Chapter Sixty-Five: Junius 7

“The Archangel has successfully disengaged from Artemis. No enemy units detected in the vicinity.”

In the distance, the exploding fortress erupted like fireworks, as if bidding the Archangel farewell.

“It seems we’ve been saved by Kira and Black Flame again,” Murrue finally exhaled in relief, slumping into her chair. Everyone aboard the Archangel had heard Hao Ren’s brazen words when he hacked into the ZAFT channel earlier.

“I’d really like to dissect Black Flame for research,” Baggilulu said with malicious intent.

“Talk about ungrateful—planning to treat our savior like that,” Hao Ren grimaced as he stepped onto the bridge.

“Then tell me, which of your feats can be explained by modern science?” Baggilulu had no intention of defending herself when Hao Ren caught her talking behind his back; now that they were temporarily safe, the uniformed beauty couldn’t help but tease him.

“Don’t you think men with secrets are more attractive?” Hao Ren, knowing he was guilty, desperately tried to make excuses.

“You? A man?” Baggilulu looked him up and down in disbelief, her gaze lingering on a certain part of his body, and she blushed before turning away with a huff.

“Hey, lady, if you keep eyeing our master like that, we’re going to have to charge you,” said Nemesis, a young girl in a pitch-black Earth Alliance uniform, who hugged Hao Ren’s neck from behind, clearly enjoying herself.

“Lady?!” Baggilulu staggered, struck by another round of thunderous shock.

“So, aren’t you going to explain these girls as well?” Murrue smiled wryly at the dejected Baggilulu, though she herself was quite curious about the girls who’d suddenly appeared by Hao Ren’s side.

“Digging too deep just spoils the fun,” Hao Ren’s eyes darted nervously.

“Forget it, I knew you wouldn’t talk. You must be exhausted after this battle—get some rest. The Archangel still needs you to protect her,” Murrue waved him off, letting Hao Ren go.

Mu propped his chin thoughtfully.

Hao Ren made a quick escape from the bridge as the captain and officers began a new round of discussion.

“Black Flame’s antics are good for morale, but we didn’t solve any of the issues at Artemis,” Murrue sighed, her mood slightly lifted but still troubled.

“That’s true, but what can we do?” Baggilulu worried as she thought of the dwindling supplies aboard the Archangel.

“Well... why not ask Black Flame?” Mu tentatively suggested.

“Him? What can that brat possibly do?” Baggilulu glared at Mu, her tone harsh.

“You’ve seen his tricks—maybe that lolicon has an idea,” Mu replied.

Lolicon!

You accuse me of being a lolicon? So there’s no justice for lolicons?

Clearly, Hao Ren had no desire to protest his new reputation.

Hao Ren was caught red-handed in his quarters with a face full of cream, sneaking bites of “Cream Fruit Cake” and “Exquisite Sweets: Pure White,” along with accomplices Nemesis, Kira, Miriallia, and Tor.

When Murrue and Baggilulu, still fretting over supplies, saw the cream-smeared faces of Hao Ren and the others, their anger soared to maximum.

Mu, who’d managed a stolen bite, was left blissfully dazed.

After all, snacks crafted with skill cards were hardly ordinary fare.

Seeing Mu—who rarely indulged in sweets—so enraptured, Murrue and Baggilulu’s curiosity got the better of them, and they each tried a taste.

And then...

Seven servings of desserts were devoured, down to the last crumb, by the two uniformed women.

Faced with the judgmental stares of the young crew, the two adults felt more than a little embarrassed.

“I haven’t had enough yet,” Mu complained with a look of longing.

“I’ve got more,” Hao Ren sighed, producing several more desserts as if by magic.

Wow! Everyone cheered and joined the great dessert grab.

“Damn it... my diet...” Miriallia patted her slightly rounded belly in despair.

I’m papa, after all (dragged away).

“If I get so fat no one will marry me, you’ll have to take responsibility for finding me a husband, Black Flame,” Baggilulu said breathlessly, collapsing into her chair.

“Dream on, lady. Our master belongs to us, not you. Right, Sister Darkness?” Meya, her flat stomach undisturbed despite her constant snacking, taunted.

Leaning against Hao Ren and unwilling to interact with the others, Little Darkness blushed and nodded.

Baggilulu could barely muster a retort.

“By the way, Black Flame, if you can conjure up all these desserts, can’t you solve the Archangel’s supply problem too?” Mu asked, sipping the “Rich Rainbow Coffee” Hao Ren had provided.

“I can manage food for ten or twenty people for a few days, but when it comes to water, there’s really nothing I can do,” Hao Ren lied with a straight face. With a pocket world at his disposal, if there was one thing he had in abundance, it was supplies.

“So what do we do?”

“Go to the debris belt and resupply at Junius Seven, of course,” Hao Ren replied, and instantly, everyone froze mid-action.

“Guards! Throw Black Flame out with the oversized non-burnable trash!” Murrue decisively pressed the comm button.

“Wait, Tuesdays are for non-burnable trash collection. Today’s Monday!” That’s the issue here?

“Enough jokes, Black Flame. We can’t disturb the sleep of the dead,” Baggilulu protested, though the same thought had crossed her mind. Hearing it from Hao Ren made it hard to accept.

“Heh, heh. You’re all thinking it, aren’t you? It’s just coming from me. If we don’t go, we’ll all join the two hundred forty-three thousand seven hundred twenty-one innocent dead in eternal rest,” Hao Ren retorted. If you want to play the good cop, I’ll be the villain.

“Senior, I’ll follow your lead,” Kira was the first to support Hao Ren.

“Since when did you become a senior?” Miriallia asked, puzzled.

That’s not the point.

If you don’t resupply at Junius Seven, Princess Lacus can’t appear, can she?

That was Hao Ren’s true intention.

Though they followed Hao Ren’s suggestion and entered the debris field, the sight that greeted them struck Kira and the others hard.

“So this is... Junius Seven...”

A ruined colony, shattered remains, frozen corpses, broken picture frames.

All of it challenged the worldviews of everyone present, Hao Ren included.

Hao Ren’s gaze grew colder than ever; for the first time, he felt such fury toward a single faction.

“These monsters who slaughtered the innocent... deserve to die...”