Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ran piloted Darkness Sky with Athrun to D Area, where they waited for Yajenar’s representatives. They stopped on an island so Athrun could meet his old friend Tusk.

• Xiao Ran chose the less capable Darkness Sky as his backup mecha and left Sheryl and Saki aboard the Burning Legion.
• El-Elf told Xiao Ran that the Calculation Component was missing from Mars, leaving its whereabouts and the reason for its disappearance unknown.
• Xiao Ran and Athrun flew to D Area, where Athrun said Yajenar would send someone to meet them.
• Athrun landed on an island and introduced Xiao Ran to his old friend Tusk.

Xiao Ran met Tusk in D Area and invited him to serve as an adviser while they investigated DRAGON and the Founding United Nations. Tusk agreed to accompany Xiao Ran and Athrun as they headed to Yajenar, where Para-mail pilots sent by Commander Jill arrived to escort them.

• Athrun introduced Xiao Ran to Tusk, who enthusiastically greeted him and explained that he could not leave the island because he had a mission to fulfill.
• Xiao Ran asked Tusk to join Orb and then offered to hire him as an adviser in D Area to help investigate DRAGON and the Founding United Nations.
• Athrun encouraged Tusk to accept, and Tusk agreed to accompany Xiao Ran and Athrun while they remained in D Area.
• Athrun told Xiao Ran that Yajenar's reception party had arrived, and Tusk rode in Athrun's mecha as they left the island.
• Four Para-mail machines welcomed the visitors on behalf of Commander Jill and asked them to follow.

Xiao Ran and Athrun arrived at Yajenar and met Commander Jill, Ruri Hoshino, and Miss Huang, while Xiao Ran noticed Jill’s unusual attention to Tusk. Their introduction was interrupted when DRAGON appeared, and Xiao Ran and Athrun prepared to help Yajenar’s recruits.

• Xiao Ran and Athrun flew into Yajenar’s hangar, where they found Ruri Hoshino, Miss Huang, Jill, and members of the Nadeshiko Unit waiting for them.
• The female Norma reacted excitedly to Xiao Ran and Athrun, while the Nadeshiko personnel saluted Xiao Ran and Ruri Hoshino formally introduced herself.
• Xiao Ran thanked Jill for taking in the Nadeshiko Unit, and Jill offered to show him around Yajenar.
• Ruri Hoshino agreed to invite the captain of Danner’s Son, and Jill promised to prepare a place for a meeting.
• A green-haired girl announced that DRAGON had appeared, so Jill ordered the First Squadron to intercept them and postponed the tour.
• Xiao Ran told Athrun they should help look after Yajenar’s recruits, and Athrun agreed.

After DRAGONs appeared, Jill refused the Nadeshiko Unit’s offer of help, while Xiao Ran prepared the Nadeshiko and Ptolemaios for battle. He and Renard discussed Renard’s connection to Tessa and considered using his identity if they reached Tessa’s world, where the chapter ended with Tessa arriving to meet Renard again.

• Jill declined Ruri Hoshino’s offer of assistance, and Xiao Ran sent Athrun to stand by in case the Normas needed help.
• Xiao Ran asked Danner's Son's captain and Miss Huang to board the Nadeshiko so the ships could prepare for battle.
• Renard explained that he had met Tessa and confirmed she resembled his sister but had none of the shared memories of his Tessa.
• Renard proposed maintaining his current identity in this world and using it to betray Xiao Ran if they reached Tessa’s world.
• Tessa arrived before Renard again.

Xiao Ran met Teresa Testarossa and heard her accuse Renard of being a wanted criminal and the leader of Amalgam in her world. He defended Renard’s record in this world and offered to supervise him while helping Danner’s Son and the Nadeshiko Unit cooperate.

• Xiao Ran welcomed Teresa, Kalinin, Ruri Hoshino, and Miss Huang and asked Teresa about her concerns over Renard.
• Teresa told Xiao Ran that Renard was her brother and a wanted criminal responsible for atrocities in her world.
• Xiao Ran accepted Teresa’s account but asked whether she wanted Renard handed over or punished, catching her off guard.
• Teresa explained that she wanted the Nadeshiko Unit to be wary of Renard and restrict his actions, not disrupt their alliance.
• Xiao Ran defended Renard’s conduct in this world and said he trusted him despite his past elsewhere.
• Xiao Ran offered to accompany Danner’s Son on operations, act as Renard’s guarantor, and supervise his actions.

Xiao Ran eased tensions between Tessa’s group and the Nadeshiko Unit, then pressed Miss Huang to reveal what Celestial Being was hiding. Tieria arrived and revealed that Xiao Ran was the world’s first Pure Innovator, leaving the group poised to hear the rest of Celestial Being’s secrets.

