Reid extinguished the wildfire in the Amazon Rainforest, scanned the surroundings for any overlooked records of the recent battle, and then departed.
For Reid, the reason he dared to directly use the system to exchange for water to put out the fire was primarily because this was the Amazon Rainforest.
In the CE Universe, satellites were unable to connect due to the Neutron Jammer, rendering all satellites inoperative and unusable—let alone drones.
Unless there were fortress-level structures like the Barge or large space stations equipped with specialized cameras, manual ground observation would be impossible.
However, Reid couldn't possibly be unaware of synchronous orbit structures of that caliber, so there was definitely nothing like that above the Amazon Rainforest.
If someone still managed to witness Reid conjuring water out of thin air, it would only prove that Reid had deliberately lured the Propulsion Seize Gundam away from the battlefield and randomly chosen this location, which happened to conceal a recording device with detection capabilities surpassing those of the Gundam Eclipse.
Alternatively, this recording device would have to be fireproof, waterproof, capable of stealth, emit no heat, and its operator would need to be immune to Reid's psychic senses.
At the same time, this person would also need X-ray vision to see through the Mobile Suit and identify the pilot as Reid.
Honestly, if all these conditions were met, Reid would accept it. At worst, he'd engage in a public opinion battle with this person, simply claiming the video was special effects—after all, no sane person would believe the footage was real.
Of course, how could such a person exist in reality? Unless there were truly aliens living in the Amazon Rainforest beyond Reid's understanding.
Thus, no one knew when Reid left with the cockpit of the Propulsion Seize Gundam.
Then, Reid found another uninhabited part of the rainforest, double-checked that no one was around, exited the cockpit, and jumped into the Propulsion Seize Gundam's cockpit to begin downloading its data. After all, Reid couldn't realistically haul such a large hunk of metal around South America.
Fortunately, the data from the Propulsion Seize Gundam wasn't extensive, and the download completed in under ten minutes.
With the data secured, Reid physically destroyed the data disk inside the Propulsion Seize Gundam's cockpit and discarded the now-empty shell.
Once finished, Reid piloted the Gundam Eclipse back to find Kira.
Of course, Reid was heading to Kira now because both the Stolen Gundam and the Gundam Calamity on Kira's end had already encountered the Gundam Eclipse. Reid needed to ensure they were both shot down so no outsiders would know of the Gundam Eclipse's existence, allowing the New Misurugi Kingdom to openly deploy the Mobile Suit later.
However, when Reid flew back to Kira's original ambush site, he found that the battle had moved elsewhere.
Kira had undoubtedly activated his SEED ability, as the wreckage of the Gundam Calamity now lay on the ground.
But Kira had still held back—he had only disabled the suit, turning it into a Limbless Suit, without destroying the cockpit.
Seeing this, Reid didn't bother checking if the pilot was inside and directly shot the Gundam Calamity's cockpit. As long as no video evidence remained, it was fine—in conflicts between nations, empty claims were hardly believable.
Afterward, Reid followed the trail of damaged trees on the ground and eventually found the Universal Backpack Green Dyne, which was engaged in a fighting retreat while tangling with the Stolen Gundam.
To be honest, even though Kira was now in a SEED state, the situation wasn't looking good.
The Universal Backpack Green Dyne couldn't fly, and its only weapon capable of reaching the high-altitude Stolen Gundam was the GINN's sniper rifle. However, this weapon used solid ammunition and couldn't deal any real damage, so the Universal Backpack Green Dyne remained at a disadvantage.
Reid could imagine that the main reason the Gundam Calamity was reduced to a Limbless Suit by Kira was that it had actively descended to the ground to engage the Universal Backpack Green Dyne in combat.
In a situation where neither side could fly, Kira naturally overwhelmed Dana Snipe, whose physical enhancements were only average, through sheer skill.
However, there were two sides to the story. Clearly, after witnessing the Gundam Calamity's disastrous landing, Emilio Broderick refused to engage Kira in close combat. Relying on his ability to fly, while the Universal Backpack Green Dyne could only jump a limited height, the two began exchanging fire at a distance.
