Chapter 55: Public Opinion and Secrets!

"There is still a turning point, Gihren! Do you really take me for an idiot?"

Gihren looked at his father sitting high upon the throne, then lowered his head. A flash of disgust crossed his eyes before he spoke.

"There is indeed still a turning point. The Federation Forces have won, but that does not mean the Federation Government has won. Do not forget, we of the Zabi family are the ones who embody the righteous cause of the space residents!"

"Righteous cause, righteous cause! The Federation fleet is about to march right up to Zeon's doorstep. What good is your so-called righteous cause?"

"It can help us tide over our current difficulties!" Gihren replied with an air of absolute confidence.

"Next, regardless of what the Federation Forces intend to do—whether they start a war or resort to threats—we will accept it all. We will open our ports to them, and at worst, we can even have all our military forces stay on standby in their barracks. Letting the Federation Forces help us crack down on smugglers and pirates wouldn't be a bad idea either!"

"Have you lost your mind, Gihren?"

Degwin was dumbfounded. If they followed Gihren's plan, Zeon would essentially be completely undefended against the Federation!

When that time came, if the Earth Federation wanted to wipe out the Zabi family, they wouldn't even need to expend any effort. They would only need to park a fleet right next to the colony and fire a single shot!

"I haven't lost my mind, Father. This is for the outside world to see. It is our response posture to a series of events, allowing the other sides to witness how the Federation is bullying us. Everything we have done—whether it was the protests or the military academy uprising—was merely resistance born out of utter desperation!"

Having heard Gihren's words, Degwin's anger subsided somewhat, though he still wore a sour expression toward his son.

"But what about our losses? If the Federation Forces take over our defense in the process, won't all our efforts for the Zabi family's grand enterprise be in vain?"

"They won't!"

"The Federation Government and the Federation Forces have never been of one mind!"

And the facts were precisely as Gihren had said. Even in Side 2, the colony closest to the Federation, there were still those dissatisfied with the Earth Federation. Consequently, as news of the Zeon incident spread outward, voices of sympathy for Zeon among the space colonies continued to grow.

Although humanity had entered the space age, people still faced numerous restrictions when acquiring information. Especially during high-profile events, everyone preferred to believe what they saw and heard with their own eyes rather than official channels.

Take the riots in Zum City, for instance. Despite the Federation Forces restoring order after grueling battles and beginning repairs on damaged city infrastructure to ensure the residents' daily lives—even providing rations and tents to those whose homes or personal property had suffered losses—in the eyes of many space residents, the Federation Forces were still brutally suppressing the citizens of Zum City. As a result, pro-Zeon support activities sprang up in several other sides.

Naturally, these sides knew better than to organize large-scale parades and demonstrations, which would be tantamount to dancing on the tense nerves of the Federation Forces for fear that the enemy's tanks wouldn't shell them enough. Especially in the pro-Federation sides, the Federation Forces didn't even need to intervene; the Federation-supporting residents alone could give those troublemakers a taste of real suffering.

Therefore, these activities generally took the form of donating money and supplies to Zeon, or even inter-school exchanges. Residents of other sides unhesitatingly emptied their pockets to donate cash, food, and clothing.

As for the Zeon Military Academy, they received a flood of admission applications from passionate youths across various sides. At this rebellious age, they usually couldn't stand the sight of Federation soldiers on the streets. Now, upon hearing that someone had organized a riot at the Zeon Military Academy, they were beside themselves, wishing they could grow wings and fly straight over to enroll.

As for the Federation Forces at this moment, they found themselves in a rather awkward position!

Upon learning of the riot at the Zeon Military Academy, the Federation Space Force's 1st Fleet, stationed at Luna II, immediately mobilized a combat-ready fleet under the command of General Revil and headed toward Zeon to preempt any subsequent escalation of war.

Anticipating potential gunfire from the Zeon Defense Forces fleet, the Federation fleet proceeded with extreme caution, adopting battle formations as they inched into Zeon airspace. To their surprise, Zeon had thrown its doors wide open. The two fleets it had assembled to counter the Federation had both returned to port; officers were on leave and soldiers were on holiday, everyone returning to their own homes to see their own mothers.

