accommodate the visiting delegation, that was something that could be found just by hacking into the government network.
For this operation, Reid only needed to bring Nein, the Xia sisters, and Belfgang—four people in total.
Reid and Nein would switch to the Hermes Zero, bringing Xia Yufang with them.
After Reid and Xia Yufang disembarked, Nein would pilot the Mobile Suit and act as a data relay point, ensuring that once Reid entered the building where Alejandro and Ribbons were staying, the building's surveillance facilities would be taken over by Hoshino Ruri from the air.
This would ensure that if Ribbons later tried to use VEDA to regain control of the building's surveillance system, the authority wouldn't be instantly taken back.
Xia Yulan and Belfgang were the guards. They would be on standby around the building, piloting the Blade Angel and the Mystic Lightning, respectively. If there was any possibility of things turning hostile, they could physically calm Alejandro and Ribbons down.
Since all three Mobile Suits had stealth capabilities, and the Mystic Lightning's Mirage Colloid System was so effective that you wouldn't notice it unless you walked right into it, it could remain invisible on a lower rooftop on standby.
The Blade Angel's GN Particle Passive Shielding Communication could easily arouse suspicion, so Xia Yulan would only operate with the Nuclear Fusion Engine's stealth active. As long as she wasn't engaged in intense combat and was just standing invisibly on the rooftops of the surrounding tall buildings, the absence of a GN Drive wouldn't make much of a difference.
As for Reid's group of three, they landed directly on the rooftop of the hotel where Alejandro was staying.
Reid and Xia Yufang, being the ones entering the hotel, couldn't possibly still be in their pilot suits. They were both dressed in casual clothes that allowed for easy movement, looking like a young master and lady from a wealthy family.
Of course, under their clothes were Lunatitanium Bulletproof Vests. Although their heads were unprotected, Reid could buy bulletproof helmets from the system at any time if needed.
However, based on the number of security personnel Hoshino Ruri found after taking over the hotel's security system, Reid felt that if he messed up and the infiltration turned into a gunfight massacre, he should just go back to Noin's special forces training camp for a refresher course. It would mean he had gotten far too lax recently, causing his skills to severely decline.
Fortunately, Reid's actual skills hadn't declined (Amuro hadn't lost much of his skill even after seven or eight years of being a mascot and living a life of nightly revelry). With Hoshino Ruri providing data and Nein calculating and directing their movements, Reid and Xia Yufang managed to avoid the patrolling security and guards to the greatest extent possible.
Reid planned to find Ribbons first, as the security for his room was much more relaxed than Alejandro's, with not a single guard.
However, Ribbons wasn't in his room when Reid arrived; he was having lunch with Alejandro.
Fortunately, Reid was quite patient. He sat down on the sofa without even turning on the lights and waited for Ribbons to return.
Reid had no interest in searching the room. Ribbons lacked the worldly desires of ordinary humans; his goal had always been to realize Aeolia's plan and then guide the world as a god.
Therefore, his room was incredibly simple. There wasn't even a suitcase in sight. This person probably only traveled with a couple of changes of clothes and a few communication devices, since he followed Alejandro for food and drink anyway.
Unfortunately for Ribbons, after Reid had muddied the waters, he probably had some doubts in his own heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked having VEDA order Tieria to invade Reid's Mobile Suit.
Ribbons didn't take too long with his meal, so Reid didn't have to wait long.
When he returned to his room and turned on the light, he saw two uninvited guests.
Through his Newtype Sense, Reid felt that beneath Ribbons's expressionless face, his mood instantly shifted from startled, to excited, to calm. For a moment, his eyes even took on a golden, disc-like pattern; he must have been testing his connection to VEDA.
After confirming that his connection to VEDA was normal, Ribbons calmly walked up to Reid, bowed, and said, "Mr. Reid Isaac, although this is somewhat unexpected, I am very pleased to see you here."
Seeing Ribbons being so polite, Reid nodded, took out the data disk he had Wang Liu Mei pass to him back then, and handed it back to him, saying, "The manufacturing data for the Pseudo Solar Furnace. A thoughtful gesture, but unfortunately, I have no use for it now. Still, thank you."
