Chapter 174 The End and Beginning of Vacation

But Aang clearly wasn’t satisfied with Kahn’s answer. He stared at him speechlessly.

“Don’t be so perfunctory with me, okay? I’m being serious!”

“My answer is serious.” Kahn sighed, then added, “Alright, alright. If you really want advice, I’ll give you one piece for now.”

Unable to resist Aang’s pleading expression, Kahn chuckled.

“Even though I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking, you should consider the possible consequences of every decision before you make it.”

“In short—look before you leap.”

Aang rolled his eyes, “Wow, great. You said a lot while saying absolutely nothing.”

Kahn burst out laughing.

“That’s how principles work. Everyone knows them, but not everyone can follow them.”

Zuko’s lips curved into a smile.

“That honestly sounds like something Uncle Iroh would say.”

“Haha, yeah. If he were holding a cup of tea and took a sip before saying it, it’d be exactly him!”

“Hahaha!”

A vivid mental image flashed in both Kahn’s and Zuko’s minds. They exchanged a knowing grin.

Aang groaned helplessly.

“Stop going off-topic. I get the general idea — but can you give me more specific advice?”

“More specific, huh…”

Kahn thought for a moment.

“Fine. Based on your idea of not killing Ozai, let me give you a possible scenario.”

“For example—”

‘You defeat Ozai, but instead of killing him, you imprison him. Because of that, a significant portion of the Fire Nation still sees him as the true Fire Lord and wants to rescue him and restore the Fire Nation’s “glory.”‘

‘They hide in the shadows, waiting for their chance. Eventually, they seize an opportunity, assassinate the new Fire Lord Zuko, break Ozai out, and ignite a new world war.’

As Aang’s face gradually froze, Kahn smirked.

“Well? What do you think?”

“This…”

Aang couldn’t refute it. It sounded extremely possible.

Seeing this, Sokka pounced immediately.

“So, to avoid that nightmare scenario, you should just get rid of him now and eliminate the problem!”

“Yeah,” Zuko added quickly. “For the sake of my life.”

Aang widened his eyes at Kahn.

“Wait—are you saying you support the ‘eliminate Ozai’ group!?”

“Uh-huh.”

Kahn shrugged. He wasn’t denying anything.

“But the issue right now is what you want to do. I’m just laying out possibilities.”

“For example—from another angle—after killing Ozai, his fanatics might carry out extremist attacks across the world.”

Sokka stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

“Ozai has fanatics? Are they blind?”

Zuko shook his head.

“It’s not surprising. Fire Nation schools teach absolute loyalty to the Fire Lord from childhood. And there are plenty of cruel warmongers who admire him.”

In short: after hearing everyone out — but especially Kahn — Aang wasn’t enlightened at all.

Instead, he just became more conflicted.

“Hey! Boys! Stop standing around chatting!”

Katara’s voice called from a distance. She held a giant water sphere full of live seafood.

She grinned, “Who’s starting a fire? We’re having a seafood barbecue!”

“On it!” Kahn replied.

He and the others stood up. Kahn patted Aang’s shoulder.

“Don’t look so miserable. It’s vacation time. We can deal with the world’s problems later.”

Aang shot back, “Weren’t you just looking miserable?”

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

—

While Team Avatar enjoyed their vacation, the Earth Kingdom’s war preparations continued at full speed.

The break passed quickly. On the last day, instead of returning to Gaoling, Team Avatar headed to Chameleon Bay in the southern Earth Kingdom.

This was the port originally defended by Katara and Zuko’s father’s Water Tribe forces.

“Mai!”

“Zuko!”

Absence truly made the heart grow fonder — the two immediately embraced and didn’t separate for quite a while.

Then Zuko looked around.

“Where’s Uncle Iroh?”

General Hao — one of the Council of Five — approached and answered:

“General Iroh isn’t coming. He’s at the front lines leading the first phase of the plan.”

“The first phase has already begun a few days ago.”

The plan consisted of three stages:

The Earth Kingdom army counterattacks, confronting the Fire Nation head-on and drawing away their main forces.

Team Avatar and elite troops sail around to flank a Fire Nation port, infiltrate, and head straight for the capital.

Team Avatar enters the palace, finds Ozai, and ends the war.

Nothing complicated — the strength of the plan was surprise. The Fire Nation didn’t know the date of the solar eclipse and wouldn’t expect an attack now.

“The first phase already started?!” Sokka’s eyes widened. “Why? This isn’t the time we agreed on.”

“That was General Iroh’s improvisation,” General Hao said with a laugh.

“And it worked extremely well.”

“According to the latest reports, General Iroh has already liberated Omashu and rescued King Bumi. The two of them are currently driving back the Fire Nation forces.”

“The first phase was a complete success. The Fire Nation’s main army has been pulled away.”

Even Hao himself had been stunned when he saw this news. The Dragon of the West — once their greatest obstacle — now stood with them, achieving miraculous results.

“I wish I could see it in person…”

Kahn sighed. He had never seen Iroh command troops in battle and wondered what it looked like.

Zuko felt relieved upon hearing the news, and Aang brightened immediately.

“That’s great!”

“King Bumi?” Toph cracked her knuckles eagerly.

“Once this is over, I’m gonna find him and take the title of strongest Earthbender!”

“Kahn…”

A familiar voice came from behind. Kahn turned to see Ty Lee, hesitating, then finally speaking:

“Um… I heard everything. So you’re not from this world… meaning Azula isn’t either…”

“Yes. The Azula I like is the Azula from my world,” Kahn replied, scratching his cheek awkwardly.

But the moment she heard that, Ty Lee visibly relaxed, a bright smile returning to her face.

“I knew it. So—what’s Azula like in your world?”

“This…”

Kahn had no idea how to deal with her curiosity.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Katara and Sokka rushed toward the Water Tribe fleet docked at the port — their father Hakoda’s forces.

“Father!”

“Father!”

“Sokka, Katara. It’s good to see you both.”

They embraced happily. After some greetings, Sokka immediately asked:

“Father, did you find all the people I asked you to gather earlier?”

…

The full completed version of Avatar: Rebirth of the Strongest Firebender —