A couple more days had passed since Marcus saved Nina. The nerdy girl is over the moon to work for Anaheim. She is even thinking of dropping out of the Academy, but Marcus told her not to rush and take it easy.
He is helping her to adjust before he brings her to his true Anaheim.
In the meantime, the Blackbird's parts were fully developed, and manufacturing was in finishing phases.
"How are you going to assemble this? Isn't it bigger than the whole workshop space?" Kallen asked Marcus as she saw parts of the plane coming from the Assembly Line.
Now she knew where all that metal was going. Marcus was literally using scrap to build his assets!
Everything from old stuff used by the Japanese to military scrap discarded by the Britannians is part of this plane!
"I made extra space." He motioned towards the double doors.
"Doesn't that lead to the underground tunnels?" She learned of this secret entrance to the workshop only recently.
It truly made her feel part of the supervillain's faction.
"I expanded, Kallen. One of my core traits always was and always will be infrastructure." He explained to her.
"I would rather lose resources but build an essential foundation before expanding."
"...Like Mobile Suits?" She chipped in midway.
"Indeed. I could have made something like 7th generation knightmare years ago, but I did what no one expected, and the same applies here." He clarified to her as they began to walk towards the huge metal doors. On the other side was a big platform…
It was a platform for a plane!
"... That's a huge platform!" She gawked around before the pieces of the plane were brought over by Legion Bots.
"Indeed now, for the main part." He nodded before motioning for his machines to begin assembly of the parts.
"Where is your girlfriend?" Kallen asked him as she noticed that Leila was not around. She only sees her in the evening.
"At the base site with her, Andraste."
"Oh… now that you mentioned one of the machines is missing," Kallen recalled that the feminine-looking machine was not at the pedestal.
"Indeed. Her Andraste is great for area control, which includes vegetation." Marcus chuckled at the last part.
Those funnels of hers can erase forests and other stuff with little to no difficulty.
"Oh, I've never seen that machine in action. I only saw glimpses of your Tiranis."
"You wouldn't because her machine allows her to control small pieces of weaponry with her mind from a distance."
Kallen looked at him with wide eyes.
"...Damn… that's something I didn't expect!"
"Yep, all of you have distinctive strengths; it's a bonus for me." He smirked while saying that.
She nodded midway, and she got a flashback of her group.
"...yeah, what about mass-produced models?" She asked him casually.
"You want machines for your friends? They do need to accept me as their leader and follow me before we can even consider something like my mobile suits in their hands." He saw through her and what she was thinking.
"I know. I am simply asking if it is possible." She wondered if that was in the future, a possibility… or is Marcus collecting a harem? A.K.A only females can pilot his machines…
'I even considered that! I think I hit my head somewhere.' Funny how Kallen considers something like that!
"Maybe. I haven't planned out everything, you know? If I like them enough, it could be a possibility." He shrugged at her.
"...hmm, I see your point." Kallen nodded with crossed arms. He wasn't as serious as she had expected. That means she has a chance!
'Maybe if he gets closer to people I know, we could persuade him to give Japan more Freedom!'
The girl giggled to herself and her half-baked idea. While she has no idea which freedom she could ask for, the most important part is that she wants it!
"Yes, for now, just focus on your training and simulations. Once you have your machine and we get to the next part of the expansion, we can start thinking about filling up empty spots with people I know." He explained to her.
"...I know…I know…" She blushed for a second. Realising that he saw through her like an open book.
"So that's your newest toy?" All of a sudden, a third voice joined the conversation.
"You left the room?" Marcus turned around and looked at her.
The witch internally frowned. He hadn't checked on her for days! She might be hundreds of years old, but she was still a girl stuck in late teenage years!
She desires attention just like any other female! So it frustrates her that she needs to seek him out!
"I did. I was bored. So, I decided to explore." She explained to him before getting close to the Crimson-haired girl.
"You do know that you are a female, you can seduce him. By doing so, you could persuade him to let your friends join his organisation." The witch offered a timeless suggestion.
"W-What? How can you say that!" She blushed like a tomato.
"...Oh please…" She did a spin for a second. "This method has been used for thousands of years and won't get old for many more."
"...Crude!"
"Did it ever work for you?" Marcus asked, curious.
"...You shouldn't ask such a question." C.C. frowned for a second.
"Why not? I do want to know what is living in my workshop." He shrugged away her complaint.
"To your information, I lost interest in that a very long time ago." She frowned even more.
"...Heh, you dodged this question twice now." He snorted, making her blush.
"...I did not! My geass was… problematic, you could say I lost interest in love and all of that stuff." She explained with some difficulty. C.C. can't believe she needs to explain herself to what she considers a little brat!
He shrugged at her explanation, feeling that she was being judged!
"Y-You don't believe me!?" C.C. growled.
"You are a witch who lived for a very long time. It's hard to believe you didn't try EVERYTHING by this point."
"I am still having a hard time believing she is older than me." Kallen slowly nodded at Marcus, getting into their conversation.
