He had heard that Fred was in a branch research group, while the main research group was currently lagging behind in progress.
It was completely topsy-turvy, and he wondered what the people in the main research group thought of Fred.
If this attempt failed, those with noble character naturally wouldn't say anything, but those with low character might just step on him when he's down.
Who knew.
But he didn't refute the other's statement.
He quite admired Fred's mindset.
It was far better than being tense alone and then venting that tension and unease as malice onto others.
After all, such unpleasant people were not uncommon among Coordinators either.
And from what he had observed of Fred during this time, it seemed that no matter what he faced, he could probably handle it with composure.
Why wasn't he a Coordinator?
Amid Alec's countless sighs since getting to know Fred, the two of them boarded the special vehicle one after another.
Under the cover of various parties in PLANT, all relevant personnel quickly gathered from PLANT's hidden locations to the secret port at Jachin Due.
Among them were also the members of Fred's team.
The design of this secret port at Jachin Due was quite ingenious. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary port, but inside there was a secret route large enough for shuttlecraft-sized vessels, allowing them to reach this base undetected.
PLANT indeed had many advantages in terms of technology.
Fred sighed inwardly, but other thoughts surfaced in his mind.
He couldn't help but think that ORB's Dawn Organization had the advantage of plot convenience.
Once MS were officially announced, he would still need to find an opportunity to go to ORB.
Of course, it was still too early to think about that now.
He hadn't even come into contact with MS yet, and the big boss hadn't been eliminated.
At this thought, Fred felt a sense of urgency again.
A year had already passed, and he needed to become stronger to adapt to the intensifying battles ahead.
Moreover, who knew what would happen in the future conflicts.
He had already changed too many things. For instance, he certainly wouldn't allow Junius Seven to explode.
But without that trigger, Blue Cosmos still had plenty of opportunities to cause trouble.
Whether the situation would escalate into full-scale war, how he would balance these forces, how to control or destroy GENESIS, how to prevent PLANT from deploying Neutron Jammers toward Earth—all these were issues one after another.
There were many things to do and many problems to solve.
Of course, Fred wasn't despairing.
After all, he only needed time to grow stronger, and becoming stronger could solve most of the problems.
"Director!"
A series of excited voices interrupted Fred's thoughts.
Almost the moment Fred stepped out of the shuttlecraft at the small hidden port, the four figures appeared before him.
Everyone's faces were filled with excitement and enthusiasm; even the usually composed Albert Heinlein had a slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth.
They weren't celebrating the ignition experiment that hadn't even started yet; they were excited because they were seeing Fred in person.
After all, for the past several months, they had only been communicating with Fred remotely, making it feel like a long-distance relationship.
At first, they naturally didn't care whether Fred was communicating remotely.
But as Fred gradually demonstrated his capabilities, everyone grew increasingly eager to meet this young genius supervisor in person.
It was akin to the feeling of chasing after a celebrity.
And Fred truly shone like a star, consistently dazzling before them.
So, finally seeing him in person, how could they not be thrilled by their successful "celebrity encounter"?
"Hello everyone."
Amid their excitement, Fred offered them a faint smile.
It somewhat reminded him of his brief heroic days back in Copernicus.
Of course, they had probably forgotten about him as a hero by now.
People are quick to forget.
Especially recently, with conflicts between both sides intensifying and major news capturing their attention daily, a vanished hero doesn't remain in memory for long.
Fred didn't dwell on this line of thought, simply leading the group forward as they floated along, saying,
"The experiment is about to begin. This is just our first ignition experiment, so no need to be too nervous."
"But make sure to collect the data properly. I don't want any mistakes in such an important matter, understood?"
Fred's words weren't harsh, even carrying a tone of gentleness.
Hearing this, everyone nodded in tacit agreement.
In their eyes, Fred was a star—naturally, they would follow his lead.
Moreover, now that they had attached themselves to such a talented and kind-hearted boss, they were overjoyed and would naturally put in even more effort.
Seeing the seriousness on their faces, Fred didn't press further.
A reminder was enough; they were Coordinator elites, not children who couldn't understand instructions.
Fred quickly changed the subject and began discussing the upcoming experiment.
No one was surprised by Fred's sudden shift to work topics.
After all, this was just like him—immersed in his work, which was one of the things they admired about him.
Chatting along the way, they soon arrived at the testing site.
Located at the bottom of Jachin Due, this testing site was massive and originally absent from Jachin Due's blueprints. It served as the monitoring room for this experiment.
"Let me introduce you: Director Freed, Director Thomas."
Jiuer made introductions between the two, and they shook hands in tacit understanding.
"Director Freed, I've reviewed your design data—it's truly remarkable."
"But how were you so certain we'd ultimately settle on the Laurasia as the model?"
In typical research, the battleship framework would be determined before engine development.
But they were different—they were in a hurry and had many researchers.
So, they started simultaneous research early on.
However, their team had only initially studied a few universal frameworks, planning to make customization modifications once the battleship was finalized.
They never expected Fred to single-mindedly design the power reactor based entirely on the Laurasia's design.
"The Laurasia-class offers the best performance among them."
"Both in design and overall capability."
"Uh... is that so?"
Hearing this, Thomas's lips twitched slightly.
Forgive his lack of discernment, but he couldn't see it at all.
Thinking this, Thomas's gaze also shifted to Jiuer, who hadn't spoken.
"Then let's get started."
Jiuer cooperatively said.
Of course, her expression remained serious.
"Alright."
Fred responded and gave Heinline a glance below.
With the command given, everyone acknowledged and dispersed to their respective monitoring stations.
Soon, the only sounds in the room were from the instruments and the slightly heavy breathing.
-
Without deploying the Neutron Jammer, given the Earth Alliance's production capacity, PLANT might not last a year before defeat. Moreover, without such interference, guided weapons would face far less disruption, and MS could be easily overwhelmed by them. Whether ZAFT could establish a foothold on the ground would be a serious question.
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