Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

They are basically the opposite of the Zeonians. The Zeonians have more well-known figures who are bad at the top but capable and intelligent at the bottom, while the Federation has a lot of useless people in the middle and lower classes, but many intelligent and idealistic people in the upper class.

Of course, this only applies to the One Year War. After that point, the Federation officially evolved into a state where everyone, from top to bottom, was both stupid and wicked.

So Tsurugi didn't waste any more words. With a wave of her hand, she disarmed all the Federation soldiers.

He moved his fingers, and the Force instantly bound the officer named Ashir.

"What do you think you're doing?! I'm a Federation officer!!!"

The officer, unable to move, shouted in terror, while Tsurugi was too lazy to say anything more to this ignorant fool.

The next moment, he was turned into a uniform paste in Dongjiang's hands, firmly bound within a half-cubic-meter space. This scene terrified the refugees and the surrounding Federal soldiers.

"So, you choose between obeying or dying."

Tsurugi said lazily.

"Don't insult my intelligence with nonsense. You're all alive because I dealt with the Zeon outside. I don't care whether you believe me or not; you only have one choice."

Dongjiang wanted to take down the Jionglao, but that doesn't mean he had any great kindness in wanting to shelter these refugees.

As he said, these people survived entirely because of him, which means that killing them was also Tsurugi's right.

"I believe you, sir! We witnessed your heroic fighting spirit!!!"

A boy in the crowd, his face flushed, raised his phone, which was playing footage of Tsugumi's recent rampage.

The photos are great; my photography skills have improved a lot.

However, it is clear that many, or even most, people here are skeptical of the overly fantastical scenes.

But since Tsurugi had just crushed someone in mid-air, there was almost no room for doubt.

They couldn't understand what this parva was, but that didn't stop them from habitually submitting to authority.

No fool would utter such a ridiculous statement as, "If we all gang up on you, even if you're strong, you can't fight four hands with two fists."

After all, it might take seven or eight days to catch 100,000 pigs, but it only takes one day to catch 100,000 people.

Soon, everyone in the shelter submitted to Tsurugi, but not all the refugees on Ishufi Island were there.

Considering the tight schedule, Tsurugi didn't waste any time.

He laid his cards on the table.

"I'm going to Rum to join the war, to fight the Zeonians," Tsurugi said bluntly.

"I think that ship can only carry a maximum of one hundred people, which means only one hundred of you can come with me."

The crowd erupted into chaos, but not many rushed to leave—after all, Tsuruga hadn't said he was escaping, but going to join the war.

"I might come back to you after I'm done fighting, since your lives are now mine, they're practically my property. Of course, it's also possible I won't come back, who knows?"

"The key question is, what will you eat if I leave?"

He spread his hands and said

“The situation on the entire Ishufi Island is terrible right now. Staying here might mean waiting to die, but following me is also dangerous. I can’t give you any guarantees.”

"Hiss... So all I've said has been a waste of time? After all, it seems like you're having a hard time surviving!"

Dongjiang clenched his fist and opened his hand.

"Fine, you can all just wait to die!"

Changing styles doesn't stop it from killing! : 114. Hero Sirocco and External Reactions (Bonus Chapter)

Sirocco wanted to applaud his boss.

Well said, that's beautifully said. Your language is simply art!

Seeing the refugees become even more panicked in an instant, Sirocco could only take a deep breath and step forward.

"Calm down, the situation isn't that hopeless!!!"

Although Sima's face and Zeon uniform made it difficult for the refugees to believe her, Sirocco used her Newtype abilities to temporarily suppress their overly turbulent thoughts.

She looked around and said coldly.

"The situation is indeed desperate, but it's not hopeless. You can either wait to die or try your best to find a way to survive, as long as you obey our orders!"

“I don’t want to repeat myself, we’re about to leave Ishfi Island, so we need to select some capable and obedient people to come with us—but we will not abandon you. I, Sirocco, swear here that even if we don’t make it back from Loum alive, we will still broadcast your need for help!”

Sirocco's words calmed the previously agitated refugees. Although the chances were still slim, and it was a Zeon woman who had spoken, at least she had given them a glimmer of hope for survival.

What are the requirements for joining us?

Amada Shiro squeezed through and said

"The first requirement is the ability to pilot a mobile suit—well, that's unlikely, but it requires knowledge and mastery of spaceships. If you don't have that, then science students will be given priority."

Sirocco originally wanted to recruit a few people who could pilot mobile suits, but then he thought that even Zeon didn't have many valuable mobile suit pilots these days, so he had to settle for second best.

Putting everything else aside, let's get the boat moving first!

After saying that, she immediately began to systematically arrange the interview questions. After screening through a round of people and using the lie detectors of the new humans, the exhausted Sirocco finally selected more than thirty usable people from among them.

The Musai-class cruisers weren't particularly large ships; thirty people were actually sufficient. The main issue was that Tsurugi's requirements for usability and obedience were quite stringent, so he stopped there; there was no need to gather a hundred people.

Sirocco, whose mental energy was so intense that his brain felt like it was about to explode, turned around and found his boss playing games on a computer that he had somehow found.

Sirocco: ......

If I weren't outmatched, I would have definitely used the MS's ramming horn to kill you!

Sirocco grumbled inwardly, then forced a smile and went to report his work to his boss.

"Okay, well done, Grandma!" Tsurugi said casually, without even looking up from the game.

