Chapter 213: The War in the Pocket
Strasbourg, located in northeastern France, has a world-renowned Christmas market as its cultural card, making it once the most popular tourist city in Europe.
It's Christmas again, the sun has just set, and the streets are decorated with Christmas ornaments. However, the sparse number of tourists is constantly telling the truth — since mankind entered the cosmic century, the former tourist capital has long since gone out of fashion and is now tragically reduced to a second-tier attraction.
On the street, Kamille yawned widely and distractedly, "Yuriy, I really don't find this place all that interesting."
"Kamille! We're still on the street, you're so unimaginative!" Fa Yuiry glared at him, "The important thing is cultural connotation, cultural connotation, do you understand?! A guy like you won't understand, this is the stage of the third season of 'White Album'!"
"I must be out of my mind to watch that drama with you …" Kamille rubbed his forehead with his hand, "What's that twisted love triangle in the drama? Why don't you go and ask the Doctor's family gossip, let's count how many love triangles that are? Maybe it's even more interesting."
"Kamille! Dr. Lingus sponsored you to go to college, that is disrespectful!" Fa Yuiry glared at him with her arms crossed, "And you're the one who said you wanted to watch that drama in the first place!"
"But I was ready to turn it off after one episode, okay?" Kamille glared back, "Besides, I was curious because it was sponsored by Anaheim Military Industries, how did I know that it's so inexplicable?"
"What do you mean by saying it's inexplicable?& 'White Album' is clearly a very great drama. If you think it's not good, then… "Fa Yuiry froze for a second, suddenly showing a triumphant look, "Right, it's indeed not as interesting as your Hong Kong video, right? "
"Sh, sh, what Hong Kong video?" Kamille gulped, a layer of false sweat instantly seeping out of his forehead, "I, I don't know what you're talking about."
"I found it in your bedroom when I was helping you clean your place, and it was in a Hong Kong video casing, so I opened it and watched it." Fa Yuiry looked at Kamille with contempt, "They are not cheap, right? You just bought them with the grant given to you by Dr. Lingus?"
"I… I studied medicine… Yes, medicine! Those are just materials for studying!" Kamille's eyes rolled fast, trying hard to change the subject, "Oh yeah, that Yuriy, I signed for a delivery of yours before we went out, I saw the package said computer parts, so what, do you need me to help you install the computer?"
"Ah, ah? The delivery address is written to your place? No, no, I can handle it myself!" Fa Yuiry looked panicked for some reason. She grabbed Kamille's arm and headed to the other side of the street, "Street, street performance is starting, Kamille, let's go see it!"
The duo entered the crowd and squeezed into the front without much effort. Fa Yuiry didn't say anything else, but showed the same enchanted expression as the other tourists around them.
Kamille stretched his neck in boredom and looked around, elbowing Fa Yuiry, "Yuiry, look at these people, it's funny, a bunch of third-rate artists, and another group of uninitiated listeners. Now they are pretending to enjoy first-rate music."
Kamille's voice was not too loud but also not too low, at least the people around him could hear it clearly, Fa Yuiry covered her face in despair, grabbed Kamille's arm, and went through the crowd again. Kamille followed Fa Yuiry with a resentful look on his face and stood in front of some unoccupied window, while the latter's face was full of helplessness.
"We are out to travel, not out to pick a fight, no need to make your tall tales in a crowded place." Fa Yuiry breathlessly patted Kamille's shoulder, "I kind of know why you have not made a single friend for so long."
"Yuiry, get this straight, it's not that I can't make friends, it's that I don't want to, who wants to be friends with those childish brats?" Kamille slanted his eyes and skimmed his mouth, "These freshmen are as obsequious as high school students, those sophomores and juniors flaunt their authority over freshmen, and some seniors are as proud as the richest man in the Federation when they get an internship. Childish! Really childish!"
"That senior got an internship quota from Vist, I understand why he wanted to show off—"
"What Vist? It's just an obscure subsidiary of Vist. Besides, I can get in and out of Anaheim at will, have I ever bragged to anyone?" Kamille grunted disdainfully, "Fuiry, when I graduate, I will definitely not rely on the Doctor's connections and just rely on my own ability to enter the first general hospital in the moon surface capital!"
Fa Yuiry laughed as she surveyed the teenager in front of her, with slightly mixed feelings. Kamille has changed so much over the past two years, so much that she sometimes barely recognizes him, but sometimes it's as if he was still that rash young man who hadn't changed.
"And that, Yuiry, I'm sorry." Kamille said, scratching his head in embarrassment, "Obviously I was accompanying you out to have fun, and again, I made the atmosphere awkward. In fact, I, uh, I encountered something and didn't figure it out. I have been thinking about that, that's why I was a little impatient … uh, how to say it …"
"Forget it, Kamille, that's just how you are. I'm used to them." Fa Yuiry's sight swept through the cold street, stretching out her right hand and pointing a little farther away, "That girl is wearing a beautiful scarf, if you buy me an identical one, I'll forgive you."
