Returning to Lu Tianming's side, after parting ways with Murrue, he was momentarily unsure of what to do next. After some thought, he ultimately decided to head back to the hangar to tell Xia Chuan about the mess Flay had stirred up, giving him a good laugh.
Just as Lu Tianming arrived at the hangar, he saw a large crowd being guided by Miriallia and Katz, lining up as if preparing to board transport boats to transfer to the two battleships of the advance force.
Nearby, Kira was sitting off to the side with his injured arm hanging limply, holding a PAD in his hand and seemingly deep in thought.
"They're starting the transfer already?" Lu Tianming wondered to himself, drifting over to Kira's side. He patted Kira's shoulder to get his attention and then asked.
When Kira noticed Lu Tianming's arrival, a spark of excitement flashed in his eyes, momentarily dispelling the weariness from his work. He tried to stand up but overexerted himself, aggravating the wound on his arm, and his expression briefly turned pained.
"Mr. Lu! What brings you here?"
After exchanging greetings, Kira glanced at Miriallia and Katz, who were organizing the crowd, and shrugged.
"Over there, they're indeed preparing to take in the civilians. Apparently, they're worried about ZAFT's pursuit catching up and want to get as much done as possible while they can."
Lu Tianming nodded. That made sense under the circumstances. But then it occurred to him—weren't Kira and the others just volunteer soldiers? Didn't they plan to take this opportunity to leave?
When he asked this, Kira scratched his head somewhat sheepishly and replied bashfully,
"Well, we've gotten to know everyone here over time... I guess we've developed a sense of belonging. So we've decided to wait until we rendezvous with the Eighth Fleet before considering whether to officially enlist or return home."
"Besides... even if we could leave smoothly, Flay is still in confinement. Because of her, we can't just walk away easily."
Hearing Kira's explanation, Lu Tianming suddenly recalled that in the original story, Kira had harbored a crush on Flay... He wasn't sure if that was still the case now, or if Flay was the real reason Kira was staying.
He lowered his head and pondered for a moment but couldn't figure it out, so he decided to drop the matter. However, as he looked down, he noticed that Kira's PAD was covered with sketches and notes, likely all done despite his injury. Lu Tianming sighed and said,
"With your arm injured, you should focus on recovering. You don't need to push yourself so hard... Is this work urgent or something?"
"It's not exactly urgent..."
Kira struggled to explain, so he simply handed the PAD to Lu Tianming, adding as he did so,
"It's the backpack project we discussed earlier... I only roughly estimated the materials needed before and didn't make much progress on the rest."
"Now that we might be parting ways after reaching the Eighth Fleet, I thought I should at least finish what we agreed on before I go."
Lu Tianming took the PAD and looked at it... He saw a bunch of things and parameters he couldn't understand, only recognizing that this was likely a massive compilation integrating mechanical design schematics, backpack operating systems, dedicated fire control codes, adaptability adjustments for Sea Roaches, and more.
As for how he could identify so much—each diagram had a title, and reading words was something he could manage.
Lu Tianming skimmed through it briefly, and in the end, he had only one impression.
—He felt that Kira had written this thing with the determination of leaving behind a legacy.
From manufacturing plans to maintenance procedures, it even included instructions on which generic parts could be modified for temporary use when specific components were in short supply... Later sections seemed to attach maintenance experience for the Strike Gundam as well.
He really wasn't holding back at all.
"Did you... put all this together just now?"
Lu Tianming looked at Kira with some surprise; this was just too unbelievable.
"Not exactly... Most of it is a summary of past experience. I haven't written much new content. I hope you don't mind, Mr. Lu."
Kira smiled modestly, feeling that all he had done were trivial matters. Compared to Mr. Lu, who had to personally go into battle and fight with his life every time, someone like him in a support role had it far too easy.
Lu Tianming shrugged. Seeing how determined Kira was to leave something behind, he didn't try to stop him. Instead, he patted Kira on the shoulder and told him not to overwork himself and worsen his injuries.
Just as Lu Tianming was about to return to the Strike, he noticed Mu acting like a tour guide, showing the Vanguard fleet members around the Archangel and the Strike. After a moment's thought, he figured that joining in now would likely mean getting dragged into the tour, so he abandoned the idea of sharing gossip with Xia Chuan.
Before leaving, he took one last glance at the Strike, standing motionless in the restraint rack, and sighed helplessly.
Ah, poor little Xia Chuan... He'd have to wait until later to share the joyous news of Flay getting beaten up...
————————————————————
Meanwhile, the one who had been beaten up was still sitting silently in the room where she had been confined.
She was curled up at the foot of the bed like a frightened wild animal, a blanket covering everything except her face, making her look like she was cosplaying a snowman without a waist.
Sai sat nearby, watching the heavy atmosphere, unsure of what to say.
On the table in front of Sai was a plate of standard meal he had brought from the cafeteria. He had fetched it earlier than when Murrue and Lu Tianming had their discussion, and by now, the food was no longer warm.
Seeing Flay remain like this—not saying a word, not moving an inch—Sai would have thought someone had pressed the pause button on time, if not for the occasional drops of blood from her nose, injured by Lu Tianming, proving it wasn't a still frame.
"Um... Flay, you should eat something. Or if you think the food's too cold, I can go warm it up for you?"
After hesitating for a long time, Sai picked up the plate, his voice soft and tentative.
"Leave me alone! Haven't I told you several times already? Get out!"
Before Sai could take two steps closer, Flay suddenly roared like a hissing cat, startling him so badly his hands trembled and he nearly dropped the tray.
Seeing Flay poised to escalate the confrontation, Sai had no choice but to compromise. He set down the tray, raised his hands in surrender, and retreated from the room:
"Alright, alright, I'm leaving, I'm leaving... But promise me you won't do anything foolish..."
He continued speaking while backing away, but when he reached the doorway he paused, hoping to seize the opportunity to say more. Just then, a pillow projectile came flying directly at him from Flay. Without another moment's hesitation, he stepped completely out of the room.
As the door slammed shut behind Sai, the pillow struck the metal surface with a dull thud.
By now, the frenzied blend of sorrow and rage in Flay's heart had subsided somewhat. Her earlier outburst had been a deliberate emotional release aimed solely at driving Sai away.
All her previous negative emotions had now crystallized into calculated hatred within Flay—hatred for ZAFT, hatred for Coordinators, and hatred for Lu Tianming who failed to save her father...
She wanted revenge, but simultaneously realized—she possessed no power to achieve it.
But it didn't matter... If she lacked power, she would simply borrow it from those who had it—and that person was none other than Lu Tianming.
In her eyes, Lu Tianming's willingness to intervene for Lacus was purely due to being seduced by her beauty.
If someone could be swayed by a mere girl like that... it proved Lu Tianming wasn't particularly strong-willed.
Which meant—whatever Lacus could accomplish, she could surely achieve as well.
Lacus likely only used her pretty face to beguile Lu Tianming... But if she were willing to sacrifice more, to offer greater concessions, why couldn't she outperform Lacus?
As long as she could control Lu Tianming... and use him to avenge her father, what did the magnitude of sacrifice matter?
With this resolution taking root in her heart, Flay's "world-shaking wisdom" began rapidly operating, gradually constructing in her mind what she believed to be... a flawless revenge scheme.