Standing on opposite sides of the Captain's Room with Mu, Xiao Ran took a moment to check his two skills. Without realizing it, their proficiency had increased by another 10 and 7 points respectively. D-Class General Mecha Piloting Skill had risen to 17, while Space Combat Proficiency had risen to 11. Xiao Ran was delighted.
Xiao Ran thought, As expected, fighting real people increases proficiency much faster than fighting computers. I never thought piloting a work ship would increase it too. Looks like I should drag Mu along more often from now on. Three to five points a day, and it won't be long before it reaches 100. This feels great!
Mu, who had been deep in thought, suddenly shivered for some reason. He looked around, but saw only the others lost in their own thoughts. He shook his head strangely and put the matter aside.
Mwu sat opposite Lacus. Looking at Lacus and the silver-haired female pilot guarding her closely, she felt that Kira had brought back another headache. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Miss Lacus, why did you appear here?"
Holding the pink Harow in both hands, Lacus answered with a trace of sorrow, "Because it was the first anniversary of the Bloody Valentine incident, I left PLANT ahead of the memorial delegation as a representative to conduct an advance investigation at Junius 7. But I never expected to encounter an Earth Force inspection team here. We allowed them to board and inspect our ship in good faith, but for some reason, they began arguing with the people aboard. Then I was stuffed into an escape pod... I don't know what happened to the others on the ship. I only hope those Earth Force people can calm down."
After hearing Lacus, anger flared in the silver-haired pilot's eyes. She said in a suppressed voice, "Miss Lacus, the Investigation Team's ship has already sunk. I found no surviving compatriots."
"Ah, how could this happen?" Lacus covered her mouth in shock, sorrow appearing on her face as well. "We represent PLANT. We are different from ZAFT. This isn't even a war, and they were civilians. Why would those Earth Force people..."
Mwu looked at Lacus, opened her mouth, but said nothing. She merely shook her head gently. She truly did not know how to begin. After leaving Heliopolis, she had seen Artemis's greed. Though they were allies, they had still imprisoned them for the sake of the Gundams. Then, upon reaching the Debris Belt, Xiao Ran's words had reminded her of the more than two hundred thousand innocent people who had lost their lives. And now, she had learned that the Earth Force had attacked a civilian vessel and massacred at least an entire shipful of civilians.
Mwu knew the Earth Force had many internal factions, but she had not realized it had become like this—capable of slaughtering innocent people without hesitation. Thinking of Xiao Ran's words, she suddenly felt lost. What exactly was the conviction that soldiers like them had always taken pride in?
As a man who had experienced many battles, Mu was far calmer than Mwu. Yet even he showed a flash of anger upon hearing Lacus's words, before shaking his head helplessly.
Bargyll was a soldier—a true soldier, one could say. Upright, brave, possessing unwavering resolve and faith in what she fought for. Though she too despised the scum who would harm civilians as Lacus described, she would not say much. As a qualified soldier, she only needed to handle her own duties properly.
But Xiao Ran was different. Though he was currently classified as part of the Earth Force, he had never held any favorable impression of it. He saw himself only as a member of the Archangel. So, facing these people who would sooner or later stand together with him against the Earth Force, Xiao Ran gave a cold laugh and spoke directly.
"What a fine Earth Force. What a pack of bandits and thugs. What kind of commander produces what kind of soldiers. Soldiers capable of attacking civilian ships must have commanders who are no good either. In the end, the entire Earth Force has rotted through from top to bottom. For profit and power, they will do any filthy, despicable thing. I truly don't know how many real soldiers remain in the Earth Force today. And I understand even less whether you know who you are truly fighting for."
Xiao Ran's words were immensely satisfying to say, but the eyes of everyone listening widened further and further. Even Lacus, who had maintained a calm and composed expression all along, could not help opening her mouth in shock as she stared at Xiao Ran in disbelief. Her expression seemed to say, "Sir, aren't you Earth Force too?"
Seeing Bargyll's face turn red with anger and Mwu look ashamed and at a loss for words, Mu hurriedly coughed twice to prevent Bargyll and Xiao Ran from arguing in front of outsiders. "Ahem, ahem."
"I wasn't talking about you. The Archangel may be an exception." Xiao Ran curled his lips, paused, and continued, "Of course, Eighth Fleet Commodore Harborton is also one of the rare clear-headed people in the Earth Force. But he has too little power and too low a position. Perhaps he has no voice at all among the Earth Force's upper ranks and cannot influence their decisions."
"Lieutenant Xiao Ran!" Bargyll finally could not endure it any longer. She stood up and shouted at Xiao Ran, "Enough! Please do not say such things in front of the enemy!"
"The enemy? Who here is the enemy?" Xiao Ran shot back. After saying so much, he had unknowingly become somewhat agitated himself. He wanted to say more, but ultimately restrained himself. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his voice considerably. "Hah... Ensign Bargyll, there are no enemies here. At least, Miss Lacus and this pilot are not our enemies at present. At a critical moment, they may even become our best friends and our protection."
