With Azrael dealt with, the matter of Creuset remained. He wasn’t a particularly likable person either, but honestly, I was curious. If Creuset could live a normal life instead of having a limited lifespan, what choice would he make? That’s why I had told him about the treatment and decided to give him a chance. Since he surrendered rather than fighting to the end, he had seized that chance.

I don’t know if it was because he was smart or if he had other plans for his future life, but for now, I decided to spare him.

I went to see Creuset and assess his condition.

"Hmm... based on the data, fixing it seems possible, but I need to examine your current state. First, we’ll do some tests. You’re a prisoner, but I don’t want you dying of illness. Do you consent to the tests and treatment?"

"...Yes."

Judging by his answer, it seemed he wanted to live.

I moved Creuset to the infirmary and ran various tests. When he took off his mask, he was quite handsome.

"Your remaining lifespan is half a year... you were very lucky. If you had come a month later, it would have been impossible. So don’t cause any trouble and wait quietly for the treatment to be prepared. Custom gene therapy takes some time, but three days should be enough."

"Understood."

He seemed cooperative, so I didn’t think he would cause any problems.

After the battlefield was cleared, we returned to the base. First, we had to send the moderate PLANT council members back to PLANT. But not everyone went; the Orb ship Kusanagi and Kira remained to prepare for any unforeseen incidents.

On the way back to the base, Yzak, Athrun, and Dearka, formerly of Creuset’s unit, talked with him at length. Natarle Badgiruel, whose condition had stabilized, was moved to the Archangel at Ramias’s strong request. Even though she was a captain, Ramias personally nursed her.

I piloted the captured Dominion myself back to the base. With the Aznable in the center, flanked by two Archangel-class ships, the formation looked quite splendid. The Dominion was a bit damaged, but I planned to repair it later.

When we arrived at the base, the waiting council members greeted us warmly.

"Everyone worked hard. The war is finally over. Now it’s our turn. We will do our best to ensure a situation like this never happens again."

Siegel said this, but I wondered how well they could politically counter Gilbert Durandal.

After brief greetings, we moved the patients to the infirmary. Creuset, though a patient, was also a prisoner and war criminal, so he was moved to the base’s prison. After reloading supplies onto the Eternal and boarding the council members, it departed for PLANT. Yzak and Dearka were assigned to escort it.

"Lacus, aren’t you going?"

"I’ll stay here. Father has gone, so things will work out."

Lacus seemed to be staying for me.

With so many people gone, the base became a bit quieter. There was some commotion when Natarle woke up, but that was all.

Natarle wanted to return to the Earth Alliance as soon as she woke up, but Ramias persuaded her to stay. She knew well that if she went back, she would be executed for insubordination. Blue Cosmos would never let her go.

Soon, Creuset’s gene therapy began. It wasn’t a big deal; it was just a matter of injecting corrected genes to fix the problematic ones. One shot was all it took.

"The treatment is finished. There could be side effects due to immune reactions, so we’ll need to monitor you for about a month. If you’re lucky, this will be the end of it. Take care of yourself, and you can live a normal lifespan."

"...I see. Thank you."

A few days later, the Kusanagi returned to the base. According to them, Kira had a hard time dealing with remnants of ZAFT hardliners trying to steal the Earth Alliance’s nukes, but with the help of the Eternal, they managed to stop them. The Eternal would handle the follow-up. The Kusanagi had stopped by one last time before returning to Orb.

"We owe you a great debt. We came to support, but it was our fight too."

Ledonir Kisaka thanked us warmly as he said goodbye.

"Hurry up and give me what you promised! I have a mountain of research to do!"

Erica Simmons was as persistent as ever. I gave her the simulation unit as promised, of course after wiping all the machine data from it. But I had no idea how much Celestial Being technology she had already taken. Still, I had protected the important things, so it should be fine.

Seeing Athrun packing his bags, he seemed to be going to Orb with Cagalli, just like in the original. Kira and Frey also decided to go, planning to stay in Orb for a while so Frey could give birth safely.

