Obsessive anxiety over insufficient firepower?
Staring at Kira who suggested deploying the Goddess of Love, Wang Hu felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
However, the idea he proposed was indeed feasible.
Thus, Wang Hu readily sent a request to Li Chengzhi who had returned to the Zhu Long, asking his friend to come immediately after reloading the Goddess of Love.
Surveying the allied forces currently conducting mop-up operations near Boaz Fortress, Wang Hu naturally couldn't just wait idly for Li Chengzhi's arrival.
"Kira, Mu, let's concentrate our fire on this target area one more time."
Through mental sensing and his Newtype spatial awareness ability, Wang Hu also consulted Mu's opinion, ultimately roughly pinpointing the area where the suspected Creuset presence was moving.
"Alright."
Compared to Wang Hu, Mu might actually be the one more eager to confirm whether the sensation in his mind truly belonged to Creuset. The blond playboy agreed immediately, raising his gun while calmly focusing on exploring the subtle psychic connection.
"I'm ready, Brother Wang Hu."
Taking a deep breath, Kira aimed the Rainbow Cannon, its muzzle swaying to cover the entire area Wang Hu had selected to the maximum extent possible.
"Good."
Seeing both were prepared, Wang Hu shouted loudly: "Open fire!"
Instantly, Freedom Gundam's Rainbow Cannon swept across the battlefield horizontally, Mu's Strike Gundam filled in the gaps by firing beams at areas he deemed most likely, while Wang Hu unleashed Lightning Z Gundam's firepower comparable to Freedom Gundam, sweeping the battlefield at maximum capacity.
The three worked in perfect harmony, determined to force out that potentially Creuset presence that brought extreme unease!
"Boom!"
Thanks to the three's combined firepower equivalent to several full MS squads - whereas Wang Hu's previous solo attacks had yielded no results - flames now erupted within their field of vision in the fire-saturated area.
The hidden observer had finally revealed itself!
"Prototype Chaos Gundam?"
The other two might not recognize what had appeared before them, but Wang Hu would never mistake it. Wasn't this one of the Gundams developed by ZAFT Forces during the Second War - the prototype of Chaos Gundam?
After seizing the four Gundams from the Allied Forces' G Project, ZAFT technicians studied Aegis Gundam. While superficially declaring MA obsolete, they simultaneously acknowledged MA had merits, thus designing six special weapons including this Prototype Chaos Gundam that completely discarded humanoid weapon features like faces and limbs, existing in pure MA Mode.
Their most distinctive characteristic was the high mobility and high G-forces from four installed thrusters, making them impossible for even elite Coordinator test pilots to handle properly - each previous test leaving one crippled, earning them the nickname "widow makers."
Their armament consisted of four Dragoon-style EQFU-5X Mobile Weapon Pods, with a pair of massive hooks equipped with MA-XM434 Beam Claws positioned at the front.
The back is equipped with a main detector and a single-seat cockpit.
Since the wrist sections were eliminated, handheld weapons such as rifles, shields, and beam sabers naturally do not exist.
"Creuset?"
While Kira and the others beside him were still staring blankly at the Prototype Chaos Gundam, Wang Hu, who reacted first, sent a communication signal toward the object before him.
He was trying to confirm whether Creuset was inside that thing!
"Wang Hu, long time no see. I've missed you."
Forced to reveal himself, the figure inside the Prototype Chaos Gundam no longer concealed his identity.
A voice all too familiar to Wang Hu, Mu, and Kira transmitted through the public communication system's radio waves.
"It really is you! Creuset! But you're not—!"
Mu cut in before Wang Hu, questioning Creuset inside the Prototype Chaos Gundam.
Just from his tone, it was clear that Mu was genuinely shocked.
Having witnessed Kira's incredible survival, he never expected Creuset to be another person blessed with such fortune and resilience!
"How could I die before witnessing the end of this world?"
"I must say, Wang Hu, thanks to you, I am now stronger than I ever was before!"
The voice was not much different from Creuset's past self, but the tone had changed significantly.
In the past, Creuset's tone carried an indescribable nobility and elegance.
Now, his voice was filled with madness, accompanied by a slightly discordant electronic mechanical sound.
"..."
Unsure how to respond to Creuset for a moment, Wang Hu examined the mobile suit before him—one that, in the original timeline, should not have appeared at this time.
Wang Hu then sent a private video call request to Creuset.
Initially, Wang Hu thought the other party would refuse, but to his surprise, Creuset not only agreed but also included Mu and Kira in the call.
"Gasp, this is—!"
While Wang Hu remained calm upon seeing Creuset on the screen, Kira and Mu clearly lacked the same composure.
"Is this even human?"
Instinctively wanting to cover his mouth, Kira's hand instead touched the faceplate of his combat helmet.
Mu was only slightly better off than Kira; he repeatedly gasped in disbelief, unable to accept that Creuset had become what he saw now.
A form that could hardly be considered human!
After all, a brain suspended in a glowing green liquid, housed in what resembled a specimen jar, could in no way be associated with a human being!
"Have you met George Gurein?"
After a long silence, Wang Hu tentatively asked.
"George Gurein?"
While anyone might claim not to know who that name referred to, Kira was certainly familiar with it.
Wasn't the name spoken by his elder brother Wang Hu that of the very first Coordinator?
But hadn't that pioneer of Coordinators been assassinated by anti-Coordinator Naturals?
