Reid received Ribbons' "invitation," but he didn't go to see him immediately. Instead, he first spent some time eating in the banquet hall.
Reid intended to teach Ribbons a lesson this time. Even if he couldn't kill him due to his connection with Veda, he had to make him "cede territory and pay reparations."
Normally, Reid's appearance after Wang Liu Mei would have caused widespread discussion in the venue since hardly anyone knew him.
However, after entering the banquet hall, Wang Liu Mei, unwilling to deal with the A-Laws members approaching her with various agendas, went straight to Reid and affectionately called him "Duke Isaac" repeatedly.
This made others hesitant to discuss him. After all, Wang Liu Mei always maintained her composure even when meeting the current Earth Federation chairman, and most of their meetings involved the chairman seeking her help.
Yet with Reid, Wang Liu Mei clearly acted like an obedient child, making Reid seem like her elder.
Combined with the title of duke, the A-Laws higher-ups who had previously supported the Celestial Beings realized that this Duke Reid Isaac might be the heir of some hidden European family.
If they gossiped carelessly and offended him, they might be ruined without even knowing who was responsible.
Actually, Reid had been hoping for some of Wang Liu Mei's admirers to come over and try to get acquainted, so he could tease her about it.
However, Reid had brought his wife, so no young men considered him a rival, and naturally, no fools came looking for trouble.
There were those who wanted to get acquainted, but they were held back by their elders, as approaching Reid without knowing his temperament was unwise. Unless they were long-term partners of the Wang family whom Wang Liu Mei would speak for.
Unfortunately, there was no one like that in this banquet hall.
Fortunately, Reid didn't stay long. After chatting with Wang Liu Mei for a bit and seeing that no one came to provide entertainment, he left the banquet hall with Ange and the Xia sisters.
Important figures usually have business to attend to when they appear at such events, so the other guests assumed Reid had gone to discuss matters, and no one grew suspicious.
After leaving the banquet hall, Reid, under Hoshino Ruri's direction, headed toward the room where Ribbons was located.
Ribbons' location was exposed by Louise Halevy, who had just finished speaking with him and was being led to the banquet hall by Andrei Smirnov.
Thus, Reid naturally encountered the two.
Since Reid's group of four were clearly dressed as guests and carried an extraordinary aura, Andrei Smirnov stepped aside and stood straight upon meeting them.
Louise Halevy followed suit. She had been overly protected by her mother before and later experienced her family's dramatic downfall, so she never carried herself like a Halevy heir.
However, upon seeing these two important supporting characters from the second season, Reid actively stopped in front of Louise Halevy, turned, and said,
"Louise Halevy, I never thought you, the young lady of the Halevy family, would end up in such a state. You may not have heard of me, but I knew your mother. I am Reid Isaac, Duke Isaac."
Louise looked at Reid, carefully thinking it over before realizing she probably hadn't met the man before her, so she asked politely but with a hint of coldness:
"Duke Isaac, did you know my mother?"
Reid nodded and replied with a smile:
"Yes, I've had dealings with Lady Halevy. To be precise, my elder was very close to her. I often listened in on their conversations. She was an exceptionally sentimental lady who frequently talked about how easily amused her daughter was."
Upon hearing this, Louise somewhat believed that Duke Isaac before her truly knew her mother, and was quite familiar with her.
Because Louise knew her mother only showed her sentimental nature to those she was very close to; to mere acquaintances, she remained the aloof Lady Halevy. Moreover, the fact that she would share amusing stories about her daughter with others proved that her mother considered Duke Isaac's elder trustworthy.
However, Louise still asked with confusion:
"In that case, why didn't I see you at my parents' funeral?"
Reid could lie about such questions without hesitation and said directly:
"At that time, due to some family matters, it wasn't appropriate for me to appear, and my elder couldn't be present either. But afterward, I privately visited the Halevy couple's gravesite to offer my belated condolences."
Upon hearing this, Louise instantly imagined a dramatic family power struggle in her mind, then slightly bowed and said:
"Thank you very much for paying respects to my father and mother."
