Since the day the pivot tree Vermilion Bird entered the Special Mission, the frequency of Gilbert appearing in front of Xiao Ran was exactly the same as that of Euphemia. In other words, whenever Euphemia and Xiao Ran met, Gilbert would definitely appear beside Euphemia, completely cutting off any possibility for Xiao Ran and Euphemia to meet alone.
But that was all Gilbert could do. Without the position of Deputy Governor, Gilbert had no way to influence and manipulate the affairs of the 11th District. Even if he wanted to influence the Deputy Governor of the 11th District, the Deputy Governor would not care about him at all.
Most importantly, although Gilbert could guarantee that he would appear when Euphemia and Xiao Ran met, he could not guard against Ryukino. Most of the time, it was inconvenient for Gilbert to follow the two girls. As a gentleman and a noble, Gilbert would not allow himself to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two girls.
As a result, even though Xiao Ran would no longer influence Euphemia, Ryukino would replace Xiao Ran in implementing this influence. After following Xiao Ran for so long, Ryukino was definitely one of the few people who understood Xiao Ran's thoughts and actions the best. Even without Xiao Ran's words, the effect was exactly the same. Gilbert could not do anything about it.
Fortunately, Euphemia had given him the identity of a guest, so he could review all the official documents of the 11th District from her. Although she did not assign him any other specific duties, Gilbert was not suitable to occupy the positions of other people in the 11th District. Therefore, the only thing he could do was to fill in the gaps for Euphemia. But in the end, he was of no help at all because all the official documents would be handled by Xiao Ran and Ryukino before being handed over to Euphemia for a second 'handling'. It should be called learning. Even if Gilbert received the original documents, there was nothing else for him to do.
However, Gilbert was still a person with a certain amount of pride. At least, he had never said anything bad about Xiao Ran in front of Euphemia. At least from this point of view, putting aside Xiao Ran's somewhat hostile attitude toward him, this person's character was still passable.
Gilbert thought that he was fighting a battle of wits and courage with Xiao Ran, but Xiao Ran had never taken him seriously. With Ryukino following Euphemia, Xiao Ran could also handle other matters with ease. Otherwise, he would play with Li Lina in his spare time and slowly eliminate the obstacles in her mind. His days seemed to be rather leisurely.
But in fact, Xiao Ran had never really relaxed. He was constantly collecting information about the entire world through Freikorps, identifying where suspected participants had appeared, whether there were participants in the Empire, and the size of the participants' army. Analyzing these information took up almost one-third of Xiao Ran's daily work time.
Xiao Ran would also make a trip to the Freikorps' camp every day. In addition to receiving the collected information, Xiao Ran would also guide the Freikorps' pilots in training. Although Xiao Ran did not seem to spend too much effort on the Freikorps, the Freikorps' training schedule was packed to the brim. From morning onwards, the pilots, including Jeremiah, would get up for training sessions. Physical training, tactical training, and piloting training filled the daily routine of the pilots. When they were not required to carry out missions, the pilots in the Freikorps would not be able to step out of the camp at all.
But for Jeremiah and the others, although they were a little tired, their lives were quite fulfilling, especially when they had Euphemia and Xiao Ran in their arms. Everyone in the Freikorps was 100% passionate about their missions, training, and work. With Xiao Ran's personal guidance to each pilot, these people grew at a speed visible to the naked eye every day.
And from the information collected, there were indeed a lot of situations. For example, there was internal chaos in the mysterious country opposite the coast. Two groups of people chose the camps of the emperor and the ministers respectively, and a huge conflict broke out. Under the surface of peace, there were already several battles. These two groups of people should be two different armies, and they were fighting fiercely on the vast land over there.
Based on the information collected, there were indeed mechs that did not belong to this world participating in the battle. However, what made Xiao Ran feel a little strange was that the conflict seemed to be suppressed to a very subtle degree. There were no mechs that were too high level. They were more or less at the level of a B-grade mech. This was the case when Cornelia was attacked. Otherwise, if an A-grade mech had appeared, Cornelia would have died instead of being injured. Xiao Ran was not surprised.
The appearance of these new mechs also made some waves in many forces in this world, but for now, the most direct impact on Xiao Ran was on Loide's side. He specially received an order from the Imperial headquarters to speed up the development and redevelopment of Lancelot, as well as the development of supporting weapons and equipment.
Taking this opportunity, Loide happened to send a reply to the Imperial headquarters that Lancelot was basically completed, and only the final test was left. At the same time, he also submitted a new project catalog, which included a complete series of technical catalogs, a new type of pure energy weapon for KF, a new mech structure, and so on.
A few hours after this catalog was submitted, Loide was directly forced to participate in a remote video conference. It was also Xiao Ran's first time seeing the Emperor of the Britaria Empire in such a 'close' manner, as well as the Prime Minister, Zenar, and the First Prince, Odiseus, who was the Crown Prince but appeared to be extremely mediocre in all aspects.
However, Xiao Ran could see the real leaders of the Britaria Empire through the screen, but these leaders couldn't see Xiao Ran through the video. In addition to these people, there were several other authoritative figures in the Empire, as well as members of the Academy of Science, who also participated in this conference and listened to Loide's report.
It was worth mentioning that such a conference that involved the upper echelons of the Britaria Empire could only be carried out through video under such circumstances. Moreover, one of the parties involved in the conference was in the 11th district, but Euphemia, who was the Governor of the 11th district, was unaware of this conference.
Loide held the video conference in his office, and the outside of the office was basically sealed off. Cecil and Suzaku were standing guard outside the door. Yes, it was a very, very tight blockade.
