Hurry, Pirate Killer!

"Ceberus is exploding! No, Shinnosuke-san! Marks-san! I don't want to—!"

Saila, witnessing Ceberus's final moments, is on the verge of losing her mind.

"Sera! Stay focused. It's alright—shuttle is detaching!"

Encouraged by Milina, she looks back at the monitor and sees the shuttle emerging from among the glowing, vanishing fragments of Ceberus.

"Ahh..."

It appears the shuttle sustained damage during evacuation, as it's approaching straight ahead, emitting a distress signal.

『Emergency call. This is the shuttle from the escort vessel Cerberus. There are critically injured personnel aboard, currently unconscious. Immediate medical treatment is urgently required. Repeating...』

"Wait, critically injured? Who is it?"

"The voice on the communication is Mr. Marks, so it has to be Shinosuke!"

Seila admonishes the confused Milena.

They don't have time for that! We need to secure the shuttle and head toward the colony quickly!

Just as Ira tried to accelerate the ship further, Doug cut in front of her.

"Aila, wait. I've just called Zanny. Zanny's Pirate Killer is faster. I'll handle the shuttle here."

Aila's A884 was indeed a fast ship, but it couldn't compare to Zanny's Pirate Killer.

Even if she called the Pirate Killer, she'd still reach the colony far sooner.

"Understood. I'll leave it to you. We'll head to the colony ahead of you."

Aila halted the shuttle's docking procedure, turned the ship around, and set course for the Solius Stellar District Central Colony.

Zany's Pirate Killer, which had just launched from Dag's shield ship with Shinosuke onboard, immediately accelerated toward the Salius Stellar District's central colony.

I'm going to blast off at top speed! Marks, keep a close eye on Shinosuke!

Understood.

Zany's Pirate Killer, with limited space inside, had Shinosuke's stretcher placed in a corner of the bridge, where Marks kept a close watch on him.

Zany was pushing the Pirate Killer to its maximum speed, fully focused on piloting, and didn't even glance back at Shinosuke.

The Pirate Killer, pushed to its limits, overtook the A884 ahead of it within the Salius Stellar District's controlled airspace.

"Port Authority, this is the Pirate Killer. We're currently transporting a critically injured person. Immediate medical facility admission is required. Request urgent docking permission."

"Port Authority acknowledges. The Second Sector Medical Center has prepared for reception per request from the Merchant Fleet Association. Please dock at Second Sector Dock 8. Emergency medical personnel are on standby."

Understood. Initiating docking... However, the medical center in Sector Two? The union really went out of their way. Shinosuke, don’t lose focus on the treatment costs.

Zanny’s Pirate Killer plunged into the dock.

Upon arriving at the colony, Shinosuke was immediately transported to the medical center, unconscious.

Had Zanny’s Pirate Killer arrived just a little later, Shinosuke might have lost his life from the severity of his injuries, but thanks to current medical technology, he should now be perfectly safe.

Even so, Shinosuke remains in a serious condition.

When Cerberus sank, Shinosuke was caught in a small explosion aboard the vessel, sustaining severe injuries to his face and upper body. Struggling to stay conscious, he crawled toward the shuttle when Markes rescued him.

By the time the shuttle was secured, he had already lost consciousness. His burned and mangled face was pierced with fragments of glass monitors and glasses, and his left eye was completely crushed.

Shin nosuke, in such a condition, was immediately taken to the medical room and treatment began. However, the first to arrive at the medical center was Lina, the representative from the Free Merchant Fleet assigned to Shin nosuke. About two hours later, Seira and Miliena, who had just returned, also arrived.

"Miss Lina, how is Shin nosuke?"

Miliena called out to Lina, who was sitting on the bench just in front of the treatment room, her head bowed.

Lina raised her face, her eyes weary and filled with tears.

"Ah, Miliena-san, Seira-chan, you've both worked hard... It was quite a difficult ordeal, wasn't it?"

Still maintaining composure, Lina praised the two union staff members who had safely returned.

"Rather than us, what about Shin Nosuke?"

Pressed by Seira, Lina quietly nodded.

"Shin Nosuke is in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment, but he'll be fine—there's no danger to his life."

"Thank goodness..."

Seira and Milena relaxed for only a brief moment before their faces turned pale at Lina's next words.

"However, Shin Nosuke's injuries are severe—he has third-degree burns and lacerations on his right side, a fracture in his right arm, and has lost his left eye..."

"W-what? So Shin Nosuke is going blind?"

"He's blind, but technically, it's because his left eyeball ruptured. They say it'll still take a long time for treatments like burn skin grafts and fitting a prosthetic eye, and after that, he'll need to stay in a sterile room, so visits won't be possible for a while."

As she explained, Lina bowed her head again.

Meanwhile, Miliena glanced around.

"Markus-san isn't here. Is Markus-san alright?"

"Markus-san said he had to leave urgently on urgent business, saying he'd be taking my place. He's supposed to report to the union tomorrow, so I think he must have gone to Psychoj Industries... Oh, right, Markus-san asked me to hold onto this for him."

As Lina said this, she took a photo frame from her bag and handed it to Seyra.

"This is... mine..."

"Shin nosuke brought it out from inside the ship," she replied.

The photo frame handed to her showed Seyra and her late parents, and the frame itself bore not a single scratch.

It was a record of Seyra's memories, kept in her room all along.

"Impossible... Shin Nosuke got seriously injured just to retrieve this? Then Shin Nosuke is a fool... uuu... waaahh... How could Shin Nosuke be such a fool over something like this!"

Ciel clutched the photo frame to her chest and began to cry, sinking to her knees.

It had been ages since she last cried out loud—since the moment she had made a solitary vow before riding atop Cerberus, after losing both her parents.