As Graham recounted their experiences, the general outline of the Second Squad's journey became clear. Like Yang Hui and the others who traveled to the Gundam SEED world, Graham and his team had all been rejuvenated, starting their lives anew as newborn infants. Similar to Yang Hui's group, they were born into prominent families, granting them a high starting point.
However, the difference lay in the fact that the political landscape of the Gundam W world seemed far more complex. As a result, Graham and his comrades were scattered across different factions and organizations.
Ironically, this made it easier for them to infiltrate and control various powers.
One particularly amusing detail was the case of Asemu and Flit, the father-son duo who were reborn into the same family—as twin brothers, no less. Asemu was the elder brother, while Flit was the younger (hilarious!).
By the time they reached the ages of 16 to 20, coinciding with the start of the main storyline, the five Gundams made their appearances one after another. Graham and his team, who had remained dormant until then, gradually stepped onto the stage.
Flit and Asemu became core members of the pacifist faction within the Earth United Federation. Graham maintained a close relationship with Treize Khushrenada, the supreme leader of OZ. Jehart, meanwhile, was the heir to a leading family among the Space People.
Thus… the three major factions of the Gundam W world all had their own insider—each occupying a pivotal position. With Flit and Jehart working together, they practically manipulated all three factions effortlessly, leaving no secrets hidden from them.
Under such favorable conditions, achieving 100% world deviation should have been a breeze. However, since both Flit and Jehart—the acting commanders of the Second Squad—were participating in their first mission, they opted for caution. They avoided excessive interference in the world's historical progression, limiting themselves to saving a few inconsequential individuals and preemptively thwarting certain conspiracies.
These included OZ's armed coup and the rise of the White Fang. These two major events, along with their organizations, became the primary sources of their substantial world deviation gains.
Yet, to their surprise, their actions not only failed to prevent war but instead exposed them. OZ and the White Fang joined forces against them, triggering the final conflict in an entirely different form.
"The biggest responsibility for this mission's mishap lies with Graham," Flit criticized sternly.
Originally, Graham's task was to remain undercover as an enemy beside Treize Khushrenada, monitoring OZ's every move, especially after Flit and Jehart had been exposed. However, during the operation to stop OZ's armed uprising, Graham accidentally blew his cover, completely ruining the infiltration plan and losing control over OZ. This oversight prevented them from detecting the alliance between OZ and the White Fang in advance.
"How was I supposed to know Treize was so sharp? He figured me out just from the way I looked at the Gundam," Graham grumbled. When the Gundam first appeared, unlike everyone else, Graham's gaze had been unnervingly calm—devoid of any reaction, as if he had known about the Gundam all along.
But this small gesture was caught by Treize Khushrenada. Based on his understanding, Graham was a true warrior and battle fanatic who had already defeated every opponent within the Organization of Zodiac. Seeing the Gundam effortlessly sweep through OZ's forces should have excited him.
Yet it didn't!
Thus, Treize Khushrenada cast aside their childhood friendship. While keeping Graham by his side at all times, he remained constantly wary of him.
Ultimately, when OZ launched its armed coup, Treize confirmed Graham wasn't truly aligned with him. Thanks to detecting Graham's issues in advance, though the coup failed, OZ avoided major losses and retained enough strength to later ally with White Fang for large-scale warfare.
"You got careless, Graham," Yang Hui said seriously. Mistakes required correction—every mission could mean life or death. To complete missions successfully and ensure everyone's safe return, every error and flaw discovered must be addressed immediately.
"Alright, I get it!" Graham admitted with a resigned hair-scratch, acknowledging his mistake. "But no more undercover assignments for me—I'm really not cut out for it!"
"Agreed," the team nodded. Graham was an exceptional warrior and could lead an MS squad brilliantly, but masking his true emotions made him terrible for covert ops. "This was unavoidable, but we'll be more careful."
"Good."
"Yang Hui, what about your team? Any issues?" Flit asked.
"Well..." The first squad exchanged wry smiles, feeling fortunate despite everything.
Truthfully, while they'd crushed the festum and completed their mission with seeming ease, the dangers they'd faced were known only to them. In hindsight, the risks were terrifying.
What if they hadn't discovered the Kingdom of Scandinavia's problems in time? What if Mentor Malchio hadn't held on until meeting Yang Hui? What if the Assimilation phenomenon had spread earlier?
