"Of course I know."
Yuri sighed.
"But you also understand what this truly means."
Andrew fell silent upon hearing this.
He certainly knew what it meant. Many Coordinators genuinely believed in this notion, considering themselves the chosen ones, the natural masters of the cosmos.
Yet in reality, compared to them, Fred here was the true chosen one.
From his observations, Fred didn't exhibit the common flaws of arrogance or even misanthropy that often accompanied those with real power.
If Fred could truly achieve his stated goal of maintaining world peace, Andrew wouldn't mind helping him grow.
Moreover, since Fred's objective was balance, and they were currently the weaker side...
Whether for the Clyne Faction or the Zala Faction, accepting Fred was a guaranteed beneficial deal.
Thinking this, Andrew continued.
"I plan to test him."
"How?"
"By fighting, of course."
Andrew laughed heartily.
"You mean using simulators?"
"Those things can't cultivate top-tier pilots."
Hearing Tiger's bold statement, Yuri's mouth twitched speechlessly.
Were they trying to cultivate top-tier pilots?
Was that it?
They merely wanted his assistance with MS research, not to train him as a pilot.
They didn't even expect him to engage in combat.
After all, their current battles were mostly dirty, underhanded shadow conflicts.
And Fred was better off not knowing about these.
Besides, while ordinary combat might be one thing, was MA combat just regular fighting?
With work pods being so fragile, even a single mechanical arm piercing the cockpit would mean certain death.
"It's fine, we can use training paintballs, and close combat will be prohibited."
"With our skills, we're certainly not foolish enough to crash into a space colony."
"And even if we did, it wouldn't cause significant damage to the colony."
"...Is that the issue here?"
Yuri said helplessly.
But Andrew didn't continue the discussion, merely waving his hand as he added.
"Anyway, it's settled. I'll go tell Fred now. We can gather those kids tomorrow - we'll all grow stronger together."
Andrew was enthusiastic about the plan and didn't give the May City representative any chance to object before heading out the door.
Watching him leave, Yuri felt completely overwhelmed.
By rank, he was indeed Andrew's superior.
But their organization wasn't particularly strict about hierarchy at the moment.
And considering faction affiliations, Andrew didn't really need to follow his orders anyway.
After all, one belonged to the Clyne Faction while the other was effectively Zala Faction.
"Whatever..."
Testing Fred's capabilities might not be a bad thing. With this thought, Yuri didn't try to stop him, instead quietly opening Siegel's contact information.
...
Returning to Fred, the young man had just come back from outside and changed out of his sweaty, sticky pilot suit when he received this unexpected visit from the future heavyweight he hadn't seen in a long time.
"So, we're going to fight?"
Fred repeated Andrew's proposal.
"Yes, are you afraid of losing?"
Andrew's words carried a hint of provocation.
But it was also a blatant probe.
The reason he feared losing wasn't so superficial—as an instructor, if he were defeated in front of others, especially students, it would genuinely impact his personal interests.
Tiger's words clearly carried an investigative tone as well.
If Fred cared about his reputation among those students, it was likely because he intended to leverage their connections for some purpose.
These were all common human tendencies, yet they were precisely what needed vigilance.
"Not afraid."
Before Andrew could observe his expression, Fred had already shrugged and replied.
"Really not afraid?"
Andrew narrowed his tiger-like eyes.
Before Fred could respond, Alec grew somewhat displeased.
Though the other was his former superior, that didn't justify bullying.
He knew Fred's capabilities well—definitely not on par with Andrew's.
This was practically forcing Fred into a fight.
Fred had treated him well; he ought to step in and help.
"Really not afraid."
Fred's smile cut off Alec, who had been about to speak.
He could guess some of Andrew's intentions.
But he had no reason to mind.
Losing was just losing—he'd be outmatched, and besides, sparring with stronger opponents was how he'd grow faster.
As for the students' opinions, they mattered, but not that much.
At least compared to his own strength, they were secondary.
Respect from others was built on capability.
Fake respect could never become real.
So he'd face the challenge head-on.
But he never fought unprepared, nor was Mobile Armor Operation his only skill.
Winning might be impossible, but a draw was still within reach.
He couldn't have managed it before, but now things were different.
This was a good chance to test how well he'd integrated his knowledge and skills.
There was even less reason to refuse.
Strictly speaking, he indeed lacked much MA combat experience.
The earlier encounter with the Drake-class was against a battleship, and that particular Drake-class was only half-maintained, lacking the full intimidation of a fully armed one.
"Good!"
"How about one week from now?"
Hearing Fred's straightforward reply, Andrew laughed heartily.
"Sure, then tonight let's drink until we drop!"
Watching Andrew's sudden cheerfulness, Alec froze for a few seconds.
How had they made up so quickly?
Was he a cat? One moment scowling, the next slinging an arm over shoulders.
But Fred remained perfectly calm, merely blocking Andrew's attempt to drape an arm over him and saying gently,
"No need for drinking—I'm underage."
"And drunk driving isn't good."
"People might think you're some alcoholic uncle."
Fred teased lightly, and Tiger, hearing this, didn't take offense but instead laughed boldly again.
"You make a fair point. Then I'll look forward to our match."
"But I'm still at the age of a big brother, you know."
This Andrew laughed once more.
...
Time flew by as Fred diligently prepared, earning a fair number of points along the way, until a week had passed.
By now, Athrun and the others had accompanied Fred to the Central Hub.
"Is that Andrew really that strong?"
Watching Andrew walking beside Fred up ahead, Yzak remained half-convinced about Athrun's earlier words.
A sudden appearance of an Ace combatant?
And he seemed quite familiar with Fred too.
"Is he afraid to fight me and just found some random actor?"
Yzak muttered discontentedly.
Originally, according to the order, it should have been his one-on-one match with Fred.
Who would have thought this Andrew would just pop up on his own.
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