| 029 | The Fallen One, Laplace

In the fortified vault imbued with various runic enchantments and secured with several chains, a gorgeous white-haired lady lay shackled at its center. Quite contrasting appearance from the monster-like imprisonment.

When the fortified vault doors slowly unfolded and opened itself to the outside world. The white-haired lady slowly opened his eyes and saw the one that imprisoned her along with many others.

She noticed the unbridled fear in the captain's eyes, making her slightly chuckle at his unfortunate circumstance.

On the other hand, Abraham was in a daze as though he had seen something profound, which wasn't far from the truth for the middle-aged man.

A stunning white-haired lady with demon-like black horns and a dark lizard tail was a check in the list of things he found attractive.

Though, Abraham controlled himself and didn't reveal much from his expression. It would be damned if the other side thought of him as a weirdo.

"My, my… Crassus. You lost your life." An exquisite voice escaped her supple lips while the captain trembled in horror. 

Abraham noticed the reaction of Crassus and wondered what the captain feared so much from the white-haired lady in front of them.

"It looks like you already knew what happened to the ship." The Fleet Admiral remarked and the beautiful white-haired lady raised an eyebrow before returning to look at him with interest.

"So, you understand our languages. Here I thought, I will be handling another annoying language barrier." She lightly chuckled as if not bothered by her situation.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Fleet Admiral Abraham Shepherd of the United Navy." As per etiquette, Abraham introduced himself to the imprisoned one.

The gorgeous white-haired demoness merely gazed at the Fleet Admiral, seemingly stupefied. However, she hid it quickly for a second.

"I am honestly dumbfounded, a human actually respectfully introduced himself to a beastfolk. Is the sun rising from the west?" The white-haired lady playfully commented.

"Apologies, but the sun is sadly rising from the west." Abraham gave an amusing smile to the lady, while the Marines glanced at the Fleet Admiral in shock.

But the 2nd Lieutenant glared at his men to not react much to their Fleet Admiral's attempts. There must be a reason for it, a plan perhaps.

"What a jolly gentleman," The white-haired lady giggled while being shackled by dozens of chains.

"May I know your name?" Abraham asked as his mind ran with various digital screens that helped him talk eloquently to the beautiful white-haired lady. 

According to Systema, he needed all the help he could get. Or specifically, her words were.

| Fleet Admiral, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow and graduate as a man. Systema will assist every moment of this conversation for the Fleet Admiral's future. |

Abraham didn't know if he should be disappointed in himself for asking for assistance from his precious partner, but with how things were going, he wasn't regretting it.

The gorgeous white-haired lady raised an eyebrow and turned her golden irises with slit-like pupils to the captain of Pinguis Arca, Crassus.

"I see… Crassus must not have entirely explained what he was keeping in the bottom of his ship." There was a tinge of disappointment in the white-haired lady's words.

"Crassus, I believe you will explain the truth to the gentleman here, correct?" Her voice resounded in the rune-imbued vault, making Crassus rapidly nod his head.

Abraham felt somewhat confused as the ugly bastard seemed to be a lot more terrified of the imprisoned lady than of him. He didn't know why, so he was a bit curious about it.

Crassus glanced at the Fleet Admiral feeling egged between the rock and a hard place. Just when he thought things couldn't get worse, he was now standing in front of an actual monster.

The captain of Pinguis Arca stepped closer to Abraham. The Marines were about to stop him, but the middle-aged man signaled them to halt and let the captain continue on his way.

When the two were close to one another, Crassus took a deep breath and explained the information of the beautiful white-haired lady in great detail.

"The lady here is the leader of the rebellion, considered as one of the four rarest beastfolks named the cardinal beast deities. Her title was Dragon. The runes in the vault are barely suppressing her power and I suggest not to mess with it."

Crassus whispered while glimpsing at the white-haired lady who was merely smiling at him. The captain felt shivers before shaking his head and continuing his explanation.

