"Ah, I'm truly fated for a life of hardship."
Sitting in the jeep while gazing at the endless golden desert, Yang Hui sighed helplessly.
"Stop complaining, Yang Hui. I was perfectly fine staying in space, yet here I am playing bodyguard while eating sand with you," Lyle teased.
"Hmph, as if I don't know you?" Yang Hui rolled his eyes. It wasn't like someone hadn't fought tooth and nail to accompany him on this trip to North Africa to find Cagalli.
After returning from Ame No Minashira to Orb, Yang Hui had been immediately summoned by Uzumi and Yang Hongyu. The first thing he saw were the exhausted and resentful expressions on both elders' faces.
Yang Hui's single trip to Heliopolis had triggered an avalanche of events.
The collapse of Heliopolis, boarding the Archangel, Orb's involvement in the G Project development, using Lacus as leverage for his own safety, and the Eighth Fleet battle...
This series of emergencies left Orb's leadership scrambling. The Atlantic Federation, Eurasian Federation, East Asian Federation, PLANT and other major powers all demanded explanations from Orb about these incidents.
Fortunately, Sumeragi had departed for PLANT immediately after their separation, stabilizing relations with PLANT's leadership while securing significant benefits for Orb.
Meanwhile, Wang Liu Mei's father in this world and Yang Hongyu—following Wang Liu Mei's suggestions—established contact with neutral nations and moderate factions within the Earth Alliance like the East Asian Federation and United States of South Africa. Through private deals, they gained substantial support to counter pressure from the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations, temporarily stabilizing the situation.
But... the events surrounding the Eighth Fleet sent shockwaves through all factions. The appearance of unknown new MS models was concerning but manageable—their impressive combat performance notwithstanding, their limited numbers clearly marked them as specialized units rather than mass-produced threats. However, the Dawn Gundam's capabilities instilled deep apprehension across all powers.
Suddenly, every major faction began attempting to contact Celestial Being through any means necessary, determined to recruit them at all costs. If persuasion failed, coercion would follow—any method was acceptable to obtain the Dawn Gundam's technology.
Moreover, leadership across these powers suspected Celestial Being's mercenary identity was merely a front, and that they were actually Orb operatives.
Evidence? None needed.
The mere pretext allowed them to pressure Orb. Even if Celestial Being wasn't truly affiliated with Orb, the excuse served perfectly to impose sanctions and pressure on the Sleeping Lion—better to keep it permanently asleep!
Thankfully, Wang Liu Mei's swift actions after returning to Orb balanced these competing forces. Through deft diplomacy and sharp negotiations, she temporarily held off the assaults while skillfully extracting numerous concessions, particularly from the Atlantic Federation and PLANT.
The collapse of Heliopolis implicated both sides, and no amount of excuses could counter the ironclad evidence.
When the Atlantic Federation initially tried rallying cries about Earthlings joining their fight against ZAFT and PLANT... Wang Liu Mei shut them down with a single retort.
"Orb is a neutral nation that has always advocated for peaceful coexistence between Naturals and Coordinators. This is internationally recognized by law. Are you disregarding international law?"
Some radicals even threatened Wang Liu Mei with military force, but she calmly informed them that she had just returned from diplomatic talks with PLANT. If the Atlantic Federation insisted on resolving issues through violence, Orb would seek new allies and protectors.
And it didn't need to be said outright who that new ally and protector would be.
When they failed at the national level, they turned to Wang Liu Mei personally—threats, bribes, promises of benefits, all laced with intimidation.
Wang Liu Mei stood firm and refused outright.
One particularly bloated high-ranking official even let his baser instincts get the better of him and made advances toward her. As a result, Setsuna, acting as her bodyguard, made sure he'd never walk straight again.
The Atlantic Federation tried to use this as leverage to threaten Wang Liu Mei, but before they could act, she struck first. She gathered media outlets of all sizes and exposed the incident, emphasizing how she, as a diplomat, had been subjected to unjust treatment by the Atlantic Federation.
The backlash was immediate. Criticism poured in from all levels of society, with even many civilians within the Atlantic Federation joining the outcry.
In the end, they had no choice but to dismiss and detain the offending official. Only after offering Wang Liu Mei numerous concessions did they manage to suppress the scandal.
Meanwhile, on the PLANT side, Sumeragi, accompanied by Tieria, returned for further diplomatic negotiations.
Though Sumeragi was a Tactical Forecaster and not as skilled in diplomacy as Wang Liu Mei, years in this world had taught her much just from observing Wang Liu Mei and Yang Hui handle political affairs. With prepared statements from Wang Liu Mei, keeping PLANT stable wasn't difficult.
Originally, Yang Hui had planned to go to PLANT himself, but…
Now he was stuck in North Africa. What could he say? Only that Uzumi was a damn old bastard! Using an arranged marriage to threaten him!
"You and Cagalli grew up together, childhood friends with deep affection. Why not just make it official? Your father and I have already—"
"You old bastard! If you dare go through with this, I'll leave Orb immediately!"
Yang Hui was so furious he dropped all formalities, outright calling Uzumi an "old bastard." "Childhood friends with deep affection"? Did he not know Yang Hui and Cagalli had been at each other's throats since they were kids? That they were fundamentally incompatible, natural-born rivals?
