Chapter 5

"How could they be here!?" Xiao Ran looked at the few people slowly approaching not far ahead, the shock in his heart was completely evident on his face. He had seen these people before, and he had a particularly deep impression of two of them.

These six people were undoubtedly participants just like him, and from the news he had seen before, he recognized a few of their faces. The two that Xiao Ran was most familiar with were the two most memorable participants among the five who had led the airport hostage incident: a tall and strong participant and the only female among the five.

The tall and strong participant was now grinning viciously, his shirt was nowhere to be seen, and from his body, one could clearly see over a dozen prominent bullet marks. It was evident that these marks were from bullets that had lodged in his muscles, though they looked severe, they might not have affected him much. The gun in his hand was still smoking, and it was clear that he was the one who had just fired.

The female participant didn't look as bad as the former. Her originally neat hair was now messy, and her clothes were undamaged, but there was a red stain on her shoulder, and her face showed a hint of pain.

The other four were not any of the companions who had participated in the airport hostage incident with these two. It was clear that, as humans, even if they were aliens with abilities surpassing ordinary humans, they could not have escaped unscathed from the countless security forces that surrounded them. The three men must have died in the battle.

Xiao Ran had some impression of these four as well; they were the passengers and hostages with bizarre expressions that had appeared in the news before. Although they were not all the participants present at the time, Xiao Ran never expected that anyone would join this group of reckless and insane hostage-takers.

"Why are they here?" Xiao Ran's mind was filled with confusion.

"Who would have thought that after running out, we would find such a big fish waiting for us." The tall and strong man grinned, looking at the Strike Gundam with a hint of malice in his eyes. "Kid up there, get down now, or your friends will die!"

"Kira..." Miliya, afraid, hid behind Xiao Ran and Sei, looking up at Kira in the Strike Gundam. Her eyes were full of helplessness and pleading, not pleading for Kira to jump out of the Strike Gundam, but pleading for Kira to save them.

Kira, standing in the Strike Gundam, looked at the six people in disbelief. Their guns were all aimed at Xiao Ran and the others, and the shot that had just been fired at Xiao Ran proved that these six people would keep their word. If Kira didn't come down, they would kill Xiao Ran and the others. But even if Kira left the Strike Gundam, there was no guarantee that these lunatics would let them leave safely. Kira was torn, his expression changing rapidly.

Faced with these six suddenly appearing, extremely dangerous people, Sei, Tolle, and Kuzzey also seemed at a loss. Sei was slightly better; though afraid, he still stood in line with Xiao Ran, shielding the others behind him, and shouted at the strong man, "How can you guarantee that you will let us go after he leaves the MS?"

"Ha ha!" The strong man was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. His laughter seemed particularly infectious, and the others around him also laughed, their faces full of mockery.

The strong man fired another shot, this time hitting the ground in front of Xiao Ran and Sei, scaring them into taking a few steps back. The strong man sneered, "As long as he comes down obediently, I promise to let you go."

Xiao Ran remained silent, his mind racing to find a solution to the current situation. With six people pointing guns at them, and only Kira and the Strike Gundam as their last line of defense, if he were an ordinary person in this world, he would hope that the strong man was telling the truth and would let them go safely after Kira came down. But this was just a hope, as he couldn't be sure that the strong man was telling the truth.

But in reality, Xiao Ran was neither an ordinary person in this world nor an ordinary participant who knew nothing. He was an Earth human who knew almost the entire plot of Gundam SEED. He knew that the Archangel would soon appear, and that the satellite would soon collapse. If they didn't board the Archangel, or if they boarded the Archangel without the protection of the Strike Gundam, both he and Kira would become cold corpses in a few hours.

Xiao Ran didn't want to die here, not before he had a chance to truly experience this world. He had the advantage of knowing the plot, and he didn't want to die without relying on this advantage. He wanted to live, so the strong man and his group must die!

"Sei, Tolle, Miliya, Kuzzey..." Xiao Ran clenched his teeth, his fists tight, and said in a cold voice, "Kira can't come down; these people will never let us go... They are the terrorists who took hostages at the airport. We've seen their faces. If Kira comes down from the MS, we will all die. If Kira doesn't come down, we might not die. Kira will definitely live. What do you choose?"

"Teacher..." Miliya was stunned, as were Sei and the others. They slowly raised their heads to look at Kira, who seemed to be struggling. Kira seemed to sense their gazes, and their eyes gradually turned from fear and confusion to determination. Kira seemed to understand their meaning, and his expression changed to shock. His hands trembled as he slowly turned to look at the strong man and the others, his eyes blazing with unprecedented anger.

Kira's eyes suddenly lost their luster, and he seemed to calm down, but in his heart, he was roaring, "Unforgivable, unforgivable, why, why do you have to disturb our peaceful lives, unforgivable!"

