Simultaneous Time Travel: Gundam? All Teammates are Old Six

Chapter 33: The Escape Declaration and the Crash Course; Today's Ranking is Interesting

【CE71.2.15. African Community - Tassir Region】

"Achoo—!"

Lying on the hospital bed in the infirmary, enjoying the rare "privileges of the wounded," Ling Yu suddenly sneezed with earth-shattering force.

He rubbed his itchy nose, looking suspicious.

"That's strange. How could a muscular man with all his genes unlocked catch a cold?" he muttered. "Could some bastard be talking about me behind my back? That can't be right. I'm such a kind, virtuous, and modest young man..."

He had no idea that this inexplicable chill came from a lunar base 380,000 kilometers away. A certain elitist had already tailored a "grand welcome gift" for him, which was packaged, shipped, and being expedited.

At this moment, he was looking out the porthole of the ward at the desolate landscape.

The Archangel, this steel swan that had recently roamed the cosmos, now resembles a giant bird with a broken wing, half its body embedded in a massive impact crater. The scorching sun bakes the earth, and the rolling heat waves distort distant scenery. Inescapable yellow sand covers everything; every time the maintenance crew clears away a patch of sand, new sand is quickly blown over by the wind.

The atmosphere inside the ship was just like the weather: dull, oppressive, and restless.

"Tsk, a perfectly good space opera, and with one update it jumps straight to wasteland survival?" Ling Yu clicked his tongue. "The user experience is terrible, I'm giving it a bad review."

Just as he was pondering whether he should open the system panel to see what good things he could get from those eight thousand points to improve his life, the ship's internal broadcast came on.

"All Level 1 combat personnel, please proceed to the bridge immediately for the operations meeting. Repeat, all Level 1 combat personnel..."

Ling Yu turned off the radio, jumped off the bed, stretched, and his bones cracked and popped. His injuries, thanks to the system's subtle healing, were almost completely healed.

He whistled as he walked toward the bridge while changing into his pilot's suit.

"Meetings are great, meetings are great, meetings are brainstorming sessions, the easiest way to generate genius ideas... like, slacking off."

When he casually strolled into the bridge, the air there was already incredibly heavy.

Maru Ramias and Natal Bakirul stood on opposite sides of the tactical platform, arguing fiercely, their supporters clearly divided into two factions.

"Holding out and waiting for reinforcements is suicide! Our position will be exposed sooner or later, and then we'll be sitting ducks!" Maru's voice carried a weary resolve. "We must get to JOSH-A base in Alaska as soon as possible; only there can provide us with shelter!"

"That's suicidal!" Natal retorted, her military instincts making such a gamble unacceptable. "Crossing the entire African theater? Do you know how many ZAFT patrols are out there? The Archangel, such a large target, is like a firefly in the dark!"

"So we're just going to be buried alive here by the desert and despair?!"

"This is the safest option! Waiting for follow-up support from the Eighth Fleet is the best solution!"

Just as the two were about to escalate their verbal battle into a physical one, a lazy voice interrupted.

"Hey, you two beautiful captains," Ling Yu leaned against the door, picking his ear, "Option A is waiting to die, Option B is courting death, can't we come up with something more sophisticated? Like... Option C, muddy the waters and then take advantage of the situation?"

All eyes instantly turned to him.

Ling Yu casually walked to the tactical map, held up two fingers, and gestured on the huge map of Africa.

"Why should we be targets? This desert is so big, it's enough for us to play a grand game of hide-and-seek."

Before anyone could react, he unveiled his "genius plan".

"I will detach myself from the Archangel and act alone."

His words astonished everyone present.

Natal was the first to object vehemently: "Nonsense! This is desertion, abandoning the battle line without authorization!"

"No, no, no," Ling Yu shook his finger, a smug smile that made Natal's blood pressure soar, "This is a 'strategic retreat,' understand? Lieutenant Bakiruel, your tactical thinking needs an update."

He turned to Maru and began to explain his "three benefits of leaving the team".

"First, it spreads the risk. The Archangel is too big a target. I'll go out and roam in my little black Gene; it's smaller and more maneuverable. On ZAFT's radar, you're an elephant, and I'm just a fly. Buzzing around, won't they get annoyed? Once they get annoyed, their attention will be drawn to me, and you'll be safe, right?"

