Chapter 298: Winds of Gibraltar (Part 2)

Gibraltar Base, Officers' Club, Bar Counter No. 3.

Heine and the other Minerva-affiliated pilots were sitting in a row at the bar, sipping fine wine exclusively for officers while chatting about everything under the sun.

"Tch, I really don't understand what's so good about drinking..."

Shinn tasted the cocktail mixed by the bartender, stuck out his tongue, and muttered.

"What a waste. I should have known to just let you drink milk."

Heine laughed and teased him upon hearing this.

"That's why you're still a kid, Shinn."

Lunamaria chimed in, taking the opportunity to mock Shinn.

"Lunamaria, shut up, you drag-down."

Shinn was annoyed and embarrassed, stabbing directly at Lunamaria's sore spot without regard for the consequences.

"What did you say!"

Lunamaria, who was never a weak character, exploded instantly.

Although she knew that her combat record was the worst on the Minerva, she couldn't tolerate being mocked by Shinn in front of so many people, even if what Shinn said was the truth!

"You two!"

Seeing that these two enemies were about to start bickering again, Heine quickly stopped them. "Give me some face here. Any conflicts in the bar should be solved with alcohol."

"How to solve it?"

Shinn raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Of course, it's solved with alcohol."

Heine snapped his fingers with malicious intent and said to the bartender wearing a female soldier's uniform: "Give me two Gibsons!"

"Yes, sir." The female soldier pursed her lips, held back her laughter, and began to mix.

With very fluent movements, two Gibsons with onion slices were soon delivered to Shinn and Lunamaria.

"Now, you two, one cup each. I'll call for more until one side can't drink anymore or admits defeat. The loser has to apologize to the other side. How about that?"

Heine started making trouble, arching fire at Shinn. "Don't tell me you want to use milk to decide the winner."

"Let's compare!"

Sure enough, Shinn took the bait easily. Under Heine's watching-the-show gaze, he picked up the wine glass, gulping it down...

Having said that, Lunamaria naturally didn't want to be outdone, picked up the wine glass, and also gulped it down.

Rey, on the side, was quietly tasting the Zombie in his hand, watching Shinn step into Heine's trap step by step.

On the other side, Athrun and Shihe were holding wine glasses, watching the fun with a smile.

Where Heine was, the atmosphere was never bad.

However, very soon, Shihe lost interest. After finishing the Margarita in her hand, she asked the bartender for an Irish coffee and tasted it silently by herself.

Seeing this, Athrun sighed slightly, roughly understanding the bitterness in her heart.

She was a ZAFT soldier who had fallen in love with an Alliance soldier by mistake in the last war.

The war ended, she herself was in a coma for more than two years, and after waking up, she couldn't find any news about her lover and returned to the ZAFT military.

As a result, fate was like a joke, and the war between PLANT and the Earth Alliance started again.

Following the Minerva's fierce battles, the person she had been looking for suddenly jumped out, became the commander of the Phantom Pain unit, and announced that he would crusade against Logos, which was a military-industrial complex.

It turned out that the two had already clashed several times by mistake, and even almost killed each other several times.

Now, the person she liked had become a representative of the Alliance conservative faction, while she was still a ZAFT soldier.

Although the ZAFT military currently had no intention of fighting the Alliance conservative forces, PLANT was still in a state of war with the Earth Alliance, and conflicts could occur between the two sides at any time.

When that time comes, what should she do?

Thinking of this, Athrun looked at Shihe, who was drinking alone, with some worry.

The Minerva's crew wasn't unaware of Shihe's abnormal performance during this period, but no one had associated it with that aspect.

After all, the only one on the Minerva who knew about Shihe and Li Boyong was him.

By the way, there was another incredibly painful thing...

That bastard Li Boyong seemed to have a debt of love on the Archangel, I remember the name was Natarle Badgiruel, a strong and upright Alliance female soldier...

Athrun's mouth twitched. The Orb fleet was currently acting with Li Boyong, and Cagalli was saved by the Archangel, so now Li Boyong and Natarle Badgiruel had reunited...

Thinking of the Orb fleet and Cagalli, Athrun himself couldn't stay calm. Was this the time to worry about others?

His own relationship with Cagalli was also very subtle. If the ZAFT military and the Orb fleet clashed, what could he do?

Therefore, Athrun also raised his wine glass, gulping it down...

When the six of them came down from the bar, four of them were clearly already drunk.

"I didn't lose, why should I apologize."

Shinn, supported by Rey, shouted with a thick tongue. Losing to a girl like Lunamaria made him very unhappy.

"Tch, the kid's skin is really thick."

Lunamaria made a face at Shinn with the blush on her cheeks, but didn't insist on Shinn apologizing.

Winning against the kid in her heart was a victory without honor, so she wouldn't be as knowledgeable as Shinn, this little brat.

And the other two who were drinking alone, although they weren't like Shinn who couldn't even walk, were clearly a bit shaky.

Now it was Heine's turn to have a headache. "Really, I just wanted to play a trick on Shinn, but why did you guys drink like this? If the captain sees this, I can't carry it..."

So, those who set traps for others will eventually be trapped themselves...

"I have hangover medicine here. Although it might be a bit uncomfortable, if you eat it and blow the sea breeze, it should be much better." At this time, Rey took out a box of medicine from his pocket and said calmly.

"Oh, Rey, you are indeed the most reliable!"

Heine was overjoyed, patting Rey's shoulder and praising him fiercely.

The four people who were clearly drunk each swallowed two pills, and suddenly felt an extremely uncomfortable feeling rushing to their brains, but the dizziness after drinking was much better.

The six of them wandered around the pier again...

Under the sunset, seagulls were crying as they flew by, waves were hitting the beach, and the Gibraltar military port had a peaceful taste at this time.

"If only the war could end just like this..."

Looking at the scene in front of her, Lunamaria stretched and sighed.

The other five remained silent upon hearing this, clearly thinking that this hope was very slim.

Although the Alliance was now experiencing infighting, the actions of the conservative faction represented by Li Boyong would not cause resentment from the Coordinators, and they maintained restraint toward the ZAFT military, and even within PLANT, there were voices hoping to take advantage of the situation to make peace.

But having experienced so much, they knew that the contradiction between natural humans and Coordinators would not end so simply...

Just as several people were enjoying the sea to sober up, the figure of a military transport plane appeared in the distance and slowly descended toward the Gibraltar Base.

"That is... the Alliance's plane!"

Athrun, who had the best eyesight, said in a somewhat surprised tone after observing for a while.

Hearing Athrun's words, all the pilots showed surprised expressions.

"It seems that something is really going to happen. Let's return to the Minerva first..."

Heine showed a serious expression and said.

Everyone nodded and followed his pace upon hearing this. ===== CHAPTER 299 =====