The first thing Yu Xiao opened was Leo’s “Development” interface.
And as mentioned before, the system presented him with three different development branches.
The first option was the OZ-07AMS “Aries,” whose appearance closely resembled that of a pilot.
It was a unit Leo could develop at Level 3, an aerial combat type equipped with two large turbo thrusters, possessing the long-duration flight capability that Leo lacked.
But correspondingly, the consequence of drastically reducing its weight to accommodate flight was that its armor was astonishingly thin, almost incapable of forming any effective defensive surface.
Compared to it, the second MS, designated OZ-07MS, “Tragos,” had undoubtedly gone to the opposite extreme.
Tragos was likewise a unit a Level 3 Leo could develop, but it had stacked its emphasis entirely onto firepower and armor.
Indeed, the two 125mm howitzers mounted on its shoulders possessed a power that made the faces of those who heard of it pale…
But at the same time, its mobility was, because of this, excessively deficient.
It could barely move thanks to the large hover unit on its chassis; rather than a robot, it was more like an out-and-out self-propelled gun turret.
As for the last option, the OZ-12SMS “Taurus,” a unit Leo could only develop into at Level 5, while it couldn’t be called all-purpose, on the whole its performance was still a notch above the other two lopsided options.
And Taurus had an even more unique transformation mechanism, able to rapidly convert from MS form into a fighter-type MA.
This further expanded its combat domain, granting it quite good performance in sea, land, air, and space environments alike.
Then, in theory, he should now develop Leo into Taurus…
“…Mm. I suppose I’ll wait after all.”
But Yu Xiao merely reached such a conclusion.
Then he exited the development interface.
…The reason was that he was quite concerned about the MS that Leo could only develop into at Level 11.
Although it was currently only a black silhouette, from that unit’s rough outline, Yu Xiao, incomparably familiar with the settings of Gundam W, was still able to recognize it at a glance…
That should be Leo’s prototype, the OZ-00MS, “Tallgeese”!
In the original work, this unit possessed quite formidable performance, comparable to Gundam-type MS.
In Super Robot Wars VS, Yu Xiao had also used this unit a few times.
While its handling was slightly peculiar, once used to it, Tallgeese was an existence that could vie with virtually any unit, surely enough to handle the vast majority of situations in “Real Battlefield” mode.
…The current Leo was only six levels’ worth of experience away from being able to develop into this truly elite, powerful machine.
And according to the description in the interface, for a developed unit, not only would experience be cleared and level reset to one, but the subsequent development lineage would also change accordingly…
So Yu Xiao worried that if he swapped out Leo early, then he might no longer be able to develop Tallgeese.
Therefore, he ultimately chose to preserve the current state rather than carry out the development.
But if he continued using Leo from here on, its performance might be a bit insufficient…
After all, no one knew whether the difficulty of future battlefield stages would gradually climb.
Fortunately, there was a way to solve this.
Thinking this, Yu Xiao opened another interface in the hangar. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
After all, he still had a second method to choose from.
Naturally, it wasn’t “Sell,” but “Enhance”!
Although it would consume a certain amount of Battlefield Points, it could preserve Leo’s current experience and level.
For him as he was now, enhancing was the most suitable choice.
As for the enhancement plan, fortunately, the system had already prepared it for him.
So there was no need to expend much thought on that front.
Moreover, since Leo itself possessed a high degree of expandability, its modification variants were, so to speak, endless.
There was a Cannon type with additional bombardment equipment on its shoulders, a Flight Exterior type with added flight thrusters, an EWAC type with its head swapped for a large radar dome…
These were still just relatively basic modifications.
Deeper, more in-depth enhancement customization was even more diverse…
But in the end, Yu Xiao ultimately fixed his gaze upon three modification plans of differing colors.
These plans were named: Leo S, Leo R, and Leo N.
Yu Xiao still remembered that these were the special units used by the villainous rivals “Stardust Three Knights” who appeared in Gundam W’s side story, G-Unit.
Among them, the red Leo S was relatively balanced, the blue Leo R emphasized speed, and the green Leo N specialized in defense.
But regardless, all three had quite good performance.
Used as a transitional machine before developing Tallgeese, they should more than suffice.
Only… just which one should he modify it into?
Yu Xiao, who had always been a bit prone to choice phobia, couldn’t help but fret.
Leo N’s heavy armor was very reliable, but when necessary, the high mobility of Leo R was also essential.
And if he chose to modify it into Leo S, he might then feel it was too mediocre and lacking in strengths.
Then how about considering it from the weapons angle?
Yu Xiao raised a hand and stroked his chin.
But there wasn’t much difference there either.
Since the reactor model was the same, the beam weapons used by these three units all had power on the same level.
The only difference between them was their style…
…Wait, beam?
Having thought this far, Yu Xiao suddenly recalled a certain setting.
That’s right, although he hadn’t encountered it on the previous battlefields…
It was called the Laser-class, a Beta that, though only the size of a single person, could fire lasers of terrifying power.
It was said to be able to accurately shoot down any flying object that entered its line of sight from over 100 km away.
In the original work, the Beta swarm, whose technology was actually behind humanity’s, relied on these Laser-class units, whose performance could be called a bug, to wipe out all of humanity’s air power and ultimately drive humanity to the brink.
And the existence of this kind of monster could serve as an important reference for Yu Xiao in making his final choice.
Why?
Because among these three plans, Leo S was precisely the one equipped with Diffusion Cloak equipment capable of diffusing and reducing the thermal charge of beam rays.
On this point alone, it already surpassed the other two by far.
Moreover…
“If my call sign is Red One, then it’s still better to use a red unit, right…?”
Making a cold joke he himself hadn’t even noticed, Yu Xiao selected the Leo S modification plan just like that.
[Please confirm: do you wish to modify “Leo” into “Leo S”? This enhancement will consume 10,000 points!]
Ten thousand points was, for the current Yu Xiao, almost the entirety of his assets.
But he still clicked confirm without the slightest hesitation.
[Instruction received. Modifying…]
[Modification complete.]
Then, along with the point total vanishing like a flood release in the upper left corner, Leo’s model also began to change.
The originally blocky monitor on its head was replaced with a sharper three-diamond shape.
Paired with a fiery red main color throughout, it gave an impression brimming with aggressiveness.
And the golden relief on its chest and the tassel-like additional armor on its shoulders added still more dignity and splendor.
At a glance, it no longer seemed like a mere weapon of war; rather, like knightly armor treasured by medieval nobles, it took on an added layer of aesthetic significance.
Yu Xiao nodded, quite satisfied with the current state of things.
And then he turned to look at the clock on the wall.
Although it was lunchtime, he wasn’t especially hungry yet.
In that case, why not play another round of Battlefield mode, grind some points and levels to strengthen himself?
This would conveniently let him test the performance of the newly modified Leo S as well.
With this mindset, Yu Xiao returned to the main screen and pressed the button in the lower right corner that read “Sortie.”
“…Hm? What’s this…”
Yet next, gazing at the line of prompt that popped up on the screen, he could only frown and quietly repeat it.
“…There are currently no new battlefields available to participate in. Please wait patiently…?”