Xia Lun held his fire. Hidden in the shadows, he kept watching the First Mate.
"Clear. You can come down," the First Mate said, lifting the Storm Lantern as he turned back.
Before he had even finished speaking, a medium-built Black pirate wielding a two-handed axe jumped down. Four more pirates followed, carrying an assortment of weapons.
These were the core followers the First Mate relied on.
"Move it! If we're quick, we won't run into that monster," the Black pirate said rapidly. "It's blind, so keep your footsteps light!"
"So what if we do run into the captain?" a Bearded Pirate asked quietly.
The First Mate sneered. "What kind of stupid question is that? Weren't you listening? We kill her, of course. Here, take the Storm Lantern and lead the way."
The Bearded Pirate took the Storm Lantern with trembling hands. The First Mate shoved him to the front of the group.
The First Mate drew a flintlock pistol from his gun belt and gently pressed its Hammer. "So none of you do anything stupid, I'll go over the plan again. Listen up: kill everyone you see."
"If possible, capture the prisoner who calls himself Carpenter alive." His voice turned sinister. "He killed my brother. I'm going to peel off his skin, then pull out his bones and carve them."
"Our brother," the Black pirate snapped. "I'd rather hang him with his own guts and let him slowly suffocate..."
The First Mate ignored his older brother. "But pay attention. That damned Monkey has a gun that fires incredibly fast. Don't bunch up when we get there. Stick to the walls, all of you. Bearded Pirate, you take point."
The dim yellow light cast their wild, clawing shadows across the wall. Soon, the shadows moved with the light.
Xia Lun watched them and estimated the distance between the two groups.
Closer. Closer... They're almost in the ambush zone!
His heart raced, and his palms grew cold. Xia Lun slowly raised his gun.
I'm a little nervous...
"Wait, I think we should search over there first," the Bearded Pirate said suddenly, turning around. "Look, there's blood all over the floor, and something's been dragged through it. Abyss... The monster might be over there..."
At that very moment, the unsettling wet squelch of the monster's flesh echoed through the hold.
"..." The First Mate fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "We'll go there first. Brother, chop through the obstacle with your axe. Everyone else, stay alert."
"What's so scary about a monster?" the medium-built Black pirate scoffed. Even so, he raised his axe and headed toward the other branch of the passage.
Xia Lun blinked. It felt as though he had thrown a punch into cotton.
But in the next instant, the captain, who had been silent until now, suddenly called out, "Is... is anyone there?"
Under the dim yellow light, the clawing shadows on the wall froze like ghosts!
"I heard the captain," the First Mate said darkly. "Ah... She's over there. Calling for help."
Xia Lun turned and shot the captain a cold glance, his smile never reaching his eyes.
He knew exactly why she had spoken.
If the First Mate and his men searched the other passage, no one would be guarding the route from this room to the companionway. I could abandon her and leave. Unarmed, she'd have no choice but to wait for death.
But if she draws them here, I'll have to fight them to the death. That gives her room to maneuver.
Xia Lun wasn't angry. There had never been any trust between him and the captain. Their cooperation had always been a matter of each using what he or she could.
Besides, he had intended to kill the First Mate anyway, and the captain's actions had made his ambush easier.
"Kill that shit captain first, then finish off the prisoner," the First Mate's brother said excitedly. "He must be over there too! Take him alive. I'll cut open his belly to avenge my brother!"
His voice echoed through the cramped corridor. A moment later, the group rounded the corner, all of them entering Xia Lun's line of fire!
Perhaps because victory seemed close, they had ignored the First Mate's instructions and crowded together.
Xia Lun lunged out. The silhouette behind the yellow glow of the Storm Lantern aligned with his gun's notch sight.
He took aim, then squeezed the trigger without hesitation!
Bang!
The shot exploded through the corridor, filling it with white smoke!
The Storm Lantern crashed to the floor. Glass shards flew, and its light went out instantly! The corridor plunged back into terrifying darkness.
Without checking the result, Xia Lun slapped the Hammer with his right hand and pulled the trigger with his left, firing four more shots in rapid succession toward their approximate position!
Suppressing fire!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Muzzle flashes burst through the dark, spraying vivid red. The stink of gunpowder overwhelmed the whale oil as a storm of metal swept the entire corridor.
Flesh and blood flew everywhere!
Hot metal tore through bodies and slammed into the cold wall behind them. Splintered wood and corpses fell together, while the pirates' screams were drowned out by the gunfire!
Xia Lun pressed the Hammer, bringing the last round in the cylinder into firing position, then aimed ahead.
Through the lingering smoke, he could barely hear the dying groans of the wounded. In the next instant, a surviving pirate cautiously poked his head around the corner.
Bang!
Xia Lun fired without hesitation.
The spinning bullet shattered the pirate's throat and hurled him sideways. With a desperate, rasping gurgle, he slammed into the wall.
Crimson blood poured from his still-twitching body. He seemed to have last words, but they vanished into the blood-flecked foam bubbling from his neck.
The moment he showed his head, he was dead.
Out of bullets, Xia Lun shoved the scorching Revolver back into his gun belt, bent to pick up the first flintlock pistol on the floor, and raised it to aim again.
In less than two seconds, three pirates were dead and one wounded!
That was what an ambush with superior equipment could do.
Xia Lun's dark eyes swept coldly over the carnage. Amid the spattered blood and shredded flesh, he saw neither the First Mate's corpse nor his brother's.
They had survived his first volley.
The First Mate reacted quickly. Three of them are still alive.
As the gunshots faded, deathly silence settled over the dark corridor again. This time, the smell of blood and gunpowder masked the stench of whale oil.
"We're dead! He's going to kill us, all of us! It's a trap!" Behind the corner to the right, the wounded pirate seemed to be falling apart. His voice shook with sobs. "Lady Mustache, save me. I'm bleeding..."
"We can't run! If we do, he'll chase us down and kill us one by one!" the First Mate's brother said urgently. "We have to charge!"
"He's not human. He's a Demon from the deep sea!" the wounded pirate babbled. "None of us can escape."
"Shut up, or I'll shoot you myself!" the First Mate snapped coldly. "Listen. He's out of bullets. I'll draw his attention. The moment he fires, rush him."
Plotting out loud where I can hear you? Xia Lun thought.
His finger settled lightly on the trigger.
"Now!" the First Mate shouted.
In the next instant, Xia Lun caught the outline of a head at the corner to his left.
He whipped his gun around and fired, blowing the head apart!
But the instant he fired, his dark eyes narrowed sharply. The head hadn't belonged to the First Mate. It belonged to a corpse!
It's a trap!
Xia Lun jerked back through the doorway. The instant he did, an orange muzzle flash flared, and a lead ball struck the doorframe, spraying hot splinters!
Before Xia Lun could catch his breath, a hysterical howl sounded outside the door, followed by a rush of footsteps!
The pirates were charging!
Xia Lun drew a deep breath, shoved the door shut with his left hand, and picked up the last flintlock pistol.
One shot left, and there are still three of them. Xia Lun narrowed his eyes.
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