In any case, his children were the ones who had surpassed Coordinators.
The lives and deaths of others had nothing to do with her. It was even more impossible for her to rush out and expose her identity. To her, the lives of those Coordinators were no different from ants crushed underfoot.
However, seeing Hibiki Yamato's research institute blown up now made her quite happy.
But with all this chaos, she probably couldn't stay here any longer.
Fortunately, she still had her rejuvenation research on hand, so she wouldn't be short of wealthy investors.
Thinking of this, Ola let out a light, superior hum.
Hibiki Yamato was a fool, helping people create Replicas and creating so many vulnerabilities for himself.
She was different.
Everyone desires a long life. As long as she kept researching the Elixir of Immortality, investments would continue to pour in.
Later, she could just release some minor results to placate them.
It was nothing like Hibiki Yamato, who had gotten himself mired in filth.
As she thought this, Ola's smile grew a few degrees more contemptuous.
While Ola was muttering to herself, Lacus, on the other side, watched the screen as Fred performed a continuous series of rapid operations, her small hands clenched in nervousness.
Fred's plan was likely to blow up the bridge.
She didn't know if it would succeed.
The amount of calculation involved was equally immense.
Haken's squad was currently engaged in high-speed combat. If the calculations were wrong, the bridge might collapse on Haken and his team.
Such traps were not unheard of, but they were usually calculated in advance, even run through Computer Simulations several times. Fred, however, was setting up this ambush on the spot.
As she considered this, the worry in Lacus's eyes deepened.
Although Haken was not part of Lacus's Personal Guard at the moment, their relationship was still quite close.
Not to mention, the Clyne Faction was currently short on armed forces and military talent.
Every person counted. Otherwise, they wouldn't have even used someone like Ikeda, who repeatedly disobeyed orders.
But... with Fred's abilities, he should be able to save them, right?
As Lacus's beautiful eyes lingered on Fred, Siegel, at her side, wore an equally grave expression.
As mentioned before, they didn't have many people they could use.
Although he had faith in Fred, it was inevitable that he would be nervous.
In Siegel's view, if Haken and his team died in this operation, it would still be a loss even if they managed to kill Creuset.
After all, he didn't know the specifics of what Creuset would do in the future.
If he could see that, then it would be a different matter entirely.
Amidst Siegel's worries, Fred's battle plan was quickly synchronized to everyone's onboard computers.
At the same time, under the cover of night, they had already arrived, undetected, at one of the bridge's nodes.
They were about five kilometers away from Haken's squad.
Furthermore, the terrain was high, providing more than enough cover for an ambush.
"Engines off. Explosives are planted at all nodes. Prepare for detonation."
Fred's voice was clear and bright, as if it could dispel the gloom in everyone's hearts.
Of course, the tension remained.
After all, none of them knew if there were any problems with the results Fred had calculated.
However, Fred's confident tone was infectious, instilling an inexplicable sense of trust in everyone present.
Fred was like an unshakable pillar standing in their midst, giving them the feeling that they could win even without using their brains.
"Just what is the origin of this masked man?" the squad leader muttered to himself.
Even from his perspective as the original captain, he knew he couldn't have achieved this level himself.
Although he had intended to set a trap, his plan was merely to use explosives and the destroyed bridge as cover to rescue Haken's team and regroup. Fred's plan, if successful, would directly entomb the entire Blue Cosmos team.
It also left less to chance.
With that thought, the captain's final reservations vanished, and he immediately nodded in agreement.
"Understood!"
Since the captain had already agreed, the others all voiced their assent.
In truth, even if the captain hadn't agreed, they wouldn't have had any objections upon seeing the plan.
"Then let the operation begin, Captain Haken."
"Roger!"
Haken had no time to be surprised by Fred's plan. He simply turned, leading his squad members in a new direction.
Beneath the towering layers of the overpass, the blue light from Haken's team streaked past, as conspicuous as a meteor shower in the night sky.
Seeing this, the Mistrals changed direction and flew under the overpass in pursuit, completely oblivious to the presence of Fred and his team.
"Hmph, changing direction is useless!"
"Finish them before their potential reinforcements show up!"
Looking at the situation, the young man from Blue Cosmos spoke with a sinister tone, his expression revealing utter madness.
The ship that was supposed to rendezvous with them outside was already gone, but they didn't know that.
After all, cutting off communications was a two-way street.
However, they weren't too worried at the moment. That was a Drake-class ship, powerful enough to crush most of the forces here.
Since these Coordinators were on a secret mission, they wouldn't have brought many people with them.
Taking a step back, even if their allies outside had fled, they still had plenty of heavy firepower.
They had a good chance of seizing a Transport Ship.
Of course, that was on the premise that they captured the Coordinators ahead.
They were probably the masterminds behind this operation. If they were captured, they could naturally figure out the schemes of these despicable Naturals.
Then they could gain the upper hand in the subsequent international public opinion.
And they could transform from terrorists into heroes who protected Mendel in one fell swoop. The thought alone was exciting.
The other members of the same squad wore similarly excited expressions.
Everyone shared this unspoken understanding; it was clear to all.
Not to mention, they still held an absolute advantage in firepower. They had a chance to take down those Powered Armors that lacked heavy weaponry.
They had already lost a considerable number of Powered Armors earlier. Due to the sunk cost fallacy, they couldn't possibly let the enemy go, even if it meant risking their own lives.
And although those Powered Armors were faster, their Mistrals had more power.
It was like a motorcycle versus an SUV. As long as the motorcycle couldn't shake the SUV, it would eventually run out of fuel.
Meanwhile, Fred and his team, using the cover of night and their ambush position on the overpass, remained completely undetected by the Blue Cosmos members, just as Fred had planned.
Just like that, the tense chase continued for a while. The pursuing Mistrals still couldn't find an opportunity to launch or lock on with their missiles, while Haken's team, due to their constant evasive maneuvers, saw their power levels drop precipitously.