Arriving at the dormitory of the Twelfth Independent Technical Division, Yang Hui saw a large group of children running around. They were the children rescued from the Flanagan Institute. On the way back to Luna II, they had lowered their guard under the sincere care and attention of everyone.
Upon returning to Luna II, Yang Hui sent people to investigate their identities. Most were children abducted or kidnapped from civilians by the Flanagan Institute. It was easy to trace their family backgrounds. Those whose families were still alive were sent back, but for the rest...
Most were orphans with no home to return to.
Originally, Yang Hui intended to send these children to Earth to live in orphanages under the Vist Foundation. However...
Because Rita Bernal was there, the other children saw her attending classes and studying within the Twelfth Independent Technical Division. In their spare time, they saw her helping others with whatever work she could manage, and they began to follow her lead.
It wasn't that Yang Hui hadn't spoken to them about sending them to an orphanage on Earth to start a new life. After all, the Twelfth Independent Technical Division was a combat unit, not a nursery. Rita Bernal staying was already a special case among special cases due to her unique nature; keeping so many more children was clearly against the rules and inappropriate.
However, without exception, they all refused with firm determination.
Perhaps having experienced such grief and torture, their perception of the world was unfriendly. Aside from the members of the Twelfth Independent Technical Division who had rescued them, they maintained a high level of wariness toward everyone else.
This gave Yang Hui a massive headache. Unable to find a better solution for the moment, he could only let Rita Bernal lead them in doing what chores they could within the unit.
But among all the children in the Twelfth Independent Technical Division, one was different—the pilot of the NT-use MA captured by the 1st Squad, one of Zeon's most powerful Newtypes, the future Queen, and leader of Neo Zeon: Haman Karn.
Yang Hui was also somewhat surprised that Haman Karn had been sent to the Flanagan Institute as a test subject.
Haman Karn did not come from a commoner's family. Although the Karn family was not one of the Great Houses of the Principality of Zeon, her father was a close aide to Degwin Sodo Zabi and reportedly held the rank of General. Haman also had an older sister, much older than herself, who was the concubine of Dozle Zabi—a fact confirmed when Dozle's family was picked up.
With these two connections, Haman Karn should never have been sent to the Flanagan Institute to participate in cruel NT experiments.
Furthermore, Haman had possessed excellent NT potential since childhood. Because of her kind nature as a child, she often helped others find lost items, which eventually evolved into finding missing relatives. Like Rita Bernal, she was known as a "Miracle Child" or the "Prophetic Girl."
It was precisely because of this that Haman Karn caught the eye of Kycilia Zabi, who summoned her to her side as an attendant and held her in high regard.
In the Principality of Zeon, anyone identified as an NT would usually be sent to the Flanagan Institute by various means. Haman Karn should have been the only exception, being a member of the Flanagan Institute in name only without participating in any experiments.
Yet now, she had piloted an NT-use MA into battle, which puzzled Yang Hui.
"Are you finally willing to talk to me?" In a private room, Yang Hui sat across from the purple-haired girl. Haman still had her refreshing short hair and lacked her future queenly aura, but one could see a warrior's gaze in her eyes, along with the faint shadow of a high-ranking ruler.
"Yang Hui. Colonel of the Federal Army, commander of the Twelfth Independent Technical Division—a unit directly under General Johann Abraham Revil. Ranked first among the Federation's aces, the strongest MS pilot, and an outstanding commander and researcher. You led the team that developed the Astray series of MS and the Kirin-class warships, and you have fought across multiple theaters..."
"If you called me here just to have me listen to my own glorious history, let's not waste any more time." Hearing Haman Karn recite his data in a mechanical, flat tone, Yang Hui immediately interrupted her, standing up to leave.
But after taking just two steps, he heard Haman Karn's next words and turned back to sit down.
"I know Lord Dozle is still alive, and his family was taken by your people."
"...And?" Yang Hui sat back down, asking Haman Karn with interest.
"I can keep your secret."
"Your condition?"
"Send me to see my sister."
"Heh, that's hardly an equal trade." Yang Hui shrugged. Seeing Haman Karn so calmly attempting to strike a deal, his sense of playfulness was piqued.
"It is indeed unequal. To safely spirit Lord Dozle away from under General Tiam's nose, there must be an unspeakable secret between General Tiam and you. Not just General Tiam, but also General Revil far away on Earth. To hide this from everyone and keep the Federal Assembly silent, your influence in the Federation must be immense—perhaps you are even close to controlling the entire Federation."
