Arriving at the East Asia Theater's general headquarters, Yang Hui rubbed the soft flesh of his waist as he got out of the car.
"Couldn't you have been a little gentler?" Yang Hui grumbled.
"Hmph!" Natarle Badgiruel snorted delicately and turned her head away.
"Sigh, let's go," Yang Hui sighed. He had enjoyed the treatment of an overbearing CEO for once, but it turned out he still had no status in front of other women.
"Yang Hui, you're here. This is..." Walking into Ethan Rhea's office, Ethan Leighton also stood up to greet him, preparing to introduce the other person in the office to Yang Hui. But the scene that unfolded in the next second nearly made his jaw drop.
"Yang Hui!" Lacus stood up directly, walked over, and hugged Yang Hui.
Given Lacus's usual style, she would not have exposed her intimate relationship with Yang Hui in front of a stranger without his permission.
But there is a truth: women in love have no sense, especially during a long-awaited reunion. A brief separation makes the heart grow fonder.
Faced with Lacus's embrace, Yang Hui was also stunned for a moment, but a gentle smile soon appeared on his face as he hugged her back. It didn't matter if they were exposed. Not to mention that some people had already noticed the relationship between him and Lacus, but as long as his woman wanted to do something, he would bear the consequences and handle all the follow-up.
"Natarle, long time no see." After hugging for a moment, Lacus released Yang Hui and took Natarle Badgiruel's hand to greet her intimately.
"Long time no see, Lacus."
"Haha, I never would have expected this." Ethan Leighton, who had been standing to the side as a spectator, laughed. "Major Yang Hui is not only an outstanding soldier but also a master of romance. Even Miss Lacus couldn't escape your grasp."
Ethan Leighton knew that Yang Hui and Natarle Badgiruel were lovers. This was no secret in the military; at most, some suitors would beat their chests in frustration, hating Yang Hui for plucking the most beautiful and elegant ice queen in the army.
"It was a mutual journey, Colonel Leighton," Yang Hui explained, then urged him, "I must ask Colonel Leighton to keep this a secret, or I might not be able to walk out of your headquarters today."
"Hahaha, that's for sure. Even I can't help but want to punch you," Ethan Leighton laughed heartily.
Yang Hui's request was not just a joke; such a situation could really happen. Even he himself was a fan of Lacus's songs, let alone all those young men and women. If they found out Lacus had a lover, and that lover was right beside them, they would be failing their title as fans if they didn't tear him to shreds!
"Since you two have been reunited after a long time, I'll take my leave first." Ethan Leighton was very perceptive. The way Yang Hui and Lacus were looking at each other was practically electric. A middle-aged man like him, approaching old age, shouldn't be a third wheel here.
After Ethan Rhea left, Yang Hui sat on the sofa, and Lacus naturally sat in his lap, feeling a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Why did you come here?"
"Because you're here."
"There's no way you couldn't see through their intentions." Yang Hui shook his head. Lacus was no love-struck fool; she must have seen through the intentions of those who invited her. The fact that she still came meant she must have her own plans.
Hearing this, Lacus playfully stuck out her tongue, left Yang Hui's embrace, and sat down properly beside him. "It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. Athrun and Mr. Gai Murakumo are providing excellent protection, but Mr. Creuset can't remain in danger indefinitely. Also, you all have entered their line of sight. Since we've shown ourselves, we might as well lure them out and wipe them all out in one go. It's best to clean them up sooner rather than later."
"That's very much your style, Yang Hui," Natarle Badgiruel said with a smile.
"Indeed."
Yang Hui gave a helpless smile. This was indeed a tactic he liked to use: using himself as bait to draw out and concentrate all the enemies, then wiping them out in one fell swoop.
He just hadn't expected Lacus to learn his style, breaking away from her carefree life as a songstress and putting herself in harm's way to help Yang Hui and the others draw out their hidden enemies.
"Mr. Creuset has already identified quite a few people, but behind that Assemblyman Ronan Marcenas, there's more to it than just Martha Bister," Lacus said.
"Kinnikuman, is it?"
"No." Lacus shook her head. "It's true that Kinnikuman sees you as a thorn in his side, but he won't touch you before the war with Zeon is over. There's someone else behind Martha Vist."
"Have you found out who?"
"Not yet, but Mr. Creuset has listed several suspects, and Hymen Jamirov is among them."
"That old block of tofu?" Yang Hui was stunned. He had actually suspected Hymen Jamirov. The current old tofu was a Brigadier General, a minor financial officer behind Kinnikuman, not even a pure soldier.