He had already become a part of human history!
"So, you do know about him."
Creuset seemed unsurprised, though it was unclear how a brain in a jar could convey such an unmistakable expression.
Nevertheless, that was precisely the impression Wang Hu, Kira, and the others received.
"Sometimes I wonder, it seems like no secret in this world remains veiled before you, before your East Asian Alliance."
"You always know every truth in this world."
He must have been speaking with a smile, as only Creuset's disembodied brain remained, his voice slowly echoing through the communicator.
"But your East Asian Alliance's days of ease are numbered. Your East Asian Alliance is too dangerous—more perilous than PLANT itself!"
"What do you mean?"
A vague sense of unease surged in Wang Hu's heart. Staring at Creuset's brain, he thought of those subtle organizations that operated only in the shadows in the normal timeline.
Like that bizarre institution, the Library—any weapon they handled would see its power inexplicably multiply exponentially.
Their displayed technological prowess even surpassed that of the three major nations of the Allied Forces and PLANT!
And then there were those seemingly insignificant but crucial components of Lacus's faction—like the junk dealers, for instance.
Could it be that all these factions are about to stand against the East Asian Army?
"Care to guess?"
Hearing Creuset say this, Wang Hu would swear that the pre-brain-in-a-jar Creuset would never have spoken like this.
Frowning, Wang Hu decided not to waste words. It didn't matter whether Creuset was now just a brain in a jar.
As long as he was still Creuset, that was enough. A scourge like Creuset deserved death!
Wang Hu completely abandoned his previous idea of recruiting talent like a stamp collector, of trying to bring Creuset over to the East Asian Army.
Suddenly, before Kira and the others could react, Wang Hu's Lightning Z Gundam surged forward with explosive force.
It charged at incredible speed toward Creuset's Prototype Chaos Gundam!
Clearly, Wang Hu intended to kick Creuset back into hell right here, right now.
"The door to the world has been opened, Wang Hu!"
"The door you tried to close will once again swallow your ambitions!"
"This time, you cannot stop it. Never, ever stop it!"
Facing Wang Hu's surprise attack, the current Creuset appeared exceptionally composed.
The Prototype Chaos Gundam might not match the imposing presence of the Destiny Gundam in appearance.
Yet its reputation as the "Widowmaker," earned through its four thrusters, was no empty boast.
Just as Wang Hu was about to reach Creuset,
without changing direction or any warning, the Prototype Chaos Gundam—which even elite Coordinators couldn't perfectly control—
was wielded at full capacity by the brain-in-a-jar Creuset. With a simple acceleration maneuver,
Creuset effortlessly dodged Wang Hu's attack. Wang Hu's usually proud speed, when faced with the Prototype Chaos Gundam,
seemed somewhat inadequate!
Moreover, Creuset didn't just evade Wang Hu's attack. As Wang Hu's Lightning Z Gundam and the Prototype Chaos Gundam passed each other,
four Dragoon-like pods launched from Creuset's new mobile suit.
To Kira and Mu's horrified eyes, these were clearly large Dragoon systems, their fronts and entire bodies covered with Beam Sabers!
"What in the world!"
Not just Kira and the others, even Wang Hu himself was shocked.
His Lightning Z Gundam couldn't match the speed of Creuset's Prototype Chaos Gundam, but could becoming a brain-in-a-jar
really improve mobile suit control efficiency this much?
Just now, with that move Creuset pulled off, even I would have been a few seconds slower!
"Boom!"
But Wang Hu was truly Wang Hu—despite such a close-range sudden attack, he still managed to block Creuset's ambush with his shield in time.
Though Wang Hu's shield could withstand the heat generated by a single machine plunging into the atmosphere and the friction with the atmospheric layers, it couldn't completely block Creuset's Dragoons Beam Pods. Staring at the Dragoons that had pierced through the shield and were still drilling toward the Lightning Z Gundam's main body, Wang Hu hastily threw the shield away and drew his Beam Saber, parrying repeatedly to fend off the remaining Dragoons Pods.
"What's wrong, Wang Hu? This doesn't seem like the Kirin Wang Hu we know."
Creuset's voice echoed from the Prototype Chaos Gundam, its movements as swift as a phantom. The sharpness of its turns made Kira and Mu's teeth ache.
While Wang Hu was still entangled with the Dragoons Pods released by the Prototype Chaos Gundam, Creuset, having turned back, extended the two Beam Claws on his machine. Like a golden eagle, the king of the sky, swooping down on its chosen prey on the ground, Creuset charged fiercely, aiming to gouge six large holes in Wang Hu's body with his claws.
"Brother Wang Hu!"
For the first time, Kira witnessed the seemingly invincible Wang Hu truly at a disadvantage. Seeing the Prototype Chaos Gundam charging straight at Wang Hu, Kira quickly raised his Rainbow Cannon and fired a series of lethal, precise beams at Creuset's machine.
Unfortunately, the Prototype Chaos Gundam paid no attention to Kira. In the past, it was always Wang Hu who relied on speed to evade enemy attacks effortlessly, but now Creuset was enjoying the same treatment. With subtle adjustments to his machine's posture, Creuset's directional changes were imperceptible to the naked eye, as if it required no effort at all.
Kira's attacks probably didn't even qualify as an itch to him. Unaffected, Creuset in the Prototype Chaos Gundam had only Wang Hu in his mind.
(End of Chapter)