Kingdom of Foundation, an unknown port.
As a coastal nation, Foundation naturally had more than just the Torrington Port, but Torrington was the most famous due to its large area and investment.
With the destruction of Torrington Port and the reduction in Blue Cosmos's investment, some of the business that originally belonged to Torrington Port was now diverted to other ports.
In a large warehouse at this port, Clotho Buer, leaning on a railing with a silver flask in his hand, was startled as he looked at a colossal mobile suit with a vaguely familiar shape.
He brought the flask to his lips again, took a sip, and screwed the cap back on.
Although he had received the medicine again and was no longer in such pain, the habit of drinking remained.
"What's wrong with this machine?"
Looking at the mobile suit in front of him, Clotho raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall the Destroy in the intelligence looking like this."
The machine in front had no external armor, exposing its frame and internal structure. Many workers were currently disassembling its components. It was clearly equipped with numerous beam cannons, adhering to the Destroy's design philosophy, but its exterior did not resemble the previous Destroy; instead, it looked more like an enlarged Raider Gundam. The mobile suit was currently resting quietly on support racks in its MS form.
"Oh, this is the Destroy G-Type. Its appearance and some structures reference your Raider Gundam." A man in work clothes adjusted his hat. "It's the product of further development after the Destroy was completed and entered production. This is the only unit, serving as a test machine."
"Thanks to the Neutron Jammer Canceller technology you people recovered, this unit uses nuclear power."
The man in work clothes shrugged. "But now the higher-ups have given us new performance targets. This machine needs performance optimization and will probably take a while before it's ready for its official combat debut."
After all, Earth was now completely controlled by the Earth Alliance. Neutral countries had long since joined the Alliance. Even if a ZAFT warship managed to enter Earth, without resupply, destroying that warship was only a matter of time.
'But that ZAFT warship was truly reckless... crashing straight into Earth like that. Aren't they worried about not being able to get out?'
"By the way, where is your squad?"
At this point, the man in work clothes, who seemed to have noticed something, narrowed his eyes. "Why aren't they here?"
"They just escorted the Destroy here. Garuda hasn't even arrived yet, so what's the rush?"
Clotho pushed off the railing and stood up. "I gave them a day off. After being chased all the way back, they need to relax for a bit, as they aren't Boosted Man like me."
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Having obtained the ID card issued by the Kingdom of Foundation, Shinn did not follow Rey or Lunamaria. Instead, he sped along the coastal road on his motorcycle, letting the unfamiliar yet slightly familiar sea breeze rush into his face.
Turning off the main road and stopping on the ground covered in gravel and sand, Shinn took off his helmet. The cry of the seagulls reached his ears. This overly secluded location made Shinn instinctively relax.
Shinn casually pulled a small handheld video camera from his waist bag and started filming the sea.
"Today is the fifth day since returning to Earth. I'm currently in the Kingdom of Foundation. I'm sorry, Mayu, but due to the mission, I have to maintain radio silence and can only send you a video."
Shinn habitually spoke to the camera in recording mode, turning the camera to film the surroundings.
After the Minerva set sail, Shinn couldn't contact Mayu, so he could only record some videos to send to her later when he had the chance.
Otherwise, he estimated that if he disappeared for so long, the next time he saw Mayu, she would swing her already proficiently used prosthetic limb and knock him flying.
"On the way here, I saw our old home from afar... yeah, it's still a ruin. The Earth Forces have no intention of occupying it since the mass driver there was blown up."
Shinn filmed for a while and was about to stop.
At that moment, mixed with the sound of waves and seagulls, a seemingly casual humming started, a song with no discernible words.
Shinn subconsciously looked in the direction of the singing, but upon seeing the figure, he instinctively frowned.
The blonde girl, who had previously bumped into him on the street in PLANT and whose behavior was somewhat odd, had appeared here. Still wearing that purple-and-white dress, she was performing a carefree dance not far away.
"It's her? But wasn't she from PLANT?"
