Reid had a nightmare where he fell into a sea composed of various Crimson Flitters and plasma.
These flitters were relatively polite, not demanding his life or threatening to drag him down with them. Instead, they gave him an internal and external blood bath, thoroughly disgusting him before tossing him out of the blood sea.
The moment he was thrown out, Reid jolted awake to find an unfamiliar ceiling above him... Glancing around, he spotted a man by his bedside?
Well, the ceiling wasn't actually unfamiliar—it was the medical bay ceiling of the Granshaow. The man was real, but someone he knew: Mu, sitting in a chair by the bed, wearing a sleep mask, head tilted back in slumber, with his stinky-socked feet propped up on the end of Reid's bed.
Reid concluded that Mu wasn't here to care for him but to annoy him to death. Irritated, he kicked Mu's feet off the bed.
Naturally, Mu woke up from the kick, checked his watch sleepily, and said to Reid,
"Huh? You're awake, Reid? You've been out for a while—almost 24 hours. But keep it down; Praya hasn't woken up yet."
Only then did Reid notice Praya Reveley lying in the adjacent bed.
So that explained it—Mu wasn't here for him at all. He was here for Praya.
Seeing Reid fall silent, Mu smirked teasingly and quipped,
"What? Disappointed I'm not here for you? Serves you right.
"You've got luck with women so good it makes every man want to strangle you. Wanna guess how many hours out of those 24 you had at least three women by your side? At one point, there were so many I couldn't even get into the medical bay.
"But things seem tense outside. Both PLANT and the Earth Alliance have come visiting, so your harem's gone to receive them. Murrue and Bargiruel went back to their own ships to avoid suspicion.
"As for your twin bodyguards, they've gone to help Queen Angelise hold the fort. That's why it's just me here."
Hearing this, Reid felt slightly better. For a moment, he had indeed felt a pang of loneliness—after all, he'd woken up with no one by his side.
Now that he knew the women were just busy, he stopped dwelling on it and began checking his physical condition to see if there were any aftereffects from using the Star Inheritor skill to activate Soul Burst Mode.
After moving his limbs slightly, Reid felt completely normal, including his depleted mental energy, which had fully recovered upon waking.
He got out of bed and started doing some basic warm-up exercises to test if larger movements caused any issues.
Mu didn't stop him—the doctors had already given Reid a thorough examination inside and out, confirming there was nothing wrong with him. His collapse had just been due to extreme fatigue. Otherwise, no matter how busy they were, at least a few of his admirers would have stayed to watch over him.
The doctor's assessment proved correct. Reid finished his entire warm-up routine without feeling any physical issues, aside from some hunger from not eating for 24 hours.
Just then, the medical bay door swung open, and Lacus and Flay walked in.
Lacus looked at Reid standing by the bedside and exclaimed in pleasant surprise:
"Mr. Reid! You're awake!"
Reid was somewhat surprised to see Lacus. In the original story, didn't the Three Ships Alliance leave immediately after the battle ended? Even if she wanted to find him, shouldn't she have come discreetly? Right now, both Murrue and Bargiruel had returned to their own ships to avoid any suspicion from the Atlantic Federation, so why was Lacus still here? Weren't there people from PLANT arriving as well?
Lacus was unusually sharp at this moment. Noticing Reid's surprise, she immediately played the victim before he could voice his question, saying:
"Mr. Reid, that expression of yours... Could it be that you actually dislike me and don't want to see me?"
The way Lacus phrased this left Reid with no good answer—whether he said yes or no would be problematic. Behind her, Flay showed an irritated expression, probably cursing Lacus in her mind as a "little bitch."
However, seeing Flay gave Reid an excuse. He replied directly:
"Lacus, don't try to trap me with your words. I'm just a little surprised to see you and Flay appearing together."
Hearing this, Lacus flashed an angelic smile and gracefully stepped closer to Reid, saying:
"Mr. Reid, Miss Flay and I have no conflicts. Why wouldn't we be able to walk together?"
