Reid ordered Ribbons to transmit the data first. Though resentful, Ribbons had no choice but to comply temporarily while waiting for an opportunity to act.
Ribbons knew Reid's subordinates were monitoring the server associated with that IP address and would certainly be aware of the quantum computer's data transmission speed. Dragging things out was not an option. Moreover, Reid's side couldn't be completely ignorant of genetic technology, so fabricating data was also unfeasible.
Thus, Ribbons dared not tamper with the data transmission. However, while transferring the data, he secretly sent an order to Major Abert Lint, who was operating near Southern Europe, instructing him to lead the A-Laws to eliminate the Celestial Beings infiltrating the venue.
The reason he didn't contact the closer Earth Federation Forces was that Ribbons feared Reid was monitoring all nearby military bases. Recklessly contacting them could lead to immediate exposure. In that case, Reid would likely not allow him to stay and transmit data anymore—he might even be tied up and confined to a culture dish in SDP's secret laboratory.
As for why he claimed the target was the Celestial Beings, it was because if he had said they were coming to attack SDP, the inherently timid Abert Lint would probably feign a sudden illness and collapse on the spot.
Of course, Ribbons didn't expect Abert Lint to actually pose any real threat to Reid. He summoned him merely to buy himself an opportunity to commit suicide.
It could only be said that Ribbons, the mastermind behind the Gundam 00 universe, was driven by Reid's few words to such desperation that he only sought to escape through suicide—a testament to Reid's growing mastery in leveraging information asymmetry to manipulate others.
At the moment, Reid was indeed unaware that Abert Lint's A-Laws unit was on its way. Hoshino Ruri would not waste precious computational resources monitoring the entire world; the unit would only be detected once it entered her alert range.
Of course, Hoshino Ruri's alert range was extensive, so the A-Laws unit wouldn't fly undetected for long.
Even if Reid had known about Ribbons's covert actions, as long as the transmission of Quasi-Innovator manufacturing technology data wasn't slowed, he would have turned a blind eye.
After all, Abert Lint's A-Laws unit was small in number and lacked top-tier experts. Even with most of Reid's team scattered around the venue, it wouldn't be a concern. Sending an Automated Soldier Murasame Unit would likely be enough to intercept them.
Unfortunately, Ribbons had forgotten that he wasn't the only one active in this manor.
Since Ribbons failed to appear at the agreed time, and one of his safeguards—the Quasi-Innovator Shirine Keel, along with several others who came looking for him—had been knocked out by the Xia sisters and left in an empty room.
The manor's other security personnel, with Hoshino Ruri in control of the communication system, remained unaware of any anomalies despite repeated urgings from the banquet hall.
For the sake of his own plans, Regene Regetta had no choice but to use telepathy to guide Tieria to the room where Ribbons was located.
However, when Regene Regetta approached Ribbons's room, he was inevitably ambushed by the Xia sisters.
With Hoshino Ruri providing the ideal ambush points and timing, the Xia sisters, who were inherently skilled in stealth and surprise attacks, caught Regene Regetta completely off guard.
Although the Quasi-Innovator possessed enhanced physical capabilities and quick reflexes, being caught off guard left him no chance to draw his weapon before a punch to the abdomen knocked him unconscious.
However, Tieria, who followed shortly after, encountered the Xia sisters just as they were preparing to drag Regene Regetta into an empty room.
Given their friendly relations with the Celestial Beings, Hoshino Ruri merely alerted them to Tieria's approach, and the Xia sisters had no intention of ambushing him.
Seeing Regene Regetta—created from the same genetic template as himself—being dragged away, Tieria assumed the Xia sisters intended to permanently eliminate him. With numerous questions still unresolved, Tieria proactively spoke up:
"Miss Xia Yufang, Miss Xia Yulan, could you delay disposing of that Quasi-Innovator you're dragging? I have many questions for him."
Hearing this, the Xia sisters naturally sought Reid's opinion, as he hadn't yet specified how to handle Regene Regetta.
Upon hearing this, Reid—who had been growing bored during Ribbons' data transmission—remarked that entertainment had arrived just in time.
Thus, Reid abruptly declared in Ribbons' presence:
"Tieria and Regene Regetta? Let them in."
