Chapter 147 Return to the Big Cock

Dawson and the pirates he led returned to the Big Cock without significant damage.

Yet only Dawson's group had survived unscathed. Several pirate factions that had fled the battlefield were all severely damaged.

The pirate group that had possessed a super-giant battleship had suffered near-total destruction.

Even so, the super-giant battleship was still formidable. Despite its exterior in tatters, it had managed to reach the Big Cock unharmed.

The ship was intact, but the crew was not. Oine had picked up rumors about this.

"It seems Lord Ron has lost all will. He has fled to the pleasure district of the Big Cock."

He had always been more inclined toward commerce and administration. The battlefield atmosphere had simply become intolerable to him—something he had come to realize and reject.

Yet the fact remained: the S.U. Space Fleet had declared the eradication of pirates, and that stance would not change.

With most of the pirate forces already lost under other commanders, failing to act now risked the complete destruction of the Big Cock.

The only option was to draw in as many pirates as possible here.

Dawson decided to work with Oine and Bera to secure the fleeing pirates.

Dawson and Oine publicly claimed, through recorded battle records, that joining their command would allow victory over the Space Fleet.

Bera reached out to pirate contacts via communication channels and spread rumors about Dawson’s combat effectiveness.

At first, many pirates were skeptical of Dawson, but as word spread from those who spoke of his combat effectiveness, support gradually increased.

By the time one or two days had passed since the retreat, the majority of pirates who had fled to the Sparrow Hawk declared their willingness to follow Dawson’s orders.

The reason so many pirates had made this decision was a shared awareness that fleeing now would only lead to death at the hands of the SU Space Fleet, and a growing disappointment that Lord Ron was proving unexpectedly ineffective.

The force was now nearly at its maximum capacity.

All that remained was to obtain a certain permission from Lord Ron, who governed the Sparrow Hawk.

Dawson moved from the Sparrow Hawk to the entertainment district of the Sparrow Hawk. He was to meet with Lord Ron.

Oine accompanied him, both to avoid being approached by street vendors and to extract information about Lord Ron’s location from the cybernetic android.

The android, subjected to Oine's hacking, speaks.

"Sir Ron has entered a high-end brothel called 'Heaven's Tower Keep,' according to incoming data."

"Is meeting him possible?"

"Reports indicate he is blocking all others."

"Can you arrange a meeting through your contacts?"

"No. That brothel contains no androids. Only living women."

Oine erased the hacking segment from the android's log, then released it after securing the necessary information.

"He seems difficult to reach. What now?"

"If gentle methods fail, there is no choice but to use force."

Dawson shrugged, accepting the situation, then slipped through the main gate of Heaven's Tower Keep.

"I need to speak with Sir Ron. Let me pass."

When Dawson stated his purpose, a woman in disheveled clothing stepped forward. The woman, appearing in her thirties, had a natural body except for mechanical limbs—cybernetic replacements.

Her movements suggested combat experience. She was likely the brothel’s enforcer.

“Regardless of reason, you’re not a client. Leave now.”

Dawson looked toward Oine, unimpressed. Oine shook her head. The enforcer’s cybernetic limbs had resisted hacking attempts.

“Then there’s nothing else to do.”

As Dawson drew his blaster from his waist, the enforcer lunged. Her cybernetic limbs delivered rapid strikes.

Dawson read the attack trajectory and evaded. Immediately after, a violet lightning surge wrapped around the enforcer’s limbs.

"Planning to paralyze me with an electric shock?"

The enforcer did not respond. Continued launching attacks.

Dawson avoided every strike. One hit would end him. Aiming the beam weapon was difficult. Lifting his hand risked being seized and struck by the current.

Even so, Dawson remained composed.

He had trained against AI-equipped bodies during his time at the Officer Academy, in his youth.

Compared to those earlier models, this enforcer seemed less coordinated—its head and torso flesh, its mechanical limbs overpowered and unbalanced.

To exploit that weakness, Dawson deliberately appeared to slip. He dropped to one knee.

The mercenary attempts to end the fight by kicking Dawson with a foot wrapped in electric charge. The strike would have been fatal with a single touch, yet the mercenary chooses to deliver a deliberate kick.

Stepping forward with the front foot, launching the kick with the rear foot.

Before the motion completes, Dawson has already raised his pulse rifle at waist level. The target is the mercenary’s advancing kicking foot.

A sharp *pfft* sound. The pulse rifle fires.

A hole opens in the knee of the mercenary’s kicking foot. The electric charge dissipates.

The force of the kick knocks Dawson off balance. He rolls across the ground, reacquires aim. This time, he fires at the opposite thigh.

Both legs disabled, the mercenary falls backward. Dawson rises, fires the pulse rifle through both shoulders.

The mercenary tumbles to the ground, limbs shattered.

"Allow me through."

As Dawson steps onto the brothel's grounds, several mercenaries stand there—similar to the one he had just incapacitated, their limbs replaced with mechanical augmentations.

Dawson raises the pulse rifle, aiming to reduce their numbers while maintaining distance. A sudden burst of applause echoes from within the building.

Following the sound, a white-haired elderly woman in a purple suit stands there.

"You all, cease. This masked man is recognized by the pirates as their representative. He has the right to meet with Lord Ron."

The mercenaries step aside instantly, clearing a path.

The old woman walks forward slowly, as if along a ceremonial route, approaching Dawson with calm composure.

"I see you didn't understand the situation earlier. My apologies. If you wish to meet Lord Ron, I will guide you."

……What begins now is a fleet battle between the space navy and pirates. What did you think you’d gain by seeing my close-combat skills?

Dawson conveyed, with subtle intent, that she had observed the earlier bodyguard’s fight. The old woman laughed cheerfully.

“Nothing reveals a man’s courage better than that.”

“And my evaluation?”

“You don’t underestimate an opponent just because she’s a woman. You show no mercy. Yet you refrain from killing without reason. Quite a decent man, you are.”

“That bodyguard aimed to incapacitate with lightning. If the enemy fights without intent to kill, it is only logical we do not kill in return. I’d rather not be mistaken for refraining from killing out of kindness.”

“Hah hah. I won’t make that mistake. Your eyes—when necessary, you’ll kill anyone. They’re the eyes of a wolf.”

Dawson tilted his head slightly at the old woman’s peculiar assessment.

Since the beginning of the spaceflying era, predatory animals such as wolves have not been taken beyond Earth except for companionship purposes.

In Amato Imperial Japan, animal metaphors are occasionally used in common phrases, yet actual living animals are frequently absent from the home planet.

Thus, Dawson had no prior knowledge of the metaphorical expression ‘wolf’s eyes’—it was understandable.

“Even through the mask, these eyes are unmistakably wolf-like?”

“Precisely because they gleam sharply behind the mask, they seem wolf-like.”

Dawson tilted his head again, still unable to comprehend.

Regardless, thanks to the old woman, Dawson had succeeded in meeting with Lord Ron.

And following the recent defeat in battle, where Lord Ron had been consumed by the female body, Dawson now requested something of him.

Lord Ron confirmed, "If you do not interfere with the pleasure district, do as you wish," and dismissed Dawson and the old woman from the room as soon as their business was concluded.