In the town garrisoned by ZAFT Forces' Desert Tiger Balthfeld, Wang Hu and his companions, disguised, moved quietly through the streets.
Despite Wang Hu and Kira taking immediate and decisive measures against the atrocities committed by this tiger who hadn't devoured people, the material reserves of Desert Dawn, combined with the supplies from the Archangel and those salvaged from the fire-ravaged villages, were clearly a drop in the bucket for the village refugees. After all, these people had lost all their lifelong possessions in the blaze.
Moreover, both Desert Dawn and the Archangel had their own mouths to feed.
Therefore, while allocating manpower for disaster relief, Li Chengzhi straightforwardly told Wang Hu and Ashman that the two of them needed to quickly find ways to procure supplies. Otherwise, even if the refugees could be temporarily settled now, as time passed, not only would the basic living conditions of the refugees become untenable, but even the people of the Archangel and Desert Dawn would face starvation.
Hence,
"I, Ashman, and Natarle Badgiruel will lead a team to the black market," Li Chengzhi said, adjusting the scarf wrapped around his head and cautioning Wang Hu, who was preparing to go out and draw attention. "Be careful. Don't die."
"Don't worry." Compared to Li Chengzhi and the others, who were dressed like typical desert dwellers, Wang Hu appeared much more casual, looking every bit like a tourist. There was no attempt at disguise; their demeanor practically screamed, "I'm suspicious, come and catch me!"
Soon after, the group parted ways at a street corner, each embarking on their respective missions.
"Brother Wang Hu?" Kira instinctively touched the gun hidden at his waist as he watched Li Chengzhi and the others leave. "Has the Desert Tiger really anticipated that we would come here?"
It wasn't that Kira doubted Wang Hu's judgment, but if burning the villages without killing anyone was truly a trap set specifically for Brother Wang Hu by that tiger, the loyal Kira was absolutely against Brother Wang Hu risking his life like this! Kira felt that such dangers should be faced by him instead.
"Otherwise?" Wang Hu led the way leisurely, strolling through the streets and alleys, occasionally stopping at food stalls. "Try this," he said, behaving even more like a tourist as he bought several skewers of desert snacks and handed them to Kira and Cagalli, who were following him.
"Brother Wang Hu!" Seeing the person he respected acting so carefree, the usually mild-tempered Kira couldn't help but raise his voice slightly. "This is dangerous. Don't you realize that?"
"I know," Wang Hu replied, his eyes suddenly lighting up after another round of searching. He had spotted the Turkish kebab shop from his memories, where the tiger and Kira had seemingly met by chance. "Come, come, sit, sit," he urged, scanning the outdoor seating area of the kebab shop before motioning for Cagalli and Kira to take a seat.
"Brother Wang Hu!" Kira felt that Wang Hu was acting very strangely today, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Helpless, Kira glanced at Cagalli, who had remained silent the entire time, and let out a faint sigh. The young man had no choice but to resign himself to fate and sit down.
Then, he saw Wang Hu casually call over a waiter and order three servings of the signature grilled meat for their group.
"..." Eventually, Kira stared at the food that was soon brought to their table, his brow furrowed as he remained deeply troubled.
"What's on your mind?" Though Wang Hu's words were directed at Kira, his sidelong glance was actually aimed at...
It was just after their group had sat down that Mister Tiger soon appeared in their line of sight, dressed exactly as he was in their memories.
Board shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and a pair of sunglasses.
With such an outfit, who could possibly connect this person to the famous Desert Tiger?
Over there, Kira, who had been questioned by Wang Hu, opened his mouth as if to speak but then hesitated.
In truth, everything that needed to be said had already been discussed last night outside the ruins of the village.
Both Wang Hu and Li Chengzhi, the wise men aboard the Archangel, had deduced that the Desert Tiger's strategy of burning villages without harming anyone was solely to force their group to walk right into his trap.
After all, not to mention the Atlantic Federation represented by Murrue and the others, the East Asian Army, which Kira was now part of, would never stand idly by while civilians suffered.
But...
Suddenly, Kira felt he was being somewhat hypocritical. Clearly, their purpose was to act as bait so that Captain Li Chengzhi and the others could successfully deliver the supplies.
So, Brother Wang Hu's flamboyant approach wasn't wrong either!
Thus, in response to Brother Wang Hu's question, Kira chose not to answer and instead turned his attention to the Turkish kebab in front of him.
As if wanting to vent all his frustration on the grilled meat, Kira grabbed the food with both hands, poised to bite into it as if he were tearing into that tiger himself.
"Wait! Young man, that's not how you eat grilled meat!"
Under Wang Hu's amused gaze, Mister Tiger, who had just sat down and hadn't even warmed his seat, leaped up.
Loudly stopping Kira from eating it that way, Balthلد addressed Kira, who was looking at him in confusion.
"Grilled meat must be paired with this cheese sauce to taste good. Eating it your way is nothing short of a desecration of food!"
"Huh?" Kira felt that today must be his unlucky day. Wasn't it just eating? Why were there so many rules?
And who are you? Why are you jumping in when I'm just trying to eat?
"What cheese sauce!" Today, Cagalli had been unusually quiet, so much so that it didn't even seem like her.
She raised an eyebrow and stared at the strange man in sunglasses.
Last night's events had given this girl a lot to think about.
