An advanced guide for experienced modelers, from building blocks to hand-building Gundams

It wasn't hard to understand Ross's reaction. After all, whether in his original world or in the past few years since arriving in this world, Ross had never heard such praise from Maru, so he subconsciously denied that Maru's target was him.

"Is there anyone else in this corridor?" Looking at Ross who was at a loss, Malu's originally heavy mood relaxed a little.

"Ah...Is that so? Thank you, you look very beautiful now too." Rhodes scratched the back of his head sheepishly, looking a little embarrassed, but the corners of his mouth were as hard to suppress as a Kalashnikov rifle, and he looked quite a scholar.

"Sigh... Could you please come to the bridge in two hours, please?" Mari sighed slightly. She was still wearing the Earth Army uniform. How could she not know that Ross's compliments were just a subconscious response?

I originally wanted to go to the bridge with Ross immediately, but I thought Mu would send them both back to the dormitory again, and then say something like "I'm a mature man" and stay on the bridge.

"Two hours? No problem, see you on the bridge." Ross nodded, as if he wanted to say something else.

"Are you just going to stand at the door and chat like this?" At this time, Christina's voice came from behind Rhodes. Rhodes inexplicably felt a chill, which made him shiver.

Christina had also changed into new clothes, still the classic white coat and inner wear. She looked at the two guys blocking the door with an expressionless face.

She was already a little confused about which of the two guys was the cabbage and which was the pig.

"Oh...you go first?" Rhodes subconsciously made way.

"Come with me, the machine hasn't been inspected yet!" Christina reached out, took Ross's free arm, and walked towards the hangar.

"Captain Mariu, we'll meet on the bridge in two hours." Christina narrowed her eyes and looked at Mariu, who was standing there in a daze, like a cat guarding its food.

"Okay... then... see you later?" Malu waved his hand subconsciously, then watched Ross being dragged away by Christina.

……

Two hours later, Ross and Christina arrived at the bridge.

"Hey...you're here." Mu, who was sitting in his seat with a bag of mint-flavored nutrient solution in his hand, greeted Ross.

This nutrient solution is in the body of the aircraft and provides the pilot with survival supplies after jumping out of the plane. Although it can provide a lot of energy and is nutritionally balanced, it is extremely unpalatable. Many pilots would rather let it expire or hunt after jumping out of the plane than eat this stuff.

But right now, the combination of the unpalatable taste and the refreshing effect of the mint was exactly what Mu needed. While Mu could use his status and excess rations to make coffee to stay awake, given the current water shortage, nutrient solution was more practical. Besides, Mu couldn't do such a thing.

"Where are Captain Malu and Vice Captain Natal? Why are you the only one here?" Rhodes casually floated to an empty chair, sat on it, and casually threw a bag of something to Mu.

"I sent them back to rest. This is... water? Your own?" Mu reached out to take it. The soft touch in his hand made Mu take a look and found that it was a bag of water with a unicorn icon.

"Yes, I put it in the Jegan. I still have some." Ross leaned back in his chair and reached out to push up his sunglasses. "When I saw that there was only half a glass of water in the cafeteria just now, I knew what was going on."

"You kid... I'm afraid you have some supernatural power to predict the future." Mu sighed and shook his head. "It seems like you can't hide anything from me on this ship."

"If I could predict the future, I wouldn't have bought a factory and settled down in Heliopos in the first place, and I would have stayed away from you." Rhodes pulled Christina to his side and asked her to hold the back of the chair.

"That's right... Come to think of it, why did you suddenly come to the bridge? I was planning to wait until the captain and the others had rested before calling you." Mu took a sip of the nutrient solution in his hand. The mint flavor combined with the original strange taste of the nutrient solution made his expression a little distorted. If Mu had not swallowed the nutrient solution in his mouth quickly, he would have had to show some kind of facial expression to destroy his image of a "reliable adult".

By the way, has anyone used the image setting of "reliable adult"?

If there were a narrator, a certain Mr. Rhodes, now dressed in a bomber jacket and sunglasses, would have something to say.

"Of course I met him on the way." Maru's voice came.

The door of the bridge was opened at some point, and Marilu and Bakirolu floated in together.

"...Thank you for your hard work, Ross. I'll need your help next." Malu didn't know why Christina always squinted when looking at her, but she still greeted Ross first.

Ross didn't say anything, just gave them a thumbs up.

……

"Well... I already understand the details."

After listening to Baki Lulu's long introduction, Ross also understood the current situation.

"To be honest, the situation on the Archangel is a little worse than I thought." Rhodes began to zoom in and out of the route map and observe it carefully.

"Water is severely insufficient, food is just barely sufficient, and weapons and ammunition have only been partially replenished... Is the Artemis Fortress's mobility so poor?"

