Chapter 92: The Spy from Orb (5000 words)

Star Palace Colony Satellite, a small underground warehouse within the satellite's military factory. Reid met the unfortunate spy captured by Xia Yufang.

At first glance, the spy looked familiar to Reid—a blue-haired girl with medium-length hair tied upward like a squirrel's tail, her bangs deliberately parted in the middle. Around her neck hung a pair of anti-sand goggles, the kind typically worn for desert travel or beach surfing. Her outfit was relatively normal: a plain, material-average overcoat paired with a T-shirt. She had a decent figure and was quite good-looking.

However, at the moment, the girl had her hands tied behind her back by Xia Yufang, with additional restraints on her arms, knees, and ankles to ensure she couldn't exert any force. A piece of cloth, torn from who-knows-where, was stuffed in her mouth.

When she saw Reid, tears streamed down her face as she let out muffled "Mmph, mmph" sounds, her body writhing like a snake.

As Reid approached, he caught a whiff of a foul odor and noticed a wet stain on the ground—she seemed to have wet herself.

Suppressing his disgust, Reid ignored the spy's obvious pleas for mercy and instead rummaged through her confiscated satchel and camera.

The satchel didn't contain much: some sunscreen, insect repellent, a visa for a citizen of the Equatorial Union, an entry permit issued by Star Palace, a bit of cash, a press pass, and a compact pistol. On the table lay the bullets that had been removed from it.

Reid frowned slightly. How had this gun been smuggled into the colony satellite? The New Misurugi Republic strictly prohibited firearms among civilians—only a few embassies of major nations were allowed to keep handguns, perhaps even a few submachine guns hidden away. For anyone else, bringing in a gun should have been impossible. He turned to Xia Yufang and asked,

"Yufang, was this gun found in the bag?"

Xia Yufang shook her head slightly and replied calmly,

"No, it was found on her. She had disassembled the gun into over a dozen parts and disguised them as accessories on her person. A common trick among spies—I reassembled it after finding them. However, the bullets inside must have been brought in by another accomplice."

Reid nodded. If that was the case, there really wasn't much they could do. Larger firearms were easier to detect—many of their components were hard to disguise, and metal scanners could easily pick them up.

Of course, that didn't account for those rare experts who could craft firearms from scratch using pliers, hammers, small liquefied flame torches, and other metal scraps as raw materials. (There really were people like that abroad—using a rudimentary workshop to handcraft an AK in half a month. Whether it was durable or not was another question, but it could fire normally and pack quite a punch.)

But for small-caliber compact pistols, even if one person couldn't smuggle in a whole gun, splitting the components among a dozen people—each carrying one part disguised as a musical instrument or some other item—made it impossible for the port authorities to intercept every little accessory brought in by immigrants or tourists.

So Reid didn't dwell on the pistol. Instead, he opened the camera and checked the photos inside.

The first few images were of the port and a park—seemingly harmless at a glance. But upon closer inspection, Reid noticed something off. The port photos, though taken in the public area of the passenger terminal, had somehow captured clear shots of several cargo ships at the freight docks from an oddly perfect angle. As for the park photos, a careful look revealed the military factory's freight rail tracks in the background.

The subsequent photos were even more outrageous. This person had infiltrated the factory and captured images of the Chobham Armor production line and the storage warehouse for metal-processed products.

For Reid, these photos were originally meant to deceive intelligence operatives, so it didn't matter if they were leaked—after all, everyone already knew they were producing these things. At most, the stockpile might reveal that their production capacity was higher than claimed, exposing the so-called "production difficulties" as mere excuses.

However, these two photos alone were enough to confirm this woman's identity as a spy.

So Reid signaled Xia Yufang to remove the cloth gagging the spy, giving her a chance to speak. But the moment the cloth was taken out, unexpectedly, the spy immediately broke down and cried out:

"You can tie me up if you want, but at least let me use the bathroom! You've had me bound for four or five hours—this is inhumane!!"

Reid hadn't expected a spy's first words to be about this. Wasn't this too unprofessional? Or was she just trying to confuse him with nonsense?

Ignoring her protest, Reid first picked up her passport and checked the name on it.

"Miss Marlene Nien, you managed to infiltrate this place, yet you couldn't hold your bladder? That's rather surprising. Is your country's intelligence agency training people so carelessly these days?"

At his words, Marlene immediately retorted loudly:

"That's because I'm not a spy! I'm a journalist! Though, yes, I was paid to take photos inside the factory! Freelance journalists like me all do this—how else are we supposed to survive without side gigs?!"

