Oddballs Among Aliens

"Oh my God, someone actually took hostages at the Spaceport! What are they trying to Do What?"

The girl's words made Xiao Ran feel as though his head had been struck. He had never expected the other participants in the Mission World to do something like this in an unfamiliar environment where the situation was unclear. They had provoked such a huge conflict and upheaval right from the start. Even if all ninety-nine participants besides him went to the Spaceport, could they really get what they wanted from the most heavily guarded Spaceport on the entire Colony Satellite?

Gently pushing aside the person in front of him, Xiao Ran took two steps to the girl who had cried out. "Excuse me, let me have a look."

Without waiting for her permission, Xiao Ran snatched the phone from her hands. The girl had wanted to scold him, but upon seeing Xiao Ran, she merely stuck out her tongue and shrugged helplessly at her companion.

Completely oblivious to the girl's expression, Xiao Ran focused all his attention on the phone screen. It was a live news broadcast. On the screen, the guards were confronting several people who had taken many passing travelers hostage, and the camera lingered on each hijacker's face for a second or two.

Ignoring whatever the reporter outside the frame was saying, Xiao Ran carefully memorized each of the hijackers' appearances. There were five of them in total, one woman and four men. Each had one or two firearms that Appeared to be standard-issue weapons from the satellite security force. With only five people, they had taken no fewer than a hundred hostages and confronted the guards, though they themselves were also tightly surrounded.

There was no fear on their faces. They Appeared completely unconcerned by the guards' encirclement, though traces of nervousness could still be seen in their expressions. Aside from one burly man who looked like trouble, the other four were handsome men and beautiful women in Xiao Ran's eyes. Their bodies seemed a little too strong, their complexions a little too rosy or pale, but why would they do something this crazy?

Just then, the phone played the five hijackers' demand—a spaceship capable of leaving the satellite.

Xiao Ran was instantly speechless. "Are they idiots? They obviously have official identities arranged by the Main God. Something like an identity card was clearly placed in the most conspicuous spot after they woke up. Buying tickets and leaving through normal procedures should have taken only a few hours. Are aliens all this straightforward when they do things? Or are there just too many idiots among the Alien Race?"

"Even if you hijack a ship and leave, can an unarmed civilian ship withstand an attack from the security force?"

Xiao Ran rubbed his head, unable to understand what those five people were trying to accomplish. He could only feel that there were probably plenty of oddballs among the alien participants, though several details he had noticed left him confused and puzzled.

"Why do these five look like they know each other?" Xiao Ran Frowned, noticing the exchanges of glances between the five "hijackers." They seemed extremely familiar with one another. The mission has only just begun, and everyone is a newcomer. They shouldn't know each other, right? Could it be that these five happened to be together and were directly sent here by the Main God? If that's the case, could other participants have the same situation?

Xiao Ran felt a chill in his heart. His personal attributes were already among the lowest of all newcomers. Though his knowledge of the plot could help him claw back some advantages, he could not withstand these alien idiots constantly causing random trouble and ultimately changing the plot. Not to mention facing a team by himself.

I can only hope these five are merely a coincidence. Xiao Ran prayed inwardly, once again fixing the five people on the phone screen firmly in his memory. Then several people who had flashed past in the earlier footage came to mind. There had been too many people with strange expressions, so Xiao Ran had noticed them immediately.

"Those people whose expressions looked off should also be newcomer participants. So many participants actually went to the Spaceport. It looks like I made the right choice by not going there to buy a ticket." Xiao Ran carefully watched the footage again before returning the phone to the girl thoughtfully. "Thank you."

The girl took the phone and stuck out her tongue. "It's fine, Teacher. But Teacher, the Spaceport situation will be okay, right? Something like this happened in Heliopolis... could the war be spreading?"

"Perhaps. But I think this incident is only an individual act. Just be careful and stay away from danger, and you should be fine." Xiao Ran looked at the innocent-faced girl, paused, then smiled and reassured her.

Just then, a hovercar stopped beside the station. The girl nodded and was about to pull her companion aboard when she suddenly stopped and looked at Xiao Ran. "Teacher, if you don't mind, we can go together."

"Then thank you." Xiao Ran smiled slightly and followed them into the car.

They did not speak along the way. Once the hovercar entered the Institute of Technology, Xiao Ran thanked the two girls and parted ways with them. Though the girls looked youthful and lively, with sweet faces full of vitality, Xiao Ran's life did not truly belong to him now. How could he have the mood to do anything unnecessary? He asked for directions to Professor Kato's advisory office as he walked through the school and found his destination in less than ten minutes.

Standing outside the door, Xiao Ran quickly reviewed the plot from his memories once more before opening the electronic door and entering. But after walking in with a smile, his expression stiffened for an instant before returning to normal in less than a second. As if nothing had happened, he greeted the people inside. "Hello. Is Professor Kato not here?"

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at the uninvited guest with Astonished expressions.

Sai, wearing yellow-tinted glasses, hurried over. "Teacher, Professor Kato isn't here right now."