Instead, the Federation Forces had been treading on eggshells, sweating and terrified like a band of thieves for ages. Consequently, the bloodthirsty fleet was now forced to break its combat formation and wait outside Zeon airspace. Revil, displaying great resourcefulness, dispatched a formal document to the Federation Parliament and the Zeon Prime Minister's Palace, declaring a friendly visit by the 1st Fleet to Zeon.

Regardless of the reality, from the outside perspective, the Federation Government was truly going too far. During the parliamentary session, representatives from several other sides briefly voiced their opinions, hoping the Federation Government would rein in the overreactive Federation Forces. After all, the scale of that fleet was terrifyingly large—more than enough to obliterate Zeon entirely!

"Damn it, a bunch of parasites who eat human food and do human no good!"

In the cafeteria of Sector Guardian, when the television news displayed footage of residents from other sides donating money to Zeon, the dining Federation soldiers immediately began cursing the families of those residents.

Zum City and Sector Guardian—it was undeniably Zeon that had instigated the trouble in the first place. Brothers had bled, cried, and sweated to quell the situation, and now you people jump out to point fingers and brand us as the bad villains!

The bodies of those fallen brothers were still resting in body bags inside the cold storage!

"We lost over a hundred men, more than a hundred brothers! To hell with all of them!"

Second Lieutenant Leaky, eating at the same table as Macarius, banged his fist angrily on the table.

"Hey, Dragon Knight, how come you don't have any reaction at all?"

Because of Macarius's stellar performance in battle that day, coupled with the overwhelming combat prowess displayed by the Red Dragon 1, the infantry cadets of the Federation Forces who had witnessed it all began calling Macarius by the nickname "Dragon Knight." Soon after, the garrison soldiers of Side 3 followed suit.

"What kind of reaction do you expect? As if any of that money will actually reach the hands of the Zeon people!"

Macarius didn't even raise his head as he intently tackled the fresh steak on his plate. This was thanks to General Revil; when the 1st Fleet arrived at Sector Guardian, it brought along a massive batch of fresh supplies. Originally intended as a reserve for potential subsequent reinforcements, since no battle broke out and reinforcements couldn't come, these supplies couldn't be shipped back either. Everyone had no choice but to consume them for all they were worth.

"Since these people love helping Zeon so much, I just hope they don't cry and complain when the Zeon people finally thank them!"

Swallowing the beef in his mouth, Macarius glanced up at the television. On the screen appeared a tear-stained young woman who had just finished watching the Zum City riot footage. Shocked by the losses suffered by Zeon civilians, she was now denouncing the Federation Forces, calling the grunts emotionless, cold-blooded animals.

"Back in our hometown, I wouldn't even look twice at someone like that—I'd just beat them straight away!"

A Federation sergeant from Siberia shouted, waving a small liquor bottle in his hand.

Instantly, cheers erupted all around him.

"By the way, you guys shipped the computer back. What happened after that?"

Having finished his steak, Macarius helped himself to a portion of seafood risotto and a glass of freshly squeezed juice, then turned to question Lieutenant Leaky beside him.

"Don't even mention it. After we carefully delivered that thing back, we deliberately hauled out the intelligence squadron's top-secret decryption gear to crack the password. And guess what?"

"That guy surely didn't set a password, did he?"

"Spot on!"

"I hooked the decoder up to the computer, plugged in the power, and the damn thing booted right up—no password at all!"

"And then?"

"Then what? What was on the computer?"

Leaky looked left and right, noticing that the other members of the Red Dragon Team seated at the table were all staring at him with eager eyes. He could only swallow hard and lower his voice.

"According to security protocols, I'm not allowed to say anything. Therefore, what I am about to say is just me talking to myself!"

"There was a bunch of data on the computer, including Zeon's fleet composition, training schedules, personnel promotions, and some other blueprints and documents called something like 'Mobile Suits.' But those items have already been taken over by the Fleet Headquarters. They must be extremely important!"

"And what about the safe?"

"Two boxes of cigars, a few photos of the Zabi family, and tens of thousands of Hekts in cash. Absolutely nothing else!"

"Huh? A Zeon general, and he uses our Earth Federation currency? Aren't Zeon's banknotes worth anything?"

"Worth a damn!"

