"PLANT officially declared a state of emergency today. The incident is reportedly caused by damage to its energy production systems by the international terrorist organization 'Blue Cosmos,' leading to energy shortages in multiple major satellites."
"It's reported that the PLANT Supreme Council sent an urgent diplomatic note to the Council Nations, requesting a temporary suspension of energy exports to Earth to prioritize basic survival needs. However, this request is believed to have been rejected by the Council's main member nations, citing 'the necessity of maintaining Earth's economic stability.' This decision has triggered significant backlash and survival anxiety within PLANT."
"According to sources who wish to remain anonymous, this energy crisis and external military threats have greatly catalyzed PLANT citizens' independence sentiments, bringing them from long-standing underground undercurrents to the open political stage."
"Centered around influential Councilors Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala within the Council, a political alliance with the clear goal of 'achieving complete autonomy for PLANT' is rapidly gathering and stepping into the forefront."
Early in the morning, listening to the modulated voice of the Copernicus News Network anchor, Fred lifted his head from the sea of books, rubbed his temples, and turned down the television volume.
Nearly half a year had passed since his first meeting with Kira and the others. During this time, while dealing with that pervert had brought some peace to Copernicus, the world situation seemed to be rapidly deteriorating in contrast.
Even in Copernicus, although a group of troublesome Blue Cosmos members had been arrested, there were still reports of Coordinators being attacked.
After all, this place was still too close to Ptolemy, the Atlantic Federation base.
Of course, overall, compared to other places on Earth, Copernicus remained relatively safe.
During this period, his abilities had improved considerably.
He could now defeat retired combat Coordinator veterans at the gym within fifty moves.
However, according to those retired veterans, he still had a significant gap compared to truly elite fighters.
Especially when compared to that blade-wielding Fred who shared his name.
It was said that blade-wielding Fred was the strongest combat fighter in PLANT and a rare black Coordinator, currently teaching at a gym within PLANT.
But Fred had no intention of crossing blades with that blade-wielding Fred.
Combat was for self-defense.
Nothing more.
What mattered more was his research.
He was gradually making progress in agricultural research.
After systematic study during this period, he had moved beyond the student level, with knowledge no less than that of ordinary Coordinator researchers.
Of course, there was still a big gap compared to director-level researchers like Lenore—at best, he could just keep up with the progress.
But the young man wasn't disappointed, after all, he was continuously improving.
"Ding-dong~"
A mechanical doorbell interrupted Fred's wandering thoughts.
"Coming."
Responding while opening the door, Fred saw the ever-smiling Kira and beside him, the still serious and proper Athrun.
"Morning."
Fred raised his hand slightly as a form of greeting.
He wasn't particularly surprised by the arrival of the two.
These two had become thoroughly acquainted with his younger sister. While not exactly childhood friends, they were at least quite familiar with each other.
Thanks to his education starting from scratch, Flay hadn't grown up with any twisted values, nor did she harbor any prejudice against Coordinators.
The three of them got along quite harmoniously, especially Kira and Flay... While not exactly dating, they did share some mutual affection.
With this development, the future should have already taken a turn for the better, he thought.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the smile on Kira's face across from Fred seemed even brighter than the sunlight outside.
"Good morning, brother."
After more than half a year, Kira's tone when speaking to Fred had become much more familiar.
Although his brother didn't share any common interests with him, nor would he play games with him like Athrun did.
But his gentle and reliable demeanor had gradually led Kira to regard him as a dependable older brother figure from the neighborhood.
As for Athrun, he maintained his usual serious expression, or rather, appeared even more solemn than before.
His gaze traveled past Fred, settling on the television news playing in the living room behind him.
"How far do the Council Nations intend to go in persecuting Coordinators?"
Athrun murmured softly, his eyes subtly shifting toward Fred's direction.
His words came from genuine feeling, but they weren't spoken without purpose.
After more than half a year of interaction, although his mother hadn't explained Fred's circumstances in detail,
he had formed his own thoughts about it.
After all, every few days he would come with Kira to pick up Flay for school.
Coupled with regular family gatherings, the two actually interacted quite frequently.
In his view, Fred was strong and hardworking, yet he couldn't understand the purpose behind such dedication.
A person couldn't possibly maintain such powerful drive without a clear goal, at least that's how he saw it.
Fred was like his father and mother - someone with a clear objective.
His father aimed to liberate all Coordinators, while his mother wanted Coordinators to become self-sufficient.
These were all considerations for their own people.
Athrun could understand that.
But with Fred, he couldn't comprehend or truly know him.
He helped Coordinators, yet not for the sake of his own people.
He had deep connections, yet didn't strive for personal political advancement.
So what was his purpose? Truly world peace?
A thirteen-year-old boy? Working for world peace?
At just nine years old, Athrun couldn't understand this. He knew his mother probably didn't fully understand him either.
So gradually, while maintaining his usual reserved expression, Athrun's curiosity grew increasingly intense.
However, he never voiced these thoughts aloud.
"They want to use this to pressure PLANT."
Fred put away his smile, stating the obvious while feeling somewhat helpless inside.
Athrun often tested him like this - truly a future master of covert operations.
He always managed to find clever angles to probe him.
But considering the situation his father currently faced, it wasn't hard to understand.
And since it didn't affect his retirement plans, he couldn't be bothered to care.
Lately, Lenore had clearly been trusting him more and more—perhaps he could make his way to PLANT ahead of schedule.
The MA was merely an appetizer; in the end, it was the power of the MS that would decide the battlefield.
He had to pilot the GINN, and he also had to save people.
His goals were straightforward:
Connect with the Zala Faction, prevent the nuclear strike, slow down the rightward shift, deal with Blue Cosmos, retire, achieve financial freedom, and travel the world with his family.