Xiao Ran's Objective

In the hangar bay, Xiao Ran stood at the foot of the Strike Gundam, arms crossed, head bowed in thought. Rau Le Creuset, meanwhile, was crawling in and out of the Strike Gundam's cockpit, moving up and down as he meticulously studied its data and design philosophy. Most importantly, he was examining the technologies not utilized in the Red Frame Gundam Astray, comparing the differences between the Strike Gundam and the Red Frame.

Xiao Ran suddenly looked up at Rau Le Creuset, who was completely absorbed in his own world. He let out a sigh of helplessness, not because of anything Rau Le Creuset had done, but because Xiao Ran's own thoughts had yielded no results.

In his contemplation, Xiao Ran had assumed his departure from this world would coincide with the end of the final battle between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Although there were still over six months until that final battle, in all that time, Xiao Ran had been unable to find any mobile suit other than a grunt unit that was suitable for him, that he was satisfied with, and that he wanted to take with him.

In the Gundam SEED world, the Freedom, Justice, and Destiny were naturally excellent, and Xiao Ran desperately wanted them. However, these three units hadn't even appeared yet. Even if they did, their model class would be at least B-class. Setting aside the possibility of obtaining them, Xiao Ran simply didn't have the ability to pilot a B-class mobile suit. If piloting a C-class mobile suit only allowed him to utilize eighty percent of its performance, then it was truly uncertain what percentage of a B-class mobile suit's performance he could unleash.

As for the few Gundam Astray units that had appeared, before any modifications, their model class should have been between D+ and C-. Unfortunately, the Red, Blue, and Gold Frames already had owners and had undergone modifications. Aside from Rau Le Creuset, the owners of the other two units were not simple individuals. There was no possibility of obtaining any of these three units.

As for the five G-series Gundams, they should all undoubtedly be C-class mobile suits. Among the five units – Strike, Aegis, Buster, Duel, and Blitz – the Aegis had likely self-destructed and was gone. The Blitz had been cut in half and exploded by Kira. The Buster had remained in Yzak's possession, making it impossible to obtain. The only ones that could potentially be obtained were the Buster and the Strike. Xiao Ran could only leave the Buster Gundam for Dearka to pilot. Although Xiao Ran was quite satisfied with the Buster, a mobile suit designed for artillery combat, especially with the Phase Shift Armor equipped, it could definitely become an excellent artillery platform. However, the Buster Gundam also had its drawbacks, particularly its weakness in atmospheric combat. The non-flying Buster Gundam had poor mobility, making it completely unsuitable for Xiao Ran's preferences. He would abandon this mobile suit, if only for the sake of the plot.

Xiao Ran hadn't even considered the Strike Gundam; it didn't suit his style. Furthermore, he didn't know how he would change the mobile suit's equipment if he entered the next world. Would he use his small hands? His hands couldn't lift the excessively large backpack that would be far too big for his physique. In other words, Xiao Ran had abandoned all mobile suits that required backpack changes to exhibit their maximum combat effectiveness for this very reason.

There were also the three mobile suits of the Enhanced Humans: Calamity, Forbidden, and Providence. Xiao Ran was somewhat interested in the transformable Providence Gundam, but the weapons equipped on the mobile suit were not very satisfactory. Although modifications were possible, it was uncertain whether he could actually capture it now.

What about the other mobile suits that had appeared? There were quite a few mobile suits from the side stories, but Xiao Ran had no way of accessing them. Unless he completely abandoned the Archangel right now, discarding all the advantages he had accumulated from arriving in this world until now, and turned to cling to Rau Le Creuset's leg, then it might be possible to access other mobile suits from the side stories. But to do so would be to abandon the fundamental for the superficial.

In fact, in Xiao Ran's mind, he hoped to obtain a mobile suit that was fast and capable of flight within Earth's atmosphere. Preferably a mid-range type, but if it could handle both close and long-range combat, that would be ideal.

He could think of quite a few mobile suits, but none that satisfied him. It was no wonder Xiao Ran sighed. Having arrived in this familiar world, Xiao Ran certainly didn't want to leave with just a grunt unit. Even if it wasn't a Gundam, he hoped to at least obtain a C-class mobile suit. At the very least, that would help close the gap with other participants and allow him to ignore the problems associated with upgrading his D-class piloting skills and then changing mobile suits.

Although, comparatively, Xiao Ran would rather pilot a D-class mobile suit with perfect control, even achieving super-performance at times, than pilot a C-class mobile suit where he could only utilize eighty percent of its performance. One had to remember that the remaining twenty percent could be the difference between victory and death. Once he couldn't fully control the mobile suit and issued an incorrect command at a critical moment, he would die without deserving any sympathy.

