Chapter 230: Piano

PLANT, Armory One, Next-Generation Main Machine Hangar.

"!!!"

Shihe tightly covered her mouth to avoid startling Nicol and Miss Lacus around the corner.

She watched without daring to move as Nicol opened the door to his office, then smiled at Miss Lacus, gently took her small hand, and entered the office together.

The moment the office door closed, Shihe felt her heart finally resume beating.

Really startled!!!

Wasn't Miss Lacus Athrun's fiancée?

How could she be with Nicol now...

Although in PLANT, which implemented the Marriage Control Law, this situation wasn't uncommon. After all, everyone's engagement was determined through government genetic matching, so it was inevitable that there would be situations where one wasn't interested in the engagement partner and sought a new lover.

It really wasn't uncommon...

But Shihe was still shocked. After all, Nicol was Athrun's good friend!

Although Nicol had quite a talent for music and perhaps would have more common language with Miss Lacus in this regard.

And it was rumored that Athrun's father ordered the killing of Miss Lacus's father, and now Athrun also seemed to have been expelled from PLANT.

But she was still shocked...

And what piano pieces?

Where was there a piano in Nicol's office!!!

Shihe felt she couldn't think deeply. She had accidentally discovered an incredible secret, but Shihe decided to pretend she knew nothing.

Anyway, it was her turn to start her vacation tomorrow, which was just right to avoid Nicol and do her own things. If they met again, Shihe didn't know if she could remain as calm as usual.

After all, this melon was really too big...

The next day, Shihe left her dormitory at Armory One.

By transferring to a flight at the naval port, she arrived at her destination, Colony 8 in October City.

The captain of the rescue ship that had salvaged Shihe back then lived here. After obtaining the information from Yzak, she had been taking advantage of her vacations to visit the crew of that rescue ship, hoping to get news of Li Boyong. After all, she still remembered that before she lost consciousness, she had been with Li Boyong.

However, because the rescue ship's crew had been temporarily assembled, they had all returned to their original jobs, so the progress of the visits had always been unsatisfactory. Even if she found some crew members, she couldn't get any useful information from them.

After all, the situation back then had been too chaotic...

The captain Shihe had always wanted to find had also been running interstellar freight, so Shihe could only wait patiently for the captain to return. And today, the captain happened to have finished a transport run and was resting at home.

So Shihe hurried to visit during her vacation, because this captain was already Shihe's last hope.

Arriving at the captain's residence before the agreed time, Shihe successfully met the captain, but unfortunately, after a detailed inquiry, she still couldn't get the information she wanted.

Leaving the captain's residence, Shihe walked on the road alone, her back appearing exceptionally lonely.

And just when Shihe, the test pilot for the Abyss, was on vacation, the next-generation main machine project welcomed an unexpected inspection.

Gilbert Durandal, the current Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council, decided on a whim to visit the project team.

This black-haired man, who had been elected Chairman after the end of the great war by virtue of extraordinary political wrist, had a pair of eyes that looked like a fox's, but never made people feel cunning. Always dashing, he only left a wise impression on those who had come into contact with him.

After the great war just ended, the then-elected interim Chairman Eileen Canaver was from the Clyne Faction and should have inherited the legacy of former Chairman Siegel Clyne, leading the PLANT people to start post-war reconstruction work.

But that Chairman Canaver began to blindly purge the Sara Faction members in the country, even to the point of persecution.

And the most critical national reconstruction work fell into a stagnant state. There were not a few people in PLANT at that time who held grievances about this.

It was under such circumstances that Gilbert Durandal, a councilor originally from the neutral faction, began his political performance of turning the tide.

Brilliant negotiation skills, pragmatic work style, impartial political stance, and dedicated engagement in post-war economic recovery work contributed greatly to the restoration of normal national life.

By virtue of this huge political achievement, he even gained the support of many in the Clyne Faction and successfully won the election to become the Chairman of the Supreme Council.

After being elected Chairman, this Chairman Durandal began to selectively rehabilitate ZAFT soldiers who had been persecuted by the Clyne Faction after the war.

"It was us politicians who sent those young people to the battlefield; now we absolutely shouldn't treat these young people as war criminals, causing the motherland to lose its future."

Chairman Durandal's viewpoint received the approval and support of the vast majority of people.

As he helped more and more ZAFT soldiers, more and more former Sara Faction forces gathered under his command, allowing him, who came from the neutral faction, to achieve unimpeded implementation of political decrees throughout PLANT.

And among the ZAFT soldiers he had helped was the current director of the next-generation main machine development project, Nicol Amalfi.

"Chairman!"

Nicol led the project personnel to salute the suddenly arriving Chairman Durandal.

"Relax, it's just that today's schedule happened to have some free time, so I stopped by to take a look."

Chairman Durandal returned the salute and then signaled for everyone to continue working, "Speaking of which, it's been a while, Nicol. How is your father lately?"

"Thanks to you, Father is doing well now." Nicol replied with reverence.

It was really thanks to the Chairman. Nicol's father was originally one of the councilors of the Supreme Council and was originally in the neutral faction with Durandal. He was a relatively pure scientific researcher who personally led the R&D of the N-Jammer, which could be said to have made a great contribution to nuclear bombs not flying all over the sky.

But later, as the war intensified, his beloved son went to the battlefield and lost both hands. Subsequently, Patrick Sara came to power, and Nicol's father completely leaned toward the Sara Faction and developed the Neutron Jammer Canceller, personally unsealing the demon he had sealed in the past.

Therefore, in the post-war liquidation action of acting Chairman Canaver, Nicol's father also suffered a lot of persecution, was expelled from the Supreme Council, his scientific research achievements were frozen, and even his son was accused by the military court, wanting to pursue Nicol's role in the destruction of the Orb colonial satellite—Heliopolis.

At that time, thanks to Durandal's rescue, the Nicol family survived the purge.

And after Durandal was elected Chairman, Nicol was invited to participate in the next-generation main machine development project and gradually showed talent in the scientific research field no less than his father's.

Ultimately relying on actual results, he became such a young project director.

"Since I happen to have some free time, why not go to your office and sit for a while? Being able to sip coffee while appreciating your piano music would be a rare leisurely time for me." Durandal said, paused, and then laughed at himself: "By the way, can't forget I still need to listen to the work report."

"Chairman..."

He didn't expect the Chairman to know about the piano hidden in the office; Nicol was a bit embarrassed.

However, he quickly calmed down, bowed, and said, "This is my honor. Please follow me." ===== CHAPTER 231 =====