128: The objective has been achieved.

"But safety first, right...? If my safety and the safety of those around me are guaranteed, then aiming for capture or containment should be acceptable, shouldn't it?"

"Certainly. But is it feasible?"

"Hmm... that depends on whether the opponent chooses their worst possible move."

I take another look at the cargo ship loaded with explosives.

The reactor and the explosives in the cargo are likely directly connected.

Earlier I said we could trigger the explosives by channeling energy from the reactor, but it might work the other way around too—maybe they're just linked together in a straightforward manner.

Yeah, from the main view, it's impossible to tell.

"What exactly do you mean by 'last resort'?"

"It's designed so that remote detonation codes or self-destruct codes can't be sent from outside. That's it."

"Ahh, I see. So subduing it should be a breeze then."

And unfortunately, it's unclear whether it has any mechanism that accepts external commands.

Then again, given that the people who prepared this kind of device wouldn't likely neglect precautions for worst-case scenarios, it's only natural they'd have built in a self-destruct function for evidence destruction.

In principle, if the self-destruct was caused by a mod or if the external command itself was modded, I could interfere with it using my ink... but it would be pointless in cases involving chemical detonation or if only the command's acceleration was handled by the mod.

Still, having the opponent make such a blunder could be a reliable basis for securing the situation.

"Sata. How's the pilot doing? Please report what you can see."

"Pilot? Hmm... probably an adult human male. No signs of fear. So..."

"Meaning you don't know, then."

"Yeah. But whether it's genuine ignorance or just that you haven't been told makes a subtle difference."

"Either way, it's terrible. Facing explosive charges equivalent to that cargo ship's size, there's no way they'd survive—completely reduced to splinters."

The pilot appears to be moving calmly and steadily.

It would be better to use artificial humans equipped only with spaceship piloting skills and commands, rather than deceiving ordinary delivery workers into doing the job.

I won't say anything without concrete proof.

Moreover, the reason artificial humans are used is as follows.

Otherwise, it would seem suspicious if there were no pilot present at that point.

The reason we don't use autonomous navigation is that it can't perform illegal actions, like crashing into something.

Mechanical intelligence won't tolerate such crimes, and even ordinary AI is highly likely to be blocked by hacking.

Above all... biological beings are easier to silence, and there's limited information to be gleaned from their corpses.

That's why illicitly manufactured artificial humans are often used for such crimes.

The necessary knowledge is built into them from the start, so right after creation, they won't even resist—let alone speak back.

It's an unpleasant truth, to be sure.

"Freedom has been secured. If they make a move, don't hold back."

"Of course not."

Vilijanira placed a hand on her hair ornament, enabling me to access the power of my main body.

At the same time, I prepared to strike the moment the opponent chose to attack rather than retreat.

That was exactly eight hours after the race began.

"Wha—!?"

"Satā!"

"Sublight speed, engaged!"

The cargo ship shifted into sublight travel.

The course... is through the asteroid belt, on a trajectory straight into the heart of the leading group.

There's no sign of any public group capable of stopping the cargo ship, like police forces.

Then there's nothing left but for me to act.

"Hmph!"

My main body moves its arms.

With the first leg, I tear off the cargo ship's shield.

With the second leg, I destroy it, severing the cargo section from the cockpit section.

I slam my third and fourth legs together, destroying the cargo ship's thrusters.

With my fifth leg, I forcibly wrench the cockpit out of faster-than-light travel and back into normal navigation, while scattering my ink around the ship's perimeter.

Using my sixth and seventh legs, I erect a wall between the cargo section and the cockpit section.

My eighth leg was prepared in case of unexpected developments... but it seems unnecessary now.

"Did it work?"

"Yeah... but..."

The cargo section of the freighter exploded.

Exactly as expected—a massive, unprecedented blast. In a little while, the Vilijanila's sensors or eyes should be able to detect it from here.

Still, it wasn't strong enough to pierce my shield, so I'm unharmed.

"Guess he wasn't as easy as I thought."

Then, right after that, the cockpit section exploded as well. If my main body's eyes aren't deceiving me, the pilot had already gone into convulsions and died before the cockpit detonated.

Mission failure.

"Is that so... Sata, please keep the cockpit section as intact as possible. We can't afford to discard any possibility."

"Got it. If I'm covered in ink, I doubt anyone from a distance will notice me, so it should be fine."

"We reported it to the local police. We're saying our observation equipment picked up unusual readings."

"Thank you, Joharis."

Huh, I expected something like this, but still, they didn't give us any clear-cut evidence to work with.

Still, the incident was prevented before it happened, and we're not entirely without proof.

We'll need to think carefully about who to share the information with, but I'd like to believe there's been some progress.

"There's just something about moments like this that make me wish Memoqui were here."

"I agree. If Memoqui had been here, we could've taken Satu along with us and secured everything completely. It's a real pity we didn't."

"There's nothing we can do about something that isn't here. Besides, Lady Vee judged there were more important matters at hand, which is why she sent Memoqui away. There's nothing we can do about it now."

Now, what on earth is Memoqui doing right now?

From the standpoint of preventing information leaks, only Viridiana and Memoqui know what Memoqui is up to.

But given the situation we're in here... we'd really hope they're holding onto some critical information.