Fred observed the port, and the others also noticed Fred.
"Who is that? Why is he wearing a mask?"
Watching Fred's arrival, the armed guard couldn't help but mutter.
"Trying to look cool?"
"You don't get it, do you? He's the chief director of this experiment."
Another armed guard, a Coordinator, said proudly beside him.
"I was also present at the last experiment. Throughout the entire test, the director didn't even twitch his lips."
"So cool!"
"Huh."
Hearing his colleague's high praise, the young man also looked toward the masked man not far away, his curiosity growing even stronger.
Everyone here was an Elite, and for his Elite colleague to hold someone in such high regard, he must truly be a genius.
"So, stop talking. We need to focus on our own defense duties!"
Seeing Fred in his white robe floating over, the man finished speaking and immediately performed a very standard military salute in Fred's direction.
"Got it."
Muttering, the young man also made the same gesture.
Meanwhile, Fred, who had floated past the two, showed no reaction.
Instead, Alec, who had overheard the entire conversation behind Fred, couldn't help but sigh.
"Your reputation in PLANT is growing higher and higher."
There was no helping it. No matter how much Fred wanted to stay low-key, he was right here.
Research required interaction with people, and once he interacted, with Fred's current abilities, he naturally garnered respect from those Coordinator supremacists or PLANT patriots.
"Hmm."
Fred acknowledged, but his gaze remained fixed on the document in front of him.
Looking at such a composed person, Alec sighed.
He wanted to say that it wouldn't hurt for the other to enjoy these admiring glances, but he didn't know how to say it.
After all, the higher Fred's reputation grew, the more likely it was to provoke suspicion from those above.
Thinking of this, Alec felt a bit of sympathy for Fred.
Unaware that someone was concerned about him, Fred had already floated all the way to the familiar control room.
Inside the control room, Heinline and the others had already arrived.
Seeing Fred, they excitedly floated over.
It was the same team as before, but what was different today was that behind the reinforced glass of the control room was a one-to-one replica of a Laurasia-class ship.
However, the Engine of this Laurasia-class wasn't directly installed here. Instead, it was connected to several large pipes leading elsewhere.
Clearly, it was impossible to run the Engine at full power here—the pipes were connected to a cooling system.
This Laurasia-class ship wasn't the pale green hull Fred remembered. Instead, its entire body was a metallic silver color, which Fred found much more appealing than the pale green.
From the rows of rivets on its surface, it was clear that this was the original color of the Laurasia-class.
Whoever decided on the seaweed-like color scheme—was Yuri paying tribute to his own son?
The Laurasia-class/FFM-type Laurasia-class MS carrier ship is only 150 meters long. At this length, Earth forces would never use it as a carrier—it's a bit cramped. Earth's MS carriers are typically 200 meters or even 300 meters and above. (It's clear this is indeed an early-stage product, whether due to disguising its actual purpose or lack of experience.)
Fred snapped out of his thoughts from the data in the document, silently critiquing.
Meanwhile, Heinline grew even more excited upon seeing Fred's gaze.
"Director Freed, this is a one-to-one replica of the battleship, restored with Director Jiuer's help!"
"It has the same functionality and is fully suitable for testing!"
Fred had directly led them in researching PLANT's very first dedicated battleship.
It was hard not to be excited.
If everything went smoothly today, their names would be etched into PLANT's history alongside this battleship.
In this world, everyone has different pursuits.
Having one's name written into history is something most people yearn for.
In fact, it wasn't just Heinline; even the members of his team following behind him looked exhilarated as they gazed at the new battleship behind the glass.
Of course, alongside this excitement, tension was inevitable.
The allure of success is matched only by the dread of failure.
However, these fears were suppressed in the face of Fred, the masked man.
"Mm, I understand."
Fred nodded calmly. Unlike the others, neither his voice nor his expression revealed his thoughts.
Of course, Fred was wearing a mask, making it difficult to discern his expression in the first place.
Without saying much more, Fred cleared his throat lightly, drawing everyone's attention away from the battleship and back to himself before continuing.
"Focus on the test. I don't want you to fail due to carelessness. Understood?"
Fred's tone didn't change much as he spoke.
Yet, it helped refocus the minds of the team members, which had begun to drift.
"Understood!"
As their collaboration grew over time, their responses became increasingly synchronized.
Satisfied, Fred nodded and said, "Begin preparations. Have everything ready before Representative Jiuer arrives."
"Yes!"
Their voices were unified, as if they were not researchers but proud, spirited soldiers.
Meanwhile, deep within Jachin Due, far from where the others' voices could reach, Jiuer stared at Patrick on the screen, her facial muscles tenser than usual.
"The preparations for this test are mostly complete. In my opinion, Fred has a high chance of success."
"Hmm..."
Patrick, having finished reviewing the materials, nodded as well.
"But is this really possible? Fred's progress is too fast."
Patrick's tone carried a hint of disbelief and doubt.
No matter how much he trusted Fred's abilities.
Even though the solution proposed by this Fred was supported by both data and experiments, making it seem highly feasible.
It was precisely because of this that he found it even more astonishing.
To come up with such a plan in just a week—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed a bit unbelievable.
If they can achieve such speed, could they dominate the world in just a few more years?
On the other end, Jiuer's tense facial muscles twitched almost imperceptibly.
She felt helpless, as she had no idea how the other side had managed this.
"But our conclusions regarding mass were only finalized recently."
"Perhaps they had a sudden flash of inspiration?"
As she spoke, a hint of uncertainty crept into Jiuer's tone.
She understood Patrick's suspicions, but even if Fred had someone within their core, it wouldn't explain how they could have known something they themselves were unaware of.
Believing Fred had long known the data was less plausible than believing they had been possessed by some god of research.
"Hmm..."
Patrick responded with a heavy grunt, and for a moment, silence filled the communication line.