The moment Reid spoke these words, Ribbons' eyes widened like copper bells, glaring with unmistakable fury: "Reid Isaac! You've schemed against me again!!"
But Reid paid no mind to Ribbons' thoughts. Soon, a knock came at the door. The Xia sisters opened it and tossed the unconscious Regene Regetta inside, with Tieria following closely behind.
However, Tieria was momentarily speechless at the scene before him: the room in disarray, Reid's clothes torn open, and across from him a man beaten black and blue. He didn't know where to begin.
Ignoring Tieria for the moment, Reid first exchanged G-Coins for a bottle of water from the G Coin Store and promptly poured it over Regene Regetta's face.
The shock naturally roused Regene Regetta, though his "wake-up temper" flared fiercely. Seeing a figure pouring water on his face, he instinctively rolled sideways to create distance while reaching for his gun, cursing:
"Bastard! Who are you? How dare you treat me like this! I—"
But Regene Regetta no longer had a gun. Moreover, the Xia sisters remained in the room. Hearing him curse at Reid, Xia Yufang immediately delivered a kick that curled him into a shrimp-like position.
Had Reid not clearly needed Regene Regetta conscious, Xia Yufang would likely have put lethal force behind that kick.
Witnessing this, Reid noted that Regene Regetta was another arrogant type who resorted to cursing—far less composed than Ribbons—and deserved the lesson.
However, Reid now worried about managing two Quasi-Innovators alone and called out:
"Ange, I'm done here. Come in. Yufang, Yulan, resume your posts outside the door."
At this, Ange entered the room but sighed upon seeing Reid's torn clothes:
"Reid, how did you manage to get your clothes torn fighting Ribbons? Your combat skills seem to have regressed. You'll need more training when we get home."
Upon hearing this, Reid broke out in a cold sweat. Training with Ange wasn't about practicing offensive moves—it was about honing his defensive and pain tolerance skills.
So Reid decisively skipped over that topic and said,
"It's nothing, just got scratched by accident. Only the clothes got torn—clearly, the quality isn't great. Let's not buy from this brand next time.
By the way, Ange, keep an eye on this Regene Regetta for me and make sure he doesn't try anything."
As soon as Ange heard this, she flashed a mischievous grin, just like Reid's, and said,
"Easy. Get me a steel rebar about two fingers thick—something sturdy."
Reid immediately understood what she had in mind and directly exchanged G-Coins in the G Coin Store for a long section of steel rebar.
While there are exceptionally strong humans who can bend rebar with their bare hands, no one could twist it into a pretzel like Ange did, as if it were a piece of rope.
So when Regene Regetta watched Ange casually twist the rebar into a spiral, he realized that taking a punch from her would probably feel no better than being rammed by an enraged bull.
Thus, Regene Regetta wisely cooperated and let Ange tie him up in a tortoise-shell bind with the rebar, his ankles wrapped several times over.
Once bound, he could only lie sideways on the ground. But in his frustration, he noticed that Ribbons seemed to be in an even worse state.
At least Regene Regetta's face was still intact—whereas if it weren't for Ribbons' distinctive hair color and style, he wouldn't have recognized that swollen face as belonging to Ribbons at all.
After Ange finished dealing with Regene Regetta, Reid turned to the still-stunned Tieria and said,
"Tieria, now's the time for a full intel dump. Ask whatever you want. I'm sure these two fellow Quasi-Innovators won't dare deceive you. Otherwise, I'll just have to play a little longer with them."
Reid's gaze swept over Ribbons and Regene Regetta with a faint, mocking smile, making it clear: if they didn't cooperate, he'd make things unpleasant for them.
Seeing that Reid was willing to back him up, Tieria didn't hold back and directly asked Ribbons,
"You're Ribbons Almark, right? Setsuna mentioned that you helped Alejandro Corner seize control of Veda four years ago. So Veda is under your control now, isn't it?"
Ribbons might have hesitated in front of Reid—after all, he acknowledged Reid as his primary adversary, an equal.
But facing Tieria, his pride wouldn't allow him to show fear, so he replied coldly,
"That's correct. Are you asking because you want your access privileges to Veda back?"
Although Tieria desperately wanted his Veda access restored, he wasn't naive enough to think Ribbons would simply hand it over now.
He knew all too well how important Veda was to his own kind—even if Reid killed Ribbons, he would never grant Tieria access.
