She had probably been standing there the entire time, waiting for him to appear.
Jonathan walked to one side and began putting on the bulletproof vest he had prepared in advance.
He then carefully inspected his handgun one last time.
His movements were practiced, and his expression was serious.
“Athena, I’m preparing to enter the next fictional world.”
Athena responded with a sweet smile and a soft yet sincere blessing.
In terms of raw combat power, Athena was actually far stronger than Jonathan.
As an AI-powered humanoid android, she could easily overwhelm him at his current level.
Unfortunately, she could not enter fictional worlds.
Jonathan had previously asked her why.
The answer had been simple.
She did not possess a soul.
Jonathan had been rather disappointed upon hearing that.
Such a powerful early-game bodyguard was standing right in front of him, yet he could not take her along.
Otherwise, he could have sent Athena directly into the world of Underworld and had her capture a vampire for him.
Then he would never have needed to risk his own life.
Once all his equipment was secured, Jonathan pulled a black trench coat over everything.
He walked over to Athena, crouched in front of her, and gently pinched her small face, which looked almost indistinguishable from that of a real person.
Her skin felt delicate and soft.
She felt no different from an actual little girl.
Jonathan casually patted her on the head before standing and walking toward the Dimensional Gate.
As the transfer point between countless worlds, the Dimensional Gate could only truly connect to the multiverse from within this interstitial world.
Jonathan turned the handle.
An entirely new landscape appeared beyond the door.
Outside was a vast expanse of lush greenery.
Even the air seemed to carry the scent of growing plants.
Jonathan first stuck his head through the doorway and carefully surveyed the area.
Only after confirming that there was no obvious danger nearby did he cautiously step inside.
The instant he entered the unfamiliar world, he instinctively looked upward.
Then he froze.
An entire expanse of green farmland stretched above his head.
After examining his surroundings, he quickly realized that he was most likely no longer on Earth.
The entire structure appeared to curve into a massive ring.
Complicated machinery and metal frameworks could be seen everywhere.
The sight immediately reminded him of the interior of a space colony from the science-fiction films he had watched in his previous life.
“Outer space?”
“It looks like this world possesses extremely advanced technology.”
Jonathan silently analyzed his surroundings as he walked.
Unlike his first journey, there was no permanent door behind him after he randomly entered this new world.
In other words, he had simply been dropped here.
He chose a direction at random and cautiously started walking.
For now, his first priority was discovering exactly where he had arrived. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
Jonathan had not gone far when he stopped.
Voices were coming from somewhere ahead.
He immediately lightened his footsteps and carefully approached the source.
Before long, he spotted a man and a woman standing inside a nearby grove.
They appeared to be arguing about something.
Jonathan immediately concealed himself behind some bushes, held his breath, and listened.
Unfortunately, he could not understand a single word.
However, after spending years watching anime and films in his previous life, he could at least recognize the language.
They were speaking Japanese.
“A science-fiction world where people speak Japanese?”
Jonathan frowned slightly as he rapidly considered the possibilities.
Before he could reach a conclusion, the voices of the two people suddenly grew much louder.
Their argument had clearly intensified.
The atmosphere immediately became dangerous.
Jonathan looked over just in time to see the man pull out a dagger, seemingly intending to attack the woman.
Jonathan no longer hesitated.
Taking advantage of his position directly behind the man, he rushed forward and slammed the butt of his handgun into the back of the man’s head.
A dull thud rang out.
The man’s vision went black, and he collapsed on the spot.
The woman was badly frightened by the sudden attack.
She immediately began shouting at Jonathan, speaking rapidly with obvious fear and agitation.
Unfortunately, Jonathan could not understand a single word.
But that did not matter.
He would understand soon enough.
Jonathan lowered his gaze toward the unconscious man, placed a hand on him, and activated Plunder.
This time, he stole the man’s linguistic ability.
As the ability took effect, the man’s body began convulsing violently.
His face twisted as though he were enduring unimaginable pain.
Several seconds later, he went completely still.
At the same time, Jonathan instantly mastered Japanese.
“What did you do to him?!”
When the woman’s voice reached his ears again, Jonathan understood every word.
However, he did not answer immediately.
Instead, he raised his handgun, aimed it directly at her, and calmly asked, “Where am I?”
The moment the dark muzzle pointed at her, the previously agitated woman fell silent.
Her face turned pale, and her voice began trembling.
“This… This is Heliopolis.”
Jonathan’s eyes immediately sharpened upon hearing that name.
Heliopolis.
He had actually entered this world.
“What’s today’s date?
The C.E.
year, month, and day.”
The woman clearly found his question strange.
However, with a gun pointed at her, she still answered obediently.
“It’s January 24, C.E.
71.”
Jonathan immediately understood the situation.
This was the day before Le Creuset’s team launched its operation to seize the GAT-X series Gundams.
In other words, he needed to move quickly.
With that thought in mind, Jonathan ordered the woman to turn around.
He then repeated the same trick and knocked her unconscious with the butt of his handgun.
Before leaving, he also took the man’s dagger.
However, another thought soon occurred to him.
Once that man awakened and discovered that he could no longer speak, he would probably lose his mind on the spot.
Jonathan therefore lifted the unconscious woman onto his shoulder and carried her deeper into the woods.
Only after putting sufficient distance between them and the original location did he set her down.
“This is as much as I can do for you.”
Jonathan casually left those words behind before turning and hurrying away.
He did not have much time.
He needed to finish his preparations before the plot truly began.
The following day.
Morgenroete.
The storage hangar housing the GAT-X series mobile suits.
Jonathan had gone to considerable trouble to infiltrate this place.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
What man could possibly resist a Gundam?
Now that he had entered the Gundam world, he had to pilot one himself at least once.
However, there was an obvious problem.
The operating systems currently installed in the GAT-X series were still woefully incomplete.
With the physical capabilities of an ordinary Natural, it was practically impossible to pilot a machine of this caliber smoothly.
The Natural-compatible operating system jointly developed by Morgenroete and Kira Yamato would not be completed until April.
Jonathan could not possibly remain here and wait that long.
Therefore, he had no choice but to turn his attention toward a Coordinator first.
Coordinators were a new form of humanity created through the artificial modification of human genes using advanced genetic technology.
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