"And yet you still propose a valueless condition?"
"Because I have no value either," Haman Karn continued. "Everyone at the Flanagan Institute, except for the rescued test subjects, was killed by you at Mahal. Therefore, you will report that there were no prisoners. I have become the only prisoner who cannot see the light of day. There is no point in you keeping me; it's better to send me away to avoid discovery."
"The daughter of the Karn family... your father is a close aide to the Archduke and carries weight in the Principality. You can't say you have no value. On the contrary, your value is quite high," Yang Hui countered.
"No. Although my father is His Majesty the Archduke's aide, he does not possess much intelligence. If it were for the purpose of assassinating the Archduke, it is unnecessary. The Archduke already intends to seek peace talks and surrender. Killing him would only harm the Federation, not benefit it. It's also impossible for my father to get close to Gihren Zabi, especially now that Gihren has developed murderous intent toward the Archduke." Haman responded calmly.
"And what about yourself? You are an exceptional NT, very valuable for research."
"You won't do that. You killed all the researchers, which shows you don't need them, let alone this research. You also saved the other test subjects, which shows you have a bottom line."
"What if it's just my disguise?"
"It isn't."
"Reason?"
"It told me." Haman Karn pointed to her own head. "You are a person with a bottom line, and you utterly detest experiments that have none."
"...Heh, that truly is an annoying ability." Yang Hui laughed heartily. He had only been playing along to see how much of her future capability the current Haman possessed, momentarily forgetting that one cannot lie in front of a powerful NT.
"Moreover, in terms of research value, you are more valuable than I am, aren't you?"
"...You noticed?"
"Dr. Flanagan discovered it. Your Psychic Waves are stronger than anyone I've ever seen, and very unique," Haman Karn said calmly.
"Heh, interesting. Should I say, as expected of you?" Yang Hui smiled with interest and stood up to leave directly, without giving Haman Karn a final answer.
However, it was an answer in itself. Everything was conveyed through the Psychic Waves; he had agreed, yet hadn't.
"The Zeon Republic? If I can work under that person, I would ask for nothing more." After Yang Hui left, a glimmer of "anticipation" appeared in Haman Karn's previously stoic eyes.
...
Yang Hui returned to his room, took out his Quantum Communicator, and dialed Char's number.
"What is it?"
"Are you on Earth?"
"Yes."
"I'll be heading down soon as well."
"It seems Revil is planning the final battle."
"Exactly. It's time to end this boring war."
"In your eyes... this war is boring?"
"One man for his ambition, a group of people for their status—is such a war interesting?"
"Does that mean... there are interesting wars?"
"Of course. How about a war where the survival of humanity is at stake?"
"Heh, sounds like something you'd say, Yang Hui. But... I look forward to it."
"By the way, I'll be sending you a gift when the time comes. You should like it."
"A gift? What kind of gift?"
"Haman Karn."
"Her! How is she in your hands? Isn't she by Kycilia Zabi's side?"
"..." Yang Hui then shared the intelligence regarding the discovery and destruction of the Flanagan Institute and the death of Kycilia Zabi with Char.
"...You should have left her to me," Char said in a deep tone. He would never forget the intimidation and oppression he suffered from Kycilia Zabi when he was a child.
"That was my original plan, but she died at the hands of her own subordinate. No one could help it."
"...I understand."
The communication ended, and Yang Hui began to analyze the final stage of the overall plan. Three points were vital: first, control the news of Kycilia Zabi's death and end the war on the Earth front by dealing with Mark Be before the news spread; second, find Gihren Zabi's trump card as quickly as possible to prevent him from recklessly flipping the table; and third, contact Degwin Sodo Zabi to secretly facilitate the surrender of the Principality of Zeon.
Wait, there was one more issue to handle: the Continental Revival Foundation in the hands of Jamitov Hymen.
Thinking of this, Yang Hui picked up the quantum communication system again and found Creuset. The negotiations between the Federation delegation and the Zeon Republic had concluded. Since Char had gone to Earth, Creuset naturally wouldn't stay in the Zeon Republic either.
"When you return to Earth this time, you can join forces with Gopp to set the stage. As soon as the war with the Principality ends, uproot them immediately."
"Understood."