"You're Sai, right? So the professor isn't here." Xiao Ran looked troubled, but inwardly he was relieved. He had not expected Sai to recognize this identity of his. Moreover, the others looked neither familiar nor unfamiliar with him, especially... So he deliberately said, "That's troublesome. I have something I wanted to ask the professor for help with."

Sai thought for a moment. "If you aren't in a hurry, Teacher, you can wait here. The professor said he would be back soon before he left."

"Then I'll wait here for a while." Xiao Ran rejoiced inwardly and readily nodded. He Turned His Head to look over everyone present and began greeting them, deliberately concealing himself. "The couple is obviously Miriallia and Tolle, right? Professor Kato told me before that he thinks highly of you two."

"Teacher, you're talking nonsense! Professor Kato wouldn't be that bored." Miriallia and Tolle instantly blushed bright red, making the Bystanders unable to hold back their laughter.

Xiao Ran chuckled. "Professor Kato also told me that the one he often drags into hard labor is Kira, right?"

"Not really. The professor has taught me a lot as well." Kira looked at Xiao Ran and scratched his head awkwardly.

"Don't worry. I'll definitely suggest that the professor gives you the top grade in the final assessment." Xiao Ran nodded, smiled, and greeted Kazui, the watermelon-headed classmate with the weakest presence among Kira's friends. He then waved to the other two people in the advisory room. "Hello."

The people in the room included Kira Yamato, Sai with his yellow-tinted glasses, Miriallia and her boyfriend Tolle, who would later die while piloting the Skygrasper, as well as the utterly unremarkable Kazui. Besides Xiao Ran, there were indeed two other people present. One was Cagalli, whom Xiao Ran naturally recognized. The other, however, was someone who should not have been here—someone Xiao Ran had absolutely no impression of.

There was only one possible explanation for the extra person. He had to be a newcomer participant from Prometheus Fortress, just like Xiao Ran. There could be no other explanation.

This newcomer participant had silver hair, which was not unusual in a world with Coordinators, since Coordinators came in all sorts of hair colors. He looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, but his face lacked the immaturity expected of someone that young. Instead, he looked calm and composed. Every now and then, he would Turned His Head to look at the busy Kira. Yet in an unguarded moment, Xiao Ran caught the impatience and anxiety in his eyes. It made sense. He only had eight hours to escape this world, and nearly two hours had already passed while he was trapped here playing student. His impatience was perfectly normal.

Furthermore, aside from Cagalli, the plot characters in the room did not seem unfamiliar with him at all. It was as though he had always belonged here. Xiao Ran could not help marveling at the other man's luck. He had been born with the protagonist's classmate and teammate buff. In Gundam SEED, that was practically a heaven-defying aura. Basically, as long as he did not deliberately seek death, anyone with that buff definitely would not die.

If you're already impatient, why don't you just leave? Xiao Ran felt irritated, but his face remained expressionless. He had resigned himself to disguising himself as a Native inhabitant to the end. Though this unknown participant Appeared quite young, the information Xiao Ran had received from the Prometheus Fortress System meant he did not dare underestimate any participant. Even if that participant was blind or crippled, they would still be stronger than Xiao Ran.

Time passed second by second. Even Xiao Ran was beginning to grow impatient, and he made up his mind. If this participant really doesn't leave, I either need to find a chance to shake him off, or I'll have to find a way to kill him in the shadows.

He was completely serious. Xiao Ran could never allow other participants to discover that he knew the plot. Having a participant following him around would create enormous inconvenience, Whether It's in what he did or what he arranged. Any slip could make the other party suspicious. Xiao Ran naturally did not want any participant boarding the Archangel alongside him, so he had decided that even if he had to kill the other man, he could not let himself be exposed.

At that moment, a violent tremor threw everyone in the room off balance. Even Xiao Ran was caught unprepared and fell to the floor. Before he could react, he suddenly saw the silver-haired participant, who had been standing silently to one side, leap nimbly into the air, flip, land on his feet, fling open the door, and vanish from sight in a flash.

From far away, Xiao Ran could still hear him curse as though he had eaten shit. "I thought following this so-called Coordinator would bring some benefits, but it was a complete waste of time. Fuck this, I need to run!"

The silver-haired participant's parting words made Xiao Ran, who had remained on guard all this time, freeze. Then his pupils contracted as he narrowed his eyes. "How did he know Kira was a Coordinator?"

"Hey, Chiru, where are you going!" Sai shouted at the silver-haired participant who had run out, but there was not even a trace of him left to see.

Though he was shocked that the other man knew Kira's identity, the silver-haired participant's actions left Xiao Ran utterly dumbfounded. Watching the silver-haired youth leave when he only needed to hold on for one more minute to successfully board the main plotline, Xiao Ran somehow suddenly thought of the five participants taking hostages at the Spaceport. A realization abruptly rose in his heart, and he muttered, "There really are too many oddballs among aliens..."