"Hey! Kohana! Where did you run off to!?" UMP40 grumbled with some concern as she grabbed the civet cat that had snuck in, but then she smelled the motor oil coming from the civet cat.
"Really, where on earth did you go to rub all that oil on you! I thought I told you not to run around the ship! It's a good thing the commander closed the quarantine door earlier; otherwise, what if you ran into the cargo hold and got hurt while in the polluted area!"
UMP40, who was holding up the civet cat, shook her head helplessly.
It was clear that she had given the little guy a bath only a few hours ago, and now it looked like she was going to have to do it all over again.
"UMP40, is it still possible to keep cats on Commander Renault's ship?"
"Hey? Why do you ask that? Is there anything wrong with keeping cats?" UMP40 sniffed and looked at the inquiring Stg-44 beside her, noticing the other party's look of wanting to pet Kohana but worrying that the stains on Kohana's body would rub off on her sleeve.
"No, it's not that. It's just that when I was in Griffin before, the managers and the commanders over there didn't allow it. I thought all the commanders didn't allow it..."
She did ask some of the other dolls under the commanders, but the answers she got were mostly the same.
Although the salary of a doll was more than enough to cover the expenses of raising a pet, raising a pet in one of Griffin's bases was not a simple matter. Some bases that had incubation rooms were fine, and pets could be raised in them.
But if not, those dolls need to make sure that those little animals will not run around freely. The dolls cannot stay in the base every day and not go out. Unlike dolls, pets cannot be hidden, just managing them is a headache.
Stg-44 also did not expect that on Renault's large airship, the management requirements would be more stringent than those at the Griffin base on the ground. But surprisingly, Renault seems to have no restrictions at all for pets.
"Well, Commander Renault did not say anything about this aspect, but I do think that the commander must also like these little guys. After all, there are a lot of places where the commander has deliberately left cat holes."
"Like, huh?"
Looking at the little guy in UMP40's hand, Stg-44 couldn't help but fall into deep thought, somewhat expectantly imagining what kind of pet she would have in the future.
Type 80 from before, as well as PK and the others, had now all spread out, each going off to do what they wanted to do. But most of them were still like Stg-44, finding a doll that they felt good about talking to, and inquiring more about Renault and this ship.
Of course, there were those who didn't find anyone to ask, like M500 and Super-Shorty, who were currently on their 'adventure' together.
"M500, this ship is really too big. Is it not good for us to just wander around like this, right?"
Super-Shorty asked somewhat worriedly towards M500, who was walking ahead.
"Hey? Can't we? Didn't Commander Renault say earlier that we could move around freely on the ship?" M500 didn't doubt the truthfulness of Renault's words at all.
Since Renault had already said that, it shouldn't be a problem for her to casually turn around, right?
And...
"That said, but we've only just come to Commander Renault's side. It's better to be a little more careful. Let's hurry back now. We haven't finished cleaning up the dormitory side yet."
Super-Shorty tugged on the hem of M500's jacket and turned her head to look around.
As a result, she tilted her head in confusion.
Just now, she was focusing on persuading M500, and she didn't even notice where she had walked to.
Now, when she looked, no matter whether it was in front of her, behind her, or in the direction of the left or right, all of them were unfamiliar halls.
"M500, did we come from over there?"
"Eh, actually, I don't know. I just wanted to say... Uhhh, do you recognize the way back?"
Hearing M500's words, the two immediately froze in place wide-eyed.
The big grinning M500 didn't think to look up at all, and Super-Shorty, whose height wasn't high at all, didn't even think to get up and tilt her head...
They completely ignored the road signs posted on the high ground...
The surrounding area wasn't empty, though. At the very least, there was a Ripper with a vacuum cleaner standing around the corner not far away, seemingly talking to someone else about something.
"Nah, Super-Shorty, how about we go ask that Ripper?"
"Hey? But..."
Although Renault had already repeatedly declared that the Rippers in the airship were all their companions, they were still skeptical about the Sangvis Ferri dolls, after all they just fought them days ago.
Now, they found that these Rippers, which would have killed them one by one, were just cleaning the corridors as if they were ordinary cleaner dolls...
It is not something that can be easily accepted in a moment...
"There's nothing else to do now! I'm going!" M500 slapped her cheeks to ease her nerves and bravely walked towards the Ripper over there.
But just as she got closer, she heard a rather familiar voice.
"Hmmmmm, is it okay to just make routine rounds once a day? I'll peek at the supplies and then do the cleanup afterward, hmmmmm!"
"But this side of the ground floor is alright. After all, not many people usually come over. The most headache-inducing part is the farm side, which needs to be cleaned frequently every day. Occasionally, you can still encounter a situation where the animals inside rush out!"
The Ripper raised a finger towards the doll in front of her and said, this could be all from her experience.
Hearing the voice, M500 curiously poked out half of her body from the corner, and then glanced at the doll that was discussing the problems of cleaning work with the Ripper.
"M1897!!! What are you doing here! Oh, great!"
"Welp! Ah!"
When M500 suddenly shouted, both the Ripper and M1897 were startled and almost jumped up from the ground.
"M500, why are you here?" After coming back to her senses, M1897 also frowned in dissatisfaction. This girl almost scared her to the death!
The Ripper also glared at her with some annoyance after seeing that it was M500, who had just scared her so much that she almost swung the vacuum cleaner in her hand as a weapon!
"Hey, hey, sorry! Sorry! This, Super-Shorty and I are a little lost, could you point us in the right direction?" Seeing that both of them were glaring angrily at her, M500 hurriedly clasped her palms and apologized.
"Lost? How could you get lost? Isn't there a road sign up here?"
Upon hearing this, M1897 and the Ripper exchanged a glance, and then raised their fingers to point to a position a little higher up on the wall of the passageway.
A clear signpost, '1F Power Zone', next to it were signposts pointing to other areas and elevators.
"Eh... ah this..."
The duo who saw the road sign, scratched their heads awkwardly.
"Let's go. It just so happens that this side has already been checked. The elevator is over there; let me take you there." The Ripper also waved her hand and said so, intending to lead several people to the nearest elevator.
"Huh? Why is there a bunch of cat paw prints here? It clearly wasn't here just now."