But Xiao Ran's minimum requirement was a C-class mobile suit, yet he was willing to pilot a D-class mobile suit – they were not on the same level. The gap between levels wasn't just about the strength and performance of the mobile suits; more crucially, it was about whether the pilot could fully utilize the mobile suit's performance. Once a D+ class mobile suit was fully utilized, it wasn't impossible to defeat a C-class mobile suit that couldn't be properly operated.

The reason Xiao Ran treated Rau Le Creuset so enthusiastically was not only because Rau Le Creuset was the protagonist of the side story, but also because he knew that Rau Le Creuset was absolutely the strongest expert in MS mechanics in this world. As long as he sought Rau Le's help in these matters, it would be a simple task that would only take some time and effort. For example, making some modifications to a C-class mobile suit to downgrade it to a D-class mobile suit, while still retaining the possibility of it becoming a C-class mobile suit again, and also reserving some equipment interfaces, plugin interfaces, and so on, to facilitate modifications and enhancements to the mobile suit. The workload was immense, almost like completely rebuilding the entire mobile suit.

Xiao Ran knew that in this world, only Rau Le Creuset could accomplish what he required. That was why he was so enthusiastic upon seeing Rau Le, deliberately provoking various topics to eventually invite Rau Le to the Archangel, all for the sake of his plan.

Before meeting Rau Le Creuset, Xiao Ran had planned to leave the Archangel and join Orb when the Archangel arrived at Orb. He also hoped to find Rau Le Creuset, who was working near Orb's territory, and use the data from the Strike Gundam to have Orb pay the remuneration for Rau Le Creuset's mobile suit modifications. But now, he had met Rau Le Creuset early, and their relationship seemed to have become very good, so Orb's involvement was no longer necessary. However, the data from the Strike Gundam still needed to be given to Orb, but the price would have to be exchanged.

"Since I can't find a suitable mobile suit, then Orb will have to manufacture one for me," Xiao Ran narrowed his eyes, watching Rau Le Creuset slowly climb down from the Strike Gundam, thinking to himself, "Of course, he is also indispensable."

Seeing Rau Le walk up to him, Xiao Ran smiled and asked, "Did you gain anything?"

"I gained quite a lot. Without affecting the optimization of its movements, the joint structure can be slightly simplified and strengthened. No wonder this thing called a Gundam can withstand more weight in terms of armor, and its structural integrity is very compact. There's no need to worry about the mobile suit being unable to withstand the stress during rapid directional changes."

Rau Le finished excitedly, but then said with some regret, "It's a shame I can't get the parameters for the armor that changes color. But even if I got the data, I wouldn't be able to replicate it without the corresponding equipment. By the way, Xiao Ran, can I actually operate the mobile suit?"

"Of course, there's no problem," Xiao Ran smiled, then pondered for a moment and whispered, "Do you know General Harborton, who is in charge of this project?"

"The captured Earth Force general," Rau Le Creuset nodded curiously, "I know him. What's wrong?"

Xiao Ran casually turned his head and glanced, then said softly, "Because I belong to the Special Operations Department and have complete independent action rights, he previously gave me a set of mobile suit parameter data, allowing me to decide based on the situation as a final safeguard in case the Strike Gundam was destroyed. No one else on the Archangel knows about it. Are you interested?"

"Hmm, really?" Rau Le's eyes lit up instantly.

"We'll talk about that later, but you also have to promise me, if one day the Archangel sinks and I die, you must hand over the data to the Earth Force. This will be my guarantee to General Harborton and my insurance. Xiao Ran said calmly, patting Rau Le's shoulder, "But if I don't die, the Archangel doesn't sink, and the Earth Force treats us as disposable pawns, then I think they won't care about these things anymore, don't you think, Rau?"

Rau Le scratched his head, thought for a moment, then agreed with a smile, "Hiss, I think... you're right."

Not far away, Maddock and Mu from the maintenance crew watched Xiao Ran and Rau Le, looking confused. Maddock asked Mu with some concern, "Brother Mu, is it okay for Xiao Ran to be like this?"

"I don't know what he's planning. Maybe the Captain knows," Mu shook his head and replied softly, "But that guy Xiao Ran definitely sells people and helps them count the money. He won't let himself suffer any losses, so don't worry. He's still on the Archangel now, and for anyone, he won't let the Archangel have any problems."

"The Captain agreed, so what else can I say," Maddock spread his hands helplessly.