Hikaru gave California's braided hair a firm rub—his way of punishing her for getting carried away. Then he patted Tirpitz's waist and had her hold onto him as they both jumped into the steel whale's mouth.
Seeing Hikaru brought up by Tirpitz, Yamato immediately pressed, "Where are the resources? A load that size—where did it all go? Steel whales never run on empty."
She was right. Even the smallest steel whale would at least carry enough to supply itself. But this one was completely clean.
Luckily, Hikaru already had an excuse prepared. He gave a couple of fake coughs and launched into a story about how the whale had been pounded so hard it started bubbling, and how the ocean current swept all the supplies away.
Yamato gave a cold laugh. The whale looked almost pristine from the outside—even the toys and manga inside were spotless. A creature that could dive into deep-sea trenches wouldn't just vomit out all its cargo from a single hit, and conveniently only lose the resources? Who did he think he was fooling?
Still, she didn't press the issue. "Tell me where you found it."
Lexington answered, "Thirty degrees northeast of Island B34, about 230 nautical miles out."
Islands prefixed with "A" were within 300 nautical miles of shore—part of the Blue Sea zone. "B" islands sat between 300 and 1000 nautical miles. Yamato recalled B34's location, and her expression turned grave.
"It probably came in from the East Sea," she muttered, pacing. "This whale and everything inside it are now classified strategic materials. Everything goes to Naval Command."
Hikaru rubbed his hands together. "What about the rewards?"
Yamato nearly laughed from exasperation. "You're still thinking about rewards right now?"
He responded confidently, "This is a thirty-meter-long steel whale. The recovered resources alone are worth a fortune. Please don't take advantage of an honest man like me."
"You've said enough. Don't think no one noticed you skimming the transport ship's loot. People just didn't want to argue with you."
Hikaru snorted. "Want the resources I recovered? Then go fish them out yourself. I left them all out at sea."
Tirpitz's eyes lit up and joined in.
"Whoever finds those treasures gets to become King of the Pirates. Plus, they'll receive a rare signed autograph from Captain Pirate Cat-sensei."
Yamato was starting to get a headache. She raised both hands. "Forget the money and the supplies—we won't press charges over what you took. Either way, you're getting first-class commendation."
Tirpitz's eyes went wide. "Why would you decide whether we get to keep what we found?"
Hikaru quickly pulled her back and scolded, "Don't say nonsense. We didn't recover anything. Not a thing."
"You just said you did—" Tirpitz protested.
"It was an illusion. All of it."
Yamato wasn't in the mood to joke around with these two. Fortunately, she could count on Lexington. After a brief discussion with her, Yamato jumped down from the whale's mouth and began rallying personnel to organize follow-up tasks.
…
It wasn't until after 10 p.m. that Hikaru and the others finally made it home.
Due to the seriousness of the situation—and since he was directly involved in the incident that earned a first-class commendation—Hikaru had been required to stay at the site in case he was needed for questioning. Naturally, the girls stayed with him. Several waves of personnel from the military, government, and Naval Command came and went, eating up most of the evening.
If Tirpitz hadn't slammed the table, Hikaru might still be stuck there.
Faint sounds of an anime echoed from the living room. When Hikaru opened the door, he saw Elizabeth sitting on the couch with Glowworm curled up beside her, both totally absorbed in an episode of Fleet Girls Assemble!.
When they noticed Hikaru return, Elizabeth hurriedly shut off the projector and gently moved Glowworm aside. "You're back so late—what happened?"
Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Don't bother pretending. I know you love anime. Our eternally youthful Queen."
"That's nonsense!" Elizabeth's face turned crimson. "I was only watching to keep Glowworm company!"
Glowworm had already leapt into Hikaru's lap, looking up at him. "Commander, Elizabeth even stole my fish snacks. She's such a grumpy idiot tsundere, right?"
Hikaru stroked Glowworm's hair and scooped her into his arms. Then he turned to Elizabeth. "You need to head back. There might be a war coming."
Elizabeth froze.
"W–war?"
(End of Chapter)
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