Little Feifei

The alarm blared—pirates were coming to hijack the cargo.

Long Fei, Li Xiucheng, and two other MS mercenary pilots launched their mobile suits to engage.

Four MS shot out from the catapults.

"What's this? Pirates actually team up to rob cargo now?" a blue-haired female pilot said.

The attacking pirate group had four ships, all converted from cargo vessels. Two different flags flew among them, marking them as two separate pirate bands.

Most of the MS deployed were modified from engineering units, with a handful patched together from battlefields—badly damaged but repairable frames pressed back into service.

Alongside the MS, there were also obsolete fighter jets.

A single pirate group wouldn't dare rob a cargo ship guarded by the Skywing Mercenary Group, but the alliance of two bands gave them courage.

The two pirate groups sent out a total of 40 MS and 8 fighters.

Two cargo ships trailed close behind the escort frigate.

Long Fei's share was ten MS each.

He piloted his Proto Gundam, charging headlong into the pirate MS swarm.

He squeezed off three shots in quick succession, each one destroying an MS.

His move immediately caught the attention of many pirate MS pilots. Taking out three MS in an instant made them see Long Fei as an Ace Pilot.

Numerous MS locked onto him.

A hail of shells came pouring in.

Inside the cockpit, Long Fei listened to the alarms blaring nonstop as he worked the pedals and control stick to evade. Even while dodging, he counterattacked—one shot, one kill.

"Whoa, the boss is insane. It's only been a minute, and he's already taken down ten MS. I've only got three," a bald, dark-skinned pilot said.

"Pani, you're so lame. The boss has already drawn most of the enemy's attention, and you've only bagged three? I've got five," the blue-haired female mercenary pilot said.

"Avina, if you have time to mock your teammate, why not focus and help the boss take out the rest?" Li Xiucheng's voice cut in over the comms.

Avina stuck out her tongue and quickly moved to help the boss deal with the remaining pirate MS pilots.

Long Fei swapped his Beam Rifle for a bazooka, aimed at a fighter, and pressed the trigger. One shot hit, and the fighter erupted in a massive explosion.

He spotted the remaining seven fighters trying to break out of the battle zone and head for the cargo ships.

Long Fei switched back to the Beam Rifle, floored the thrusters, and fired. Every two seconds, a shot rang out—each one blowing up a fighter.

The leaders of both pirate groups saw their MS losses exceed half in under two minutes, and all their fighters destroyed. They immediately ordered a retreat.

"Tch, boring. They ran off just like that," Avina said dismissively.

"The boss's MS Beam Rifle is way more powerful than the ones on our GM Mobile Suits. We can barely take out one MS with a shot, but the boss makes them explode in one hit," Pani said enviously.

"Hope the boss builds more MS like this for us. Then our merc group can pretty much walk all over this sector. Any pirate group sees us, they'll take a detour."

"You two have time to chat, but not to return to the frigate immediately?" Long Fei's voice came through the video feed with a reprimand.

Both of them shrank back and quickly piloted their MS back to the frigate.

Long Fei wasn't particularly satisfied with this operation. This level of combat couldn't test the Gundam's shortcomings. Most of the enemy MS were modified from engineering units, and their combat performance was far from ideal. Though a few pirate MS were standard-issue models used by some nations, the pirates' overall combat capability was far below that of a regular army—especially in MS handling. This kind of opposition couldn't highlight the Gundam's strengths or expose its weaknesses.

The pirate fighters were obsolete models, not fast at all. Even if someone else piloted the Proto Gundam, as long as their skills weren't terrible, shooting down those fighters would be easy.

Two days passed without any pirate attacks, and the cargo ships were safely delivered to the Republic of Kosolas.

The Republic of Kosolas was an independent nation among the space colonies, with only three colonies. Among the many nations, it was insignificant—barely a fifth-rate country.

Its total population was under 4 million.

Kosolas relied on exporting meteorite ore from its territory and some agricultural products for foreign exchange. Its GDP was extremely low—even the Mika'ang Nation's GDP was more than double that of Kosolas.

The frigate docked for two days of maintenance, waiting for merchants to hire them.

Long Fei drove a motorcycle alone to observe the customs and living conditions in Kosolas's third colony. The economy and people's livelihoods were poor. The outer areas were shabby, with many ragged people sitting idly by the streets.

He decided to head to the more prosperous district. There, the economy was better—industrial factories and basic facilities were present, and workers in uniforms bustled about.

Long Fei pulled out his phone, connected through a custom encrypted line, and called his factory manager, Simmons.

He asked Simmons if the factory was short on any materials.

After getting Simmons's reply, Long Fei went to the relevant factories to buy the needed metal materials.

He visited several factories, signed a few material orders, and notified Simmons to arrange pickup.

Long Fei checked the time. It was already evening. The colony's sky showed dusk. Many factories had shut down, though some were still working overtime.

He decided to find a restaurant in the city center to grab a meal.

The city center was fairly lively—there were bars and entertainment venues.

After eating, Long Fei strolled through the city center, taking in the scenery as post-meal exercise.

He arrived at a park and watched the fountain, trying to relax. Then, from not far away, he heard a voice call out, "Little Fei Fei."

Long Fei frowned at the nickname, his expression souring. "Little Fei Fei" was his childhood pet name. Besides his mother, only one other woman ever called him that.

She was his aunt, fifteen years his senior, yet she always seemed more like an older sister.

Long Fei turned his head toward the voice and saw a stunning young woman who looked to be in her twenties staring at him in surprise.

He hadn't expected to run into his own aunt, Long Huijuan, here.

Nor had she expected to encounter her nephew, whom she hadn't seen in years.

The Long Family was a commercial dynasty. The family head, Long Dingkun, was Long Fei's grandfather. His father, Long Yingxuan, was Long Dingkun's third son. Long Huijuan was the head's fourth child, his youngest, and his only daughter—the apple of his eye.

Long Yingxuan couldn't match his elder brothers in business acumen, and his father didn't think much of him. So during his time in the Long Family, he lived a relatively carefree life, free from heavy constraints.

That changed when his marriage came up. His father tried to arrange it, but Long Yingxuan refused, even going so far as to fall out with him.

The woman he married, Wu Qian, came from an ordinary family. For the Long Family, with its centuries-old legacy, that was low-class—unworthy of such a grand house.

Long Yingxuan's wedding went without the family's blessing. Not a single member attended.

Long Huijuan was a late-life daughter for Long Dingkun, doted on by her father—a spoiled little princess of the Long Family. Yet, for some reason, this willful princess shared an especially close bond with her third brother.

When Long Fei was reborn into this world as a child, his aunt often came by to visit. Back then, she loved to tease him, and he wasn't an ordinary kid—he had the soul of an adult from his past life.

He could see that Long Huijuan, though his aunt, acted more like an older sister who enjoyed messing with her little brother.

And she wasn't much older than his eldest sister, Long Kui—just ten years her senior.