Chapter 388: Modifying the Eternal
The opposing MS force, seeing the Eternal launch its counterattack, immediately intensified their assault, discarding their missile launchers after exhausting their ammunition.
They raised large beam rifles and machine guns, aiming at the Eternal and firing streaks of green beam blasts and machine-gun fire that poured out like blazing fire serpents.
"Hard to port, evade!" Andrew could only direct the helmsman to begin evasive maneuvers.
Tolle sensed the situation—Regenerate, Testament, and Providence Gundams still hadn't caught up yet. They would need at least another four or five minutes to arrive, which felt a bit too late.
However, the Weapon Utilization Test Type GINN Modified and the Judgment Gundam, whose body had just been assembled, were both still at the Jachin Due Fortress.
Tolle immediately had Nami take control of those two units, replacing the power system of the Test Type GINN Modified with a nuclear reactor plus an anti–neutron jammer regulator. The Judgment Gundam was swiftly equipped with its combat backpack.
The plan was to have them rush out and attack the MS force from behind, targeting their weapon systems.
But after Nami ran the calculations, it would still take about a minute to reach the battlefield—too slow.
At that moment, Tolle turned to Lacus beside him and said, "Lacus, what comes next might be a bit unbelievable. Please sit tight, and don't be afraid of what I'm about to do."
Lacus tilted her head with a blank, innocent expression and replied, "Why would I be afraid of you?"
"That's all I needed to hear." Tolle nodded. "I'm going to modify the Eternal right now and turn it into a battleship with invincible defensive power."
With the Klein Field at his disposal, Tolle felt a bit overconfident and no longer wanted to hide his hand.
Of course, the real reason was that he wanted to attract Lacus's attention and show off a bit in front of her.
Andrew asked with a puzzled expression, "What are you planning to do? How could it be possible to modify a ship immediately?"
But Lacus smiled encouragingly and nodded. "Go ahead, Tolle. I believe in you."
Tolle nodded back, then immediately spoke into the ship's internal communications.
"All personnel aboard, please remain as still as possible. This ship will undergo immediate modification while in operation.
Repeat, all personnel aboard, please remain—"
Tolle raised his left hand and opened a channel to his storage space. Massive amounts of metallic-colored neo DG cells poured out, spreading rapidly and assimilating into the entire bridge of the Eternal.
Nami also quickly took control of the neo DG cells, accelerating the assimilation process. While maintaining evasive maneuvers, she simultaneously began the modification work on the Eternal.
First, two large battleship-grade Ahab reactors were installed near the bridge and the living quarters.
Then, the original bulky nuclear propulsion system was dismantled and replaced with a much smaller, high-performance deuterium nuclear fusion reactor for battleships, expanding the hangar capacity to accommodate up to six mobile suits.
Next, on top of the original layered armor, SPS armor and Ahab nano-layer armor were added.
Finally, an intelligent auxiliary computation system and a Klein Field emitter were installed on the Eternal.
After just over a minute, the modifications were complete. Tolle recalled all the neo DG cells back into his storage space.
"Modification complete!" Tolle nodded at the stunned Lacus, then addressed the ship's artificial intelligence.
"Eternal, activate the Klein Field and enable auxiliary computation. Calculate the defensive upper limit of the Klein Field."
A string of numbers appeared on the main display, representing the estimated maximum damage the Klein Field could withstand. Without knowing this, using a life-or-death defense field would be far too dangerous.
As for why he didn't install a layered Klein Field—if the Eternal's artificial "idiot" intelligence couldn't handle the calculations properly and caused a spatial collapse, that would be catastrophic.
After all, not every AI was like Nami, who always had Tolle's internal satellite Zea as computational support.
"Klein Field…" Lacus had just recovered from her shock when she heard the name. Her face flushed red as she asked Tolle, "This… was it named after me?"
Only then did Tolle realize—Klein Field, Lacus Clyne. They really were exactly the same. He immediately gazed at Lacus with gentle eyes, meeting her gaze, and shamelessly nodded.
"Yes, Lacus. It's named after your surname. It's a defensive field capable of withstanding nuclear-level attacks to a certain extent.
More importantly, the Klein Field is a defensive field that symbolizes peace. When it's deployed to block enemy attacks, the user also cannot attack at the same time.
That gives you more time to communicate and understand the other side.
So… I named it the Klein Field, hoping you could use it to bring peace and hope to this world."
"Tolle."
"Lacus."
The two looked at each other tenderly, completely immersed in their own world.
Watching them, Athrun clenched his chest tightly with his left hand. Something felt off—like something that once belonged to him had been taken by Tolle again.
Meanwhile, Andrew watched the Eternal continue its automatic evasive maneuvers and asked in astonishment, "Tolle, is this ship fully automated now? Can you explain exactly what modifications you made?"
"Sure," Tolle replied. "It's semi-automated. I'm assisting with control to enable automatic evasion.
I also installed an intelligent auxiliary system called 'Eternal.' From now on, you can issue commands to it directly.
As for the other modifications…"
Tolle explained all the newly added functions in detail. The crew on the bridge stared at him in shock, feeling that everything they had just witnessed was utterly unbelievable.
"…So next, let's test the gravity engine." After finishing his explanation, Tolle glanced proudly at the bridge crew.
He then picked up the ship's internal communicator again.
"All personnel in the living quarters and on the bridge, please ensure your feet are in contact with the floor or sit down immediately.
The ship will activate the gravity engine. Gravity will be generated in the living quarters and on the bridge. Please be advised.
Repeat, all personnel in the living quarters and on the bridge, please—"
Tolle then turned to Lacus and said, "Lacus, I've granted you the highest authorization level on the AI. Go ahead and tell Eternal to activate the gravity system for the bridge and living areas."