Quick Draw (First Update, Please Keep Reading)

"Click... click..."

The brass minute hand ticked forward notch by notch. As it pointed to twelve, the silver hour hand followed close behind.

The captain lowered her head for a glance, flicked her fingertip, and snapped the gilded pocket watch shut.

"Click."

By then, the sun had reached its zenith, and even the gentle sea breeze carried a hint of heat. Not far away, the ballot calling and counting were also drawing to a close.

Captain Geliide narrowed her eyes slightly and looked toward the people counting the votes.

"Cross, cross, check—" Each time Xia Lun opened a ballot, the gunner beside him loudly called out its type. As time passed, the gunner's face grew paler and paler, while his voice became sharper and shriller.

The captain shook her head, tucked the pocket watch back into her vest's breast pocket, then drew out her pipe.

Honestly, she found the progress of things almost unbelievably smooth.

Last night, before heading up to the deck, Xia Lun had discussed the next phase of their plan with her. During their discussion, he had predicted the possible developments and course of events—he had laid out three possibilities in total.

To be fair, although Geliide had appeared to agree, deep down, she had been somewhat dismissive of those predictions.

After all, most desperate men aboard pirate ships were gloomy, perverse, and cold-blooded, and many suffered from severe mental illnesses.

On a ship, someone suddenly going mad was nothing unusual. Trying to predict how events would unfold in such an utterly chaotic environment was nothing more than a fool's dream.

Yet what terrified her was that Xia Lun's three possibilities had accurately encompassed everyone's reactions.

Whether it was the opponents who had stepped forward yesterday, the division that had emerged among their enemies this morning, or the effortless proposal to vote, everything had unfolded exactly as Xia Lun had predicted.

One or two times could have been coincidence, but after so many times, it was enough to prove that it was no coincidence—there was definitely something special about Xia Lun...

Those unruly pirates, normally full of conflicting thoughts and muddled minds, were now all obediently acting according to Xia Lun's predictions, as though they were performing from a script.

Most absurd of all, even those Xia Lun had marked as potential enemies were acting according to his plan.

Geliide was nearly fifty this year. She had spent her life drifting from place to place, weathering countless storms, and had amassed a wealth of experience.

At her level, making others follow her and act according to her wishes was not difficult. Blades, gold coins, words, authority—any of them could achieve that. But making enemies act according to her wishes was beyond her understanding...

At the very least, she could not manage such a thing.

The captain took a deep draw from her pipe, feeling the grains pass through her throat and enter her lungs. Then she slowly exhaled her wavering thoughts along with the smoke through her nose.

"Hoo—"

White smoke mingled with the sea breeze and drifted upward. As it dispersed, the ballot calling reached its end as well.

Xia Lun glanced at the ballot box, deeply surprised.

Out of twenty-three people, only two wanted to compromise with the monster. Everyone else had voted to refuse!

This was completely beyond his expectations. Normally, pirates had nothing to do with self-sacrifice. Pirates who murdered and plundered should have been more inclined to sacrifice others to preserve their own lives.

Both compromise votes had been within Xia Lun's tallying range. One belonged to the gunner, while the other belonged to one of the gunner's followers.

According to the original plan, he had hoped to use the vote to see everyone's positions clearly.

If there were many cowards and most people wished to compromise, Xia Lun could use the vote to identify the brave ones, rally them in advance, then manipulate the vote to frame the compromise faction and feed them to the monster.

Conversely, if there were more brave men, they would execute the few cowards to make an example of them and directly achieve unity.

No matter what, Xia Lun had planned to vote the gunner to death. But now that the gunner himself was a coward, there was no need to frame him.

He had practically hit the jackpot. He could not help blinking.

"Announce it already," the old man said. "I think the result is obvious. Those willing to be maggots are a minority after all."

Xia Lun nodded and announced, "There are twenty-three votes in total. Twenty-one oppose becoming slaves, while two agree to submit to the monster."

At that, he paused and glanced sideways.

