Watching Creuset—who, because of a single taunt from him, could cast aside what was practically a blood feud with Wang Hu—turn around and charge furiously toward him, Mu in the Strike Gundam's cockpit felt his mouth go unusually dry.
Now savoring the implications, Mu mulled over Creuset's earlier words. Could it be that Creuset had some entanglement with his long-dead father?
"Hey, Creuset, let's talk this through!"
Mu wanted to rescue Wang Hu, but he had no intention of drawing the full focus of Creuset's clearly enraged attention onto himself. So he urgently executed a standard evasive maneuver in space, while also attempting to somewhat pacify the single-brained Creuset—hoping to calm his rage and avoid becoming the target of the same firepower that had been directed at Wang Hu.
"Mu La Flaga, you're still so disappointing!"
Awakened by Mu's words to countless sleepless nights of tossing and turning in agony, Creuset felt nothing but anger looking at Mu, who was now speaking softly to him. This fury and resentment even surpassed his hatred for Wang Hu!
"If you hadn't been so useless, if you could have lived up to Al Da Flaga's expectations... I would never have come into existence, I would never have descended into this hell!"
Deploying the three intact Dragoon Pods still on his unit, Creuset decided: Wang Hu might be spared, but Mu must die!
"What kind of grudge is this? What kind of hatred?"
Mu was genuinely shocked—more so than when he first saw Creuset reduced to a brain appearing before him. With a mouth full of bitterness, Mu understood he was in serious trouble.
Observing Creuset's Dragoon Pods spiraling toward him, Mu—an expert in this very system and former pilot of the Moebius Zero—sadly realized that Wang Hu's defeat wasn't unjustified. Just by briefly attempting to aim his Beam Rifle at the pods, he noted their incredible speed and how they instantly changed direction the moment his sights aligned, evading targeting completely. Using conventional methods to shoot down these elf-like pods was utterly impossible!
Gritting his teeth, Mu, known as Endymion's Hawk, had his own pride. Although his performance and status in the Archangel's prolonged battles had diminished significantly compared to the original timeline—largely due to Wang Hu's presence, to the point of being almost irrelevant—when pushed to the brink, the usually laid-back Mu lived up to his famous motto:
"Don't talk like you're my father! I am Mu La Flaga, the man who turns impossible miracles into reality!"
If he couldn't hit the Dragoon Pods, then he wouldn't bother. As long as he ensured he wasn't hit himself, the threat of the pods was zero. Sending a request for coordinated combat to Kira nearby, Mu prepared to use himself as bait, drawing all of Creuset's attention to create an opening for Kira to launch a surprise attack and teach the brain-in-a-tank Creuset a lesson!
Mu retracted the beam rifle in his hand and drew his beam saber, embracing the mindset of fighting with desperate determination.
He swiftly assumed a menacing stance and charged toward the main body of the Prototype Chaos Gundam piloted by Creuset.
"I am your father! I am the continuation of your father!"
"I am the dream of your pitiful father who longed for immortality!"
Little did Mu expect that before his plan could even properly unfold, Creuset's next words nearly caused him to stumble and get hit by a Dragoon Pod.
It was because of these seemingly brief yet information-packed statements.
That Mu and Kira's coordination severely deteriorated, almost resulting in a failed attempt at gaining an advantage.
The Prototype Chaos Gundam effortlessly evaded Mu's assault and, with little difficulty, dodged Kira's Rainbow Cannon.
With an indescribable emotion, Creuset recalled his Dragoon Pods to readjust their trajectory.
He then revealed truths to Mu and Kira—information they could only learn from him and might never discover elsewhere.
"Al Da Flaga, your father—that arrogant man, that conceited man—was utterly disappointed in you, Mu."
"In his eyes, how could someone as exceptional as him produce such a failure of a descendant."Dissatisfied with your performance and completely negating your existence, I, Rau Le Creuset, came into this world.""
"As the continuation of your father, as his clone!"
"As another proof of his perfect life in this world!"
"What nonsense! How could such a thing happen!"
Kira urgently interrupted Creuset's speech, because right beside him, Mu—who had heard every word—remained motionless in his Strike Gundam. Through the internal comms video, Kira could see Mu's stunned expression.
First, there was Brother Wang Hu, and now if Lieutenant Colonel Mu were to fall to Creuset as well...
Kira in the Freedom Gundam simply didn't know.
What expression he should wear when facing Lieutenant Colonel Li Chengzhi at that time.
And all the others on the Archangel who had weathered so many storms.
"Kira, you are the dream of all humanity in the human world."
"Possessing a stronger physique, greater intelligence, and superior immune capabilities."
"Before Wang Hu appeared, you were the most perfect human!Kira's silence might have been better, for the moment he spoke, Creuset redirected his firepower toward him.
