Everyone's expressions were solemn, and Yang Hui's expression was even uglier. This was because... he was the only one present who knew exactly what kind of enemy they would encounter at the end of the Gundam OO World.
"Mephis, will this Legion War assessment also escalate by a stage?" Yang Hui asked seriously.
[Yes.]
"In what specific aspects?"
[The final enemy count will be doubled, and their learning speed will be doubled.]
"...I understand."
"Yang Hui..." Everyone looked at Yang Hui, wanting to know why his expression was so grim. They wanted to know what kind of final enemy they would face—something they were currently ignorant of—that could make Yang Hui's face look so terrible.
"Extraterrestrial Living-metal Shapeshifter, or ELS for short. As the name suggests, their entire bodies are composed of metal capable of free transformation. They possess the characteristic of merging with other things and the ability to consume other matter through contact. Once an object comes into contact with the ELS, the contact point begins to be eroded by a crystalline metallic film, eventually consuming the entire target, including humans. The ELS also possesses the trait of learning the opponent's abilities, including but not limited to—GN Particles and GN Drives..."
"This!" Sumeragi, Wang Liu Mei, Creuset, Flit, and Jehart were horrified.
"That's not even the deadliest part." Yang Hui shook his head with a bitter smile and looked at Sumeragi. "Sumeragi, do you remember what I said when I first returned from Jupiter?"
"The upcoming dialogue, the guests are sleeping at our doorstep... They are at Jupiter!"
"Correct. And the second half of that sentence?"
"In a head-on battle, we cannot win no matter what!"
"What did you say!?" Now, no one could sit still. This was especially true for those familiar with Yang Hui; he was powerful and confident, someone who could defeat death and emerge victorious even in situations that seemed like certain death to outsiders.
Even in the Gundam SEED World, when facing the terrifying festum, it was the same.
But now... they heard the words "cannot win no matter what" from Yang Hui's own mouth.
"Their numbers are calculated in the trillions, and that's just a small branch of them."
"What!" everyone exclaimed.
"Then what should we do?" Aguer asked in a panic. Even Maximon was starting to regret things at this moment. He never expected that right after arriving at Prometheus Fortress, he would encounter a certain-death situation. It would have been better not to come and just stay safely in his own world.
"There is no chance of victory, but there is hope," Yang Hui said.
"Hope?"
"Yes. This race... can be communicated with."
"Setsuna!" Sumeragi and Wang Liu Mei immediately thought of how Yang Hui had been spared no effort in guiding Setsuna toward the path of a Pure Innovator.
"Exactly. Setsuna is our hope," Yang Hui said seriously. "In an environment of high-concentration and high-purity GN Particles, a Pure Innovator has the ability to use Brain Quantum Waves to conduct direct dialogue. This is a dialogue of the self to the self—no hiding, no lies. The ELS's method of communication is vastly different from humans. Because the sun of their home star system was reaching the end of its life, its expansion destroyed the ELS's home planet before eventually collapsing into a white dwarf. Unable to survive in their home system, they are searching for a new home, and the solar system and Earth are among their targets. Their way of communicating is simple: consume, merge into one, and then they can understand each other."
"So you are going to sacrifice that person named Setsuna?" Maximon asked. Because he didn't know Yang Hui well, this was also a test of character.
"Heh." Sure enough, after Maximon asked, except for the panicked Aguer, everyone else chuckled and shook their heads.
"What Yang Hui means is that by dispersing GN Particles, we can construct a communication environment that Setsuna can use. As the representative of humanity, he will conduct brain-domain communication with the ELS to tell them that both sides can understand each other and that there is no need for battle... Well, I even doubt if the other side thinks they are in a battle," Creuset said.
"What do you mean?" Not only were the newcomers stunned, but even Flit and Jehart were dazed.
"Based on the intelligence provided by Yang Hui, the opponent is a metallic lifeform with the characteristics of consumption and fusion. There is a huge difference between their culture and human culture. So..." Creuset paused and looked at Maximon. "If an ELS lunges at you to fuse with you, what would you do?"
"Stop it, counterattack, destroy it," Maximon answered succinctly.
"That's a normal person's reaction. So, when the other party greets you, what will your behavior be understood as by someone with such a massive cultural difference?" Creuset pressed.
"..."
"It seems you all understand. While we are fighting for our lives here, the other side might think we are warmly welcoming them, saying 'Come play with us' or something!" Creuset said.
Upon hearing this, everyone's lips twitched. Although it was full of points to criticize, they couldn't deny that Creuset's perspective was logical.
"Yang Hui, we have one month. What do we do?" Sumeragi asked. Since they were returning to the Gundam OO World, they would naturally take the lead.
"...My plan is to use all Construction Opportunities to build Mining Zones. Use one Enhancement Opportunity to push the Production Zone to LV.5, and then use the rest on the Mining Zones to get as many resources as possible. Centralize the strength of the researchers to merge the technologies of all current worlds. The Production Zone must produce at least three full fleets, and everyone must be equipped with the latest MS."
