After all, Fred had moved to April City, effectively becoming Lacus's neighbor.
It had become much easier for Lacus to come over now.
But at this moment, Lacus's face did not bear her usual smile—only solemnity remained.
"Just as you said, the bomb we discovered on the ship heading to the Atlantic Federation is suspected to be the work of Blue Cosmos."
"In February, a peace conference is being prepared to be held in Copernicus."
"Your prediction has come true again."
Even as she spoke, there was still not a trace of a smile on Lacus's face.
Why "again"? Because just a month ago, Fred had led his squad members to thwart a terrorist attack targeting members of the PLANT Council.
And it was a terrorist attack that occurred midway through their journey to negotiate with the Council Nations.
Following that, they had halted resource exports to the Atlantic Federation, one of the Council Nations.
Because of this, the situation had begun to deteriorate. Although they hadn't completely closed the door, the Atlantic Federation could still obtain resources through transit trade, but the relationship between the two sides could hardly improve. And then things had come to this point.
It was only through the mediation of the United Nations and countries like those in East Asia that the Copernicus negotiations had come about.
Everything had unfolded just as Fred had described back then.
As if the man before her were holding a script.
Fred, upon hearing this, was the calmest of all. He nodded in response.
"Then the plan can begin as well."
There was only one month left until the February lunar conference in Copernicus.
It seemed like a long time, but in reality, it was but a fleeting moment.
"Don't worry, leave things here to us. Just make sure that when you return to Copernicus, no one recognizes you."
Lacus furrowed her brow slightly as she said this.
"They won't. Blue Cosmos hasn't been looking for me anymore, and I'll go in disguise."
Fred shook his head.
Whether Lacus accepted his answer was unclear, but the young woman skipped past the topic and immediately followed up with another question.
"When do you plan to leave?"
"Three days from now."
"Mmm... Stay safe."
"Don't worry."
After the two finished speaking, they simply looked at each other for a long while. The scene fell silent for a moment, yet within that silence, a strange atmosphere lingered between them.
From the end of '68 to '70, more than a year had passed.
The atmosphere between the two had grown better and better, subtly drawing closer to some certain point.
Like water flowing naturally into a channel, yet the channel wasn't fully cleared—just a gentle, steady trickle.
"What are you two doing~?"
A fiery red figure appeared, interrupting the faintly intimate silence between the two.
After a year, Flay looked more mature. Although her appearance was increasingly close to how she looked in the original storyline, her demeanor was completely different—more reserved and gentle. At this moment, her eyes blinked playfully at the two of them, cute and mischievous.
"We were just discussing the arrangements for later."
Lacus explained with a soft laugh.
Then her smile faded slightly as she continued.
"Your brother is going to Copernicus."
"Ah..."
Hearing this, Flay was stunned for a moment, and the smile on her face vanished as well.
"Are they really that insane?"
A year had passed, and Flay was no longer a child, so Fred's plans had not been kept from her.
Combined with what Lacus had just said, Flay understood everything.
"It was dangerous enough last time. Do you really have to go yourself this time?"
"It wasn't dangerous before—it was just bomb disposal. Besides, I wasn't the one defusing them."
Fred's words naturally provoked the young woman's displeasure. Flay pouted and replied with a coquettish tone.
"Even so, those were bombs!"
"But I won't put myself in danger, don't worry."
Fred helplessly reassured his sister once more.
That operation—though called bomb disposal—hadn't really been dangerous. He had merely brought people over to defuse the bombs, and they had gone ahead of time at that.
After all, he had an advantage; he'd already had people monitoring that area.
The final operation naturally only worsened Blue Cosmos's and the Atlantic Federation's reputation on the world stage.
"Oh..."
The young woman, persuaded by Fred, still kept her gaze lowered, a hint of worry lingering.
"Even if there's no problem, it wouldn't hurt to have some protection—consider it an extra layer of insurance."
After speaking, Fred turned his gaze back to Lacus.