Recalling their first meeting on PLANT, Shinn narrowed his eyes.
Considering the previous MS theft incident and the fact that this girl had appeared on both Earth and ZAFT territory, Shinn turned off the camera, intending to go over and find out the truth.
It was better to believe it than not. If he really caught the person who stole the MS or a spy, the reward money would be substantial.
But clearly, the girl was in her own world, completely unaware of Shinn gradually approaching her, and continued to dance.
Suddenly, as if completely oblivious that she was at the edge of the cliff, the girl missed a step and tumbled from the cliff into the sea.
"Huh?! Does she not look where she's going?!"
Seeing the girl plunge smoothly from the cliff into the sea and immediately start struggling, Shinn was momentarily stunned.
"If you can't swim, don't go near the sea!"
Truthfully, he was starting to doubt his judgment. If she were really a spy or the MS thief, there was no way she couldn't swim. The way this girl acted made her seem like she suffered from a mental illness like autism.
However, even if he wanted to confirm his suspicions, the girl needed to survive first. Shinn could already see her struggling weakening.
Casually placing his waist bag on the motorcycle, Shinn quickly ran to the cliff where the girl fell.
After quickly estimating the girl's current position, Shinn tore off his shirt. After a short running start, he leaped off the cliff and plummeted towards the sea.
The touch of the seawater, unfamiliar yet slightly familiar, activated Shinn's swimming instinct. He quickly located the girl, propelled himself with his limbs, and swam toward the target.
Shinn and Mayu, who grew up in Orb, both had decent swimming skills. However, given Mayu's current physical condition, swimming was likely out of the question; the weight of her prosthetic limbs would cause her to sink immediately upon entering the water.
With a slightly rusty motion, Shinn circled behind the still-struggling girl, wrapped his arm around her waist, and lifted her face out of the water.
"Whoa..."
Perhaps because the girl was exhausted, or sensing the goodwill of the person lifting her out of the water, she didn't struggle further but clung to him like a lifeline, breathing heavily.
"Calm down. Don't move. I'm taking you to the shore now."
Seeing that the girl didn't instinctively resist, Shinn sighed in relief. If a drowning victim struggled violently, the rescuer would also be in danger.
Fortunately, there were no waves right now. Otherwise, dragging a person, it would be difficult for Shinn to get close to the shore, even though the so-called "shore" was just a small strip of land beneath the cliff.
"Ugh... so heavy. Although, she looks so frail."
Feeling the force required to drag the girl, Shinn's eyes widened.
'How can this girl, who is so thin, have such high bone density?!'
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Finally, their feet touched solid ground again. Shinn, utterly exhausted, and the girl, still shaken, were both panting heavily.
"You idiot... if you can't swim, don't go near the ocean!" Shinn looked at the disheveled girl and frowned. "Without me, you would have drowned, do you understand?!"
Just one second after finishing that sentence, Shinn watched the girl's shaken expression change instantly, displaying an emotion called "fear."
"Dying... I'll die?!"
"No... no!"
As if a switch had been flipped, the girl instinctively struggled to stand up, her sleeves splashing large amounts of seawater, and she ran away from Shinn.
She turned and began walking back toward the sea, which made Shinn's heart almost stop.
"Hey! Wait a minute!!"
Seeing the scene unfold, Shinn squeezed out what little recovered energy he had, pushing against the resistance of the water, and quickly moved toward the girl.
After all, he hadn't asked his questions yet... although the possibility of getting any information seemed greatly diminished now.
Shinn grabbed the girl's waist again, attempting to prevent her from moving further into the sea.
But in the next second, due to the girl's struggling, Shinn took at least five elbow strikes in rapid succession. The girl's attack frequency was practically comparable to the legendary "Mamba Elbow King" on the internet.
However, this confirmed one thing for Shinn.
"This girl... she really has a mental illness, doesn't she? Is she truly a spy?"
Enduring the girl's elbow strikes, Shinn began to doubt his initial instinct.
.....................