The words of this South American forced laborer were translated verbatim for everyone present.
Andrew Waltfeld had long witnessed similar situations in North Africa, so his reaction remained relatively composed.
Jane Houston had always known the world was this wretched, so she ultimately just shook her head helplessly without offering any comment.
Lacus and Kira reacted similarly—both froze in stunned silence. They had never imagined that their act of rescuing people from the battlefield would merely push these individuals from one hell into another. Both were now experiencing shattered hearts.
Among the three younger individuals, Miriallia displayed the most maturity, though she was clearly deeply troubled as well.
But Miriallia was the first to take action. She began by sincerely apologizing to the young man, then sought out a translator to help conduct an interview with him. She wanted to understand what this young man—whom she had indirectly pushed into the fire—had endured.
It must be said that sincerity often proves more useful than regret.
Although the young man held strong resentment toward Lacus and her companions, upon learning that Miriallia was an official journalist from the New Misurugi Kingdom and hearing her earnest apology—coupled with the backing of Reid, his new boss who held power over his life—he eventually recounted his painful experiences in full detail.
By this time, Lacus and Kira had also come to their senses and rushed over to apologize. Unfortunately, while the young man accepted Kira's apology, he adamantly refused to accept Lacus's.
In the end, Reid could only ask Jane Houston to take Lacus away to rest.
Kira assisted Miriallia with documenting the account. As Miriallia put it, while her own strength couldn't save all forced laborers, she could expose this industry to draw global attention.
This way, even if the entire underground human trafficking market couldn't be dismantled, it would at least force those traffickers to exercise more caution.
In truth, the matter essentially concluded here. These workers would be transported by aircraft from Manaus to the Gold Coast of the New Misurugi Kingdom today, then shipped by boat to Noumea Island.
As for Reid, after resting overnight, he would pilot the Gundam Eclipse back to his country. After all, he had secretly come to South America and couldn't take international flights. Cracking down on South American underground human trafficking syndicates was beyond his current capacity.
As for returning with Lacus and the others, Reid found the spacecraft too slow and the living conditions poor. There was no need to endure hardship unnecessarily.
However, when night fell, Reid's door was knocked upon.
Opening it, he found Lacus standing outside, her eyes red and swollen—clearly, she had been crying.
Before Reid could speak, Lacus directly said:
"Reid, could you accompany me for a walk outside?"
Reid very much wanted to refuse, but seeing Lacus's pitiful appearance, he couldn't quite bear to. After all, men are visual creatures—even if Lacus's figure still didn't align with Reid's aesthetic preferences, her facial beauty remained top-tier.
Moreover, Reid could sense that Lacus was deeply lost, like a small bird trapped in thick fog, utterly unsure which way to fly.
So Reid followed his heart and stepped out of his room, saying to Lacus:
"Alright, but the night streets of Manaus are too chaotic. Let's go to the rooftop instead."
"Manaus is so close to the Amazon Rainforest that even though its underground has long been polluted by desire and profit, the air quality in the sky remains excellent."
Lacus naturally didn't object, silently holding onto Reid's sleeve as she followed behind him.
Since Reid had rented out the entire building, accessing the rooftop was effortless.
Reid found a spacious spot and lay down without caring whether the ground was dirty, cushioning his head with his hands as he said,
"Lie down and look at the stars. It feels quite nice."
Lacus didn't refuse. During her time in South America, she had grown accustomed to resting on any available surface, so she lay down beside Reid without hesitation.
At that moment, Manaus was experiencing the perfect time for stargazing, with not a cloud in the sky.
And it had to be said, even in the space age, viewing the stars from Earth still evoked an extraordinary sense of beauty.
Gazing at the stars, Lacus felt her mood lift slightly. She remarked,
"Indeed, the stars on Earth feel completely different from those seen in PLANT. There's an indescribable sense of beauty to them."
Hearing this, Reid thought to himself: How could starlight naturally refracted through the atmosphere compare to the direct starlight in a Colony Satellite? It was like comparing two steaks—one seasoned with various accompaniments to enhance its flavor, and the other simply grilled with nothing added. Most people would prefer the seasoned steak. (Of course, this is a matter of personal taste. The author believes steak needs some accompaniments; no matter how high the quality, a plain steak, while fragrant, always feels like it's missing something.)
