Home to Mama

"Okay."

Xu De agreed, then continued.

"Then do you want to fight in Mobile Suit simulators or Moebius simulators?"

With Bella's intelligence, he had a way to counter his opponent.

Hal wanted to make an example of Xu De. Xu De felt the same way.

If he could defeat Hal in a Mobile Suit in front of everyone, his spot would practically be secured.

It all came down to who would win.

"Mobile Suits."

"...Fine."

Xu De nodded along, seemingly unfazed. No one knew why he was so confident he could pilot a Ginn and move freely in it.

Ginns and Moebius simulators were pretty much the same anyway.

Hal and the others clearly misread Xu De's brief hesitation as fear.

Hal's grin grew even more vicious. He looked at Xu De as though he were a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

"No need to take it so seriously..."

Watching the two refuse to back down, Moody gave an awkward laugh, but said nothing more.

He clearly had his own calculations.

"Who do you think will win?"

The burly man from earlier whispered into Moody's ear.

"Not sure."

Moody shook his head, but couldn't help glancing toward Xu De.

"I think Hal has the better odds."

Hearing Moody's answer, the burly man shrugged.

That was what most people there thought. Xu De had two Ginn kills to his name, but his opponent was a true veteran and an elite.

As for Xu De, even with the combat record he'd earned in a Ginn, defeating Hal would still be difficult.

But they thought that way because, in their eyes, Hal was one of their own. Xu De might become an ensign before long, but they clearly had no intention of treating him as one of their own yet.

Moody didn't answer. He simply kept watching Hal, brimming with aggression, and Xu De, still calm as an emotionless block of ice.

Xu De didn't seem so simple.

Everyone here was formidable, but few were cautious enough to make a point of knowing their opponent before facing them.

They were elite, but too arrogant. Moody believed most of them wouldn't be a match for him.

Xu De was different.

Even after using his connections to get Xu De's file ahead of time and thinking through ways to keep him in check, Moody was still surprised when he saw Xu De in person.

His presence was almost on par with that of the old squad leader Moody had known in the military.

Put simply, they thought Hal had the advantage because he was a veteran.

But Moody's instincts told him Xu De had seen more battlefields than any of them.

It was an entirely counterintuitive feeling.

After all, Xu De was a new recruit. There was no way he could have seen that many battlefields.

But that was still what Moody felt.

That was why he'd approached Xu De earlier to test him. Now, Xu De seemed even more formidable than Moody had imagined.

And so, beneath the two men's wager, the room fell into an eerie silence.

"Interesting."

Halberton watched the two men with keen interest.

He'd watched Maliu set up that simulator and knew it well. The first time someone used it, even walking normally was a challenge.

Even an elite would probably struggle to do more than the basic movements.

He'd intended to let them get familiar with it before they began fighting.

But they were going to fight on their very first try. What would happen? Two Ginns, flailing at each other like babies?

Even the man known as the Wise General couldn't help feeling intensely curious about what would happen next.

Cook, who had stood silently beside Halberton all this time, narrowed his eyes.

Was Bella's favorite really so easily provoked?

That seemed unlikely.

Bella had been asking him for intelligence these past few days, and he knew who it was for.

Xu De seemed to have a future, and it wasn't particularly sensitive information, so Cook had given it to her.

In other words, Xu De knew how strong his opponent was.

And Xu De didn't look like the sort of hot-blooded young man who couldn't keep his temper.

The aura around him now made it clear to Cook why both Bella and Revil had taken an interest in him.

There was a restrained quality to him, like a treasured blade sheathed. Set against Xu De's age, it didn't just give him a special charm; it also made his potential clear.

As Cook studied Xu De's calm expression, he found himself growing curious.

Hal was no pushover either. It was hard to say who would win.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the two men walked straight to the simulators.

"Watch me beat you so badly you'll go running home to your mama, dumbass."

Hal spoke with the same contemptuous look on his face.

His prejudice was already spilling out for everyone to see, making him look even more repulsive.

Xu De didn't respond.

That kind of attitude saved him the trouble of thinking up some way to provoke Hal.

Hal always seemed ready to explode.

Maybe he'd taken too many hormones.

"Who'll be running home to their mama is still up in the air."

Xu De replied evenly.

His calm only made Hal's expression even more vicious.

He said nothing, but his face made it clear he wanted Xu De dead.

Ignoring him, Xu De turned his attention to the simulator.

Its setup was much like that of their Moebius simulators. Both had a mode that allowed direct combat.

Neither of them seemed inclined to waste time. They selected their machines in the simulator and moved on to choosing the battlefield.

"Where do you want to fight?" Xu De asked.

"Anywhere. You pick."

"Since you say so..."

Xu De didn't hesitate. He chose the ruined battlefield he knew best.

Halberton narrowed his eyes at the sight.

"Xu De isn't holding back."

He knew how good Xu De was in ruined terrain. He'd watched the footage of Xu De's record-breaking battle, too.

For Xu De, choosing that battlefield was like a fish returning to water.

"Yeah..."

Cook nodded along with Halberton, but was even more pleased.

All's fair in war.

There was nothing wrong with being a little underhanded. Victory and defeat were all that mattered on the battlefield. If someone insisted on acting like a hero or a knight and demanding a fair duel, Cook would admire him, then call him an idiot.

"Why'd he pick that battlefield?" one candidate asked curiously.

"I heard Xu De specializes in it. He even got the nickname God of Ruin in the Third Fleet," Moody said with a shrug.

"Then he's really low. Doesn't even know how to fight fair. A lowlife is a lowlife," the candidate said scornfully.

"Fairness against Coordinators on a battlefield?" Moody asked with a laugh.

The man who'd been speaking flushed red.

He had to admit, fighting Coordinators was unfair to begin with.

Bringing up fairness now made him look like a clown.

"We'll see if he really is that good."

"Let's hope he doesn't lose even on a battlefield like this."

As the man continued his stubborn taunts, Xu De and Hal appeared at the same time on the launchers for Mobile Suits.

Xu De's first Mobile Suit battle was about to begin.