Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 244 - 243 Pirate

Chapter 244: Chapter 243 Pirate

The sea’s high waves, hurricanes, lightning, monsters, and pirates can all threaten the safety of a merchant ship—a merchant ship’s disappearance isn’t worth much attention.

Weeks and half-months go by, one merchant ship after another vanishes, particularly with survivors jumping overboard to escape, reaching Watchtower Port to recount the terror of pirates. Finally, people began to realize that pirates had reemerged on the once-quiet Flash Sea.

If it weren’t for that Undead Admiral voluntarily visiting the Volcanic Island, Leon wouldn’t care about pirates at all. As long as they didn’t provoke him personally, he’d remain indifferent about those pirates looting merchant ships—after all, his philosophy of life has always been to mind his own business and stay above the fray.

As the ruler of Watchtower Port, Leon gradually realized that peace on the Flash Sea was crucial—Gold Shore Chamber of Commerce only wants to make money, even the Red Dragon. Once he exhibited order, they were happy to partner with him for business—he began to demand those pirates behave themselves on the Flash Sea, especially when facing merchant ships heading to and from Watchtower Port.

Of course, Leon also understood the importance of leaving people a way out—otherwise, desperate pirates might rebel and do anything. He only required pirates to restrain themselves on the Flash Sea, while turning a blind eye to their antics elsewhere. He even allowed pirate ships to enter Watchtower Port to trade, as long as they followed the rules he set.

"I remember I said it before: they’re not allowed to run rampant on the Flash Sea; this is my turf." Leon sat on a seaside rock, fishing. "They’ve been well-behaved for years; why did they suddenly act out?"

The man with glasses was the steward of the Gold Shore Chamber of Commerce and had informed Leon about the reappearance of pirates on the Flash Sea. Naturally, his intention was to have Leon handle the issue; otherwise, why negotiate so many trade benefits? He said, "We don’t know either."

Leon lifted his fishing rod and looked—it clearly had bait attached, but he couldn’t figure out why no fish were biting. Releasing the rod again, he ignored it and asked, "Don’t you have spies in Moon Bay?"

"We’ve sent spies several times, but they all disappeared without a trace and haven’t sent more since then." The steward paused. "All we can do is bribe pirates, but that kind of information tends to lag behind reality."

Leon nodded noncommittally and said, "Give me all the intelligence you have on Moon Bay."

Fortunately, Leon recently received compensation from the elves, so he wasn’t as petty about money anymore. If this had been back when he first transformed the Volcanic Island into prime real estate and was penniless, he might have already rushed to Moon Bay demanding answers.

Even so, compared to the elves merely hesitating over trade, the pirates’ rampant activity on the Flash Sea directly impacted regular commerce at Watchtower Port—affecting tax collection and significantly reducing Leon’s income. As the saying goes, cutting off someone’s financial lifeline is akin to murdering their parents, so expecting Leon to remain calm was out of the question.

After obtaining the intelligence provided by the steward of the Gold Shore Chamber of Commerce, Leon thought about how the Efreeti had returned to the Lost Plateau to grow its influence, Cecilia was busy managing elf affairs, Tassera was holed up in her Mage Tower researching spells, Fiora didn’t reside on Volcanic Island and had disappeared who-knows-where, and his young sister was unreliable. Leon decided he’d take matters into his own hands.

Leon resumed his Dragon Form, kicked off with his legs, flapped his wings, and in an instant flew far away.

Leon didn’t yet sense this was some significant predicament, guessing it was just some clueless pirate who didn’t understand the Flash Sea’s rules.

He didn’t bother addressing the offending pirate ships, choosing instead to head straight for Moon Bay to find the pirate leaders and demand they keep their subordinates in line—or else face his wrath.

Having just flown off Volcanic Island toward the open sea, Leon quickly encountered a problem: although he knew Moon Bay had a Pirate City, knew it was south of Watchtower Port, and even knew the coordinates, pinpointing the precise direction was difficult. A tiny deviation in direction could lead to colossal mistakes—and he couldn’t rely on visual observation alone to determine latitude and longitude.

Not only did he lack a sextant, even if he had one, he wouldn’t know how to measure the angle between the sun or other celestial bodies and the horizon at a particular time to quickly ascertain his coordinates.

Leon certainly wasn’t about to turn back simply because of this. Looking up at the sky, he decided to ascend to a height of ten thousand meters. Flying at such high altitude could theoretically provide a wide field of vision, capable of seeing hundreds of kilometers away, though in practice this was influenced by factors such as cloud cover and fog.

Flapping his wings only enabled him to ascend at an angle rather slowly. Leon opted for Gathering Form and Scattering Energy, which allowed him to launch straight upward as he traveled toward the sky. Before the duration expired, he reached ten thousand meters in altitude.

From this lofty perch, Leon gazed down at the ocean but didn’t see any crescent-shaped islands. What he did notice, however, was numerous ships sailing—he needed to look closely to discern whether they were ships or sea monsters before deciding to find one vessel to lead him.

Leon casually picked a ship to approach. As he drew closer, he discovered it was a cannon-powered vessel, flying a pirate flag—undeniably a pirate ship.