It was worth noting that the Stolen Gundam's long-range firepower was also lackluster. Its 52mm high-velocity shield cannon and 100mm Multiple Phase Energy Cannon couldn't hit the agile Universal Backpack Green Dyne moving on the ground.
Thus, the two found themselves in a stalemate—one unable to land a hit, the other unable to penetrate the other's defenses.
But Reid's arrival was destined to break this balance.
After all, Reid would always choose to ambush rather than confront an enemy head-on, even when his Mobile Suit held a performance advantage.
So, after confirming the Stolen Gundam's position, Reid stealthily approached on foot along the path cleared by the Universal Backpack Green Dyne. Then, while the Stolen Gundam was attacking the Universal Backpack Green Dyne, he took a sniper shot directly at its cockpit.
The Beam instantly pierced through the Stolen Gundam's cockpit, and the Mobile Suit exploded shortly after. Emilio Broderick was undoubtedly dead.
With this, the Gundam Eclipse had successfully completed another "stealth" operation.
After finishing the task, Reid nonchalantly deactivated his stealth mode, walked over to the Universal Backpack Green Dyne, and asked over the squad comms:
"Kira, are you alright?"
Kira was well aware that Reid never held back against enemies, so he didn't bother questioning why he had to kill. Instead, he honestly replied:
"I'm fine, but the Universal Backpack Green Dyne's battery is almost depleted. I doubt it'll last until the rendezvous point."
Hearing this, Reid dismissed it as a minor issue and said directly:
"No problem. Just connect the charging cable to the Gundam Eclipse. Although it's not a dedicated charger and the charging will be slow, we don't need a full charge—just enough to reach the rendezvous point."
Kira had no objections about the charging, but while waiting for the battery to recharge, he couldn't resist asking:
"Mr. Reid, what happened to that three-in-one Mobile Suit in the end?"
Reid knew Kira's compassionate side was showing again, but since they had time to kill, he decided it was a good opportunity to drill some sense into him. He replied bluntly:
"Of course, I shot it down. What, after this trip to South America, you still haven't learned that showing mercy to enemies only gives them a chance to strike back?"
Reid expected Kira to stubbornly cling to his no-kill principle as before, but this time, Kira fell silent for a moment and said:
"Actually, during this trip to South America, I've come to realize how naive my previous refusal to kill on the battlefield was."
Hearing this and seeing the troubled expression on Kira's face, Reid thought, "There's a story here I don't know about." He didn't interrupt and instead listened as Kira continued.
Kira, cooperating fully, sighed in frustration before slowly beginning to speak.
"Near Cuiabá City, Miriallia and I saved a village that was being attacked by tanks. The assailants claimed to be members of the South American Restoration Organization. Their reason for attacking the village was that it had been supplying food to the Atlantic Federation.
They demanded either equal food provisions as proof the village was merely coerced into aiding the Atlantic Federation, or they would massacre the 'traitors' in the village."
Upon hearing this, Reid sneered coldly,
"These are most likely bandits impersonating the South American Restoration Organization. The real organization doesn't lack food supplies."
Kira nodded and continued,
"Yes, Mr. Baltfel later reached the same conclusion.
However, at the time, Miriallia and I were just there to buy fruits from the village. Seeing the villagers couldn't possibly produce more food for these militants, I used the Universal Backpack Green Dyne hidden nearby to help drive back the armed group.
But... I didn't pursue the fleeing militants because I didn't want to kill anyone.
To be precise, I only disabled the tanks' chassis with machine gun fire, and the armed forces fled. I didn't actually kill anyone."
Reid immediately understood what followed - the village must have been retaliated against by those bandits after Kira left, possibly with everyone slaughtered.
Sure enough, as if recalling painful memories, Kira fell silent for a moment before continuing,
"When Miriallia and I returned to file our combat report, both Mr. Baltfel and Ms. Houston said I'd caused a disaster. We immediately turned the ship around and rushed back to that village.
And then... we found only a village engulfed in flames, with corpses littering the ground.
We did our best to extinguish the fire and eventually found the only four survivors hiding in the village cellar - all children.
But the thick smoke had scorched their respiratory tracts, and they showed severe poisoning symptoms. In the end... none of them survived.