"Second, establish supply lines. I vaguely remember seeing a post on a military forum before, saying that there was a resistance organization called 'Bright Desert' in this desert. I'll go and make contact with them; maybe I can get supplies. Barter, fair trade, no cheating."

"Third..." Ling Yu grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, his eyes gleaming with a mischievous glint, "I am an army all by myself. Believe me, when I go berserk, ZAFT will find it easier to deal with ten Archangels at once than to hunt me down alone. I'll make their command system's CPU burn out."

The entire bridge was completely silent.

Everyone was stunned by his outrageously arrogant remarks. This wasn't confidence; it was utter madness.

Natal was so angry that her lips were trembling, but she couldn't find the words to refute this fallacy.

Maru fell into deep thought.

Before leaving,

General Halbarton's words, "Be flexible," still echoed in her ears.

Finally, she took a deep breath and made her decision.

"...I approve your operation. However, you must conduct encrypted communications every six hours to report your location and status."

"Deal!" Ling Yu snapped his fingers.

The meeting adjourned, and everyone stared at Ling Yu as he left, as if he were a monster.

On the way to the hangar, Kira caught up with them, his handsome young face filled with worry.

"Mr. Ling Yu...this is too dangerous. You're all alone..."

"Call me Brother Lingyu." Lingyu put his arm around his shoulder, and the two walked forward like buddies. "Little brother, don't worry about me. Your biggest problem right now isn't worrying about others, it's worrying about yourself."

"Eh?"

"That ability of yours, where your eyes light up and you turn into a superhero when you get excited, is called 'getting carried away' back in my hometown. When you get carried away, your actions become distorted, your consciousness blurs, and you just give away free kills," Ling Yu said in the tone of a coach scolding a player.

Kira was stunned by what he said.

"Come on, before I leave, I'll give you a free crash course." Ling Yu mysteriously pulled him to a corner. "The topic is called, 'On the Self-Cultivation of a Qualified Driver - From Beginner to Giving Up'."

"give up?"

"Yes, abandon that sentimental idea of ​​'I want to protect everyone.' What you need to think about is how to use the least amount of energy, make the coolest moves, and take down the most enemies. That's called 'energy management' and 'battle rhythm.'"

Your burst damage build consumes too much mana, you know? What's the point of using any skills if you're out of mana? You need to learn mana management, learn to kite, lure the enemy into your attack range, and then finish them off in one combo. That's the ace playstyle.

Ling Yu began to brainwash Kira with a set of "e-sports theories" that Kira couldn't understand at all. He spouted all sorts of slang and nonsense, such as "baiting skills," "using vision control," and "kiting."

But surprisingly, setting aside those strange words, Kira discovered that every word Ling Yu spoke precisely hit the nail on the head regarding his hesitation and confusion during the battle.

Half an hour later, Kira's eyes shone brightly, as if he had opened the door to a new world, and he muttered to himself, "So... this is how you fight..."

Meanwhile, in the hangar, Ling Yu had already stepped into his jet-black Gene—which he had given a flashy name, "Ghost."

Amidst the complex gazes of the crowd, the gray-black MS engine started up, slowly rising into the air with a low roar. It then transformed into a black shadow, resolutely plunging into the swirling yellow sand and disappearing from sight.

Inside the cockpit, Ling Yu whistled.

"OK, single-player story mode, starting!"

The system map automatically unfolded before his eyes.

The next second, two coordinate points in two different directions on the map began to flash violently almost simultaneously.

One is green, which represents friendliness.

[Mission objective refreshed: Sahara Desert]

The other is blood red, which represents extreme danger.

[High-threat target approaching: Andrew Bartfield]

"Oh ho?" Ling Yu raised an eyebrow, his smile becoming increasingly playful.

"Two elite monsters spawn right outside the starting village? One friendly, one hostile?"

"That's interesting."

He pushed the joystick, and the black phantom drew an eerie arc in the low sky above the desert, rushing at full speed toward the area between the two coordinate points.

"Want to challenge me to a ranked game? Let me get to know you first and see what rank you are."