Reid merely shook his head, placing the visa back on the table with a smile.

"If a mere journalist could slip into my factory, I'd have been knocked out and shipped off to Earth or PLANT long ago.

But I'm starting to believe you—well, more accurately, that you're not a professional spy.

Clearly, your Equatorial Union visa is most likely forged, and you've done your homework, knowing what freelancers carry and how they dress.

But it's obvious you only needed this identity temporarily, and your mission was lax—the kind where no one would blame you even if you failed. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been so reluctant to cut your hair short, opting instead for the hassle of pinning it up to mimic the rugged look of a freelance journalist.

And most crucially, your skin is too well-maintained, clearly pampered. Even Coordinators would show signs of wear if they were constantly out in the field."

Reid's words left Marlene speechless. She had no immediate rebuttal.

Moreover, his Newtype empathy told him that Marlene was now feeling regret—meaning he had guessed correctly.

So Reid began searching his memories. If she looked familiar, she must have appeared in SEED-related material. Then it suddenly hit him.

"Yufang, untie her hairband and let her bangs down."

Xia Yufang executed Reid's order without hesitation, promptly loosening Marlene's hair.

Now, Reid recognized that face—and his smile widened. He said:

"That's more like it, Miss Marlene. No, I should say, Dawn Company's Mobile Suit test pilot, Juri Wu Nien. I never expected Orb would send you here to gather intelligence."

The moment Reid spoke, Juri's mind was thrown into turmoil. Why did Reid Isaac recognize her? She wasn't famous enough for him to remember her name.

There was only one possibility—Reid Isaac had spies within Dawn Company. He must have reviewed data on all MS development personnel, which was why it took him some time to recognize her.

This also explained why Reid Isaac visited Heliopolis at such a coincidental time. He had likely already known the Astray Gundam was completed and was planning to acquire one for himself.

Of course, Juri couldn't outright accuse Reid of stealing technology by taking the Astray, as he probably just wanted to assess the capabilities of Orb's newly developed machine.

Based on current intel, the NT-X Gundam newly developed by the New Misurugi Republic and the Immortal Aegis, derived from the Aegis Gundam, far surpassed Orb's Astray Gundam in technological prowess.

Even if Orb were willing to admit the Astray was their creation, they wouldn't dare accuse Reid of taking the Green Astray for its technology.

Even the Atlantic Federation had to swallow their pride when the Aegis was stolen by PLANT. Reid could openly develop successor units without the Federation being able to accuse him of theft—he could simply claim he obtained the data from PLANT. The Federation couldn't exactly verify that with PLANT, could they?

Moreover, if Orb accused Reid of stealing their technology, it would be like a white-collar worker earning ten thousand a month accusing a billionaire of stealing a thousand from their pocket—utterly laughable.

But right now, Juri was kicking herself. Why had she come here to poke the tiger? She wasn't even here as a spy! She could've just waited quietly for that junk dealer to arrive at Star Palace to hand over his mission and then steal the Red Astray. Lowe Guele would've been much easier to handle. Now, things had spiraled completely out of control.

Seeing Juri lost in regret instead of responding, Reid couldn't help but feel exasperated.

Still, he could guess why Orb had sent her—it had to be about the Green Astray. Orb probably assumed he had already completed modifications on it, given that it had been used as a test unit a week prior. They likely wanted to sneak into the factory and copy his upgrades for free.

So Reid decided to scare Juri a little. Honestly, in the CE universe, it had already been fourteen days since he left the Archangel. Normally, the Archangel should be facing off against the Desert Tiger, Andrew Bartfeld, in the next couple of days.

In another month, the Archangel would cross the Red Sea and enter Orb. Perfect timing—in half a month, he would need to visit the East Asian Republic to submit his work and retrieve the commissioned mothership.

By then, he could just sail his new warship to Dawn Company and join the fun. After all, the M1 Astray wouldn't be combat-ready yet, so his safety would be guaranteed.

With that in mind, Reid decided to use Juri to establish unofficial contact with Orb. This was a nation he couldn't avoid forever—he'd have to deal with them eventually.

Having made up his mind, Reid prepared to intimidate Juri first to ensure her cooperation. He said,

"Forget it, you don't look like you're going to talk. Yufang, throw her to the special forces. They've been bottling up negative emotions for too long and need to vent. This woman's decent-looking—though she smells a bit now, she'll be usable after a wash. Let them have her. She's just an Orb spy anyway; no one will care if they play her to death."

