The Best Skill Combination

Another A-Class skill that could not be upgraded. Xiao Ran had been delighted the moment he saw it, but after reading the description clearly, he frowned slightly. It was a skill that required a massive investment before any returns could be seen, and even after investing, there was a chance the returns would not cover the cost.

Xiao Ran had no objection to calling it a god-tier skill, but he would not deny that it was also rather useless. No one could guarantee what would be obtained when using the skill. Even if Xiao Ran were willing to spend 10,000 Merit Points to dismantle an A-class mecha, it was entirely possible that he would only get a few Part Fragments. This skill was fundamentally a gamble, and Xiao Ran saw that clearly.

But when another A-Class skill, Luck, suddenly flashed through his mind, Xiao Ran's furrowed brow gradually relaxed, and a faint smile returned to his face. Scrap Dealer and Luck—these two A-Class skills were simply the perfect combination. With Luck's boosting effect, Xiao Ran had every reason to believe that Scrap Dealer would show its greatest value in his hands.

Even so, Xiao Ran did not dare use this skill recklessly. Even though he now had as many as 4,500 Merit Points Added Together, he still would not casually waste the points he had earned with such difficulty. Unless the mecha being dismantled had something special about it—for example, mecha such as the Freedom Gundam, Justice Gundam, and Destiny Gundam that would appear in this world and were equipped with Nuclear Energy, or a mecha like the Rage Gundam with a Mirage System—perhaps then he might dismantle something good.

The other skill, D-Class Space Combat Proficiency, gave Xiao Ran a small surprise. Though it was only a D-Class skill, its current usefulness to him even surpassed Scrap Dealer and rivaled Luck. After all, it was a skill he could use immediately, and it genuinely increased his combat strength. More importantly, it could be upgraded. Once it reached its maximum level, who could say its usefulness would be inferior to other skills?

Three skills, two plugins, one component, 4,500 Merit Points, 12 attribute points, and four Part Fragments. Those were the complete gains from the two Golden Treasure Chests. Xiao Ran looked at his Storage Slot, now two-thirds full, and smiled in satisfaction.

"Learn Scrap Dealer and Space Combat Proficiency!"

When the two clusters of light merged into Xiao Ran's body, he felt as though something had appeared in his mind, firmly imprinted into his body as if he had practiced it thousands of times.

Looking at his attribute points, he first spent eleven points to raise all the attributes below ten up to ten. After thinking for a moment, he added the remaining point to Accuracy. Since he had obtained a ranged attack plugin, there was no reason not to prioritize shooting ability a little. But Xiao Ran also understood that a barrel could only hold as much water as its shortest stave allowed. Thus, his future direction had already been decided: balanced development.

After allocating the points, a burst of golden light enveloped him, and Xiao Ran's attributes became:

Accuracy 5 (11): Affects shooting ability and accuracy

Agility 5 (10): Affects melee ability and strength

Reflexes 5 (10): Affects reaction speed and dexterity

Spirit 4 (10): Affects skill consumption and perception

Constitution 6 (10): Affects physical condition and endurance

(The values in parentheses represent normal values, while the values outside the parentheses represent current physical values.)

Endurance 65 (100)

Not Activated? (?)

Skills:

D-Class General Mecha Piloting Skill: Allows normal operation of D-class mecha.

Luck: A-Class skill. Luck increases, increasing the chance of obtaining items by 20%, with a 20% chance of receiving additional rewards and a 10% chance of improving reward quality. Cannot be upgraded.

Scrap Dealer: A-Class skill. Merit Points may be spent to dismantle and recover destroyed mecha or warships. There is a certain chance of recovering plugins, Part Fragments, or complete components, and a certain chance of dismantling failure. D-class mecha cost 1,000 Merit Points, C-class mecha cost 2,000 Merit Points, B-class Mecha cost 5,000 Merit Points, A-class mecha cost 10,000 Merit Points, S-class mecha cost 20,000 Merit Points, and warships cost 20,000 Merit Points. (Cannot be upgraded)

Space Combat Proficiency LV1: D-Class skill. Allows slight proficiency in combat in space and grants an initial sense of spatial awareness.

After allocating the points, Xiao Ran felt completely satisfied and suddenly much more relaxed. His injuries seemed to have healed considerably, and when he gently moved his arm, his wounds did not split open again. Clenching his fist and feeling his enhanced strength, Xiao Ran could not help curling his lips into a smile. He lightly stretched out a foot, pushed off the ceiling, and landed nimbly on the floor.

Just as Xiao Ran was about to leave the room and had not yet floated to the door, he heard a beep, and the door opened. A boy dressed in an Earth Force uniform stood outside. His previously sorrowful face instantly broke into a delighted expression. The newcomer was Kira Yamato.

Seeing that Xiao Ran had awakened, much of Kira's sadness vanished. With a trace of joy in his eyes, he lightly pushed off the floor and floated into the room. "Teacher, you're finally awake."

Xiao Ran chuckled when he saw Kira in an Earth Force uniform. He reached out, pulled Kira over, then turned and gave him a push, sending them both to sit on the two beds in the room. "Kira, why did you change into those clothes?"

Kira lowered his head to look at what he was wearing, and unconsciously revealed a trace of helplessness and sorrow again. Only then did he look up at Xiao Ran and speak with a somewhat hopeful tone. "A lot happened while you were unconscious, Teacher. If you hadn't been unconscious, you probably could have helped us avoid many problems, right?"

