Chapter 165: The Nameless Fire, Mephis's Answer

At the Big Ring base, after Yang Hui, Graham, and Yurin sent their mobile suits to Baize for repairs, they headed straight to Flit's office.

"Is there another mission, Commander-in-chief Asuno?"

"No, just a private chat."

Hearing this, the serious expressions on their faces vanished instantly. Yang Hui and Graham casually found places to sit, while Yulin's gentle smile returned as she sat beside Yang Hui.

"Can't you let my brother and sister-in-law rest a bit? They're exhausted after the battle," Yang Hui complained.

"Tired from just that? Seems like you're slacking off," Flit said with a teasing smile.

"Bullshit! Ten minutes, eight X-Rounder users—you try it!"

"Looks like you've been getting a bit too cocky lately. How about we spar?"

"Uh..."

Yang Hui and Graham's eyes conveyed a clear message to Flit: "Trying to mess with your little brother again, huh?"

This made Flit break into a cold sweat, involuntarily recalling the days when the two of them had trained him together. Just the thought of that made him shiver.

"Ahem, let's get down to business," Flit wisely changed the subject, both to avoid revisiting that hellish past and to maintain his dignity as the Commander-in-chief.

"Every time you act like this, you have some dirty work for us. Spit it out—what is it this time?" Yang Hui smirked, deciding not to tease Flit further.

"Relax, it's nothing too difficult," Flit grinned.

Hearing this, Yang Hui, Graham, and Yulin chuckled, unfazed. After all, Flit always said the same thing. And to be fair, it was true—tasks Flit assigned to the Celestial Being squad were never simple, but for the three of them, they were manageable. For ordinary troops, however, those missions would be suicide.

"From this battle, you must have noticed the gap between us and VEGAN."

"Hmm..."

The three of them fell silent, tacitly agreeing with Flit's assessment.

"After decades of relentless effort, the gap in both soldier quality and technological level has narrowed significantly. The problem is..."

"X-Rounders?"

"Exactly. I admit that abilities solely for combat are a regression, turning humans back into beasts. But there's no denying that this power provides a significant advantage in war," Flit said.

Both Yang Hui and Graham looked down on X-Rounder abilities, but they couldn't refute Flit's point. After all, besides the three of them, the entire Federal Army couldn't produce a fourth B-class pilot. Even Flit himself was only B-, and the others were even worse.

Reaching B-class wasn't just about rigorous training—it required innate talent and countless life-and-death battles to accumulate experience.

The Celestial Being squad had trained a large number of elite pilots for the Federation, with many aces among them, but they were only at C+ level. Further breakthroughs to B- depended entirely on their own potential.

The X-Rounder ability, however, was a cheat that could instantly elevate a D-class pilot to C-class. With dedicated training and mastery of the X-Rounder ability, reaching C+ was inevitable. With a bit more effort, B- was easily attainable, and even B, B+, or A—surpassing Yang Hui, Graham, and Yulin—wasn't impossible.

Special abilities in every world were cheats, and for those who were already the chosen ones of their world, there was no limit to their potential as long as they continued to grow.

"Do you want us to train more X-Rounder users? You're overestimating us. First of all, Graham and I aren't X-Rounder users," Yang Hui spread his hands, indicating helplessness.

"No worries. The Federation actually started researching X-Rounder abilities ten years ago. Although we're behind VEGAN, we've made some progress..."

"Flit, why didn't I know about this?" Yang Hui interrupted, his voice cold.

"...Different responsibilities. The research institute and the military are relatively independent, and it's highly classified. I only found out after becoming Commander-in-chief."

"You know what I hate the most."

"I know, but the Federation's X-Rounder research institute operates at a high level. Even as the Federal Army's Commander-in-chief, I don't have the authority to issue orders to them. That institute is directly under the Federation's top brass..."

"Bang!"

Yang Hui slammed his fist on the table in front of Flit, glaring at him.

"Is it Orphea?"

"...Yes."

"Can you do it?"

"I can, but it's not the right time yet."

"..."

Yang Hui and Flit locked eyes for a few seconds before Yang Hui turned and left with Yulin, his face devoid of any smile.

Graham shrugged, not leaving immediately. He knew it was his turn to clean up the mess.

"Don't take it too hard, Flit. Yang Hui just..."

"I know, Graham. I know. Honestly... if I could, I'd destroy that institute immediately," Flit said with a grim expression.

