Time was running out for Haken and the others.
For Blue Cosmos following behind them, however, this was good news.
Seeing the flames from Haken's team's ejectors begin to weaken, the Blue Cosmos leader grew even more excited.
He immediately opened communications and shouted toward the distant figures.
"Surrender and you won't be killed!"
Of course, even though he said this, would Blue Cosmos ever let Coordinators off so easily?
Clearly not.
The only reason they wouldn't kill them was because they were useful—nothing more.
"Dream on."
Haken's response was simple, so simple that it enraged the Blue Cosmos leader.
"Hmph, kill the men, and the women…"
The leader didn't elaborate further, but upon hearing this, the faces of the many Blue Cosmos members lit up with excitement.
However, before their fantasies could become reality…
Above the leader and his troops, the once-stable overpass began to collapse with a deafening roar.
They had already accelerated to high speed due to the provocative taunts.
These Mistrals lacked agile steering systems.
At such high speeds, they were essentially charging straight toward the falling debris.
There was no time to evade.
Staring at the massive amount of rubble before him, the leader felt a wave of despair welling up from deep within.
But there was no time to react—he could only watch helplessly as death descended upon him.
Why was there debris here? Why did it explode? Why were they ambushed? These thoughts, accompanied by intense regret, froze in the leader's mind.
Of course, he didn't know that every step had been part of Fred's plan all along.
On the overpass, Fred watched the rubble burying most of the Blue Cosmos forces without hesitation, his gaze immediately shifting to the remaining Blue Cosmos remnants, now scattered like panicked sheep.
Without their leader, these remnants were like headless flies—some retreating outright, others screaming about a "pure blue cosmos" as they charged recklessly.
Beside Fred, the members of the rescue team stared wide-eyed at the trap that had succeeded beyond all expectations.
Especially the young man who had initially disliked Fred—his eyes were now wide open in disbelief, never imagining that Fred's single move could yield such immense results.
Though Fred's piloting skills might not have seemed exceptional, in terms of strategy, he was the strongest the young man had ever seen.
If his earlier dissatisfaction with Fred had stemmed from a belief that he would slow down the rescue efforts, his attitude had now done a complete one-eighty.
But for Fred, it made no difference.
"Fire at will!"
At Fred's command, the entire support squad simultaneously activated their targeting systems, unleashing a barrage of small missiles toward the remaining Mobile Suits and combatants.
The dense trails of azure flames from the missiles surged toward the remaining enemies with ferocious momentum.
"Die, you Coordinator monsters!"
"For a pure blue cosmos!"
Though the members of Blue Cosmos seemed foolish, they possessed a certain fanatical loyalty.
Now, most of those who had regained their senses roared with fearless defiance.
The existence of so many willing to die for the creed of Blue Cosmos proved that Coordinators truly threatened the survival of most of them.
Watching this scene, Fred felt little emotional fluctuation.
The root cause was Blue Cosmos, which had deluded them.
On the Coordinator side, they appeared far more rational, yet most harbored a sense of arrogance toward Naturals.
Or rather, most of them, regardless of faction, aspired to become Celestial Beings or even made it their ultimate goal.
This was the inherent self-interest of Coordinators, and he naturally could not allow them to become Celestial Beings.
Otherwise, who knew what state the world would be reduced to.
However, this was his conflict with PLANT, not with Lacus.
The plan must continue, and he needed to seek other forces to balance the rising power of PLANT.
In Fred's thoughts, the remaining Blue Cosmos personnel, caught in a series of chain-reaction-like explosions, turned to dust before anyone could react.
Witnessing this, Haken and the others, gradually coming to a halt, widened their eyes, unsure whether to express admiration or say anything at all.
That operation just now was utterly brilliant.
She had considered Fred's strength but never imagined he could devise such an exquisite trap.
If they had charged directly into a firefight with Blue Cosmos, victory would still have been possible, but the enemy held numerical superiority and exceptionally powerful firepower.
In a clash between the two sides, this being the core area of a space colony, there was no guarantee that stray shots wouldn't cause casualties among allies or civilians.
Yet Fred's trap had annihilated the entire enemy force in one fell swoop, minimizing losses to the lowest possible extent.
It could be called a flawless strategy.
If even the experienced and most composed Haken was so astonished, the others were naturally even more so.
They all gazed at Fred with awe, their eyes burning with intensity.
This was not that kind of fervor, but rather respect, admiration, and reverence.
Among Coordinators, strength commanded respect.
And Fred, who had previously been seen as an ordinary researcher in their eyes, now stood as a figure no less formidable than Haken.
Naturally, he garnered much admiration.
As for Fred, he wasn't particularly concerned about their mindset at the moment.
He simply focused on what he needed to do. No matter how much these people admired him, he couldn't sway them to his side.
Unless PLANT dissolved.
After all, the premise of their connection was the Clyne Faction, and the premise of the Clyne Faction was PLANT.
As for how to make their power serve his purposes, he might as well leave that to Lacus.
Lacus's charm was nearly maxed out, far surpassing his own.
Moreover, she herself was the princess of the Clyne Faction.
Most importantly, after this incident, he and Lacus had likely reached a tacit understanding. Barring any surprises, he should now have gained Lacus's utmost trust.
In that case, wasn't her power effectively his own?
Moreover, if he retired in the future and this power remained in the hands of Lacus, a righteous figure, he wouldn't have to worry at all.
He could simply retire as a hands-off boss.
Just thinking about it made him happy.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Ola, who had been watching the show, couldn't hide her astonishment at the scene.
In just a moment of distraction, how had the Blue Cosmos forces been completely wiped out?
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