Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

Just when he thought Tsurugi had pushed himself to his limits, Tsurugi always managed to surprise him with even more.

Although the Universal Century was a time of great human brilliance, this person before us should no longer be described within the scope of humanity.

He's clearly a living demon!

Serving a demon was a huge burden even for Sirocco, but he dared not give up.

"If only I had run away earlier like Kruze and Hathaway!" Sirocco thought to himself.

Yes, those two friends who were also pulled out of the Dongjiang River both got wet.

Kruse was the first to die halfway through the Battle of Loum, while Hassawi was the second. Apparently, after seeing the map of the Tsurugi River from the ship, he couldn't accept it and simply ran away.

He also brought along Shirou Amada, but as for their whereabouts, although Tsugumi could find out, he was too lazy to look for them.

I find it too troublesome!

It's not entirely a bad thing that they've disappeared without a trace; perhaps they can bring some unexpected surprises to Dongjiang.

But Shilock was also quite conflicted on the other hand—because Tsurugi had indeed created a perfect environment for him.

Zeon has already been wreaked so badly by him, and the Federation is about to suffer heavy losses as well. It is estimated that the continuation of the One Year War is still inevitable, but the losses on both sides will definitely be more terrible than before.

Chaos is the ladder to ascent, and it is precisely in such a chaotic situation that Sirocco is well-suited for development.

“I will do my best,” Sirocco said carefully.

"I will first try my best to take in and resettle the refugees from SIDE2. As for the location, I will still choose SIDE6. I will try my best to negotiate..."

"Why go through all that trouble?" Tsugumi waved her hand.

"I'm going to Earth in a bit. TuTu and his group of Federation guys will just threaten them and give you a colony to settle these refugees. As for other development issues, that's up to you."

Although the Republic of Leia in SIDE6 was the only neutral party in the One Year War, Tsuruga didn't think it was a good thing either.

Just like Orb in the neighboring SEED series, the neutrality of the Republic of Leia is always questionable.

This thing is able to operate independently purely because it's a 'private reserve' prepared for themselves by high-ranking federal officials.

Before the war with Zeon, a large number of high-ranking Confederate officials and aristocratic families transferred their families and assets to Side 6. Side 6 served as a political haven for these privileged individuals, providing them with protection for their families and assets.

The peace and independence of Side 6 are built on the corruption of the federal government, which is why even if Char Aznable were to actually smash Axis down in Char's comeback, the majority of those who would die would be the lower classes.

After all, the gentlemen of the Federation have long since moved on to Side 6!

It just so happens that Tsurugi is going to Earth to take a look at the Federation before leaving this world. He doesn't care what happens afterward, but it's these people who are annoyed with him!

Of course, this place is already one of the very few anthropomorphic groups in the cosmic century's humanoid star era, so Tsurugi wouldn't go so far as to do anything to them.

But Shilock wanted to seize this place as his territory, and Tsurugi had no objection whatsoever.

Faced with his boss's decisive actions, Sirocco could only remain silent.

"Oh, by the way, remember to design a mobile suit for me when you have time. My requirements are simple—it has to be big, powerful, have strong firepower, and a powerful engine!"

Tsugumi made another request; he genuinely wanted a custom MS that was his own.

Sirocco's aesthetic sense is a problem, but it must be said that this 'all-rounder' is indeed a rare super genius. He was able to design and manufacture transformable mobile suits like the Messara in a technological environment independent of the Earth's sphere, and he also mastered the technology of refining Gundanium Alpha Alloy.

Although his MS design was indeed a bit lackluster in appearance, its performance was truly outstanding. Even back in the 0093 era, the Teo was considered a formidable machine.

However, these are secondary to Dongjiang.

He just wanted to pilot a cool, big robot!

Although in the end I'll definitely have to use the Force to control my actions—I'm going to stick them together!

Tsugumi showed great enthusiasm for this, even asking Sirocco if he wanted her to help him get a gold extraction device.

Sirocco expresses his gratitude.

Are you kidding me? Paptimaus Shilock may not be a good guy, but at least he's not a psychopath like Gihren. A device that extracts energy from living people? No matter how damn useful it is, you can't use it!

If he uses this thing, he'll probably be expelled from the human race along with Tsurugi!

The Sith Lord before him didn't care about outside opinions of him, because he was truly unkillable!

"Really? What a pity." Tsugumi sighed, then painted a rosy picture for Sirocco.

"Then you'd better do a good job, Sirocco. If you do well, I'll help you send your soul into the body of a homunculus!"

...Sirocco shamefully fell for him.

After all, even new humans cannot refuse to obtain a better, more perfect, or even longer-lived body.

"Then, Your Majesty," Sirocco finally asked the question that concerned him most.

"How should we deal with Dejin Zabi?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about this bald guy if you hadn't mentioned him," Tsugumi said, patting her forehead with a smile.

"Leave it to me. I'll squeeze every last bit of value out of him, then tear out his soul and torture him slowly."

In short, having finished explaining the situation, Tsurugi didn't plan to go back to Side 2. He grabbed the half-dead Dekin and squeezed into a shuttle, then sped off towards Earth.

