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Two days later, Mikazuki departed from Gidaon... no, from Earth, aboard a shuttle carrying Barbatos.
Lacus did not accompany him, but instead took another shuttle, returning to PLANT ahead of him. Before parting, neither spoke a word, as if both knew exactly what the other wanted to say, merely offering a small smile.
However, just as Mikazuki turned to leave, Lacus embraced him, whispering,
"Be careful..."
Then she released Mikazuki and ran towards her own shuttle, waving to Mikazuki as she ran.
Mikazuki watched the shuttle disappear into the sky, popped a date into his mouth, and murmured,
"Still not the same as Kudelia."
Heliopolis was a colonial satellite belonging to the neutral nation of Orb.
Mikazuki, with the help of Hilda's subordinates, successfully arrived here. He concealed Barbatos deep within the remote mountains of the colonial satellite.
At this moment, Mikazuki stood beside a lake in Heliopolis, conversing with Orga through his earphone.
"Hey, Orga, is what you said true? Is that broken-looking grid the function that can take us out of this world?"
He remembered Orga telling him something once he returned from the villa.
That "something" was a new instrument that had appeared in Barbatos's cockpit, looking like an energy display.
"That's right. The instrument on the left side of Barbatos's cockpit is the energy display required for world-hopping. The reason it didn't respond when you pressed it is because the instrument has no energy.
This means that once the instrument's energy is fully charged, we might be able to return to our world."
Mikazuki tossed a date towards the pigeons in front of him. The result, needless to say, was that the pigeons all flew away.
Mikazuki shrugged. A waste.
"How do I charge that thing? Does it take fuel like Barbatos?"
"No, the energy required for this thing is different from Mobile Suits or warships. There are two ways, and they can occur simultaneously.
One is to let it accumulate slowly on its own; the other depends on you."
Mikazuki paused, tilting his head as he looked at the lake ahead.
"Me?"
"Yes."
Orga affirmed.
"Your battles with Barbatos can also make the instrument accumulate energy. How about that? Pretty amazing, right?"
Mikazuki was a bit speechless. Although he wasn't good at thinking, that didn't mean he was a fool. He had never heard of such a bizarre charging method before.
"What kind of logic is that?"
"What kind of logic, you ask? It just is, that's all. Keep it up, Mikazuki."
Orga's tone was somewhat gloating, and Mikazuki's lips twitched.
Well, it suited him just fine. He was a guy who liked to fight anyway. It didn't matter. Fight, then.
"Also, Mikazuki, what if I need you and Barbatos urgently when you're stuck in this remote wilderness?"
Mikazuki spat out a date pit, saying blandly,
"Did you forget? Among the new functions you sent me for Barbatos, there's a remote control feature..."
With that, Mikazuki rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a watch-like device on his wrist.
"With this, I can remotely control Barbatos."
"Ah, yes, yes, I almost forgot..."
If Orga had a physical body, Mikazuki was sure he would have had an expression of just remembering.
"You only just remembered, didn't you?"
Orga couldn't keep a straight face and angrily retorted,
"Mind your own business! Alright, I'll hang up for now. I'll keep an eye on the movements of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. You go find a place to rest properly."
"Oh, bye then."
With that, Mikazuki pressed the button on his earphone, adjusted his military-green Tekkadan uniform, which resembled work clothes, and looked out at the colonial satellite Heliopolis.
He felt the card holder in his pocket, covered by dates. Inside were the travel expenses Lacus had given him and his identity documents. Of course, the PLANT identity document was on Barbatos; it would be troublesome if someone saw him carrying it.
Mikazuki looked at the peaceful city before him, realizing he had forgotten to ask Orga something.
"By the way... I forgot to ask him. If I and Barbatos appeared in this world, then what about the others... Akihiro, Hash, would they have come here too?
Forget it, I'll ask later. If Akihiro and the others really came here, they'd definitely be fine..."
After popping a date into his mouth, he turned and walked towards the bustling city. However, his simple attire made him look completely out of place in the vibrant metropolis in the eyes of others, no matter how one looked at it.
Like a dirty mouse sneaking into a high-class, elegant establishment.
But no one spoke up to stop Mikazuki. People were all the same; what they thought in their hearts was always more than what appeared on the surface. No matter how much they scorned Mikazuki internally, they wouldn't show it on their faces.
To them, Mikazuki was just a bumpkin entering the city, a rare but not unheard-of sight in this era.
But they didn't know that the travel expenses Lacus had given him were a sum that these ordinary people, who thought themselves superior, would never earn in their lifetime.
It was just that... Mikazuki, no, almost half of the children in Tekkadan, had no precise concept of what "money" was. They believed that as long as they could survive, that was enough.
In their original world, the salary the team gave Mikazuki was always handed over to Kudelia for safekeeping, because he had nowhere to use money, having it but not knowing where to spend it.