Long Fei brought Li Xiucheng to the manufacturing plant's hangar. Li Xiucheng wore a grave expression as he followed behind Long Fei.
Besides factory director Simmons and the relevant staff, several mercenaries in matching black-and-white uniforms were also in the hangar. Among them was a middle-aged man wearing a beret and sunglasses—the mercenary commander, Li Jiaming.
"Hello, Boss." Everyone greeted Long Fei.
Long Fei nodded and looked at the newly manufactured RX78 Gundam. Its weapons included a Beam Gun, a rocket launcher, a shield, and two Beam Sabers mounted on its backpack.
"Director, get everything ready. I'll test this Mobile Suit myself."
Long Fei changed into a Space Suit and entered the cockpit. After manually operating the keyboard and testing software, Long Fei began controlling the RX-78 Gundam.
The RX-78 Gundam switched to a Kinetic Rifle, then stepped onto a Launch Pad. The Launch Pad rapidly accelerated, launching the RX-78 Gundam out of the factory.
Long Fei controlled the RX-78 Gundam as it flew toward its destination.
There were quite a few special moving targets at the destination. Some were moving targets, while others were drones armed with Kinetic Lances.
Long Fei used both control sticks, pressed the buttons, and stepped on the pedals to attack. He fired at the targets while flying, hitting their bullseyes and splashing Azure Liquid onto their centers. Every shot either struck dead center or very close to it, after which the hit moving targets returned to base.
The drones also attacked. Long Fei stepped on the pedals to evade while pressing the firing button to counterattack.
The hit drones were coated in Azure Liquid and automatically returned to the factory.
After a round of shooting and evasion tests, the result was that the RX-78 Gundam controlled by Long Fei had not been hit once.
Next came evasive maneuvers. Charging into a denser Meteoroid Zone, Long Fei focused intently as he controlled the Gundam at full speed. Under his control, it effortlessly flowed around the meteoroids blocking its path.
In a workshop within the factory, many staff members sat at their stations, examining the data from Long Fei's operation of the Gundam.
Each employee reported their respective data results.
At the scene, Li Jiaming, Li Xiucheng, and the other mercenaries were all dumbfounded as they listened to the reports.
"No way. Boss can not only develop so many astonishing things, he's even this skilled at piloting a Mobile Suit. This level of control already makes him an Ace Pilot. If people heard about Boss's talent, how many would die of jealousy?" one mercenary said with a sigh.
Li Xiucheng could hardly believe that his best friend had developed such an advanced Mobile Suit. If this Mobile Suit could be mass-produced, it would absolutely overturn the main military equipment of nations across the world.
"Uncle, if the Mobile Suit developed by my best friend gets revealed, will it cause a huge uproar?"
"It will."
"Can this Mobile Suit be mass-produced?"
"Probably not easily. I've already examined this Mobile Suit's data and hardware. Manufacturing it won't be simple, and maintenance would require a great deal of manpower."
"Do you know how much Boss spent just to manufacture this Mobile Suit? Do you know?" Simmons suddenly cut in and asked.
Everyone answered that they did not know.
"This Mobile Suit cost five billion to manufacture, and that doesn't even include development expenses."
Everyone's mouths fell open wide enough to fit goose eggs.
After thinking about it, everyone accepted it. This Mobile Suit's performance surpassed every known Mobile Suit, so the investment had naturally been enormous. Besides, even if it could be mass-produced, probably not many nations would be willing to purchase it in large quantities.
Li Jiaming watched the Gundam's movements on the screen with a serious expression.
After round after round of tests, Long Fei finally piloted the RX-78 Gundam back to the factory.
Just then, two Escort Ships arrived at the factory. Their flags bore the emblem of a pair of Black Wings and a sword.
Naturally, that was the flag emblem of the Skywing Mercenary Group. Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company's emblem, meanwhile, was a pair of White Wings and a sword.
The two Escort Ships had just returned to the company for maintenance after completing their commissions.
The mercenaries who disembarked from the two Escort Ships saw their boss piloting a newly developed Mobile Suit and curiously ran over to watch.
"Wow, that Mobile Suit looks so cool."
"It looks a lot like the GM Mobile Suit Boss developed more than a year ago."
"Ever since developing the GM Mobile Suit, Boss decided that fighters would no longer be our standard equipment. We'd all use Mobile Suits in combat instead."
"At first, I thought Boss wanted us dead, but after piloting the GM Mobile Suit, I found its combat capabilities were excellent. We don't need fighters at all. It may be slower than a fighter, but it's far better in combat and evasive maneuvers, especially when it comes to shooting. Its accuracy is just excellent."
"If we're being precise, we should say the OS Operating System developed by Boss is exceptional. During fixed-point defense, it shoots down incoming defensive missiles with incredible accuracy. It's greatly improved our survival rate in combat."
The Mobile Suit-piloting mercenaries turned to look at the GM Mobile Suits they usually piloted. The red-and-white Mobile Suits held rifles in their right hands and shields in their left, with a Beam Saber above the backpack thrusters on their backs. A cyan lens covered the eye section of their heads, making them look as though they wore cyan Sunglasses.
"Boss, what should this Mobile Suit be called?" Simmons asked Long Fei.
"Gundam, also called Gao Da. Its designation is RX78, and it is called Proto."
Li Xiucheng asked, "Boss, you call this Mobile Suit Gundam and refer to it as Proto. Does that mean you'll develop later models as well?"
Long Fei nodded, which counted as an answer to Li Xiucheng's question.
At that moment, a blonde professional beauty in a Black Business Suit with a graceful figure arrived at the scene. She was Sakchi, the person in charge of Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company and the company's president.
Sakchi saluted Long Fei and said, "Boss, I have something to report to you."
"Come to my office and report."
"Boss, I also have something to report." Li Jiaming hurriedly followed behind Long Fei.
When they arrived at Long Fei's office, the Scanner by the door scanned them and automatically opened the door.
After entering the office, Long Fei sat in his executive chair. Sakchi and Li Jiaming stood side by side before the large desk.
A machine carried over two chairs and placed them behind the pair.
"Sit."
The two sat down.
"I'll have a lemon tea. What about you two?"
"A coffee."
"A black tea."
The machine immediately complied. Before long, the lemon tea was placed in front of Long Fei, the coffee in front of Li Jiaming, and the black tea in front of Sakchi.
"Which of you will report first?"
The two looked at each other. Li Jiaming reported to Long Fei first, placing a tablet before him.
Long Fei looked through the report on the tablet.
"The expansion needs to be three times our current scale?"
"Yes, Boss. We need to expand to that scale before we can accept commission orders from various nations."
Although Long Fei's company was located within Mika'ang Nation's sphere of influence, its actual location was at the very edge of that territory. It lay at the intersection of many nations, or rather, in overlapping territory. Calling it a disputed area would not be wrong.
Among those nations were the territories extending from Long Fei's homeland, the Hanxia Empire. The most representative examples were several colonies that belonged to the Hanxia Empire.
That was why Li Xiucheng and his troops had been able to infiltrate this place back then and wipe out the Pirate Group that had occupied it.
Moreover, the Hanxia Empire did not possess only a few space colonies. It had at least twenty space colonies scattered throughout space.
It just so happened that several colonies were located in this region, allowing their territory to extend here.
Although Mika'ang Nation was an independent country, it possessed only two colonies. It could be described as both a small nation and a weak one.
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