"Which world's standard are we using?" Sumeragi asked. The scale of a full fleet differed for each world.
"The Gundam SEED World standard." The Space Fleet scale of other worlds was either too small and rudimentary or, like the Gundam UC World, too large and cumbersome to complete with current resource reserves.
"What about the GN Drives?" Yang Hui asked.
"Hmm... Mephis, use all Resource Packs."
[Yes, Commander.]
After all Resource Packs were used, the group looked at the total amount of materials. They had Mephis perform a calculation: after deducting the estimated materials needed for research, fleets, and custom MS, how many Original Solar Furnaces could be manufactured with the remaining total plus the output of 25 LV.3 Mining Zones?
"Ten," was the final calculated result.
"Too few."
"In the original world, there are still seven old-model GN Drives," Sumeragi said. When they came to Prometheus Fortress, they hadn't brought the equipment used in the Gundam OO World. Therefore, in the Gundam OO World, counting the old models and the four old GN Drives that were replaced at the beginning, there were a total of eleven GN Drives available for use.
Adding the four manufactured during the last break, that made fifteen. Combined with the ten to be made now, the total was twenty-five.
Tap... tap... tap... The meeting room fell silent, leaving only the sound of Yang Hui tapping on the table. No one interrupted his thoughts.
"Yang Hui needs two, Setsuna needs two, and Tieria needs two. These six are essential," Sumeragi said. Because the three of them were an Innovator, a Quasi-Innovator, and an Artificial Innovator, the boost and assistance provided to them by GN Drives and pure GN Particles were too great to give up.
"Manufacture all ten," Yang Hui finally decided to put everything into Original Solar Furnaces.
"But the number is too small." Wang Liu Mei shook her head in disagreement. "It would be better to produce Quasi-GN Drives instead. The calculations show that all current MS, including Warships, could be equipped with Quasi-GN Drives. That would be a much larger overall boost for us."
"No need. Don't waste the time and resources of Prometheus Fortress on Quasi-GN Drives. The technology for Quasi-GN Drives has already been mastered in the Gundam SEED World. Whether it's the large-scale ones for Warships or the small ones for MS, leave that directly to Durandal and Mina. Furthermore, once we return to the Gundam OO World, production can be carried out there as well."
"I see. I'll notify Durandal and Mina to come over."
"Not just them. Flit, Jehart, call Argreus and Madam Doreen as well. We're holding a full high-level meeting."
"Understood."
"Sumeragi, tell Graham to organize everyone to get familiar with each other. After the high-level meeting ends, I don't want to see anyone who still doesn't know where they are or what they should be doing."
"Okay."
Before long, the four people who were busy with their own affairs in their respective worlds arrived together. During this time, Revil, Gopp, Char, Aguer, and Maximon had also looked through various records of Prometheus Fortress. They certainly couldn't finish it all, but they now had a preliminary understanding of the fortress's basic situation and were no longer completely in the dark.
Once the meeting began, Yang Hui detailed the current situation to the four newcomers and then stated his plan.
"This Legion War Mode will be the most difficult mission we have ever encountered. Among the five worlds currently connected, three have production capabilities. Therefore, I hope that within this month, those three worlds can each provide at least one full fleet. These are the fleet configurations and requirements."
Yang Hui sent the configurations and requirements for the full fleets to Argreus, Madam Doreen, Durandal, Mina, Revil, Gopp, and Char.
"No problem. Our world can provide at least two fleets," Durandal and Mina agreed on behalf of the Gundam SEED World.
"Our world can also provide at least two fleets," Argreus and Madam Doreen gave the same answer.
"As for our world... the Kirin-class has been under construction, so that's no problem. But the White Tiger-class and Unicorn-Class might not reach the numbers for two full fleets," Revil said. Because the war had just ended in the Gundam UC World, the Earth Federation's massive production capacity had to be used elsewhere, especially for post-war reconstruction. Additionally, since the White Tiger-class and Unicorn-Class utilized some new technologies, they needed to fully understand them before they could modify the production lines for mass production.
Technology wasn't something that could be used immediately upon receipt. Especially with tech from different worlds, it had to go through stages of learning, experimentation, and testing before it could be fully mastered.
"In that case... Argreus, Madam, Durandal, Mina, Revil, Gopp—the six of you discuss how to allocate the load after the meeting. A total of six fully equipped fleets, is that acceptable?"
"Yes," the six of them nodded in agreement.
"Next is personnel. Given the number of enemies we are about to face, the current personnel of Prometheus Fortress is definitely not enough. Combined with the five full fleets produced by Prometheus Fortress, there will be a total of eleven full fleets. The staffing will require everyone's cooperation. After returning to your worlds, screen for suitable and sufficient personnel to come to Prometheus Fortress for unified deployment and training."
"No problem." Everyone nodded. This was especially true for Aguer, Maximon, and Char; while they might not be able to help much with fleet production, they could certainly help with personnel. While they might not compare to Durandal or Argreus, this was the one area where they could contribute.
"Then it's decided. Within one week, personnel must be in place, and unified deployment and training will begin."