The last words of the final child to die, spoken in delirium, were: 'Big brother, I see mom and dad...'"
Even without using his New Human Ability, Reid could feel Kira's profound regret - he truly regretted not eliminating those bandits outright.
Puzzled, Reid asked,
"Kira, since you've learned the consequences of showing mercy to enemies, why do you still insist on not killing? On my way here, I saw the wreckage of the Gundam Calamity. Its cockpit was intact - you spared that Mobile Suit's pilot. Yet from what I know, this pilot contributed significantly to Athrun's severe injuries."
Kira raised his hand and made a grasping motion in the air, responding,
"Because he was just a soldier following orders to engage us. I don't believe his crimes deserved death."
Reid was rendered speechless. It seemed Kira's "savior complex" had only been half-cured, or rather, it had mutated - now leaning toward playing arbiter, considering whether opponents deserved death before acting.
This was an extremely dangerous tendency, because Kira was instinctively placing himself in a superior position by making such judgments.
Reid, though never hesitant on the battlefield, never considered himself superior to others. For him, there was only one reason to kill: you are the enemy.
The identity of an enemy overrides everything. Otherwise, Reid wouldn't be able to convince himself to abandon ethics and morality—regardless of whether the opponent was male or female, whether they had a family to support, or whether killing them would shatter a household and lead to more deaths.
Of course, if this particular enemy couldn't be killed, Reid still had flexible principles—after all, his own life mattered most.
In short, on the battlefield, Reid's heart was black, and he had deliberately stained it that way himself. Otherwise, he would have long since been unable to endure it.
Especially after awakening as a Newtype, the wailing of souls on the battlefield wasn't something just anyone could bear.
Still, Reid never believed there was any difference between himself and his enemies. In their eyes, he was the enemy too, so their roles were equal—regardless of status or strength, their goal was to take each other's lives.
In a sense, Reid himself was someone twisted by the battlefield. The only difference was that he had a system, could cheat, and had read the script, so a shred of conscience remained. That allowed him, to some extent, to control his own Destiny.
So without hesitation, Reid delivered a chop to Kira's head, making him crouch down and cover his head defensively, then said:
"Don't be so self-righteous. There's no such thing as 'not guilty enough to die.' Who are you to judge what crimes someone has committed, even if that person is an enemy?
If you want to hypnotize yourself into killing, at least find a better excuse.
Kira, remember this: all lives are equal. Even if I'm hardly convincing when I say this, even if I've already taken far too many lives.
But I still believe that life itself is equal. A bullet to my head would kill me; my heart stopping would kill me—in that regard, I'm no different from any other human.
So, Kira, for me, the reason my enemies die is simply because I believe a dead enemy is the best enemy—not because I think they've committed some great sin."
Hearing this, Kira was instantly speechless, but he couldn't refute it either.
Because Kira knew that his confidence in judging whether an enemy deserved to die came from his own power. He couldn't very well say, "Because I'm stronger than them, I can decide whether they should live or die," could he?
Thinking this, Kira began to feel a belated fear. When had he started harboring such a crazy idea? How was it any different from the extreme thinking of some tyrants in history? Thankfully, Mr. Reid had pointed it out—otherwise, if he had started killing based on that reasoning, he would inevitably become the very kind of person he now despised.
So Kira immediately apologized:
"Sorry, Mr. Reid. It seems my thinking has gone astray again."
Reid shook his head indifferently and replied calmly:
"It's fine. As long as you haven't actually made a mistake because of this flawed thinking, there's still a chance to correct it. Most people make mistakes the first time they do something—what matters is having the opportunity to change.
Besides, we judge by actions, not intentions; if we judged by intentions alone, there would be no Saint. No matter how filthy someone's thoughts may be, as long as they don't act on them, no one can blame them.
Of course, if someone insists on voicing their dirty thoughts just to disgust others, even without taking action, they deserve to be criticized.
Kira, you're still at the beginner stage of being criticized, so there are plenty of opportunities to change.
Don't rush. You have a long future ahead—a year, ten years, twenty years to figure out exactly how you want to use your talents and power.
So, there's no need to find the answer right now."
