Gundam: Changing the World Even with a Mass-Produced Unit

Chapter 62: Another Ambush

Staring at the now-calm water surface, Eli felt a hint of regret.

Perhaps it was the moment he saw the red mobile suit and sensed the peculiar aura emanating from it that complicated his emotions.

To be fair, if Char were to die here, it would indeed eliminate the crisis Axis might pose later. However, even without Char, those fanatical Zeon supporters would still hurl all kinds of destructive weapons at Earth to achieve their goals.

Zeon had set a dangerous precedent, leading space colonists to believe that the most effective way to express their demands was to punish Earth inhabitants. Yet, they failed to consider that this would only deepen the Federation's distrust of the colonists, prompting the rejection of both reasonable and unreasonable demands alike.

While it's true the Federation had restricted the living space for space colonists to a harsh degree, the root cause of the tragic end of the Universal Century (UC) era lay in the untimely, rebellious ambitions of the Zabi family.

But enough digression—back to Char.

As for the future, leaving that aside for now, if Char were killed here, it was possible Kycilia Zabi could retreat to Axis. Under the leadership of that venomous woman, Axis might very well become the next Principality of Zeon.

Moreover, it could upset Sayla.

Of course, when it came to pulling the trigger, Eli would never hesitate. Having decided who the enemy was and resolved to change things, he would not restrain himself for the sake of adhering to the original storyline.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two rounds fired from the low-recoil cannon mounted on the Mudrock's back tore through the water's surface, heading straight for the red Z'Gok submerged below.

Two explosions followed.

"Did we get him? Char!" Amuro asked nervously.

He, too, recognized the Z'Gok by its design and his own intuition—it was undoubtedly Char.

"No, we didn't..."

Though there were indeed two explosions, one came from the Zaku, but the other wasn't from the Z'Gok.

The absence of that unique sigh—a mix of resentment or sorrow—indicated the enemy hadn't been eliminated. The smaller explosion alone suggested Char had successfully escaped.

As expected of you, the one and only escape-type Newtype.

"It seems the grudge between us is far from over..."

Eli found it hard to articulate his emotions.

Char was a charismatic figure, especially during the Zeta era, when he exuded an air of romanticism—a man genuinely intent on transforming humanity.

But for now, he was the enemy.

"Let's head back."

After confirming with the command center that the enemy had begun to retreat and pursuit forces were in place, Eli signaled to his team through the comms before preparing to return the Mudrock to its rightful owner.

Firing those two rounds had pushed the Mudrock's cooling system to its limit. Without proper maintenance, the rushed deployment might cause even greater damage to the machine.

"Impressive as always, Eli. That was the Red Comet, wasn't it? Even he had to flee in panic," Russ said, laughing.

"Maybe we scared him off!" Fort chimed in excitedly.

After all, with four Gundams on the field, any enemy would think twice before engaging.

"Sshhh..."

Just as the four were about to leave, a noise came from the rock wall nearby.

The team wasn't overly alarmed, as the sound came from an elevator connecting to the surface. It was likely their allies returning after completing their mission topside.

Sure enough, as the rock wall opened to reveal the elevator, friendly signals appeared on their screens.

When the heavy rock wall fully unfolded, trembling slightly, a GM emerged from within.

A blue GM.

"Good work," Fort greeted, signaling that their side was clear and it was okay to relax a little.

"Ah, thank you," the pilot of the blue GM sighed heavily, clearly exhausted.

Fort assumed it was due to the greater pressure of the battle on the surface. After all, it was just a GM.

Before Fort could get a response, the blue GM suddenly collapsed to one knee, as if drained of all strength.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Fort quickly moved the Unit 5 Gundam to help the GM up, but Eli's urgent shout stopped him.

"Fall back, Fort!"

"What?"

Though Fort didn't understand why Eli said that, he instinctively piloted his machine to leap backward, creating distance from the blue GM.

During this process, he noticed the blue GM's green mono-eye and marker lights flickering with an ominous red glow.

"Damn it, EXAM system? Can you hear me, BD pilot? Are you still able to control the machine?"

"Sorry... Please stop me quickly."

Eli's call was met with a strained reply from the pilot.

The blue GM abruptly stood upright, trembling as all its lights turned an unsettling shade of red. A faint aura emanated outward from the machine as its center.

Its identity was now unmistakable: the Blue Destiny Unit 1, piloted by Yuu Kajima.

The GM suddenly drew its beam saber!

"Hey! Are you going to attack an ally?"

Russ and Fort shouted through the comms, trying to deter the bizarre GM.

But there was no further response.

"Don't shoot!" Eli's command was directed at Amuro, who had already raised his beam rifle.

If Amuro fired, the EXAM system's enhancements might allow the pilot to dodge the first shot, but things would escalate unpredictably after that.

"Leave it to me!"

Eli activated the Mudrock's hover system, quickly closing the distance with BD-1.

The BD-1 also locked onto Eli, engaging him head-on.

Eli wasted no time drawing his beam saber to block the incoming strike.

He didn't bother trying to persuade the pilot to stop, knowing full well that once the EXAM system was activated, it was nearly impossible for the pilot to control the machine.

"Such a fascinating existence—a human trapped within this machine."

Amid the clash of beam sabers, Eli saw a grim figure appear in the flash of light, staring intently at BD-1's head.

With the appearance of this grim figure, Eli began to see more illusions.

A naked woman slowly emerged from the crimson glow of BD-1's mono-eye, her expression twisted in pain as she reached out to Eli.

"Save me."

From her lip movements, Eli discerned those three desperate words.