Of course, the "special forces" Reid mentioned didn't exist, but Xia Yufang understood—it was all part of the interrogation act. Some women did care deeply about their chastity, so taking her to the new recruits' camp for a scare tactic might work first.

Without hesitation, Xia Yufang stepped forward and grabbed Julie by the collar, preparing to drag her out.

Terrified, Julie struggled and screamed, "Wait! Captain Reid, you haven't even asked me anything! How do you know I won't talk if you don't ask?!"

Seeing this, Reid raised his hand, and Xia Yufang immediately released Julie. Reid then turned and said, "Fine. First question: who's your direct superior for this mission?"

Julie's eyes darted around before she quickly answered, "Colonel Ledonir Kisaka."

Reid laughed again. This girl still wasn't being honest. "Liar. Ledonir Kisaka is busy eating sand in Africa with your princess. You expect me to believe he gave you orders? Lying makes it worse. Yufang, tell the guys later—make sure she lasts at least a month before they finish her off."

Xia Yufang immediately grabbed the rope around Julie's neck and started dragging her again.

Julie hadn't expected Reid to know Orb's situation so well. Too scared to lie anymore, she shouted, "No, no! My mission was assigned by Director Simmons! Erika Simmons, the director of Dawn Company!"

Hearing the truth this time, Reid signaled Xia Yufang to stop. "Finally, something honest. But remember—three strikes and you're out. If you lie to me again, I'll have you stripped naked before they drag you away. No one here's on your side. By then, it'll be too late to tell the truth."

"Now, second question: what exactly was Erika Simmons' mission for you? Be specific."

Julie didn't dare hesitate now. "My mission was to intercept the junk dealer team, 'Salvage Crew,' who have the Red Astray at the Star Palace Colony Satellite. We got intel that they'd be arriving soon to report on the task you assigned them in the Heliopolis ruins."

"I was supposed to steal either the Red Astray itself or its OS data. If possible, pin the blame on the New Misurugi Republic."

"So I'm really not here as a spy! I just saw a security gap in the factory and thought I'd sneak in to grab some data. Of course, confirming the Green Astray's location would've been a bonus."

Reid was speechless. His Newtype senses told him Julie wasn't lying this time. How reckless was this girl? No mission, just a spur-of-the-moment decision to infiltrate his factory? And she'd nearly succeeded. If not for running into Xia Yufang, she might've slipped away after failing to find anything.

Reid walked over and looked down at Julie. "So you were here to cause trouble."

Julie had no rebuttal. That was undeniably true—she had come to cause trouble.

Fortunately, Reid was done scaring her. Without waiting for her reply, he continued...

"Fine, contact Director Erika Simmons from Dawn Company. Have her come pick you up from the Star Palace Colony Satellite. If that's not possible, you'd better make up your mind quickly and get ready to enjoy being served by a dozen burly men every day."

After saying this, Reid turned to Xia Yufang and instructed,

"Take her to get cleaned up, then send her to Une. Deliver my message to Une—she'll know what to do next."

With that, Reid took the initiative to leave the room, which still reeked of urine.

Xia Yufang nodded at Reid's retreating figure and responded,

"Understood, Captain!"

This time, she really dragged Julie away.

After leaving the factory, Reid immediately contacted Noin to confirm that the Artemis Fortress had indeed been towed to the designated location.

Moreover, Ange had already gone to console her little follower Flay with the tragic news.

The tragic news, incidentally, concerned George Allster.

There was no helping it—the Eighth Fleet had met the same fate as in the original timeline. According to the Atlantic Federation's announcement, George Allster, whom Reid had once saved, had managed to escape back to Earth in a shuttle at the last moment.

However, the shuttle's wing had been hit by debris during the battle, forcing it to crash-land in the Atlantic Ocean upon re-entry. To this day, only a few fragments of the spacecraft had been recovered. After being missing for so long, the Atlantic Federation government had officially declared him dead, even disbursing the bereavement compensation to his relatives.

Reid decided to check on Flay. This girl was prone to extremes. If she couldn't be recruited, Reid would have to find a way to get rid of her—he couldn't let her disrupt the "harmonious" life of the Star Palace Colony Satellite.

Upon arriving at the Artemis Fortress via shuttle, Reid entered the port terminal and immediately saw Flay clinging to Ange, wailing her heart out.

The native engineers, however, continued their work undisturbed. Only the immigrant soldiers occasionally glanced at Flay, sighing at the cruelty of war.

When Ange noticed Reid's arrival, she was surprised. While comforting Flay, she asked,

"Reid, what brings you here? Have you finished your research?"