Xiao Ran was stunned for a moment and asked curiously, "How long was I unconscious? What happened during that time?"

"You've been unconscious for two days," Kira said, greatly startling Xiao Ran. "What? Two days?"

"Mm." Kira nodded. Seeing that Xiao Ran was awake and energetic, he was genuinely happy as well. "The day you lost consciousness, I was shocked when I saw you. You were covered in blood. Fortunately, one of the people I brought back was a doctor. After treating you, the doctor said you had lost too much blood and were in danger. Your face had turned completely blue. Miriallia even cried until she fainted. I never thought you would recover so quickly."

Xiao Ran gave a bitter smile. So he had already taken a trip to the gates of death. No wonder his Physical Condition had been so terrible when he first woke up, with all his attributes almost reduced to their minimum. The only reason he had awakened so quickly was probably his unusual constitution. If his attribute points had not increased one after another, he would likely still be lying weakly in bed.

Xiao Ran shook his head slightly with a bitter smile. "Sorry for making you worry. If I was unconscious for two days, then Heliopolis really has..."

"Collapsed..." Kira fell silent for a moment after saying that, then continued, "Teacher, is there really no way to avoid war? Why did something like this have to happen?"

"The blood debt of two hundred thousand people is not so easily forgotten, especially when both sides believe they have the advantage and that victory will come if they only hold on." Xiao Ran sighed and said to Kira, "Whether it's the Earth Force or ZAFT, the leaders on both sides have practically become madmen. Once one side gains the key to victory, the other will face utter destruction. Before that happens, the war may slow down somewhat, but the final outcome will not change."

"The Gundams..." Kira muttered with his head lowered.

Xiao Ran shook his head. "No. Even the Gundams cannot decide such things at the moment. Even if the Earth Force obtains the Gundams' data and begins mass production, Mass-produced Mecha will not possess the performance of Prototype Machine units. Pilot quality and production capacity are also crucial. At least for now, the Earth Force does not have so many outstanding pilots, nor can it produce enough MS units in a short time to rival ZAFT's numbers."

Xiao Ran naturally knew what could change the situation. It was the N-Jammer Canceller, the countless nuclear missiles of the final battle, and Genesis—the Trump Cards of both sides. Yet what truly changed things was Orb and the Archangel, surviving in the gap between the Earth Force and ZAFT. But the plot had not reached that point yet, so Xiao Ran naturally did not say more.

"Kira." Seeing Kira deep in thought, Xiao Ran, eager to know how far the plot had progressed after his two-day coma, interrupted him. Had it diverged from the plot, or had nothing changed? Xiao Ran lowered his voice. "Kira, no matter how far the war develops, I believe someone will step forward to stop it all. That person could be you, or it could be me. But none of that means anything to us right now. We should still be under ZAFT's pursuit, so getting through the immediate crisis is what we truly need to do."

Kira raised his head, and the vacant look in his eyes slowly regained some light. "Mm, I understand, Teacher."

Xiao Ran gave Kira an encouraging smile, then asked, "Tell me, what happened after I lost consciousness?"

"After you lost consciousness..." Kira slowly told Xiao Ran everything that had happened after they left Heliopolis: retrieving the Life Pod carrying Flay, Xiao Ran's critical condition, being pursued by ZAFT and having no choice but to fight again, being detained after entering Artemis, and so on. They had only managed to escape just now because Artemis came under ZAFT attack. The vibrations that had jolted Xiao Ran awake earlier had indeed been caused by Artemis being attacked.

As Kira described everything bit by bit, Xiao Ran could feel Kira's pain through this face-to-face conversation. The helplessness of facing enemy attacks, the frustration of having to fight because his friends were aboard the Archangel, the surprise of seeing Flay for the first time aboard the ship, the heartache of seeing Flay intimate with Sai, the hurt of having Flay expose his identity as a Coordinator and look at him with strange eyes, and his worry for Xiao Ran—Kira's many emotions deeply shook Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran silently asked himself whether he could have endured all this if he had been in Kira's place, knowing nothing. The answer was that it would have been difficult. There was simply too much to face, far more than an ordinary person could bear.

The fear and helplessness of death in battle, being unwilling to fight his friends yet forced to do so, being heartbroken by the person he liked—all of it had been forced upon a teenager in only two short days. How much pain was Kira truly carrying?

Xiao Ran understood clearly that Kira's current state was like a taut rubber band that could snap at any moment. Once that string broke, Kira would either sink into despair or become a madman who only knew how to fight. Neither outcome was something Xiao Ran wanted to see.

Thinking of Lacus appearing at just the right time in the original plot, Xiao Ran seemed to understand something. Perhaps it was Lacus's appearance—her innocence, kindness, and warmth at the time—that soothed Kira's tightly wound heart. It allowed Kira's heart to connect with hers without him realizing it, leaving each of them with the other's shadow, and made him resolve for the first time to fight in order to protect someone.

Setting aside how much of Lacus's expression and feelings during her first meeting with Kira had been genuine, the bond between them was real. But Kira had clearly come to see Xiao Ran as his Mental Mentor. While that comforted Xiao Ran, it also made him fear altering the plot. If he influenced Kira too much before Lacus appeared, preventing Kira and Lacus from connecting on a spiritual level, would Kira still be the one to pilot the Freedom Gundam afterward?