After hearing Lu Tianming's explanation, Mu nodded in agreement. They truly couldn't afford to let their guard down just because supplies were plentiful—they needed to find a way to leave as soon as possible.
The distance from Junius Seven to the lunar base wasn't far now... They couldn't let carelessness ruin everything at this final stage.
After conveying this information, Lu Tianming saw there was nothing else requiring his attention, so he nodded and headed to the maintenance bay to check on things.
Watching Lu Tianming leave the Bridge, Mu finally relaxed. He glanced back at Murrue and Badgiruel, who had just withdrawn their attention, and found the situation somewhat amusing:
"If you're so curious, why not just come over and join the conversation... Really."
——————————————
After arriving at the maintenance bay to get an update, Lu Tianming learned that the Flight Platform modeled after Destiny 00 was already in formal development, and Kira had named this equipment the "Stingray" Type Flight Support Platform.
Hearing Kira's naming choice, Lu Tianming suddenly thought of a certain Kamen Rider... If colored according to Justice's scheme, this backpack would look quite similar to Kamen Rider Raia's Mirror Monster form.
This was practically a cross-dimensional reference.
Upon receiving this news, Lu Tianming smiled and thanked Kira and the other maintenance bay personnel. He then entered the Strike Suit to share the good news with Xia Chuan:
"The maintenance bay is almost finished with your new equipment. Aren't you excited?"
Unexpectedly, Xia Chuan responded with an aloof, cold laugh, adopting a somewhat edgy tone that seemed to look down on everyone as he lightly snorted:
"Hah, such a trivial matter gets you this excited? How unbecoming of you, my dear friend."
Lu Tianming was momentarily stunned, wondering if Xia Chuan had taken something strange today, before remembering—this guy had been staying in the Hangar the whole time, so he probably knew more about the equipment progress than he did.
From Xia Chuan's perspective just now, Lu Tianming happily coming in to present this as a surprise must have looked utterly foolish.
Damn, he'd forgotten about that.
While cursing inwardly, Lu Tianming sighed outwardly:
"Actually, there were some things about Lacus I wanted to share with you... But since you don't seem interested, forget it."
He waved his hand, making as if to open the cockpit and leave.
"Hey hey, don't go, don't go! Finish what you were going to say."
The moment Xia Chuan heard this involved Lacus, his gossip-loving heart instantly ignited. The pilot seat suddenly shifted forward, nudging Lu Tianming back into sitting position.
Lu Tianming struggled not to laugh at Xia Chuan's rapid change in attitude, but still summarized the main points of his conversation with Lacus, omitting only Haro's interruption and Lacus's final counterquestion.
After hearing Lu Tianming's account, Xia Chuan fell silent for a moment... Lu Tianming wondered if he'd overloaded the guy's brain with too much information at once.
But after a period of silence, Xia Chuan seemed hesitant as he finally asked:
"So... are we really going to pull off something major to completely end the war?"
Xia Chuan still seemed to have doubts, uncertain about whether they should let the storyline deviate from the familiar path they knew.
"If we can manage it, we should... Do you really think you can last until SEED Destiny starts airing in your current state?"
Lu Tianming shrugged and shot a disdainful glance at the fool before speaking.
"We should do whatever we can for now. Whether we can actually achieve something big remains to be seen. We'll play it by ear."
Xia Chuan made thoughtful "hmm" sounds, pondered for a moment, then spoke again:
"I didn't really understand all that messy stuff... Anyway, just tell me what to do and I'll follow along."
Hearing that this was all Xia Chuan could come up with after such deep contemplation, Lu Tianming facepalmed in speechless frustration and let out a deep sigh.
Then, as if amused by his own irritation, he chuckled and said:
"Right, just follow your dad's lead and remember to be obedient."
"Damn, still trying to take advantage of me even now?"
After chatting a while longer, Lu Tianming noticed most people had left the maintenance bay—probably for break time—so he decided not to stay either. He opened the cockpit and was just stepping out to bid farewell to Xia Chuan when a familiar voice suddenly reached them:
"Mr. Lu... were you just saying goodbye to this MS?"
Turning toward the voice, they saw Lacus had somehow made her way there carrying her Haro, just in time to witness Lu Tianming waving goodbye to Xia Chuan.
Both were momentarily startled. The Archangel had been keeping things well concealed—how did Lacus manage to stumble upon them so directly?
"Shit, shit, what do we do?"
Xia Chuan panicked slightly, sending a distress signal through Lu Tianming's communication channel—they had always used a dedicated headset frequency to avoid exposure.
Lu Tianming didn't respond, simply gesturing for him to stay calm, exuding an air of 'don't worry, your dad's got this' reassurance.
Then he cleared his throat lightly, turned to Lacus with a composed expression, and smiled:
"That's right. Where we come from, there's a concept called the Machine Spirit. Only by treating an MS as a friend can it unleash power beyond expectations in battle."
"Like... with Haro?"
Lacus spoke while thoughtfully looking at the pink Haro in her arms.
Hearing itself mentioned, Haro excitedly chirped:
"Haro, friend! Haro, friend!"
"Something like that. Saying goodbye, chatting with it... those are all quite effective methods."
Lu Tianming thought for a moment and nodded, feeling that Xia Chuan's actual status among the rest of the Archangel's crew was probably higher than Haro's.
"Oh, that sounds interesting. Can I try?"
As she spoke, Lacus settled on the edge of the Strike Suit's open cockpit, peering inside like a child eyeing a new toy, full of curiosity.
"Sure, this guy loves young, beautiful girls the most. He'd probably be really happy if you chatted with him."
Lu Tianming said with a joking tone.
Seeing that Lacus seemed to take it seriously and was now examining him with genuine curiosity, Xia Chuan grew anxious:
"Damn, don't slander me! Am I that kind of person? Stop misrepresenting me!"
Hearing Xia Chuan's rebuttal, Lu Tianming raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze shifting with a hint of playful amusement as the corner of his mouth curled into a mischievous smirk, looking like he was plotting something devious.
His expression practically screamed—If you don't like women, should I bring some burly guys next time?
Having been around Lu Tianming for so long, Xia Chuan could read exactly what this troublemaker was thinking with just one glance. After a long silence, he compromised and muttered under his breath:
"...Occasionally bending the rules a little wouldn't be entirely unacceptable."