"What's the point of questioning a self-righteous woman here?"
Li Chengzhi didn't understand why Wang Hu was so furious and cold, so he stepped in to mediate.
"Huh?" Hearing his friend's advice, Wang Hu suddenly snapped out of it and realized his mistake.
As someone who knew what would happen in the future, Wang Hu instinctively disliked Lacus.
But Li Chengzhi didn't know that, and neither did anyone else present!
To put it bluntly, objectively speaking.
At this moment, Wang Hu's actions appeared to everyone in the hangar as nothing more than a brute bullying a defenseless woman by relying on his strength!
"So that's it, I've fallen into the trap of my own prejudice."
Muttering to himself quietly, Wang Hu felt he needed to seriously reflect on himself.
Because of the power brought by the Homeworld, and because he knew history so well that he always gained the upper hand.
This continuous smooth sailing had made him arrogant and conceited.
He had to remember that the world wasn't a game. Even if this world was fake in his memories, now that he had truly arrived here,
The world was real!
"Let's go, Kira. We'll escort this young lady back."
Having recognized his mistake, Wang Hu naturally saw no need to continue confronting Lacus, who hadn't yet officially stepped onto the world stage.
It would only tarnish his reputation for no reason.
"Ah, yes, Brother Wang Hu!"
Startled by Wang Hu's call, Kira stammered in response.
Brother Wang Hu had been too terrifying just now! He wasn't the Brother Wang Hu he knew at all.
But
Thanks to the subtle influence Wang Hu had exerted on him over time, even if Wang Hu had bullied Lacus like a brute,
At least for now, Kira didn't feel that Wang Hu had done anything wrong at all. He simply believed that Brother Wang Hu must have had his reasons for acting that way.
If he couldn't see through it, it wasn't Brother Wang Hu's fault, but rather his own inability to perceive the truth behind the matter.
"Hmm." Noticing Kira's reaction, Wang Hu nodded with satisfaction.
Kira's expression and response couldn't be faked—it seemed his education had been effective.
Just as Wang Hu was about to let the matter rest and send Lacus back,
Perhaps due to some misfiring neuron, Lacus suddenly grabbed Wang Hu's hand as he turned away.
"Captain Wang Hu, how can we truly achieve peace? Must it really come down to killing every last one of the other side?"
The beautiful girl asked this question to Wang Hu as he turned to look back.
"This is troublesome." Li Chengzhi patted his forehead, feeling quite exasperated with Lacus for stirring up trouble unnecessarily.
Why ask such a question and bring discomfort upon yourself?
Wouldn't it be better to just wait quietly to be sent back?
"Miss Lacus?" Seeing this, Kira mustered his courage and spoke before Wang Hu could, wanting to avoid further complications.
So he quickly repeated the words Wang Hu had once told him.
"Making Coordinators a minority ethnic group in the East Asian Alliance?" Lacus repeated.
She had thought that the question Wang Hu posed to her might be one even he couldn't solve.
After all, the chasm formed by blood debts amounting to hundreds of millions was not something easily bridged, given the complete rupture and opposition between Naturals and Coordinators.
Yet Lacus carefully pondered Wang Hu's suggestion.
To be practical, this solution was not without feasibility.
Dragging all the high-ranking officials of the Atlantic Federation and PLANT out for execution, pinning all the wrongdoings on them.
Making them the conspirators who, driven by their own ambitions, instigated the war!
Coincidentally, LOGOS behind the Atlantic Federation was a perfect scapegoat, and Patrick on PLANT was the ideal target.
But in doing so...
Lacus, remaining silent, felt that this could also serve as a pretext for the East Asian Alliance to grandly seize world hegemony.
Once they attained hegemony, would they rapidly degenerate into the current Atlantic Federation?
"The world needs checks and balances."
These words suddenly escaped her lips, with a hint of probing intent.
"Even the worst unification is better than an unstable multipolar world."
Wang Hu immediately responded to Lacus with this statement.
"Human effort determines the outcome; talking big is no match for taking practical action."
"Focusing only on petty immediate gains is inferior to setting sights on the infinitely vast universe."
"I see." Lacus thought seriously, then showed no trace of resentment toward Wang Hu for having struck her.
She simply followed behind Wang Hu until they entered the cockpit of the Zeta Gundam.
"A full-simulation cockpit?" Lacus was not a professional combatant, but through exposure, she had some understanding of the mainstream Mobile Suit cockpits of the time.
Staring at the Zeta Gundam's circular cockpit filled with monitor screens and the suspended central control platform, the pink diva, the future Lady Yumi, was genuinely astonished.
Such a configuration indicated that the East Asian Army had advanced to the forefront of the world in perceptual fusion technology for Mobile Suits!
