My Brother Was Acting Strange

"All right, you can head back for now."

"And the three-day challenge is still on. Keep an eye on it yourself, and don't get knocked out."

"Yes, sir!"

After Xu De finished speaking, he left Revil's office with a crisp stride.

Of course, none of the others on his team would knock him out.

As long as he didn't let his guard down, getting a Moebius was all but certain.

The safety issue had more or less been resolved, and he was well prepared.

That would take care of half the problem.

Take one step, then think two steps ahead.

Now he should also start planning what to do after that step.

After all, if he managed to pull it off and survive, it would be too late to start thinking about his next move.

It was like walking.

Once you took your first step, you naturally thought about where to put your next one.

First of all, even though the First to Third Fleet had been scattered, they probably wouldn't be disbanded outright.

But there wasn't much point in trying to become an ace here.

If Genesis hit him with an over-the-horizon strike along the way, he'd probably die without even knowing what had killed him.

By contrast, the most dangerous place was often the safest.

With that in mind,

why not try to find a way to become a Gundam pilot?

If he could get into Gundam pilot training, he'd probably have a period of time when he wouldn't have to go to the front.

It wasn't that he was afraid of the battlefield or anything. He just didn't want to risk his life for the Atlantic.

Besides, military school would make it easier to meet more people and build connections.

Military school was pretty much the same, whether in real life or in the anime.

Hadn't Char made good friends there back then? He couldn't attend a military academy on PLANT, but one in the Atlantic would do just fine.

The problem was that the Gundam project was top secret. He couldn't exactly tell Revil, "I want to pilot a Gundam."

Perhaps his chance would come on the World Tree battlefield. Halberton's Eighth Fleet was at Moon Base.

If something happened here, Halberton would surely be responsible for the cleanup.

And if they retreated, the warships couldn't land on Earth, so they'd have to head to the Moon.

Xu De rubbed his fingers together, already turning the matter over in his mind.

The most important thing was to make himself useful.

Over the next three days, of course, nobody took the Moebius that had been assigned to Xu De.

After seeing how he'd performed, only a handful of people still came to challenge him.

"Xu, you were amazing."

Flint, who had come to challenge him this time, was a martial arts fan. After climbing out of the simulator, he cupped his hands toward Xu De.

His face was full of admiration and respect.

"Not at all, not at all."

Xu De returned the gesture obligingly.

Only five people, including Flint, had come to spar with him despite knowing they'd lose. Most of them were passionate about combat.

They were also ambitious, and all of them came from humble backgrounds.

Most had stood up for him during the Thomas incident.

In other words, they were progressives.

To Xu De, these people were a huge pool of resources. He had no objection to them banding together.

They'd have a better chance of surviving if they stuck together.

If they just followed the orders of those Merchants of Death, they could die without even knowing why.

Especially that Muruta.

If he wanted to stand up to them, he'd need to build up his strength.

Still, that goal was far too ambitious to be on Xu De's mind right now.

"I'll go study my tactics some more and come back to challenge you!"

Though the three days were already up, Flint clearly didn't care.

"Sure."

As Xu De watched Flint leave, Hans, who'd been looking on the whole time, came over to him.

"How many is that now?"

Hans asked.

"Five."

Xu De smiled.

Out of a hundred people, he'd won over five.

They weren't completely on his side, but there was plenty of time.

They were only just getting started.

"God of Ruin. The name suits you."

Hans smiled.

Xu De had chosen the wreckage in near-Earth orbit for most of his simulated battles, so he'd earned that nickname.

Xu De just shrugged.

Whether it was meant as a joke or a sign of respect, he didn't mind.

"I really don't know what's gotten into you."

Seeing Xu De just smile without answering, Hans couldn't help teasing him again.

"You're crazier than a damn genetic mutation."

His envy only grew stronger as he said it.

If Hans hadn't grown up with Xu De, if his brother hadn't remembered their past, and if his birthmark, eyes, and hair hadn't all remained black, he would've suspected someone had replaced him.

"Let's leave that aside for now."

Xu De changed the subject.

"I asked the higher-ups. You five, along with me, have all been assigned to the Fifteenth Fleet, as right-side center forwards."

"If we don't get orders from above when the time comes, take the others and pretend we've been scattered by an attack. Then come to these coordinates."

As he spoke, Xu De sent Hans the coordinates outside the World Tree using the communications device issued to them.

"...Xu De, do you really think ZAFT's attack will scatter us completely?"

Hans asked hesitantly.

"I don't know, but it's better to be prepared."

He could try to keep all six of them safe.

But he couldn't do it alone.

"And even though they said seven days, that's the maximum. We're already halfway through, so ZAFT could set out at any time."

Seven days at most. The closer they got to that deadline, the more likely an attack became.

"Also, you and the others need to step up your training over the next few days. Use the Mistral."

"Okay, we've been training all along."

Hans nodded firmly.

Moved by how his brother agreed without pressing him for details, Xu De stepped forward and gave Hans a hearty slap on the back.

"Don't die."

He wasn't so arrogant as to think he was some kind of savior. But he was still human, and humans always had those they cared about more than others.

At the very least, he wanted to keep Hans alive.

"Don't worry! I'm hard to kill."

Hans returned the slap with equal force.

The blows landed with loud smacks.

"If you've got time to make death flags, get back to training."

Xu De let go, ignored the miserable look on Hans's face, and climbed back into the simulator.

"All right."

Hans had nothing to say. He could only answer glumly.

Xu De had been training like a madman lately, and he kept making Hans join him.

Hans knew Xu De was doing it for his own good, but it was a little too much to bear.

Every time, the training nearly pushed him to his breaking point. Xu De, on the other hand, had seemingly endless stamina, and Hans couldn't figure out what he was made of.