• Xiao Ran promised to keep Renard under control, and Tessa, Ruri Hoshino, and Kalinin left the briefing room with the rift between their groups somewhat reduced.
• Xiao Ran asked Miss Huang to tell him everything she knew, and she admitted that explaining it would require starting far in the past.
• Tieria entered and told Miss Huang that Xiao Ran was Celestial Being’s foremost supporter and the world’s first Pure Innovator.
• Tieria explained that Orb had developed its own Solar Furnace technology and that Xiao Ran’s former membership in Celestial Being had never been recorded in VEDA.
• Xiao Ran and Tieria briefly stared at each other, but Xiao Ran explained that without GN Particles they could not communicate mentally or access VEDA.
• Tieria acknowledged the limits of their knowledge and began preparing to explain the information verbally.

Tieria explained Celestial Being’s limited knowledge of the War of Freedom, the DRAGONs, and the Founding United Nations, revealing that Xiao Ran was already a crucial part of the coming conflict. Xiao Ran accepted the newly triggered serial mission and planned to pursue more information through Lacus and a lead connected to Libertas.

• Tieria told Xiao Ran, Miss Huang, and the others that the Founding United Nations had influenced world conflicts and that the DRAGONs were invaders from another world.
• Tieria explained that Aeolia had supported Mega-Borg research and maintained ties with PLANT to prepare for the War of Freedom, but much of the relevant information had been lost after Aeolia and Ribbons died.
• Tieria said Celestial Being had come to Yajenar to uncover the War of Freedom, the DRAGONs, and the Founding United Nations’ secrets, and that Xiao Ran was indispensable to the effort.
• Prometheus offered Xiao Ran, Renard, Zechs, and their team a serial side mission, and Xiao Ran accepted it.
• Xiao Ran asked Tieria about the intelligence, then said he had sent someone to meet Lacus and promised Orb would contribute to uncovering the truth.
• Xiao Ran recalled a possible Libertas connection and considered whom to seek out to advance the mission.

Xiao Ran learned about Athrun’s disastrous mission with Princess Ange and toured Yajenar, where he saw how the Normas lived. He asked Commander Jill whether Yajenar’s way of life could change, and she answered that Normas were people abandoned by the world.

• Athrun returned with a damaged Justice Gundam and told Xiao Ran that Ange’s reckless actions had led to two girls being killed, though he had managed to save her.
• Xiao Ran comforted Athrun and acknowledged that Ange’s actions had put him in danger, while Athrun said he did not want to fight beside her again.
• Commander Jill took Xiao Ran on a tour of Yajenar, where he saw that Normas of all ages lived in the isolated town and that many risked their lives in battle to earn money.
• Xiao Ran asked Jill whether she had considered changing how the Normas lived, and Jill replied that they were people abandoned by the world.

Xiao Ran warned Jill that the Founding United Nations might treat outsiders as cruelly as it treated Normas, offered Orb’s help, and left her wondering what he knew. Jill then confronted the First Squadron over their battlefield conduct and the consequences of attacking Orb’s forces.

• Xiao Ran told Jill that the Founding United Nations had abandoned the Normas and warned that it might eventually treat people from the Outside World the same way.
• Xiao Ran offered to help Yajenal and invited Jill to Orb for treatment that could regenerate her missing limb, but Jill declined.
• Jill reflected that her tour had failed to reveal Xiao Ran’s intentions and that his warning made him seem more mysterious.
• Jill visited the First Squadron in the infirmary and reprimanded them for causing three deaths, damaging four units, and attacking Orb’s rescuers.

Xiao Ran visited the Nadeshiko's hangar, where he spoke with Nine about her developing feelings and personhood. When DRAGON appeared again, the pilots prepared to sortie, and Xiao Ran asked Ruri Hoshino to request a machine from Jill for him.

• Xiao Ran went to the Nadeshiko's hangar and found the Nadeshiko Unit and people from Danner's Son working together.
• Xiao Ran asked Athrun about the Justice Gundam repairs, then told Nine that he considered her a living being with her own heart.
• Nine said that talking with Xiao Ran felt interesting and asked to speak with him again.
• Yajenal Command sounded the alarm after detecting an abnormal heavy field response, and Ruri Hoshino ordered the pilots to prepare to sortie.
• Xiao Ran contacted Ruri Hoshino and asked her to have Jill prepare one of Yajenal's machines for him.

Xiao Ran insisted on piloting a Yajenar Para-mail to experience the machines and better understand the Normas who fought DRAGON. After quickly mastering the controls, he launched without the oxygen safety line, leaving Jill alarmed.