"Cagalli, make sure to talk to him about what I mentioned."

"Got it. Father will listen."

I had secretly asked Cagalli to arrange for us to use an uninhabited island near Orb. This was preparation for Destiny. I thought it would be good to have a base on Earth, and it would also serve as a base for the Archangel.

The Archangel’s position was quite difficult. They couldn’t exactly say they were affiliated with Orb, since they were originally an Earth Alliance ship, which could cause diplomatic problems. But they couldn’t stay at the Celestial Being base forever either. They had families, after all.

A few days after the Kusanagi left, the Eternal returned, with significantly fewer people. Some had stayed in PLANT to help the moderate council members. Also, there was the issue of returning the mobile suits.

"I’ve grown attached to this machine..."

"Right. Can’t you just let us keep them?"

As expected, Yzak and Dearka grumbled, disappointed.

"If the technology is misused, the same thing could happen again. You know that. Or you could just stay with Celestial Being permanently."

But they knew that wasn’t possible. The moderate forces were short-handed due to the purges, so Yzak and Dearka couldn’t stay even if they wanted to.

"Tch, you’re so strict. Also, we’ve been ordered to bring Captain Creuset back for his war crimes trial."

"Really? Hmm... the treatment is finished, but I wanted to monitor him a bit longer. Still, there have been no side effects so far, so it should be fine. Take him."

I had visually confirmed that Creuset was fine, so it was okay to let him go.

After returning the mobile suits, the Eternal rested at the base for a few days before returning to PLANT. Nicol decided to go with them this time. Even though she had lost her memories, she needed to see her parents. I wondered if the Amalfis would be shocked to see that Nicol had become a woman.

Shortly after they left, news arrived that the ’Junius Treaty’ had been signed between PLANT and the Earth Alliance.

’Now I can rest a bit.’

I boarded all the remaining people, including the Archangel’s crew, onto the Aznable and, using stealth mode, secretly entered Orb. I wanted to give them a vacation, and I also wanted to rest with Lacus.

I had already informed Orb, so they arranged accommodations for us. And just like before, I exchanged gold for cash so everyone could rest comfortably.

Lacus and I also went on dates in Orb and had fun, but we had to wear disguises, which was a bit troublesome.

[No further story progression possible. The story will continue in Gundam SEED DESTINY. Do you wish to begin Gundam SEED DESTINY?]

While I was living like that, an alarm appeared in the Pleasure Life System. It seemed the Gundam SEED story had completely ended. I selected ’Yes’ and closed the Pleasure Life System. Building the base on Orb’s island could wait until Destiny.

[Exiting Gundam SEED world.]

[Calculating rewards.]

[Lacus Clyne: Bond Level 9]

[Nicol Amalfi: Bond Level 7]

[Andrew Waltfeld: Bond Level 6]

[Kira Yamato: Bond Level 6]

[Murrue Ramias: Bond Level 6]

[Siegel Clyne: Bond Level 6]

[Yzak Joule: Bond Level 5]

[Dearka Elsman: Bond Level 5]

[Athrun Zala: Bond Level 5]

[Cagalli Yula Athha: Bond Level 5]

[Mu La Flaga: Bond Level 5]

[Erica Simmons: Bond Level 4]

[Sai Argyle: Bond Level 4]

[Miriallia Haw: Bond Level 4]

[Ledonir Kisaka: Bond Level 4]

[Uzumi Nara Athha: Bond Level 4]

[Kojiro Murdoch: Bond Level 3]

[Arnold Neumann: Bond Level 3]

[Ezaria Joule: Bond Level 3]

[Rau Le Creuset: Bond Level 3]

[Muruta Azrael: Bond Level 3]

[...]

[...]

[You have acquired 31921 points as a reward for completing Gundam SEED.]

"Status window."

