Zhou Ya and Zhou Na, the two sisters, were drinking beverages while using their other hands to wipe away sweat with towels.
Zhou Ya had her long hair pinned up, while her younger sister Zhou Na wore hers in a ponytail.
The sisters' Gundams were currently being resupplied and serviced.
Besides the sisters' Gundams, the hangar also contained Long Fei's fully armored Proto Gundam Unit 7 and Li Xiucheng's Proto Gundam Thunderbolt.
Long Fei sat in his Gundam's cockpit with his arms folded, watching the current battlefield situation on the screen.
Li Xiucheng leaned against the railing, waiting to sortie.
Long Fei watched the screen. The suppression force had only just broken into the enemy camp, yet enemy reinforcements had already arrived.
The enemy reinforcements consisted of over twenty modified spacecraft, nearly five hundred MS units, and eighty fighter jets.
It was enough to make up for their previous losses.
"The suppression force will have to rely on themselves to take down the abandoned space transfer station as quickly as possible."
Proto Gundam Unit 6 returned to the hangar. Its cockpit opened, and Avina stepped out. She removed her helmet, revealing blue hair that fell past her shoulders. One hand held the drink handed to her by a mechanic to replenish her fluids, while the other held a towel to wipe away her sweat. She, too, needed a temporary rest to recover her energy.
Zhou Ya and Zhou Na's Gundams had yet to finish resupplying, and now another Gundam had returned for supplies. The MS pilots fighting outside began to feel the pressure mounting.
Captain Fix had just ordered Li Xiucheng to sortie in his Gundam.
The moment Li Xiucheng heard that he could sortie, he was immediately full of energy.
He piloted his Gundam onto the Launch Pad.
"Lieutenant Li Xiucheng, launching."
Proto Gundam Thunderbolt launched.
"Boss, is Lieutenant Li Xiucheng's Gundam really stronger than ours?" Zhou Ya asked Long Fei from in front of the cockpit, standing with her arms folded. Her younger sister and Avina stood behind her.
Long Fei moved aside the screen in front of him and looked at the three beauties before him. All three stared at him with sparkling eyes.
Although Long Fei was good-looking and certainly handsome, he was not so handsome that all three beauties would fall for him at once. Their shining eyes held only admiration and a desire to know the answer.
"It is indeed much stronger than your Gundams. The Proto Gundam Unit 7 I'm currently piloting, if it isn't equipped with its heavy full-armor weapon backpack, is simply no match for Thunderbolt in terms of firepower. Right now, one Gundam is taking the place of your three. As long as he doesn't mess up or make any mistakes, our current advantage won't be reversed."
"Then why did you develop a new series called the GP Series, Boss? The Unit 01 you developed doesn't seem any different from the Proto Gundam in terms of firepower. I don't understand why you developed this kind of Gundam." Avina voiced her doubts, hoping her boss would give her an answer.
"The GP01 Gundam Zephyranthes I developed was not meant to possess overwhelming firepower. Its focus lies in mobility and agility. In terms of mobility and agility, none of the Proto Gundam models can compare to GP01 Gundam Zephyranthes."
"Boss, will the future Gundams in the GP Series each focus on excelling in a particular area?" Zhou Na asked tentatively.
"Your guess is absolutely correct."
"The speed, output, and firepower of this Proto Gundam Thunderbolt are really getting me fired up." Li Xiucheng was extremely excited. With his hands gripping the control sticks and his feet working the pedals, his fingers repeatedly pressed the buttons, continuously shooting down Pirate Group MS units.
The six-tube missile launcher on its left shoulder fired a missile. Countless small missiles then burst from its body, streaking wildly in every direction and instantly striking numerous pirate MS units and fighter jets.
Next, the twin Beam Guns on its wrists fired powerful red beams, instantly piercing several pirate MS units.
The particle cannon on its shoulder destroyed a modified spacecraft with a single shot.
Zoshan Taro watched the newly appeared Gundam enter the combat zone. In just five minutes, it had already destroyed five of his modified spacecraft, eighty MS units, and thirty fighter jets.
Then came news that sent his mood plummeting. Several unexplained explosions had occurred inside the abandoned space transfer station, but there was no trace whatsoever left behind by the enemy at the scenes.
