"Who the hell shouted that?!" the pirate captain shouted, looking at Leon, who had already defeated two small ships and was approaching the medium one.
"Where the hell did the Baron get such a professional in his crew?" the pirate shouted, starting to bite his claws.
But suddenly, he seemed to calm down.
"There's still a chance," he said, smiling.
The pirate captain still thought there was a way to defeat Leon by throwing everything they had at him. But then, when Leon was near the king, he threw all his flashbang grenades at him.
At first, the pirates thought these were just regular grenades, until one of them exploded.
For everyone close to the explosion, blood started pouring from their ears and eyes, and they lost consciousness.
This way, Leon took out most of the crew on the ship, and the rest completely lost their will to fight, including the captain.
"To hell with it!" he said with a lost look on his face. "We can't do anything against this bastard."
Soon, he gave the order to surrender, which everyone followed.
Except for the crews of the smaller ships. They decided to flee, but they completely forgot that the Bartsfort fleet was approaching them, which eventually surrounded them. Seeing no way out, they also surrendered.
And they began to be arrested. All the soldiers looked at Leon with admiration. Thanks to him, they not only captured the pirate ships with their powered armor but also seized the treasures they had looted. According to the kingdom's laws, anything pirates have captured or looted automatically becomes yours after defeating them. There are some exceptions, but they are rare. The most important thing is that no one died, neither among the pirates nor among the Bartsfort militia.
Barcus was incredibly happy for these reasons, but what pleased him even more was that he would now have free labor in the form of pirates.
Once again, according to the kingdom's laws, pirates immediately become slaves for life after their capture. That's the price they pay for piracy.
Looking at everyone, he noticed how many of his people were happy and praising Leon. He remembered their reactions, and his own, at the start.
When they first approached the pirates, Barcus thought it would be impossible to avoid casualties. As he prepared, he noticed Leon flying out from another ship, quickly approaching the pirates.
"Is he crazy? Does he want to die?" the men started shouting.
He thought the same.
"Damn, I forgot! He's just a kid! He must have been too overconfident after being praised for his ability to control the armor at such a young age and acted impulsively, thinking he could handle it on his own."
"Damn you!" Barcus shouted, beginning to rise into the air to fly and retrieve the kid.
But he became a witness to how the child quickly dealt with the pirates. Not only did he overwhelm them, but he started suspecting something. Maybe this wasn't a child? Maybe this was a professional knight with an artifact capable of changing one's identity?
Watching Leon step out of the armor, Barcus decided to ask. Despite being grateful for the help, he decided not to fully trust Leon and began approaching him, step by step.
Finally, standing next to him, Leon watched Barcus with interest, waiting for his move.
And then Barcus opened his mouth:
"Who are you?"