"It's also possible that they're unsure of the authenticity of the disguised instructions." Mu waved his hand. "But regardless, at least we've temporarily shaken off ZAFT. And we've escaped."

"Our biggest problem right now is supplies, especially water. Rhodes, do you have any connections?"

"...As for water resources...I don't know any scrap recyclers nearby. If I contact them directly, we'll already be on the moon by the time they arrive." Ross recalled the scrap recyclers he knew and shook his head. "Our current route is the border between the ZAFT region and the Earth Military region, and as far as I know, there are no scrap recyclers operating in this area."

"Is that so..." Mari sighed, leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes, and pressing his temples. "In that case, we'll have to take the shortest route to the lunar base. Hopefully, our water will last until then."

"In that case, I'll have to do some resource planning first." Baki Lulu couldn't help but sigh and prepared to do a count of the supplies.

"...No, there's a way, but I need to ask you." Ross dragged the route map, seemed to see something interesting, and narrowed his eyes. "Would you mind working part-time as a scrap recycler?"

"What do you mean?" Mu was stunned when he heard Ross's words. "Go pick up trash? Where does the trash come from nearby?"

"That's right," Ross pointed to a gravel area. "That's where we'll find what we need."

At this moment, Roz felt Christina holding his hand, getting even harder.

Ross turned his head, looked at Christina who looked worried, and smiled.

"I'll be fine."

"Asteroid belt? That place isn't..." Mu's eyes widened when he saw the area Ross pointed to.

"...The wreckage of Junius 7." Looking at the markings in this area, Mariu's expression was not very good.

……

"What? Gravel belt?" Kira and his friends were a little surprised.

"Yes, we need to resupply there." Malu considered his words for a moment before speaking. "Although we are also very uncomfortable, but..."

"This is the only way." Ross suddenly interrupted Malu. "This was my idea, too."

Ross had been watching the reactions of the people before him, whether they were the original Archangel crew or Kira and his companions who were helping out aboard. After Malu announced the decision to resupply near the wreckage of Junius 7, the Archangel crew, though grimly veiled, accepted the decision. Kira and his companions, however, were somewhat resistant to the idea.

If he didn't stand up, there might be a rift among the crew of the Archangel, but the ship had to continue sailing, at least to Orb.

So at this time, Ross must stand up and draw the firepower and hatred to himself.

"But... if we take the things of the dead..." Kira's bespectacled friend named Sai began to question Ross's method.

"So, do you all want to become part of the wreckage in the rubble?" Ross's face was expressionless, completely unlike his usual smile. "Don't forget, ZAFT is still chasing us. Their goal is to destroy this battleship, the guarantee of our survival."

"You can insult me all you want, but I don't think my methods are wrong." Ross scanned the crowd before him until he stared into Kira's eyes. "It's disrespectful to the deceased, but if you don't take the supplies, recyclers like us will collect and clear them out."

"Before you show respect to the dead, you must first ensure your own survival." Ross glanced at Mariu, who seemed about to say something, and reached out to press her shoulder, stopping her from speaking.

“Only those who survive are qualified to remember the dead.”

----split line----

PS: 9/10

Volume 1: Chapter 10 I Found You

"Are your words too harsh for them?"

Ross sat in the Jegan's cockpit, checking its equipment. Meanwhile, Malu's voice rang out over the comms.

Although the people from Artemis Fortress boarded the Archangel, the green-style adapter and charger on the connection interface between Jegan and the Archangel made these professionally trained engineers dare not touch them.

"Rather than letting them continue to be naive until they get hurt, I might as well wake them up." Ross finished adjusting his equipment and leaned back in the cockpit chair, watching Kira's friends busying around in the hangar. "Besides, someone has to step up and draw the fire, otherwise it's going to be difficult for you."

"...Thank you, Ross." Maru suddenly said this, leaving Ross stunned.

"Oh, oh... nothing. Did you ask them to prepare paper flowers for the memorial?" Rhodes glanced at the communication channel and found that it was only a voice communication. He relaxed a little and shook his head to clear his mind.

"Well... after I told them, the kid named Frey volunteered to do it." Mariu's words cheered Ross up a little.

"I saw it. They're putting those things onto the engineering machine." In the cockpit of the Quan Zhoutian, Rhodes zoomed in on a part of the area and saw a red-haired woman in a pink dress and the boy named Thor putting several sacks onto the engineering machine.

"Although it may be of no use, just treat it as psychological comfort for them."

It wasn't that it was absolutely useless. Rhodes was well aware of this. After all, as he gradually approached the wreckage of Junius 7, he could already hear some subtle sounds.

The voice of resentment and sadness comes from the "Ghost of the Universe".

……

As the Archangel gradually approached the wreckage of Junius 7, it released its engineering machine.

