Trading a Phoenix Gundam for Getter D2 was undoubtedly a guaranteed profit for Cheng Tian. The Saotome Research Institute, on the other hand, seemed to be taking a slight loss.
However, since Hayato Jin had agreed to the exchange, it meant he recognized the Phoenix Gundam's value.
As mentioned before, Getter was extremely picky about its pilots. Even with the same unit, changing the pilot could cause its ultimate Combat Power ceiling and floor to fluctuate drastically. The Phoenix Gundam, while lacking D2's absurdly high ceiling, had a stable lower limit.
Moreover, thanks to the unit's built-in "Support Defense" trait, once a squad had two or more units, they could form a small defensive formation. Whenever any Phoenix Gundam came under attack, another nearby Phoenix Gundam could provide Support Defense and block a fatal strike.
Hayato Jin might have said that it was all a sacrifice for researching Getter Ray, but if he truly did not care whether others lived or died, his hair would not have turned this white.
Before, there had been no choice. To protect the research institute from invasion, Hayato Jin could only watch helplessly as young D2 pilots died one after another. But now that other options existed, Hayato Jin, who was not inherently stubborn, did not mind changing his approach and trying a new path.
Cheng Tian also told Hayato Jin outright that as long as they used this Phoenix Gundam to kill enough enemies on the battlefield, they could go to the Scorching Sun for qualitative development—or, as it was called, "Ability Liberation."
Theoretically, once the Phoenix Gundam reached Lv6, it could be developed into the "Phoenix Gundam (Ability Liberation)" form. Only the Phoenix Gundam in that form was truly complete.
Not only would its unit performance and combat armaments undergo a qualitative