Suddenly, a projected video popped up in front of his command desk. The person in the video was the head of the surveillance room.
"Chief, take a look at this recorded footage."
Zoshan Taro watched the footage. In the video, a pirate member assigned to patrol suddenly began convulsing. When he fell, he never hit the ground. His entire body then tilted at a forty-five-degree angle before an invisible force dragged him away.
He then watched another recorded video. In it, another pirate member on patrol suddenly had his neck twisted one hundred and eighty degrees. When he fell, only his butt hit the ground, his body merely tilting slightly before, just like in the previous video, he was dragged away by an invisible force.
Zoshan Taro understood in an instant. He now knew why those mercenaries who had infiltrated the station had vanished.
Zoshan Taro ordered his men to put on thermal sensors and search every area.
Soon afterward, Zoshan Taro discovered that one of the surveillance rooms had lost contact. He tried to reach them, but failed every time.
Zoshan Taro knew that surveillance room was finished. He immediately dispatched several units to investigate.
Suddenly, Zoshan Taro's secret phone vibrated. He left the command room, went somewhere deserted, and pressed the answer button.
"Mr. Zoshan, I heard you've run into quite a bit of trouble."
"Hmph, don't put on an act. You sent people to mess with me, didn't you?"
"Mr. Zoshan, you misunderstand. The mercenary group attacking you has nothing to do with us."
"Heh." Zoshan Taro let out a cold laugh, clearly unwilling to accept the explanation.
"Mr. Zoshan, whether you believe it or not, we sincerely wish to cooperate with you. Do you remember our show of good faith?"
Zoshan Taro narrowed his eyes. He remembered how this mysterious organization had approached him two years ago, seeking cooperation. At first, the organization supplied him with several relatively advanced MS units, on the condition that they split the spoils ninety-ten.
In the beginning, their cooperation had been fairly harmonious. Later, the mysterious organization supplied him with more advanced MS units, but their demanded share kept growing, until it eventually became a sixty-forty split.
If their MS units had been used during a raid, Zoshan Taro could accept splitting the proceeds.
But even cargo seized without using their MS units was required to be split sixty-forty.
Zoshan Taro simply could not accept that, because if the proceeds were divided that way, how were his many brothers supposed to make a living?
After all, the organization merely supplied MS units. They contributed no manpower or other resources. He and his Pirate Group did the most work, risking their lives every time they went raiding. Though his Pirate Group were desperadoes, some of his brothers had families. They became pirates not only to put food on the table, but also to support their families. If a brother with a family died, they had to be given a settlement payment.
Because of this, he had nearly fallen out completely with the organization. In the end, the mysterious organization took a step back. As long as their MS units were not used in a raid, the seized goods would not need to be shared.
However, the mysterious organization had sent him an MS at the time and told him that if he ever encountered an enemy too powerful to deal with, he could contact them. They would give him the password to that MS and let him pilot it against the powerful enemy. The mysterious organization had also assured him that the MS they gave him possessed technology at least ten years ahead of its era.
"Go on. What are your conditions?"
"There are two conditions. The first is that from now on, no matter what the Sea Wolf Pirate Group obtains, whether or not you use our MS units, you must split it fifty-fifty with us."
Upon hearing the first condition, Zoshan Taro clenched his fists as anger flared within him. If he agreed to that condition, he and his brothers would become a Pirate Group that could neither eat their fill nor starve to death.
Zoshan Taro took a deep breath and suppressed his anger. "What's the second condition?"
"The second condition is that you must capture a Gundam MS."
"Your organization sure is interested in this MS called Gundam. Is this Gundam MS more advanced than the MS units you've developed? And now you want to reap the rewards without lifting a finger—the effort is mine, while you take the results." Zoshan Taro took the chance to mock the other party.
"Mr. Zoshan, we are not trying to reap rewards without lifting a finger. But we cannot deny that this Gundam MS is extremely advanced. If we obtain Gundam technology, we can develop even more advanced and powerful MS units. We may even be able to provide you with better MS units in the future. Then your brothers can pilot stronger MS units and seize even more cargo. This is mutually beneficial."
"Then give me some time to consider it." Zoshan Taro hung up without waiting for the other party to respond, then returned to the command room.
Before you continue