A long while later, Leonel had been escorted by Damian to the large ship in the distance. There, there was surprisingly another man waiting. What was surprising wasn't the fact that there was such a man, but rather that he was quite literally the only other member on board.
That was right, a ship of 200 meters in length, rivaling any luxury yacht, was accommodating just two men… How did this work, exactly?
'It can't be that Lieutenant Damian can use his ability to move such a large ship… right?'
Leonel felt his heart skip a beat. If this was true, it likely meant that it was easier for Damian to control water as opposed to earth. In that case, if the latter had any evil thoughts, even Leonel wouldn't be able to do much about it.
However, even after thinking to this point, Leonel remained calm. The reason was precisely his previous run-in with the octopus. He couldn't imagine what kind of powerful creatures were lying in wait in the depths of the ocean right now. Even in the 25th century, Earth still didn't know everything about its waters.
With the threat of him releasing his Force, Damian wouldn't likely dare to act rashly. Plus, Leonel believed that the lieutenant was being sincere. Leonel believed himself to be quite good at reading people, even his own best friend of over a decade couldn't fool him at a critical juncture, let alone Damian who he was especially cautious of.
"… I can't take it anymore!"
Damian's voice snapped Leonel out of his thoughts even as the fluid earth wrapped around the latter's wrist and ankles fell with a 'plop'.
The lieutenant's face paled, his arms falling and trembling to his side. It was only now that Leonel remembered that this guy probably had numerous fractures in his forearms. It was a wonder he had been able to keep up the act for long.
"What are you standing around for?! Hurry up and heal me! This kid is a little devil."
Damian had completely lost his noble air. He looked no different from a little boy complaining to his big brother, a sight that left Leonel rather speechless. He had always wanted a little sibling since he was an only child, but he felt like changing his mind after seeing this.
Leonel had only barely had this thought when he realized that the man Damian was speaking to actually resembled him quite a bit. Could they actually be brothers?
They were about the same height, had the same sandy tanned skin, and both had deep brown eyes.
After appeasing Damian, the second man walked forward and smiled amiably.
"I'm Vice Commander Joseph Warner, it's nice to meet you."
'Same last name? So they are indeed brothers…'
Leonel smiled in return. "Leonel Morales. What exactly is it that you two want me to do? I'd like to make something clear first. Though I'm alright with collaborating with Slayer Legion to take down Royal Blue Fort, I have yet to decide to join you all longterm."
Joseph raised an eyebrow and looked toward his younger brother. They had just gotten here, so he obviously hadn't had the opportunity to learn what Leonel's requests were.
Soon, he learned of everything and fell into pensive thought.
"… Taking down the Fort would indeed be a good opportunity. In addition, we might be able to recruit some fresh blood as well. I'm certain that there are many common folk who are unsatisfied with the Junior Governor Duke's actions."
"I was surprised." Leonel suddenly interjected. "I thought it would be harder to convince you two to attack the Fort. Why is it easier for you to agree to this in comparison to helping me remove this wrist watch?"
Joseph and Damian looked at each other and smiled.
"You're new to the Slayer Legion, but you've probably already seen that things aren't what they appear on the surface. Most of our public appearances are just facades. For now, we haven't truly formed up.
"Lieutenants and above have quite a bit of freedom at our current stage. You can almost consider us like ancient time generals who can take action without consulting with our king first. This gives us greater flexibility and better adaptability. Since this region is the territory we oversee, whether to attack the Fort or not is entirely up to us two brothers.
"However… the wrist watch is a special case. The secrets behind how to remove it are tightly guarded by the highest echelons of our Slayer Legion."
Leonel's lips curled. "Shouldn't you be giving me a speech about how noble your cause is and that you would stop at nothing to end the Empire's tyranny? Why are you so blatantly exposing that you're hoarding such important secrets to yourselves?"
Joseph laughed. "No one is so noble. While it's true that we don't agree with the paths the Empire has taken and do believe that we have the higher moral authority, we aren't angels either.
"Like all organizations, we need a hierarchy, we need incentives, we need our people to have goals to strive for. This is the only way."
Leonel quite appreciated Joseph's attitude. He had expected to find some cliche, die-hard rebels with tragic backstories that were worth the tears of all the women in the world, but what he actually found was much more real. Though these two brothers might still have faced some sort of tragedy in their past, at least for now, it wasn't important.
After thinking this far, Leonel nodded internally. The trouble with taking this watch off wasn't just how sturdy it was. Though the material was hard, there were many things that could still destroy it. The trouble was finding something that could destroy it without taking his hand and most likely his arm along with it. That was much more difficult.
"Alright, that's enough of that. My brother made the right decision, taking on the Fort is a good opportunity and will provide us with far more rewards than what scavenging these broken buildings can. But, we'll need to wait for the rest of our team to get back before we can start planning something like this."
"Rest of your team?" Leonel's brows raised with interest.
"Yes. They're the main force of my brother and I, they can be considered to be the true elites of our Division. But, right now they're training themselves in several Zones. Of course, we've already had a few clashes with the Fort over Zone entries as well."
Leonel couldn't help but be quite confused at these words. Did Sub-Dimensional Zones only appear on land? What about the vast ocean? Was there a need for them to fight over Zones on land if there was so much vast space on the ocean?
"It's about time we report in anyway. They should be back in a half a month to a month at most. After that, we'll have to go back to base and report our progress like we do every half year. You can take that opportunity to learn a bit more about us. We really are the best option for a fugitive like yourself."
Leonel inwardly chuckled. This was somehow both the best and worst pitch meeting imaginable. Ultimately, Joseph was right. He was nothing but a fugitive. Where else could he go if not to them?
"That said… In the meantime, you'll have to help us put on a little show."
Leonel had a bad feeling when he heard Damian's words and saw his evil smile. He looked like a man excited to finally get his revenge.
Damian took out a collar from who-knows-where. Leonel couldn't help but shiver when he saw arcs of electricity coursing through two small silver plates hidden on its inner lining.
"It can't be…" Leonel's jaw clenched.
"Don't run away little brat, you really made me suffer before." Damian's grin grew wider. "You just need to obediently act like a little slave for a small while."