"Speaking of which, your father needs to be careful too. Catching spies is one thing, but don't let yourself get caught in the crossfire."
Recently, PLANT had been conducting many counter-intelligence operations, especially given that the culprit behind the previous bombing terrorist attack had yet to be captured—deliberately playing the long game.
"Don't worry, this is our turf."
With that, Lacus took both of their hands and led them outside.
"Alright, since we're about to leave soon, let's hurry up and make breakfast."
"I'm starving."
"I haven't even had breakfast yet~"
The solemn atmosphere quickly relaxed under Lacus's playful coaxing.
After cooking just that one meal, Fred didn't linger any longer. He made his way straight to a Laurasia-class vessel docked in April City's harbor.
This ship was one of the two given to him, named the Amaster.
But as for the name, Fred didn't really care. At the moment, he was simply inside the ship's combat briefing room, looking at the members he had gathered before him.
After a year of training and sporadic real combat, not only had everyone's skills improved, but they also looked more like a cohesive unit.
Seeing Fred enter, they all stood up in unison.
"I called you all here because there's a mission."
Though they had anticipated it, when Fred spoke those words, everyone couldn't help but show a hint of excitement on their faces.
Over the past year, while they hadn't been entirely without real combat—aside from that bomb disposal job—most of their work had been small-scale skirmishes in the surrounding areas.
Tasks like escort duty.
They were Unit Zero, after all.
Hearing Fred say that now, along with the serious expression on his face, it clearly looked like something big.
At that thought, their excitement was tinged with a bit of tension.
"The mission is to infiltrate Copernicus and stop Blue Cosmos's terrorist attack there."
As he spoke, a detailed operation plan appeared on the screen beside Fred.
Faced with the dense wall of mission data, surprise spread across everyone's faces.
Not because Fred's operation plan was particularly brilliant or meticulous.
Though it certainly was thorough, what mattered more was that over the past year, aside from small tasks and preventive counter-terrorism drills, the most frequent exercises had been infiltration simulations for Copernicus and Heliopolis.
They had often wondered why Fred did that.
After all, one was a neutral nation, and the other a neutral city.
Neither seemed remotely connected to war.
But now, it seemed—had Fred been preparing for this all along?
If so, that level of foresight was terrifying.
Of course, the possibility of false intelligence couldn't be ruled out either, since they still lacked more concrete evidence that the attack would occur.
And based on the current intelligence, it was unclear whether the attack would ultimately happen.
If it didn't happen in the end, it would certainly affect Fred's standing with the higher-ups.
Of course, that was Fred's concern as the Commander.
As members, their job was to follow orders and eliminate any possibility of a terrorist attack occurring.
"We've simulated this operation many times already."
After the data was synced to everyone's combat watches, Fred continued.
"If there are no issues, start preparing. We depart in twelve hours."
Fred didn't seem burdened by the pressure. Though his face betrayed no expression, his tone remained calm and reassuring.
"Yes!"
No one objected to Fred's words. They responded loudly in unison before dispersing.
And so, amid that tense preparation, time quickly passed.
The team split across two transport ships, heading toward Copernicus once again, one ahead and one behind.
Before them stretched the vast sea of stars; behind them, the lights of countless homes.
For Fred's team, protection was the most important word.
And for Fred, it was the same.
But what he protected wasn't just the lights behind him.
It was the future—a future where everyone could live in peace for at least the next thirty years.
To achieve that, he had to knock every troublemaker out of the game.
As for why they weren't using the Laurasia-class this time, the obvious reason was that this was a covert operation.
Even the GINNs wouldn't be deployed, let alone the Laurasia-class.
That wasn't surprising—no matter how terrifying Blue Cosmos's terrorist attack was, they wouldn't use MS.
The enemy was in the open, while he was in the shadows.
MS would only ruin that advantage of stealth.
The best outcome this time would be to catch them red-handed, completely branding Blue Cosmos and the Atlantic Federation as the unjust side.
