The shining Shoko Toyokawa

Only the silver-gray-haired girl knew that she was apologizing for not being able to understand the real reason for Maya's pain.

"So, you're always rushing in front, painting your machine a striking red, because you don't want to see us die, Captain Maya, you're really..."

In this world, longing is the farthest distance.

…………

"I'm not a cat!"

As soon as Maya left the ward, she was stopped by the girl.

"Eavesdropping is wrong," Maya said, trying to act like an adult.

"It's also wrong to call someone a cat behind their back."

The girl refuted in a serious tone,

"Yes, yes, we are even."

She cheated the girl, and the girl beat her up, so it was even.

Maya walked forward past the girl,

"Maya-san,"

Maya was a little nervous when she heard the girl's voice. She turned around quickly and almost took a boxer's defensive stance.

"What...what happened?"

"I'm not weak!"

Maya: “Huh?”

The girl looked at Maya seriously and stubbornly and repeated, "I am not weak! And I will become stronger in the future, strong enough to walk side by side with you, strong enough not to make you sad."

"So... please, please don't fight alone anymore!"

"!!!"

Maya didn't know what she was feeling. She subconsciously turned her head away so that the girl wouldn't see her expression.

"Wait... wait until you're that strong!"

The blonde girl's heart was beating non-stop, and her eyes were filled with bitterness.

She... must leave now.

"Well, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

I have to leave, otherwise, the girl will definitely see the embarrassing expression on my face.

She gasped for breath and had no time to return to the room, so she found a secluded corner.

The next moment, bitter yet happy tears burst out of the blonde girl's eyes.

She clearly thought she would be fine being alone, so why did she seem happy now?

original…

So, she is afraid of loneliness?

"Uh…"

Just as she was about to squat down and cry, the door in the corner opened.

The black-haired girl behind the door was stunned.

I kept crying out in my heart, 'Help! If I tell her I'm blind, will she believe me?!'

Desperate, An and Subaru despaired of their own 'good luck'.

Chapter 23: Maya-san, how about you become a big shot?

Only when the rotating mechanical arm at the rear of the Agama extends and rotates, and "gravity" appears in the living area,

It is like a 'Jupiter resource collection ship',

"Maya-san, what are you doing here?"

Rencai found Maya in a 'forest'.

She sat quietly on the wooden bench, gazing at the precious trees in the depths of space. Time seemed to be frozen here.

"People in the past were incredibly eager to reach the universe, but once there, they could only try to make their living environment as similar to that on Earth as possible. Perhaps the human species is destined to be bound by gravity."

"It can't be helped," Niina said, sitting down next to the blonde girl. "Life on Earth has lived under gravity for billions of years, and humans are just one of its children. If we live in a zero-gravity environment for a long time, our bodies and minds won't be able to withstand it."

"But even though we are bound by gravity, humans have still come into the universe,"

"Although many of the Federation's policies simply serve the convenience of those who prefer lazy governance, when it comes to developing the universe, its efficiency is several times greater than in the old days."

"In ten or twenty years, half of them will be able to come to the universe. Of course... that's assuming they can defeat guys like Caius. Their souls are bound by past wars, so they regard too many people as enemies."

Maya agrees with this point very much. "Most of those 'remnants' who miss the old times are not a threat to the new era. They work and pay taxes just like the old ones.

But many important figures seemed to think that the Earth Federation needed a new enemy...so the survivors became the new 'enemy'."

"These adults are so evil," Renai clenched her fists. "Would it be better if I beat them up or killed them all?"

"Wouldn't that make it no different from Ave Mujica now?"

Maya's expression was a little bitter. "In today's world, killing a few big shots is meaningless. It will only provide those guys with new enemies.

They were not emperors, but leaders of their respective political factions, and everyone wanted to be a leader.”

"If we kill the big guy, a new 'big guy' will appear immediately..."

The young girl understood what the blonde meant. After a moment's hesitation, she looked at Maya seriously and said, "In that case, how about you become a big shot, Maya-san?"

"Maya-san is different from those guys. If we can defeat Caius, we can also accumulate a considerable degree of reputation, right?"

"Since we can't make the world a better place by killing them, let's take away their power!"

The more the girl talked, the more she felt that this was feasible.

Maya could only smile bitterly at the whims of the naive girl.

"Nina, do you know the current Vice President of the Federation, Cage Mitchell?"

Seeing the girl nod, Maya continued, "He rose from humble beginnings. In the old days, he was determined to change the world. He was active as an official of the United Nations. In the space race and the unified war, he actively mediated conflicts between countries and made great contributions to the world."

"Many high-ranking officials in the Federation are like this. They are all people who have made great contributions to this era..."

"But it was these people who adopted the policy of promoting the survivors as enemies."

"Politicians are not black and white creatures; they are all gray. Perhaps they still firmly believe that they are contributing to world peace and stability. Who knows?"