In the end, cornered by Uzumi, Yang Hui had no choice but to agree to go to North Africa and bring Cagalli back to Orb. At least he could check in on the Archangel and Murrue while he was at it—even if they hadn't been apart for long.
"Tch, that old man's shameless. He was practically rolling on the ground throwing a tantrum," Yang Hui grumbled.
"Pfft—HAHAHAHA!" The moment Yang Hui brought it up, Lyle burst out laughing. On one hand, he'd never seen Yang Hui so flustered before—if only he'd been prepared, he would've recorded it to show everyone back at Prometheus Fortress. On the other hand, who'd have thought Uzumi, the famously stern and upright leader of a nation, could be such a scoundrel?
"What's so funny? Want me to have Uzumi betroth Cagalli to you instead?" Yang Hui snapped.
"Ahaha, let's forget about that. I'm not lucky enough to marry a princess," Lyle said with cold sweat dripping down his back. He'd never interacted with Cagalli personally, but he'd heard plenty about how much she loved causing trouble. He really didn't want to invite that kind of chaos into his life.
"Pfft, princess my ass! What kind of princess keeps disappearing all the time? And even goes crazy enough to join a guerrilla force!?"
"Well, there's one right here—the princess of Orb," Lyle teased. "Speaking of which, Yang Hui, are you really not planning to—"
"Yeah, I've made up my mind."
"Huh?"
Yang Hui wasn't even getting angry at his teasing? That eerie calmness sent chills down Lyle's spine.
"What are you doing!? Put that PAD away, damn it!"
"Focus on driving! We're gonna flip!"
After some playful scuffling, Lyle finally gave up trying to snatch Yang Hui's PAD, and Yang Hui naturally put it away.
Introduce Cagalli to Lyle? As if!
Not just Lyle—none of the core members of Prometheus Fortress in the future would ever get that chance!
If someone like Cagalli ever found out about Prometheus Fortress or Yang Hui's true identity, who knew what kind of disaster she'd stir up?
So she absolutely couldn't be allowed to get close to... to...
"Damn it!"
"What now?" Lyle jumped at the sudden curse.
"Nothing..."
"You're getting weirder by the day."
"Your imagination."
"Sure."
Yang Hui had cursed because he'd suddenly remembered something from the future—Cagalli and that little wolf, no, Athrun's romantic entanglements.
Honestly, Yang Hui still couldn't figure out how Athrun had ever fallen for the "Bear Princess." Did Athrun awaken some maternal instinct and develop a thing for taking care of kids?
Ahem. Regardless of how Athrun ended up with Cagalli, in Yang Hui's memories, the two had a messy on-again, off-again relationship full of betrayals and reconciliations.
In the end, it was unclear whether those two ever truly got together. But honestly, Yang Hui thought that brave little fangirl would have been a better fit for the title of Mrs. Zala. After all, she was the one who sacrificed the most for Athrun and stood by him the longest.
Admittedly, the relationships among the main cast in this world were a tangled mess. Sai's girlfriend turned dark and ended up with Kira, and somehow that became true love. Lacus and Athrun were engaged, but then Athrun got betrayed by his best friend, leading to Flay's dark awakening and eventual demise. Cagalli had feelings for Kira, but just as things were heating up, Uzumi dropped the bombshell that "lovers are actually siblings," so she ended up with Athrun, who was off herding sheep in the green pastures.
And then in the next phase, things got even messier!
Kira and Lacus had a stable relationship, but Athrun and Shin's dynamic was practically a soap opera, wasn't it?
Ahem. He was getting off track again. But... Yang Hui was seriously considering whether he should interfere with Athrun and Cagalli's relationship.
Truthfully, Yang Hui didn't care who Athrun ended up with in the end. His only concern was Cagalli—that girl whose thought process was clearly different from normal people—causing trouble.
"Lyle."
"What's wrong?"
"Say...to avoid future trouble, should I break up a couple in advance?"
"Screech~!!!"
The sudden drift and emergency stop nearly threw Yang Hui out of his seat.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
"What the hell are YOU doing!?"
"Ahem, I was just saying...if we separate a couple who would get together in the future, it might save us some trouble. Should we do it?"
"Jesus! What kind of deep-seated hatred is this? Why would you be so vicious!?"
"...Just asking."
Lyle didn't resume driving. Instead, he lit a cigarette and parked in the desert to chat with Yang Hui. He knew Yang Hui had seen this world's anime, so he must have foreseen some trouble.
But...what kind of trouble could make Yang Hui so concerned, yet be solvable by simply breaking up a couple who aren't even together yet?
"Listen Yang Hui, I don't want to know what the future holds. Besides, you said it yourself—with our involvement, the future is already completely different. So..." Lyle took a deep drag before flicking the cigarette away and looking at Yang Hui, "...you're even planning to elevate a nation like Orb to world supremacy. What else could possibly worry you?"
Hearing this, Yang Hui paused, then cracked a smile as his earlier concerns vanished.
"You're right. Thanks, Lyle."
"Haha, chances to lecture you are rare indeed."
"Shut up and drive!"
"Roger that~"