Chapter 117 - Little Slave

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.

"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."