Learning that Lu Tianming intended to take him to see the new Mobile Suit, Xia Chuan's rising irritation from being awakened quickly subsided.
After all, staying inside the Mobile Suit all day was rather boring... Even though he now had the freely movable Haro body, the most he could do was wander around the Dawn Organization and join in the excitement.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered going out on his own, but without the built-in Radar from the Mobile Suit, he suddenly remembered a rather serious problem.
He seemed to have a poor sense of direction...
This had been an issue even before his transmigration, but since he always had the ever-helpful Lu Tianming acting as his human navigation system wherever he went, the problem rarely surfaced, and he never paid much attention to it.
In this world, with little need to go out, he had almost completely forgotten about it... Until last time when he ventured out of the Dawn Organization on his own, wandered around, and realized when trying to return that he hardly recognized any routes.
It was quite embarrassing.
In the end, he had to contact Lu Tianming through the glasses' connection to come get him and drag him back.
"By the way, could you give me a more serious appearance... This look really makes it easy to be mistaken for an electronic pet," Xia Chuan complained quietly through the earpiece on his glasses as they headed toward Erica's workshop, estimating that Kira ahead probably wouldn't notice them.
Lu Tianming raised an eyebrow, glancing sideways at Xia Chuan's current appearance... The Haro's prominent circular legs and Mechanical Arms set at their initial position like hands in pockets, combined with the fierce eyes characteristic of the black Haro, actually didn't give a soft or cute first impression - it even looked somewhat menacing.
But the reason Kira still treated him as a pet... was probably his size.
After all, if Xia Chuan didn't extend his mechanical legs now, he was only about the size of a basketball. Even in motion mode, he was only slightly taller than a sphere.
He was truly at the level where he had to jump up to reach Lu Tianming's knees.
Looking at Xia Chuan in this form, Lu Tianming sighed helplessly:
"What else can I change you into... Larger forms are neither convenient for movement nor for connecting to MS. Haro is already the best solution I could come up with."
"Should I turn you into Dolly Number Two instead?"
"That would make me even more of a pet... Can't you make me into something like an SD Freedom Gundam to play with? Or a Zaku, a Gouf, or even a Jegan would work," Xia Chuan retorted, unreservedly unleashing his wild imagination.
"...Do you really think miniaturized MS are easy to create?"
Lu Tianming sighed helplessly at Xia Chuan. Mechanical manufacturing generally becomes more difficult the smaller you go.
Shrinking an MS to Haro size while maintaining SD Gundam proportions and mobility would be technically more challenging than directly creating the Strike Freedom.
Just figuring out how to fit these Mechanical Arms into the Haro had been troublesome enough...
Xia Chuan scratched his smooth mechanical shell head somewhat helplessly, thought for a moment, and realized that was indeed the case.
So he didn't say more and temporarily accepted his current state.
...If anyone called him an electronic pet next time, he'd just hit them with a Haro God Fist.
Then they'd see who the real pet was!
After being led by Kira for a while, Lu Tianming arrived at the workshop where Erica was located.
"Miss Erica, I've brought Mr. Lu to you!"
"Oh? Perfect timing!"
Erica was a technical engineer at the Dawn Organization, currently in charge of the M1 Astray project.
She had been puzzling over a computer with a troubled expression, but when she saw Lu Tianming arrive, she happily stepped aside and gestured for him to come provide his input.
"Based on data from the Blitz and Blitz units, I've developed two specialized versions of the M1 Astray. Take a look and see which one is more suitable to keep."
As she moved aside, she didn't forget to provide additional explanation.
Curious, Lu Tianming stepped forward to examine the designs. The current M1 Astray adopted equipment settings similar to the Strike Suit's detachable system. However, unlike the Strike's backpack replacement system, the M1 Astray's equipment more closely resembled the G-self's backpack system, featuring not only backpack equipment but also partial armor replacement.
Based on this design concept, two directions had emerged: the Full Firepower M1 Astray and the Assault Type M1 Astray.
The former transformed the entire M1 Astray into a mobile artillery platform by thickening its armor while installing weapons including long-range railguns, bazookas, and missile pods, using hover movement.
The latter enhanced electronic and mobility capabilities by simplifying weapon systems and installing a simplified version of the Mirage Colloid device.
After stepping forward, lightly pinching his chin and thinking for a moment, Lu Tianming instead turned a questioning gaze back to Erica:
"...Without you first explaining what this improved model is intended for, I can't really help you."
"Different combat positions have different requirements, so they naturally can't be evaluated by the same standards."
"Oh, I almost forgot about that."
Erica suddenly realized she had been too hasty and forgotten this important piece of information.
"The current M1 Astray is already fully equipped, but ORB's military wants us to submit an improved version that can optimize the M1 Astray's coastal defense operations for the upcoming major battle."
"Though come to think of it... when the officer in charge of liaison explained this requirement to us, he seemed to say something strange."
"Oh?"
Lu Tianming raised an eyebrow, signaling for Erica to explain the situation.
"He said... if we can't complete it quickly, there's no need to rush the submission. Apparently, there are still some doubts among higher-ups about whether to resist to the end."
"Hey, could it be that old fool Uzumi is planning to raise the white flag?"
Before Lu Tianming could speak, Xia Chuan whispered his speculation through the headset function of his sunglasses.
Hearing Xia Chuan's words, Lu Tianming frowned... judging by the original course of events, this seemed quite possible.
He silently decided that after handling matters here, he would go find Uzumi and ask what was really going on - to see if he indeed planned to follow the original path of evacuating ORB's civilians, sending Cagalli away, and then blowing himself up along with the mass driver.
If that were really the case... Lu Tianming would have to seriously correct this guy's thinking.
"Never mind that - at least with me here, ORB will definitely resist to the end."
Lu Tianming waved his hand, not intending to waste more time on this topic, and simply stated with conviction.
Erica had intended to tease him, asking what ability he had to interfere with ORB's military decisions... but upon seeing Lu Tianming's undeniable gaze, the words on the tip of her tongue were swallowed back.
Considering his relationship with Cagalli... could this guy really interfere with ORB's national policies?
She shook her head, dismissing the idle thought—why bother so much about political matters? She was just an ordinary technical engineer after all.
"Then, to return to the point, in your opinion, which of these two plans is more suitable?"
Lu Tianming lightly pinched his chin, letting out a somewhat helpless bitter laugh as he said:
"To be honest... I think neither of them is really that great."
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