"Well, looks like the little brother has finally grown up and can understand his older brother," Graham chuckled.

In truth, Graham also found unethical experiments deeply repugnant. While it was understandable to resort to any means for victory in war—since only victory could secure a future—as a principled soldier, he preferred straightforward methods to achieve victory and didn't condone inhumane tactics.

So while he was repulsed, it didn't reach the level of Yang Hui's utter hatred, which was why he could remain calm and act as the mediator.

"It's close. We'll soon have the key evidence. Then..."

"Well, that's your job. We're just here to provide the muscle," Graham said, getting up to leave. But Flit stopped him and handed him a document.

"By the way, the intelligence department sent over some unconfirmed intel. Pass it on to Yang Hui."

...

Yang Hui returned to Baize with Yulin, gave a few instructions to Angola Zuo, and then went back to his room. He knew exactly what kind of people the Federation's top brass were. The experiments on X-Rounder users were anything but normal, reminding him of the Superhuman Institute from the Gundam 00 world.

He acknowledged that to enhance national strength and gain an edge in war, drastic measures were sometimes necessary. But he couldn't tolerate experiments that crossed moral boundaries, especially those like the Superhuman Institute, which experimented on children.

Wasn't it the duty of soldiers to protect civilians? Shouldn't they create a world where the future generation could grow up happily?

While soldiers on the frontlines were still fighting, those they were supposed to protect were being used as test subjects. How could anyone accept that?

Yulin simply stayed by Yang Hui's side, neither advising nor comforting him. She knew that while Yang Hui was open to others' opinions, he was also a man of strong convictions. Once he made up his mind, no one could change it.

At this moment, Yang Hui needed this silence to quell the nameless fire burning in his heart.

"Exhale~ I lost my temper again," Yang Hui said after calming down, half-joking, half-self-deprecating.

"It's okay. Flit will understand."

"Honestly, I'm the one being the unreliable older brother here," Yang Hui said with a bitter smile, covering his face.

"Hmm, that's true," Yulin nodded with a smile.

"Shouldn't you be refuting me at a time like this?"

"Because you're telling the truth. Why should I refute it?" Yulin tilted her head, a playful smile on her face.

"Haha, fair enough," Yang Hui said, lying down and resting his head on her soft lap.

"Ding ding ding..."

Just then, the door's buzzer rang, reigniting the nameless fire in Yang Hui's heart.

"Who is it? If you don't have a good reason, I'll beat you until your own mother won't recognize you!"

"Oh my, seems I came at a bad time. Flit has another mission for us, but you ran off on your own."

"Tch, buzzkill."

Reluctantly, Yang Hui got up to open the door for Graham, the teasing smile on Graham's face making Yang Hui want to punch him.

"What? Should I come back later?"

Yang Hui: (╬￣皿￣)

"Bang!"

"Ah~!"

...

After three minutes of reading the intel and five minutes of thinking, Yang Hui asked Graham, "How credible do you think this intel is?"

"20%," Graham replied, rubbing his bruised and swollen right eye, his aggrieved expression making Yulin stifle her laughter.

"Then let's go," Yang Hui put down the document, making his decision.

"Aren't you afraid it's a trap?" Graham asked, though the corner of his mouth also curled with interest.

"If you're not afraid, why should I be? Besides, would it even matter?"

"Of course... it wouldn't."

"Then that settles it. If it's fake, it's just another routine mission. If it's real... we might even get some X-Rounder research data."

"Hey! You're not..." Graham was taken aback, frowning at Yang Hui.

"Of course I wouldn't do something like that. I was just thinking... if we can bring back mechanical technology to Prometheus Fortress, then... what about biological technology?" Yang Hui said.

"Huh? Are you planning to—"

"Mephis, can biological research that promotes or regresses human evolution, like Innovators or X-Rounder users, be conducted at Prometheus Fortress?" Yang Hui directly asked Mephis for an answer.

[Yes, but with your current permissions, it's insufficient to expand the research institute's projects and enhancement modules.]

"So that means..."

[While the commander's decision is correct—the higher the Central Hall's level, the more Prometheus Fortress recovers, and the more personnel it requires—it's recommended that you prioritize unlocking permissions to gain more growth pathways. Only then can Prometheus Fortress's recovery efficiency improve. Moreover... you need to unlock permissions to a certain level to qualify for more truths.]