Gradually, she was beginning to understand her identity and the heavy responsibility that came with it. Cagalli had originally intended to stay out of trouble, observing how Wang Hu handled things while secretly learning from him.
But Mister Tiger's sudden appearance made Cagalli's heart skip a beat.
At this moment, she had ample reason to suspect that this suspicious man in front of her might very well be a member of ZAFT.
And if he wasn't, to prevent an innocent bystander from being dragged into the inevitable turmoil that was about to unfold!
Cagalli glanced at Wang Hu, who was acting as if nothing was wrong and merely smiling, gritted her teeth, and sprang into action.
Snatching the bottle of chili sauce from the table, she addressed the newcomer with a tone of both dismissal and testing.
"Barbecue must be paired with chili sauce to taste good! What would someone like you, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, know about it?"
"Besides, how we choose to eat is our freedom—what does it have to do with you?"
"No, no, no, young lady." Balthfeld acted as if he hadn't caught the implication in Cagalli's words at all.
Wagging his finger, Mister Tiger also picked up the cheese sauce from the table.
"Barbecue with cheese sauce is the true way. I only came over to correct you because I don't want to see you stray down the wrong path."
"Young people, sometimes it's good for you to listen to your elders' advice!"
"What?" Cagalli had initially been well-intentioned, thinking that if he was just an unrelated bystander, she'd politely shoo him away without letting him meddle.
But hearing him label her beloved barbecue-with-chili-sauce combination as "the wrong path"—how could Cagalli possibly tolerate that?
"My choice is the right one!"
Right in front of Balthfeld, Cagalli slathered a thick layer of bright red chili sauce over her portion of barbecue and took a big bite.
"So delicious." Putting on an exaggerated, ecstatic expression, she devoured the barbecue in large mouthfuls.
Then, under Balthfeld's deliberately exaggerated look of horror, the girl finished her barbecue in a few bites and raised the chili sauce bottle.
She made as if to pour chili sauce over Kira's barbecue as well!
"Kira, listen to me! Chili sauce is the truth!"
"No, no, no, cheese sauce is the correct choice!"
Balthfeld wasn't about to back down easily. He, too, raised his bottle and extended it toward Kira's barbecue.
For a moment, the two pushed and shoved, neither giving an inch, both wanting Kira to accept their opinion, to choose their preference and impose their will upon his.
At the critical moment, a hand that both of them deemed sinful reached out—just as the sauces from both bottles were about to land on the barbecue.
Wang Hu picked up Kira's plate of barbecue, plate and all.
"Hey!" Cagalli and Balthfeld shouted in unison, watching as the sauces splattered onto the table. They glared furiously at Wang Hu.
"You choose—chili sauce or cheese sauce!"
A strange light flickered in Balthfeld's eyes behind his sunglasses as he addressed Wang Hu, who held the plate as if intending to act as an arbitrator.
"Wang Hu, you'll choose chili sauce, right?"
Cagalli pressed immediately after, confident that given her relationship with Wang Hu, he wouldn't side with this random guy who'd popped up out of nowhere.
Facing their intense stares and questioning, Wang Hu smiled and handed the plate of barbecue back to Kira.
"This barbecue belongs to Kira. What right do either of you have to decide his choice for him?"
"Oh, that's a bit harsh, young man!" As soon as Wang Hu spoke up, Balthfeld immediately set down his cheese sauce and shifted his focus entirely to Wang Hu.
Clearly, what Balthfeld truly cared about wasn't what sauce Kira used for his barbecue, but Wang Hu himself—and he made no attempt to hide his intentions!
Only then did Cagalli and Kira, seeing Mister Tiger's demeanor, realize that his true motives lay elsewhere entirely.
"Who are you!" Kira stopped eating the barbecue, swiftly moving one hand to his waist to draw his gun.
"Hey now, no need to be so tense. Your ace hasn't even reacted yet, right?"
Balthfield raised both hands to show he meant no harm, while continuing to provocatively tease Wang Hu.
"Sit down, Kira." Tapping the table, Wang Hu stopped the about-to-lash-out Kira from being so tense.
Then Wang Hu smiled and looked at Balthfield - this Mister Tiger who earlier had Kira choose a sauce before making him choose one too.
But was the real question really about choosing sauces?
His gaze swept over the two bottles of red and white sauces on the table as Wang Hu was about to give his answer.
Just as Balthfield was waiting with interest for Wang Hu's answer, and Cagalli and Kira were anxiously waiting for Wang Hu's signal.
"For the blue and pure sky, you heavenly monsters should all die!"
There were quite a few uninvited guests today. In this short time, Mister Tiger had maximized his mobility, rushing to appear before Wang Hu and the others.
Now the Earth Sphere's most extreme anti-Coordinator organization, Blue Cosmos, had also rushed to appear before Mister Tiger.
Seeing this, without waiting for Wang Hu's signal, Kira spotted this perfect opportunity. He swiftly drew his gun, released the safety, and prepared to empty a round into Balthfield.
"Young man?" Balthfield, being quite battle-experienced himself, found himself paralyzed for a moment facing threats from both front and back. He had intended to flip the table for cover.
It wasn't that he was worried about his own safety. As one would expect from being the highest-ranking administrative officer of the local ZAFT Forces...
In a city full of hostility, how could he really be wandering around as leisurely as he appeared?
"Don't shoot!" Balthfield immediately shouted loudly.
(End of Chapter)