"Nya?"
Akashi was still enthusiastically explaining the detailed specifications of the Martial Saint Frame when the Cloud Knights—whose excitement had just been detonated—erupted instantly.
"Buy buy buy buy buy buy buy!!!!"
"Name your price!!!"
The surrounding Cloud Knights surged forward, buzzing with agitation as they gathered around the Gundam.
Perfect.
This was the perfect weapon of war in their hearts.
Strike Freedom, Barbatos—sure, they were handsome. But they did not quite match the Xianzhou's aesthetic.
Only this Martial Saint Frame, which fused classical style with mechanical technology, perfectly aligned with Xianzhou sensibilities.
Kiana, Himeko, and the others who had followed along were also stunned.
The white-haired girl stepped up and rubbed Akashi's head.
"You've got some skills! You even made an export model. When I was in the capital, how come I never saw this type of Gundam?"
This thing was completely different from the mechs piloted by Setsuna, Gudako, Asuka, and Rei.
"When doing business, you must fully grasp local demand, nya!"
Akashi planted her hands on her hips, brimming with pride.
Ahem—
Jing Yuan cleared his throat, suppressing the restless crowd.
He lifted his head to look at the Martial Saint Frame, forcing his tone to remain calm despite his excitement.
"May I ask—in terms of performance, how does it surpass the previous models?"
He had nearly been dazzled by its overwhelming coolness. After calming down, he reminded himself that as general, practicality had to come first.
"We offer free test drives, nya!"
Akashi gestured generously.
"Mm..."
Jing Yuan glanced around.
"Who will try it?"
"General, me me me me me!!!"
Instant uproar. The Cloud Knights were even more fervent than the civilian onlookers, all volunteering enthusiastically.
Jing Yuan surveyed them, then thought for a moment.
"This is Starsea Empire armament. You have no prior experience with it. What if something goes wrong?"
His gaze settled on Sushang.
"You've visited the Starsea Empire. You should have some familiarity?"
"Eh? Me?"
Sushang panicked.
"I've seen Miss Ritsuka Fujimaru pilot one a few times and toured the cockpit twice... but I've never actually driven one myself..."
"That's fine. You'll do. We'll observe."
Encouraged by Jing Yuan, Sushang climbed into the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat.
Behind her stood a forceful audience of Cloud Knight commanders, along with Yukong, Fu Xuan, and other Xianzhou executives.
They examined the interior—identical cyber-oriental styling, sleek and imposing.
Sushang trembled slightly. Leaders surrounded her, Cloud Knights below watching.
At this moment, she felt like the most dazzling person on the entire Xianzhou.
"First activate the reactor and establish the neural link."
Akashi guided her from the side.
Whoosh—
Following instructions, Sushang tapped several points on the holographic interface.
[MSZ-010 Prototype Ready]
Hum—
The machine activated. The cockpit flooded with light as the Gundam's eyes emitted a blinding red glow.
"This unit is equipped with a psychoframe. It directly reflects the pilot's consciousness into the machine's movements. You can control it with pure thought."
"So it's much easier than traditional mecha—no need for control sticks and such, nya!"
After integrating various Gundam technologies, modules could be freely recombined.
The RX-0 Unicorn's psychoframe was among them, drastically lowering the learning curve.
"This design is indeed convenient. Suitable for large-scale deployment."
Jing Yuan nodded.
Sushang focused her mind.
Boom!!—
The Gundam took a step that shook heaven and earth. Even the nearby Starskiff Haven trembled.
It was her first time piloting. She felt slightly unsteady.
But under Akashi's guidance, she quickly grasped the basics.
Step. Step. Step.—
The Gundam advanced forward. Sushang felt her perspective rise skyward, everything below becoming small and distant.
"The initial armament includes a matter disintegrator, gamma laser, and erosion missile launcher. Since we're within the Xianzhou, don't demonstrate those for now, nya."
"You can try the melee weapon."
Clack!!—
Sushang maneuvered the Gundam, spinning the dozens-of-meters-long blade before her.
Upon closer inspection, though it resembled a melee weapon, it was embedded with numerous high-tech components.
She struck a pose and swung toward the distant horizon.
Boom—
A blade of energy cleaved outward.
Rumble!!—
Dozens of kilometers away, an undeveloped barren mountain was split cleanly in half.
A massive V-shaped fissure opened down its center.
"Wha?!"
Sushang jumped.
"Th-there's no one over there, right?"
"Am I... that powerful?!"
Just days ago she had been a novice. Now it felt as if she commanded city-destroying power.
"Sensors show no human presence. Also, it's the Gundam that's powerful, not you, nya!!"
Akashi mercilessly shattered her illusion.
"It's equipped with long-range thrusters and supports interstellar combat across star systems."
"If you want to step outside and take a look, that's fine too, nya."
Boom!—
The back thrusters roared. With anti-gravity modules engaged, the Gundam shot into the sky.
Moments later, it passed through the Jade Gate and entered outer space.
"???"
Passing starskiffs saw a Gundam streak by and stared as if they'd seen a ghost.
What was that?
Whose starskiff looked like that?
"Whoa..."
In cruising mode, starlight stretched into lines.
Click—
Sushang accidentally tapped something on the holographic interface. The head-mounted gamma laser opened, unleashing a torrent of energy.
Far away, a small asteroid was carved with a trench dozens of kilometers wide.
"Eh eh eh? Did I press something wrong?!"
Sushang flailed. The interface was filled with text and code she could not read.
"Erosion... what module? Eh?"
Click—
Weapon wings beneath the Gundam's arms unfolded, charging.
"Stop!!"
Akashi quickly restrained her.
"That's the erosion missile array! Are you trying to cleanse the Luofu's surface, nya?!"
"One mech can devastate a planet's surface?"
Yukong was stunned.
"Of course. Anti-city, anti-nation, anti-surface weapons—we have plenty. Planet-killers too, as many as you want, nya."
Akashi scratched her head.
"As long as the price is right—budget, low-tier, mid-tier, high-tier, pick whatever you like, nya!"
Silence.
They now viscerally understood the terror of such a war machine.
An ordinary Cloud Knight required years of training to reach combat proficiency.
Yet seated in a Gundam—even a rookie like Sushang could rival an entire army with only basic mastery.
Boom—
After circling outer space, the Gundam returned to the Luofu.
Everyone descended from the cockpit, deep in thought. Sushang still felt reluctant to part with it.
She wondered whether she should consult Fu Hua after returning. Somehow, this seemed more destructive than Taixuan Eminence—and perhaps easier to master.
Whoosh—
Akashi projected the holographic menu again.
"Besides the weapons you just saw, there are many optional configurations, nya!"
"If you feel the power output and combat radius are insufficient, you can upgrade to a more advanced vacuum zero-point reactor. For greater defense, we offer specialized alloys and energy shields."
"As for weapons, you can equip miniature light spears, focused arc emitters, and more. With sufficient budget, the high-end version can even mount the Moonlight Butterfly System, nya!!"
"Also, skins are customizable. If green isn't your style, I have a limited red edition, nya!!"
"!!!"
The array of weapons and modules left the Xianzhou leadership dumbfounded.
Even as an export model, it demonstrated the Starsea Empire's engineering and interstellar warfare mastery.
Jing Yuan and Tingyun glanced at the base-model Gundams nearby, then at the Martial Saint Frame.
Enlightenment dawned.
The earlier Gundams weren't unimpressive.
They simply hadn't paid enough.
As for this one being expensive?
That was the Xianzhou's problem.
Not the Gundam's.