Hymen Jamirov was a cunning old fox. After investigation, it was found that he was extremely low-key within the Federal Army. Even after siding with the conservatives, he hadn't displayed any extraordinary talent, just following behind Kinnikuman like a nobody. In private, he was also active as a businessman, had secretly established an international debt management company, and spent far more energy on the company than on the military.
But as the investigation deepened, it was discovered that Hymen Jamirov was a bit too low-key. He wanted to develop his company but never used Federal Army military funds, and all the company's business activities were compliant and legal. This was very abnormal and didn't match the old tofu in Yang Hui's memory at all.
After joining the Federal Army and establishing the Twelfth Independent Technical Division, Yang Hui had focused most of his energy on helping the Federation defeat Zeon and assisting Char in splitting Zeon. His vigilance towards Hymen Jamirov had decreased significantly, assuming that with Revil still alive, no one else would dare to cause trouble.
But now, Hymen Jamirov, whom Yang Hui had gradually overlooked, had popped up again, causing him to raise his guard once more.
"Pfft—Old block of tofu, hahahaha..." Hearing the nickname Yang Hui gave Hymen Jamirov, Natarle Badgiruel and Lacus couldn't help but laugh. But on second thought, they felt the nickname was quite fitting.
"Who else?" Yang Hui continued to ask Lacus after the two women had had their laugh.
"Romani Axel, Binit Strass..."
"Heh, the Aristocrat Faction," Yang Hui sneered. Of the four factions in the Federal Assembly, Creuset had won over the Populist Faction and the Moderate Faction. The hardliners were also quite supportive of Revil now, so it was impossible for them to move against Yang Hui. The rest... as expected, were all from the Aristocrat Faction.
"Creuset also found out that these people secretly established an organization called the [Continental Revival Foundation]. It doesn't have many members, but most are middle-to-upper-class members of the Aristocrat Faction."
Hearing this, Yang Hui was stunned again. He had some impression of the [Continental Revival Foundation], but it wasn't called that; it was called the [Continental Revival Guild]. Hymen Jamirov was the president of this organization. Nominally, it was for rebuilding the war-torn Earth, but in reality, it was the crucial financial support Hymen Jamirov would use to form the [Titans] in the future. He hadn't expected this organization to be established so early.
"That's not right," Yang Hui suddenly realized a problem. "How did the old block of tofu get accepted by the others?"
The Aristocrat Faction was a group of people with their noses in the air, intoxicated by their past or present glory, looking down on people from other factions. Even a General of the Army like Revil was just a commoner in their eyes, not fit for high society.
According to the intelligence Yang Hui had gathered, Hymen Jamirov was not of noble birth. Like most high-ranking military officers, he had been promoted by a certain faction. To put it bluntly, he was their puppet.
How could such a person be qualified to form an organization together with members of the Aristocrat Faction? This was equivalent to the decadent Aristocrat Faction lowering their own status. Based on Yang Hui's understanding of that group, this was absolutely impossible.
"That's not clear." Lacus shook her head; Creuset hadn't told her about this.
"...Investigate. Have Creuset dig up the old tofu's roots. Even if they're buried in the Earth's core, they must be dug out."
"Mm, I'll relay that to Mr. Creuset."
"By the way, Yang Hui, we completed a side quest. You can take a look."
"Side quest?" Yang Hui recalled that before falling asleep yesterday, he seemed to have heard Mephis's voice, but he had been too exhausted to pay much attention and had fallen asleep directly.
"Mephis, I completed a side quest?"
[Yes, Commander.]
"What side quest?"
[Capture Kycilia Zabi.]
"Hmm... alright, I understand."
Ever since coming to this world, Yang Hui had tried various methods to trigger side quests, attempting to find their trigger conditions and patterns, but he hadn't found a single clue, let alone any conditions or patterns.
And this side quest he had just completed was both expected and unexpected.
Initially, Yang Hui thought that drastically changing the original history would trigger a side quest. Capturing Kycilia Zabi fit this condition, so Yang Hui's guess was correct.
But this wasn't the only part of the original history he had changed. This included befriending and cooperating with Char, collaborating with Revil and Gopp, and creating the Twelfth Independent Technical Division to change the Federation's difficult early-stage situation. The fates of many people in his team had also been changed.
But none of these changes had triggered a side quest. And now... it had triggered. Why?
"I'll explore this slowly later. Mephis, what are the rewards for the side quest?"
[One Building Enhancement Opportunity, four Medium Supply Packages.]
"Whoa! These rewards..." Yang Hui was surprised. These rewards were not low at all. Medium Supply Packages usually only appeared when the completion rate of a main quest was relatively high, not to mention the Building Enhancement Opportunity. Completing main quests had been the only way to obtain that before.
"It seems I must figure out how side quests are triggered. If capturing Kycilia Zabi works, then would others work too? For example... that playboy Garma?"
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