Chapter 361 - 362: That’s Where You’re Cutting the Episode Off?!

Chapter 361: Chapter 362: That’s Where You’re Cutting the Episode Off?!

Flay’s biggest problem was that she had grown up immersed in a Blue Cosmos environment. She had been steeped in Blue Cosmos culture since childhood and simply did not believe there was anything wrong with her.

She had once been corrected to some extent, but the appearance of the Blue Cosmos fleet caused Flay’s old mentality to begin changing again.

Then Le Creuset’s fleet swept aside the Doolittle’s fleet, and the "support" Flay had relied on disappeared once more.

"Flay-san."

"I... Don’t come any closer!"

On this day, Flay once again remembered the trauma of being roasted by Inori.

"Flay-san." This time, Inori actually stopped advancing. She stood where she was and stared at Flay.

Flay had already developed a certain oppositional attitude toward her.

Simply roasting her probably would not accomplish much anymore.

"I’m not going to listen to your nonsense!" Flay shouted.

"I am only stating facts," Inori said. "Even without Kira, your father would still have died."

"What are you talking about?!"

Roasting Flay did not even require saying anything special. Simply stating facts was enough to break through her defenses.

But roasting Flay itself was not important. What mattered was the Popularity generated by roasting her.

Popularity was the most important thing.

"War is cruel. No one can escape it. Your father’s death was an inevitable result of war, not the fault of any single person."

Flay shook her head frantically, unable to accept Inori’s words. "No, no! That’s wrong! If it weren’t for Kira, if it weren’t for her!"

"If it weren’t for Kira, you would already be dead."

"Eh...?"

Right.

If it were not for Kira... she would already be dead.

[Inori just ended the match]

[Blaming the person who saved people because she didn’t save everyone. Moral superiority, huh?]

[If you ask me, they should cut Flay open and kick her into vacuum]

[??? Bro, you’re getting a little extreme]

[She doesn’t deserve that]

[Flay is still pretty hot. I’d hit that]

[At least wait until after I get a turn]

[Holy crap, the supermod stepped in]

[Banned, banned, I’m dying lol]

[Told you guys you were getting too extreme]

She had squeezed about as many Popularity Points out of this as she could. It was time to wrap things up.

"That’s enough playing the victim, Flay Allster-san." Inori left once she had had her fill. "If you have no resolve of your own, then you have no right to accuse anyone."

With that, Inori left.

Only Flay remained behind, bewildered and at a loss.

"I... I can’t do anything..."

No...

That is not right.

I... might still have something I can do!

"I only have myself left now, but... there is still something I can do..."

Still lost, Flay headed off in another direction.

[I’ve got a bad feeling about this]

[Hot take: Flay is actually the final BOSS]

[I think she’ll probably come to her senses at the very end, then die and become Kira’s eternal pain and white moonlight]

[We’re getting a space ghost out of this too?]

[That’s a Newtype thing. The SEED world only has Coordinators]

[Not necessarily. The way Mu and Le Creuset can sense each other already has a Newtype flavor to it. Maybe she really can float around as a space ghost]

But that was about it for Flay’s part. At this point, the Stage shifted the scene to the real heroine, Lacus.

"Father!" After returning to PLANT, Lacus ran into her father’s arms with a smile.

"Welcome home, Lacus." Siegel had come to meet Lacus early.

Lacus was not merely "the daughter of PLANT’s current chairman."

Siegel Clyne could practically be called PLANT’s founding father.

So Lacus’s status was symbolically significant in a certain sense. On top of that, she was PLANT’s number-one songstress.

For example, even if Patrick Zala became the new chairman, Athrun Zala would still be less important symbolically than Lacus.

"I heard the Songstress of Orb was aboard the enemy ship as well?" Siegel asked.

"Mm. I met Inori-san."

Lacus picked up the pink Haro in her hands.

Inori’s autograph was on it.

"It sounds like you learned quite a lot over there." Siegel fell into thought.

"Mm. Inori-san clearly has such extraordinary talent, but she doesn’t seem to acknowledge herself as a Coordinator," Lacus said.

"Ah, of course she isn’t. And... the ’key’—did you meet her too?" Siegel asked again.

"Kira? What a cute kid." Lacus smiled. "The moment I saw her, I wanted to take her home with me~"

Siegel smiled and shook his head, then got into the car together with Lacus.

"Still, meeting those two over there was fate in a sense," Siegel said with a sigh.

"Mm?"

Lacus tilted her head.

Although Lacus was very "innocent," she was no fool.

"Well, since you’ve already met them, there are some things you can learn now... a certain person’s story..."

And then... the scene cut away.

[Grass (a type of exclamation), what story is it?!]

[Just finish the damn story!]

[Cameraman! No drumstick for you!]

[You’re really cutting it off there?!]

[I’m raging, guys. I’m seriously raging!]

[I just want to know what the hell is going on!]

[Holy crap, it’s the Aegis]

[Holy crap, it’s so red!]

[Holy crap, crimson!]

[This looks good!]

At first, everyone was still complaining about the Stage’s "cliffhanger," but the moment the Aegis Gundam appeared, their eyes lit up.

"The Aegis refit..."

After seeing Lacus off, Athrun welcomed back his now-repaired Aegis.

A technician beside him explained, "We upgraded and improved it based on the data stored inside the Aegis Gundam. The ’Scylla’ can now be used in MS mode. In addition, its armor, frame, and other systems have been redesigned and readjusted. After restructuring the frame, the Aegis is now capable of atmospheric flight as well. So we also changed its designation—Rosso Aegis Gundam."

"Rosso... Aegis..."

Athrun stared at the modified Aegis, lost in thought.

(Standard Aegis)

(Rosso Aegis)

[Rosso Aegis. Official preorders have already started]

[Now that’s efficiency]

[Cool as hell]

[Looks way better than the original]

[The color is much easier on the eyes]

[When that big-name creator posted a video before, tons of people said the Aegis wasn’t bright red but dark red and accused him of making stuff up. Now the Aegis really has become crimson]

[It actually feels pretty symbolic. The Aegis changing also represents Athrun’s transformation as a character]

[666, that makes sense]

The data for the Rosso Aegis Gundam had already been stored inside the machine, just like with the other units.

However, Inori had not copied the Gundam SEED Astray manga design completely. She had also referenced the atmospheric equipment design from the Gundam SEED Re: manga. Overall, though, it still broadly followed the original Rosso Aegis appearance, with a few adjustments to make it look better.

As for why she did that...

Looks are the number-one selling point!

Whether a Gundam was strong was one thing. There was nothing wrong with arguing about combat power... but whether it looked cool genuinely affected people’s wallets!

And the danmaku were right about something else too.

Right now, Athrun needed exactly this kind of vivid red to guide the change taking place inside his heart...