Reid was dragged out by Une to work. There was no helping it—Reid had been acting a bit deranged lately, so Ange decisively kicked him out of the Royal Palace, forbidding him from returning until bedtime.
As for not coming back? With Murrue and the child in her womb staying at the Royal Palace, Reid would climb over the walls if he had to, just to return.
However, after stepping out to cool off, Reid had no choice but to face reality. He decided to get the work done first. He now had an additional goal: for the sake of his child, he really had to resolve the mess in the CE Universe.
So, Reid went to find Lacus and the others first. The meeting between the Earth Alliance and PLANT was clearly going to take a long time, so he figured he might as well start with the simpler tasks.
Actually, Reid had already met with Lacus and the others a few days earlier. Since Murrue was pregnant, it was only natural for Miriallia and Kira to come visit. And since they were coming, Lacus and Athrun naturally tagged along.
However, at that time, Reid was in no mood to care about what they had been up to after he left, which was why they had only returned now. He had simply entertained them like any other guests, without discussing any serious matters.
Thus, before the summary meeting, Reid began cramming their reports.
Overall, after he left, Lacus and the others hadn't done anything particularly unexpected.
In her own report, Lacus was unusually candid, including many details that were absent from others' reports.
For example, on the day Reid left, she had contacted Reverend Malchio via the Terminal to inquire about the background of the South American branch director of the Junk Guild.
Reid could tell that Lacus's move carried undertones of testing and reproach.
It was clear that Lacus couldn't possibly have the connections on Earth to accommodate so many refugees—those connections must have been provided by Reverend Malchio.
If Malchio claimed ignorance or hinted that Lacus should drop the matter, it would prove that this friend of her father's, this elder who had "watched" her grow up, wasn't as righteous as he appeared.
Although Lacus wouldn't outright break ties with Malchio over this, she would undoubtedly be more cautious around him in the future.
Fortunately, Malchio's response didn't deviate from his established character. Not only did he apologize in his reply, but he also used speculation as a pretext to reveal the higher-level interest network of the South American branch director of the Junk Guild.
Clearly, in Malchio's eyes, a mere regional director of the Junk Guild's South American branch was nowhere near as important as Lacus. After all, the Junk Guild was internally divided, and a regional director simply couldn't compare to someone like Lacus, who had the potential to take control of PLANT in the future.
Reid believed that Malchio knew Lacus had been persuaded by Reid to go to South America, so he definitely didn't want to offend Reid.
It was worth noting that the small island where Malchio lived in seclusion was within the sphere of influence of the New Misurugi Kingdom. (In the CE Universe, it was widely acknowledged that Orb was now a subordinate of the New Misurugi Kingdom.)
Moreover, if Lacus really wanted to investigate these matters, she could uncover them with a bit of effort through the Terminal. By then, Malchio would have offended both sides, since, in the eyes of the Junk Guild, Lacus was also someone introduced by Malchio.
Since Malchio had made his stance clear, Lacus naturally didn't hold back. Together with Miriallia, she personally drafted an exposé on human trafficking in South America.
Thanks to the Terminal's intelligence network, the report quickly spread across the world.
To prevent retaliation, this report was signed under the pseudonym [Mira]—a name the two had devised.
Given the abundance of photographic evidence, both the Atlantic Federation, which nominally governed South America, and the South American Independence Alliance, which held de facto administrative control over most cities, were compelled to respond.
After all, the transatlantic slave trade had been condemned as a historical disgrace for centuries, and its revival was absolutely impermissible in the open.
Moreover, since someone had fired the first shot, journalists from various countries in South America seized the momentum to extensively investigate and report on human trafficking. Public opinion could no longer be suppressed.
The true beneficiaries behind the South American human trade, including the Scrap Dealers Association, promptly distanced themselves. The exposed head of the South American branch was abandoned and reportedly "committed suicide" with a gunshot to the back of his head that very night.
Subsequently, to appease public sentiment and present a show for the world, various South American organizations proactively targeted factories and brothels without powerful backing, releasing some forced laborers and coerced sex workers. They pledged to continue rescuing those sold abroad.
Of course, the so-called rescue of overseas forced laborers largely depended on whether these individuals had been exposed.
Many factories employing forced laborers, fearing that escapes would tarnish their reputations, simply made the workers "disappear" on the spot.
Whether this wave of public scrutiny saved more lives or claimed more was truly debatable.
