Since crossing over, Zhou Hanxiang had been taking care of his vegetative self.
Now that he had finally awakened and could move freely, Zhou Hanxiang was still risking herself for his sake.
Though wrapped in the skin of a five-year-old child, Zhou Tianming was no child.
Faced with Zhou Hanxiang's constant consideration for him, Tianming felt deeply moved.
"Weber, do you know any journalists or people in the news industry? I want someone to report what's happening here."
"Tianming, you can't just call people by their names like that. Be polite."
Tianming rolled his eyes, his earlier warmth fading slightly into annoyance.
"It's fine. That fake high-pitched voice of his is disgusting anyway."
Both Zhou Tianming and Zhou Hanxiang simultaneously took deep breaths, about to speak.
Weber raised his voice, speaking rapidly: "My cousin is a journalist. She even has her own column called [Real World]. That should be qualified enough, right?"
Unable to vent his frustration, Tianming's expression darkened before he finally exhaled slowly: "Help me contact your cousin and tell her about the situation here. As a journalist, she'll surely guess why we're reaching out."
"Sure, she's always interested in these kinds of things."
Suddenly, a strange sound came from deep within the alley where Tianming stood.
The sound was thin and sharp, but after a few bursts, it disappeared.
He glanced back but saw nothing unusual and was about to continue speaking.
Then Weber's serious voice came through the phone: "Where are you?"
Confused but sensing Weber's gravity, Tianming replied, "In an alley near the shopping center."
"Be careful. If I'm not mistaken, that sound earlier was a suppressed military-grade handgun."
Startled, Tianming turned to look deeper into the alley. "Understood. I'll be careful. Officer Weber, as a hero, please protect my mother."
"Ah, since fate brought us together, leave it to me."
After hanging up, Tianming stood still for a moment, thinking.
The best-case scenario would be confirming the information was deleted, then hiding with Zhou Hanxiang for a while before finding a way to obtain identification and leave Mendel.
If the information remained and was discovered by GARMR&D Corporation, they'd face pursuit.
The odds were fifty-fifty.
But Tianming considered how easily information could be replicated—even if Hanxiang deleted it this time, leaks from other sources were still possible.
Passively waiting and placing all hope on Hanxiang's actions wasn't wise.
If things went wrong and the second scenario unfolded, a mother-son pair would stand no chance against a trans-universal corporation.
Glancing once more into the alley's depths, Tianming made his decision.
Now is the most chaotic time in Mendel. According to the original timeline, the next major incident won't occur until CE68 when the entire satellite is abandoned due to a biochemical leak.
Thirteen years...
This isn't the time to rest easy yet.
Zhou Tianming walked deeper into the alley.
...
Meanwhile, inside the research institute.
Weber contacted his cousin Alia-Sisley.
"Cousin—"
"Let me guess, getting bullied by people in the Garrison again?"
"I—"
"Come on, tell me something amusing."
The female voice on the phone sounded young. Though her words were infuriating, her melodious tone made it hard to stay angry.
Weber explained everything in detail, and silence fell on the other end of the line.
After a long pause, Alia spoke with admiration in her voice: "That's a brilliant idea. If GARMR&D Corporation gains control of the narrative, you're all doomed."
"No company conducting human experiments is clean. Find me a camera to record the whole process."
"Hello," Zhou Hanxiang interjected. "Miss Alia, I need to delete some information without exposing its contents. Do you know any trustworthy hackers?"
"Just call me Alia, dear." Alia pondered for a moment. "I'm not very knowledgeable about this field, and I can't tell if they've made copies of the data."
Zhou Hanxiang felt disappointed, but then Alia continued: "Think differently. To destroy information, you don't necessarily need to delete it—just render it useless."
"You know paper shredders? Apply the same principle—scramble the data into chaos. There's specialized software for this step. Then have a hacker delete just that software. At most, they could analyze the shredding pattern, but not the original content."
"Research institutes like yours have highly targeted firewalls. Even skilled hackers would struggle to delete data quickly. But simply rearranging the data without deletion is much easier."
Zhou Hanxiang found this reasoning sound. She only needed to ensure the information was compromised: "That's perfect. Thank you, Alia."
"No problem. Compared to the benefits of exclusive reporting on this matter, it's nothing. Pleasure doing business."
"Likewise."
After reaching an agreement, Weber and Zhou Hanxiang began their operation. Alia contacted a hacker she frequently worked with to breach the institute's systems and unlock the security doors for them.
...
Meanwhile, Zhou Tianming carefully ventured deeper into the alley while checking his phone for locations and maps.
Before long, gunshots rang out again, this time accompanied by faint shouts.
He moved closer.
Suddenly, footsteps approached rapidly.
Zhou Tianming looked around. The straight path he was on was clean and unobstructed, with clear visibility from end to end.
Hearing the footsteps nearing the corner, he quickly retreated.
While backing up, he noticed an extremely narrow gap in the wall—too tight for an adult's shoulders but perfect for a five-year-old.
His sharp eyes caught sight of a leg appearing around the corner. He swiftly squeezed into the gap, spreading his limbs to push against both walls and climb upward.
The footsteps drew nearer.
As the person passed below, Zhou Tianming got a clear view from above.
His eyes widened in shock, mouth agape with astonishment.
This was a woman with delicate, beautiful features, her waist-length pink wavy hair flowing as she hurried past in a researcher's white coat.
Lacus!
The name flashed through Zhou Tianming's mind—this woman looked exactly like Lacus.
He immediately shook his head in denial.
Impossible. Lacus was the same age as Kira—she couldn't possibly be this grown up.
Soon, he realized who this must be—Lacus's mother.
As Zhou Tianming was still recalling information about Lacus's mother, footsteps sounded again from the same direction.
Approaching rapidly, three men clad in black combat uniforms ran past, pistols in hand.
Though there were three of them, their footsteps were perfectly synchronized, as if they were one.
The leader immediately raised his gun in caution upon reaching the crevice where Zhou Tianming was hiding, only lowering it after the other two had passed before following them.
Their movements were highly professional.
Zhou Tianming's expression darkened. Unlike the Blue Cosmos members who had attacked the research institute, these men were clearly trained soldiers at a glance.
The footsteps gradually faded into the distance, followed by several gunshots.
Dropping down from above, Zhou Tianming frowned in thought, searching his memory for clues from the anime's plot. Finally, he recalled a scene from the SEED movie—the research institute under attack, Yantian carrying Kira and Cagalli, Siegel protecting Lacus's mother and Lacus as they fled.
Connecting this to Lacus's mother's disappearance in the main series, it was highly likely that her death was caused by this very incident.
To help or not to help.
The enemies were professional soldiers, and their numbers were unknown.
Zhou Tianming hesitated, torn between choices.