The Rescued Girl

Jiliang's figure flashed through Xia Ya's mind—if he could keep this crimson enemy unit pinned here and buy her even one more second, then losing an arm would be worth it.

Although all his defensive measures were gone, with his experience and foresight, if he focused everything on evasion, he should still be able to hold on a little longer.

He analyzed the situation calmly, his brain working like the most efficient computer as it mapped out his next evasive route amid the chaotic battlefield data.

"What—"

Just as Xia Ya was about to completely shake off the setback from moments ago and throw himself back into this life-or-death game of cat and mouse, an unexpected image entered his field of vision through a secondary camera in the lower right corner that monitored the ground environment.

Amid ruins flattened by the flames of war stood a figure utterly out of place in this world of steel and fire.

She was not a soldier.

She wore no combat suit, no helmet. She was merely a girl who looked no older than ten, sitting helplessly on the ground with terror far beyond her years written across her dirty little face.

Her head was raised, and her eyes, widened in fear, stared motionlessly up at the one-armed red giant—the Blaze Gundam.

Time seemed to stretch in Xia Ya's perception.

The roar of nearby MS engines, the whistling of Beam Rifles, and the thunder of explosions all seemed to lose their sound at that moment, becoming silent backdrops one after another.

"—!"

The radar alarm snapped him out of his brief daze. The crimson Justice Gundam had already adjusted its posture and was closing in again like a streak of light.

Yet this time, Xia Ya did not immediately lock onto this deadliest threat.