This time, Flay had truly misunderstood Lu Tianming... The matter of the Captain contacting him was indeed real.
There was no helping it—the timing was just that coincidental.
Lu Tianming paid no mind to Flay's reaction, nor could he be bothered with her—compared to that, he was more curious about why Murrue had suddenly sought him out.
When he opened the communication channel, he saw Murrue's worried expression on the screen, which piqued his curiosity:
"What's wrong? Making such a face—don't tell me you're nervous before the meeting?"
"No matter what, I am still a Captain... That kind of problem wouldn't occur."
Murrue was somewhat amused and exasperated by Lu Tianming's teasing, then let out a soft sigh and explained:
"I've heard some rumors... Our unit will likely undergo reorganization. It's possible that after this meeting, we'll go our separate ways."
"Since there's still a chance now, I wanted to say goodbye in advance."
Hearing Murrue's words, Lu Tianming was momentarily stunned before realizing—most likely, both Murrue and Badgiruel had fallen under the same misconception, misunderstanding that after reuniting with the Eighth Fleet, the Archangel's current structure would be dismantled.
It was understandable for them to think this way, as everyone originally didn't belong to the same unit and had only been temporarily brought together due to the emergency.
Moreover, according to Murrue, similar rumors seemed to have circulated before the meeting, so their concern was entirely expected.
Ah... Well, explaining now that the structure won't change would be pointless anyway. Might as well just listen to what she has to say.
Thinking this to himself, Lu Tianming nodded and then joked:
"So it seems Captain Ramius is actually quite reluctant to part with me, huh?"
"...So now you remember to call me Captain."
Murrue laughed and retorted, as he had rarely addressed her that way before.
"Although I'm reluctant to admit it, it's true... Tianming, both rationally and emotionally, I truly hope we can maintain our current structure and continue working together."
"Without your support and understanding, with an inexperienced Captain like me, the Archangel probably wouldn't have made it this far."
She shook her head somewhat self-deprecatingly, reflecting that without Lu Tianming, every crisis they had faced since the journey began could have led to the destruction of the entire ship.
The grueling battle during the rescue of the Eighth Fleet's advance team, the survival supplies crisis, the ambush at Artemis... and even earlier, back at the Heliopolis factory, if Lu Tianming hadn't activated the Strike Suit, she might not even be alive today.
Unconsciously... she felt she had developed a certain reliance on Lu Tianming.
She hadn't realized it before, but only when she heard that their unit might be disbanded and felt that sudden tightness in her chest did she become aware of this feeling.
"There's no need for such modesty, Miss Murrue. When I first arrived on the Archangel, if you hadn't stepped forward to vouch for me and show trust, I might have been mistaken for a spy and arrested."
Lu Tianming said with a laugh. Although the spy incident was purely part of Badgiruel's embarrassing history—something she never mentioned herself—he still remembered the trust Murrue had shown in him at that time.
It was precisely because he had been entrusted with that trust that Lu Tianming began to develop a sense of belonging and responsibility toward the Archangel.
In a certain sense, they could be considered mutually reliant.
Recalling this matter, Murrue couldn't help but smile:
"That's right. Even Badgiruel, who initially doubted you, now sees you as a comrade? But we must never mention this in front of her—given her temperament, she'd likely become embarrassed and angry."
At this point, Murrue sighed involuntarily:
"However... you might not even get another chance to joke with her like this."
Seeing Murrue still immersed in such worries, Lu Tianming shrugged, suddenly leaned forward mysteriously, and lowered his voice:
"Miss Murrue, do you trust me?"
"Of course... What are you trying to say?"
Murrue nodded subconsciously, then realized—this guy was probably about to say something strange again.
"I want to say... according to my intuition, perhaps our unit won't be disbanded just like that."
"Rest assured, Miss Murrue. We'll have chances to meet again."
Murrue had wondered what Lu Tianming was going to say, but seeing it was just this, she took it as him comforting her.
Still, hearing these comforting words alone eased her heart considerably.
Murrue gave a slight nod, the gloom on her face seeming to vanish as her smile softened:
"Well... since you say so, I'll look forward to our reunion."
——————
Aboard the flagship of the Eighth Fleet, after concluding communications and taking a brief rest, Murrue went with the other two to report to Admiral Halberton—who had just finished an internal meeting—and Colonel Hoffman of the fleet.
The report mainly summarized the Archangel's journey, offering little that was fundamentally new. However, it highlighted Lu Tianming's role throughout and, at his request, omitted matters related to Lacus.
—The suggestion to emphasize Lu Tianming came from Mu. On one hand, it was indeed the truth; on the other, since Admiral Halberton valued Lu Tianming highly, it was best to let him learn more about him.
After listening to Murrue's report on their journey, Colonel Hoffman nodded thoughtfully:
"I see, so he anticipated the attack at Artemis? If he hadn't noticed something beforehand, that tactical acumen is quite impressive."
"Not only that, his true standout quality is his mobile suit piloting skills. If his spatial awareness ability is equally exceptional, he could almost be said to have cosmic adaptability surpassing even Coordinators," Admiral Halberton added, nodding in agreement.
Hearing the admiral's seemingly casual remarks, Mu slightly furrowed his brow, a trace of resignation tugging at the corner of his mouth.
So that backpack resembling the Moebius Zero was prepared to test Lu Tianming's spatial ability? Admiral Halberton really had high hopes for him.
After all, genuine spatial awareness ability was exceptionally rare—one in ten thousand. Mu had tested Lu Tianming before: while the results were superior to an average person's, there was still a noticeable gap compared to his own.
However... upon careful reflection, it seemed Lu Tianming's piloting skills had been continuously improving. The last test was quite some time ago—perhaps during this period he had truly undergone some changes?
Mu thought his expectations for Lu Tianming were already high enough, but who knew there would be even more outrageous ones. He only heard Admiral Halberton chuckle lightly, stroking his beard with eyes filled with what seemed like visions of the future, and continue:
"Those Coordinators... still claim to be a new race evolved from old humanity to adapt to space. But what kind of evolution is genetic modification? If we're truly talking about the future direction of human evolution, it should be naturally born talents like Lu Tianming."