"Come on." Wang Hu extended his hand to Lacus, smiling without explanation—there was no way he could explain.
Because the appearance of the Zeta Gundam itself signified a deviation in this world's progression from his memories, a change Wang Hu had not anticipated.
In his original memories, the East Asian Army initially used Strike Daggers and, during the Second War, fully adopted the Atlantic Federation Army's equipment.
But would the East Asian Army lose its capacity for self-innovation, becoming a follower that merely imitated others?
Wang Hu shook his head and chuckled silently—how could that be possible?
Puzzled, Lacus watched Wang Hu suddenly laugh but refrained from asking further this time.
Grasping the hand Wang Hu offered, Lacus unhesitatingly sat in his lap.
There was no other way—the Zeta Gundam's cockpit had only one pilot seat, and the circular cabin was crowded with display screens everywhere.
Though Lacus herself was not heavy, stepping on those screens without a fixed point was precarious.
It was likely that, during the Gundam's flight, the girl could tumble around inelegantly and unsafely.
Given this, Lacus glanced at the single chair and naturally chose to have some close contact with Wang Hu.
After all, in the original timeline, she had sat sideways in Kira's lap...
Rather than opting to stand behind Kira...
"Brother Wang Hu?" "Wang Hu?"
Kira and Li Chengzhi glanced at the two figures in the cockpit, each calling out once before falling silent.
Is this woman still unwilling to give up, trying to seduce Wang Hu at a time like this?
That was what Li Chengzhi thought as he stepped back, feeling quite confident in Wang Hu.
Faced with sugar-coated bullets, Wang Hu would surely eat the sugar coating and throw the bullet back.
This woman Lacus is terrifying.
As Kira boarded the Strike Gundam, he thought to himself—having just been beaten up by Brother Wang Hu, how could she so shamelessly sit in Brother Wang Hu's lap so soon?
Flay is still better, even if she's acting quite queenly now, at least she's more genuine.
And so, as each of them was lost in their own thoughts, the Zeta Gundam and the Strike Gundam, after brief maintenance by the repair crew, launched from the Archangel, flying toward the ZAFT fleet positioned parallel to the vanguard in the distance.
Meanwhile, aboard the Vesalius.
"Nicol, how are you?"
Yzak lay sobbing over his comrade, who showed no response at all.
Ever since they rescued him, right up until they removed him from the Blitz Gundam's cockpit, Nicol had remained in a vegetative state, completely unresponsive to any external stimuli.
Yet Yzak's own unusual behavior didn't seem particularly out of place in the Vesalius's hangar at that moment.
Although this battleship had become the dedicated carrier for several Gundams, everyone in this hangar was well aware of the tragic situation suffered by the Mobile Suit pilots from other ships who had sortied.
They had set out from the homeland with such determination, risking the possibility of an attack on their own territory.
These elite Coordinators hadn't come here just to be handed over to Wang Hu as medals of honor!
Especially after taking their opponents so seriously, only to end up in such a miserable state.
Who among them wasn't feeling lost and angry?
"Athrun." Watching Yzak, who seemed nothing like his usual self, Dearka had his suspicions.
Was Yzak crying for Nicol or for himself? But that was something Dearka would certainly never say aloud.
So he turned to the blue-haired boy standing silently beside him and asked, "What should we do next?"
"I don't know." Athrun felt like he wanted to kill himself.
Learning what Nicol had done felt like a thousand-pound weight pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
But against Wang Hu, Nicol's enemy, Athrun was utterly powerless. Even now, he could repeatedly engage Kira in deadly combat.
Compared to his counterpart in the original timeline, he had already improved significantly, but it was still nowhere near enough to face Wang Hu.
"Maybe..." Clenching his fist, Athrun thought of his Aegis Gundam. Perhaps next time I can!
Just as Athrun was lost in thought, Creuset, who had been discussing aftermath measures and how to continue seeking revenge against Wang Hu with Adjutant Will on the bridge, floated over.
Creuset, in poor spirits and with a grim expression, glanced at Athrun before addressing the blue-haired boy. "Athrun, come with me. Wang Hu is returning Lacus."
"Wang Hu is here?" Athrun and Dearka were shocked by the news.
Yzak, who had been crying over Nicol, abruptly looked up. Even Nicol, who had been completely unresponsive to the outside world, moved his eyeballs.
"They've brought Kira along, so you should come with me."
Creuset looked at Athrun's shining eyes, then let his gaze drift before settling on Nicol lying on the ground.
Following Creuset's line of sight, Athrun's eyes also fell upon Nicol, who was struggling to get up.
"Understood, Captain Creuset." Athrun agreed immediately and quickly ran toward the damaged Aegis Gundam that was still under repair.
"Athrun." With a glimmer in his eyes, Creuset contemplated certain thoughts.
(End of Chapter)