LRAB Chapter 47: The Crack in the Chess Game, The Deal Between Sausage and Tiger
Chapter 47: The Crack in the Chess Game, The Deal Between Sausage and Tiger
"make a deal!"
In the private communication channel, Ling Yu's voice was hoarse, yet it carried a hint of madness from being driven to the brink of despair.
There was no time to hesitate, and no right to haggle.
On the screen, the Forbidden Gundam's scythe and the Broken Ball of the Robber Gundam had filled the entire field of vision, and the shadow of death loomed large.
The owner of the mysterious voice did not reply.
one second.
two seconds.
The deathly silence was almost crushing Ling Yu's nerves.
"Damn! We've been tricked?"
Just as he was preparing to forcibly restart the engine and make one last suicidal crash—
boom!!!
A deafening roar, far exceeding any previous firefight, exploded from the edge of the battlefield!
Ling Yu abruptly turned his view, and in the corner of the screen, an M1 Astray Gundam, which was chasing the Archangel, suddenly exploded in a blinding fireball in the center of its body. Before it could even make any evasive maneuvers, the entire machine instantly broke in two and fell helplessly into the sea.
Followed by.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three more high-energy beams, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, struck the other M1 Heretics that were besieging the area with pinpoint accuracy.
The chain reaction of the explosion tore a shocking gap in Orb's defenses.
"What's going on?"
"Enemy reinforcements? Which unit?"
The public channel was in chaos; both the Orb army and the ZAFT army were stunned.
The next moment, a black afterimage flashed past like a ghost through the smoke of the explosion.
It was a machine unlike any I'd ever seen before, entirely black, with a menacing design and no faction markings whatsoever. Its movements were incredibly fast, and its attack methods were utterly illogical, amounting to completely indiscriminate and chaotic strikes.
Instead of attacking the three main forces, it acted like a troublemaker, rushing into the junction between the already chaotic ZAFT forces and the remnants of the Orb army.
The trajectory of the Shattered Ball's attack was interrupted by its bizarre sidestep, and the beam scythe's slash was also forced back by its unreasonable shot.
"You're insane!" Shani, the pilot who stole the Gundam, screamed over the channel.
This sudden troublemaker doesn't care about friend or foe; his goal seems to be creating maximum chaos.
opportunity!
Ling Yu's eyes flashed with a sharp light.
"System, COS Judau! Squeeze out every last bit of energy!"
[R+ Card: Judau Ashita (ZZ Early Ver.) is now included!]
[Mental resilience temporarily boosted! Physical potential fully exploited!]
"Now!"
Ling Yu's hands moved like afterimages on the control lever. The half-wrecked Gene groaned under the strain. The engine, which had just been shut down, was forcibly restarted under overload, spewing out intermittent flames.
The machine glided at an incredible angle, skimming the surface of the sea at an extremely low altitude, narrowly missing the edge of the Forbidden Gundam's swinging scythe, and narrowly escaped the encirclement.
"Don't even think about running away!"
Olga roared and was about to give chase when the black phantom blocked his way again, unleashing a barrage of fire.
"interesting."
ZAFT flagship, bridge of the USS Vesalius.
As Xiao Ran looked at the chaotic data stream transmitted back on the main screen, a cold smile appeared on his lips for the first time.
A "ghost" with a bizarre mech and an almost manic fighting style.
A "rat" that should have been destroyed, but always manages to create miracles and ultimately escapes under the cover of a ghost.
"Two 'players'... no, two 'variables' have appeared at the same time." He analyzed calmly, "and it seems they have reached some kind of temporary agreement."
This situation exceeded all his calculations based on the original work.
"We can't let him get away." Xiao Ran's fingers flew across the tactics panel.
"The intelligence value and potential threat of this rat are far too high."
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately issued two orders.
"Order Task Forces 1 and 2 to immediately implement Level 3 electromagnetic interference blockade on the area from coordinates A-7 to C-9! I want to trap him on the Orb coastline!"
"Connect Andy Bartfield."
The call connected quickly, and the "Desert Tiger" with a small mustache and a lazy expression appeared on the screen.
"Oh, isn't this the Speaker's favorite? What are your orders?" Bartfield's voice, as always, carried a hint of frivolity.
"Tiger." Xiao Ran's voice was devoid of any emotion. "Your troops will immediately reinforce the Orb coastline. Mission objective: eliminate the remaining Earth Force mobile suits. Also..."
He paused for a moment, then sent over the last captured footage of Ling Yu's dilapidated Gene.
"If you see this machine, capture the pilot alive. This is a secret order from Speaker Patrick Sala."
"Oh?" Bartfield raised an eyebrow, looking at the nearly broken Gene. "Such a minor character, and the Speaker even had to personally mention him?"
"Execute the order, Andy."
After Xiao Ran finished speaking, he immediately cut off the communication. He leaned back in his command chair, staring intently at the area on the screen shrouded in electromagnetic interference.
Tiger, you should be able to bring me some surprises.
boom!
With a final, loud bang, Ling Yu's Gene was completely destroyed.
The aircraft barely landed at an abandoned port. Inside the cockpit, red lights were flashing, and the energy bar was completely empty.
"Damn it, I finally survived..."
Ling Yu slumped into the driver's seat, panting heavily.
He looked outside, and his heart sank instantly.
