Chapter 255: Shura Field Warm-up

Li Boyong's tombstone didn't fall, but Shihe followed the Minerva and landed on Earth.

From the day of the launching ceremony at Armory One, all the way to chasing Li Boyong's unit, and then to supporting the Junius crushing operation, plus consecutive battles and the entry into the atmosphere and artillery fire in the atmosphere, it could be said that the Minerva's hull had reached the point where it couldn't safely sortie without maintenance.

As a ship that transported its own Prime Minister back to the country, the Orb government showed great sincerity, indicating that it was willing to let the powerful Morgenroete assist in the maintenance of the ship.

Captain Gladys of the Minerva naturally wouldn't know the prying intention contained in this.

But the current situation was that the Minerva's situation was already unable to return to the Carpentaria Base smoothly on its own. In the situation where the radio condition was extremely poor after the fall of Junius and it couldn't successfully contact the military headquarters, Captain Gladys had to agree to Morgenroete's maintenance of the Minerva.

The reason for making such a decision with great political risk was really because her judgment of the situation was not optimistic.

After all, the one that pushed down Junius was ZAFT's unit, an indisputable fact. And the unit that was also extremely suspicious of being the Earth Army at that time, the Alliance government would inevitably know the truth.

Now the Alliance government was busy dealing with the situation after the disaster, but it was hard to say what kind of reaction it would make after it came to its senses.

And the current tendency of the Orb government was obviously gradually leaning toward the Atlantic Federation. How long the friendship of transporting the Prime Minister back to the country could play a role was also an unknown.

However, even if she agreed to the maintenance of the hull, it wasn't that any place on the ship could be let Morgenroete's staff enter and exit at will.

Both wanting to maintain the hull to the best possible state, and not wanting Morgenroete to probe too much into the Minerva's technical parameters.

In order to discuss a suitable maintenance plan with Morgenroete, Captain Gladys also had a headache, and then grabbed some technical personnel as strong labor.

Among them, there was Shihe, who was once a technical personnel.

————

Morgenroete, the secret dock that once docked the Archangel, was now docking the latest ZAFT battleship.

To some extent, the manager of Morgenroete was quite quirky.

The flash of electric welding flashed from time to time on the hull of the Minerva, and Morgenroete's staff were working vigorously on the maintenance of the Minerva.

"Sister Shihe, we'll go one step ahead."

Luna Maria, in casual clothes, greeted Shihe, who was responsible for on-site supervision, with her younger sister.

"Be careful when you go out."

Shihe nodded with a smile, exhorted, and watched the Luna sisters leave the dock where the Minerva was docked.

Continuing to inspect the work, inadvertently, Shihe's gaze drifted to Captain Gladys at the workbench on the side. This youngest female captain in the ZAFT army was talking to a female section chief of Morgenroete with a gentle temperament, looking like they were talking happily.

This discovery made Shihe a little surprised. After all, she also knew Captain Gladys, knowing that the other party was extremely cautious in private due to some special reasons.

Looking at the harmonious appearance of the conversation, it was obviously not talking about work, and it was hard to imagine that she would talk happily with someone she met for the first time during idle talk.

What was the name of that female section chief?

Right, it seems to be Maria Bernas.

It gave people a wonderful feeling. Clearly, she was a gentle corporate female section chief, but between her gestures, she faintly radiated a bit of aura similar to Captain Gladys.

Right, speaking of this, Shihe remembered another female employee of Morgenroete who had the same aura.

That was the deputy section chief of Shipbuilding Section B, who was not far from her and was responsible for handover work with her, Li Nalu.

Capable black short hair, extremely imposing purple eyes, the aura she radiated when working seemed to be three points stronger than Captain Gladys, extremely military-like.

Or was she originally sent temporarily by the Orb military?

Shihe's gaze just stayed on that Deputy Section Chief Li Nalu for a moment, and it seemed to be sensitively detected by the other party.

"Hello, may I ask if you found anything inappropriate?"

The capable deputy section chief paced closer to Shihe and saluted.

Shihe, who wanted to explain that it was okay, suddenly felt that it was a bit of a cover-up, and would be weaker in aura, so she took the opportunity to pick some simple questions on the work schedule, which was considered a routine inquiry. 【255-36

"I see. Currently, the maintenance in these areas requires waiting for some preparatory work to be completed before it can begin. Also..."

Regarding this, Li Luna provided a serious explanation.

"I see, thank you for the explanation." Shihe nodded with satisfaction, then emphasized, "However, to avoid unnecessary disputes, I would like to stress again: please do not carry out any maintenance items outside of the plan."

"Please rest assured, we will certainly give full consideration to your side's concerns and try our best to ensure that no unpleasant accidents occur as you anticipate," Li Nalu explained.

"Thank you for your understanding."

A brief interlude passed quickly, and the maintenance work in the dock continued in an orderly fashion.

Soon, a day had passed, and the Morgenroete staff who had completed the scheduled repairs temporarily withdrew from the dock where the Minerva was moored.

Maria Bernas and Deputy Section Chief Li Nalu of Shipbuilding Section B took the same jeep to leave the port, the jeep speeding along the coastal highway.

The so-called Section Chief Maria Bernas and Deputy Section Chief Li Nalu were naturally the fake identities used by Captain Murrue and Natarle for convenience.

"I didn't expect to meet a female captain I could chat with so well. If it were you, Natarle, you might have been able to have a pleasant conversation with her too," Captain Murrue, sitting in the passenger seat, said with a rather sentimental tone while looking at the scenery along the coast.

"Perhaps..." Unlike her energetic and capable self at work, Natarle only gave a simple reply this time, appearing somewhat uninterested.

Murrue knew Natarle's thoughts and said softly, "Are you worried about the news regarding Flay and Li Boyong?"

After the Junius drop, perhaps due to various disasters, they had lost contact with Flay again while in Orb.

At the same time, they also lost the only channel that might have had information about Li Boyong.

Having her mind read by Murrue, Natarle shook her head and denied it: "No, the family sheltering Flay in the Atlantic Federation is quite powerful; they should have arranged for her to take refuge in advance. The possibility of Flay meeting with disaster is low; perhaps there will be contact in a few days."

Turning a corner, she continued: "As for Li Boyong, if he is truly still alive, judging by the current situation, the possibility of him still being in the military is high. His survival rate should be quite a bit higher than that of a civilian."

Listening to Natarle's insincere words, Captain Murrue, who was very accustomed to her First Officer's lack of candor, did not expose her.

Clearly worried to death inside, yet still maintaining an indifferent appearance.

Unexpectedly quite cute...

However, Captain Murrue did not dare to say this thought to her face.

She changed the subject and joked, "Speaking of which, I don't know if the men at home have prepared dinner yet. To actually let the ladies go out to work while they hide at home and enjoy themselves—what useless men."

Under Murrue's guidance, the atmosphere in the car during the return trip became less heavy.