Lu Tianming, who had hastily taken refuge in the cockpit, hadn't even caught his breath when the inexplicable voice from earlier sounded again.
Only this time, compared to the somewhat anxious tone from before, the voice now carried a hint of smugness:
"Haha, my dear son, wasn't your dad just now super cool?"
"Cool your damn head... Wait, where are you even speaking from?"
Lu Tianming instinctively retorted with a curse, only realizing after he'd spoken that something felt off.
If he hadn't misheard—that voice should belong to his childhood friend and partner-in-crime, Xia Chuan.
In fact, before crossing over, Lu Tianming had been on his way to play water pellet games with him.
"Bet you didn't expect this—your dad crossed over and became the Strike! So, doesn't my heroic rescue just now deserve you calling me 'Dad'?"
Xia Chuan replied boastfully. Lu Tianming even noticed the cockpit's interior lights flickering cheerfully and brightly, as if matching his triumphant tone.
Lu Tianming rolled his eyes. Considering the guy had just saved him, he decided to let him have his moment.
Seeing that Lu Tianming didn't argue back, Xia Chuan took it as silent acknowledgment of his "father" status.
Having secured the generational upper hand, he chuckled smugly and, with a sense of parental responsibility, coaxed:
"Well then, dear son, don't you want to pilot your dad's awesome Giant Mecha, save Murrue, take down Athrun, and step by step climb to the peak of life?"
Observing Xia Chuan's increasingly enthusiastic tone, Lu Tianming felt a bit strange. He pinched his chin and studied the display in front of him:
"I do... but why don't you just move on your own?"
"Uh..."
Stumped by the question, Xia Chuan deflated for a moment, then replied with exaggerated anguish:
"To save you, my dear son... your dad's body is already in tatters..."
"Speak plainly."
Under Lu Tianming's persistent questioning, Xia Chuan reluctantly explained his specific situation.
In short, when there was no pilot—his control over the body was limited. That earlier move of raising the arm was already his ultimate move, built up after straining for a long time.
To move freely, he needed to establish a soul resonance with the pilot through the act of "piloting," which would then unlock the restricted control over the body.
Put simply, Lu Tianming now played the role of a commander.
Whether the operations were correct didn't matter; what was important was that through this form, he granted Xia Chuan certain action permissions, allowing Xia Chuan to move within those authorized limits.
Hearing his explanation, Lu Tianming nodded thoughtfully. He lightly pinched his chin, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth:
"...So, without my permission, no matter how much you want to move... it's useless?"
"Uh... pretty much?"
Xia Chuan sensed something was off. The interior lights flickered, as if he had a bad feeling.
"Earlier, you saved me once, so I didn't say anything when you called me 'son.'"
"Now you need my help... what should you call me?"
"Dammit! I'm not calling you 'Dad'! I save your wife and fight your battles, and I still have to call you 'Dad'? You'd get all the benefits!"
Realizing Lu Tianming's hidden agenda, Xia Chuan resisted vehemently. The mecha itself even shook with his intense emotions, nearly throwing Lu Tianming out of the pilot seat.
Lu Tianming wore an expression of disappointment, as if scolding a disobedient child, and sighed deeply:
"I'm doing this for your own good, don't you understand... Think about it, if we don't save Murrue, who's going to command the Archangel? Without the Archangel, how do we escape? If we can't escape, I'll be captured by ZAFT, and you..."
At this point, Lu Tianming wore an expression too painful to behold, covering his face with a heavy sigh.
"The best outcome would be being guided by fate back into Kira's hands, becoming a prop for his flirtatious battles with Athrun. And after being played with, you'd still get blasted point-blank by a 2887 explosion."
"Even if you miraculously survive that, what likely awaits you is being traded as secondhand goods to Uncle Mu, only for him to pilot you later to block a Positron Cannon..."
Lu Tianming adopted a tone of reasoning and emotional appeal, earnestly spinning tales of his future fate.
The not-so-bright Xia Chuan initially dismissed Lu Tianming's description as alarmist.
But upon careful consideration... he realized it might actually be true?
Feeling the darkness of his future, Xia Chuan's heavy steel frame couldn't help but tremble.
While fastening his seatbelt to avoid being thrown off again, Lu Tianming asked with a smile:
"So? What should you call me now?"
"Dad! You're my dad! Whether you step on the accelerator or push the control stick, just please make me move already—"
Seeing Xia Chuan finally yield, Lu Tianming smiled with satisfaction, placing both hands on the control stick and pushing it forward while simultaneously pressing the accelerator:
"Good son, watch your dad pilot you into battle!"
——————————————————
Meanwhile, Murrue looked at the rifle in her hands that had run out of ammunition and clicked her tongue in frustration as she ducked back behind cover.
Lu Tianming's fate remained unknown after that earlier grenade, and now her position was being suppressed by enemy fire... Although scattered friendly forces around were still offering resistance.
But hearing the occasional screams of agony... Murrue felt the warehouse defense line would collapse within minutes.
Just as this thought crossed her mind, an explosion suddenly erupted behind her—the cover she had been using was now damaged by the blast, and she was thrown several steps by the shockwave, exposed like a sitting duck in enemy sight.
Her body aching from the impact, Murrue scanned her surroundings—the nearest cover was over ten meters away. She had nowhere to hide.
Looking toward the enemy—ZAFT soldiers in their distinctive uniforms seized this opportunity, aiming their weapons at her.
Damn... was this how it would end?
Biting her lip in frustration, Murrue was about to close her eyes and accept her fate—when powerful Machine Cannon fire suddenly roared, raining bullets upon the previous ZAFT soldier positions, obliterating both bodies and cover alike.
Murrue's mind went blank momentarily before being flooded with relief.
Could it be that Lu Tianming survived the explosion and successfully boarded the Strike?
The surprise felt almost unreal—Lu Tianming's appearance felt like a lifeline thrown to a drowning person, making her instinctively want to grasp it, to rely on it.
She looked toward the storage rack, only to see Strike crouching down and extending a hand toward her, while Lu Tianming's voice came through:
"Miss Murrue, get in the machine quickly. Otherwise... the upcoming battle might affect you."