Reid really didn't want to discuss Lacus's social maneuvers with her—this girl was too cunning, and without the original script, it was hard for him to see through all her schemes.
Fortunately, Flay came to his rescue. She didn't give Lacus any face and bluntly stated:
"Chairman Reid, I was merely assigned by Queen Angelise to accompany Miss Lacus on a tour of the ship. After all, there are many restricted areas aboard. It wouldn't be good if Miss Lacus accidentally wandered into one."
Reid nodded at Flay, acknowledging that this made sense. The Granshaow was, after all, a military vessel—there was no way they'd let Lacus roam around freely.
Ignoring the still-cutesy Lacus beside him, Reid walked out of the infirmary and said:
"There are still patients in the infirmary. Let's talk outside. I'm fine physically, but I'm hungry now and need to grab some bread from the cafeteria. Then I'll go see what nonsense the Earth Alliance and PLANT have stirred up that forced Ange to go deal with them."
With Reid leaving, Lacus and Flay naturally followed, and the three of them headed to the cafeteria together.
On the way, Lacus kept fawning over Reid—first suggesting that since he hadn't eaten all day, he shouldn't have bread right away and should have some porridge instead, then recommending that he get another medical checkup just to be safe.
Reid found Lacus's constant chattering around him utterly exasperating. Moreover, he had a feeling she was trying to steer him toward a medical examination, which seemed suspicious.
However, Reid wasn't ready to call her out yet. He still didn't know how his use of the Star Inheritor ability appeared to outsiders, so it was best to avoid the topic for now.
Instead, he changed the subject and asked Lacus:
"By the way, Lacus, since you're on the Granshaow, where are Athrun and Kira? They're not here too, are they?"
The moment Reid asked this question, Lacus's expression instantly darkened, and even Flay behind her looked somewhat uneasy.
Reid thought to himself—the war was already over. What kind of trouble could Kira and Athrun possibly be causing now?
Since Reid hadn't lost any memories from the Soul Burst period, his first thought was whether he might have seriously injured Kira with that kick.
But the Freedom Gundam probably wasn't that fragile—his kick shouldn't have been enough to give Kira severe internal injuries, right?
Fortunately, before Reid could ask which infirmary Kira was in, Flay took the initiative to comment sarcastically:
"Kira's mental resilience is just too weak. After returning, he went to the Archangel to talk with that Canard Pars guy for a while. Then after leaving the prison cell, he locked himself in his room and refused to come out no matter who called. Miriallia tried everything to coax him, but he wouldn't even open the door—he had to have meals left outside. After all this time on the battlefield, who'd have thought he'd still be such a coward."
Flay's assessment was quite harsh. Hearing this, Lacus couldn't help but defend Kira:
"Miss Flay, there are actually significant circumstances involved. I can't say too much as it concerns Kira's origins, but his current state is understandable."
Reid immediately realized Kira must have been verbally destroyed by Canard Pars. In terms of verbal sparring, the current Kira was still far from skilled. Moreover, having previously fought against Creuset, his psychological defenses had likely already been breached once before. This time, he was essentially hit while already vulnerable.
But Kira's mental state wasn't Reid's concern—Flay was on his side. So instead of defending Kira, Reid jokingly said:
"Lacus, you don't understand. What you should do is get Athrun to break down the door and have an... intense discussion with Kira. Sometimes, when guys get scolded or fight it out, many things suddenly become clear."
Reid was joking, but Lacus seemed to take it seriously, actually considering the possibility of asking Athrun to intervene. After all, even she couldn't stand seeing Kira like this.
Moreover, this time Lacus didn't plan to spend a long time helping Kira overcome his trauma—she wanted to resolve the issue quickly.
Reid now realized he might have unintentionally screwed Kira over again, but he wasn't about to take back his words. Athrun definitely wouldn't actually hurt Kira anyway.
With Lacus deep in thought, silence dominated the rest of the journey.
Thus, Reid smoothly grabbed a red bean bun and a carton of milk from the cafeteria, eating as he headed to the meeting room. Finally, at the meeting room entrance, under the security guard's "I saw nothing" gaze, he handed the plastic wrapper and empty milk carton to Flay—after all, neither she nor Lacus could enter.