Ross sat on Jegan and flew out along with Kira's attack.

The closer he got to this area, the louder the whispers from the cosmic ghosts in Ross's ears became, even causing a swelling and pain in his brain, and even slightly deforming his operation.

"That's... Junius 7?" A slightly trembling question came from the communication channel.

"The frozen continent..." Kira looked at the land area in front of him, which was still largely intact, and opened his eyes wide.

"Ah... yes, at that time, the Earth Army launched a nuclear bomb here under the operation of an organization called Blue Cosmos." Ross endured the throbbing pain in his brain and stated the facts he knew in a relatively calm tone.

"Blue cosmos? What is that?" The young man named Thor asked, and even Frey beside him was a little curious.

"A radical organization, but that's not the focus right now. You'll know later." Rhodes took off his helmet and covered his head tightly, but he still tried his best to keep his tone calm.

"Ha... Kira, you go guard them. I'll go check here to make sure there's no ZAFT..." Ross reached for the comm switch. "Also... if you want to take those paper flowers and cranes to the memorial, hurry up."

"By the way, let me be alone for a while."

After saying that, Ross turned off the communication channel, suppressed the sharp screams and vicious curses coming from his ears, and drove away in the Jegan.

……

"The frozen lake... you can even see frozen fish..."

"Really..."

After passing the still intact streets and seeing many residents of Junius 7 frozen in space, everyone continued on their way and finally arrived at their destination - the artificial lake of Junius 7. The entire wreckage of Junius 7 stores at least 1 million tons of frozen water. This is the place with the most water stored in public.

Kira sat in the Strike Gundam, watching his companions get off the engineering machine, holding various paper flowers and paper cranes in their hands, and standing by the frozen lake.

“…Three minutes of silence.”

Mariu's voice came from the communication.

After hearing Mariu's voice, Frey was the first to throw out the thousand paper cranes in her arms.

The people on the Archangel leaned against the portholes and observed a moment of silence for the deceased. The crew members on the bridge also stood up.

Like a chain reaction, the people who stepped off the construction machine also threw out the paper cranes they had in their arms. These things, carrying their sorrow and wishes, floated in the universe.

Among this group of people, Christina looked sadly in the direction of Ross's machine.

She knew very well what Ross was going through at that moment, or rather, she had seen it before.

On the other side of the wreckage of Junius 7, Jegan was half-kneeling on the ruins of the city, blocked by the buildings, so Kira and others were not clear about Jegan's situation.

"Uh ah ah..."

Ross, who had turned off the machine's communication, was holding his head in pain as he sat in Jegan's cockpit, his other hand tightly gripping the empty space on the control panel.

Ross's premonition was correct; their memorial service was completely incapable of appeasing the undead spirits lingering on Julius 7.

Rhodes even had some kind of hallucination. A large number of countless undead seemed to have finally found an outlet and rushed towards him frantically.

A large number of arms seemed to be trying to pull Ross into the abyss. He heard all kinds of sharp curses and curses in his ears, and blurry faces full of hatred appeared in front of him.

Ross knew full well that what he was facing was the nightmare of all NTs—a vast multitude of cosmic undead. He didn't know how many NTs had fallen into incurable madness because of this.

"How could I fall here..." Rhodes's eyes widened and became dazed, but gradually came into focus.

"Bang..." Ross punched the cockpit and gritted his teeth.

"I said... I want to change this twisted world..."

Ross stretched out his right hand, piercing through the face whose eyes were almost condensed with resentment, as if to grab something.

"You can continue to curse me... and curse me... whatever you want..."

A little golden light seemed to emerge from Ross's eyes, and a thin, barely detectable emerald green light appeared on his body.

"Only this sad and crazy war... I'm going to stop it for you to see!"

The more he fought against these undead, the more pain Ross felt in his brain. He even felt as if his brain was thrown into a boiling oil pan and was about to be burned in pain, but his consciousness became clearer and clearer.

The originally noisy sounds gradually subsided and weakened. The arms that had pinned him to the cockpit in the vision began to dissipate. Even the faces filled with resentment gradually disappeared.

At this moment, in Ross's vision, a hand emitting a faint light clasped the fingers of Ross's outstretched hand.

It was a blurry figure with long golden hair, but it was vaguely recognizable as a woman. Although he didn't know who it was, Ross felt the illusion of warmth coming from the palm of his hand.

As if out of control, Rhodes watched his right hand follow the ghost's movements and grasp the joystick. Under the ghost's guidance, Rhodes subconsciously fired a shot.

Then, a strong mental shock washed over Ross's consciousness like a wave, leaving his brain blank.

In the cockpit, the originally thin and weak emerald green light appeared with a rainbow-like color, began to float out from Ross's body, and continuously washed over the cockpit.