"...You can believe whatever you want to believe, but I stayed away from relationships because of my immortality." The green-haired witch looked away. It was painful to explain all of that.
"Is that so? Well, if you say so." He shrugged before returning to his project.
"Is it that hard to believe what I say?" She narrowed her eyes, clearly seeing that he did not believe her.
"You don't need to explain yourself to me." He replied nonchalantly.
"Didn't you say that I belong to you?" She furrowed her eyebrows further.
"Indeed. I am keeping you away from my daddy dearest and his Empire." He replied.
"Is that what it means?"
"Maybe, or do you want something more, C.C.?" He looked back at her, and there was a grin.
A grin that told the witch that he got her where he wanted her.
"..." The witch actually blushed before turning around and walking away.
"W-What just happened?" Kallen asked, not believing what she was seeing.
"An ancient witch getting caught lacking." He sagely nodded at Kallen.
"...W-What?"
"Precisely. Our dearest C.C. ended up falling for a simple male trick." He shrugged at her.
"Clearly, all those years, experiences she gained didn't prepare her for a teenager's trick." He tried to explain, but Kallen was clueless too. It was obvious that she was not experienced enough to understand.
"...Umm…"
So, Marcus walked over to her and explained.
"I said to her that she was mine. Her very experienced brain came up with the realisation that I wanted her to be my woman. She reluctantly accepted that at some point, but today, I explained to her that it was a simple protection from my father."
"...Oh…wait, so you are not interested in her?" Kallen was a bit confused…
"Maybe? She is someone who has been around for a very long time. So she understands higher-level teases like these.
It depends on whether she can keep up with me."
"...You are a strange guy." Ultimately, the crimson-haired girl gave up; this guy was on a different planet altogether.
"I call it character stimulation. She is behaving like everyone around her is bugs or just young brats. I am showing her that she is no different." He clarified to her.
'Does that mean they are bonding like that? I mean… she is an ancient witch and he is a guy who wants world conquest… no galactic conquest.' Kallen frowned. Was she watching an absurd form of friendship forming or something like that? Maybe even romance?
"Maybe. I haven't spent enough time with her to understand what is happening." She replied after thinking it over.
"Indeed. You will have your chance, Kallen." He smiled at her, making her blush a bit.
"Don't imply such things so casually!" She blushed even harder.
"You do realise that such things apply to you as well?" He leaned forward and whispered to her.
The girl took a step back, making some space.
"Y-You…"
"What? You are mine as well." He shook his head.
"...I-I only pilot for you!" She tried to explain what was going on.
"Are you sure?" Marcus grinned at her.
"You will be piloting a machine so advanced, so powerful that people believe it came from God itself, and your response is 'that I just follow him'.
"...Ugh… don't convolute things!" Kallen's cheeks turned as red as her hair.
"I am not. I am trying to explain that you are mine. If my AI concluded that you betrayed me, the machine will turn on you, you know that, don't you?" He got serious all of a sudden.
Her eyes got wide when she heard that.
"Dagda binds you to me. That mech which gives you ultimate power is what makes you mine."
"...Yeah… but…"
She tried to think, to the point that she needed to rub her head. Thinking of solutions, but in the end. She is certain that he made her part of his harem… and he did that with a mech of mass destruction…
"I get it." She sighed before getting closer to him. " Be careful, girls can be very jealous beings." She explained in a serious tone, trying to warn him.
"Indeed, but I am mad enough to do that." He smiled back at her.
"...I thought so." She nodded, he was indeed mad, insane even. Not just anyone places a Fusion Reactor in an Academy or a mobile suit.
That's like driving around with a highly explosive bomb!
"Yep, now follow your mad leader to the plane." He took her hand all of a sudden and began to pull her towards the plane.
"I-I can walk by myself!" She tried to yank her hand from his hold, but damn, he was strong!
"I know." He acknowledged that but ignored her attempts as he continued to walk with her onto the plane.
The plane was big enough to carry an entire squad of KK-units or a huge amount of cargo.
For now, Kallen ignored that her crazy leader was dragging her; instead, she looked around.
The girl realised it was a huge cargo plane or a carrier of mobile suits.
'He could have around twenty knightmares in here.' She looked around, imagining Sutherlands or Glasgows stored here.
But then they walked past the storage area and into a much smaller corridor. It was like they switched into liveable quarters!
Since the doors were opened, she saw stuff like a kitchen-like area, followed by bunk beds, relaxing quarters and all that stuff!
It's like this plane is meant for long flights!
"...Is this thing meant for long flights?" She asked all of a sudden.
"Hmm? You never flew far in your simulations?" Marcus asked. He was confused for a second.
"...I mean… I did use high speed… but does that apply for this plane?" She was confused by the question. What does Mobile Suit have to do with a plane?
"It has the same technology, Kallen. Ion Thrusters, Fusion Reactor, Electromagnetic boosters, this thing will be flying around the Solar System."
"...huh?" Her brain stopped for a second.