Reid casually took a seat beside Ange and replied nonchalantly,

"The research isn't done yet, but I needed a break to clear my head."

Then, he addressed Flay, who was still sobbing in Ange's arms,

"Miss Flay, I'm not good at comforting people. My condolences for Foreign Minister George's passing, but life must go on."

At his words, Flay lifted her tear-streaked face, her expression twisted and bordering on hysterical as she screamed,

"My dad's gone! My dad's gone! Where am I supposed to look now?! Those Coordinators—those damned Coordinators—how dare they?! I... I... sob..."

Flay clearly wanted to say something more vicious, but she realized she truly didn't know what to do. She couldn't very well shout, "There's nothing I can do!" in public, so she buried her face and continued crying.

Ange deeply empathized with Flay's state—she had been the same when her mother died. The only difference was that back then, she hadn't even had someone to hold while she cried.

Reid keenly sensed Ange's mood dipping under Flay's influence. Quickly, he wrapped an arm around Ange's shoulders, silently reminding her that she wasn't alone anymore.

Ange immediately felt the warmth of Reid's chest, and her melancholy made her nestle into him like a small bird. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like a bizarre scene: Flay clinging to Ange, who in turn was nestled in Reid's embrace.

The immigrant soldiers felt like they'd been showered with dog food that tasted of lilies and could only mutter, "The higher-ups really know how to have fun. Let's get out of here before we're caught peeking. Otherwise, we'll end up cleaning toilets just for stepping into the barracks with our left foot."

Reid couldn't care less about what the immigrant soldiers thought. If they felt like they were being fed dog food, they should go find themselves a girlfriend. According to the latest census in the New Misurugi Republic, the number of unmarried or widowed single women was twice that of single men.

Most of these women had immigrated because of Ange's reputation, and women generally disliked war more than men, so this ratio was quite normal.

After most of the immigrants had left, Reid tentatively asked Flay, "Miss Flay, do you want to become stronger?"

Flay immediately raised her head upon hearing this, her face filled with hatred as she said, "Yes, I want to become stronger!! I want revenge against the Coordinators who killed my father!!"

Seeing that Flay had indeed pinned all the blame on the Coordinators—just like a Blue Cosmos member—Reid's expression turned serious. "Flay, I have to warn you. The New Misurugi Republic also has Coordinators, and I despise Blue Cosmos' ideology. If you start spouting their nonsense, I'll have no choice but to send you back to the Atlantic Federation."

Flay wasn't stupid. She hadn't gotten close to Heliopolis Industrial College just because of her family connections. So she quickly added, "No, I'm not Blue Cosmos. What I meant was, I won't forgive the Coordinators who attacked the Eighth Fleet and killed my father!"

Reid nodded and glanced at Ange.

Ange didn't need Reid to spell it out. She understood his meaning and adopted a serious expression as well. "Flay, if you really want to become stronger, I can train you. But the training will be extremely harsh, and I won't allow you to quit. If you can't handle it, you'll die. And you'll never be allowed to betray Reid for the rest of your life. Are you willing to accept that?"

At this moment, Flay was consumed by her desire to become stronger. She didn't care how tough the training would be. If Ange's methods could make her as strong as Ange herself, then she would accept it.

Without hesitation, Flay declared, "Fine, I accept!!"

Reid was now attempting to recruit Flay. As expected, the system allowed it. The girl was completely blinded by hatred, placing all her hopes on him and Ange.

So Reid proceeded with the recruitment and asked again, "Do you confirm your decision to join under my command and obey my orders without betrayal for the rest of your life?"

Reid was trying to confuse the system confirmation prompt in Flay's mind—and Flay indeed overlooked it, replying, "I confirm!!"

The next second, the system displayed that Flay had been successfully recruited. However, the girl's pilot stats were pitifully low, with both MS and MA piloting skills at the bare minimum entry level (since that was the lowest possible rating). The only decent stat in her crew profile was her charm.

But Flay was born with an Awakening Value of 90 and came with an innate skill called Passion (emotional fluctuation values doubled).

However, the loyalty of someone recruited through persuasion wasn't great—Flay's loyalty was only 50 and still needed proper training. After all, once recruited, she couldn't betray them; at worst, her efficiency would drop if her loyalty fell below 40.

So Reid handed Big Sister Mao's Marine Corps Training Manual to Ange and said,

"Ange, you can combine the training methods in this manual with what you already know. This is a good opportunity to test how effective these methods are."

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