"...It's so complicated," the girl rubbed her temples with a headache. After a moment, she stopped worrying and said seriously, "If Maya-san also turns gray, then there's no point in becoming a big shot. In short, we need to defeat Caius first."

Maya really envied the girl's good attitude.

"It's not that easy to defeat Caius,"

Maya once again analyzed the situation for the girl.

"Most of the Federation citizens who recognize their own identity are tired of the 'remnants of the old times' who regard them as enemies.

Most of the people who supported us this time did so out of fear.

Fearing that Caius would bring down "justice" on himself or the colony where his family lived,

There are also many people who cheer for Caius.

They control a large portion of the Federation's military resources and have become a behemoth. "Defeating them will be a difficult and lengthy process."

"Maya-san, Niina, are you guys here? The cafeteria meal time is almost over."

"Oh no, I forgot! Let's go, Maya-san,"

As soon as Rencai stood up, she found the black-haired girl grinning at her.

“clang clang~~~”

She dubbed herself, and as if by magic, she took out two lunch boxes from behind her.

"I've already packed it for you~"

The two took the lunch box and said thank you.

"By the way, Miss An He, after we arrive on the moon, we will arrange for you to disembark. We have already arranged entry and exit documents for the colony satellite and the lunar city. However, you must sign a confidentiality agreement. It is best to forget everything that happened in the past few days."

"You can just call me 486," Subaru said with a sweet, yet somewhat fearful smile, "So, this idiot... Nina is also going to the lunar city with me?"

"No," Rencai said seriously after swallowing the food in her mouth, "I want to stay and destroy Caius with Maya-san and the others!"

Subaru was speechless. If Maya hadn't been there, she would have wanted to pry open Nina's head to see what was going on inside her head.

Due to the chaotic situation, Rencai temporarily stayed in the same dormitory with her last night.

This idiot tossed and turned in bed in the first half of the night and couldn't sleep. In the second half of the night he had nightmares all the time.

He kept shouting something;

I won't be killed!

Run away, the battle is over!

What else? Even if you are ghosts, I won’t be afraid...

But if she really wasn't afraid and didn't care, she wouldn't be like Subaru, who couldn't sleep because of her noise, with dark circles under his eyes.

"Nina, you have to think about this carefully,"

Maya closed the lunch box again, looked at the girl seriously, and said, "You still have a long life ahead of you. If you join the battlefield out of a momentary sense of loyalty, you might regret it in the future."

As if Rencai didn't hear her words, she ate the rice in the lunch box frantically, and after showing off in a few seconds,

He closed the lunch box, said he was full, and left the forest.

Maya could only sigh.

She knew that she probably couldn't convince Rencai, but she still wanted to try. It was the responsibility of adults to tell "children" the cruel truth.

Chapter 24: Death Merchant, New Machine

After more than 10 days, the sun rose again over the lunar city. The fleet of [Stingless] was gathering in orbit, and the fleet of Caius was also on the way. The two sides were on the verge of a war.

The lunar city is still peaceful and prosperous, as if nothing will happen.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Wu Ci has long been ordered not to start a war in the lunar circle. I am afraid that the same is true for Caius.

During the period of space competition among countries, a large number of resource and building material collection bases were established in space to build colonial satellites.

Although the moon's gravity is weak, it is not non-existent.

Later, people turned their attention to many near-Earth asteroids. Now mainstream building materials are collected from asteroids.

But the lunar city did not decline because of this. On the contrary, as the only lunar city with a complete industrial chain other than the Earth,

The population is already over 10 million, and many electronic and mechanical manufacturing companies are gathered here. Chemical and smelting industries, which are highly polluting, have also built factories here.

It has now become the second heart of human industry.

The headquarters of the notorious, or even world-famous East Asia Heavy Industries, is located on the lunar city.

Perhaps it was because Maya had been asking her to think about it, or perhaps it was simply because she disliked the Death Merchant, in the reception room of the East Asia Heavy Industry headquarters,

The girl's expression was tense, and her fists clenched from time to time.

"Nina..." Waiting around was pointless, so Maya took the initiative to speak. "The Moon City is one of the most prosperous cities now. Why don't you go for a walk? Don't worry about your safety. There will be people to protect you."

The girl looked at Maya warily, "Maya-san, are you planning to leave me on the moon?"

Her words made Maya feel a little bit amused and helpless.

"No, I really won't!"

"So stop clinging to me, okay?"

"No!" The girl angrily rejected her proposal, "Maya-san always lies to me."

"Under the circumstances, the battle will begin as soon as we leave the lunar orbit, Maya-san, your 'motive for committing a crime' is truly sufficient!"

Because of the mistakes she made when she was young, the girl didn't trust her so much. Maya could only hold her forehead with a headache.

"Okay, after we meet, I'll take you shopping. But no matter what they say, you can't interrupt them. Do you understand? Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us."