Three months later, Long Fei set out on a long journey aboard the Albion MS Mothership.
The Albion MS Mothership was Long Fei's first-generation Pegasus-class MS Carrier. This Albion MS Mothership was the first one completed, and after being fitted with a Minovsky Super Energy Thermonuclear Reactor, it could fully employ energy weapons.
Long Fei designated this Albion MS Mothership as No. 00. No. 01 and No. 02 had already been completed, with No. 01 officially entering service.
No. 02 was still undergoing testing, while No. 03 was currently under construction.
The Albion No. 00 MS Mothership was escorted by eight new Escort Ships and six newly developed destroyers.
The new Escort Ships were 180 meters long and could carry six MS units, while the destroyers were 220 meters long and could also carry six MS units.
Most of the weapons carried by the Escort Ships were defensive systems, while the destroyers carried long-range Beam Cannon turrets and the latest mega Particle Cannons.
Long Fei's journey was mainly to establish the Seventh Branch Base on Philalip's Colony Satellite 12, within the major nation of Philalip Nation among the countries of the Sixth Colony Zone.
As the boss, Long Fei went together with Commander-in-Chief Li Jiaming to preside over the opening ceremony, accompanied by several ace MS pilots.
Long Fei had worked himself to the bone since founding his company more than three years ago. During those three years, he had rarely traveled far and spent most of his time at his company.
In the command room, Long Fei sat in a chair specially prepared for him, discussing matters with the captain and the commander-in-chief.
The cook pushed a food cart into the command room and distributed food to everyone there.
The meal consisted of a hamburger, fries, beef balls, and a glass of milk.
An hour later, the cook entered the command room again to collect the empty trays.
"Boss, at the fleet's current speed, it will take seven days to reach our destination."
After hearing the captain's report, Long Fei looked out at space through the window. There was no distinction between day and night in space, while Colony Satellites had day and night only through environmental control equipment cycling between them.
In Long Fei's current environment, he had to rely on a clock to determine the time. It was now 8:30 at night.
"Commander-in-Chief, besides our Skywing Mercenary Group establishing the Seventh Branch Base in Philalip Nation, have any of our subsidiaries invested in that country?"
"Yes. We invested in a food Manufacturing Plant and a bottled water company. We also contracted a farming and ranching region. The food Manufacturing Plant is already operational, and barring any issues, the rest will officially begin operations this month as well."
"Mm, good." Long Fei rested his right hand against his chin. President Sakchi had also contracted several asteroid mining sites in that country.
Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company had also established a subsidiary responsible for mining and collecting energy. Some ores within asteroids were not purely metallic mineral resources; some were pure energy stones, and such energy ores were classified as energy.
One of the asteroid mining sites contracted in that country was used to mine and collect energy ores. Some energy ores could be used directly, while others required special extraction techniques to draw out and refine the material within before they could be used.
Li Jiaming said at this moment, "Boss, our counterintelligence department has discovered that many colony nations have sent numerous spies into the Skywing Mercenary Group, Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company, and the other companies you established."
"No need to guess. The spies sent by those countries want to steal Gundams and other military technologies."
"Yes, Boss. From the spies we dealt with, we also extracted intelligence that some countries are investigating the owner of these companies—that is, you. Once they confirm it, they intend to kidnap you."
"Heh." Long Fei sneered. "Compared to stealing Gundams and other military technologies, I am the most valuable asset. Capturing me would give them advanced military technology."
"That's right, Boss. Whichever colony nation obtains your military technology could not only seize the colonies controlled by the nations of Earth within ten years, but might even unify the entire Colony Sphere."
"Leave those spies to your counterintelligence department. Is there anything else to report?"
"Since all Gundams were fitted with Minovsky Super Energy Thermonuclear Reactors, their performance has improved considerably, raising the combat efficiency of the Gundam pilots. Furthermore, after our Skywing Mercenary Group's warships and MS units were equipped with Superconducting Communication, whenever escort missions encountered raids, tests showed that the particle interference emitted by the Minovsky Super Energy Thermonuclear Reactors directly crippled the enemy's radar, search, targeting, and other systems, severely preventing them from functioning. This placed them at an extreme disadvantage, while our side could eliminate them with ease."
"Mm, very good. The point of developing so many things is to put them on the battlefield. More importantly, no matter how good something is, it must be usable in battle. Everything needs to undergo combat testing."
"Yes, Boss. After undergoing real combat testing, the things you developed received extremely high evaluations and further increased the survival rate of frontline personnel."
Long Fei nodded. Li Jiaming's praise was very pleasing to his ears.
Li Jiaming continued, "However, Boss, please forgive this subordinate for speaking frankly. I hope you will not be offended."
"Go ahead. I won't blame you."
"Sometimes, what frontline personnel need is not the very best equipment, but equipment they can operate with ease—equipment that can better improve their chances of victory and survival."
Long Fei listened, then nodded. "Commander-in-Chief, you are right. If something is difficult to operate and prevents its operators from using it comfortably, then no matter how good it is, it is junk. Improving the victory and survival rates of frontline combat personnel is the most important thing. I strongly agree with that, and I will pay more attention to it during research and development."
"Commander-in-Chief, is there anything else you need to report?"
"Nothing for the time being."
"I see. Then I'll return to my room and rest first." Long Fei stood and left the command room.
In his room, Long Fei took out his phone to check the report Sakchi had sent him.
Two Minovsky Super Energy Thermonuclear Reactors had already been manufactured. They could serve as the power units for the armed arsenal system Orchis Petals, and testing could begin on the I-Field generator shield. Yue Yangchun was currently the pilot of the GP03 Dendrobium.
Over the next few days, Yue Yangchun would pilot the GP03 Dendrobium and connect it with the armed arsenal system Orchis Petals for a series of related tests.
Yue Yangchun and the other Gundam pilots had undergone a series of enhanced training sessions. Their overall strength had greatly increased, and their operating skills had improved considerably.
The Gundam pilots who had originally been unable to control the Gundam GP04 (Gerbera) Gerbera could now each keep up with its terrifying speed through their reactions.
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