Jiang Chuan played with Kog'Maw, and the more they played, the more Kog'Maw seemed like a dog to him. Maybe Kog'Maw really was a little Void puppy, who could say?
Just as he was having fun playing with Kog'Maw, Miss Fortune arrived.
Sarah's red hair was impossible to miss. Her beauty was just as famous as her skill at killing. Sarah was undeniably a fiery, sexy woman.
Sarah looked at Jiang Chuan with a frown. "Mister, you stole my bounty?"
Without even turning around, Jiang Chuan smiled. "I haven't taken her to the bounty clerk yet, have I?"
Sarah walked over to Slut Ripper's corpse. "How did you take her down? Her hands are missing!"
Jiang Chuan stopped playing around with Kog'Maw and turned to her. "With a method that could kill Gangplank."
Sarah toyed with the gun in her hand. At this range, if Jiang Chuan made a single suspicious move, she could shoot him dead.
Sarah looked at Kog'Maw with distaste. "Your pet is ugly. And disgusting."
Kog'Maw seemed to understand Sarah. An uneasy growl rumbled from his mouth.
Jiang Chuan soothed Kog'Maw. "There, there, Miss Sarah. Your words have upset him."
Sarah smiled at Jiang Chuan. "You know who I am?"
"Everyone in Bilgewater knows about the beautiful bounty hunter who's been killing without a second thought lately," Jiang Chuan said casually.
Jiang Chuan glanced at the firearm in Sarah's hand and smiled. "Is that the gun Gangplank couldn't get his hands on? If that idiot had paid up, there wouldn't have been all this trouble."
Sarah didn't let down her guard. "Aren't pirates all cheapskates?"
Jiang Chuan dismissed Kog'Maw. He'd eaten his fill.
He smiled at Sarah. "You can take her head in and claim the reward."
Sarah smiled. "What do you need? Or rather, what do you need me to do?"
Jiang Chuan clapped his hands and grinned. "I like dealing with smart people. It's easy."
Sarah sat on the bed and smiled. "Idiots don't last long in Bilgewater."
Jiang Chuan lit a cigar, took a puff, then spat it out. "This thing's like a dried-up twig. I want to take down Gangplank with you."
Sarah smiled. "Taking down Gangplank isn't something two people can do."
Jiang Chuan wagged a finger. "No, no, darling. I'm more than just one person. I have enough power to blast the Abyssal Ship to the bottom of the sea a hundred times over."
Sarah burst out laughing. "You think you can topple Gangplank all by yourself? I'd think you were joking."
Jiang Chuan smiled. "I know you won't believe me. Want me to show you? You should know what Gangplank did at the Serpent Blade Temple in Ionia. The Shadow Order won't let him get away with it."
Sarah scoffed. "So what? Can you summon people from the Shadow Order all the way from Ionia?"
Jiang Chuan snapped his fingers and smiled mysteriously. "I wonder if the leader of the Shadow Order, Zed, could kill Gangplank."
A flash of white light appeared, and a masked ninja was seated cross-legged in front of Jiang Chuan. The blade in his hand made it clear he was no one to trifle with.
Zed stood up and looked coldly at the two of them through his mask. "Tell me where I am, stranger."
"Bilgewater, Gangplank's home. You haven't forgotten him, have you, Zed?" Jiang Chuan said calmly.
Zed spoke in a hoarse voice. "I'm more interested in you than Gangplank. What did you do?"
Jiang Chuan shook his head. "I merely summoned you here to show the lovely Miss Sarah that I have the power to destroy Gangplank."
Zed's sudden appearance caught Sarah off guard. "Are you a mage?"
Jiang Chuan smiled. "No, I'm a Summoner. He's the mage, isn't he, Zed?"
The moment Jiang Chuan finished speaking, Zed's blade was just five centimeters from his neck. Yet those five centimeters might as well have been a mountain. No matter how hard Zed thrust, the blade couldn't move any farther!
Jiang Chuan smiled. "It's nothing serious, Zed. No need to be so tense. Your students would laugh at you if they saw you like this."
The cold blade was already at Jiang Chuan's throat. Zed said icily, "How do you know all this, Summoner?"
Jiang Chuan smiled unconcernedly. "I know more about you than you know about yourself. Put your blade away."
Zed's voice was cold. "And if I don't?"
Jiang Chuan dismissed him. "Then goodbye. It's not like you can do anything to me."
Jiang Chuan smiled at Sarah. "Well? Do you believe now that I can deal with Gangplank?"
Sarah asked doubtfully, "How do you plan to control Zed?"
Jiang Chuan smiled. "Why would I need to control him? The three of us are partners. You and Zed both want Gangplank dead. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Sarah holstered her gun. "And you? What's your goal?"
Jiang Chuan smiled. "My goal is simply to help you take down Gangplank."
Sarah didn't believe him. "That's all?"
"That's all."
Sarah shrugged. "All right."
Jiang Chuan packed up Slut Ripper's corpse and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's go claim the bounty. From now on, I'm your underling."
Sarah couldn't have cared less. "I'm not paying you."
Jiang Chuan carried the corpse. "I think we'd better hurry. This body's a bit too heavy."
The two of them went to the bounty clerk and dropped Slut Ripper's corpse on the ground. Sarah smiled. "This is Slut Ripper's body. You can check it."
The clerk examined the corpse, confirmed it was Slut Ripper, then tossed over a bag of Silver Serpent Coins. "Here's your payment. Come again."
Sarah took Jiang Chuan to an inconspicuous tavern in Rat Town. As soon as she walked in, she called out, "Boss, bring us two bottles of your best! I'm going upstairs to change."
Jiang Chuan sat in a chair and watched the people in the tavern. Some told stories to earn enough for a drink, while others quietly watched the scene. The clamor and the muddled smells made Jiang Chuan wonder why Sarah had brought him here. The place felt absolutely terrible!
A drunk, burly man laughed. "Sarah brought home a pretty boy." As he laughed, he sized Jiang Chuan up, as if considering how to mess with him.
"Get out of my sight in three seconds!" Jiang Chuan said coldly. He hated being treated like a lab rat. It was absolutely the worst.
The man grabbed Jiang Chuan's clothes and laughed. "Oh, oh, the poor pretty boy's angry. What are you gonna do about it?"
Jiang Chuan pulled Roland's old Shotgun Firearm from his coat and fired at the man's hand.
"Ah! My hand! You damn bastard, what did you do? What are you all standing around for?" The man clutched his hand and rolled on the floor, screaming.
Jiang Chuan pressed the gun against his forehead and said icily, "Make one more sound, and your head will be moving somewhere else."
The man stared at Jiang Chuan, his face pale. He forced the curses in his mouth back down his throat.
Jiang Chuan's sudden gunshot had stunned the crowd. Sarah came down from upstairs and said, "This is my new underling. What was your name again?"
"Roland," Jiang Chuan said calmly.
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