Then, Reid entered the meeting room without even knocking.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a European-American woman speaking with an air of saintly compassion:
"Queen Angelise, I believe peace negotiations should begin as soon as possible—it would benefit us all. All nations in the Earth sphere continue to suffer from war. The sooner the war officially ends, the sooner the people can find relief."
However, the woman's performance was abruptly interrupted by Reid's entrance.
Just as she was about to express her displeasure, she realized it was Reid who had entered and instantly changed her expression, flashing a radiant smile.
Ange and Noin were pleasantly surprised to see Reid enter. Ange immediately stood up and walked over to Reid, asking—
"How did you get up from the infirmary? Are you still feeling unwell? I can handle things here—maybe you should rest a bit longer?"
In response to Ange's concern, Reid simply took her hand and gave it a reassuring pat, then exchanged a glance with Noin to put them both at ease.
He then had someone bring a chair and sat down right beside Ange, surveying the people at the conference table before speaking.
"Huh, all new faces today. My apologies—I just came from the infirmary and haven't reviewed the visitor list. Perhaps you could all introduce yourselves first?"
Reid's move was a deliberate power play. The political landscape of Earth's sphere had shifted—the three nations of the Earth Alliance and PLANT had suffered heavy losses, while the New Miserly Kingdom remained relatively unscathed. Given that, Reid could afford to be assertive, and the four factions had no choice but to tolerate it.
Unsurprisingly, none of the diplomats present dared to offend Reid, so they each introduced themselves.
Truth be told, Reid hadn't heard of any of the three male and one female diplomats from the Earth Alliance and PLANT, so he didn't bother remembering their names—just their nationalities would suffice.
The woman who had spoken earlier was the diplomat from the Atlantic Federation. Reid could sense her scrutinizing him with ill intent, and the other three diplomats harbored no goodwill toward him either. Clearly, they had already coordinated beforehand, preparing to gang up on him.
Don't think it's impossible for the Atlantic Federation and PLANT to join forces just one day after exchanging devastating weapons.
Alliances between nations are determined solely by interests and objectives—especially when those objectives have little to do with their bilateral relations.
If the Atlantic Federation and PLANT both aimed to weaken the New Miserly Kingdom, then an alliance between them wouldn't be strange at all.
So Reid addressed the female diplomat from the Atlantic Federation directly.
"Madam, I overheard you mentioning the need to expedite peace negotiations when I entered. But I have a question—why are you asking my country about it? Are you suggesting we act as witnesses? If that's the case, I don't see a problem."
The Atlantic Federation diplomat inwardly acknowledged that Reid Isaac was indeed a tough opponent—with just a few words, he had neatly excused the New Miserly Kingdom from the negotiations.
She smiled and replied,
"Chairman Reid, you jest. Your nation contributed greatly to the war against PLANT, and you personally fought to the point of exhaustion and collapse. By all rights, the subsequent peace negotiations should not exclude your country. Moreover, without your input, any agreement we reach would lack significance."
Listening to her, Reid pieced together the likely terms of the Earth Alliance and PLANT's peace treaty based on the original world's outcome—and realized how the four nations planned to trap him.
If the New Miserly Kingdom were fooled into joining the negotiations now, the Earth Alliance and PLANT would inevitably push for a return to pre-war borders. Any opposition from the New Miserly Kingdom would then be framed as obstructing peace.
By then, withdrawing from the talks would be too late—the Earth Alliance and PLANT would pin the blame for failed negotiations on the New Miserly Kingdom, then quickly restart discussions and reach an agreement among themselves.
If the New Miserly Kingdom refused to withdraw and deliberately dragged its feet, the ensuing public opinion environment would be predictable. Moreover, this would allow the Atlantic Federation to let the New Miserly Kingdom take the brunt of the damage while they continued to hold onto the territories of the South American Union.
