Just as Jiuer reaffirmed her conviction, the communication within Fred's personal team was filled with both excitement and tension.
After all, if this research succeeded, they would become the founders of Laurasia.
The credit would be immense, destined to be a glorious highlight in their resumes.
At this moment, the young man who brought them this glory spoke again.
"There's still plenty of time for thorough preparation, and I trust in everyone's capabilities."
"Let's do our best."
"Understood!"
Fred's encouragement wasn't particularly rousing, delivered in his usual composed tone.
But with Fred's status elevated infinitely in their minds, his words carried undeniable weight.
It didn't require any special tone or charisma from Fred.
His competence spoke for itself, embodying the significance of his words.
The Coordinator Fred provided them indeed warranted careful study.
As for Fred, after temporarily ending the communication and having everyone return to their tasks, the communicator beside him rang.
"Come down for dinner!"
Heather's voice came through as soon as he answered.
Her loud voice was tinged with clear exasperation.
"I've called you so many times!"
"Coming, coming."
Fred, who had just been commanding respect before the team, chuckled awkwardly.
There was no helping it—the discussion had indeed run long.
Between problem-solving and explaining the device, time had slipped away.
Evening was approaching, the sunset beyond the window already sinking slowly over the calm sea, its afterglow reflecting on the tranquil waters.
The yolk-like sunset successfully made Fred's stomach growl, quickening his steps.
"Didn't I say you could just leave some food for me?"
Fred muttered softly as he hurried into the living room.
But his gaze soon swept around, sensing another presence in the room.
"Are you dumb? Have you forgotten what day it is today?"
Before he could ask, Heather stood with her hands on her hips, speaking with exasperation.
In response to his mother's words, Fred blinked in confusion.
"What day is it?"
Bang
Amid Fred's puzzlement, three loud sounds erupted.
Turning around, he saw Athrun, Flay, and Nicol holding party poppers, the ejected streamers shimmering with dazzling colors in the air.
It was incredibly beautiful—more advanced in craftsmanship than the party poppers from his previous life, yet somehow unfamiliar.
Yzak, empty-handed, stood at the back, his phoenix-like eyes fixed on Fred with a hint of nervousness.
"Happy birthday~~! Brother~"
Finally, at Flay's words, Fred belatedly pointed at himself and said,
"My birthday...?"
"Yes, obviously. Have you lost your mind from reading too much?"
Heather teased her son, a pang of heartache surfacing within her.
After all, if he were an ordinary child his age, he'd surely be looking forward to birthdays and such occasions.
But Fred seemed to have completely forgotten.
"Sorry."
Fred chuckled. It wasn't that he never celebrated birthdays - both in his previous life and this one, he usually just had small celebrations.
But now that he was busy, he had completely forgotten about it.
Working every day, studying, improving - this kind of life had become his daily routine.
Just as Fred finished speaking, several more gift boxes appeared before him.
Flay carried these gifts forward - there were quite a few, some large and some small, piled up almost as tall as Flay herself.
"These are our gifts~ Open them when you get back," Flay said proudly.
"Thank you."
He didn't know what the gifts were, but Fred carefully stored them away.
Resources here were quite abundant - any craft item could be obtained as long as there was a request.
But more than their value, it was the thought that counted.
Just as this thought crossed Fred's mind, a cute, mechanical-sounding voice interrupted.
"Haro?"
Fred's gaze immediately shifted to the source of the sound.
The source was a round, black spherical object rolling around near Athrun's feet.
"What... is this?"
Fred paused for a moment before asking.
Though he didn't really need to ask, since he already knew what this was.
After all, the famous Haro could be considered as much a staple protagonist of the Gundam series as any character.
He hadn't expected Athrun to have created it before he even started working on it himself.
Not that it mattered much - it was just a convenient tool and pet.
"This is Haro, I made it myself," Athrun explained somewhat shyly, unaware of Fred's complicated thoughts.
"It only has basic functions for now..."
Athrun bent down to pick up the Haro at his feet and nervously presented it to Fred.
The Haro seemed to have a sensing system, as its monitor-like eyes were fixed on Fred.
It did look quite cute, no wonder Lacus liked it.
Thinking this, Fred felt somewhat strange.
But he still reached out and took the round Haro.
"Thank you."
Fred smiled.
He glanced at the Haro in his hands.
Timeline-wise, Haro should have been given to Lacus by Athrun later.
Had he stolen Lacus's role too?
Fred couldn't help but wonder to himself.
He'd recently heard that PLANT's marriage laws were about to be put on the agenda.
There was quite a lot of opposition.
Who knew when they would be passed.
Of course, Athrun and Lacus's marriage would definitely be politically motivated.
He didn't know when their engagement would be finalized.
Poor Athrun, wearing those green horns.
Just as Fred was lost in thought while looking at the Haro,
Athrun, unaware that Fred thought of him as being cuckolded, continued softly.
"Brother, do you think it's okay?"
"Yeah, it's quite good."
Snapping back to reality, Fred nodded.
He truly wasn't joking.
Even just from its appearance, one could tell the technical sophistication of this little robot.
Although its AI capabilities and similar functions were somewhat lacking.
It probably didn't have that lock-picking function either, but for a child around ten years old, it was still quite impressive.
"I'll take good care of it."
Gathering his other thoughts, Fred smiled.
"Mm!"
Hearing his brother say this, Athrun was also very happy and immediately nodded vigorously in agreement.
Meanwhile, Yzak, who had been watching the two finish their conversation, stepped forward.