The Pirate Lord ended up bringing us to the place where the weapon was supposedly stored.
On the way, Ries had already searched through the files and found the code needed to activate the weapon so there was no need to worry about us not having it.
Incidentally, the only people following us were the Pirate Lord and that guy who guided us to him earlier. Matsumoto, if I remember correctly.
That reminds me...
"I think I just realised this... I still donât know your name," I pointed out, addressing the Pirate Lord.
He huffed, "And thereâs a reason why you donât know. It is intentional that people donât know my name."
"What? Are you shy or something?"
"There is just no reason for you to know. Names have power and I donât intend for anyone else to have power over me. If you have to call me, you can refer to me as âMy Lordâ."
"Yeah, I will not be doing that so no thanks."
"Has anyone ever told you that you have guts?"
"Well, you did just a few moments ago."
"Hmph..."
He didnât say anything after that and we reached the place that was supposed to store the weapon in question.
There was supposed to be a large industrial door here but the entire door had been blown apart, revealing several layers thick of metal plating stretching several feet deep.
It feels like this is the type of armour plating you would see on a Battleship instead... I guess he wasnât kidding about the security being several layers thick.
Incidentally, I had already noticed that there was some kind of track along the centre of the path that we had been walking through the entire time and that track led all the way past the blown up door.
"How did you even manage to blow this whole thing open?"
"With great determination," The Pirate Lord explained vaguely before turning to look at me.
Somehow, I could feel like he was smirking at me behind that helmet of his.
Whatever, itâs not like I need to know anyway... He probably got a really big bomb to blow it open judging by how the hole was caved inwards. Or does the hole cave outwards in an explosion? I dunno.
The door was already big enough for the Pirate Lord to step through so he led the way into what appears to be a hangar that was completely dark except for a single light shining on a specific object in the centre.
The only thing inside the hangar was... Eh? Is that a Gund-- Oh whoops, I mean an Exo-Knight.
It was a white coloured Exo-Knight and I finally realised the tracks were meant to transport the Exo-Knight as it led directly to its feet where two movable platforms were placed to support the Exo-Knight.
The Exo-Knight was sleek in design with relatively thin limbs and an angular body. In its right hand was what looked like a lance that was almost as big as the entire Exo-Knight itself.
The Pirate Lord was already really big but even he barely reached the Exo-Knightâs shin in height, that was how big the difference in size was.
I heard a soft gasp coming from behind and I knew Ries was absolutely geeking over the Exo-Knight right now but she was doing her best to keep herself silent in the presence of these two pirates.
"This is the weapon youâre talking about?" I asked, pointing at the giant Mech in front of us. "That thing is an Exo-Knight."
"Exo-Knights are weapons arenât they? I didnât lie."
"Right... I suppose youâre going to pilot that thing?"
He huffed before jerking his thumb behind him, "Donât be ridiculous, Matsumoto will be the one piloting it."
"Uh huh... And I suppose the way to use it is to stick that lance into the Leviathan or something?"
"Thatâs what itâs for, yes."
"And that is enough to kill it? Have you seen the size of a Leviathan? Thatâs basically a toothpick to those things!"
"Iâm not the one who made it. But it was designed to kill Leviathans so who am I to question it?"
I gave him a skeptical look, "Are you even sure it works?"
"No, but what other choices do we have? Lure another Leviathan to it and make them fight each other?"
I rolled my eyes, aware that he was just making a jab at my plan so I chose not to respond to that.
He then gestured at the Exo-Knight, "Well go ahead then. Weâre waiting for you."
I turned back to Ries and nodded at her, my Maochatte returning my nod with one of her own before she approached the console located near the left foot of the giant machine.
Using the console, she inputted the code that she had found and the whole room suddenly lit up.
Mechanical arms then dropped down from the ceiling and I raised my weapons only to realise that they were simply outfitting the Exo-Knight.
Armour plating was attached to the limbs and some kind of jetpack was lowered to attach itself on the Exo-Knightâs back. More stuff popped out of the ceiling and I realised that four more of the lance it was currently holding in its hand were attached to the Exo-Knightâs back.
Cables were then connected to various locations around the Exo-Knight and I figured that they were most likely preparing the charging process for the Exo-Knight.
I turned to the Pirate Lord, "So what now? Are you just going to tell your guy to hop in and fly off to kill that Leviathan?"
He didnât answer me immediately as he stared at the Exo-Knight as though deep in thought before he finally turned to me.
"Change of plans..."
I clenched my fists, ready to shoot him the moment he says something like heâll kill us or something.
Unexpectedly, he didnât do that but instead jerked his chin at me, "Letâs try out your plan first. Weâll go and lure the Leviathan you mentioned before here and let them fight it out. Then weâll just go ahead and kill the victor as well."
I frowned at him, "Didnât you think that was a dumb idea?"
"I changed my mind, is there something wrong with that?"
Something tells me he was expecting something else to happen after we activated the Exo-Knight which was what made him change his mind.
Maybe he was expecting an even bigger weapon to be attached that actually disproves the lance theory?
"Were you expecting something else to happen?"
"Hmph... It doesnât matter. Letâs go find that Leviathan of yours and then lure it here. Once they start fighting, all of my crew will hang back and wait until itâs done before we move in to finish off whoever remains."
I spun to him, "Wait, wait, wait... What do you mean âletâsâ?"
He turned to face me while tilting his head slightly, "What? Of course Iâll be going with you? How would I know if you arenât going to just run off and leave us waiting here like idiots? And since I donât trust anyone else to be able to do this properly in my crew and Matsumoto will be piloting the Exo-Knight, obviously I have to go with you!"
I looked at him up and down before crossing my arms, "You really think weâre going to be fine with letting some pirates on my ship? How would I know you arenât going to just take over my ship with whoever you bring with you while youâre at it?"
"Hmph! You need not worry about that. I will be going on your ship by myself and bring no one else with me. That should be enough for you, right?"
The Matsumoto guy immediately turned back with a panicked look on his face, "My Lord?!"
The Pirate Lord raised his palm to stop him, "It is fine, Matsumoto. I have already decided. You will be in charge of the crew while Iâm away and prepare everyone for the assault on the Leviathan."
"But... My Lord... You would be putting yourself at risk! What if they decide to just kill you or even turn you in the moment they fly out of here?"
"Hahaha! Try if they dare then! Iâll make sure their entire ship goes down with me!"
"My Lord... I must object to this. Let me go instead!"
"Ha? You think Iâm some helpless maiden or something, Matsumoto? Is that what youâre saying?"
"N... No... Not at all, my Lord..."
The Pirate Lord waved his hand at his subordinate, "Besides, youâre the only one here that can pilot that Exo-Knight. What are you going to do when the Leviathan is chasing after you? Fly back here to the planet to suit up hoping the Leviathan will just wait there patiently for you? No. Iâm going and youâre staying here to get everyone into position, thatâs final."
The other pirate hesitated but eventually gave in and bowed his head, "As you wish, my Lord. I will pray for your safety."
"Pray for yours, youâre the one who will be piloting that to stick it into the Leviathan."
"Yes, my Lord."
Somehow, I feel like Iâm watching some kind of soap drama right now...
Are you guys even pirates?