While Zhang Peng from the Zhu Long was wallowing in self-pity, unable to find even half an enemy to fight.
He watched with eager eyes as his comrades showed off spectacularly ahead.
The commander of the reinforcements dispatched by ZAFT's local defense forces was nearly going insane.
"Allied Forces, Allied Forces!"
Even though he spoke in a hushed tone, his adjutant could still hear the sound of his commander grinding his teeth.
"Commander, it's not the Allied Forces—it's the East Asian Army."
The adjutant quietly corrected his superior's wording.
If they were facing the Allied Forces, things wouldn't be so complicated.
"Bastard."
Rage surged from his heart, and malice rose from his guts. The commander couldn't control his temper and backhandedly slapped his adjutant.
"Do you think I don't know who they are?"
"Isn't East Asia just part of the Allied Forces? And doesn't the Allied Forces refer to East Asia?"
The implication was that the other two components of the Allied Forces—the Atlantic Federation and the Eurasian Federation—were no longer considered enemies in this commander's eyes.
The true enemy of the ZAFT Forces was only the East Asian Army of the East Asian Federation!
Only the East Asian Army of the East Asian Federation!
"Yes, yes, yes."
Clutching his cheek, the adjutant got up from the ground without showing any anger.
The adjutant understood his commander's current state of mind perfectly. If he were in the same position, he would likely be even more furious.
And the reason was simple to understand.
Open your eyes and see, all you gods in the heavens! Open your eyes!
Since you brought us Coordinators into this world, why didn't you let us be born in East Asia?
Because if we were born in East Asia, why would we be suffering in this hellish situation now?
The Rainbow Cannon dominated the battlefield, firing relentlessly and never missing its mark.
Kira, piloting the Freedom Gundam, had already achieved godlike battle results.
Without sufficiently skilled aces or advanced mobile suits, no one on this battlefield could stand against him.
With heavy firepower and Kira in Seed Mode, no matter how many grunts came at him, they were merely numbers on his kill count.
However many came, Kira devoured them all, leaving no room for refusal.
As for Mu, his performance was slightly inferior, but that depended on who he was compared to.
After all, in principle, Mu had inherited the bloodline of Creuset himself. Since Creuset could rise to become an ace among the elite ZAFT Forces, then by extension, if Mu had the chance to take charge alone—as long as he wasn't grouped with people like Kira or Wang Hu—wouldn't he also be the protagonist of his own story?
Taking potshots, picking off isolated enemies.
Bit by bit, Mu, piloting the Strike Gundam, managed to achieve some small gains, not disgracing his title as Endymion's Hawk.
The ones suffering the most, aside from Zhang Peng and his apprentice, were none other than Li Chengzhi.
Wherever Li Chengzhi went, Kira's Rainbow Cannon followed.
Kira's main focus was one thing: to protect his dear friend, comrade, and brother—Wang Hu's closest ally.
If it weren't for the clear identification codes distinguishing friend from foe, many would likely misunderstand.
They might think the Freedom Gundam was actually trying to shoot down the Zeta Gundam.
Otherwise, why would the Freedom Gundam attack wherever the Zeta Gundam went?
As the battle progressed, the ZAFT Forces also grew wiser, realizing the Zeta Gundam was nothing but a harbinger of disaster.
This led to an awkward situation: by all accounts, Li Chengzhi should have been holding the front line.
But because Kira's performance was too outstanding, the Zeta Gundam ended up darting around aimlessly without achieving anything.
Not only that, but when the ZAFT Forces saw Li Chengzhi charging toward them, it was as if they had encountered some indescribable terror.
The Coordinators kept their distance from the Zeta Gundam, staying as far away as possible, refusing to get close or even brush past it.
Even when Li Chengzhi targeted the larger, less agile battleships, the result was the same.
"Damn it."
It wasn't a Coordinator who cursed—it was Li Chengzhi inside the Zeta Gundam's cockpit.
Everyone on the Zhu Long behind him was watching. He had made such a cool declaration on the bridge, saying, "I'll sortie too."