There's no way around it; without having been to Earth, there's no way to teleport without coordinates. Even using the souls of locals as coordinates, the human brain's ability to pinpoint coordinates over long distances is quite vague, and Tsurugi wouldn't dare bet on that.

After all, he didn't want to be transported to an empty universe in the blink of an eye, unable to find his way around, and then have to drift in space again.

Meanwhile, on the other side—

Dozru's fleet finally returned to Zum City.

But this time, there really wasn't any joyous celebration.

The main fleet ignored everything and returned directly to Zum City. When the gorilla hurriedly disembarked, the first thing he saw was his wife, concubine, and children.

Minerva!!!

Seeing his innocent daughter's face, Dozru finally breathed a sigh of relief. Regardless of the occasion, he picked up his daughter and kissed her with a sob in his voice, making the little girl cry loudly.

"Dozru, mind the occasion, come here quickly, I have something to say to you privately!"

Just then, a gloomy voice rang out, and Dozru looked up to see his elder brother's somber face.

Dozru apologetically released his daughter and hurriedly got into the car with his older brother.

"Commander-in-Chief Kiran, the situation..."

"It's terrible, but it's also good," Killian said without changing his expression.

"That evil monster slaughtered hundreds of millions of our citizens, but this will only fuel our Zeon's thirst for revenge. I've found out, he is the Federation's secret weapon!"

Dozru opened his mouth slightly, wanting to speak, to question, to refute, but could only remain silent.

What else could he say, or hope for?

The war with the Federation was unstoppable, Dozle understood this clearly. Even if the Federation didn't fight, Zeon would have to; their economy was already on the verge of exploding if they didn't!

Even if they compromise, they still have to negotiate an outrageous price with the federal government.

Moreover, with the father's whereabouts unknown and so many people dead, public opinion in Side 3 will absolutely not lean towards peace. The Zabi family has already embarked on a path of no return; even if they wanted a ceasefire, the wolves they've raised would only tear them apart!

"But what if Father—"

“I’ll make you exchange him for Rebil.” Killian’s eyes turned sinister.

"The highest-ranking general in the Federation Army, that's more than enough..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: I got a root canal at the dentist today. It was so expensive and hurt so much!

Changing styles doesn't change anything, it's still all about killing! : 137. A worried old mother

Meanwhile, Char also returned to Zeon, but he did not return to Zum City.

It's somewhat ironic, because although Char is a very important person, he isn't exactly wealthy.

When he infiltrated Zeon under the false name of Char, he couldn't have carried much money with him. Later, in order to make a difference in the Zeon army, he instigated Garma to launch the Dawn Rebellion, but was expelled because of it.

Although this was intended to protect him and make Karma take the blame, he was still banished to Earth, where he even worked as an excavator operator and a civil engineer to make a living.

The future commander-in-chief of Neo Zeon is actually a civil engineer!

Incidentally, the construction team he was with was still a Chinese team, and they were building part of the Gabro base—perhaps this was one of the reasons he later infiltrated Gabro...

Of course, Char doesn't regret it. If he hadn't gone to Earth, how could he have met the most important person in his life?

Getting back to the main point, Char was later recalled to space and piloted a mobile suit, but his military rank remained only lieutenant. Although he was very capable, he was still not wealthy.

As Zeon's political and economic center, Zum City, especially under Gihren's strict policies, has exceptionally high housing prices, certainly beyond Char's reach...

Of course, it's estimated that housing prices in Zum City won't be a problem in the future, and Char has his own officer's room here. He doesn't mind living alone, but the problem is that he has 'tenants' living with him.

"Lala, I'm back."

Wearing a mask, Char walked wearily into the room, the apartment he had bought on the fifth colony of Side 3.

The living room lights were on, and Xia Ya saw Lala sitting on the sofa with her arms wrapped around herself, and was momentarily stunned.

"Major, you're finally back."

Lala looked up, and those eyes, which usually seemed to see through everything and bring Xia immense peace, now held a deep weariness that instantly filled Xia with an indescribable sense of guilt.

Huh? Why should I feel guilty?

Unsure of his own thoughts, Char simply corrected him casually.

"Lala, I'm just a lieutenant."

Lala Shin is a magical girl that Char Aznable met when he was exiled to Earth.

Despite his shameful background, Char never cared about such things. To Char, Lala was the only girl who had ever made him feel 'at ease'.

She has the ability to see through people's hearts and foresee the future.

So even though it was only their first meeting, Char felt as if he was being guided by him, which had an unparalleled attraction for Casval Deikun, who had been wandering since childhood, constantly escaping from assassination and accumulating hatred.

In many people's eyes, Char is a mature and opinionated man who seems capable of anything and can be entrusted with anything.

But only Xia himself knows the truth: he has always been an impulsive and immature person. He knows many things and can do them, but he often makes the wrong choices because he is controlled by his feelings.

This trait will repeatedly bring disastrous consequences to Char in the future, especially if Lala stays by his side...

Ah, Lala, please guide me!!!