The next day.
Sensing the unfriendly atmosphere aboard the Archangel, Lacus Clyne, who had chosen to stay in her room, was awakened by a knock at the door.
“Lacus Clyne, do you have time to come with me?”
Leon Vance’s voice came from outside the door.
Lacus Clyne rubbed her eyes and responded.
From yesterday’s interaction, whether she could secure a relatively safe environment and good treatment aboard the Archangel likely depended on Ensign Leon Vance, the one who had personally rescued her from drifting in space.
“Please wait a moment!
I’ll change my clothes.”
After calling out to the door, Lacus Clyne began putting on her dress.
A short while later, her face slightly flushed, Lacus Clyne opened the door to find Leon Vance leaning against the opposite wall with a mechanical cat perched on his shoulder.
“Ensign Vance, sorry to keep you waiting.”
Lacus Clyne couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the mechanical cat Bao Bao on Leon’s shoulder.
“That mechanical cat looks very familiar.”
“Haro!
Friend!
Haro!
Friend!”
Before Lacus Clyne could voice her confusion, Haro, which had rolled out from beside her feet, blinked its eyes and hopped around Leon, seemingly wanting to befriend the mechanical cat Bao Bao.
Unexpectedly, just as Haro was about to jump onto Leon’s shoulder, the mechanical cat Bao Bao, perched there, suddenly swatted Haro away.
“Ah!
Haro!
Ah!
Haro!”
Undeterred, Haro, having hit the wall, persistently hopped over again.
Only to be swatted away once more by the mechanical cat Bao Bao.
Amid Haro’s repeated cries, Lacus Clyne’s eyes gradually lit up.
A relieved smile appeared on her face as she reached out to stop Haro’s futile attempts.
“Haro, come back!
Stop fooling around!”
“Haro?” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Haro hopped a few times, then blinked its electronic eyes and returned to Lacus Clyne’s side.
“Haro!
Lacus!
Haro!
Lacus.”
Seeing that the troublesome Haro had stopped causing a scene, the mechanical cat Bao Bao yawned animatedly, then closed its eyes and pretended to sleep on Leon’s shoulder.
This action further confirmed Lacus Clyne’s suspicions.
“Ensign Vance, are you the same Leon who published a paper at the age of ten and demonstrated how to assemble a mechanical cat on the spot?”
There seemed to be something sparkling in Lacus Clyne’s eyes.
“You know me?”
Leon was somewhat surprised.
Although he had caused a sensation at the age of ten due to the existence of the mechanical cat Bao Bao, after the commotion died down, the reputation of the so-called child prodigy gradually faded as Leon entered the National Academy of Sciences of the East Asian Republic and kept a low profile.
“Yes!
My father was present at the event where you published your paper and assembled the mechanical cat Bao Bao, witnessing the entire process.
He has always spoken highly of you, Ensign Vance.”
Lacus Clyne’s smile grew even more radiant as she spoke of her father Siegel Clyne’s high praise for Leon Vance, with a hint of admiration subtly woven into her words.
This left Leon Vance somewhat puzzled.
In the year C.E.
61, when he was ten years old, Patrick Zala had been attacked by an Anti-Coordinator Organization within PLANT.
Faced with a grave threat to his life, Patrick Zala chose to leave PLANT and retreat to a Lunar City in seclusion.
Amid such tense circumstances, how could Siegel Clyne—another key figure in PLANT—disregard the danger, leave PLANT, and travel to the East Asian Republic to attend a cutting-edge scientific technology forum led by the East Asian Republic’s National Academy of Sciences?
The more Leon thought about it, the more suspicious the situation seemed.
Yet, upon reflection, he realized that at the time, he had been wholly absorbed in his thesis and assembling the Mechanical Cat Bao Bao, paying little attention to external events.
As a result, he had missed the opportunity to uncover Siegel Clyne’s secret trip to the East Asian Republic.
Truly, gains and losses go hand in hand.
That cutting-edge technology forum had earned him the support of the National Academy of Sciences, but it had also caused him to overlook Siegel Clyne’s presence.
With a tinge of regret, Leon brushed aside these unnecessary thoughts.
“So it seems you’re quite familiar with my achievements?”
Leon looked at Lacus Clyne, who was struggling to contain her excitement while maintaining proper decorum, and chuckled softly.
“Yes, indeed. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
After hearing my father’s assessment of you, Ensign Leon Vance, I made an effort to follow your accomplishments.
For instance, when you were eleven, you published a paper in an internationally authoritative technical journal discussing the underlying structure of AI cognition…”
Lacus Clyne proceeded to recount, one by one, the papers Leon had periodically published in his earlier efforts to secure more resources, leaving him increasingly astonished.
Gradually, Leon couldn’t help but wonder:
“Could it be that my efforts back then to gain more resources turned Lacus Clyne into a fan of mine?”
“No!
Absolutely impossible!”
The moment this thought surfaced, Leon immediately dismissed it.
Lacus Clyne might appear innocent and simple, but in reality, she was far from it.
If Leon truly believed that the technical papers he had published in his youth to secure resources could make Lacus Clyne his fan, then he would be the naive one.
Steadying his thoughts slightly, Leon offered a sincere compliment.
“I never imagined Miss Lacus Clyne would be so familiar with the papers I published in the past.
Some of the details you mentioned, I probably wouldn’t be able to recall offhand even now.”
“Not at all.
It’s just that I have plenty of free time and have read Ensign Leon Vance’s papers multiple times.”
The blush on Lacus Clyne’s cheeks grew even brighter.
However, just as the two were about to reach the cafeteria, Lacus Clyne suddenly posed a question.
“Ensign Leon Vance, you who stand at the forefront of technology and are poised to become a transformative figure leading the world’s technological revolution—why have you chosen to become an Alliance Soldier and involve yourself in this conflict?”
“Hmm?”
Leon Vance stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Lacus Clyne, who stood there with a serious gaze, the blush on her face gradually fading.
“Then, why do you think I would involve myself in this war?
Lacus Clyne.”
Leon Vance’s counter-question took Lacus Clyne by surprise.
She shook her head, her expression dimming slightly.
“I don’t know.
I cannot see through your thoughts, Ensign Vance.
Based on my father’s assessment of you, you will be the next George Glenn, the central figure who will lead the transformation of the world.”
“Is that so?
I never expected Siegel Clyne to hold such a high opinion of me!
But unfortunately, I am not the next George Glenn.
I am just me, simply Leon Vance!”