Chapter 76

The space around Genesis.

The forces belonging to the Kusanagi and the Eternal had basically suppressed the surrounding ZAFT military, providing an opportunity for the Justice and the Strike Rouge to break into the interior of the Genesis fortress. Athrun and Cagalli met Patrick Zala in the fortress command center, where he had been assassinated by his own subordinates.

Subsequently, upon learning that the fortress's self-destruct sequence and the third firing of Genesis were linked, Athrun piloted the Justice Gundam, attempting to self-destruct inside the fortress to stop the launch of Genesis.

How magnificent, 2887 Athrun!

However, the disheartened Athrun ultimately chose not to self-destruct with the Justice after Cagalli's persuasion, instead boarding the Strike Rouge to escape the Genesis fortress.

Outside the Genesis fortress, the battle between the Freedom and the Providence had also entered its final stages.

Kruse's verbal onslaught ultimately failed to completely shatter Kira's mind, and he was killed by Kira in return at the muzzle of the Genesis cannon.

Subsequently, the Genesis fortress self-destructed. The energy stream fired from the Genesis muzzle detonated the Providence. Under the influence of the nuclear explosion, this energy stream failed to pass through the mirror reflection to form a destructive bombardment of Earth, avoiding a catastrophe that would have devastated all life on the surface.

Meanwhile, within PLANT, the imprisoned Clyne Faction suppressed the ZAFT National Defense Headquarters and issued a request for a ceasefire to the Earth Alliance.

Given that the Alliance had already suffered heavy losses and was unable to continue fighting, and the fact that the radical Blue Cosmos leader Murrue Azrael had already died in battle, the Earth Alliance accepted this ceasefire request after confirming that Earth had been relieved of the crisis of being destroyed by Genesis.

The Second Battle of Jachin Due, which lasted nearly two days, finally came to an end.

Colorful retreat signal flares were fired into space from the surviving warships, exploding like fireworks and illuminating the space filled with wreckage.

"So beautiful..."

Shihe murmured to herself as she watched the fireworks composed of many signal flares, a smile of survival after a disaster at the corners of her mouth.

Li Boyong also revealed a knowing smile, somewhat understanding how Shihe felt.

It was just that this scenery might not actually be that beautiful; at the very least, the wreckage beneath those lights was ugly enough.

But!

These lights also signified the arrival of peace!

Although the two armies had likely only announced a temporary ceasefire for now, anyone with a discerning eye could see that both sides were already unable to continue fighting, and the signing of a ceasefire agreement was only a matter of time.

"It is beautiful!"

Li Boyong spoke up, but he wasn't talking about the scenery before them, but rather the girl he was staring at.

"What are you looking at!"

Shihe felt a bit embarrassed by his stare and reached out to push away his helmet.

"What do you think?"

Li Boyong didn't mind; he just smiled and pressed his helmet against Shihe's again, continuing to look at her as if he could never get enough.

The battle was over, and he could finally hold Shihe in his arms and feel like it was legitimate, rather than on the streets of Orb where he could only secretly hold her hand when her teammates weren't looking, so of course he had to look his fill now.

Not only did he want to look, but he also had to say some flirtatious things to express his feelings.

Those embarrassing words came through the helmets, and whenever Shihe couldn't bear to listen anymore, she would glare at him and push Li Boyong's helmet away, cutting off the path for the sound to travel, only for Li Boyong to immediately stick back to her like a plaster.

Li Boyong and Shihe embraced, head to head, drifting in this universe.

Looking at each other, it was as if they were the only two people left in the world.

"Come to think of it, why did you leave the Alliance?"

Shihe felt she couldn't let Li Boyong keep talking to himself; although she admitted she felt happy hearing it, it was also incredibly cheesy.

"Hmm... I really couldn't stand the way the Alliance used nuclear weapons so recklessly, and then I clashed with the Archangel. You also know I was previously assigned to the Archangel, so I just left the Alliance."

Li Boyong gave a general overview of the situation but cleverly skipped the topic regarding Natarle.

Shihe had no idea what was on Li Boyong's mind at that moment, but when she heard he had shot and killed Azrael, a glimmer of brilliance couldn't help but appear in her eyes.

Blue Cosmos was an organization that persecuted Coordinators, and she didn't know how many of her kin had died directly or indirectly due to the schemes of this organization.

Now that Li Boyong had personally killed the leader of Blue Cosmos, his image in Shihe's eyes suddenly became much taller.

As they talked, Li Boyong tricked Shihe into revealing some personal information.

Although Li Boyong and Shihe were able to have such a miraculous encounter on the hostile battlefield and share their feelings.

In truth, Li Boyong didn't know much about Shihe's personal information.

For instance, he only just learned that Shihe had only recently turned eighteen.

Although he knew Coordinators matured earlier and there were many child soldiers in the ZAFT military, he really hadn't expected to be looking at one right in front of him.

In his view, an eighteen-year-old girl was in the innocent and romantic season of life like a flower, yet Shihe was already participating in this overly cruel war.

Thinking back to that rainy night, the scene where she, under his coercion, desperately called for her mother while inputting the self-destruct code.

Li Boyong couldn't help but hold Shihe a little tighter, feeling even more pity for her in his heart.

Time passed, and the two people drifting in space said a great deal, but the rescue that Li Boyong naturally assumed would come never arrived.

After Shihe shot down the Raider, he had barely managed to restore some power to the Strike Dagger, moving himself near the Beam CGUE.

He saw that the Beam CGUE was in terrible condition, so he hurriedly rescued Shihe, who had fainted in the cockpit.

But when he returned to the Strike Dagger, the power of that broken machine had issues again. Out of fear that the Beam CGUE would explode at any moment, he hurriedly attached a small back-mounted thruster to himself and took Shihe far away from the Beam CGUE.

After that, Shihe woke up, the Beam CGUE exploded, and signal flares as brilliant as fireworks rose in the universe.

But quite a long time had passed since the ceasefire order, and no one had responded to the distress signal he sent, nor were there any signs of rescue teams passing by nearby.

Li Boyong secretly glanced at the oxygen gauge on his wrist, his expression changing slightly.

Shihe also noticed Li Boyong's expression, and she looked openly at the oxygen gauges for both herself and Li Boyong.

She gave Li Boyong a bitter smile and said, "It seems our luck really isn't very good..."

This shouldn't be!

Li Boyong couldn't understand how they had ended up in such an absurd predicament.

They had survived such a cruel war, only for him and Shihe to die in this lonely universe?

Was this story's ending too cruel and too realistic?

How could Li Boyong be willing to accept that?

But Shihe didn't have that unwillingness; instead, she felt this was normal.

On a battlefield with so much wreckage, even when the fighting had gradually ended, the communication environment was still extremely poor.

And the two of them were drifting alone in the universe, with their only tool being the small thruster on Li Boyong's back, but how far could that little thing take two people?

And how much longer could their oxygen last?

But never mind, Shihe looked at Li Boyong and, for the first time, took the initiative to press her helmet against his.

If it was with him, she could accept even this ending.

It was just a pity she couldn't go see that sea with him; this was a small wish she had hidden in her heart, which was to go see that sea from before with him during peacetime.

But now it seemed that wouldn't be possible...