"The recovery of the bombs and Blue Cosmos personnel is complete."
"The only ones left are a few rats still inside the building, but we've already got their positions locked down. They can't escape."
Orphee faithfully reported what had just happened over the communication channel.
"Good work. Once you're done, hurry and find the Chairman. He should be just about finished over there."
"It'd be best if we could get those outside media outlets to capture some good footage."
Fred said with a smile.
As the man behind the scenes, he could never bask in the glory, nor could he personally lead the rescue team.
However, being in the shadows was far more reassuring to him than being out in the open.
The more you expose yourself to the public, the faster you die.
Take the people attacked this time—every single one of them was a notable figure in their respective nations.
Without doing this, they could never have coerced the other two Council Nations into forming the Earth Alliance.
As he pondered, the young man's gaze fell upon the screen showing the conference hall, pitch black except for the dim glow of backup power.
His viewpoint was from one of Siegel's bodyguards.
Although the explosion just now hadn't reached this area, just as Fred had calculated, it had completely cut off the power supply and sealed the conference room's doors with solid rubble, preventing anyone outside from entering for the time being.
At this moment, everyone had finished contacting the security outside and, upon learning that people were still continuously attacking toward this location, had temporarily calmed down.
But the most horrifying sight was beside the War Minister—three corpses lying in pools of blood, their faces twisted in grimaces, shot dead.
The continuously seeping blood soaked into the plush carpet, like blood-red flowers blooming—bewitching and terrifying.
Those around were all looking with lingering fear at the few people holding guns, guarding Siegel and the others.
Although the remaining bodyguards were still standing in front of the important figures, they were exchanging glances with each other, looking utterly at a loss.
By all rights, bodyguards like them weren't allowed to bring guns inside.
There were security checks at the entrance too.
But just now, it was indeed the War Minister's bodyguard who, after the explosion, had first drawn his gun and started firing wildly at the group.
Now Clyne's people still had guns in hand.
In this scene where the majority were from the Moderate Faction, the atmosphere had become subtly tense.
"It wasn't me!"
The Atlantic Federation's War Minister finally denied it loudly after being stunned for quite a while.
The others heard this but didn't break the silence.
After all, this explosion and the bodyguard who suddenly turned traitor—
Every one of these told them that someone wanted them dead.
As the War Minister, even if he denied it, he still bore the greatest suspicion.
Moreover, if this incident truly wasn't a self-staged act by the PLANT Chairman before them, then it was likely Blue Cosmos and the forces behind them.
Compared to ZAFT staging this themselves, they were actually more inclined toward the latter possibility.
After all, ZAFT couldn't possibly have that much power to buy off the people around them.
If that were truly the case, many of their people would have been assassinated long ago.
There would have been no need to wait until now to make a move.
Even in the absolute worst case, Chairman Clyne was also a member of the Moderate Faction. Everyone had been working toward a ceasefire and a relatively stable relationship. Although both sides had their own conflicting interests, there was no reason for him to assassinate them.
Their being alive was more useful to Clyne than their being dead.
Moreover, Clyne now had three bodyguards behind him, and this was a sealed room. If he wanted to kill them, it would be effortless.
So, their silence wasn't them playing tough—they were waiting for Clyne to make his stance known.
Finally, amid the tension in the conference room, Clyne spoke unhurriedly.
"This is clearly a conspiracy by Blue Cosmos. The bomb just now was obviously intended to blow us all up together."
"And everyone present, including Minister Wency and myself, were all targets."
"That's how I see it."
Seeing a way out being offered, the War Minister nodded along, his face showing even more displeasure and lingering fear.
Siegel had said what he dared not say.
He had connections with Blue Cosmos, so he naturally had a vague understanding of what Blue Cosmos was probably trying to do.
He was a civilian War Minister, after all.
Those generals who had already joined Blue Cosmos only needed to eliminate him to go their own way.
They could also wipe out the Moderate Faction and achieve their goal of establishing the Alliance.
He held a Blue Cosmos-related identity, but only for career advancement and wealth—not to risk his life for something like "For the Blue and Pure World."
Now Blue Cosmos wanted to kill him too.
Even if he went back this time and pretended not to care, would Blue Cosmos believe him?
Those people were vindictive and extremely paranoid.
Since he knew they were the ones behind the attack, even if he knew he wouldn't retaliate, would Blue Cosmos still fear his possible revenge and strike at him again?
It wasn't just the War Minister—everyone else from the Atlantic Federation and the Eurasian Federation in the conference room shared similar concerns.
It wasn't a question of whether they wanted to be the ones to surrender.
It was that Blue Cosmos simply hadn't given them any choice in the matter.
The chain of suspicion had already formed, and no matter how hard they pretended it didn't exist, that wouldn't make it go away.
Either they completely handed their lives and freedom over to Blue Cosmos, hoping to preserve their lives that way, or they had to fight back.
Those were the only two paths laid out before them.
"But Chairman Clyne, why were your security personnel allowed to bring weapons inside?"
The representative from East Asia picked up the thread.
He was one of the calmest people in the room, as if the whole scene just now had been nothing but a farce, and he was now staring at Clyne, observing him.
Seeing the question that everyone had deliberately avoided being brought up like this, the air in the room, which had just begun to ease, turned tense and delicate once again.
The people present were mainly from five factions: the Atlantic Federation, the Eurasian Federation, East Asia, PLANT, and the United Nations.
But in terms of rank, aside from Clyne as Chairman, everyone else in the room...
After all, at its core, this was still just a negotiation between PLANT and the Atlantic Federation.
Now that everyone had calmed down, they were also a bit curious about how things would unfold next.
"We had already received relevant intelligence in advance this time, so we came prepared. That's all there is to it."
Siegel explained with an excuse he had prepared long ago.
"You're saying the mastermind behind this attack is the Atlantic Federation?"
The East Asian representative remained stern-faced, making it impossible to read the meaning behind his words.
"Since you knew the intelligence, why didn't you inform us in advance!?"
The War Minister cut in, his voice booming as if it might blow the ceiling off.
"Because there was no evidence. Even if we had told you, how much would you all really have believed?"
Siegel's words left the Atlantic Federation members present in an awkward silence, and the worst part was that his words left them with no room to refute.
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