Origin of C.E.

"Director, your physical condition is not suitable for attending today's Ministry of Defense regular meeting. Do you need me to request leave on your behalf?"

Lin Yuan's eyes snapped open.

Blinding white light flooded his pupils, and his retinas slowly focused through the pain. The ceiling—milky white, with a narrow LED light strip embedded in it, standard military issue.

The air smelled of disinfectant.

The back of his head felt as though someone had struck it with a hammer, and his temples throbbed. The woman's voice continued beside him, crisp and efficient, without a trace of unnecessary emotion:

"Director?"

Lin Yuan slowly turned his head.

A young female officer in a dark gray uniform stood beside the bed, her short hair cut to ear length and her back ramrod straight. She held a folded document in her hand and looked at him calmly.

The nameplate on her chest—Sheng Lan.

That name was like a key. With a click, it pierced his muddled mind.

Then the memories came flooding in.

Not bit by bit, but like a burst dam, overwhelming him from every direction.

Lin Yuan. East Asian Republic. Third-generation heir of the Lin military-industrial family. Director of the Special Equipment Bureau under the Ministry of Defense Science and Industry. Twenty-four years old.

He closed his eyes and clenched the bedsheet.

Those memories carried the original owner's muscle memory and lingering emotions, pouring into every fold of his brain like molten tin. He could feel the original owner's trust in this adjutant, his complicated awe of his father, and his frustration and unwillingness at seeing the East Asian Republic suppressed by the Atlantic Federation.

But at the same time, another set of memories was online.

His own memories.

Memories from before he had crossed over.

The C.E. world—the Cosmic Era. The war between Naturals and Coordinators. Gundam SEED.

He knew what would happen next in this world.

Every battle, every launch of a world-ending weapon, every idiotic political decision—he knew them all.

"Director, you look terrible." Sheng Lan stepped forward. "I'll call a military doctor."

"No need."

Lin Yuan's voice was hoarser than he had expected. He braced himself against the bed and slowly sat up. His head still hurt, but his thoughts were already racing.

He needed to confirm the date.

"What day is it today?"

Sheng Lan frowned slightly. "January 17th, C.E. 71."

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted for an instant.

January 17th.

Heliopolis—that neutral colonial satellite in the L3 Sector. Dawn Society was secretly manufacturing five G Weapons for the Atlantic Federation. Strike, Duel, Buster, Blitz, and Aegis.

ZAFT's special operations unit had already locked onto the intelligence. The Red Squad was about to depart.

He had no more than half a month left.

"Sheng Lan," he called.

"Here."

"Bring me the encrypted terminal from the second drawer on the right side of my office desk."

Sheng Lan did not ask any questions. She nodded, turned, and walked out. Her footsteps were sharp and brisk as they quickly faded down the corridor.

Sitting alone on the hospital bed, Lin Yuan finally had time to confront the massive presence in his mind.

The Warhammer Technology Tree.

It was not a system interface. There were no pop-up windows, no experience bars, no upgrade sound effects. It was more like a gigantic engineering blueprint library, silently floating in the depths of his consciousness—vast, cold, and precise.

He spent three minutes quickly scanning the top-level catalog.

Warp-related technologies—locked, grayed out, inaccessible.

Psychic technologies—locked.

Magic and blessings—locked.

Every supernatural branch had been stripped away, cleanly removed as if by a scalpel.

What remained was all hard engineering technology that could be practically implemented.

Taogang Alloy—a composite material far superior to current Phase-Shift Armor, with extreme defensive power against both kinetic and energy weapons. It could be smelted, cast, and mass-produced industrially.

Explosive Warhead System—variable-caliber mass-reactive warheads that detonated inside a target after impact, designed specifically to rip apart armor.

Plasma Reactor—stable, high-output, compact. It could fit inside an MS-class machine.

Void Shield—energy shield technology. Not passive defense like Phase-Shift Armor, but an actively deployed force-field barrier.

Machine Soul AI—a tactical assistance system somewhere between artificial intelligence and semi-autonomous consciousness. The pilot did not need to be a genius Coordinator; the Machine Soul could compensate for reaction gaps.

Lin Yuan's breathing became shallow.

Any one of these technologies, if brought out into the open, would be enough to rewrite the rules of war in the C.E. world.

But he was not excited.

