Naluo had been locked in a windowless cell for days. The loneliness and isolation had infinitely magnified the fear she had carried from fighting alone in Prometheus for so long. She could see no hope, no future—only endless confusion and solitude.
But at that time, when Graham sighed softly and gently reached out to help Naluo up from the floor, her heart was moved. Through her subsequent contact with Graham, she had also been deeply drawn to his bright smile and powerful confidence. Those were things she, a woman uncertain of her future, did not possess. Her heart had stirred.
Yet Naluo buried those feelings deep within herself. She knew very clearly that she and Graham were not people of the same world. Not merely in the literal sense—they truly were not from the same world. Even if her heart was moved, there would be no result. And she was the only one who knew of those feelings.
If Naluo had casually told Xiao Ran that she liked Graham, Xiao Ran might have found it amusing, but he would certainly have given her a chance to make it happen. That was, to aggressively raise Graham's favorability and then bring Graham back to Prometheus.
But Naluo said nothing, so Xiao Ran did not know. After Naluo dropped Xiao Ran off near UNION's Sky Ladder Orbit, he had her head to Heavenly God Second Base as soon as possible to compile the mobile suit modification requests of those Participants. Xiao Ran himself changed into casual clothes, boarded the orbital elevator, and headed straight into space.
Since he had bought tickets for the entire private compartment by himself, Xiao Ran was the only person inside. He drifted off into a groggy sleep along the way, only waking when a staff member came over