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Chapter 37: Phantom ACE
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Generally speaking, when NT encounters any kind of danger or senses any kind of character, the brain will have a tingle like an electric shock. The problem is that at the moment when Ade was dazed, there was like a psycho in his head ringing the doorbell like crazy, “ding ding ding”. He was not in a daze, but was a little dizzy from all the “ding ding ding” in his head – how big a deal is this?
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He and Uraki returned to their respective rooms with smiles on their faces and immediately began to pack their things. There wasn’t much to take with him, just his phone, wallet, and laptop, and luckily for him, walking around with a laptop wasn’t suspicious. Other things such as a change of clothes are not necessary.
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He looked at the map on the electronic screen in the room, and now the Eternal is located in the northern part of the South Pacific. The Minovsky floating system is too power-hungry, based on V2’s fully charged battery, the best destination is Orb Union, but in case something goes wrong, it is possible to deviate from the route to reach Indonesia. Now in mid-February, the temperature in some areas was less than ten degrees, and he had changed into warm clothes just to be on the safe side.
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“Doctor.” Uraki’s voice came from the door, “Miss Lacus is with me and says she has something for you.”
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Ade put the notebook he had just picked up back on the table and opened the door with a new attitude as if nothing was wrong. Lacus quickly walked into the room with her head down, Uraki then followed in and closed the door.
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“Mr. Ade, I know you don’t trust me, but we don’t have much time, so please make sure you believe what I say next.” Lacus’s face was sad and her speech was fast, very different from usual, “Right now you and I are in great danger, ZAFT wants us. I want to make a deal with you, you take me to escape from the Eternal, and I will tell you the detailed information.”
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Ade looked astonished. Could it be that something has changed on the PLANT side? But he could not listen to Lacus say a few words and take her with him, he needed more detailed information, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Lacus, but you make me confused and I can not make a judgment.”
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“Mr. Ade, I don’t know how much time we have left, but the ship will be full of enemies when the time comes. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that after telling everything, you’ll leave without me. You’re my only hope.” Lacus looked at him with a pleading look, “But I can guarantee that the information provided after escaping will be absolutely valuable.”
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Ade quickly weighed in his mind, assuming Lacus was telling the truth. A ship full of enemies meant that the entire ZAFT, and even the entire PLANT would turn against him. The success rate of escaping with Lacus isn’t high, but he really needs to know what is happening now, otherwise, he would be simply bumping around like a headless fly.
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Another thing, in case they don’t make it to Orb Union, there are still a bunch of small countries between them and Australia, and he has no idea about the political leanings of these countries. And Lacus, as the daughter of the Speaker, these things are obviously mandatory for her.
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As for Lacus worrying about him leaving alone after knowing the information… it’s understandable. Such a statement rather makes her words much more credible.
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So the conclusion is already obvious, “I promise. Change into your most mobile clothes, do not wear this dress that you are wearing now. Bring the least amount of stuff and let’s head to the hangar.”
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“Thank you, thank you for your trust, Mr. Ade.” Lacus showed a complicated expression, bowed deeply, and turned to leave the room.
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“Doctor, you and Miss Lacus can go with V2. V2’s boot code is ‘carrot’. By the way, take the gun with you.” Uraki unstrapped the pistol from his body and strapped it towards Ade, a tangled look flashed across his face, “I, I’ll stay and help you stall for time.”
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“What silly words are you saying? How could I leave you behind?” Ade was moved and amused, “And stall for time? How do you stall for time? Beat Creuset or kick Athrun? Don’t tease me, let’s go together.”
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“But V2 can’t squeeze in three people.” Uraki helped Ade tighten his gun belt, as if he had firmly believed in something, “Doctor, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m just a bodyguard, they won’t do anything to me.”
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“Why are we all squeezing inside V2? Hijack a ZakuⅢ!” Ade looked at Uraki and patted his shoulder, “The ZakuⅢs in the hangar are equipped with Minovsky floating system, you can just grab one of them. You know V2’s communication band, so contact is not a problem. There won’t be problems.”
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Uraki pondered for a while and finally nodded hard, “You’re right, Doctor, I’m more useful to follow along.”
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Ade smiled gratefully and picked up his notebook and walked to the hangar.
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The two came to the hangar, there were not many people inside, and Lacus had not yet arrived. Ade went to V2 and opened the cockpit, put the laptop in the space under the seat to secure it, started V2, and then watched Uraki sneak up to a Zaku to wait for the right time to act. Unfortunately, the hangar’s hatch could not be opened so they had to break through it by force.
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Just as Ade thought so, the hangar’s hatch suddenly opened, the sea breeze poured in and blew his unbuttoned jacket snapping.
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“Ade-san, I’m here.” He heard Lacus’s voice. Turning around to look, the young girl’s hair flying in the wind, “I told the support staff that you are going to take me out for a ride and asked him to open the hangar hatch.”
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He looked at Lacus speechlessly, and was not even in the mood to compliment her. The young girl in front of him wore a thin half-sleeve on the top and a short skirt that reached about her knees on the bottom. She was pressing her skirt with her hands to keep it from being blown up by the wind, and further down he could see that her legs were wrapped in white.
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Missy, we are going to run for our lives!
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“I didn’t bring any trousers with me this time, so this was the only option other than a dress.” Lacus apparently understood his expression and spoke out to explain, noticing again that his eyes fell on her own legs, “This is according to what Ade-san said, keep warm in low temperatures.”
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Well, she is already doing her personal best under the current objective conditions. Besides, it was normal for pretty girls to be like this, and he remembered that in C.C.’s closet, there was also mostly skirts.