Because he had also noticed a detail—there were several obvious "missing pages" in the technology tree's underlying framework. The technical descriptions abruptly cut off at key parameters, leaving blank spaces behind, as if some force had erased them.

This was not a system bug.

The edges of those missing pages were too neat, as though someone had deliberately cut them away.

He had no answer for now. He would remember it first.

The door opened.

Sheng Lan walked in and handed him the encrypted terminal. She gave him another look but said nothing.

Lin Yuan accepted the terminal, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and opened the encrypted communications channel of the East Asian Intelligence Bureau.

He began sorting through the plot points of the SEED world in his mind.

The Heliopolis attack—ZAFT's Red Squad infiltrated the colonial satellite and seized four G Weapons. Only Strike was accidentally activated and held by a boy named Kira Yamato. The Archangel fled in panic, dragging a group of civilians into the flames of war.

This incident was the ignition point of the entire timeline. Afterward came Alaska, Panama, Orb, Jachin Due... a string of battles fell like dominoes, until the first war ended with GENESIS nearly destroying Earth.

And what role did the East Asian Republic play in the original story's entire timeline?

Cannon fodder.

The largest industrial nation in the United Army system, yet treated as expendable by the Atlantic Federation. It sent troops, money, and people, but received no technology and gained no voice. When the Alaska Defense Line was breached, the Atlantic Federation even used East Asian and Eurasian troops as bait before activating the Cyclops System and blowing up its own people.

Lin Yuan's finger stopped over the terminal screen.

"Sheng Lan."

"Here."

"Does the Intelligence Bureau have any surveillance files on Dawn Society's G Weapons project in Heliopolis?"

Sheng Lan fell silent for half a second.

"Director, that is an Atlantic Federation A-class classified project. We only have peripheral intelligence. There are not many details."

"Pull them up anyway."

"...Yes."

She seemed to want to ask something, but ultimately said nothing and turned to operate the communications terminal.

Lin Yuan leaned against the headboard and stared at the ceiling.

He did not need to wait for the Intelligence Bureau's files. He knew every parameter of the G Weapons better than anyone in this world, every weakness, and who each machine would ultimately fall into the hands of.

But he could not expose his source of information.

So he needed the Intelligence Bureau to follow procedure and establish a formal chain of information.

"Don't put out the fire."

He muttered to himself.

The attack on Heliopolis would proceed as usual. Kira would pilot Strike, ZAFT would seize the other four machines, the Archangel would escape, and the colonial satellite would be destroyed. He would not stop any of it.

Because the cost of stopping it was too high, and the benefits too low.

What he wanted was not to save people.

What he wanted was what lay within the fire.

Lin Yuan picked up the terminal and carefully typed out an encrypted order.

The person who would receive this order on the other end of the communications channel was Ye Qingluan, leader of the East Asian Intelligence Bureau's overseas operations group.

The order was brief:

"Spark Project, activate immediately. Infiltrate Heliopolis under the identity of a maintenance contractor. Objective: all engineering data from Dawn Society's G Weapons project. Do not participate in any military operation. Do not expose your identity. Withdraw immediately upon obtaining the data."

He sent the order and shut down the terminal.

Sheng Lan turned back at that moment.

"Director, the Intelligence Bureau's peripheral files on Heliopolis have already been retrieved and are being transmitted under encryption. They are expected to arrive in thirty minutes."

"Good."

Lin Yuan threw off the blanket and stepped barefoot onto the cold floor.

Sheng Lan frowned. "You need to rest—"

"There's no time."

Lin Yuan stood straight. He had not even put on his military boots, but his eyes had already changed.

"Cancel my leave from today's regular meeting."

"...Director?"

"I'm attending."

Sheng Lan looked at him. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said only one word:

"Yes."

Lin Yuan walked to the window.

Outside lay the skyline of the East Asian Republic's capital. Gray-blue dawn was slowly brightening between the forest of factory chimneys in the industrial district. In the distance, enormous workshops in the military-industrial park stretched together like sleeping steel beasts.

This country possessed the largest heavy industrial system on Earth.

Steel, energy, manufacturing, chemicals—it had everything.

Except for one thing.

Direction.

"Now it has one," Lin Yuan said softly.

He turned and looked at Sheng Lan.

"Notify the Lin Family Building. I'm meeting my father this afternoon."