As an intelligence officer, Leaky clearly knew much more about these mundane matters. He pointed to an untouched apple on the table. The apple had been slightly bruised during transport, so upon receiving it, Leaky had been ready to toss it aside without a second glance to get a fresh, unblemished one.

"Do you guys know how much an apple like this sells for in Zum City?"

"One mark?"

"Nope!"

"Ten marks then?"

"Not even close!"

"This thing sells for ten Hekts! And you can only get it on the black market!"

"What?"

The members of the Red Dragon Team were shocked. They knew that a glass of brandy at a bar cost only 3.5 Krups, and buying an apple on Earth or the other sides cost around 50 Krups. Yet in Zeon, the price had multiplied twentyfold!

"Zeon marks can't buy anything right now because there's simply nothing in the stores. If Zeon citizens want to eat some cake or fruit, they have to use Hekts on the black market!"

"No wonder Dozle hoarded that cash. But for a lieutenant general, how come he only hid such a paltry amount of private money?"

"You think tobacco and alcohol are cheap? That guy was enjoying top-tier Federation luxury imports!"

"So, will you guys be returning those things to their rightful owner?"

"Well, the money will definitely be returned down to the very last cent. But the tobacco and alcohol... you know how it is, some losses during inspection are completely normal!"

Leaky flashed a sheepish smile.

"I get it. That means you guys already split it, right?"

"Don't talk nonsense! The Chief of Staff took half, the Squadron Commander took the other half, and the rest of us barely got one stick each!"

"Damn it, with a bunch of people like you lot, if Dozle's outhouse fell into your hands, you'd probably still taste it to see if it's salty!"

"The Chief of Staff would taste it first, anyway!"

While the group began fabricating wild lore about Yodel, back at the headquarters, Yodel was currently welcoming some special guests.

They came from Anaheim!

Anaheim Electronics, abbreviated as AE, was a mega-corporation headquartered in Anaheim, California, North America. Its business spanned numerous fields including military industry, public welfare, manufacturing, and aerospace—virtually covering every aspect of life. For instance, the portable gaming console in Macarius's marching pack, or his insulated space canteen, were both products of Anaheim Electronics.

Furthermore, a considerable amount of the Federation Forces' technological equipment was also manufactured by Anaheim.

Naturally, their participation was indispensable to the Federation's MS (Mobile Suit) project. Or rather, the Anaheim Corporation was the one in charge of it!

The visitors who arrived at Sector Guardian were led by the primary person in charge of the MS project, Major Tim Ray. He was a student of Dr. Minovsky, one of the greatest scientists of the Universal Century, and possessed profound expertise in physics.

Consequently, he had been specially commissioned as a major by the Federation Forces to lead the research and development of Federation Mobile Suits.

However, because this was their first attempt at developing such an epoch-making weapon, the project had not been running smoothly. Not only did problems crop up frequently, but there were also considerable internal conflicts within the research team. As a result, up until now, the Federation Forces' Mobile Suits remained little more than oversized toys devoid of any combat capability.

Yet with Macarius seizing Dozle's computer, the data stored within regarding Zeon Mobile Suits naturally became the reference material the Federation research team desperately needed.

Originally, for the sake of protecting the research team, Lieutenant General Gopp at the Jaburo base wanted to have the data delivered to the experimental team. But Major Tim Ray was too impatient to wait, so they had secretly accompanied the 1st Fleet to Sector Guardian.

"The data is right here! Let me help you open it!"

Chief of Staff Yodel had no idea what these scientists were actually doing, but his orders were to obey unconditionally. Therefore, even though Tim Ray was only a major, Yodel still had to defer to him!

Yet, in the face of the Chief of Staff's eagerness, the scientists paid him no mind at all. Tim Ray, in particular, shoved Yodel aside, plopped down in front of the computer, and rapidly began browsing the files concerning Zeon's Mobile Suits.

"Power, power, power! Yes, exactly—this is it!"

Tim Ray scanned the data ten lines at a time, looking as exhilarated as if he had just hit a high, trembling with excitement.

"Splendid! Splendid! The Zeon data is simply invaluable!"

"Is it useful? Useful is good!"

Chief of Staff Yodel had a liberal arts background and understood none of this mumbo-jumbo. Data made his head hurt just looking at it, but seeing how excited these scientists were, he caught their enthusiasm as well.

"This is going to be a tremendous help to us!"