And this was the result?
If he went back like this, where would he put his face?
Gritting his teeth and steeling his heart, Li Chengzhi glanced back at the Freedom Gundam, then fixed his gaze on the concerned expression of his ally Kira on the display screen.
"I'm not some precious child who needs a nanny following me around."
He could accept being outmatched by Wang Hu, but being outdone by Kira was something Li Chengzhi could not tolerate.
The Zeta Gundam's speed suddenly doubled. He set his sights directly on the flagship hiding deep within the enemy formation.
On the cosmic backdrop, he did his utmost to replicate Wang Hu's piloting skills, tracing a stunning trajectory.
Li Chengzhi intended to sink the enemy flagship as his answer to this battle.
"Look, another one driven mad."
Bad moods come quickly but leave just as fast.
Now too lazy to even hold his rifle, Zhang Peng maneuvered his Mobile Suit to stand on the deck of the Zhu Long.
Watching Li Chengzhi's charge ahead, he remarked to his disciple,
"Hmm."
"Master is right."
Liu Peiqiang initially wanted to remain vigilant, but after seeing his master's relaxed demeanor and observing the battle situation, he decisively followed his master's example and stood on the deck as well.
"Sigh."
Zhang Peng sighed inwardly, swearing to himself that if there was another mission opportunity, he would absolutely refuse to team up with these freaks. They simply left no room for anyone else to shine!
Little did he know that the next scene would make him laugh like a goose.
And so, for the sake of his pride and his masculine dignity, Li Chengzhi pushed forward with determination.
Just as he was about to reach the flagship of the enemy ZAFT Forces, his sharp eyesight, combined with the Zeta Gundam's exceptional optical sensors, allowed Li Chengzhi to see through the portholes of the enemy battleship's bridge. He could make out the horrified expressions of the Coordinator soldiers and officers inside.
"Good, this battleship is mine."
Confirming that Kira couldn't possibly steal this one from him, Li Chengzhi secretly rejoiced, finally about to claim a battleship as his achievement.
Suddenly!
The communicator in the Zeta Gundam's cockpit chimed.
It turned out that while diligently covering Li Chengzhi, Kira hadn't forgotten his own primary duty.
Despite continuously firing his Rainbow Cannon, Kira had also been carrying out Lelouch's pre-battle instructions.
Unbeknownst to Li Chengzhi, a large portion of the enemy Mobile Suits and battleships had already fallen within the firing trajectory of the Zhu Long's Forward Siege Cannon.
"I am Natarle Badgiruel. Colonel Li Chengzhi, please clear the attack path."
"Forward Siege Cannon firing in 3...2...1!"
Lelouch had been waiting to alert Li Chengzhi since he was blocking the attack line, intending to fire the City Breaking Cannon only after Li Chengzhi evaded.
Natarle Badgiruel, however, was different. The moment she finished speaking, she immediately ordered her subordinates to fire the Zhu Long's strongest main cannon—the City Breaking Cannon.
"This woman?"
Shocked by the woman named Natarle Badgiruel beside him, her instinct for seizing combat opportunities was so sharp.
Marveling at her decisiveness in issuing commands, Lelouch watched Natarle Badgiruel in the captain's chair.
Then he turned to look at the display screen, wanting to check if Li Chengzhi would be taken out along with the attack.
What else could he say? What more did he want to say?
At that moment, Li Chengzhi didn't know how to express his feelings. His mouth opened and let out a silent word.
Pulling the control stick, relying on the Zeta Gundam's excellent handling and performance.
At the critical moment, he narrowly avoided the crimson beam torrent and the continuous explosions.
He escaped death's call, and only then had the chance to look down below.
The spectacular, impartial destruction brought by the City Breaking Cannon!
Along the path of the City Breaking Cannon's attack, all was silent and utterly clean.
"So ruthless," remarked Zhang Peng, witnessing the standard operation of his allied ship's captain.
He was immensely grateful that commanders in the Breaking Ball World were generally not this brutal.
"If I had subordinates like this..."