Reid knew that Louise was almost completely taken in by his story, so he continued:
"I've heard quite a bit about the Halevy family tragedy and conducted thorough investigations afterward. I've made some discoveries. If there's an opportunity, I'll discuss them with you privately. This time, I just wanted to tell you that the amputation of your left arm isn't incurable."
Reid wasn't lying about this - Louise's limb regeneration issue could be resolved through the miraculous healing effects of GN Particles triggered by an Innovator.
Even without such miracles, using a top-tier medical bay from the Iron Blood universe combined with CE's genetic repair technology could restore the limb's natural healing capacity, enabling regenerative surgery.
When Louise heard that Reid had information about the murderer of her entire family, she completely ignored the part about her arm being curable. She directly grabbed Reid's sleeve, her face filled with hatred, and pleaded:
"Please tell me, any information at all. I want to avenge my parents."
Reid didn't shake off Louise because he understood her behavior perfectly. However, Reid looked at Andrei Smirnov and stated bluntly:
"Sergei Smirnov is an upright man, a hero. It's just unfortunate that the Russian Bear's child is truly a bear of a child. He's too immature and stubborn. I personally don't recommend you interact too much with him at this stage."
This comment was particularly painful for Andrei Smirnov. He hated nothing more than people saying he fell short of his father, especially with such a low evaluation.
Most importantly, Andrei Smirnov had feelings for Louise. Being so disparaged in front of the girl he liked was unbearable for any man.
However, Andrei Smirnov wasn't impulsive enough to throw a punch directly. Instead, he gritted his teeth and said:
"What do you even know about Sergei Smirnov? What do you know about me?"
Reid looked at this snarling little bear and directly voiced the criticism he had wanted to express since his previous life. After all, although this little bear had an awakening in the movie and even sacrificed himself, during the timeline of the second season, he truly gave people a feeling of frustration over his lack of progress.
"Your father is a national hero, but in serving the country, he neglected his family, which is why you hold so much resentment.
As a son, you have the right to resent him—I won't judge you for that.
But as a soldier, you should take your father as a role model.
It's just a pity that, for now, you can't distinguish between personal feelings and military duty. You act emotionally and are exceptionally impulsive—that's the reason I say you're immature. Do you have any problem with that?"
Andrei Smirnov was inwardly defiant, but he didn't know how to refute it. If he emphasized that Sergei Smirnov neglected his family, wouldn't that just confirm Duke Reid's point about his inability to separate personal and professional matters? But if he tried to dispute Sergei Smirnov's military achievements, he couldn't find any grounds for rebuttal.
So, in the end, Andrei Smirnov's face flushed bright red, and he seriously considered whether he should throw a punch at the man in front of him.
However, Louise had no interest in Andrei Smirnov's family affairs. All she wanted to know now was the information Reid had about her parents' deaths.
So Louise turned to Andrei Smirnov and said,
"Lieutenant Andrei, could you please wait for me at the entrance of the banquet hall? I'd like to speak with Duke Isaac privately."
Louise Halevy was attending the banquet today as the head of the Halevy family, not merely as a warrant officer, so Andrei Smirnov could only reply, "Yes," before shooting Reid a fierce glare and walking away.
After Andrei Smirnov had gone some distance, Reid didn't keep Louise in suspense and went straight to the point:
"I've found out that the Celestial Being Gundam that attacked the wedding in Spain back then was codenamed Trinity, piloted by Johann Trinity, Michael Trinity, and Nena Trinity. They were not the same team as the Celestial Being Gundams that had been intervening in wars around the world before.
To use an inappropriate analogy, the two groups of Gundam pilots were more like two different business divisions under the same company, Celestial Being. In the later stages of Celestial Being's activities four years ago, there were observations of combat between the two sides.
Subsequently, it was discovered that the backer of Trinity at that time was the late Orbital Elevate Consortium president, Laguna Harvey.
Of the three Trinity Gundam pilots, two were killed by Ali al-Saachez four years ago. The only one still alive is Nena Trinity, the pilot of the red unit.
However, I don't know where she is now or what she's doing. This is all the information I can give you."
After Reid finished speaking, Louise was now truly convinced that Duke Isaac before her was a friend of her parents, because the intelligence he provided directly explained many of the questions she had uncovered.