"What scarf?" Kamille followed her finger as a thick back wrapped in a scarf and hat was entering the car, "Uh, that scarf looks expensive, what if it's a name brand?"
"You have money to buy so many 'Hong Kong videos' and no money to give me a Christmas present?" Fa Yuiry shrugged, "Forget it, you spend the money of Dr. Lingus anyway. Just choosing a random scarf for me is enough."
"Uh-huh, good!" Kamille nodded happily, "But then again, I can't believe people still dye their hair pink, I thought Ms. Lacus had gone out of fashion after she married the Doctor."
"Lacus is never out of fashion!" Fa Yuiry waved her arms, "You don't understand Lacus' status in the circle, she's an unprecedented singer. As long as she's willing to give concerts now, fans can line up from the moon to Britannia! She is like Amuro Ray, no, even higher than Amuro Ray's status in the MS fans' circle!"
"It's too much, more popular than Major Amuro Ray …" Kamille's expression suddenly froze, then turned his head haughtily to look in the direction the car had disappeared once again, "Fuiry, there was just a NewType… flashed?"
"Flashed? What do you mean?" Fa Yuiry couldn't quite understand.
"That NT just appeared for a moment and then suddenly disappeared. With my NT accuracy, it was definitely not a delusion. Could it be a boson jumping? It can't be." Kamille recalled carefully, "It's a very familiar awareness but I don't recognize, in short, a very subtle feeling, I can't quite explain — wait!"
"Kamille?" Fa Yuiry touched his pale cheek with concern, "You don't look well, did something happen?"
"The alarm in my head suddenly sounded very strong, damn, too bad that the Doctor isn't …" Kamille anxiously grabbed Fa Yuiry's hand, "We immediately go back to the hotel to pack bags. The next step is to prepare for transportation, in short, to be ready to take refuge at any time, and then see if we can contact anyone. If I'm right, something bad is going to happen."
…
Lacus walked alone in the cold streets of Strasbourg, browsing aimlessly through the money-grubbing goods for tourists. At the moment, she was wrapped up in a hat, scarf, mask, sunglasses and a thick down jacket, looking like a ball from afar, and no one would ever think of associating her with the famous Lacus Lingus.
The private estate in the dense forest north of Strasbourg is one of Ribbon's many secret strongholds, where she hides these days.
Lacus chose this location after good thoughts. First, 00 Qanta could use the Rhine channel to facilitate a rapid transfer. Second,& this is a tourist city, an outsider won't look suspicious here.
Most importantly, if she is really found, these people who are looking for her are likely to be tied up because of the dense population of this place, thus giving her enough reaction time and ample room for countermeasures.
"Fuiry, when I graduate, I will definitely not rely on the Doctor's connections and just rely on my own ability to enter the first general hospital in the moon surface capital!"
Lacus glanced at the boy across the street who was making a lot of noise, and calmly moved on. Ade always talked about the "malice of the world", and C.C. often said the same under his influence, and now, even Lacus herself couldn't tell if this was just a coincidence or not.
"In fact, think about it, we have all been helped by Ade, and Ade also saved the world for several times. So…" She smiled and took out the keys to open the car door, "It's not too much to ask the human race to help Ade once, right?"
Lacus took off her gloves and tossed them on the passenger side, moved her frozen fingers, and then slowly started the car. But there was one more thing she had to do before she entered the forested area.
The dimly lit compartment was splashed with a flash of color. Recovered Lacus rubbed between her eyebrows and sighed quietly, "Nunnally is really smart…"
The alarms in her head were ringing wildly, meaning that the manor where she was hiding was about to be, or was being, invaded. The other side chose today, the day with the most visitors, which means that the other side can't wait any longer. As soon as they get the news, they immediately came here, then the identity of the visitor is also very easy to guess.
"C.C…." Lacus murmured the name, "Just a minute, I'll be right there to pick you up so we can be together again as a family for Christmas…"
As she expected, Nunnally passed the information to Mineva, who then told C.C. her location, and C.C. threw herself into the net as she planned. In fact, such a complex ruse was not her intention, only the product of a whim under the instigation of Nunnally. Even if it doesn't work, she also has another way to lure C.C. over.
Time flew by as she thought, and it wasn't long before the car reached the edge of the forested area. But instead of entering it, Lacus drove to one of her warehouses by the Rhine, where 00 Qanta had been kept. There was no evidence that C.C. had come alone, and it was not surprising if she raid the hideout with a team of special forces. Lacus would not be foolish to go back.
Being defeated by an absolutely violent power is her favorite and most hated routine.
But when she sat in 00 Qanta's cockpit, a shocked expression finally appeared on her face. The main screen of the cockpit showed the image of the manor, the strongest MS of the moon government was standing in front of the gate of a private house in France. If this scene was spread out, the world would be in an uproar.
"Nunnally's interference, Mineva's dictatorship, and Loran's determination? …" She showed a smile that even she didn't notice, "Ade, it seems I've missed the mark. "