"If you have something to say, just say it. We've known each other long enough."
Just as Fred finished getting the full picture from the Captain and was walking back with Alec, Fred broke the silence in the corridor and spoke up.
Ever since setting sail, the other man had been looking at him like he wanted to say something but held back.
Alec wasn't wearing a mask—how could Fred not notice?
"Is going back to Copernicus really a good idea?"
That place held many memories for Fred, and there was a chance someone might recognize him.
Earlier, Fred's identity as one of the researchers had already been leaked. If he were to be discovered having any connection with Copernicus this time...
At the thought, Alec was already worried on his behalf.
In his view, Fred's safety was tied directly to the future of PLANT.
"As long as we keep it discreet, there won't be a problem," Fred said with a smile.
His identity as a researcher had been well concealed so far.
But as time went on, the likelihood of exposure was growing.
He had plenty of fake identities, too.
That was why this time he chose not to wear a mask but instead used small tools to alter his facial features.
That way, even if the masked man were exposed, he wouldn't be immediately discovered, and Fred's identity would remain intact.
Back then, he had also prepared for this—he had only participated as the director overseeing one of the studies.
At most, he held a fairly central position.
Even if they came looking for him, not only would they fail to find him, but even if they did, he wouldn't be a high priority.
Besides, the mask was only his first layer of identity.
Once Blue Cosmos was taken care of, he would still be Fred.
"Alright," Alec said, seeing how confident Fred was, and didn't press further.
The two quickly returned to their respective rooms.
Fred continued his efforts, and Alec and the others did the same.
The navigation channel was smooth all the way, and soon Fred and his group arrived outside Copernicus.
"There's still one week before the peace talks begin."
"During this week, we need to bring the venue and its surroundings fully under our control."
"Thank you all for your hard work."
Unlike a typical captain, Fred spoke with a somewhat refined courtesy, yet no one dared to underestimate him.
Over the past year, Fred had sparred with them countless times.
From being evenly matched at first to overwhelming dominance recently, the group had developed a superior-subordinate dynamic through these physical exchanges.
Seeing everyone acknowledge his orders, Fred continued.
"If there are no issues, we'll begin operations as soon as we dock."
"Yes!" The group responded in unison.
Hearing this, Fred turned his gaze to the familiar lunar city outside the window.
It sat like a pearl embedded in a massive crater, with numerous Mistrals on the glass dome performing routine maintenance and cargo handling.
The bustling, lively scene remained unchanged even after all these years.
"Alright, let's land," Fred said with a wave of his hand, and the group dispersed.
Even the communication channel connecting to the other transport ship was cut off.
...
The port of Copernicus was very familiar to Fred, but he never expected to return in such a capacity.
Because the mask was too conspicuous, he couldn't use it for now.
Still, he wore several disguise items resembling human-skin masks that altered his original facial features.
Combined with his matured features and dyed black hair, there was no need to worry about being recognized.
"But this place hasn't changed much," Fred mused inwardly as he looked at the busy people around him.
They had docked at a commercial transport port, not a civilian aviation area. Looking around, he could see many maintenance workers and porters.
With his sharp eyes, Fred even spotted a few of his former colleagues, now veteran employees.
They seemed to be team leaders or something, directing operations on site.
Of course, none of these colleagues seemed to recognize him.
That was a good start.
Although he was confident in his disguise, having it confirmed in practice put him even more at ease.
"They've dispersed. The plan officially begins," Alec interrupted to ask. "What are your plans?"
As the architect of the plan, Fred's role was naturally that of overall commander.
And as overall commander, he appeared busy yet was actually quite idle.
After all, his job was to anticipate various contingencies and unexpected situations.
As long as the plan had no flaws and his subordinates made no mistakes, he would be idle.
Of course, that idleness was built on a foundation of tense vigilance.
Just as Fred was thinking about leaving to head to the hotel, a box suddenly floated over.
Fred paid it no mind and instinctively reached out to grab it.
[Thanks (laughs)]
.
.