Countless variables could've led to catastrophe.
"What?! You encountered festum?!" Flit and others shot up in alarm after Yang Hui's report.
"Exactly. No one anticipated this," Yang Hui admitted grimly.
"Mephis! Are you there?"
[I am.]
Mephis' hologram appeared at Flit's summons.
"Why did this happen?"
[Prometheus Fortress cannot create worlds. Each mission world is real—since they exist, they can be detected by enemies as well. Under Commander Protection Protocol, mission difficulty is filtered based on the commander's strength and the Fortress' overall capacity to select appropriate worlds. But exceptions exist.]
"Such as?"
[For example, the festum in the Gundam SEED world have remained in an inactive state, so they wouldn't be detected by Prometheus Fortress. Only when they become active can they be detected. If not for the assimilation phenomenon, these dormant festum would have remained hidden in the Gundam SEED world indefinitely.]
"!"
Hearing this, both the members of First Squad and those from the Gundam SEED world felt their hair stand on end, cold sweat dripping down their backs. While terrified, they also felt a sense of relief—relief that the people of the Kingdom of Scandinavia had been researching festum and triggered the assimilation phenomenon. Otherwise...
It would have been like a colossal nuclear bomb capable of destroying the world buried deep underground, unknown to anyone yet always on the verge of detonation.
"What about the Gundam 00 world and the Gundam AGE world? Do they have similar threats?" Yang Hui asked. The Gundam 00 world was his second home, a world he would inevitably return to and connect with, while the Gundam AGE world was already linked to Prometheus Fortress. If such ticking time bombs were hidden there, they needed to be dealt with immediately—the consequences of inaction would be unimaginable.
[The Gundam 00 world cannot be confirmed, but the Gundam AGE world is confirmed to have none. After establishing the Two-way Transfer Gate, the world and Prometheus Fortress have become one entity. The fortress's surveillance system covers all connected worlds—nothing can remain hidden if it exists.]
"...Can't we get early warnings? Detect them before we enter a mission world?" Yang Hui pressed. Discovering threats beforehand versus being informed mid-mission were two entirely different scenarios. This time, they had narrowly escaped disaster largely because luck had been on their side.
[It is possible, but Insufficient Permissions.]
"Upgrade the Central Hall? What level is required?"
[Insufficient Permissions.]
"..."
Everyone was frustrated—damn permissions again!
"What now? Should we focus all efforts on upgrading permissions this time?" Graham asked.
"No." XN
Not just Yang Hui, but Sumeragi, Wang Liu Mei, Flit, Jehart—even Creuset and Durandal—all opposed Graham's suggestion.
"Permissions are important, but we can't rush it," Yang Hui said.
"Why not?"
"Because of strength!" Sumeragi interjected.
"Strength?"
"Exactly. The Central Hall's level isn't just tied to permissions—it's also directly linked to mission difficulty. With our current strength, as long as we don't encounter improbable accidents, we can handle missions easily no matter how we're grouped. Easy missions mean more opportunities to earn greater rewards and higher world deflection rates," Flit explained.
"Right, but if the difficulty spikes, things change completely," Jehart added. "We don't know how steep the difficulty increase will be. If it jumps too drastically, not only might we fail missions, but we could even be in mortal danger."
"I see... But didn't Yang Hui's team run into unexpected trouble this time?"
"After all, this is a low-probability event with very slim chances of occurring. And just like the situation in the Gundam SEED world, while extremely dangerous, it wasn't a dead end—there was still considerable room for maneuver. However, compared to the increased difficulty, what we might face wouldn't be accidents, but veritable armies. Do you think... we're currently qualified to face such enemy forces?"
Hearing this, everyone shook their heads in unison. Even battle maniacs like Graham, who craved strong opponents, weren't fools. Enjoying life-and-death struggles didn't mean they were willing to throw their lives away.
"Moreover..." Flit paused to consider before looking at Yang Hui, "...unexpected events often represent opportunities. I imagine the gains this time were substantial?"
At these words, Yang Hui and the other members of the first squad exchanged knowing smiles. Flit had hit the nail on the head—unexpected events did signify opportunities, and higher-difficulty missions meant greater rewards.
"Exactly. Now let's tally up all the rewards. This time, our improvements will definitely be significant."
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