The gunner's expression was extremely ugly, while smiles appeared on the old man's and the priest's faces. Most of the crowd was also quite excited.

"I need to apologize to everyone first." Xia Lun's tone changed, and his voice suddenly dropped. "I marked the ballots. Based on the folds in the paper at the tears, I know everyone's choices—I think I also have an obligation to tell you exactly who the cowards are."

At that moment, the gentle sea breeze suddenly intensified, and waves rose once more upon the sea.

The old man stopped smiling, the corner of his eye twitching slightly—he suddenly realized that Xia Lun might very well frame him. The priest, meanwhile, clutched his holy emblem tightly and lowered his head in prayer.

Captain Geliide continued smoking her pipe at an unhurried pace. She narrowed her eyes and watched the crowd with interest.

The atmosphere among the crowd grew tense again. At its edge, the doctor wearing broken glasses still bore a fawning smile, but it now seemed tinged with a nervous, almost neurotic tension.

"The gunner," Xia Lun accused. "And that redhead. Those two are the cowards!"

As his words rang out, everyone instinctively looked toward the gunner and the red-haired pirate in the crowd. But in the next instant, a sudden change erupted.

"Fuck you!"

The gunner cursed, hooked his finger around the flintlock pistol at his waist, and gripped it. The red-haired pirate drew his axe as well!

The two had clearly coordinated beforehand. With their sudden attack, most people could not react in time!

At that moment, time seemed to slow. Everyone's eyes widened as they stared at the gunner in shock. The gunner raised his hand, aimed at Xia Lun standing opposite him, and a vicious grin gradually appeared on his face.

However—

"Bang! Bang!"

The instant the gunner raised his hand, two thunderous gunshots exploded!

In a flash, the gunner's right hand, still holding the gun, burst apart at the wrist. Amid a spray of blood, he screamed and fell backward. From the corner of his eye, he saw in astonishment that Xia Lun had somehow already drawn his gun!

The other bullet pierced straight through the red-haired pirate's throat. Dark red blood slowly flowed from beneath the still-twitching corpse, staining the ballots scattered across the ground.

White smoke drifted slowly from the revolver's muzzle. Xia Lun flicked the cylinder, and two scorching shell casings fell into the pool of blood before he tucked the gun back into his holster belt.

Quick Draw!

In less than half a second, one man was dead and the other wounded!

"Now the cowards have all been dealt with," he said softly.

His words scattered in the sea breeze. At that moment, aside from the gunner's wails, the deck was utterly silent.

From the gunner's sudden attack to Xia Lun drawing and firing, the entire process had taken less than half a second. Many people had only just understood what had happened, and once they did, they realized Xia Lun's draw was absurdly fast.

Although the gunner had reached for his gun first, Xia Lun had struck first despite moving later!

Xia Lun glanced at the captain, hoping she would say something to support him and take control of the situation. But Captain Geliide merely shook her head at him.

Left with no choice, he spoke himself. "Old man, give the gunner a quick death."

—This was meant to make the old man offer a token of loyalty. According to the plan, the captain should have been the one to say it.

The old man looked as though he had just been hauled out of the sea, drenched in sweat. Panting heavily, he asked, "You're not going to kill me?"

"I don't understand what you mean." Xia Lun shook his head. "I fired because they were about to attack us. Besides, you voted to fight to the end too."

The old man froze. A few seconds later, he pressed his lips together. "It seems I misjudged you."

"You just imagined me to be too despicable." Xia Lun raised his eyes. "I'm a good person—so hurry up and give him a quick death."

The old man nodded, then pulled the dagger from the table and cleanly executed the gunner.

"I'll carry the body," he offered. "Should I throw it at the entrance to the forecastle?"

"Move it to the cargo hold." Xia Lun looked at the pale-faced priest, his voice calm. "Priest, go with him."

Noticing Xia Lun's gaze, the priest hurriedly looked away, nodded, and quickly walked toward the gunner's corpse.