You Should Join the Army

Four days later.

"Beep beep~"

"Swish~"

The hospital room door slowly opened, and Noer, who was packing his personal belongings, turned to look.

"I heard you're being discharged?" Cruze, wearing a white uniform, walked in with two attendants.

"White uniform?" Noer put down the items in his hands and looked the man before him up and down. In just four days, he had become a white uniform, a nebula badge pinned to his chest.

"If you want, you can too." Cruze chuckled, his tone calm and unperturbed.

The two attendants behind him couldn't help but shrink their pupils at the words, quietly glancing at Noer, who was dressed in cheap clothes.

They really wanted to see what the person Captain Cruze valued so highly looked like.

Cruze's strength was well-known throughout Z.A.F.T. He had shot down dozens of enemy aircraft in the lunar war. If not for the treachery of those Naturals who directly detonated the Cyclops system, the outcome of the war would have been uncertain.

"Heh, you think highly of me." Noer shook his head and chuckled, taking Cruze's words as a joke.

Piloting a Gundam, or whatever that thing was called, was something Naturals simply couldn't do. At least not at this stage.

Without sufficient reaction speed and computational power, piloting a Gundam was no different from being a target.

"Where do you plan to go?" Cruze didn't offer further explanation, merely looking down at the backpack in Noer's hand.

"If possible, I'd like to go back and see." Noer gazed out at the stars beyond the window.

Actually, he didn't know what he should do or wanted to do now.

He had thought about revenge, but whom should he take revenge on?

Kill all Naturals like Cruze?

Although Noer's heart was now as cold as ice, it didn't mean he had gone mad.

But if not Naturals, then whom should he kill?

He didn't even know who had dropped that nuclear bomb, and even if he did, what then? A soldier's duty is to obey orders.

He didn't believe that soldier could have been completely unfazed when dropping the nuclear bomb, nor did he believe that soldier could have left the battlefield alive.

If he didn't know who to take revenge on, then what else was there?

Survive? If it were before, Noer could still use that excuse, because his sole purpose for survival was to create a beautiful future for those who had accepted him.

But now, alone, with no attachments, and sick, he didn't belong to Earth, nor did he belong to PLANT...

Every time Noer thought of this, he felt a deep sense of confusion.

Everyone had their own goals. Even Cruze, this guy, had a wish to destroy the world. Although twisted, it was still a goal.

Unlike him...

"Do you know the meaning of power?" Cruze, sensing Noer's confusion, walked over slowly.

"The meaning of power?" Noer's face showed confusion. He didn't know why Cruze was suddenly talking about this.

"I don't know about others, but for me, the meaning of power is that I can use it to break through all obstacles and achieve my goals," Cruze said plainly and simply.

After speaking, seeing that Noer remained unmoved, Cruze continued, "And you? What is power to you?"

"Power..."

Hearing this, Noer suddenly thought of not long ago. If he had possessed enough strength then, could he have directly intercepted the nuclear bomb?

Don't think it's absurd; intercepting nuclear bombs is not impossible in the SEED world.

However, this thought was dismissed by Noer in an instant. In this world, either you are exceptionally talented, like Athrun or Lacus.

Or you mutate later, like... there were a few soldiers who mutated, something about a CPU, wasn't it?

Apart from these two methods, other paths were almost useless. You'd either be cannon fodder or an enemy medal that couldn't stay airborne for ten minutes.

Noer wasn't afraid of death, but that didn't mean he was willing to be that kind of idiot.

"Do you know Patrick Zala?" Cruze continued to ask.

"What do you think?" Noer was speechless. How many people in the PLANT didn't know Patrick Zala, especially now, as the Minister of Defense, his prestige was extremely high.

"Then do you know Athrun Sarra?" Cruze asked again.

"What exactly do you want to say?" Noer directly retorted, he really didn't want to have too much contact with Cruze.

Noer wasn't confident he could withstand the brainwashing attack of someone like Cruze.

As someone whose mission was to destroy the world and who almost succeeded, his IQ was at least 180.

And himself? In his past life, it was at most 160, and in this life... who knows?

"Join the army." Cruze said directly, without any preamble.

"What?" Noer looked at Cruze in disbelief. Join the army?

This topic had suddenly taken a huge leap.

"I can be your introducer and get you directly into the ZAFT Military Academy," Cruze continued.

"Why?" Noer's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Cruze suspiciously after hearing the explanation.

Noer couldn't figure out why Cruze valued him up to this point, which was also why he didn't want too much contact with Cruze.

"You have no choice but to join Z.A.F.T. now," Cruze explained.

"I don't understand what you mean." Noer couldn't help but frown slightly after hearing this. What did he mean by having no choice but to enter the ZAFT Military Academy?

"Do you know the purpose of the Gene Potion No. 4's research and development?" Cruze asked.

"You know?" Noer really didn't know about this.

Even though he had taken the Gene Potion No. 4, no one had ever explained its effects to him until now.

Other than knowing that the potion had a fatal effect, he knew nothing else. He had asked the researchers several times, but still received no answer. Coupled with the recent blows from some events, Noer had put the question out of his mind.

Now that Cruze suddenly brought this up, Noer was genuinely interested.

Upon hearing this, Cruze turned his head to look at the attendant behind him.

The two attendants, though confused, bowed and exited the ward.

Noer watched the ward door slowly close, feeling that something was amiss.

"It can re-adjust a Coordinator's genes; in other words, it can allow a Coordinator to undergo secondary evolution." At this moment, Cruze, standing beside Noer, said this without batting an eye.

"Secondary evolution?" Noer was startled by Cruze's answer. Secondary evolution?

Does this kind of thing even exist in SEED? How come I have no memory of such an amazing item?

"You are the only person currently who has survived after consuming the Gene Potion No. 4." Cruze didn't explain secondary evolution, or rather, there was no need to.

As long as Noer wasn't an idiot, he would understand the meaning behind it.

"Why are you telling me this?" Noer's mind raced as he began to ponder the implications.

Cruze didn't answer, merely turning his head to glance at Noer.

Noer's brow furrowed, feeling that things were starting to develop in an uncontrollable direction.