My body-clock woke me; I sat up in bed and glanced at the digital alarm on the bedside table.
"My name is Long Fei. Twenty-odd years ago I was an otaku who loved Gundam—and, sure, some sci-fi novels. In my free time I poured every hour into those things; I never bothered with romance. To me, having Gundam and the sci-fi stories I liked was my entire life."
"More than twenty years ago, I'd just bought my favorite Wing Zero model and was heading home to build it when a traffic accident knocked me out cold."
"When I came to, I was lying in a crib. Looking around, I realized I was in a hospital. The cry I let out was the wail of a newborn. The nurses checking the monitors freaked out, rushed from the ward and called the doctor. After examining me the doctor couldn't help exclaiming, 'Incredible—a stillborn pronounced dead has miraculously come back to life!'"
"Then a square-jawed man in a suit, radiating authority, burst in, picked me up, and with tears streaming said, 'Thank heaven my son has returned to me.'"
"Only then did I understand: I had died, and my reincarnated soul had occupied a baby that had already died—it was my spirit that had taken his place."
"I learned my new identity was the child of a wealthy family. My mother this lifetime was an elegant, poised beauty who held me gently; my father, though stern-faced, looked at me with the warmth of a loving dad. Besides me I had three elder sisters: the eldest, Long Kui; the second, Long Xuan; the third, Long Wen."
"I noticed the crib and surrounding equipment weren't quite what I knew. At first I figured reincarnation had simply landed me in a rich family with top-tier medical gear."
"But when I was discharged, listening to the radio and watching the scenery, I saw the cars looked different too—almost sci-fi. After the newscaster's bulletin it hit me: I hadn't just reincarnated—I'd crossed into another world."
"Born into this affluent family, my name in this life is Long Fei. To my amazement, everything about Gundam was stored in my brain, along with tech from some sci-fi novels. Whether it was Gundam data or other science-fiction tech, I understood it all perfectly—I could even disassemble and redesign it."
"On my third birthday I finally learned the name of this transmigrated world: the Earth Sphere. As I grew, I realized its history diverged from my previous life's, though many things stayed similar—writing, language, all the same. Here, Chinese and English are the two global tongues."
"If there's one big difference, it's that this Earth is nearly twice the size of my former one."
"The Earth Sphere's technology far surpasses what I knew. Humanity has moved into space; there are Gundam-like orbital colonies, and many nations have dispatched fleets to explore Mars and Jupiter, mainly to extend their spheres of influence."
"I'm now in a meteorite belt far beyond the Earth Sphere. It used to be an abandoned mining plant; later I bought the derelict facility cheap from the relevant department of the local power—the Mikaang Republic—then refitted it into an arms factory and the headquarters of my mercenary outfit."
This world does have Mobile Suits—Gundam-style MS. People also call them mecha, though most just say 'MS'. But MS are only just entering the battlefield; their combat ratings still lag behind battleships and fighters. For now, fleets of warships and squadrons of aircraft remain the backbone of every military."
"And my arms plant's current flagship product is fighter craft."
"Beep… beep… beep." The desk began to chime.
I glanced at the surface and said, "Accept."
A three-dimensional holo-image blossomed above the desk.
The projection showed a work-clad, weather-beaten, stubble-cheeked man in mid-life—my factory manager, Simmons.
"Boss, the prototype MS we've been developing is tuned and ready. Could you come take a look?"
"Got it. I'll be there shortly."
I cut the call, changed clothes, and left the room—running into my best friend, Li Xiucheng, on the way.
We'd been playmates since childhood. Our backgrounds couldn't be more different: I came from a merchant family, he from a long line of soldiers.
Yet those opposite worlds produced an unshakable friendship.
"Li Xiucheng may have been raised on military discipline, but he never turned out rigid like the officers I knew. In fact he hated the regimented life. Maybe the guy's just wired differently—he dreamed of being a mercenary instead of a soldier. Three years ago he quietly resigned, slipped away to an outer-space colony, and, by pure chance, ran into me right after I'd arrived. Thanks to him I found this derelict mining field; he'd snuck into Mikaang territory four years earlier with his unit to wipe out a band of space pirates."
"Because of him I set up two companies at once: Tianyi Armaments Manufacturing Company and the Tianyi Mercenary Group. At first I put him in charge of the mercenaries, but he quickly smuggled in an uncle of his—a retired Colonel—and vouched for the man. Xiucheng said he himself had only been a Second Lieutenant, totally unfit to run a unit, whereas his uncle had commanded regiments before retiring. On Xiucheng's recommendation I handed the entire outfit over to the uncle, Li Jiaming."
"Long Fei, you heading to the factory hangar? Let's go together. That Mobile Suit of yours is too gorgeous—I can't wait to pilot it."
With easy familiarity Li Xiucheng threw an arm around my shoulder and gave me a playful slap.