“I will fight you first, then,” said Satomi. “If your Superior Embryo wins against my newest creation, I will let the Adventure II go. Perhaps I will even assist with the hunt. But if you lose, I will fight the Adventure II as well.”
“Fine by me.” Shu nodded, unshaken by Satomi’s implication that his creation was capable of taking on the Adventure II even after clashing with Shu’s battleship.
“Hey!”
However, there was one person who objected.
As the two men put her aside and started setting conditions, Riella interjected with an enraged expression.
She grabbed Shu by a handful of fur and told him what she really thought.
“Stay outta this! He picked a fight with us! He talked shit about our fleet! Ya can’t just butt in like that!” Shu didn’t say a word, so Riella continued. “I’m pretty sure I told ya that lettin’ some bear take care of all our problems would ruin the fleet’s good name! D’ya think we’re a buncha weaklings that need your protection?! Is that it, Superior?!” Her strong words, her indignation—Shu took it all head-on.
This was a manifestation of her feelings that went beyond just this matter with Satomi.
Her father’s death, the decimation of the adventure fleet, the vengeance they had thus far been denied... Her departure with the volunteers, followed by days of worrying about pursuers like Satomi.
All of it pointed to just one conclusion—the fundamental weakness of the adventure fleet.
The other fleets believed this mission of vengeance was doomed, and even her own crew assumed that if a Superior pursuer caught them, they would be stopped.
She had an enemy she fervently hated and hunted relentlessly, but she couldn’t help but feel that they lacked the power to actually defeat it.
This had been made especially obvious in yesterday’s battles, and the encounter with Satomi had only served to hammer this home.
Every single time, Shu had stood before her, and Riella could do nothing but be protected.
This made her feel like she was too weak—that she needed to depend on others for safety.
“I... We...!” The blend of unpleasant feelings made tears well up in her eyes as she meekly pounded the bear’s chest with her fist.
Riella wanted to avenge her father and fleet. While she was scared of the monstrous creature that had taken them, her rage had drowned out that fear.
But seeing Shu stand before them, ready to protect, made her worry that her resolve would falter.
Whether it was the overwhelming power that had allowed him to crush the UBM and the chimera or just Shu’s disposition as a person, Riella could feel herself starting to depend on him, which went against her conviction that she would take vengeance on her own.
And that was why she was now baring this indignation—including her anger at herself—and taking it out on Shu, fully aware how self-centered it was.
“Stop...pityin’ us...” The tears welling up in her eyes had overflowed and were now pouring down her cheeks.
Shu still said nothing. And despite the height difference, he didn’t even “look down” at her or even lean over to put them eye to eye.
Instead, he used his left hand to grab her by the collar and hold her up.
At a glance, this looked like an extremely threatening gesture. Asam considered stopping him but decided against it—this was the only way to handle the situation. Bending down to comfort her like a child or picking her up like a baby would’ve made things worse.
“I’m not,” Shu finally replied. He wasn’t looking down at her, nor was Riella looking up at him—Shu’s unorthodox approach allowed them to look at each other as equals.
They held each other’s collars and looked at one another’s eyes from the same height.
Faced with the head of the bear mascot costume, Riella felt like she could see the human face behind it that she’d glimpsed yesterday.
“Remember what I said? I’m gonna help you. That’s what we agreed.” He brought up the conversation they had after Shu beat the UBM. “Ya don’t have to fight this nerd. It’d be a chore, not to mention a meaningless waste of time. Same went for the whale and the Mock.”
It made no difference to him that the opponent this time was a Superior. In Shu’s eyes, Satomi was just another obstacle.
“That’s why ya should leave this to me. If something’s in the way, it’s my job to take care of it.”
Riella spent a moment doing nothing but looking at him and thinking.
Shu was stronger than her. She knew it, he knew it—everybody knew it. However, he wasn’t protecting her out of pride at being an almighty Superior. He was simply doing everything he could to fulfill his end of the agreement and allow her to complete her objective, acting as her equal despite their difference in strength.
Riella could tell that Shu was speaking from the heart.
Perhaps that was why the frustration that had accumulated within her like layers of sediment now cracked, scattered, and vanished.
In their place, something else began to boil.
“All right. I’ll leave Yamamoto to you.”
“Sure thing.”
“I got one condition, though,” Riella said as she raised a finger. “Put me on the ship you’ll use to fight him.”
The words shocked everyone around her—including Satomi, Asam, and even Shu himself.
“Commander!” Asam called out, hoping to make her reconsider, but she kept looking straight at Shu.
“You could die if we sink,” Shu said. “And one unlucky hit could kill ya even if we don’t.”
While Masters never truly risked their lives, that didn’t apply to tians. He wanted to make her aware of this, but her resolve remained unshaken.
“Yamamoto picked a fight with the adventure fleet. If I just hide and let an ally take care of this, I’ll never consider myself a real commander.” Riella insisted that she understood the danger—and that was exactly why she had to join him in the first place. “I’m gonna bet my life on this fight.”
Shu said nothing.
“Ya know it ain’t meaningless, right?” Riella said.
“...Yeah,” Shu answered.
This was a matter of pride.
Many would say that Riella’s decision was careless, reckless, and pointless. But if Riella was proud of the flag under which she was born, it certainly wasn’t meaningless.
Riella had to make Satomi eat his words, even if that meant risking her life.
In a rare moment of hesitation, Shu pondered how to respond. Riella, however, gave him one last push.
“We’re equals, aren’t we?”
And with that, Shu also made his decision.
“All right... Get in.” He decided that he would carry her pride—and her life—on the deck of his battleship.
“Good,” said Riella as she held out her right hand. “Ya better win this.”
It was a handshake offer, just like the one from yesterday, except this time Riella had been the one to extend it. Shu was the one who’d offered when they made the agreement, but this one came from Riella.
“I don’t have to be told that,” Shu said as he grasped her hand.
Thus, another agreement was made—an agreement to defeat King of Building, Satomi Yamamoto.
Thus, the fires of battle would soon be ignited.
With the South Sea as the backdrop, destruction and creation would soon clash.