Xiao Ran stood in a place where the camera couldn't capture. He folded his arms and leaned against the corner of the wall, watching the big screen in front of Loide. He was so quiet that there wasn't the slightest bit of sound at all.
Out of respect for the Emperor of Britaria, Loide didn't sit down. His eyes slightly narrowed as he smiled lazily. Only when the Emperor appeared did he reveal a solemn expression.
A person in military uniform stood up before speaking. He bowed slightly to the Emperor who was sitting at the same table as him. Then, he faced the screen and said, "Major Loide, make sure that there is no one else in the place where you are holding the video conference. There is also no device that can eavesdrop."
Loide's eyes were probably a little small. Even if he was very serious and solemn, he still looked like squinting eyes. However, Xiao Ran knew that Loide's eyes weren't that small at all. This guy's eyes were wide open when he was surprised, but for some reason, he always had a habit of squinting his eyes slightly when facing others.
After hearing the officer's words, Loide put his hand on his chest and bowed very seriously. He said, "Good day, Your Majesty. Good day, officers. I am very sure that I am the only one in this office right now. There is also no device that can eavesdrop."
After Loide finished speaking, Xiao Ran looked at the people on the screen with a disdainful smile and nodded one by one. The officer who spoke picked up a document and compared the information on the document. He said, "Major Loide, according to the information you submitted, the new KF test machine Lancelot is nearing completion. From the data, the nearing completion Lancelot already has the capability to crush the current KF across generations. Can this be confirmed?"
"It can be confirmed." Loide said seriously, "I think this should have been confirmed by the video recording of my performance. Lancelot, driven by Her Highness Euphemia's exclusive knight, Luluxiu Xiao, displayed absolute performance that exceeded the theoretical performance. It destroyed several KF machines in at most two seconds."
"Of course, I don't deny that Lancelot can display such performance mostly because of the pilot. However, if Lancelot itself doesn't have such potential and performance, then no matter how powerful the pilot is, it is absolutely impossible to achieve this level of performance."
"And with the assistance of Knight Luluxiu Xiao, we have carried out a deep rewrite of the underlying data of Lancelot, complementing the design weaknesses of Lancelot and making modifications. After the modifications, Lancelot can display extremely superior performance even when driven by an ordinary pilot, especially in terms of flexibility and drivability, which have exceeded the theoretical quality of the design expectations. Therefore, I judge that Lancelot, as the latest generation KF, has the possibility of mass production."
The speaking officer nodded. From the information sent by Loide, he had confirmed the situation mentioned by Loide. However, there were still questions that needed to be answered by Loide, so he asked, "However, the experimental Lancelot's energy furnace and the energy barrier equipped with it, from your information, does not have the possibility of mass production. There are also certain problems with mass production of the entire machine. The first is the cost, and the second is the manufacturing difficulty. So, how can you guarantee that the mass produced Lancelot can achieve the same performance as the current experimental Lancelot?"
Loide smiled leisurely. "Sir, developing the new generation KF and making it practical is my mission, but how to mass produce it is your mission. As for the manufacturing cost, this is not the main consideration of the special research institute. My mission is to develop the next generation KF and provide an effective mass production plan. However, if the mass production factor is considered and the performance of the mass-produced new generation KF is weakened, then the loss is not worth it."
"However, I can make some suggestions. If we mass-produce the next generation KF, we can produce two versions at the same time. The first is the version that is specially made for excellent pilots. This version can carry all the basic equipment and can be adjusted accordingly according to the individual. In the future, I also think that this is the only way to develop military strength."
"With a small number of the most elite super ace pilots piloting specially made airframes to gain an advantage from a single point, and then mass produced airframes to act as the main force, this method of mass production with ace pilots has actually been tested. In fact, the troops led by Her Highness Cornelia are the same."
"And from the video recordings of Knight Lelouch Xiao, the role of an ace pilot is far greater than that of an ordinary pilot. Even dozens or hundreds of ordinary pilots can't be compared to an ace pilot. Would the price of a complete version of a special airframe be higher than the price of a hundred mass-produced airframes?"
"The second part is, of course, mass produced airframes. The new type of energy furnace is indeed unable to be mass-produced due to the cost and difficulty of manufacturing, but it is feasible to change the energy source. In a large-scale battle, as long as we can ensure that the energy source can be recharged quickly, and the energy source can be changed quickly, as well as the ability to sustain a battle without affecting normal combat operations, these few points will not be a problem."
"As for the energy shield, this equipment is actually directly used by ace pilots, and ordinary mass-produced airframes can actually use a physical armor shield to solve the defense problem. As for the material of the armor, I think the new material research and development plan I recently submitted is enough to solve this problem."
"Under the circumstances of reducing the configuration of the mass-produced airframe, changing the energy source, and using a physical armor shield, I think the cost of mass production should be within an acceptable range. However, if we want to improve military strength, the necessary cost is also necessary, and for the time being, this is the only new generation airframe that can be mass-produced."
"Whether it is mass-produced or mass-produced, at least it can give us a little more initiative in the military, especially now that other forces have some new airframes. We have no other choice but to manufacture the Lancelot's mass-produced airframe to compete with them until a more powerful airframe is produced."
The officer who spoke did not speak, but turned to look at His Majesty, who was sitting on the main seat. His Majesty, who had been silent all this while, nodded gently and said in a deep voice, "Minister Loide is right. If we want to continue to be the leader in the world, then we must maintain the lead in armaments. The necessary investment is also necessary. Since we have confirmed the feasibility of the Lancelot's new airframe, then let's manufacture a batch first and see what happens."
"But next, Minister Loide, I also hope that you can answer me. Why did you use the method of long-distance transmission to submit the research plan for the new airframe?"
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