"Do you know how you were born? Do you know who your biological father is?"
"Hahaha, pitiful youth, you have been living a lie all along!"
"In fact, you should be grateful to Mu's father, my original, Al Da Flaga. If it weren't for him..."
"You would have died in an artificial womb like countless of your brothers, never even born!"
"I..."
Stunned, Kira's jaw dropped in disbelief. So this matter involved me too?
Aren't my parents just an ordinary Natural couple from Orb?
Am I not just a somewhat talented first-generation Coordinator?
His mind throbbed faintly from Creuset's words, uncertain whether they were true or false.
But looking at Creuset's confident and assertive manner, Kira's heart suddenly sank. His intuition told him that Creuset's words were likely true.
The three present—Mu, Creuset, and himself—shared a deep, tangled history and bonds.
"Enough of your nonsense, Creuset!"
At that moment, Wang Hu, piloting the severely damaged Lightning Z Gundam, charged back and interrupted Creuset's rant. With only one intact hand gripping a Beam Saber, he could have quietly retreated from the battlefield while Creuset's attention was diverted to Kira and the others. But he didn't; he still returned.
"What can you possibly do in this state?"
Observing Wang Hu's unsteady flight, flames spewing from his damaged thrusters, Creuset inside the Prototype Chaos Gundam spoke disdainfully.
"And Wang Hu, knowing the full truth, do you dare tell them in their presence that what I said is false?"
"Even if you lie against your conscience, as long as they go to Mendel and see the ruins of the former laboratory of Doctor Yulian Xiang, everything will be revealed!"
"No need for your concern! I'll handle what comes later!"
Shouting at Creuset, the Lightning Z Gundam mustered all its strength and hurled the Beam Saber toward him.
"Wang Hu, is that all you've got?"
Surprised that Wang Hu had thrown his only remaining weapon of any lethality—the Beam Saber—Creuset grew even more convinced that he had driven Wang Hu into a corner, just as Wang Hu had repeatedly done to him before.
Effortlessly maneuvering his mobile suit to dodge, Creuset deployed his Dragoon Pods, intending to finish off Wang Hu first.
Originally, if Wang Hu had been sensible and slipped away quietly, Creuset had mentally prepared to let him go this time, to avoid being surrounded by the East Asian Army returning from the Boaz Fortress battle.
But as the saying goes, "Heaven's road you won't take; hell's gate you insist on entering." So, he had no choice but to send Wang Hu on his way first.
"What?"
Just as Creuset's plans were falling into place and he was about to dispatch Wang Hu, the external detectors of the Prototype Chaos Gundam alerted him: Wang Hu had forcibly switched the Lightning Z Gundam into MA Mode, maximizing its speed like a speeding arrow aiming to pierce through him!
"Futile struggle."
"If your mobile suit were intact, the Lightning Z Gundam in MA Mode might have been able to compete with me in speed. But in this half-wrecked state, it poses no threat to me!"
After shifting positions a few times and noting that the Lightning Z Gundam had abandoned all defense, its flight path simplistic and easily predictable to maintain speed, Creuset saw no reason to hold back. The Dragoon Pods activated their Beam Sabers and, with lightning speed, three pods simultaneously impaled Wang Hu's Lightning Z Gundam. To ensure Wang Hu's certain death, Creuset hesitated for a moment inside the Prototype Chaos Gundam, then adhered to the principle of "no pain, no gain."
He didn't even bother retrieving the Dragoons' pods, treating these three pods as farewell gifts for Wang Hu's final journey!
"Goodbye, damnable Wang Hu!"
His eyes fixed intently on the pod containing his own Dragoons, the Lightning Z Gundam exploded into a ball of flames in space.
The brain of Creuset, now confined to a tank, trembled with excitement.
"Finally, finally, finally that damnable Wang Hu has paid the price!"
The very Wang Hu who had driven him to this wretched state was dead, and Creuset burst into uproarious laughter.
The biggest stumbling block on his path to ambition was now gone.
Could anything bring greater joy than this?
Compared to this triumph, even his current deformed state seemed acceptable.
After all, the entire world would soon accompany him, Creuset, to the grave!
"Don't celebrate too early - he who laughs last laughs best."
Suddenly, just as Creuset reached the peak of his excitement, that detestable voice of Wang Hu unexpectedly rang through their communication channel.
"Still alive?"
His laughter caught in his nonexistent throat, Creuset strained forward to look.
He saw Wang Hu standing on the right shoulder of the Freedom Gundam.
Clad in his Space Combat Suit, Wang Hu swept his arm from left to right and shouted:
"Kira, open fire!"
Instantly following the coordinates provided by Big Brother Wang Hu from his shoulder position, Kira pulled the trigger of the Rainbow Cannon without hesitation.
(End of Chapter)