For example, during her brief private communication with Soma Peries, she had learned that the three Gundams that attacked the wedding banquet didn't seem to be the same group as the ones causing trouble around the world before.
Moreover, as the one who donated the majority of the Halevy family's assets to establish the A-Laws, Louise had naturally requested Gundam-related information from the Earth Federation.
Ribbons couldn't possibly give Louise completely insignificant information, and the fact that one of the three Gundams that attacked the banquet had been captured by the military wasn't exactly a major secret anyway, so the name "Gali Bia" was still known.
Today, from Reid, Louise learned the name of her enemy and discovered that another target for revenge was still alive. At this moment, she genuinely thanked Reid.
Louise performed a solemn 90-degree bow and said, "Duke Isaac, thank you very much for the information you shared today. I finally know the name of my enemy. Thank you - I will definitely avenge my parents."
Reid never considered stopping Louise from seeking revenge. Those who haven't experienced others' suffering shouldn't preach about forgiveness. To hell with the cycle of vengeance - thinking that the cycle of revenge and killing cannot stop.
Reid understood perfectly well that if he had been capable back then, rather than being just a child, he would have hunted down and tortured to death every last one of those who killed his parents.
That's why Reid had always understood why Patrick Zala insisted on his death, and never said his actions were wrong.
It was simply: you want me dead, I don't want to die, so I have to kill you first. The logic was that straightforward.
After accepting Louise's gratitude, Reid let her leave first, scheduling another meeting to discuss her arm situation.
Then Reid continued leading his team toward Ribbons' room.
Upon arrival, even Ange remained outside this time, as Reid prepared to face Ribbons alone.
To put it bluntly, even if Ribbons had a gun, in a one-on-one situation, Reid believed he would definitely win.
Although Quasi-Innovators possessed physical capabilities far surpassing ordinary humans, they still couldn't compare to Reid. Plus, Ribbons couldn't read minds - at most he could use Veda to calculate Reid's movements.
So, after confirming only one psychic presence in the room and sensing relatively mild hostility, Reid simply opened the door without knocking.
Entering, Reid saw Ribbons sitting elegantly on a sofa with two glasses of red wine poured before him, saying:
"It's been four years, Mr. Reid. Would you care for a drink first?"
Seeing this, Reid smiled and approached Ribbons.
But upon getting close, Reid suddenly threw a lightning-fast punch to his face, sending both Ribbons and the sofa tumbling over.
Ribbons had anticipated various reactions from Reid - whether he'd observe formalities first or directly draw his gun, even considering the possibility of calling in Mobile Suit support.
But Ribbons never expected Reid would simply throw punches. He knows I can transfer bodies! What kind of barbarian is this?!
However, Reid had long decided that beating Ribbons up for catharsis was his priority for this meeting.
So what if beating him didn't solve problems? He just needed to vent his anger.
According to Taoist philosophy, if he didn't beat the crap out of him today, his Taoist heart would remain unsettled.
And Reid wasn't done with just one punch. After the unprepared Ribbons was knocked down, Reid immediately jumped up to stomp on him.
Ribbons mentally protested that he wasn't a masochist - if Reid wanted to fight, bring it on!
So Ribbons immediately entered Veda-enhanced state to calculate Reid's movements, barely dodging the stomp with an awkward roll.
However, when Reid failed to stomp him, he immediately followed up with a kick. As a Quasi-Innovator, his body could not yet surpass human physical limits, and Ribbons didn't know martial arts either, making it impossible for him to spring up like a roly-poly toy while rolling on the ground.
Ribbons had no choice but to cross his arms to block Reid's kick.
However, Reid's strength far exceeded Ribbons' expectations—he was directly kicked into the wall.
Seizing the advantage, Reid immediately pressed on with a series of serious punches.
Though Ribbons had Veda's assistance, his reactions were inferior, and the gap in strength was even greater. He could only be pinned against the wall and beaten relentlessly by Reid.
Throughout the entire process, Ribbons could barely block a few attacks, taking the full brunt of all the others.
By this point, however, Ribbons had realized that Reid wasn't trying to beat him to death. Instead, Reid's punches were almost exclusively aimed at his face, as if his goal was to turn him into a swollen mess.