Doll M-02

The handover of the Velvet Gang members to the Coast Guard was completed without issue.

Afterward, they will be interrogated and investigated by the Coast Guard, then brought to trial and punished accordingly.

The Coast Guard is a separate organization from the Space Navy, and the fact that the Velvet Gang was arrested by the free traders Shinosuke and others will be publicly announced through the Merchant Fleet Association. Even if the Space Navy officers are high-ranking, they won't be able to interfere easily with the Coast Guard's judicial proceedings.

They've ended up paying the price for using notorious space pirates.

Moreover, it appears that the patrol unit led by Lieutenant Commander Crouse, who accompanied the Coast Guard, was the one assigned to patrol the surrounding space domain under orders from Lieutenant Cruise of Intelligence Division.

"Originally, we were scheduled to conduct patrols in a different sector, but we were abruptly reassigned to patrol duties in this sector's exclusive economic zone following sudden instructions from Intelligence Division."

"It was an order from Intelligence Division, so I couldn't be told the details. I found it odd that, if it was just a patrol mission, another unit could have been assigned instead of switching us from our original task. Then, when we received a distress signal from Lieutenant Kasimura's ship and rushed to the scene, we ended up capturing the notorious space pirate Velvet—and now we're facing off against a vessel with no known affiliation. Honestly, I was completely shocked."

Although Lieutenant Cradle had become a proper patrol unit commander and Lieutenant Arnes the captain of the Corvette, after hearing the two's account, Shinnosuke understood the intention behind Lieutenant Serika Cruiser.

If Velvet had been captured by Shinnosuke, it was predictable that high-ranking military officials pursuing Cruiser would attempt to eliminate Shinnosuke—either to reclaim Velvet or silence him.

If Velvet—Shinnosuke's prized subcontractor—has been ambushed, there's no way they could entrust the matter to another external contractor.

In that case, they'd have no choice but to deploy a unit, yet they can't risk sending in a正规 unit for such a mission, leaving only their secret, in-house squad. Still, one can reasonably anticipate the methods that secret unit might use against Shinnosuke.

That's probably why Lieutenant Commander Cruise selected a trustworthy unit and dispatched them to this sector, aiming to justify the operation through intelligence gathering, secure evidence, and destabilize the opponent.

The unit chosen was the patrol squad led by Lieutenant Cradle and Lieutenant Arnes, former subordinates of Shinnosuke.

"Captain Cradle wouldn't bother planning something out of concern for me, so I was just used as intended in the end. Still, I faced Velvet knowing full well that was the case..."

For Shinnosuke, one of the worries weighing on him had been eliminated, but even that had been part of Captain Cradle's scheme all along.

Still, at least that was one matter settled.

As for Shinosuke's injury, medical treatment would be provided by a coast guard medic, and the Black Rose II embedded in Fubuki would be transported aboard a coast guard tugboat as evidence.

"What about this doll?"

Shinosuke was concerned about the doll that had attacked both Marks and himself.

Even though the doll is still lying on Fukubuki's bridge, I assumed it would also be treated as evidence—apparently not.

Apparently, all the coast guard needs is the doll's memory; the body itself is unnecessary.

"Normally, we'd prefer to overlook anything found aboard a pirate ship, but this is happening right before our eyes..."

Generally, ships captured by escort vessel crews become evidence, including their cargo; however, unless the amount of money or other items recovered by the escort vessel crew is blatantly excessive, such recoveries are often overlooked.

While not everything can be recovered—since some items are necessary for court proceedings or victim compensation—there's no need to prosecute deliberately if the amount recovered is merely sufficient to cover losses after selling the pirate vessel following the trial.

It is clear that naval escorts contribute to securing sea routes by eliminating pirates, making such incentives necessary; from the perspective of coastal defense forces and other judicial organizations, this is also considered a cost-effective measure when factoring in the necessary compensation.

That said, as the coastal defense commander rightly points out, they cannot simply carry out such actions right before their eyes.

Everything must be done out of the sight of the coastal defense force, with full awareness of the circumstances.

"We've verified the doll, and it's confirmed not to be a damaged item. We'll collect the memory unit from this doll, but you're free to do as you wish with the body itself. Since this is a high-performance model produced by Cosart Corporation, Model M-02, it would be a smart move either to repair and use it or sell it—either way, you'll come out ahead."

After recovering the doll's memory and leaving those words behind, the coast guard commander exited the bridge for other duties.

Left behind were Shinnosuke, Marks, Zany, and Lieutenant Cradle and his crew from the space force—though to Lieutenant Cradle and his team, the doll was entirely irrelevant.

"Zany, do you need this doll?"

Zany shook his head in response to Shinnosuke's question.

"I don't need it. If I bring back a doll like this, my wife'll scold me. Dag probably isn't interested either, and we don't need it. Shinnosuke, you take it then."

With that, Shinnosuke had no choice but to accept it.

Shinnosuke connected the terminal to the fallen doll and checked its basic information.

"M-02 model... Individual name: Madelia. Energy supply function and power system show abnormalities, but repair is possible.... Might be just perfect."

While Shinnosuke was lost in thought, Marks approached from behind.

"Master, you're not seriously abandoning me for that doll... Cheating isn't allowed, you know."

"Hey, Marks! Don't say something so gross and inappropriate!"

"Just kidding. You're supporting the Tsukikage operation, right? That's a solid idea."

"My jokes aren't funny. Besides, there's no need to memorize jokes like that."

"I'm learning and growing to increase my own value."

"That attitude is wrong! How about I actually swap you with Fuuhi, and put you in Tsukikage's place instead?"

It's impossible. Just like me, there's no way Seira or Milina would agree.

Ugh...

Shin nosuke couldn't find a rebuttal to Mark's confident words.