Chapter 106: SEED – The Ocean
Cagalli was very displeased with Mu's words. She threw a princess-like tantrum and made the decision for Murrue on her own.
"In any case, no matter what, I'll go with the Archangel. That's settled."
Then, taking Sahib with her, she left, giving Murrue and the others no chance to object.
Mu, helpless, turned to the bodyguard who had been silently packing up supplies and asked, "Just who exactly is that kid?"
But true to his title of bodyguard, he revealed nothing about Cagalli's identity—not even saying a single word.
Seeing that the bodyguard wouldn't even look at him, Mu could only shrug helplessly and drop the matter.
In the end, Cagalli got her wish and boarded the Archangel, even taking charge and directing Murrue to guide the ship safely out of the African desert and onto the open sea.
On the bridge of the Archangel, Murrue was filled with anticipation at the sight of the ocean. With delight, she made a decision and addressed everyone.
"I'll allow everyone to take turns going up to the deck to see the ocean during this period. Go ahead and pass the word to the crew."
Everyone on the bridge cheered excitedly, all except Sai, whose face was clouded with unhappiness. He was still sulking, caught up in thoughts about Flay.
Natarle, however, remained serious as she opened the comms and asked the hangar,
"Sergeant Murdoch, how's the sonar coming along?"
"It's in progress. Kira's making the final adjustments. Please wait a bit."
"Mm. Get it done as quickly as possible. Also, don't call someone with a higher rank than you a 'kid.' That undermines discipline. Please be more mindful."
Scratching the back of his head with some embarrassment, Murdoch turned to Kira and said, "You should hurry it up a little."
Kira, impatient, replied, "This thing's from ZAFT—it's not that easy to hook it up."
Murdoch could only shake his head helplessly, no longer urging him, and instead stood quietly to the side, watching them fine-tune the sonar system.
The moment Tolle received the notice that they could go on deck to see the sea, he immediately invited Miriallia to join him.
She happily agreed, and the two went hand in hand up to the deck of the Archangel.
Spreading her jacket open, Miriallia enjoyed the sea breeze with a bright smile.
"Tolle, Earth's ocean feels so nostalgic. The sea breeze is so comfortable."
Holding Miriallia in his arms, Tolle whispered softly in her ear, "Yeah, the ocean…it really is nostalgic."
At that moment, several dolphins leapt out of the water. Miriallia pointed at them in excitement, then picked up her necklace and said,
"Tolle, look, look! So many dolphins—they're so cute! They look exactly like the dolphin on the necklace you gave me."
Gently stroking her hair, Tolle gazed tenderly at the lively, adorable Miriallia. "Yeah, they look exactly the same."
Just then, Kuzzey chimed in out of nowhere, trying to insert himself into the moment. "But I think it feels kind of strange…"
Tolle, annoyed that this guy had intruded on their romantic mood, deliberately said to him,
"Kuzzey, this is your first time seeing the ocean, right? You were born in Heliopolis, weren't you?"
"Yeah. The desert earlier already shocked me, but this…this feels even scarier. The ocean seems bottomless."
Miriallia, also irritated by his interruption, put on a mischievous, sinister look and tried to scare him.
"Maybe there's a monster right below us."
Realizing her intent, Tolle decided to help with the prank.
"Yeah, Kuzzey. Remember what I told you before? Those monsters bigger than a ship? They live in the deep ocean.
Maybe—bam!—one will leap out, flip the Archangel over, and swallow us whole."
Just then, a massive blue whale surfaced, spraying a tall spout of water from its head.
Miriallia squealed excitedly, "Kuzzey, look! That's a blue whale—it's huge! But the deep-sea monsters are even bigger than that!"
Cagalli suddenly appeared, standing behind Tolle and laughing as she said to Kuzzey,
"They're tricking you. There aren't any giant monsters in the ocean.
Blue whales don't eat people—they feed on small fish and shrimp.
But as for giant octopuses, well…there are legends that they can capsize fishing boats."
Hearing that the ocean held not only huge blue whales but also giant octopuses, Kuzzey instinctively hugged himself with both arms, shivering as he said fearfully,
"See? I'm going back. I don't want to look anymore."
Watching him retreat in fright, Tolle and Miriallia burst into laughter.
They both marveled at how gullible Kuzzey was—and how timid.
Cagalli, not understanding why he was so worried—since whales and octopuses weren't scary at all—could only shrug and say nothing.
With Kuzzey the third wheel gone, Tolle and Miriallia cuddled even closer.
Seeing this, Cagalli felt uncomfortable, grinding her teeth behind Tolle's back.
Noticing her reaction, Tolle deliberately teased her by kissing Miriallia.
Miriallia didn't resist—she even responded enthusiastically.
Cagalli's face shifted from anger to embarrassment, to unhappiness tinged with sadness. At last, she stormed off the deck alone.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Archangel, a reply came in to their distress signal sent to the Alaska military base.
Reading the message, Cagalli's bodyguard muttered in disbelief,
"Unthinkable—the Earth Alliance would actually say something like, 'Reach Alaska Base on your own,' without sending even a bit of supplies.
Water and food we might scrape by with, but weapons and ammunition? No chance.
Still, the best plan is to avoid combat as much as possible."
Natarle approached Murrue and the bodyguard, saying,
"But crossing the center of the Indian Ocean is extremely dangerous for us. If something happens, we'll have nowhere to hide."
"Luckily, ZAFT hasn't expanded its territory. The defenses in the middle of the ocean should be at their weakest. The rest is up to luck."
The bodyguard nodded in agreement, then silently left the bridge.
Murrue murmured to herself, "The luck of the goddess of victory, huh…?"
Elsewhere, Kira finally finished tuning the sonar system. He then went alone up to the deck of the Archangel.
By then, everyone had already left, leaving only Kira sitting idly, staring out in boredom.
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