Chapter 257: Seeing Flay Again

As nuclear missiles equipped with Neutron Jammers were deployed into position, the massive lunar fleet set sail one after another, navigating toward the PLANT homeland.

Simultaneously, the Earth Alliance officially delivered an ultimatum to PLANT.

It demanded the arrest and handover of all terrorists, the dissolution of the current regime, the disarmament of its military, and the acceptance of a Supervisory Council and garrison forces from the Alliance.

How could the Coordinators possibly accept such terms? Calls for war within PLANT grew increasingly louder.

After all, the fear of the "Bloody Valentine" still lingered in the hearts of the Coordinators.

Facing the relentlessly advancing Alliance fleet, the ZAFT military began deploying its own fleet to the homeland defense line, preparing for the worst.

Amidst the rising turmoil, the situation rapidly developed in the worst possible direction. The *Minerva*, still docked at an Orb shipyard for maintenance, immediately entered a Level 2 combat readiness state.

All external personnel were prohibited from entering, maintenance work nearing completion was halted, and the ship prepared for combat, ready to set sail at any moment.

As for Orb, they found this ZAFT warship quite a headache.

Originally, after the Sahaku family took actual power post-war, Orb's political stance had begun to lean toward the Earth Alliance. Now, due to the Junius Seven incident, the Earth nations were in a sensitive period of shared hatred toward Coordinators.

With one of ZAFT's newest, most advanced warships docked in their own shipyard, a single misstep could lead to a passive situation.

Yet, directly kicking the ship out didn't seem like a good option either, so the Orb high command could only choose to selectively ignore the *Minerva* for the time being, patiently waiting for the outcome between PLANT and the Alliance before making a final judgment.

However, under the leadership of the Sahaku faction, taking advantage of the current world situation, the Orb government began to set in motion the signing of an alliance treaty with the Atlantic Federation.

Cagalli, who had been almost entirely sidelined, felt powerless in the face of the domestic political situation.

Athrun, similarly feeling the futility of remaining in Orb, chose to return to PLANT.

Before parting, Athrun presented Cagalli with a ring of vows.

By virtue of his status as a special envoy for Chief Representative Uzumaki Ashura, Athrun was able to visit PLANT.

It was under these circumstances that, through Wang Liumei's maneuvering, Li Boyong leisurely took his subordinates and descended to the Atlantic Federation homeland alongside her.

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Lopez Estate

After completing a busy day of political propaganda tasks, Li Boyong did not return to his military quarters but instead drove here.

Led by a maid, he made his way to the door of Wang Liumei's bedroom.

The maid had clearly received instructions long ago; after helping Li Boyong open the bedroom door, she bowed and retreated.

As for whether she was inwardly criticizing the mistress for letting a man into her bedroom in the middle of the night, Li Boyong could not know.

Li Boyong stepped inside and saw Wang Liumei chatting happily with a young girl with wine-red long hair.

The wine-red-haired girl was Flay Allster, who had been invited to the Lopez Estate today. After the Junius Seven incident, she had been sheltered by a family friend's aunt's family, passing through this global catastrophe unscathed.

Unfortunately, due to various reasons, she had lost contact with Orb.

Just as she was feeling anxious and uneasy, she suddenly received an invitation from Wang Liumei. Harboring thoughts of further strengthening their relationship and gathering information, she spent a pleasant day at the Lopez Estate under Wang Liumei's hospitality.

As evening approached, she was even invited by Wang Liumei to stay overnight in the same bedroom.

This was the bedroom of the mistress of the Lopez Estate, so Flay naturally accepted the invitation with great joy.

However, just as they were chatting happily during their pre-sleep tea party, she was startled by this strange soldier who had suddenly burst in.

She did not understand why such a strange fellow would appear in the bedroom of the head of the Lopez Conglomerate.

In an instant, many ominous thoughts flashed through Flay's mind.

"Don't be afraid."

Wang Liumei, seeing this, took Flay's hand and comforted her with a light laugh: "I had you come here this time just to let you see this guy. You w~ill~ d~efinitely~ b~e~ v~ery~ h~appy!"

But this explanation only made Flay more uneasy; she was no longer that naive young lady of a noble family.

"Hey, hey, didn't you explain it clearly?" Li Boyong complained with dissatisfaction upon seeing this: "You did that on purpose, right?"

This half-baked explanation would only make people feel more uneasy.

Seeing that Flay had already secretly clenched her fists and her gaze was darting around, looking as if she were searching for a usable weapon and an escape route,

Li Boyong hurriedly spoke up: "Flay, don't be nervous, it's me, Li Boyong."

As he spoke, he casually took off his helmet-style mask, revealing his face.

Flay, hearing the familiar voice and looking at the familiar face, stood up excitedly: "Is it really... is it really Captain Li Boyong?"

"It's me, I'm still alive, not a ghost." Li Boyong threw the helmet onto the bed nearby and laughed: "Long time no see, Flay Allster."

"Captain!" In her excitement, Flay ran over and gave Li Boyong a hug: "I'm so happy to see you again, Captain."

After a pause, she added: "If Major Natarle knew you were still alive, she would be overjoyed."

Wang Liumei, watching the two embracing, wore an "as expected" expression.

And here he was saying there was no affair; didn't it just get exposed the moment they met?

Li Boyong, seeing the girl's expression, knew exactly what she was thinking. He gently pushed Flay away, walked over, and knocked Wang Liumei on the head: "Don't let your imagination run wild!"

Nothing had happened between him and Flay; Li Boyong could touch his heart and say he and Flay were innocent.

After all, he had used his indomitable will to resist the girl's advances back then.

Wang Liumei curled her lips and hummed, saying nothing.

There's definitely something going on in his heart...

"Um, Captain, what is your relationship with Miss Lopez?"

Flay, seeing the long-lost Captain Li Boyong and the young lady of the Lopez Conglomerate acting somewhat intimately, hesitated and asked: "Also, where have you been all this time?"

After a pause, Flay remembered the helmet Li Boyong had been wearing earlier and realized: "Wait, that helmet, could it be that you are that Colonel Neo?"

For a moment, Flay's thoughts were in chaos.

Li Boyong, seeing this, comforted her: "That's a long story, let's sit down and talk properly."

Subsequently, Li Boyong slowly recounted his experiences over the past two years to Flay.

Of course, it was the experience provided by the system after being processed; after all, those real experiences could not be spoken of.

According to Li Boyong's description, he had actually been recovered by Earth Alliance forces after going missing on the Yakin battlefield.

After his identity was verified, he was taken in by a cyborg research organization belonging to Blue Cosmos and transformed into Colonel Neo through means such as brainwashing.

It was only later that he met Wang Liumei, and with her help, he recovered his memories.