"Bang!"
In the original timeline, the table had been overturned by Balthلد. Clearly, Mister Tiger wasn't in the mood to flip tables this time.
So Wang Hu, quite unusually, decided to copy Mister Crow's move. While everyone else was either shocked or preparing to respond to the sudden crisis, Wang Hu alone swiftly took the most appropriate action at that moment.
When Balthلد shouted "Don't shoot!", it definitely wasn't directed at Kira.
Wang Hu decisively used the overturned table to create a blind spot, pressing Cagalli down with one hand while pulling Kira to the ground with the other.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of gunshots echoed through the street. Some were from Mister Tiger's subordinates firing at Kira—these bullets shredded half of the table Wang Hu had flipped. Others were from Blue Cosmos members shooting at Balthلد—their bullets struck the walls of the barbecue restaurant, sending clouds of dust flying.
Of course, the shots Kira had intended for Balthلد flew aimlessly into the sky due to Wang Hu's intervention.
"Brother Wang Hu?" Kira, now pinned down, looked confusedly at Wang Hu who was covering him and Cagalli. "Why did you stop me from killing the enemy?"
"Before killing the enemy, you must first protect yourself."
Wang Hu snatched the gun from Kira's hand, then turned to use the remaining half of the table as cover. He casually picked up a piece of broken glass from the ground to peer out.
"One, two, three..."
After carefully counting the Blue Cosmos members within his line of sight, Wang Hu executed a graceful tumbling maneuver.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
With just a few shots, Wang Hu eliminated one thug with each bullet.
"Oh?" Balthلد, who was also using a table as cover, showed an amused smile upon seeing Wang Hu's swift movements and clean takedown of the Blue Cosmos members.
Then, as if competing with Wang Hu, Mister Tiger stood up fearlessly with his gun raised.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Though not as precise as Wang Hu's one-shot-one-kill accuracy, his marksmanship was still quite decent.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
To any outside observer, it would have looked like a scene from an action movie as Wang Hu and Balthلد swiftly dispatched the attacking enemies using their respective styles.
"Bang!" "Bang!"
With the final two gunshots, the street that had been filled with flying bullets moments before returned to silence.
Back to back, Wang Hu and Balthلد had naturally come together during the fight.
If a flock of pigeons had flown out at that moment, the scene would have been perfect.
"Brother Wang Hu?" The now-standing Kira scratched his head, completely unable to understand what had just happened.
"Captain Balthلد!"
Martin rushed out from his prepared firing position. Watching the two who clearly needed no assistance in the latter part of the fight, he felt as if a flock of crows had flown over his head.
"Desert Tiger?" Hearing Martin's shout, Cagalli's eyes burned with vengeful flames.
Facing the man responsible for burning down her village, the girl wanted to exact revenge for the villagers right then and there.
Fortunately, a shred of reason remained in her mind, and Kira noticed Cagalli's reaction, pulling her back once again.
This prevented the recently eased situation from becoming complicated once more.
"Oh? So the young lady has heard of me?"
However, Cagalli's soft exclamation in such a quiet environment was still overheard by Balthلد.
Glancing at the girl being shielded behind Kira, Balthلد's eyes fell upon the stains covering Cagalli's clothes.
They were marks left behind when Wang Hu had overturned the table earlier.
"Come back with me. A gentleman can't let a young lady return home covered in stains like this."
Using more acceptable phrasing while ZAFT soldiers aimed their weapons around them, Balthلد extended the invitation.
"You!" The already furious Cagalli was about to erupt—who couldn't see through an invitation made under such circumstances?
Wasn't this just another form of threat?
So both of them turned their gaze to Wang Hu, who stood right beside Balthلد. With Wang Hu's skills and his position...
He could definitely subdue Balthلد instantly!
They were absolutely confident of this.
"Alright."
Yet, contrary to Kira and Cagalli's expectations, Wang Hu agreed without hesitation.
"Eh? Brother Wang Hu?" Hearing Wang Hu agree so readily, the two showed expressions of utter astonishment.
Do you really know where we're going next?
That's ZAFT's stronghold on this continent—the infamous Desert Tiger's lair!
Once we go in, we won't be able to escape, Brother Wang Hu!
"Hahaha, as expected of the Qilin of East Asia, Mr. Wang Hu."
Since Wang Hu dared to follow him even after his identity was exposed, there was no point in pretending not to know the others.
Balthلد felt he would be looked down upon if he kept up the act, so he straightforwardly revealed that he had been targeting the three of them all along.
"You!" Kira and Cagalli's eyes darted back and forth between Wang Hu and Balthلد.
The two young teenagers simply couldn't comprehend it.
They couldn't understand what was really happening in the current situation.
Thus, with anxious hearts, the two youths followed behind the casually chatting Wang Hu and Balthلد, arriving at a luxurious mansion.
Staring at the four- or five-story tall, ornate European-style building before her, Cagalli clenched her fists.