"She's stronger than anything and anyone. Even the Magus you fought will not be able to handle her and would probably be defeated in a minute."

"The reason why I was able to capture her to begin with was luck, so I hope that none of us will play with fire." Crassus's warning made sense, but Abraham felt a lot of bias from it. 

It was completely natural for Crassus to be fearful. After all, he was the one that imprisoned her when she was at her lowest. Besides, her dangerous threat only implies that she was hostile against the United Navy.

But through the Brand of Loyalty, Abraham understood her overall sentiments towards the United Navy and it was mostly neutral. There were no signs of hostilities or hatred.

With this in mind, he arrived at his greatest decision that he wouldn't regret throughout the entirety of his life. It gave him a powerful ally and perhaps…

At any rate, Abraham gazed at the imprisoned one with determination blazing from his eyes. The gorgeous white-haired lady looked at him with calm and muttered.

"Have you decided my fate?" Her tone was the same yet different. It wasn't as confident as before and it was shrouded with hidden pain. 

It looks like she wasn't overpowering as she'd like to portray.

Maybe, there was tragedy in her capture. Though… Abraham understood that it wasn't his right to intrude on her personal history and life.

"I'll decide once you give me your name, personally." He calmly stated and entered the rune-enchanted vault of the imprisoned white-haired lady.

The dragoness looked at Abraham with a dumbfounded expression and lightly laughed at his words. Her golden-slitted eyes peered with grace at Abraham's before she responded to his words.

"I am Laplace, the Dragoness of the East." The imprisoned one finally introduced herself to the Fleet Admiral, bringing about an amiable atmosphere.

"Good to see you, Laplace. Call me, Abraham. I'll set you free." Abraham smirked at the white-haired lady and walked over to the runic enchantments imbued on the vault's walls.

He took out a military knife from his coat and began ruining the enchantments. In mere seconds, the enchantments lost their power and the suppression of Laplace faded in an instant.

The white-haired dragoness, or Laplace, felt her strength returning to her weakened body. It has been a while since she grasped this great power.

Afterward, the chains restraining her to the center broke into pieces as she steadily moved her shackled limbs left and right. 

Abraham felt the strength of the dragoness and wondered the limits of her power. She might be able to lift a truck with ease, and maybe more in her current state.

"How does freedom feel like?" He inquired, to which the white-haired dragoness replied with a saddened smile.

"Delightful and Heavy." Quite a depressing answer, but Abraham gave a thumbs up and remarked to the freed white-haired dragoness.

"It looks like you're free." 

Freedom wasn't always without a price as it has responsibilities and consequences. You would become in charge of your own life, and become responsible for your failures.

Sometimes, you would fear the responsibilities of freedom. But that's a natural process and time will help you adapt to its difficulties. 

It was something Abraham personally understood from his former experiences.

Meanwhile, Crassus was beside the Marine, in fear of the dragoness doing something against him. She stared at him in intrigue and grinned, revealing her fangs.

"Do I appear like someone who wants to eat you, Crassus?" Laplace seemed like teasing Crassus, but Abraham knew that the captain would have died if not for the dragoness understanding that he needed the captain alive.

The color of her sentiments towards Captain Crassus was incredibly hostile. Which was understandable. You just don't move on from enslavement, because someone said so.

"We can chatter later, how about we climb to the upper decks?" Abraham coolly advised, which everyone in the bottom deck accepted.

The group then walked through the staircase with Abraham and Laplace leading the way. It didn't take long for them to reach the main deck and the radiant light of the sun swiftly covered their bodies.

Laplace used her pale arms as cover from the bright radiance of the sun and soon observed the main deck of the conquered merchant vessel of Pinguis Arca.

As her golden-slitted eyes discerned her surroundings, the dragoness promptly noticed gigantic metallic warships passing beside the merchant ship. One towered over everything and created a vast shadow encompassing the ship. 

It was then she realized the exceptional power of the United Navy.