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Ade sidled out of the way and gestured for her to enter the cockpit. Lacus brushed against him and got in, her long hair made his nose a little itchy. He watched as Lacus took up her position behind the seat and leaned down to–
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“Don’t move, Adrien Lingus!” Athrun’s voice came from below behind him, followed by a gunshot, a bullet hitting the side of the hatch, “Turn around slowly and don’t make any suspicious movements or the next shot will be a direct hit!”
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“… Looks like that’s as far as we’re going to get, Ade-san.” Lacus resignedly relaxed her whole body with a heartbreakingly poignant smile, “Thank you for your trust, it’s been a pleasure knowing you, really.”
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Ade looked at her smile. For some reason, he felt a little blockage in his heart.
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“Captain Creuset’s orders are to capture you alive if possible, and to shoot immediately if there is any resistance. You are a respected scholar and I do not want to cause unnecessary casualties. Please turn around within five seconds or I cannot guarantee your life.” Athrun’s shouting continued, “The soldiers over there, go inform Captain Creuset! Also, have someone close the hangar’s hatch.”
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Ade sighed, gave Lacus a gesture and put his left hand in his pocket, and slowly turned around. Now, there are only a few people in the hangar, he used his eyes to indicate the still undetected Uraki to be ready.
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“What’s in the left pocket? Take your left hand out of your pocket and don’t make any irrational moves.” The Athrun below raised his gun at him, and the killing intent in his eyes was serious. At this distance, he had no doubt about Athrun’s speed and accuracy, “Slowly raise your hand to the place I can see it.”
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“Take it easy, in my pocket is my phone.” Ade pulls his left hand out and presses it stealthily on the phone a few times, then stretches it out as far as possible to show Athrun, “Look, it’s just a phone, don’t shoot – ah, the hand slipped.”
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The phone detached from Ade’s hand, and fell vertically under the effect of gravity, and emitted a blinding glare the moment it collided with the ground. In a flash, Athrun was blinded, and his ears heard a slight explosion. He reflexively lunged backward.
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“Hold on tight! I can’t help it if you get a concussion!”
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In Lacus’ dismayed eyes, Ade flew into the cockpit to close the hatch. Under his operation, V2 Gundam leaped out of the hangar, and the Minovsky floating system and thrusters were opening at the same time, flying away at a high speed. Not long after, a Zaku followed V2’s direction and also flew away.
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“Hey?” Lacus gripped the seat tightly, not yet understanding the situation, “What just happened?”
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“The almighty Wonder Conch died a glorious death before it had a chance to power up.” Ade now had a headache. He does not remember any of the phone numbers saved in his phone. Fortunately, he recorded Anaheim’s emergency help phone number in the notebook, “Lacus, did you take your phone?”
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“Yes, but there’s no signal on Earth, sorry.” Lacus pulled out her phone and waved it in front of Ade’s eyes, “Never thought about going down to Earth, so I didn’t buy the Earth’s mobile data traffic.”
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“Well, it’s not your fault, no one thought of it.” Ade checked the radar and slowed slightly to let Uraki keep up, “Now can you tell us what’s going on?”
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“Things have gone a little differently than I had known.” Lacus’s voice came from behind him, and he was so focused on the radar that he didn’t have time to turn around, “The message I received was to kill me at all costs and put you under house arrest. But by what Athrun just did, it seems you’ve become killable as well.”
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“…It must be Creuset. He wants me dead.” Associated with the previous NT radar crazy alarm, Ade understands, “His script is probably starting and irrelevant people like me need to be quickly cleaned up. According to his style, I must die and after killing me, he would report that I was killed by mistake because I resisted too strong.”
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Luckily, Lacus did not tell him the truth beforehand, otherwise, he would probably have surrendered and waited for the moon government to save him, and that would really be the end.
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“Would Captain Creuset do such a thing? And what does the script mean?”
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“I will explain it to you later, after all, now we are considered in the same boat. So it seems that ZAFT could be going to war?”
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“How does Ade-san know that? It is indeed-“
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“Doctor, there are pursuers behind us!” Uraki’s voice came out from V2’s channel, “I can identify friendly signals on my side, it’s Freedom Gundam and a small group of Zakus.”
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“Freedom?” Ade smacked his lips in hatred, “Creuset is really determined to have me die. I’ll have to fight for my life this time. Lacus, I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of you for a while.”
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“Doctor, if their goal is your life, give up on me. Zaku’s speed will slow you down.” Uraki’s voice was resolute, “I can’t stop Freedom Gundam, at least I can slow down that small group of Zakus. With only Freedom Gundam chasing behind, there’s still hope for you to escape.”
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“Don’t say stupid things! There’s definitely more than one squad of Zakus, and Creuset must be chasing after us himself. He won’t show mercy here.” He knew Uraki was right, but there were some things that were emotionally unacceptable. What was the difference between him and Creuset if he let Uraki die for him?”I didn’t recruit you to get you killed–“
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“-Listen to me!” Uraki interrupted him loudly, “We’re all doomed if we run together, that’s my professional judgment as a bodyguard. Doctor, you are much smarter than me, you understand this.”
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Uraki jerked to stop Zaku and began to turn around. V2 Gundam flew far in a flash.
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Ade subconsciously tried to pull the lever, “Uraki, you–“
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“Don’t slow down!” Uraki’s hoarse yell jarred Ade’s movements, “Doctor, I’ve been down on my luck ever since I joined the Federation. Betrayal, jail time, living a life that’s no fun at all, but the happiest I’ve ever been was this time as a bodyguard. V2 is a great Gundam and I love it! I, Kou Uraki, am not a great person, but I know how to return the favor!”
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Ade gripped the joystick helplessly, a power beyond words making him immobile.
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“Creuset? He is just a mere white uniform ZAFT solider. Don’t underestimate me, Doctor!” Nearly out of communication distance, his last voice came over the channel, “I’m the Phantom ACE!”