The man was practically a legend at staying alive!
Just as Xia Lun had that thought, the bald woman captain narrowed her eyes and spoke.
"Well, shit. You gave me a scare," she said with a wry edge. "I thought you were an assassin the First Mate sent."
She sounded like she was joking, but a glint of metal caught Xia Lun's eye.
He suddenly realized she was holding a flintlock pistol, ready to fire.
The pistol was aimed at him from the shadows.
Xia Lun's heart tightened, but his expression stayed relaxed.
"I just killed the First Mate's brother." Xia Lun silently pressed down the Revolver's Hammer. "I thought someone brave enough to fight a sea monster head-on wouldn't stoop to dirty tricks."
At his words, some of the tension left the captain's face. Her mouth twisted, but she still did not lower the flintlock hidden in the shadows.
"What dirty tricks?" she asked calmly.
Xia Lun slowly lowered his gaze and looked straight into her bloodshot eyes.
"The flintlock in your hand, of course. There's no point playing dumb now."
Without waiting for an answer, he continued, his voice growing firmer. "Listen. The monster's down in the hold, and the First Mate has taken control of the deck. In five minutes at most, he'll come down with his loyal men to kill us both!"
"We're in the same boat now. Waste any more time, and neither of us will survive."
The captain's expression shifted back and forth. Her eyes darted as she seemed to weigh his words.
As she frowned, the ugly scar running from the right side of her jaw to her left ear, as thick as a thumb, seemed to come alive, making her look even more fearsome.
After a moment, she fixed Xia Lun with a hard stare. Then she brought the flintlock out from her side and lowered its raised barrel.
"I hope you understand. I was only trying to protect myself," the captain said.
"I need your guns," Xia Lun said in a low voice. "We'll only get one chance to catch them off guard. I need as much firepower as possible."
The captain nodded slightly and laughed, showing a mouthful of yellow, rotting teeth.
Her finger shifted on the trigger. She turned the pistol and offered him the grip. "Hah. You've got guts, I'll give you that. Here."
"Thanks."
Xia Lun took the flintlock and checked whether the powder was damp. Satisfied, he set it on the floor to the right of the doorway.
Then he turned back to her. "But I meant I need all your guns."
The captain froze for a moment, then sneered. "You've got quite an appetite. Take my advice: know when to stop."
"In your condition, you can barely hold a gun steady." Xia Lun's gentle voice abruptly turned cold. "If I can't beat them, we both die. We're in this together."
He paused, then added, "Besides, I'm a much better shot than you. You saw me throw that axe, and I'm several times better with a gun."
The captain said nothing. She stared coldly into Xia Lun's eyes, and he refused to back down.
At last, she looked away and pulled a second flintlock from beneath her cloak.
"Fine. If you're that confident..." She had given in.
"Just find somewhere to hide," Xia Lun cut in, taking the second flintlock. "Leave the rest to me."
After a quick check, he placed it beside the first.
Xia Lun was not normally so overbearing. In everyday life, he was quite diplomatic.
Different situations called for different approaches, and different people had to be handled differently.
But as someone reborn with two lifetimes of experience, he knew how to deal with desperadoes.
Ordinary people might respond to courtesy and respect. With pirates who lived by the blade, he had to stay assertive without provoking them too far.
Yet he could not seem too excited or aggressive. Overdoing it was the surest sign of a bluff, and a bluff that got called was worse than simple weakness.
The captain had fought her way to the top of a pack of scoundrels. She was surely far more cunning and cold-blooded than most, with far fewer scruples.
So Xia Lun would never show her kindness without a reason. To a desperado, kindness looked like weakness.
Once he had set up his basic firepower, Xia Lun opened the door and returned to the corridor.
It was still dark and damp. The floorboards creaked under his boots.
Footsteps from the deck grew clearer, accompanied by the First Mate's rambling voice. His words seeped through the deck into the cabin, sounding like the whispers of a drowning man.
Unless something had changed, the First Mate and his loyal men were nearing the companionway and meant to enter the cabin. Fear of the monster was making them hesitate for now.
But they could appear at any moment.
Time was running out!
Xia Lun took a deep breath and looked at the corpse by the passage branching off beside the companionway.
The corpse still stared blankly at the ceiling. In the damp air, its eyes had begun to cloud over.
Somewhere in the dark cabin, the wet, squelching sound of the monster's flesh shifting as it limped came and went...
Xia Lun hurried to the corpse, grabbed the strap on its shoulder, and dragged it back into the room.
"Da Lun's dead. No wonder he didn't answer me..." the bald captain muttered when she saw the corpse. "Shit. I should've known..."
Xia Lun ignored her. He hooked his arms under the corpse's armpits, hauled it upright, and propped it against the wall facing the wooden door.
"You could move the table in front of the door for cover. The First Mate... he's good with a throwing axe," the captain warned.
Xia Lun turned to look at the table.
It was made of Pine Wood. Two daggers were stuck through the sea chart spread across it like nails. Beside the chart sat a half-empty bottle of liquor, half a hard, dried-out orange, a sextant, and a telescope.
He looked up and spotted a huge gap in the ceiling directly above the table, wide enough for someone slight to jump through.
After a moment's thought, Xia Lun shook his head. "You can hide under the table. I'm going to let them in before I attack. Watch for your chance."
As he spoke, he pulled a dagger from the corpse's weapon belt and handed it to her.
The captain took the dagger and grinned. "So what do we do now?"
"Wait." Xia Lun returned to the door and raised his Revolver.
Seconds ticked by. The rain drumming on the ceiling gradually faded, but the voices above grew louder and more jumbled.
In the dark cabin, Xia Lun hugged the wall, holding his gun at an angle around the corner. His eyes stayed fixed on the companionway more than ten meters away.
Waiting brought anxiety and unease. As time dragged on, the sour, cloying stench of whale oil in the air became harder and harder to bear.
The captain nervously licked her cracked lips. Her breathing quickened.
Whenever she seized a ship, the worst moment was the one just before the fighting began.
It felt like a bowstring being drawn tighter and tighter, or a fuse about to burn down. It unsettled her every time.
But once the fighting actually started, she could calm down and focus on giving orders and fighting.
Xia Lun focused on his breathing instead. Using Meditation, he felt the air moving through his nose and eased his mounting agitation.
Would they come?
Could they use another companionway?
What if the monster suddenly appeared?
Thoughts rose and fell in his mind, but Xia Lun did not judge them. He simply watched the companionway ten meters away.
His breathing grew slow and deep, and his attention sharpened. For a moment, he felt as though he had entered a state like Heightened Focus again.
Bang!
The hatch above the companionway was suddenly thrown open.
A bright beam of light pierced the darkness and lit the foot of the stairs. Then came the dull thud of boots on the floorboards and the faint rustle of liquid splashing beneath them.
A huge, powerfully built Black man with long arms and a narrow waist entered the cabin first, holding up a glass Storm Lantern.
It was the First Mate!
Xia Lun's finger instinctively brushed the trigger.
Before you continue