With that, Xiao Ran turned to Lacus. "Isn't that right, Miss Lacus Clyne?"
"Ah, you know who I am?" Lacus looked at Xiao Ran with wide, surprised eyes.
"Though I don't know how many people in PLANT are named Lacus, there is only one Lacus whom a ZAFT pilot would call 'Miss.'" Xiao Ran gave a slight wave of his hand and smiled at Lacus.
"Ah, I see." Lacus stuck out her tongue and smiled. "That's right. My father is Cigel Klein. But Mr. Xiao Ran is certainly very knowledgeable."
"Heh, not really." Xiao Ran smiled. Perhaps he had pretended for too long; even when someone praised him, he did not feel the slightest awkwardness.
The corner of Mu's mouth twitched. "If I remember correctly, PLANT's current chairman... is named Cigel Klein. It seems Kira brought back something extraordinary."
"Oh, heavens." Looking at Lacus's innocent expression, Mwu and Bargyll simultaneously lowered their heads in speechless resignation. "This really is a headache."
"Hehe." Perhaps amused by their reactions, Lacus laughed at the female pilot beside her and Xiao Ran.
Not long after, Mwu stood up and said to Lacus and the silver-haired pilot, "Miss Lacus, due to this ship's special circumstances and the danger we are still facing, although you are a civilian, given your special identity, we will place you under protection and supervision for the time being until this ship is out of danger. As for this pilot..."
"My name is Moriya. Moliya Haru."
Mwu nodded slightly and continued, "As a member of the hostile armed forces to this ship, Moliya Haru will be placed under special supervision. However, considering that you only came to investigate the situation and did not intentionally become hostile to this ship, you will not be imprisoned, but your freedom will still be restricted."
Moriya, the silver-haired pilot, said, "I must stay with Miss Lacus."
"That won't do. The two of you staying together is simply too dangerous." Mu shrugged from the side. "But you can rest assured that Miss Lacus will absolutely not receive any unfair treatment."
Lacus took Moriya's hand. "Moriya, there is no need to worry about me. I believe everyone on this ship is a good person."
"So we've been given good-person cards." Mu shook his head with a bitter smile.
Xiao Ran smiled as well. "All right, since there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."
"No, I still have something to ask you." Mwu shook her head at Xiao Ran, then looked at Mu and Bargyll. "Captain Mu, Ensign Bargyll, I'll leave the two of them to you."
Bargyll nodded and stood to leave. But the moment the Captain's Room door opened, she saw several heads huddled together outside. Her anger immediately flared, and she shouted, "Do you have nothing better to do? Get back to work!"
"Yes!" Several voices answered in a chaotic jumble. Xiao Ran even heard Kazui and Sai among them and could not help shaking his head with a smile. As he turned, he saw Lacus giving a sweet smile toward the doorway. Looking outside, he spotted Kira standing awkwardly in the corridor, unable to decide whether to leave or stay. In the end, Kira gave Lacus a strained smile before hurriedly walking away.
After Mu and Ensign Bargyll left with Lacus and the pilot Moriya, Xiao Ran dropped into a seat in front of Mwu. "What is it?"
Mwu stared deeply at Xiao Ran. "I know you would not say meaningless things. What did you mean when you mentioned who we were fighting for? I feel that every word you said carried another meaning. You don't seem like an ordinary person at all."
What Mwu meant could be reduced to two questions: What else do you know, and who exactly are you?
Xiao Ran had never been bad at understanding language, so naturally he caught the doubt in Mwu's words. But he could not tell her the true reason. He only smiled faintly. "What do I mean by who you are fighting for? Isn't that obvious? Are you fighting for humanity on Earth, or for the interests of those Earth Force officials, for Blue Cosmos? I don't think many people on Earth want war, apart from those with ulterior motives. Isn't everything you do merely playing into the hands of those people with ulterior motives?"
"Some of what I said does indeed carry deeper meaning, but you would not understand even if I explained it. Besides, I only have suspicions, not conclusive evidence, so there is no point in saying too much. As an ordinary person, I never needed to think about things that had nothing to do with me. But now, I have no choice. Perhaps one day, when my suspicions become reality, you will understand what I mean."
As he spoke, Xiao Ran reminded himself inwardly that there were things he could say and things he absolutely could not. Otherwise, if his temper flared and he accidentally said something he should not, the consequences would be disastrous.
Xiao Ran slowly rose to his feet, his eyes sincerely meeting Mwu's puzzled gaze. "If you trust me, then do not ask anything else. I am just an ordinary person, only one with more thoughts than others, so I think more as well. If you do not trust me, then from now on, you can have someone lock me up. Release me whenever you think it is appropriate."