That's right, Reid had read this data disk upon returning to the CE Universe. However, by that time, Reid had already obtained the complete Gundam Virtue, so the manufacturing data for this first-generation GN-T Drive was completely useless.
Reid found the particles from this blood-red GN-T Drive to be toxic. Now that he had an original GN Drive, he couldn't be bothered to research how to compress them into the non-toxic orange GN particles of a Pseudo Solar Furnace. He planned to just wait until the mission progressed to the 00 Season 2 timeline and get the ready-made version.
Ribbons was very smart. He immediately understood that the Gundam Virtue must have fallen into SDP's hands. Since they had an Original Furnace, they naturally wouldn't need a GN-T Drive.
However, Ribbons still asked curiously, "Mr. Reid, do you have the ability to produce GN Drives on Earth?"
Reid no longer planned to hide the fact that he had obtained a GN Drive through the Gundam Virtue. After all, the Gundam Artemis had already been refitted with a GN Drive, and the Blade Angel was using one as well.
So, Reid went along with his previous lie and said, "Are you surprised? I told Sumeragi that much of Aeolia's technology was taken with him when he defected from the organization.
"Although the GN Particles, as you've named them, were originally his independent research project, he only took one research direction with him. It's a bit difficult to reverse-engineer the manufacturing process from just a small amount of particles, but with a GN Drive in hand, reverse-engineering it is a piece of cake.
"Moreover, just because you need to go to Jupiter to manufacture GN Drives doesn't mean we do. Artificially creating Jupiter's environment and topological defects isn't too much trouble for us.
"Actually, it's just that those old geezers are inactive and don't want to use Aeolia's technology. Otherwise, when you were using the Europa manned Jupiter exploration ship to manufacture GN Drives on Jupiter, those old men could have made them at the same time.
"By the way, don't think the lifespan of those old men doesn't add up. There are quite a few old geezers in the organization who are over two hundred years old. I don't even know the secret to their long lives. But for you, who can also live a long life, this piece of information probably isn't very tempting, is it?"
Reid knew that Ribbons's longevity was less about physical immortality and more about the fact that Quasi-Innovators were intelligent life forms composed of nanomachines.
Human tissues age, but nanomachines do not. Therefore, Ribbons's metabolism was always at the peak of a human body's prime, with cells constantly renewing, naturally leading to immortality. (This is pure speculation; there is no official information explaining how Quasi-Innovators maintain their long lives.)
But this process had to be adjusted from the moment a Quasi-Innovator was created. Naturally born humans couldn't achieve longevity this way. Moreover, these nanomachines themselves lacked regenerative abilities. If a limb was amputated, he would have to get a new body; otherwise, he would just be disabled.
In other words, Ribbons would also die if he were killed, unless he died inside VEDA and could directly transfer his consciousness into it, or if he uploaded his consciousness to VEDA beforehand, leaving an unconscious shell for others to kill.
(In the original story, Ribbons died after VEDA was seized by Tieria, so he couldn't upload his consciousness. As for the other Quasi-Innovators, VEDA was in Ribbons's hands when they died. To ensure his own special status and prevent others from having a chance to fight him for VEDA, any support they required from VEDA was routed through Ribbons's computing power. So when they died, they were truly dead.)
But Reid said this to deliberately lead Ribbons to believe that Reid was coveting longevity. Even if Ribbons knew that Reid couldn't achieve longevity through his method, as long as the other party had desires, there was room for negotiation.
After all, the worst thing in a negotiation is when the other party doesn't care about anything you have. With no bargaining chips, you can't negotiate at all.
Reid was doing this to pave the way for his future actions. Killing Ribbons at this point in time was tantamount to directly forfeiting the assessment, but a warning still had to be issued.
He needed an excuse to let Ribbons go, and one that Ribbons himself would accept.
Sure enough, as soon as Ribbons heard Reid's words, he smiled. He thought to himself that humans were just humans; no matter how much technology they mastered, they would still pursue something as ethereal as longevity. But were there humans over 200 years old? That was a valuable piece of information.