Lacus knew that this matter would likely go no further. Beyond this point were players far beyond what her limited influence could handle. At least on the surface, the issue of human trafficking in South America had been exposed to the world and taken seriously.
Thus, Lacus and her team concluded their South American journey, returning to the New Misurugi Kingdom aboard a transport aircraft.
After reading Lacus's report, Reid was already well-informed about most of their South American endeavors. The others' reports merely filled in the details.
According to Une's report, Miriallia's photographs and documentation from South America were submitted under either her real name or the pseudonym [Mira], depending on the sensitivity of the content.
Therefore, in the global climate advocating for peace, the negotiations between the Atlantic Federation and the South American Independence Alliance were largely stabilized. After all, the Atlantic Federation faced daily domestic protests, and prolonging the situation offered no benefits.
After reviewing everyone's reports, Reid smiled at the assembled group and said, "Well, unsung heroes of South America, now that we've completed this circuit, what are your thoughts?"
Miriallia knew her opinion was the least significant. To give the others more time to think, she spoke first: "I will continue documenting war, aiming to show both the future and those currently at peace how brutal war is. If I can persuade even one person to oppose war, it's a victory."
Reid nodded upon hearing this, offering no rebuttal.
From Miriallia's perspective, her stance was understandable—though war often couldn't be avoided simply by not wanting to fight.
The two wars between the Earth Alliance and PLANT, in essence, erupted because so many on Earth initially demanded retaliation after having their families torn apart and lives destroyed. With pent-up rage and no outlet, conflict became inevitable.
(When Junius 7 fell, Earth saw a surge of "Zala Faction remnants" carrying out indiscriminate attacks.)
At the same time, fragments from Junius 7 fell and reduced dozens of major cities on Earth to ruins. (The Japanese side acted quite maliciously here, directly causing this movie to have no official screening channels domestically.)
After Miriallia finished speaking, Athrun said seriously,
"I think we lack strength."
Hearing Athrun say this, Reid's eyes lit up—was this guy finally awakening? After all, he was a Zala.
Athrun met Reid's gaze and continued,
"We lack the power to maintain peace. This trip to South America has given me some understanding of why you, Mr. Reid, are so persistent in developing our own strength.
In fact, I've even come to... understand my father a little. Without strength, there truly is nothing you can do. Even if you want to pursue peace, if others refuse to cooperate, peace will never come."
After hearing this, Reid clapped his hands and said with a smile,
"Exactly, Athrun. I'm very pleased—at least dragging you into this South American trip wasn't in vain.
Yes, for people in our position, honing our speaking skills is for engaging in calm conversations with others. Strengthening our fists, on the other hand, is to make others speak to us calmly.
As an old saying from the East Asian Republic goes, 'Having a sword but not using it is entirely different from having no sword at all.' The initiative for peace must be in our own hands to ensure lasting peace."
Athrun shook his head slightly upon hearing Reid's words and continued,
"Mr. Reid, I don't believe engaging in an arms race is the right approach."
Reid spread his hands and continued with a smile,
"I don't think it's the right approach either."
In his mind, Reid added, "The right approach is to make the enemy feel despair, to make them realize they can't catch up in a short time and have no choice but to back down."
After saying this, Reid turned to Kira and asked proactively,
"Alright, Athrun has had his say. What do you think, Kira?"
Kira still looked hesitant but finally made up his mind and said,
"I agree that we lack the strength to maintain peace. But I think world peace can't be achieved by just a few of us."
Kira's words surprised Reid—was this slacker also awakening? Was he planning to actively contribute to the world?
So Reid asked expectantly,
"Then, Kira, how many people do you think we need to bring about world peace?"
Kira thought for another moment and said,
"I have an immature idea: Could we persuade all countries to abandon their military forces and establish a security organization that serves all of humanity?
If anyone tries to disrupt peace, this organization would eliminate them.
And this organization would be funded and managed collectively by the entire world to prevent any single party from dominating and exploiting it."
Upon hearing this, Reid thought to himself—isn't this organization essentially Gjallarhorn from Iron-Blooded Orphans? Although in that timeline, aside from Gjallarhorn's internal conflicts, there were no large-scale wars after the Calamity War, this is a path destined to lead to oppression.
So Reid immediately shook his head and rejected the idea,
"Kira, it's a good thought, but it has too many flaws. First of all, conflicts would inevitably arise among countries over funding shares and management rights.
Even in the best-case scenario, if all these disputes are resolved at the negotiating table, larger countries would undoubtedly contribute more funds and gain more management authority.