• Ruri Hoshino objected to Xiao Ran joining the battle, but he ordered her to inform Jill that he would pilot a Para-mail.
• Jill assigned Xiao Ran a white Para-mail from the Second Squadron and told Ange that the machine beside her was hers.
• Jill explained the Para-mail’s weapons and began teaching Xiao Ran its controls while he mounted the machine.
• Xiao Ran activated the Para-mail, lifted it into the air, and said he had understood how to pilot it despite never using one before.
• Xiao Ran launched from the platform, and Jill realized he had not been attached to the oxygen supply safety line.

Xiao Ran joined the Nadeshiko Unit and Yajenar’s forces as they fought a vast DRAGON horde. He charged into battle and asked the allied pilots to avoid killing the dragons if possible.

• The Nadeshiko Unit and allied forces fought six Galeon-class DRAGONs and hundreds of Schooner-class DRAGONs near Yajenar.
• Xiao Ran launched in a Para-mail, assessed its design, and decided he would have Luo build enhanced experimental Para-mails for Yajenar.
• Ruri Hoshino warned the allied pilots to prioritize Xiao Ran’s safety, prompting Jett to question the order and Soji Okita to reassure him.
• Xiao Ran charged into the horde, severed a DRAGON’s wing, and shot three more as Miss Huang watched in astonishment.
• Xiao Ran told the allies he did not need protection, asked Zechs to coordinate with him, and requested that they avoid killing the DRAGONs if possible.

Xiao Ran asked the Nadeshiko Unit to avoid killing the DRAGON where possible, and Miss Huang reframed his request as a plan to capture specimens. He then focused on disabling the flying dragons by severing their wings and charged onto the back of a Galleon-class Dragon with a green crystal poised against it.

• Xiao Ran asked the battlefield forces to spare the DRAGON when possible, startling the soldiers fighting them.
• Miss Huang suggested capturing a few specimens, and Xiao Ran told everyone to prioritize their safety.
• Xiao Ran abandoned the expectation that others would hold back and decided to disable the DRAGON himself rather than kill them directly.
• Xiao Ran piloted his white Para-mail through the dragon swarm, targeting their wings with his sword and rifle while Zechs followed in support.
• Xiao Ran dodged the electrical blasts of two Galleon-class Dragons, landed on one dragon's back, and pressed a green crystal against it.

Xiao Ran and the Yajenar First Squadron fought off the DRAGON swarm while a hidden Galleon-class Dragon emerged from the sea to attack Yajenar. A white-and-blue PM intercepted it, and Xiao Ran turned back as an unpiloted Black Mecha flew from the hangar.

• Xiao Ran wounded a dragon with an icy weapon and demonstrated his skill while Hilda, Vivian, and Salia watched in amazement.
• The Nadeshiko Unit and Xiao Ran reduced the dragon swarm by more than half as the battle began to turn in their favor.
• Danner's Son detected a huge object approaching Yajenar underwater, and a Galleon-class Dragon burst from the sea and prepared to attack.
• The white-and-blue PM charged the Galleon-class Dragon, shattered its rune with gunfire, and narrowly dodged its beam, though one wing was damaged.
• Xiao Ran recognized the pilot as Her Highness the Princess and flew toward Yajenar as an unpiloted Black Mecha left the hangar in a flash of white light.

Darkness Sky launched from Yajenar to protect Ange after Haro received Xiao Ran’s order, while Ange’s machine awakened and transformed into Villkiss. Ange defeated the dragon with a rapid assault and a freezing attack, leaving Xiao Ran to return to Darkness Sky as his damaged PM fell toward the sea.

• Haro started Darkness Sky and flew it out of Yajenar to draw the dragon’s attacks away from Ange.
• Ange’s machine awakened, transformed into a gold, white, and blue humanoid form, and revealed itself as Villkiss.
• Ange circled the dragon while firing, then used her longsword to carve wounds into its body.
• Ange struck the dragon’s head with a freezing attack, causing ice spikes to pierce it and send it plunging toward the sea.
• Xiao Ran moved from his damaged PM into Darkness Sky’s cockpit, leaving the PM to fall toward the sea.

Xiao Ran switched to Darkness Sky and used precise, overwhelming firepower to drive the DRAGONs from the battlefield without killing any of them. After the battle brought Danner's Son and the Nadeshiko Unit closer, he stood with several commanders and pilots before two captured red wyverns imprisoned in Yajenar.