This was Lelouch, his mind racing as he considered how to secure support from this world's East Asian Army.
Comparing this world's East Asian Alliance to his own world's East Asian region.
Even the so-called first empire, Britannia, was nothing but trash!
With the support of this world's East Asian Alliance, why worry about his grand ambitions not being realized!
"Hmm, need to kick out that Wang Hu."
Feeling that the battle was about over, Lelouch sat in his chair calculating in his mind.
What price should he offer to make the Wang Hu of the CE world abandon the Wang Hu of the C World.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
The battle situation outside the PLANT Capital Satellite had nothing to do with Wang Hu, who was flying toward the Genesis behind Fortress Jachin Due.
Not paying attention to the battle there, Wang Hu single-mindedly utilized the GP02's penetration capability.
Steadily and unaffected, he advanced stealthily toward his target.
Actually, it was true stealth.
The kind of stealth where you boldly eliminate all witnesses along the way.
Coupled with the previous message from the ZAFT reinforcement fleet, by the time Wang Hu could almost visually spot Fortress Jachin Due.
Surprisingly, the ZAFT Forces hadn't dispatched large forces to intercept Wang Hu.
"Tch, militia organizations will always be militia organizations. Their alertness is just too poor."
Unaware of the actual situation, Wang Hu still looked down on the ZAFT Forces' response capability.
Glancing at the Coordinators' last line of defense, the fortress that basically copied their own Nova Fortress.
Weighing the power of the Goddess of Love he carried, Wang Hu piloted the GP02 in a detour to the enemy fortress's rear.
Completely empty with nothing there, the Genesis hidden under the Mirage Colloid System.
Naturally couldn't be detected by Wang Hu with just his naked eye.
At the same time, he didn't notice any light sources like welding flashes from construction work.
"Is it completed?"
He only remembered the timeline when Genesis appeared in his memories—Wang Hu didn't know the exact completion date of this superweapon.
But judging by the scene in this sector of space, Genesis was probably almost ready for deployment.
"Hah, perfect timing."
Wang Hu had no desire to be the early bird that misses the worm.
This timing was just right.
Activating part of the rocket launcher on his back, Wang Hu retrieved another component from the shield on his left arm.
After assembling the two parts and selecting a position, he hoisted the rocket launcher—tall as the GP02 itself—onto his shoulder.
"Now then..."
Closing his eyes, since optical sensors couldn't detect the target, Wang Hu would sense the enemy with his mind!
Staying in place, he fully activated his spatial sense ability.
"What's that?"
While Wang Hu was searching for Genesis, it should be noted that his current location was essentially PLANT's vital point.
No matter how makeshift ZAFT Forces might be, they would still deploy patrols in crucial areas.
Soon enough, someone as conspicuous as Wang Hu—glowing even in the darkness, standing out in any crowd—was naturally spotted by a ZAFT patrol.
Seeing the GP02 carrying a cannon as large as Shinn himself...
Anyone with functioning eyes could instantly tell this person harbored ill intentions and wasn't here for any good purpose.
"You go check it out—I'll report to headquarters."
To avoid mistakenly engaging friendly forces testing new mobile suits, the patrol leader ordered a subordinate to gather information first.
He immediately contacted military headquarters for verification.
"Hey! Identify yourself!"
Following orders, the patrol grunt flew closer and shouted.
Just as military headquarters received the alert and shifted their attention to the scene—as people in Fortress Jachin Due watched through their screens—
Wang Hu opened his eyes, having roughly pinpointed the enemy's Genesis.
To pay homage and create this world's new iconic moment...
And to thoroughly unsettle the pink diva...
Holding the massive rocket launcher, Wang Hu opened a public broadcast on all frequencies.
"The long-awaited time has come. To create a gateway to world peace—"
"For comrades lost in the endless wars, for Mr. Clyne who gave his life for his ideals—"
"O Fortress Jachin Due, O Genesis—"
"I have returned!"
With these words, the GP02 launched its payload—a gift named "Miss Qiu," the Goddess of Love.
(End of chapter)