Thus, Reid's response to the flattery of the Atlantic Federation's female diplomat was simple. He frowned and said bluntly:
"Madam, it is you who are joking. May I ask, do I—or rather, does the Earth Alliance—have any war disputes with me?"
Upon hearing this, the Atlantic Federation's female diplomat naturally answered "No" immediately. If she hesitated even slightly and gave the New Miserly Kingdom grounds to seize upon her words, she would undoubtedly be summoned before Congress for questioning upon her return.
Before the diplomat could utter another word, Reid pressed on:
"Hmm, just as I remembered. Then let me ask another question: as far as I recall, the New Miserly Kingdom has not joined the Earth Alliance, correct?"
There was naturally only one answer to this. The Earth Alliance had indeed invited the New Miserly Kingdom to join, but the latter had publicly refused every time.
After receiving another negative answer, Reid looked at the increasingly flustered Atlantic Federation diplomat and asked again:
"Since my country is neither at war with the Earth Alliance nor part of the same organization, why should we directly participate in negotiations between the Earth Alliance and PLANT?
If PLANT truly has peaceful intentions, they should negotiate separately with my country rather than forcing us to join the Earth Alliance's negotiations. Don't you agree, sir from PLANT?"
The PLANT diplomat inwardly cursed—how had a trap dug by the Atlantic Federation ended up with him taking the fall? Truly, the Atlantic Federation was utterly untrustworthy.
However, Reid's gaze was far from friendly at this moment, and the New Miserly Kingdom's fleet was still stationed near PLANT's homeland. Given Reid Isaac's actions after shooting down Genesis, PLANT would undoubtedly be unable to withstand an attack from the New Miserly Kingdom now.
Thus, the PLANT diplomat didn't hesitate for even a second before replying:
"Naturally, PLANT sincerely wishes to re-establish international relations with the New Miserly Kingdom and restore peace.
We never intended for the New Miserly Kingdom to be involved in our negotiations with the Earth Alliance. As you said, PLANT merely hoped for your country to serve as a witness and to borrow your esteemed land as a venue for the talks."
With PLANT's diplomat backing down, the diplomats from the three Earth Alliance nations realized their plan to trap the New Miserly Kingdom had failed.
Instantly, the three diplomats shifted their rhetoric, agreeing with PLANT's diplomat and claiming they had only come to request a neutral negotiation site, as neither the Earth Alliance nor PLANT trusted each other's territory for talks.
Seeing this, Reid let the matter drop. He had no intention of interfering in the negotiations between the Earth Alliance and PLANT—whatever the outcome, it was none of his concern.
After all, there was no way the Atlantic Federation and PLANT would ever set aside their mutual prejudice and hatred.
The Atlantic Federation had already fired nuclear missiles at PLANT's homeland, whereas the New Miserly Kingdom, despite having the capability, had never attacked PLANT's territory. As long as PLANT wasn't foolish, they would inevitably adjust their policies and do everything possible to improve relations with the New Miserly Kingdom.
Of course, easing relations and weakening the New Miserly Kingdom weren't mutually exclusive, so Reid still had to guard against PLANT.
Since the negotiations didn't involve the New Miserly Kingdom, Ange, as queen, naturally didn't need to stay.
The diplomats from the four nations weren't important enough for Ange to entertain. So when she stood to leave, Reid and Noin also excused themselves, and the Xia sisters, who had been guarding the office, exited the conference room as well.
From here, Brian Eno would preside over and record the meeting, while also serving as a witness for both sides.
Given the identity the system had assigned to Brian Eno—as a veteran of the Eurasian Federation and the current commanding general of the New Miserly Kingdom—he was more than qualified to chair this meeting.
At any rate, the diplomats from the East Asian Republic and PLANT wouldn't object. As for the female diplomat from the Atlantic Federation, if she dared to protest, the Eurasian Federation's diplomat would immediately switch sides and side with Brian Eno to tear into her.
Because if the Eurasian diplomat didn't do so, upon returning home, many high-ranking military officials would come knocking at his door—guns in hand—for a "chat."
Debt from bonus chapters repaid.
(End of chapter)