In her eyes, all of this was built on the people's hard-earned wealth!
Meanwhile, after scanning the mansion, Kira paid more attention to the armed security within the Desert Tiger's residence.
He was already planning where to break through if the situation took a turn for the worse.
"Heh." Letting out a soft laugh as he observed their reactions, Balthلد's interest remained focused on Wang Hu.
So relaxed, without a trace of restraint or tension despite being in enemy territory.
Balthلد was curious about the source of Wang Hu's confidence. Was it simply because he had chosen to appear magnanimous by not confiscating their weapons?
Lost in thought as he led the way, Balthلد had just stepped through the mansion's entrance when he saw his lover—Aisha, with her stunning hair and incredible figure.
"Andy, are these guests you invited?"
Standing with one hand on her hip and carrying herself with unassuming grace, the woman named Aisha, who had a somewhat mature elder sister aura, displayed her lovely figure before Wang Hu and the others as she asked.
"Yeah." Balthfeld nodded, then pointed at Cagalli, whose clothes were stained with dirt. "Could you trouble yourself to take this young lady to change her clothes? Letting her return like this would make people think we lack hospitality."
"Sure, Andy." Aisha smiled and walked over with catlike steps, making as if to pull Cagalli along to change clothes.
"Wang Hu, Kira!" Facing the approaching Coordinator woman, Cagalli genuinely didn't want to go over.
"Go ahead, we'll wait for you here." Seeing this, Wang Hu gently patted Cagalli's shoulder.
"But..." Cagalli's eyes were filled with the clear message that she had misjudged him.
However, no matter how unwilling Cagalli was, as a Natural, she was no match for Aisha, a Coordinator.
Half-pulled and half-dragged by the other, Cagalli's figure soon disappeared from their sight.
"Alright." Watching his lover take the girl away, Balthfeld led Wang Hu and the other to the reception room.
Mister Tiger first walked over to the decorative fireplace in the room, then returned carrying two cups of coffee.
"Kirin Wang Hu, between chili sauce and cheese sauce, which would you choose?"
Placing the coffee before Wang Hu and Kira, Balthfeld brought up the old topic again.
Without answering the question, Wang Hu picked up the coffee and sniffed its aroma.
"Compared to coffee, I prefer tea."
With this double entendre, Wang Hu seemed to answer Balthfeld's question, yet also seemed not to have answered.
"Is that so." Sitting on the sofa opposite the two, Balthfeld raised his head. "But there's no helping it. War isn't a sports competition—there are no points, nor a referee to ultimately decide victory or defeat."
"Since Bloody Valentine began, how can this war be ended? How can victory be determined? And when should the final period be drawn?"
Lowering his raised head, Balthfeld's eyes held an inquisitive gaze as he stared calmly at Wang Hu and the tense Kira.
"Sometimes I keep wondering, must we wait until we've eliminated the other side?"
"Oh, right. As one of our compatriots, Kira, isn't it? You're a Coordinator yet stand with the Naturals—what are your thoughts on this?"
"Don't think that just because you sit in the Strike Gundam, I would consider you a Natural too."
"After all, there's only one Wang Hu. Don't make me too astonished by the East Asian Army's capabilities."
"I don't like it." Kira glanced at Wang Hu, who showed no reaction beside him.
Then he looked directly at Balthfeld, who was questioning him, and straightforwardly spoke his mind.
"I despise you! I despise you for playing emotional cards like the massacre!"
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Balthfeld sat up straight, looking at Kira and then at Wang Hu, who remained calmly seated.
"Kira?" Cagalli, having changed into a dress, happened to walk in at that moment. Seeing Kira's agitated appearance, the young girl was seeing such an expression on his face for the first time.
"I am a Coordinator, so regarding the events of Bloody Valentine, I can empathize even more deeply."
"I was born and raised on Earth, and I have experienced the discrimination and exclusion that Naturals on Earth face towards Coordinators."
"So when the Coordinators, who were originally victims, transformed into perpetrators—when they invoked the Bloody Valentine yet committed the atrocities of the April Fools' Crisis against Earth and Naturals—"
"That makes it even more impossible for me to remain silent! I believe there is no more shameful act in this world."
"Using the past suffering of Coordinators as an excuse to justify the violence and crimes they commit against Naturals every single day now!"
"Therefore, I will not be bound or coerced by the identity of a Coordinator. If Coordinators still possess any compassion—"
"We should weep for the billions of innocent Naturals who have died!"
"Not for the actions of the Coordinators!"
Kira poured out the conclusions he had drawn from his experiences during this period in one breath.
Speaking with intense emotion, he even stood up, using a tone of unwavering conviction and disdain as he expressed his thoughts to Balthلد.
"Oh." Balthلد never expected the young man before him to say such things; he absolutely refused to believe that Kira could have come to these conclusions on his own.
"So it was your influence, wasn't it? Captain Kirin Wang Hu of the East Asian Alliance!"
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