Not far away at the dock, several hourglass-shaped ZAFT support ships were prominently moored. On the decks, squads of ZAFT soldiers were resupplying. On the bridge of one of the flagships, a familiar figure with a small mustache was holding binoculars, frowning as he watched the distant battle.
Andy Bartfield.
What I feared most has come to pass!
"System, is there any way to escape? An emergency escape device would be fine too!" Ling Yu roared in his mind.
[Ding! The host has been detected to be within one kilometer of the special story character "Andy Bartfield," and the character is not in combat.]
[Hidden side quest triggered: The Desert Tiger's Taste Buds.]
[Mission Description: Conquer the legendary commander's palate with culinary skills that are ahead of their time, and forge a non-military bond.]
[Task Reward: ???]
[New Player Bonus: Do you wish to spend 100 system points to exchange for and materialize the quest item "Elsa's Secret Sausage Recipe and Matching Ingredients (Simplified Version)"?]
Ling Yu was stunned.
Grilled sausage?
For the Desert Tigers?
What kind of crazy move is this?
He glanced at the heavily armed ZAFT soldiers outside, then at the system panel.
It's done!
"exchange!"
The next second, a small briefcase appeared out of thin air in the corner of the cockpit. Inside were several vacuum-packed sausages and seasonings, as well as a simple portable grill.
Ling Yu took a deep breath, pushed open the cockpit door, and jumped out with the box in his hand.
Ignoring the astonished and wary looks from the ZAFT soldiers around him, he set up a grill in a corner of the dock, lit a fire, and skewered sausages one by one, placing them on it.
Shila-
The fat was rendered out by the charcoal fire, sizzling enticingly. The unique aroma of meat, mingled with the scent of spices, stubbornly spread through the air thick with the smell of gunpowder and the saltiness of the sea.
This "untimely" fragrance quickly wafted to the flagship's bridge.
Bartfield, who was observing the battle, twitched his nose and a look of surprise crossed his face. He put down his binoculars and looked in the direction of the scent.
Then, he was completely stunned.
A young man wearing an Orb Technical Academy uniform was squatting next to a half-damaged Gene, leisurely... grilling sausages?
The surrounding soldiers were all dumbfounded, and for a moment they forgot how to react.
Filled with doubt, Bartfield walked down from the bridge and, surrounded by a group of soldiers, approached Ling Yu.
"Hey kid, who are you?" he asked in a deep voice. "Don't you know this is a military restricted area?"
Ling Yu looked up, his face showing no sign of nervousness, but rather a bright smile. He picked up a skewer of sausages, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, glistening with oil, and handed it over.
"Hey, isn't this the Desert Tiger? Fighting is fighting, but we still need to eat, right?"
He winked and said in a familiar tone, "Want to try some? My cooking skills were taught to me by my wife, I guarantee it's a hundred times better than your ZAFT military rations!"
Bartfield's adjutant was about to reprimand him, but he stopped him by raising his hand.
He looked at Ling Yu, then at the string of sausages, and almost unconsciously took it.
He took a bite.
The sausage has a crispy outer skin and tender, juicy meat inside. A spicy and rich blend of spices, unlike anything I've ever tasted before, explodes on my taste buds.
Bartfield's eyes widened suddenly.
This taste...
The image of him still lying unconscious in the hospital flashed through his mind.
That blurry, gentle figure.
His lover, Aisha, also dreamed of opening a small shop and researching all kinds of delicious food...
"You..." He looked at Ling Yu, his eyes becoming complicated.
"What's the name of this sausage?"
"Elsa's tears," Ling Yu said, spouting nonsense with a straight face.
Seeing Bartfield's expression, he knew he had made the right bet.
"Pfft..." Bartfield was amused by the strange name, and the slight sadness that had just risen vanished.
He actually sat down next to Ling Yu and took another bite of the sausage.
"Kid, you're quite amusing," he said. "Aren't you afraid I'll arrest you?"
"I'm scared." Ling Yu handed over another skewer. "But I'm hungry, I have to eat, right? Besides, I don't think you're the kind of person who's unreasonable, Tiger."
Under the astonished gazes of countless ZAFT soldiers, the two of them, one grilling and the other eating, started chatting.
During the conversation, Ling Yu casually mentioned, "Speaking of which, the three new mechs of the Allied Forces are really fierce. I heard that those lunatics will do anything to win. Who knows when they'll set off a huge firework in Orb."
Bartfield paused slightly as he ate.
Looking at the young man in front of him who was spouting nonsense and whose identity was suspicious, alarm bells rang in his mind.
This kid knows too much.
As night fell, Bartfield ultimately did not capture Ling Yu, but instead led his team back to the warship.
Before leaving, he gave Ling Yu a deep look.
"Kid, you'd better get out of here quickly. It won't be safe here tomorrow."
Late that night, a ZAFT soldier quietly approached Ling Yu's Gene, left a sealed package, and quickly left.
Ling Yu opened the package, inside was a high-energy battery and a hand-drawn simple map, which marked a route leading to the underground maintenance tunnel of Orb.
There is a line of text on the back of the map.
"Next time you want to eat this, remember not to grill it on the battlefield."
Ling Yu looked at the map, then at the battery that could restart Gene, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.
"Hey, so this counts as... a successful bribe?"