"However, after returning to the New Misurugi Kingdom, I'll need to review each of your mission reports from this operation. Then I'll decide whether to continue supporting your activities in the future."
When Kira heard about writing reports, he immediately recalled his days as a student at Heliopolis Industrial College, rushing to complete code progress for Professor Kato. His face instantly fell, resembling a student who had enjoyed summer vacation too much and was unwilling to face the final days of holiday homework.
However, Reid showed no sympathy for Kira's current state. Seeing that the Universal Backpack Green Dyne's power should be sufficient to reach the rendezvous point, he immediately ordered Kira to head to the meeting spot first.
Meanwhile, Reid would return to Manaus City ahead of them.
After all, Reid still needed to deal with the undocumented workers he had hired - if he simply disbanded them on the spot, most wouldn't survive.
Therefore, considering they had some connection with him, Reid decided to send them to uninhabited islands near Australia to establish new plantations.
Islands like Nouméa originally had inhabitants, but they became abandoned after PLANT's Neutron Jammers and subsequent wars.
Now, few local residents were willing to return to the islands to endure hardship, preferring to stay and work in Australia instead.
So these workers would be sent to rebuild the islands and settle there permanently.
Once Reid finalized the resettlement plan, the subsequent work proceeded smoothly.
After returning to Manaus City, Terminal members felt relieved upon hearing from Reid that Lacus was safe.
Many former Clyne Faction members within Terminal actually believed Reid would eventually make a move on Lacus - given his reputation as a playboy, how could he resist such beauty placed right before him? When that happened, Reid would become one of their own.
Thus, when Reid later sought help to properly relocate these workers originally hired for the performance, the Terminal members showed extraordinary enthusiasm, easily arranging transport aircraft and flight routes for him.
However, when Lacus and the others successfully returned to Manaus City for the reunion, and Terminal members had withdrawn to the background, a young man from the worker group suddenly pointed at Lacus and began shouting, his expression filled with extreme anger.
Reid couldn't understand the worker's local language but could sense he was cursing Lacus, radiating intense unease and fear.
Though the people around him didn't know Lacus, as the young man grew increasingly agitated, their gazes toward Lacus also showed clear disgust.
Lacus was naturally bewildered. Although she had learned some local common language from Ashley Oliveira during her time in South America, this young man was clearly using a dialect.
So Lacus only understood that the other party was cursing her, calling her a demon and similar names.
Reid knew Lacus wouldn't commit any evil deeds - she was most likely framed by someone.
But to make Lacus realize that the organizations she dealt with weren't exactly upright, Reid deliberately had a local translator publicly interpret the young man's words, stating that if this person was cursing without reason, he would definitely face punishment.
As it turned out, the translator revealed a truth that shattered Lacus's heart.
The matter was actually quite simple - Lacus couldn't simply abandon the people she rescued from the battlefield, yet she lacked the means to resettle them herself.
Naturally, Lacus turned to the neutral organization she had cooperated with multiple times - the Junk Guild.
The South American representative of the Scrap Dealers Association naturally agreed to cooperate with Lacus, all smiles, assuring her that he would properly settle these compatriots.
Then, this representative began his shady maneuvers.
He didn't actually sell all the people Lacus sent later to the black-market labor traffickers.
Instead, he picked one-third of the lucky ones and genuinely settled them properly, so that if Lacus ever asked about it in the future, he could use these people as proof. After all, with South America in turmoil, where could one find a truly safe place?
As for the remaining two-thirds, some "disappeared" or "died" during transit due to various reasons.
The majority of the rest were resold multiple times and ended up as laborers or in dangerous jobs where no compensation was paid.
This young man was relatively fortunate—the owner of his previous factory hadn't managed to work him to death before a Mobile Suit crashed into the factory, causing a massive explosion that led to the factory's closure.
He was then resold by the owner as a means to recoup losses, ending up back in the black-market labor market, where he was luckily bought by Reid.
This young man had always kept in mind the person responsible for his plight—the pink-haired demon who first sold him and the other villagers.
Gritting his teeth, the young man swore to Reid that he had personally witnessed Lacus "selling" them to the first human trafficker, urging Reid not to believe a single