"This..." Xiao Ran was stunned by Kira's sudden change, his mind reeling, "This is not scientific, he's already in a berserk state?"

"Have you decided yet?" The strong man's face was full of impatience, and his gun was once again aimed at Xiao Ran's head.

"Don't be afraid, don't panic..." Xiao Ran's eyes were fixed on the six gun barrels aimed at him. For some reason, he felt an unusual calm at this moment. From the shock of Kira's berserk state to this calm, it took less than a second for him to adjust to the best state of mind: "I'll count to 3, and everyone will rush toward the MS. Trust me, trust Kira. I and Kira will protect you."

"Okay." Xiao Ran heard a soft response from behind him and began to count slowly, "1... 2... 3... Kira!"

At the same moment Xiao Ran counted to 3, Tolle and Kuzzey pulled Miliya and rushed toward the feet of the Strike Gundam. Sei also lunged to the side, leaping three meters and almost landing at the feet of the Strike Gundam.

The strong man and the others reacted a second later, raising their guns with malicious intent. Xiao Ran's eyes narrowed, and he gritted his teeth, turning and grabbing Miliya, Tolle, and Kuzzey, pulling them to the ground to avoid most of the bullets.

But in that second, Kira had already returned to the pilot seat, roaring as he pushed the control lever. Without even closing the cockpit door, he controlled the Strike Gundam to extend its feet and hands, and the head turned to fire the head-mounted anti-aircraft Balkan cannon.

"Bang, bang..." "Ouch..." The sounds of bullets hitting flesh and the sound of gritted teeth in pain reached Miliya, Tolle, and Kuzzey's ears. Their faces turned to fear, but then they felt a shadow overhead, and the sound of bullets hitting metal. They realized they were safe and called out in panic, "Teacher! Teacher!"

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The power of the hand guns and machine guns was nothing compared to the power of the Strike Gundam's head-mounted Balkan cannon. The sound and power were completely different. The strong man and the others never expected that a teenager who looked to be around fifteen could have such quick and decisive actions. From the time they fired to the time the cannon fired, it was less than three seconds. What could be done in three seconds?

Three seconds could be one breath, a few blinks, but for most people, it was just a fleeting moment with nothing to do. But for the strong man, three seconds could allow him to run thirty meters. Unfortunately, even if the strong man started running as soon as the head of the Strike Gundam turned, the time from the start of the run to the cannon firing was only a little over a second, and he had only run about ten meters.

But could ten meters per second be faster than the bullets from the cannon? Of course not, especially after Kira heard Miliya and the others' anguished cries, his eyes flashed with endless cold light, and he silently shouted, "Die, die!"

The initial speed of the cannon's shells was over a thousand meters per second, far beyond what the strong man could avoid. In an instant, a fist-sized shell pierced through his chest, spraying blood and hitting the ground with a heavy thud. The strong man, propelled by inertia, flew over ten meters and then shattered into countless pieces.

Perhaps the strong man was the strongest among the six, but the others barely had time to show fear before losing consciousness.

In just a few seconds, the six participants, six aliens far more powerful than Earth humans, were slaughtered. Kira's eyes finally returned to normal, and he trembled as he raised his hands, "I killed... I killed..."

"Kira! The teacher has been shot!" Sei's loud voice interrupted Kira's confusion and fear. He looked around frantically and pulled out a first-aid kit from a place marked with a cross in the cockpit, hurriedly jumping down from the Gundam. As soon as he landed, he saw Tolle and Kuzzey supporting a pale-faced Xiao Ran. Seeing this, Kira felt a bit less guilty and confused.

Two bullets had hit Xiao Ran's right shoulder, almost piercing through the bone, and the pain almost made him faint. But the mental tension and the ancient data of his body kept him going. He smiled at Kira, his face pale, "Are you okay? I'm sorry, as a teacher, I shouldn't have put you in such a situation..."

Kira trembled and then silently shook his head.

"Ha ha." Xiao Ran laughed weakly, "Don't think too much. These people are the terrorists who took hostages at the airport. Although we don't know why they are here, from their appearance, they might have already killed many innocent people. Such people don't deserve to live in this world. Their deaths are well-deserved. If they didn't die, we might have."

"Teacher..." Kira looked at Xiao Ran, and finally nodded heavily, "Okay."

Miliya's eyes were red, and she snatched the first-aid kit from Kira and began to treat Xiao Ran's wounds. Xiao Ran took the opportunity to look at his wristwatch, and his eyes widened in shock.

With a stamina value of 30, he had only been hit by two non-fatal bullets, yet he had lost 18 health points. If he had been hit in a vital spot, he would have died. Although they were now safe, Xiao Ran still felt a wave of fear.