But there was no point in saying this. According to the Gundam Universe's definition, Reid's way of thinking was bound by gravity.
So Reid simply gazed at the stars and replied,
"After all, these are the lights of stars from across the universe, traveling billions of light-years to be captured by our vision. Looking at these lights always reminds me of how insignificant humanity is. To the entire universe, we might be no different from a speck of dust."
Reid said this partly to console Lacus—a tactic he had learned from her: using a broad, abstract concept to mask a problem.
But Lacus wasn't so easily persuaded. Once intelligent people become lost, it's often harder for them to find their way out (in the movie version, Lacus's decision to live in seclusion with Kira was likely due to her shattered heart after the Coordinator incident).
So Lacus cut straight to the point and asked,
"Mr. Reid, why do humans, who are so insignificant in the universe, constantly hurt each other? I contacted people from Terminal to investigate the whereabouts of the civilians I saved. The information gathered in just a few hours... made me feel like an executioner, someone who personally pushed countless people to their deaths."
As she spoke, Lacus began to cry again. Clearly, she couldn't forgive herself for sending so many innocent people to their deaths.
Reid turned to look at Lacus and found her tearfully staring back at him.
Reid certainly had no power to reverse what had already happened.
And he felt he could somewhat understand Tessa's perspective. Code Amelias promised to directly twist time to resolve tragedies—a decisive solution for kind-hearted girls like her.
Reid estimated that if Code Amelias were to offer Lacus the same conditions now and demonstrate the power to let her escape this world, Lacus would most likely agree to the deal as well.
However, Reid had never once considered the idea of reversing time to resolve tragedies after becoming the highest administrator of the Super G Universe System in the future. So he wouldn't make any promises to Lacus—instead, he directly turned the conversation dark.
"You're the executioner? Don't joke around. If you're the executioner, then what am I? The Reaper of Hell? Or a super mass murderer?"
Lacus naturally understood what Reid meant—that the number of people he had killed directly or indirectly far surpassed the casualties she had caused.
But Reid was completely twisting the logic, which made her a little unhappy.
"Reid, your killings happened on the battlefield. That's different from what I did."
Hearing this, Reid thought Lacus and Kira really had the same flawed reasoning. Who gave them the right to rank the value of lives? Wasn't every life equally precious?
So without hesitation, he pinched Lacus' cheeks and pulled them outward, saying,
"Is it this mouth that's ranking lives? What do you mean, 'killings on the battlefield are different'? Dead is dead. Mass deaths are mass deaths. What's the difference?"
"The only distinction is that you trusted the wrong people and caused deaths while trying to do good, whereas I killed for my own interests and the sake of those behind me."
"Now that I think about it, my actions might actually be worse."
Though Reid claimed his behavior was worse, his expression and tone showed no trace of regret or hesitation. Clearly, he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he had done.
In truth, Lacus couldn't argue that Reid was in the wrong either. The wars he had participated in were either forced upon him—fight or die—or he had been on the side of the victims when war was declared.
Though, judging by the results, Reid had clearly been prepared in advance, even to the point of suspicion that he had baited the conflicts. But history was written by the victors, and that was simply how the world worked.
Still, Lacus believed Reid was twisting the argument. She slapped away his hand, which had been tormenting her cheeks, and puffed up angrily.
"It's not the same! Those people I got killed… they shouldn't have died!"
Seeing that his distraction tactic had failed, Reid switched to a different approach—soothing her like a little girl, patting her head as he spoke.
"No, the way I see it, most of them would have died in the crossfire of war anyway. You saved their lives—just not completely."
"A miserable life is still better than death. That young man who cursed you just didn't realize it. If their village hadn't met you, maybe everyone would have died in the war, and he wouldn't even have had the chance to blame you."
"Of course, this is all under the assumption that you genuinely didn't intend to traffic people or take money for it."
"Lacus, let me ask you—did you ever consider selling the people you saved for profit, and act on it?"
