Who is Playing the Love Development Game in Gundam

The appointment ceremony was quite similar to the one Elin had before, only this time, two people were named as the new heads of the design bureaus. The Consolidated Design Bureau now had three directors, maintaining an internal balance among the bureaus.

According to the Defense Committee's guidance, Elin would lead the three of them. However, it wasn't a dictatorship—it was a voting system. For Hailan Design Bureau, this arrangement was practically home turf, with two out of the three directors standing on the same side, even the district governor aligned with them. This unity was a shared vision and goal among the three, one they had worked toward and now had partially achieved.

With control over the design bureaus, their position within ZAFT would only grow stronger.

"Congratulations, Director He! Now, you're officially Director He~" Lacus said with a gentle smile.

"Thank you," He Kui replied politely.

"I didn't do much. Director He, you're being overly courteous," Lacus teased, her eyes playful. She glanced around quickly, then leaned closer to his ear, her soft breath brushing into He Kui's ear. "Could we talk alone? It's a bit crowded here."

They were still in the main hall, and both of them naturally attracted attention, making it far from an ideal place to talk.

"Come with me; I'll take you somewhere quieter."

For a moment, He Kui thought he sensed a hint of something alluring in her voice, though he figured it was probably just his imagination—after all, her affection level hadn't increased.

He Kui followed Lacus out of the main hall and into one of the quieter rooms backstage.

"So, He Kui, what are your plans for the future?" Lacus asked softly after leading him into the room.

"What are your plans regarding the Coordinators' future?"

". . . You're overestimating me, Lacus," He Kui replied, a bit thrown off by the direct question.

"Aren't we friends?" Lacus asked, batting her lashes with a slightly pouty expression that tugged at his heartstrings.

"Yes, we are, but I truly don't have any grand plans. Just surviving is already taking all my energy, right?"

Lacus seemed taken aback by his response before a lovely smile spread across her face.

"You're right. Just surviving is hard enough," she said, her voice thoughtful. "Director He, do you like Lacus?"

"What?"

Caught off guard, He Kui's lips twisted in uncertainty.

If it were any other girl, he might have had an idea of how to respond, but this was Lacus. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out what was going through her mind.

"Do you like Lacus? Didn't you say you were my fan?" Lacus asked, her round eyes showing a hint of something akin to hurt.

"I am a fan," he replied instinctively, offering comfort.

"Then you do like Lacus, right?"

"Yes."

Why worry? He thought. Increasing her affection level was his goal, after all.

"If you can bring peace to the Coordinators, Lacus isn't against considering it~" she said, her voice light, with a smile.

While it was unusual for a reserved girl to say something like that, the sweet ambiguity made He Kui's heart race uncontrollably.

Was Lacus...flirting with him?

His eyes darted to the virtual screen, where her affection level now showed as eighty. So, Lacus was serious?

"What do you think, He Kui?" Lacus's words brought him back, and he realized she had inched closer to him, their bodies nearly touching.

The pure yet enticing fragrance she wore seemed to drift directly into his mind, clouding his thoughts.

She didn't ask about Shi He or Su Lei, clearly confident she would win his affection.

"I...will do my best," he replied.

"Such caution. But I look forward to hearing good news from you, Director He."

"Lacus...," he started, realizing that now, with his position becoming more secure, he might be able to move things forward with her.

But first, he still had to finish developing the new Gundam. He had the Strike's data, but duplicating it wouldn't work; even as a prototype for mass production, the machine would need to outperform the GAT-X series.

To make a single unit like that, the structure of the machine was crucial. As with the Magic Crab, optimizing the arrangement of various components could yield the best defensive results. However, he didn't have a system robust enough, and the AI wasn't yet capable of handling simulations with such massive data sets.

Two months...

In his new office, He Kui gazed out at the bright blue sky and decorative blue clouds around the central elevator, sighing. What once seemed an unreachable height now felt closer than ever—both the clouds and Lacus herself. Still, in a colony, the clouds had their limits, and he was nearing them.

To go further, he might need to enter politics, leveraging his reputation to gain a seat on the council. At that peak, many issues, including those with Zala or Durandal, would resolve more easily.

Redirecting his gaze, He Kui made his way to the secret underground factory.

---

"Elin."

"Aren't you going to enjoy some of that power before diving into work?" Elin teased with a grin, a joke only she would dare make.

"Work has to start sometime," he shrugged.

"How's the compatibility with the pilots?"

"The Zala heir is doing well with the Justice Gundam."

Elin handed him a tablet showing the simulator test data.

"As expected, only Athrun can bring out the full potential of the machine," Elin noted.

While the others could operate the machine, Athrun was the only one able to harness eighty percent of its capabilities. Even Yzak could only push Freedom to about sixty-five percent.

And Athrun could enter a heightened state during battle, enabling him to reach the machine's full potential. Truly, he was the strongest warrior among the Coordinators.

"Let's look for other pilot candidates."

"The Defense Committee seems to be bringing in some Special Ops pilots," Elin added.

"Understood."

He'd have to push the committee to think carefully about people like Mwu and Ash Gray. While there weren't currently enough slots for everyone, it was better to be cautious. The last thing he wanted was someone with murderous intent toward him piloting a prototype unit.

"I've developed the Yushover Shield, and I plan to test it on the GAT-X before installing it in the prototype," he said.

Perhaps he could design the shield as a backpack attachment for the new unit, like Akatsuki's. "Sure, it's your technology," Elin agreed.

Just then, Diego's voice came over the Freedom system's intercom.

"Director He, when can we spar again?"

"Maybe sometime," He Kui replied.

After their brief clash off Orb's coast, he didn't feel the urge to spar again anytime soon.

"Alright."

Given He Kui's position, Diego didn't insist.

"We should grab a meal together sometime," Diego added.

"Sounds good."

After wrapping up his duties at the design bureau, He Kui headed for his private business on the asteroid.

He arrived at the same docking bay but didn't see Cagalli rushing toward him—she was probably in the greenhouse.

Instead of finding her right away, he went to his ultra-secure warehouse. The parts stored here were discarded for not meeting specific experimental parameters, but he had managed to "repurpose" them.

It had been easy enough. His employees, including Hawke and the original Beam Team members, were now his core staff. By assigning disposal tasks to the Beam Team, he'd set up a process to reroute and legitimize the parts, thus bringing them under his control.

Maybe it wouldn't have worked elsewhere, but in the design bureau where he'd been from the start? It was perfectly possible.

However, piecing together a complete machine from these parts would still take time.

Each part was sorted—two GAT-X heads with radar parts that didn't pass inspection, though they'd be usable with minor adjustments. The machine's skeleton was also based on the GAT-X frame; pilfering parts from Justice or Freedom was riskier.

"With some effort, I can assemble a GAT-X out of this."

Only this one would be a GAT-X capable of deploying Mirage Colloid, covering the entire frame. He had slowly accumulated Mirage Colloid particles, initially meant for his Gundam, but it seemed he'd have to use them now.

Being a director made "borrowing" materials even easier—perhaps he could snag some Yushover Shields, too.

From his daydream, He Kui snapped back to reality, diving into work. As an S-rank specialist, this task was straightforward. With the help of small MS, he began assembling the GAT-X at a rapid pace, completing the main structure in less than half a day.

Next was applying the Mirage Colloid. Each nano-crystal needed a precise reconfiguration.

"About three more days. I'll also test the force-field effect," he mused. Though he couldn't fully optimize it yet, he could improve the power efficiency

and battery capacity slightly using his current theory.

"Now that everything's ready, I'll catch up with my parents and Cagalli before heading back."

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