[Park Tae-jin]

Strength: 627 (+2,381) | Stamina: 652 (+500) | Agility: 681 (+500) | Intelligence: 531 (+3,655) | Mana: 953 (+4000)(+1152/0) | Divine Power: 11352

Points held: 46748

Unfortunately, I hadn’t reached 50,000 points, so I couldn’t do a draw this time. So I decided to give 2B and A2 a vacation and make module sets needed for building large bases or structures. I had already made residential modules, so I focused on auxiliary facilities like public baths, swimming pools, and gymnasiums.

This time, I didn’t build them myself. I finished the designs and left the production to the production facilities. Doing it myself would be much faster, but now that I was back in reality, I had time. There was no need to rush. So I left the work and decided to slowly explore Altrea (Starkiller Base).

I watched various sports events that the androids were holding, and also visited theaters and amusement parks. I was accompanied by my secretaries Devol and Popol, and my bodyguard Kaine. Come to think of it, this was the first time I had visited and explored the place in person. Until now, I had only been focused on design and expansion; I had never experienced the completed spaces as a user.

A tennis tournament was happening, so I went to watch. The rules had completely changed; only one set was played. Since their performance levels differed only slightly, playing a full match would take almost an entire day. Also, the materials of the rackets and balls were different from those used by humans, because they couldn’t withstand the androids’ capabilities.

’Oh~! That’s the Boomerang Snake from The Prince of Tennis!’

These androids were hitting shots even more bizarre than the techniques from The Prince of Tennis, and it was quite entertaining to watch. This was probably possible because they had physical abilities that surpassed humans.

After watching the tournament with enjoyment, the android MC called my name and expressed gratitude. I gave a light wave, and the androids watching the tournament cheered with joy. It seemed my appearance on such an official occasion meant a lot to them.

Next, I went to the theater to watch a movie. Honestly, the movie was just okay. Humans have various races and unique personalities, which allows for good character portrayal, but the androids were all incredibly handsome or beautiful, which made it hard to get immersed. Apart from that, the acting was good, and the script and music were excellent.

Finally, I went to the amusement park. The rides had all been heavily modified. Ordinary humans would probably explode from the G-forces.

’What have these guys done...’

I was about to scold them, but then I thought about it. Humans weren’t going to come here anyway, so I decided to let them do as they pleased. It was interesting to see how their lifestyle, culture, and so on were gradually changing to suit androids.

I also looked over the androids’ suggestions for the first time in a while. There were an enormous number of requests for a lake. The reason was that they wanted to enjoy marine leisure activities. But this was a problematic request.

Altrea had already been modified to be mobile. If I filled it with a large amount of water, it would inevitably increase the structural and power burden. Increased mass would reduce mobility and cause problems with balance control. This wasn’t just a matter of preference; it was directly related to survival.

Furthermore, the external environment was an obstacle. The temperature outside Altrea fluctuated between -10 and -30 degrees Celsius. Maintaining an open water surface in such an environment would require enormous energy consumption, and even slight mismanagement would risk freezing or equipment damage.

Ultimately, the only option was a dome structure. But domes have limits in distributing external impacts, and if struck, their defensive efficiency could drop dramatically. While it might be suitable as a recreational facility, as a space that must also consider combat situations, it would be a fatal weakness.

’Hmm... I want to give it to them, but it’s a dilemma... I can’t just tell them to do it on Earth either...’

I decided to put this on hold for now. It might be possible by mobilizing all of Altrea’s technology, but if an attack or emergency movement were to occur, even such a seemingly minor element could become a critical weakness. A small crack could bring down the whole thing.

Above all, Altrea was my final stronghold and my home to return to. If there was even the slightest risk to its safety, I couldn’t easily take it. I felt sorry for the androids, but if I ever prepare a dedicated dimension just for them in the future, I would allow them to enjoy marine leisure activities to their hearts’ content there.

[Master, the construction modules are complete.]

"Really? Got it."

I immediately went to the production facility, stored the completed modules in my inventory, and used [Matter Creation] to replenish the resources that had been consumed. Now I wouldn’t have to worry about construction anymore.

’Now, it’s time to start the Pleasure Life System again.’

I had spent some time exploring Altrea, checking on what was needed, and resting well. So I was thinking of starting the Pleasure Life System again.