"But... I think Fred makes some sense..."
The orange-haired girl retorted softly.
Hearing the child's innocent remark, everyone at the table fell silent.
Did it make sense? Perhaps a little.
But it didn't align with their interests.
Interests and positions were inherently strongly correlated.
At least that was how it was for them.
"Children shouldn't interrupt."
Beside the girl, her father extinguished the topic.
"I'm not a child!"
The girl pouted.
"Haha, Miss Lass is already a little lady now."
Hearing the girl's delicate retort, everyone became lively again.
Many adults even turned their gazes toward her.
She was a member of the Scandinavian royal family's collateral branch, practically a half-princess, while her father was the CEO of the military enterprise, Lem Group.
Marrying her would undoubtedly represent solid benefits.
Driven by such interests, everyone tacitly overlooked the discordant note the girl had just struck.
"Hmm..."
The girl responded, still somewhat sulky.
"I think Fred might have been secretly executed by Blue Cosmos."
Of course, not everyone was polite—someone sneered as they spoke.
Fred's words, in their view, were like those of a pretentious intellectual.
Full of condescending lectures toward them, it was irritating.
Whether Fred intended it or not, in their eyes, he was someone who broke the rules—an enemy.
"Unlikely. The first time probably just warrants a warning or two."
Hearing this, someone rebutted.
"I think so too. Well, but he deserved it anyway, speaking recklessly and all."
"Probably Blue Cosmos will have him record another 'clarification' video later."
Someone chuckled gleefully.
Soon, the table erupted in waves of laughter, all in tacit agreement.
Meanwhile, on the other side where the two groups chatted as if separated by a clear divide, the Copernicus Mayor was also present at the banquet and happened to approach Athrun and the others.
Of course, it was the same round of perfunctory pleasantries, which Lenore handled skillfully.
Just then, a man dressed as a waiter approached the Copernicus Mayor, who was also at the banquet, his face pale and grave as he leaned in to whisper in the mayor's ear.
Quickly, the mayor's social smile visibly faded.
"My apologies, I have some matters to attend to. Please excuse me."
The mayor said politely, bowing slightly.
"Of course, take your time."
Lenore didn't detain him, watching as the mayor hurried away before turning to Athrun beside her.
At that moment, Athrun was also looking at his mother.
Under the bright lights of the hall, the tension in Athrun's eyes seemed ready to burst forth at any moment.
Though Lenore remained relatively calm, she also took a deep breath.
Fred's plan had begun.
...
"Is what you said true?!"
The mayor, who had quickly left the banquet, asked the waiter beside him in a hushed but urgent tone.
"Yes."
"Fred's vehicle had an accident and exploded. Based on our initial estimates, his entire family has already..."
The man named Fukui leaned in and whispered into the mayor's ear.
The subsequent words became indistinct, but the mayor could still grasp their meaning.
What could be done after everything had exploded?
Though he remained deeply shocked that such a promising young man had died so suddenly, as mayor he quickly set aside his personal feelings.
"An accident? Or deliberate?"
The mayor frowned deeply, his strides lengthening as he walked.
"Deliberate."
"...Was it obvious?"
The mayor paused before asking.
"Very obvious. The method was completely amateurish..."
"Somewhat like... George."
The George he referred to was naturally not Fred's father, but the first Coordinator.
The one who had been shot dead in the street.
It wasn't some meticulous assassination, but a blatant public execution.
Yet the simplest methods were often the most complex.
Who could say for certain what the identity was of that Natural who fired the shot back then? No one could be sure.
This case was the same.
Such a simple operation could have been done by Coordinators, could have been done by Naturals.
It could have been done by formal Blue Cosmos members.
It could equally have been done by those terrorist organizations claiming affiliation with Blue Cosmos.
Coupled with those Coordinator statements about wanting to eliminate Fred, there were too many possibilities. Just thinking about it plunged the mayor into confusion.
But he quickly regained his composure.
Without relevant evidence, random speculation was useless now.
"Seal off the scene, detain all related personnel. All ports should implement covert lockdowns immediately. Don't release this information to the public. What about the media?"
"They don't know yet."
"Good, go handle it first."
While speaking, the mayor had already reached his car.
He still needed to notify the Atlantic Federation.
If Fred were just an ordinary person, there wouldn't be such urgency.
But as everyone knew, he was the Atlantic Federation's Future Son.
They had invested so much media resources to build him up, not for Fred to meet his end like this.
Along with his entire family.
But could such a coincidence really happen?
Of course, his reason for locking down the ports wasn't just to catch the perpetrator - he also wanted to see whether Fred had truly died.
Or whether he had used a fake death to escape.
"Would Fred... have that much courage?"
In the self-driving car, the mayor took a deep breath. This was someone who had confronted Blue Cosmos directly during a global broadcast. Even he couldn't determine whether Fred would fake his death.
But if it were a fake death, who would have helped him?
"...Better leave these worries to others."
The mayor sighed wearily.
He had already done everything he should.
After mentally organizing his words, he opened the communication channel to the Atlantic Federation.
...
Meanwhile, on the other end where the mayor was suffering from splitting headaches, Fred had already been covertly escorted through maintenance ports by PLANT spies and brought aboard Andrew's merchant ship.
Standing on the bridge, Fred watched Copernicus gradually shrink beyond the reinforced glass and sighed.
"Just as you predicted, Copernicus has locked down its ports. Quite impressive."
Andrew, sitting in the captain's chair, smiled faintly.
"Anyone familiar with Copernicus would have guessed it."
Fred shrugged.
He wasn't a fool - he could naturally guess that the mayor would lock down the ports.
Andrew chuckled at this but didn't argue.
Indeed, even if Fred hadn't brought it up, he would have said it.
But the implications were different.
Otherwise, Patrick wouldn't have deliberately made Fred voice the plan himself.
Having already experienced the initial shock, they were no longer particularly surprised by the teenager's terrifyingly meticulous plan that could essentially be implemented directly.
Simply put, they had become numb.