In Durandal's eyes, Xiao Ran was simply too uncanny—a person even more uncontrollable, inscrutable, and impossible to oppose than Kira Yamato, Lacus Clyne, or Athrun Sala.
Kira Yamato had skill but no authority. Lacus had no authority or skill, only ideals supported by others. Athrun was a tool with exceptional skill who was lost in confusion. But Xiao Ran was different. He possessed combat power no weaker than Kira or Athrun, the allegiance of all Orb, countless supporters and factions across vast parts of the world, and prestige even more frightening than Lacus's. Moreover, Xiao Ran had no confusion whatsoever. Everything he did was highly purposeful, and he had never failed.
He could not overpower Xiao Ran militarily, could not outthink him, held no significantly higher status, and could not surpass him in supporters either. Durandal realized that he had no advantage over Xiao Ran at all. And if Xiao Ran opposed his Destiny Plan, the immediate result would be PLANT separating from the world once again, followed by another war. Durandal did not even need to think to guess the final outcome of that war.
If Xiao Ran supported him, the Destiny Plan could proceed without obstruction. But after Xiao Ran finished speaking, Durandal had already understood his intentions: Xiao Ran did not support the Destiny Plan. In truth, Xiao Ran's gaze and faintly smiling expression had already made Durandal suspect that Xiao Ran understood his thoughts exceptionally well. Under such circumstances, Durandal had even less confidence in his subsequent plans.
Shaking his head, Durandal looked back at Xiao Ran and said with a smile, "As for other views, I do think Mars's structure is beneficial to the stability of this world. Under the constraints of duty and genes, people would only do things within their assigned scope. I