Hearing this, Lacus burst into tears of frustration. She rolled sideways and buried her face against Reid's shoulder, sobbing as she spoke.
"Of course not! Wuwu… How could I ever be a human trafficker? Wuwu… But in reality, I really did become one. I betrayed the ideals of the Clyne Family… Wuwu…"
Feeling the weight of Lacus' overwhelming regret pressing against his side, Reid ultimately didn't push her away. Instead, in silence, he gently patted and stroked her back with the arm she was leaning on, comforting her.
After a while, Lacus grew quiet as her tears exhausted her.
Reid noticed the girl had fallen asleep leaning against his shoulder—she really trusted him too much.
So Reid gently picked Lacus up in a princess carry and brought her back to his room.
He simply removed her shoes, took off her outer clothing, and tucked her under the covers.
Before leaving, Reid poured a glass of water and placed it on Lacus' bedside table, in case she woke up thirsty at night. After shedding so many tears, even a Coordinator needed to replenish fluids.
Finally, gazing at Lacus' sleeping face, Reid softly muttered:
"Honestly, you're only cute when you're asleep. Such a little girl with eight hundred tricks up her sleeve—better not mess with you."
After saying this, Reid quietly closed the door and left Lacus' room.
However, after Reid departed, Lacus—who should have been asleep—opened her eyes.
It must be said that Lacus was quite skilled at acting. Becoming PLANT's national idol wasn't achieved through status, looks, and position alone.
Combined with Lacus' strong mental fortitude, Reid naturally didn't detect she was awake since he wasn't carefully monitoring her state.
Actually, Lacus had woken up when Reid removed her shoes. Some girls' feet are quite sensitive—they can't just be touched casually.
But upon waking, Lacus instantly decided to pretend to still be asleep.
Whether it was shyness or anticipation of something, even Lacus herself wasn't quite sure.
However, she did hear Reid's heartfelt final comment.
Now, Lacus momentarily forgot her shame, feeling only indignation and a hint of secret delight.
The indignation naturally came from how Reid actually viewed her—"eight hundred tricks up her sleeve"? She didn't have that many schemes! Lacus always considered herself relatively straightforward, so being evaluated this way by Reid made her quite unhappy.
As for the secret delight—well, Reid had still called her cute after all. For the longest time, Lacus couldn't understand why her tactic of acting cute never worked on Reid.
But now she knew the reason—it wasn't that she wasn't cute, but that Reid inexplicably held deep prejudices against her.
Actually, Lacus completely failed to understand why Reid would be prejudiced against her.
If it was due to their fathers' influence, then he should hold greater prejudice against Athrun.
After all, Reid and Uncle Patrick were truly mortal enemies. Could it be they developed mutual respect after truly understanding each other as adversaries? Though their principle of wanting to eliminate each other remained unchanged, had they actually come to acknowledge one another?
Lacus thought that if this wasn't the case, she couldn't understand why Reid clearly trusted Athrun more than her.
Reid's assessment of her having "eight hundred tricks" must have been sincere—had she really schemed too much, causing Reid's wariness?
But Lacus maintained she had never schemed against Reid. If she had to name someone she'd schemed against, perhaps Kira counted—she'd pulled him onto her side to participate in the last war.
Other than that, Lacus swore she had always approached Reid with intentions of deep cooperation.
Even now, with the war over, her decision to stay with Reid's side instead of returning to PLANT was made out of trust in him.
However, Lacus knew it was useless to dwell on such thoughts now. She could no longer return to PLANT, as everyone believed she was connected to Reid. Even if she went back, she would be viewed with suspicion, and the so-called Clyne Faction in PLANT currently did not welcome her.
Thinking of this, Lacus admitted to herself that she felt somewhat envious of Athrun. According to intelligence from Terminal, many former Zala Faction military personnel hoped for Athrun's return to PLANT. Even though they were both rebels, and Athrun had even rebelled against his own father, the difference in how they were treated within their respective factions was so stark.
Thus, Lacus had already begun considering how to eliminate Reid's prejudice against her. After all, it seemed Reid was the only person she could fully rely on now. (To put it bluntly, the Terminal group was relying on Lacus.)
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