The Self-Detonating Soldier Appears

The line of recruits moved forward slowly amidst the bustling crowd, and Xu De's heart tightened in tandem with their progress.

There was nervousness, yes, but even more so, a state of hyper-focused concentration.

He had spent the entire journey watching the simulated battles of others on the large screens.

Fortunately, because this simulation was merely intended to select a single pilot, it did not require the formation of three-man squads.

According to Xu De's estimation, this was just an initial screening.

Any real team-building and coordination would be a matter for later, though he certainly didn't have the time for that right now.

Without dwelling on it further, Xu De turned his gaze back to the large screen.

The three machines on display were failing one after another against the agile GINN controlled by the computer.

Watching the computer-controlled opponent that showed absolutely no mercy, Hans, like everyone else around him, drew a sharp breath for the umpteenth time.

"Not a single person has managed to take down a GINN on their own so far."

"This computer, they must have set the difficulty this high on purpose."

Facing Hans's question, Xu De shook his head and remained silent.

As for those recruits, a small portion chose to attack with wire-guided missiles; it would be a miracle if they didn't lose.

Although, judging by the GINN's armor, it was true that the standard Gatling machine guns, linear guns, and the fixed dual 40mm Vulcan cannons could not penetrate its plating.

But with those cumbersome wire-guided missiles, it was impossible to hit such an agile GINN.

Besides, they only had one shot; once fired, they might as well just wait for death.

Missiles were only useful when one possessed a numerical advantage; they were equipment meant entirely for siege warfare.

Only in a situation of at least five-to-one could missiles effectively seal off most of the GINN's movement paths.

As for the other recruits, while they chose the linear guns and Gatling guns, they were fundamentally unable to handle the Moebius, which possessed such high inertia in a zero-gravity environment.

Having watched the process all the way through, Xu De had formed his own ideas.

Utilize the Moebius's limit speed and the agility afforded by its smaller frame to sweep past the GINN's flanks or rear, avoiding the firepower coverage directly in front of and to the sides of the GINN, and find an opportunity to strike its weak points with the linear gun or machine gun.

That was the only path to victory.

And if one were to follow this line of reasoning, the arena shouldn't be set as the empty, barren space they were currently using, but rather as a field of debris.

This would restrict the GINN's field of vision to the greatest extent and allow the advantages of the Moebius to be fully realized.

It would also fit the state of the crumbling Yggdrasil.

However, space combat was not the same as the aerial combat he was once familiar with.

It involved entirely new concepts: high-inertia six-degree-of-freedom movement, propellant consumption management for new propulsion systems, and various principles of orbital mechanics.

This was not within an atmosphere; the inertia here was absurdly high.

The importance of various attitude control thrusters went without saying.

It was no wonder only Coordinators could pilot Mobile Suits; the computational load was far beyond that of simple aerial combat.

A Natural's brain would be fried in minutes, unable to make a single correct move.

Simply put, information overload would lead to a total paralysis of individual decision-making.

But... he seemed to be a little different.

At this moment, the knowledge he had acquired from his past life's astronaut training was merging with the knowledge learned by the original owner of this body.

Xu De felt as though he had entered some profound state; his brain felt like it was spinning at high speed, his thoughts moving far faster than they had in his previous life, or even in this one.

Perhaps it was because he was now a "double portion," a super-sized serving?

After all, being two people meant that even a simple 1+1 could rival an average Coordinator.

However, there was no time for him to dwell on it; in the end, faster calculations were only a benefit to him.

Just as Xu De was rapidly calculating the simulated battlefield before him, their line continued to advance step by step.

Soon, it was the turn of Thomas, who held the top score in the simulation.

The top recruit walked up to the simulator, his arrogant and disdainful gaze sweeping over the many recruits behind him.

Seeing everyone instinctively avoid his eyes with satisfaction, his gaze finally landed on Xu De, who was standing right behind him.

The cold, threatening intent in his eyes was obvious.

Yet, the person being stared at seemed to feel nothing at all, continuing to look up at the simulation screens of the other two machines.

"Putting on an act, only to humiliate yourself."

Facing the provocation from this redneck, Xu De did not react in the slightest.

A healthy body was, of course, the foundation of a good pilot.

But beyond that, one also needed experience and a stable mindset.

Clearly, the other party only possessed one of those three conditions.

Furthermore, even the physical aspect was actually half-baked.

Those muscles, grown from excessive hormone intake, certainly looked intimidating, but they only served to make him more cumbersome.

Although the two sides were in different weight classes, a battlefield is not a competition.

One does not need to follow the rules of a match on the battlefield.

Therefore, facing someone he could kill at any moment, Xu De's attitude was naturally like looking at a Teddy dog yapping and jumping about at him; ultimately, it posed no threat.

Just like that, a new round of mock combat began.

And the facts proved that although his character was questionable and he was ignored by Xu De, as the top-ranked recruit in the mock combat, he still possessed basic competence.

Thomas adopted a simple and brutal combat method; utilizing the agility of the Moebius, he didn't even bother to aim, charging forward before GINN could react and detonating himself along with his missiles.

Watching the brilliant light emitted by the collision and explosion of those two mobile suits on the screen, Xu De felt as if he could hear shouts of "Banzai" ringing in his ears.

This Thomas was certainly fearless, but this was, after all, just a simulator.

In Xu De's view, this method was more like cheating, and a dreadfully boring form of cheating at that.

The higher-ups were trying to cultivate elite pilots, not suicide bombers.

Self-destruction is a last resort, an act of "better to be a shattered jade than an intact tile," not the optimal strategy.

After all, a Moebius is more expensive than a GINN, and an elite pilot is even more expensive.

Essentially, the purpose of this event, aside from selection, was practice—to verify and learn from one another.

It was also meant for the higher-ups and the recruits themselves to clearly see the gap in strength between the Moebius and the GINN.

Otherwise, if it were purely a competition, why broadcast it on a giant screen, and what would be the point of arranging subsequent challenges?

As it stood, he failed to see what this person had practiced beyond how to skillfully commit suicide.

However, unlike Xu De's cynical thoughts, the surrounding crowd erupted in cheers and applause.

Clearly, this fanatical style of play, which perfectly aligned with Blue Cosmos, had stirred the emotions of the many soldiers who leaned toward the Blue Cosmos ideology.

It even caused the gazes directed at Xu De to become several degrees more hostile.