Chapter 305

The battle for Heaven's Base entered its final mopping-up phase, while Li Boyong piloted his machine, pretending to be engaged in the cleanup while subtly approaching the ZAFT military lines.

Due to the existence of the N-Jammer, Li Boyong kept his Full Armor Raider piloted very close to the ZAFT military's engagement range before finally connecting to Shihe's communication channel.

"That's... an Alliance machine." Shinn watched with caution as the Full Armor Raider sneakily hovered just outside the engagement range, and upon finding the model in the machine database, he said in surprise: "Full Armor Raider, isn't that the machine of that so-called hero?"

"Athrun, this guy's behavior is a bit strange!" The distrust of Naturals ingrained in his bones made Shinn immediately report to Athrun, "Should we issue a warning?"

Athrun was taken aback by these words, and just as he was calculating how to stall Shinn, Heine helped him out of the situation: "No, although it's subtle, the other party is still staying within the Alliance's war zone; let's not take any aggressive actions."

Just like that, a rather peculiar scene appeared over the battlefield.

The single Full Armor Raider hovered in a standoff with the Minerva's MS unit, maintaining a safe distance.

Li Boyong, following the secret route provided by Athrun, connected to the Destiny Impulse's communication, and overflowing emotions reached Shihe's cockpit through the channel: "Shihe!"

"Li Boyong..." Hearing this voice, Shihe's eyes couldn't help but moisten, "It's so good that you're okay."

"No, it's truly good that you're okay." Li Boyong said with a sigh, "I didn't expect that after returning, you would actually end up on the ZAFT side."

After a pause, Li Boyong continued: "Shihe, come back, come back to my side; everyone is waiting for you!"

After returning?

Ended up on the ZAFT side?

Come back to his side?

Everyone?

These subtle words couldn't help but make Shihe feel confused, and after a moment of thought, she still gave her answer.

"Sorry, Li Boyong. Thank you for still being alive, thank you for still remembering me, but I am currently a ZAFT soldier, and you are an Alliance soldier."

"Although the world situation is developing in a good direction under your guidance, ZAFT and the Alliance have not officially ceased hostilities."

"If... I mean if, there is a chance after the ceasefire, I will go to Earth to find you."

"Before that..."

Shihe did not explicitly state the words that followed, but the meaning expressed was very clear.

After all, she still had a mother and did not want to defect from the military during such a sensitive period, thereby implicating her family.

Shihe's reply also made Li Boyong feel strange; Shihe had already experienced several mission worlds with him and clearly knew that as long as the main mission was completed, everyone would go to the next mission world together.

What about minding the opposing military positions, what about finding him after the war.

This obviously wrong answer further confirmed the bad guess in Li Boyong's heart.

"No, Shihe." His tone couldn't help but become intense, "Don't go back to the ZAFT military, take this opportunity to rendezvous with us directly!"

"Liumei, Yufang, and Yulan are all very worried about you!"

Liumei?

Yufang, Yulan?

Hearing Li Boyong's words, Shihe felt a wave of confusion, while at the same time feeling that these names had a very familiar feeling...

It seemed...

It seemed like people she was very familiar with?

The more she tried to recall, the stronger that hazy feeling in her memory became!

"Who are you talking about?" That helpless, hazy feeling made Shihe anxious, "Who are they? Why do I feel so familiar, yet can't remember anything?"

Can't remember!

Shihe knew him, but didn't remember Liumei and the sisters Yufang and Yulan!

Li Boyong's heart sank to the bottom, but he still continued to try: "Have you forgotten that we joined Celestial Being together and fought with Liumei to change the world?"

"And Yufang and Yulan, we fought together, defeated the Amalgam and the Armed Forces, and established the Zhuolang Democratic Republic."

Celestial Being?

Zhuolang Democratic Republic?

Fragments of memories that seemed familiar flashed through Shihe's mind: scenes of her piloting a variable MS she had never seen before, scenes of her piloting a red Gundam-type machine, and another type of mecha much smaller than an MS.

Interspersed between these battle scenes were memories of living peacefully on campus with Li Boyong.

That seemed to be a period of time that was very important to her and made her feel very happy.

Why!

Why did she possess these memory fragments but not complete, concrete memories?

The hazy feeling in her mind was so strong, and her heart and brain felt an increasingly intense pain!

The more anxiously she tried to recall, the more obvious that pain deep in her soul became!

That kind of pain was as if her soul was being squeezed, crushed, and torn apart...

Completely unable to resist, Shihe let out a sharp, tragic cry in an instant, and then, in order to alleviate the pain, she could only frantically drag at everything she could grab in her hands...

And this directly led to the Destiny Impulse beginning a bizarre maneuver.

"Shihe! What happened?" Li Boyong heard Shihe's tragic cry immediately and simultaneously observed the abnormality of the Destiny Impulse.

But the only response he received was a cut-off communication.

At the same time, Shihe's teammates also noticed the abnormality of the Destiny Impulse at the same time.

They tried to contact Shihe, but there was no response...

Watching the Destiny Impulse seemingly at risk of falling toward the ground, he hurriedly maneuvered the Saviour Gundam to catch Shihe's machine...

And Li Boyong, who was also preparing to catch the Destiny Impulse, discovered that his Full Armor Raider had been locked onto by the Destiny Gundam piloted by Shinn.

Watching Athrun successfully catch Shihe's machine, and the Minerva MS units starting to lock onto him one after another...

Li Boyong took a deep breath; he suppressed the urge to snatch Shihe's machine, put away his machine's armaments, struck a pose of having no will to fight, and then piloted his machine to turn and leave.

Although he didn't know the reason, Shihe had clearly lost her memories of the 00 world and the Full Metal Panic world.

In that case, her not returning immediately was somewhat explainable.

And since she reacted to his words, it meant she might possess those memories, but they were just temporarily lost or sealed.

Unfortunately, in the situation where Shihe had lost her piloting ability, taking action to snatch her was too reckless. In the midst of a chaotic battle, it was hard to guarantee Shihe's safety.

As long as Athrun, the inside man, wasn't exposed, there would be plenty of opportunities later; there was no need to risk Shihe's life.

As for whether Shihe's affiliation would cause the Alliance and ZAFT to turn hostile again, that was not within his consideration.

"For now, I can only endure..."

Even though intense unwillingness distorted his face, he could only make the most rational choice.

With his departure, the Heaven's Base battle officially came to an end; he, Li Boyong, successfully eradicated Logos, but lost the opportunity to welcome Shihe back.

It's been too long since I've typed; holding it in is so painful.