The lookout on the pirate ship busied himself scanning the surroundings, neglecting to check overhead, which gave Leon his opportunity... Of course, for Leon, whether the pirate ship gave him an opportunity or not didn’t matter. It wouldn’t stand a chance against him—its speed of a dozen knots wouldn’t help it escape, unless it could submerge underwater.

In short order, Leon swooped down toward the pirate ship, rapidly closing the distance. The vessel turned out to be sizable, equipped with dozens of cannons, measuring over thirty meters in length and about seven or eight meters wide.

Given these dimensions, though Leon’s total length exceeded twenty meters, subtract his long neck and tail, his main body was only about seven meters long. With some care, landing on the pirate ship wouldn’t pose any issues—aside from possibly damaging the sails or accidentally squashing a few crew members.

"I said there would be no looting allowed on the Flash Sea," Leon growled at the pirate captain standing on the deck, roaring uninhibitedly as he activated his terrifying presence.

Apart from the pirate captain, whom Leon had questions for, he spared this man and intensified his aura. Every other individual aboard the pirate ship fell into a state of absolute fear, completely incapacitated.

The pirate captain looked around in confusion, seeing his entire crew "collapse." He recalled Moon Bay rumors about the Red Dragon of Watchtower Port mercilessly being all talk, supposedly capable of being taken down with a single cannon blast or fired upon in unison with muskets... Who was the idiot spreading nonsense, claiming that the Red Dragon was so feeble?

The pirate captain wasn’t weak—not even the Marid was confident facing him one-on-one. Precisely for this reason, he distinctly saw this Red Dragon’s sheer might. What kind of Red Dragon could make his entire crew lose their fighting spirit with just one roar?

Trembling uncontrollably, the pirate captain stammered, "Re—Red Dragon... sir."

"You don’t recognize me?" Leon leaned closer toward the pirate captain.

"Le—Leon, sir... Honorable Leon, sir..." The pirate captain swallowed hard.

"Since you recognize me, surely you know my rules." Leon slightly opened his mouth, revealing sharp white teeth.

"I—I know of your rules, Lord Leon. I wasn’t here to loot on the Flash Sea; I came to Watchtower Port for business." The pirate captain tried his best to explain.

"Your ship is so empty—even with me standing on it, it doesn’t sink... You claim you’re headed to Watchtower Port for business. Would you believe that yourself?" Leon extended a claw near the pirate captain and exhaled onto him. "Lying, deceiving your superior—these crimes only worsen your offense."

Speechlessness overtook the pirate captain.

"Kneel!" Leon suddenly commanded.

The pirate captain’s knees buckled, and he kneeled without dignity.

"Why have you been striking merchant ships on the Flash Sea after years of obedience?" Leon sought to uncover the situation.

The pirate captain gazed at the ferocious Red Dragon’s head, mere inches away, hesitating to speak.

He dared not mention Moon Bay gossip, which claimed the Red Dragon had been shot down from the skies by the Elf General’s arrow—rumors that painted the fiercest Red Dragon as a fraud all along. Wild tales spread, depicting failed pursuits on the Lost Plateau and suggesting Leon had been driven out—otherwise, why would a Red Dragon abandon its mountain terrain for the seaside...

"We came because we were ordered from above," the pirate captain decided to tell a lie. Lying to the Red Dragon risked death; but telling the truth surely guaranteed it—so he gambled on dishonesty.

Leon noticed the pirate captain’s deceit, twitched his ear, and chose not to dwell on it. He just felt an impulse at that moment, shaking his head and reverting to his human form. He declared, "Starting now, I’m the captain, and you’re the first mate. Assist me."

Who hasn’t dreamed of being a pirate?

Leon, too, had once nurtured a pirate dream. Now, he played the role of pirate captain with great interest. Casually taking the captain’s hat off the pirate captain’s head, he hesitated upon seeing it was dirty. "Hand me that cutlass and the gun," he ordered.

Though Leon disdained wearing the pirate captain’s unclean hat, he had no qualms about wielding his weapons. With a swing of the armaments, he shouted, "Everyone follow my orders! Destination: Moon Bay—set sail... Uh, hey, how do you work this helm?"

For three days, Leon served as pirate captain, experiencing three days in a pirate’s life. The experience dispelled many of the misconceptions he previously held toward piracy.

It turned out pirates didn’t particularly enjoy conflict and violence—if anything, they longed for peace. Ideally, merchant ships would raise their pirate flags and surrender willingly, as violence was merely a pirate’s survival tool. Such behavior often incurred exceedingly high costs.

Sailor life was never easy—ocean conditions could change in an instant. Even capable personnel with proper rotation schedules had little time to rest. Storms mid-journey were particularly demanding—sailors could be roused from sleep, forced bare-foot onto the deck to pull ropes, only to be swept away by waves or crushed under falling rigging.

"Up ahead is Moon Bay," said the pirate-turned-first mate, diligently serving Leon, with no complaints whatsoever. As for betraying his kind by leading a Red Dragon into Moon Bay? Expecting pirates to have moral integrity might be naive, wouldn’t it?

"Finally." Leon stretched his arms while standing on the deck, contemplating whether to revert to Dragon Form and charge straight toward Pirate City.