Carrie and Kira Yamato

"Regarding the specific details of our cooperation, my cabinet will coordinate with your side."

After the handshake, Uzumi was the first to speak.

"Of course."

"We look forward to cooperating with Orb."

Durandal nodded. The purpose of his visit to Orb had now been achieved.

Afterward, the two briefly finalized the cooperation process, then rose alongside Uzumi and left the conference room.

Walking side by side, the atmosphere was no longer as tense as blades meeting blades across the negotiating table. It was more like the brief calm when two boxers stepped down from the ring after an intense match.

But they both knew that the real trouble still lay ahead—

With a soft ding, the elevator doors slid open.

The hotel lobby was magnificently decorated. Beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, Heliopolis's artificial sky had already shifted into a deep-purple night mode.

At that moment, Durandal stopped walking.

Uzumi stopped as well.

Outside the hotel's revolving doors, a street scene utterly out of place was playing out.

A uniformed young man was struggling somewhat to hold down the shoulders of a blonde girl.

The girl was not very tall, dressed in khaki work clothes, with a messy mop of blonde hair. She looked like a tomboy who had just run out of a maintenance workshop.

She struggled desperately, cursing under her breath. Her voice was not loud, but it was full of stubborn defiance.

Beside them stood a brown-haired boy who looked utterly at a loss. Perched on his shoulder was a green mechanical bird with a strange design.

Durandal raised an eyebrow.

This was far too much of a coincidence—

When Uzumi saw the brown-haired boy, his pupils contracted.

Then he turned to the blonde girl being restrained and could not help sighing.

When Athrun Zala, who was responsible