• Xiao Ran left the overloaded PM, switched to Darkness Sky, and fired on the wyverns' wings until the dragon swarm fell into the sea.
• Miss Huang sent Tieria and Lockon back toward Yajenar with two injured wyverns while Setsuna, Hallelujah, Wilt, the pilot of Fierce Bird, and Xiao Lu protected them.
• Tessa and the people in Yajenar's command center watched Xiao Ran control his barrage without hitting allies or killing DRAGONs, and they were shaken by his skill.
• Xiao Ran decided to hold back in future battles unless a critical situation arose so he would not take experience from his teammates.
• Danner's Son and the Nadeshiko Unit increased their contact after the battle, while Renard remained forbidden from visiting Danner's Son.
• Xiao Ran, Ruri Hoshino, Miss Huang, Jill, Tessa, Setsuna, Ange, Kalinin, Renard, and Zechs gathered before two chained, wounded red wyverns in a Yajenar prison.

Xiao Ran and Setsuna recognized that the captured DRAGON had humanlike intelligence and emotions, so Xiao Ran argued they might be able to communicate with them. Angellisa rejected that idea and revealed her contempt for both the Norma and people from the Outside World, leaving Xiao Ran to consider what her words meant.

• Xiao Ran told Miss Huang that he had captured the dragons alive because he sensed something interesting about them.
• Setsuna and Xiao Ran agreed that the DRAGON displayed humanlike thought and emotions and might be capable of communication.
• Angellisa insisted that the DRAGON were mindless monsters and said she would keep fighting them to reclaim her identity.
• Jill tried to slap Angellisa after she called the Norma antisocial monsters, but Xiao Ran caught Jill's prosthetic arm.
• Xiao Ran asked Angellisa what she thought of people from the Outside World, and she called them lowly humans unfit to live alongside the Chosen People.
• Xiao Ran considered Angellisa's answer and said he understood.

Xiao Ran questioned Jill about the DRAGONs and the Founding United Nations, explaining his suspicions that the organization was manipulating conflicts and that the DRAGONs had a specific reason to attack Yajenar. He left Jill with questions about his knowledge and intentions, while making clear he wanted to uncover the truth behind the War of Freedom.

• Xiao Ran questioned Angie and Jill about the Founding United Nations’ view of the Outside World, prompting Miss Huang to suspect that public opinion and ingrained habits were involved.
• Xiao Ran asked Setsuna to use GN Particles and his Innovator abilities to communicate with the two dragons, then left with Jill and Angie.
• Jill took Xiao Ran and Angie to a guest room, but initially kept Angie outside so she could speak with Xiao Ran alone.
• Jill asked Xiao Ran who he was, what he knew, and why he had mentioned PLANT and Tusk; Xiao Ran revealed that he was the world’s first Pure Innovator and had sensed Jill and Tusk’s concealed reactions.
• Xiao Ran told Jill that the DRAGONs might be drawn to something in Yajenar or the Founding United Nations and that the organization could be provoking conflicts in the Outside World.
• Xiao Ran said he intended to learn whether the Founding United Nations threatened the normal world and to uncover the truth about the War of Freedom.

Xiao Ran confronted Jill with his deductions about the War of Freedom, persuading her that he was not necessarily her enemy. Jill revealed that the war was meant to destroy AmbriO, the god who created the world, while Xiao Ran recognized the name from the Angel story.

• Jill grew wary when Xiao Ran revealed how much he knew about the War of Freedom and the Founding United Nations.
• Xiao Ran explained that Celestial Being's records were incomplete and said he could learn more from Lacus, prompting Jill to react as though Lacus might know the truth.
• Xiao Ran argued that former Orb and Yajenar were connected to the War of Freedom and that he and Jill might share an interest in protecting Yajenar.
• Jill revealed that AmbriO created the world and the Founding United Nations, and that the War of Freedom aimed to destroy him.
• Xiao Ran recognized AmbriO's name from the Angel story, but told Jill he had only heard it somewhere before.

Jill explained that AmbriO had manipulated the world’s wars to destroy those who opposed him, and revealed that Xiao Ran’s rise made him the decisive unknown in the War of Freedom. Xiao Ran realized that his actions could determine the conflict, while Orb remained a separate third force.

• Jill told Xiao Ran that the War of Freedom was a long-running struggle between humanity and the gods, and that AmbriO had sabotaged earlier efforts to oppose him.
• Jill said AmbriO had used Blue Cosmos, LOGOS, and other forces to incite wars and target Coordinators, Innovators, and the Mega-Borgs.
• Jill listed the surviving figures and forces prepared to resist AmbriO, then identified Xiao Ran as the uncertain person who could decide the War of Freedom.
• Xiao Ran guessed that Mina Lund knew the truth, and Jill confirmed that Mina had supported Yajenar while keeping Orb separate from both sides.
• Jill said Xiao Ran’s disappearance had fueled fears that AmbriO had acted, but his return with unexpected guests might provide another force against AmbriO.
• Xiao Ran concluded that his identity had become deeply tied to the world and that he had become its greatest variable.