"Then I appoint you as Captain, Governor of Ishfi Island, Ruler of Side 2, and the first Prime Minister of the Galactic Empire—the rest is all in your hands!"

Take a deep breath, take a deep breath!!!

Sirocco suppressed his agitation, gave a forced smile and agreed, then withdrew.

There are many things to arrange.

Although Sirocco didn't care about the lives of these refugees, he understood that they were essential to making a difference in the chaotic year of war to come.

People and land are essential; land is necessary for the development of technology and industry; and weapons are what give you the leverage to speak with others.

Otherwise, how could the two of them possibly go to SIDE6 and rely on the people there to rule and dominate?

The refugees on Ishufi Island are their best option. After all, the Haddi government is finished, and the place is in ruins. As long as they are saved, Paptimas Sirocco will be their savior and king!

Heh heh heh, let me make full use of you cheap labor!

In the following time, Sirocco directed everyone to take action.

First, they sent people to contact other refugees, and then went to the central axis of the colony to check the nitrogen reserves—because oxygen was a real asset on the colony.

Yes, although current technology can produce oxygen, it is extremely difficult to obtain nitrogen, which is the most common gas on Earth, in space. Even recycled and purified oxygen needs to be produced. Therefore, oxygen in both colonies and the Jupiter Sphere really needs to be purchased.

Those so-called air taxes may sound appalling, but they are mandatory taxes in space, and they are also the biggest source of revenue for the Earth Federation in squeezing its colonies.

The man who returned from Jupiter has a very good understanding of oxygen. After all, in other places, whether you die or not is a matter of life or death if you can't afford the air tax, but in the Jupiter sphere, people are really executed regularly for the sake of precious air.

The good news is that Zeon's army did not destroy the air storage warehouse on Ishuf Island, but the bad news is that the oxygen content on Ishuf Island has dropped significantly because of Tsugumi's hammer blow.

Although he plugged part of the gap, oxygen was still constantly leaking out.

So Sirocco had to send people, or even go himself, to help repair the outer walls of the colony, while at the same time he had to work overtime to deal with other problems.

The Earth's colonies are basically modeled after the "O'Neill Cylinder," so the gravity here comes from the cylinder rotating around its long axis at a speed of one revolution every two minutes, using centrifugal force to simulate an artificial gravitational force close to 1G.

However, several of the support shafts on Ishufi Island were broken during the Battle of Tsurugi and the destruction caused by the Zeonians, so gravity and such can no longer be simulated.

Living in a weightless environment for a long time is indeed bad for the body, but more importantly, almost any industrial production or even oxygen production would be difficult to carry out in such an environment.

So Sirocco used his intelligence and technological reserves to regulate the gravity environment of the colony's central axis in the oxygen production area, creating a time limit for the colony's rotation, so that there could be at least eight hours of normal industrial production per day.

Anyway, the oxygen problem is at least temporarily solved. Even if they leave, Ishufi Island can hold out for at least another month or so.

Finally, there's the issue of food.

It is well known that satellite colonies never lack food—this is counterintuitive. People subconsciously think that satellite colonies floating in space are the biggest importers of food, but in reality, it is the complete opposite.

Regardless of what happened after the North American food silos were destroyed in 0083, even before that, Earth imported large quantities of food from space. This was because severe environmental pollution on Earth resulted in very little arable land, and colonies not only possessed advanced agricultural technology but also more sophisticated technology for synthesizing food.

While Ishufi Island, as the capital of the Hadid government, lacks the conditions for agricultural cultivation, it has stored a large amount of grain originally intended for export. This is more than enough to feed 500,000 people.

Anyway, these people will definitely suffocate before they starve to death.

In short, three days have passed since everything was arranged.

It is now January 11, UC0079, and there are only four days left until the start of the Loom campaign.

So even though there were still a lot of problems, Sirocco still had to reluctantly follow Tsurugi.

When he left, a large group of residents from Side 2 came to see him off, and several children even presented him with flowers.

"Quick, hand the flowers to the Commander-in-Chief! Zick, you big-haired grandma!"

Tsurugi handed the flower to Sirocco in a sarcastic tone, while Sirocco maintained a flawless, showy smile, but a strange feeling lingered in his heart.

It wasn't warm; it felt more like... dragging a corpse out to sunbathe.

—He wondered if he had also been infected by the abstract nature of his own lord.

"Are you perhaps jealous?" Having regained his composure and confidence, Sirocco smelled the flower in his hand and smiled gently.

"Jealousy? Just kidding!" Tsugumi rolled her eyes, but she did feel a little envious of the feeling of being adored.

"However—it's very painful to disappoint these earnest expectations. Of course, if you're like Char, then disregard what I said."

Tsurugi changed the subject. Indeed, he was somewhat envious of the feeling of being surrounded by people, but on the other hand, he was not envious of such excessive expectations at all.

When you are burdened with a heavy responsibility, and the hopes of countless people rest on your shoulders, you will be overwhelmed unless you are completely irresponsible.

Therefore, Tsugumi never takes responsibility, while Char, whom Tsugumi mentioned, is another example—taking responsibility but ultimately abandoning it without hesitation for his own pleasure.

Sirocco paused for a moment, then smiled contemptuously.

"Of course, I won't become a narrow-minded man like him!"

Call it despicable or shrewd, Sirocco would never do something like Char. He wouldn't abandon his supporters until they were completely worthless, let alone act impulsively.