In the world of Gundam SEED
Deep within the secret special Gundam research facility inside Orb's neutral satellite base, Heliopolis...
Renzo, who had been in a daze just moments ago, suddenly regained clarity in his eyes. His aura and presence shifted slightly but were quickly suppressed by his own will.
A mature, beautiful woman approached him with concern. She had noticed his momentary lapse.
Of course, that wasn't the main reason she had come over. It was just that Renzo was incredibly handsome, with a unique aura that made her want to interact with him.
"No, I'm fine. I just spaced out for a second," Renzo replied, waving a hand dismissively.
Then, his gaze landed on the mature beauty, his eyes narrowing slightly as he thought, "Murrue Ramius? If she's here, that means we've reached that point in the timeline... Not exactly good news."
This meant that ZAFT's Vesalius-class cruiser would be appearing soon.
"Time's running out. Should I stick around and find a chance to board the ship, or leave immediately?"
"Umm... do you know me?"
Murrue Ramius blushed slightly under his intense gaze and asked hesitantly.
Snapping back to reality, Renzo smiled. "Not really, but if I didn't have urgent matters to attend to, I wouldn't mind getting to know a beauty like you."
Now wasn't the time, though. He had no intention of following the main cast through their scripted events.
"I have something to take care of, so I'll be off. See you around."
Without waiting for her reaction, Renzo turned and briskly left the research facility.
After about ten minutes, he arrived at the Heliopolis spaceport. Along the way, he made sure to inform the research facility director that he was taking a leave of absence under a pre-prepared excuse.
Then, he boarded his personal spacecraft and took off, heading straight for deep space.
An hour after his departure, ZAFT's Vesalius arrived and began its assault on Heliopolis, aiming to seize the four experimental Gundam units.
Kira Yamato activated the Strike Gundam, taking down a ZAFT GINN before facing off against Athrun Zala.
Soon after, following the course of the original story, the Archangel launched its desperate escape.
Several days passed in their stop-and-go retreat.
Meanwhile, Renzo had already reached his private satellite base within a nearby asteroid belt.
Oh, and by the way, in this world, he had the classic protagonist backstory: parents deceased, inheriting a massive family fortune.
Under his leadership and his extraordinary talents, the family business had not only survived but flourished.
While not yet among the top corporations on Earth, it was already within the Fortune 500 rankings.
So, having his own secret base? Definitely within the realm of possibility.
"Young Master, you're finally back!"
The moment Renzo arrived at his base, an old butler, Uncle Fu, came out to greet him.
"My dear young master, could you not at least send a message while en route?"
"Do you know how worried I was when I heard that Heliopolis was destroyed by ZAFT?"
He had even gone to great lengths to keep the news from the company, or there would've been total chaos!
Renzo chuckled awkwardly. "I actually sent a message before I left! As for the rest... I forgot."
He had been busy processing the memories, knowledge, and abilities shared by his alternate selves.
Even though they were all technically the same person, fully integrating their experiences still required time.
"What good is that?!"
Uncle Fu grumbled under his breath.
Having a young master was truly exhausting!
Renzo laughed dryly. "Sorry, Uncle Fu! I didn't mean to worry you. But I'm safe now, so relax! By the way, are the parts I requested ready?"
Quickly changing the subject before Uncle Fu could go on another rant, Renzo steered the conversation toward his latest project.
Uncle Fu sighed, but nodded. "They're all done. Young Master, are you planning to assemble your own Gundam now?"
Renzo nodded. "I managed to obtain all the specs and data for the four prototype Gundams from Heliopolis. Naturally, I need to build one myself and see how it performs."
In this dangerous world, you needed power to protect anything worth keeping.
Although he wasn't planning to get directly involved in the Earth Alliance-ZAFT conflict just yet, he needed to be prepared.
That remained to be seen.
In a strange black void, two chairs faced each other. Beside one of them was a small table.
The entire space resembled a dark, star-filled sky.
"Where am I? What is this place?"
Renzo snapped to awareness, looking around in confusion.
He was a new Renzo that has no knowledge of what was happening and he wasn't even in the Renzos mental Space right now for other Renzos to explain.
Then, a voice sounded from behind him. Turning, he saw a stunning blue-haired goddess.
"Satou Kazuma, welcome to the afterlife. You have unfortunately—"
Before she could finish speaking, Renzo had vanished.
"huh? Where'd he go? Where did such a big person just disappear to?!"
Aqua, the blue-haired goddess, completely bewildered, frantically searched the spot where Renzo had been standing.
She even knelt down and ran her hands over the floor—nothing.
Meanwhile, within the mental space of the Renzos Group...
The existing Renzos all paused simultaneously as they received a notification from the shared space.
A newcomer has arrived!
Without hesitation, they all entered the space. Every new addition was precious—another opportunity for growth.
If there were no urgent matters at hand, none of them would miss this chance.
As the new Renzo stepped through the space corridor, he was met with a circle of people clapping and welcoming him warmly.
"Welcome to the club, new member! Come on, let's all lend you a hand!"
The newcomer Renzo: "???"
His mind was full of questions.
But sensing no hostility, he hesitantly reached out a hand.
In a flash, Swordsman Renzo grabbed it, and soon, everyone else's hands stacked on top...