Throughout the One Piece World, plenty of people looked refined, slender, and frail, yet were actually powerful figures in sheep's clothing.
For example, Kuro, Kaya's butler in Usopp's village, was a typical refined powerhouse. Even Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji all looked extremely thin and weak.
They were utterly inconspicuous in the pirate world.
Among pirates, there was no saying like, "Don't provoke the elderly, children, women, or the disabled; don't provoke Taoists, nuns, or monks." To them, enemies who looked smaller and weaker were genuinely weak.
But someone like Leo, who had won the Empress's favor, could not even match Mont Blanc's unconscious strength. So how exactly had he won the Empress's favor?
What was even more outrageous was that he had subdued both the Cutlass Pirates and the Spade Pirates.
The Kuja Pirates had certainly played a role in this, but what magic had Leo used to make those pirates become his strength after defeating them?
Unfortunately, their mouths were sealed tight. Even during training, they did not reveal anything about it.
Lafitte and Van Augur did not understand what charm Leo possessed. They had simply thought the team was decent, so they joined it—just as they had joined Blackbeard's crew.
This team had great potential and was worth joining. If it did not work out, they could just leave and find another crew.
Most of Blackbeard's crew were cold by nature. There was no loyalty to speak of at all—the only things holding the team together were Blackbeard's strength, ruthlessness, and his uniquely exceptional ability in the pirate world to devour other people's powers.
They had even said that if the plan failed, they would disband on the spot.
But Robin, who had watched from the side as Leo dealt with the merchants, could understand why so many