Alain's Backup Plan

"Alain, before I begin my interrogation, I want to ask you one question: Is Little Red Riding Hood really that important, so important that other unrelated people are involved?" Adams solemnly addressed Alain before approaching the girl.

"Hmm," Alain paused briefly, then shrugged. "Let's put it this way, Little Red Riding Hood herself isn't important. What's important is that she's Unit-01. Although I erased most of the traces of use after it was completed, there's still a lot of residual information from my debugging process in her body."

Adams's eyes sharpened. "So, if other organizations with research capabilities get their hands on Little Red Riding Hood, they could potentially re-encode and reconstruct the various materials you used based on those traces, and recreate the android, right?"

"Ah, that's about it." Alain nodded without hesitation. "After all, it's something I use alone, and I don't have the time to encrypt those traces. Although it wouldn't matter if others got them, those traces represent my hard work, and I don't want the artificial human technology to fall into other people's hands before I get my naming rights and patent fees."

As mentioned before, Adams was very familiar with Alain and knew a great deal about his ways of doing things.

Alain is a mold maker made out of hobby. Like the Dark Shadow organization, he is just a pure businessman. Although he transports goods for various organizations, he does not manufacture or use those weapons himself. He is just a middleman, like a cross-border and cross-regional express delivery company. Even though he has great strength, he has no ambition and no idea of ruling or destroying the world.

Furthermore, although they claim to love peace, they will not yield an inch for their own interests, even at the cost of riots and war. So don't be fooled by Alain's words of indifference; who knows when he might pull out a submachine gun and start shooting...

Adams admitted that Alain was a genius. The android "Little Red Riding Hood" he saw had soft skin, flowing blood, and a body temperature similar to that of a normal person. If the Dark Shadow hadn't spoken up, no one would have thought she was an artificially created android, but would have started to wonder when the Dark Shadow had started the human trafficking business.

Alain enjoys making models, and his passion for model making even drives him to cross that forbidden territory. However, he only enjoys the process of making things, and doesn't have much of a desire to possess the things he makes. Even if he had the technology to create androids, he would only think about selling them as toys to fund his further development of his skills.

The Dark Shadow Hand possesses this technology, but will not use it for war. Other organizations and nations, however, may not. Any country that obtains android technology will strive to study it and find ways to use it in weapons and warfare to reduce the cost of war.

Ironically, this technology can only prevent chaos in the world when applied to "Dark Shadow," just as it did when "Quirk" first appeared in the world.

Adams shook his head, ceasing his thought. As a detective, he was accustomed to the ugliness of human nature. Although he despised Dark Shadow's act of providing weapons to criminals, he knew that if he didn't want the leakage of artificial human technology to plunge the world into chaos, helping Dark Shadow find the thief was the fastest way to solve the problem.

Therefore... all he had to do was pry open the mouth of this "fake Little Red Riding Hood" girl and get clues from her.

Thinking of this, Adams raised his head and said calmly, "So, you mean I absolutely have to help you find Little Red Riding Hood?"

"I appreciate your help, but you just need to do your best." Alain shook his head with a smile, adding, "After all, to solve this problem, you don't necessarily have to find her; you can also destroy her weapons, you know?"

Alain is indeed the highest commander of the Dark Shadow on this ship, but his expertise lies in model making, not in command ability. Compared to this famous detective, he pales in comparison. Having a world-class detective working for him for free saves him a lot of brainpower, which he is quite happy to do.

However, he wouldn't rely solely on this famous detective; if things became unmanageable, he wouldn't hesitate to bury the ship along with the android technology.

The ship is like a giant chessboard, with Alain and the organization that wants to steal android technology as the two sides playing the pieces. Alain can choose to win fair and square on the chessboard, but he also has another option: to completely overturn the entire chessboard.

Adams was surprised for a second upon hearing the word "destruction," but quickly guessed Alain's thoughts. He wanted to say something, but Alain preemptively silenced him. "Detective, according to my men in the bridge, the cruise ship's signal has been lost for almost twenty minutes. At the speed of the rescue team, they should arrive in less than an hour. Before that, if the thief hasn't been found, I will use our Dark Shadow methods."

Was he being threatened? The thought had barely crossed Adams' mind when he quickly dismissed it. No, he wasn't threatening him; he was simply stating his ultimate means.

Although there were enough lifeboats on board for everyone to escape, that was only if they had enough time to board. Alain wasn't the kind of person who would worry about the lives of other tourists. Even if the ship exploded and swept away nearby tourists, they wouldn't care, let alone if someone didn't get on a lifeboat.

With a giant whale wreaking havoc on the deck, a bomb lurking in the cabins, and a rescue team that could arrive at any moment, Adams was under immense pressure.

So, the only thing we can do is find the real Little Red Riding Hood as soon as possible...

Adams approached the girl, leaning on his cane and sat down on the sofa beside her. He looked at the "Little Red Riding Hood" whose eyes were shining and who was engrossed in the movie, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Because, from the perspectives of height, appearance, and skin luster, this girl is exactly the same as "Little Red Riding Hood," and even using Adams' Quirk, it is impossible to see any difference.

However, if I had to say something, it would be that their expressions are completely different.

Because it was Unit-01, "Little Red Riding Hood" had not been programmed with any artificial intelligence. She was incapable of making any moves without the help of others, a fact that Alain himself admitted.

But the girl in front of Adams, though tightly bound to the sofa, showed no signs of panic. Instead, she stared at the television with bright, sparkling eyes and an excited smile on her face.

Adams glanced at the television; Hannibal was in prison, talking to the blonde female agent through the bars, his words plain yet incredibly moving.

The girl's breathing matched the female agent's increasingly rapid breathing, growing ever more hurried. The blush on her face deepened, and although her body was bound, her legs began to rub together involuntarily.