Over time, this organization would end up controlled by a few major powers, or even a handful of influential families."
Since other small nations lacked military forces, they would inevitably be oppressed to serve the interests of the major powers.
Once a small nation could no longer endure and attempted to resist, this organization would, under the manipulation of major powers, eliminate the small nation in the name of peace, ultimately leaving only a few major powers in the world.
Then, when one major power encountered problems and weakened, the organization would collapse, and war would break out again."
Kira found himself completely unable to refute this, as the possibility Reid described was too high. Just look at the Eurasian Federation—only they knew how many internal disputes erupted each year behind closed doors over financial contributions from member nations.
Moreover, small nations in Europe frequently declared bankruptcy.
To put it bluntly, in the eyes of Kira and others, the predecessor of the New Misurugi Kingdom, the Misurugi Empire, had gone bankrupt due to the April Fools' Day crisis. It was then that Ange, still a princess, was driven out of her country by the people and forced to take refuge in the Star Palace Colony Satellite.
The nation itself was nominally placed under the supervision of the Eurasian Federation but was effectively annexed by a larger neighboring power.
However, Ange happened to rescue Reid, who was drifting in a Moebius after the Junius 7 nuclear explosion, causing their destinies to rebound from rock bottom and soar, eventually establishing themselves as the fourth major power in the Earth sphere.
But the New Misurugi Kingdom was an extreme exception. The vast majority of small nations facing crises like the Misurugi Empire would simply be erased from history.
Thus, Kira fell silent, clearly acknowledging that his own ideas had been naive.
However, Lacus smiled at this moment and said,
"Reid, Kira's idea does have many flaws, but it is indeed a line of thought."
Reid felt a hint of unease upon seeing Lacus's smile, but his Newtype senses did not detect any ill intent from her.
So he tentatively asked,
"Oh? Then what are your thoughts, Lacus?"
Hearing this, Lacus smiled and replied,
"My idea is to establish an armed intervention organization, or rather, a world peace monitoring agency.
We will not assist powerful major nations, nor will we rely on funding from them.
As for our funding sources, we can fully rely on contributions from those who aspire for peace."
Reid's sense of unease grew stronger upon hearing this. Was Lacus planning to create something like the Innovators in the CE Universe? He asked again,
"Then how would we go about it specifically?"
Lacus directly pulled out a proposal from the briefcase beside her, distributing it to everyone, and said,
"The process is actually quite simple. The organization I want to establish will not actively interfere in others' wars. We will only intervene when there are significant civilian casualties or when a government that usually governs with benevolence seeks our help for rescue.
Our goal is solely to evacuate civilians from war zones.
If major powers intervene in the process, we will negotiate with them. I believe that, as long as we maintain absolute combat capability in localized conflicts and focus solely on rescuing civilians, most nations will give us face. At worst, we might have to fight.
Just like when you, Reid, rescued civilians in Orb—neither the Atlantic Federation nor Orb dared to extend the battlefront toward you. That operation was the inspiration for my idea."
Upon hearing this, Reid found all his objections stuck in his throat, as Lacus had used his own actions as an example.
He couldn't very well say that the operation to evacuate civilians in Orb was merely about taking advantage of the situation rather than genuinely wanting to save more people.
Thus, Reid could only shift his angle to question the plan, asking,
"The concept is indeed more refined than Kira's, but there's one issue: where do you plan to relocate the evacuated civilians? Surely you're not still considering handing them over to the Junk Guild for arrangements? You should have learned your lesson from the South America incident. There genuinely aren't many decent people within the Junk Guild."
Lacus clearly had long been prepared for the resettlement of these refugees. She responded directly:
"My proposal outlines that in the initial phase, I intend to assign rescued male civilians to understaffed nations for infrastructure projects, while women will be allocated to textile work and other jobs suitable for female laborers.
Naturally, these workers must be provided with basic accommodation, food, and medical supplies according to international standards. Their wages may be set slightly lower.
Once the war in their home countries concludes, they will be repatriated to rebuild their homeland.
If their nations cease to exist, or if newly established governments refuse to accept these people, and the host countries also decline to keep them, I will arrange for their relocation to space.
I am confident I can persuade PLANT to restore some colony satellites in the L4 Colony Cluster to accommodate these individuals. However, by then, these people would need to serve PLANT.
I expect the three nations of the Earth Alliance will proactively step forward by then to help resolve the refugee resettlement issue for me."
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