So Tieria pressed on,
"Then, was it your plan to supply the United Nations Forces with GN Drives and bring about the downfall of the Celestial Beings?"
To this question, Ribbons answered without hesitation,
"The fall of the Celestial Beings was always part of Aeolia's plan. The man backing you up right now can vouch for that."
When Reid heard Ribbons shift the topic to him, he didn't conceal anything and spoke directly:
"Aeolia's idealistic plan was for the Celestial Beings to disappear after unifying the fragmented and conflict-ridden factions of Earth. However, if variables emerged during the execution of the plan, the Celestial Beings would serve as the safeguard. Everything was in preparation for the final dialogue, the details of which even you are unaware."
Ribbons grew intrigued by Reid's words and proactively asked, "Speaking of which, it seems your SDP knew the ultimate goal of Aeolia's plan from your first encounter with the Celestial Beings. Could you enlighten both me and the Celestial Beings about what this 'impending dialogue' Aeolia spoke of actually is? I once suspected it might involve individuals from another world, entangled through Otherworld Entanglement. But clearly, communicable otherworldly beings appear to be rare exceptions. Since dialogue requires the other party to be capable of communication, I've ruled out that possibility. The data you requested has been fully transmitted—you can verify it now. While you do, how about satisfying my curiosity?"
Reid hadn't expected Ribbons to still be in the mood to fish for information. However, Hoshino Ruri had already confirmed the data transfer was complete and was inspecting it with Nein. Reid chuckled and replied, "Your guess is correct. The impending dialogue Aeolia mentioned isn't with otherworldly beings. I know who the dialogue is with, but I cannot disclose it to you. To put it bluntly, even if you, Ribbons, and the Celestial Beings were to immediately reconcile, form an alliance, and pool all your resources, you still wouldn't be qualified to know the identity of the dialogue's target. Revealing it prematurely would only provoke impulsive actions, exacerbating the disaster or, at best, drastically shortening Earth's preparation time."
Though Reid's words seemed to dismiss Ribbons and the Celestial Beings as unworthy of the truth, they carried significant implications. By emphasizing the shortening of "Earth's preparation time" rather than that of a specific organization or faction, Reid unintentionally revealed that the disaster he referred to would require the collective strength of the entire planet to confront.
Ribbons didn't take this as a slip of the tongue. He immediately grasped that Reid's statement implied a threat necessitating global unity. In this, Reid's attempt at obfuscation backfired: Ribbons now felt more compelled than ever to accelerate the unification of Earth's nations—including the forces behind SDP, since "the entire planet's strength" inherently encompassed SDP and its backers.
Meanwhile, Tieria pondered Reid's mention of Aeolia's original plan. The Earth Federation had already been established, yet Earth remained far from unified. Reid had called the Celestial Beings a "safeguard," and indeed, when Veda was seized, Aeolia had entrusted the Gundams fully to their pilots. Did that mean the safeguard had now been activated?
Unaware of their private musings, Reid checked the World Change Fluctuation Value in his system to gauge whether his half-truths had altered the world's trajectory. To his observation, the value held steady at 7.475%—utterly unmoved. It appeared both Ribbons and Tieria were steadfast in their convictions, unlikely to be swayed by mere words.
Just then, however, Hoshino Ruri's tense voice suddenly broke through the comms:
"Reid, find cover! We've detected intense energy turbulence in the stratosphere twelve thousand meters above us. The Otherworld Entanglement has begun!!"
Hearing this, Reid immediately grabbed the still-contemplating Tieria and forced him to the ground. Though the phenomena during Otherworld Entanglement often seemed more dramatic than dangerous, they remained lethal to unprotected individuals.
Whether swept up by whirlwinds and falling from the sky or struck by lightning, no ordinary human body could withstand such forces.
However, what Reid didn't anticipate was that this time, the Otherworld Entanglement didn't produce particularly exaggerated scenes.
The only phenomena were several purple lightning streaks flashing across the ten-thousand-meter-high sky, followed by the opening of a massive portal.
Then, countless Flying Dragons—creatures only seen in legendary tales—poured out from the portal. Under the moonlight, as if mythology had come to life, they released multiple dragon roars that echoed across the heavens.
(End of Chapter)