"Stella!" Shinn rushed forward. "She's innocent! It's all the Earth Forces' fault! They're the ones who turned Stella into this!"
Duran laughed.
"Maybe. But if you trace it back far enough, everything comes from humanity's original sin. In that case, couldn't I say that all humans are murderers? So I think it's simpler to just kill this woman. What do you think?"
"You're lying! Stella is just an ordinary girl! She's kind—this only happened because of the Earth Forces! They made Stella… Stella—"
Shinn didn't waste any more words.
He charged straight at Duran, swinging the massive anti-ship sword.
"Shinn—!"
Everyone aboard the Minerva who knew Duran's strength worried for him.
Duran calmly raised a hand and caught the blade with his bare hand.
"It seems you still don't understand the principle: if you don't court death, you won't die."
With a twist of his wrist, the anti-ship sword snapped in half.
Duran flicked the broken blade.
The fragment shot forward and embedded itself into the cockpit of the Destiny Gundam.
Of course, it didn't immediately hit the pilot.
The blade stopped right in front of Shinn's face.
"Now let everyone decide!" Duran said, lifting the unconscious Stella. His voice spread across the entire Earth and PLANT.
"Should this woman die?"
Silence.
"Mr. Duran," Kira said, "you've already destroyed the Destroy Gundam. Why kill the pilot?"
Kira still felt sympathy for the beautiful girl.
Duran simply smiled and ignored him.
Suddenly—
A piercing scream echoed from the ruins.
"Kill—!!!"
A mother knelt in the street, clutching the corpse of her child.
Teresa zoomed in with the camera.
Many viewers who had felt sympathy for Stella were stunned by the mother's cry.
Her voice seemed to pierce through space itself.
Even viewers watching from PLANT were shaken by the grief and fury in her scream.
The wail of a mother who had lost her child ignited the rage of survivors throughout the city.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill—!!!"
"Shinn Asuka," Duran said coldly, "do you hear the grief and anger of this city?"
"I'll give you a chance."
"Open your cockpit. Take your sidearm. Execute this criminal."
Duran floated Stella in front of Destiny's cockpit.
The cockpit opened.
Shinn stepped out, holding a pistol.
"Shinn… protect… Stella…" Stella murmured weakly as she regained consciousness.
Duran watched with a cold expression.
Slowly, Shinn raised the pistol.
The barrel pointed directly at Stella.
The entire world watched.
What would this boy named Shinn choose?
"Shinn!" Meyrin Hawke could barely bear to watch.
The crew of the Minerva were worried sick.
Bang!
The gunshot echoed.
Duran caught the bullet between two fingers and laughed.
"Hopeless."
He flicked his hand and tossed Stella toward Shinn.
"I now declare, in the name of the Commander of the M78 Great Civilization, that Earth of the Eighth Star Domain has lost its qualification to exist as a civilization!"
Duran raised both hands.
A massive energy sphere formed above him.
"You should thank this Coordinator named Shinn."
"Now enjoy the taste of death!"
The glowing sphere began descending toward Earth.
Everyone was frozen in shock.
Then—
A massive shadow appeared in the sky.
Duran stopped the attack.
He looked up.
A spaceship larger than an entire city suddenly appeared in midair.
"What is this?!"
Even Duran was stunned.
He hadn't expected another unexpected intruder.
"What the hell is that?!"
Before he could react—
Boom!
A dull explosion echoed.
The spaceship began falling toward the ground.
Duran rushed beneath it and, like Superman, held the massive vessel in midair before gently lowering it onto an empty area.
The ship was called Megaroad-01.
It was the colony ship that once carried Lynn Minmay into deep space.
Because Duran's time machine had weakened the barrier between dimensions, Megaroad-01 had accidentally slipped through the affected region during its final desperate jump.
The main ship had crossed into this world.
But this dimensional crossing brought more than just the Megaroad-01 colony ship and its spiritual symbol, the diva Lynn Minmay.
It also brought a terrifying lifeform—
A space monster.
The creature roared within the damaged ship.
Then it burst through the powerless defensive barrier and flew out.
It resembled a giant lizard.
But its size was larger than a dinosaur.
A VF fighter jet chased after it closely.
However, it soon ran out of energy and was forced to return.
Duran looked up at the scene and blinked.
Then he turned to Teresa.
"Did you get all of that on camera?"
"Everything," Teresa replied with a smile.
She looked up at the enormous ship.
"It's like a city floating in the sky."
"It used to be," Duran said dryly. "Now it's just a city that crashed."
"I now issue orders in the name of Orb's leader to the Archangel."
"Captain Murrue, do you copy? Prepare yourselves—we're about to welcome some guests."
Murrue was stunned.
She glanced at Lacus.
Lacus nodded gently.
They had no choice but to cooperate.
Cagalli, meanwhile, was completely ignored.
"Understood. Archangel will follow your command."
"Excellent."
Duran slowly floated up from the ground.
At this moment, the VF fighter from the colony ship remained strangely silent.
While everyone's attention was drawn to the sudden appearance of the ship, Shinn escaped with Stella.
He entered the Destiny Gundam and fled.
"Stella… I'll protect you."
Captain Talia of the Minerva opened her mouth as if to stop him—but in the end, she said nothing as the Destiny disappeared into the distance.
Rey wanted to pursue him, but his mobile suit wasn't fast enough.
The colony ship was silent.
Its structure was severely damaged.
Entire buildings had collapsed.
The streets were riddled with craters.
Duran spread his ki, scanning the entire ship.
Only a few faint life signatures remained deep inside.
The VF fighter was guarding them.
Duran fired a small energy blast, opening a hole above the survivors' hiding place.
Then he flew inside.
Like a god descending from heaven, he appeared in a beam of light.
The survivors squinted up at him.
"Is this heaven?" a little girl asked the woman holding her.
The woman said nothing.
But Duran had already heard.
"Sorry, little girl. This isn't heaven."
"This is Earth."
Silence.
Then whispers spread.
"Earth?!"
The word felt distant, yet familiar.
Some people cried.
Some laughed.
Everyone hugged the people beside them.
"Is this really Earth?" the woman asked nervously.
"Yes."
"Welcome home."
Those words finally broke their restraint.
Tears flowed everywhere.
The Megaroad-01 originally carried 100,000 people.
Now fewer than 8,000 survivors remained.
And the woman holding the little girl—
was their greatest symbol.
The legendary diva:
Lynn Minmay.
"We need help," Minmay said firmly. "Medicine and food."
As the leader of the 8,000 survivors, she formally requested aid from Duran.
"No problem," Duran replied.
"But until I issue further instructions, you must remain on the colony ship."
"I hope you understand."
"And that lizard-like monster that just flew out—what exactly is it?"
"We will cooperate," Minmay said.
She set the girl down.
"We encountered that creature in space. All we know is that it is extremely hostile toward our colony fleet."
"And then we lost contact with Earth."
"By the way… what year is it now?"
"CE 73," Duran replied.
"A time of war. So it's better if you stay aboard the ship."
"CE? Not AD? Doesn't the United Earth Government rule Earth anymore?"
"No. No one rules Earth now. Several major powers are competing for dominance."
"It seems the Earth you remember and the Earth now… are not the same."
Only Minmay could hear Duran's final words.
She froze.
Then she looked back at the survivors crying with joy.
In the end, she said nothing.
"Please send aid as soon as possible."
"No problem," Duran said.
"I'll arrange it immediately. Please remain calm."
Duran flew back outside.
And when he saw the stunned expressions of everyone present—
he was extremely satisfied.
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