Early on the m of the third day, Jin Shu’s eyes snapped open. The room was dark, the sun still hidden behind the pping waves of the river outside his window. He inhaled deeply, his instincts suddenly sharpening. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced since his reination: danger. Something is wrong.

  He rose abruptly, throwing on a robe.

  Gng at Yin’er, who was soundly asleep, he quietly left the room, moving silently through the dim hallway. His senses were on high alert as he straio detey sound. When he reached the door leading to the deck, he finally heard it—a soft, rhythmic king of metal. His brow furrowed, his hand instinctively reag for a on at his side, that wasn't there. His brow twitched. Ah, right. Following a brief glow from his earring a karambit appeared in his hand.

  Then came a louder noise: a wet, gurgling sound followed by a heavy thump—like a fish smming onto the wooden deck. Someohroat has just been slit. He analyzed.

  The king of metal grew louder, apanied by measured footsteps heading toward the door. Jin Shu’s karambit gleamed in the faint moonlight filtering through the cracks as the door creaked open.

  A figure in dark clothing stepped into view, wielding a long, curved bde.

  With a flick of his wrist, Jin Shu’s karambit fshed.

  Slice! The curved bde cttered to the floor as blood spttered—Jin Shu had severed the man’s sword arm at the wrist. A muffled groan came from behind the ask c the attacker’s face.

  Jin Shu wasted no time. He grabbed the man’s injured wrist and yanked him forward, simultaneously sweeping his legs out from under him. The attacker crashed onto the wooden floor. Before the man could react, Jin Shu’s fist ected with his temple. His head hit the floorboards with a dull thud, and he went limp.

  Jin Shu’s gaze flicked toward the deck outside. Uhe pale glow of the moon, he spotted several figures in simir dark clothing. Ten of them, at least. Enemies.

  Ag quickly, Jin Shu dragged the unscious attacker’s body into the room and wedged it against the door, thereated further down the hallway.

  Switg his karambit to his left hand, he summoned a pistol into his right. The on rattled faintly, metal pieces shifting inside. Jin Shu allowed himself a brief smile. Time to test those modifications.

  The door rattled as someoried to open it. When they failed, the effort turned more forceful.

  Bang! The door burst open as two more bck-cd men forced their way through, shoving aside the limp body blog their path.

  Ping! Ping! Bam! Bam!

  Jin Shu fired two shots in quick succession. The inscribed pellets tore through the air with incredible speed. The impact was brutal, flinging the attackers backward through the doorway.

  “Ha!” Jin Shu grinned, uo hide his excitement. “The Density Strike Rune works eveer than I thought!”

  From the muffled groans outside, he knew his enemies weren’t dead, but they wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. The ck of light prevented him from seeing the full extent of the damage, but the results were more than satisfactory.

  Moments ter, another man stepped into the doorway. Uhe others, he seemed to emit a faint glow—not from the moonlight, but something else entirely. Jin Shu’s instincts fred, but he didn’t hesitate. He calmly squeezed the trigger.

  Ping! Bam!

  The pellet struck the man squarely in the chest, but he merely staggered with a weak groan.

  Jin Shu’s eyes narrowed. He fired three more shots in quick succession, each finding its mark with a solid thump. The third shot forced the man back a step, but that was all.

  The glowing figure advanced, each step deliberate and heavy.

  Realizing his modified pellet gun was useless, Jin Shu stashed it and drew his Yarbh knife. Now armed with the Yarbh in a hammer grip in his right hand and the karambit in a reverse grip in his left, he stepped forward to meet his foe.

  The man raised his curved sword and swung it down in a powerful overhead strike.

  Kng! Slibsp; Tink!

  Both batants froze in surprise. Jin Shu’s knives had ly sliced through the man’s sword, sending its tip cttering onto the wooden floorboards.

  “What the hell?!” the man blurted, his muffled voice full of astonishment as he instinctively stepped back.

  But Jin Shu gave him no time to recover. In a fluid motion, he darted to the man’s side, hooking his leg while driving his shoulder uhe man’s arm. With a swift, practiced movement, Jin Shu flipped the man over his shoulder.

  Bang! The man hit the floor hard, the impact shaking the deck. Jin Shu didn’t hesitate. He struck the man’s temple with the pommel of his khe blow boung the man’s head off the wooden floorboards.

  Dazed and clearly in pain, the man stared up at Jin Shu with gzed eyes, but he wasn’t unscious.

  Jin Shu pulled back his arm, ready to strike again, when hurried footsteps sounded behind him. He risked a quice over his shoulder and saw two more attackers charging toward him, their swords raised high.

  No time. Jin Shu rolled forward, directly over the man on the ground. As he moved, he sshed his bdes uhe man’s arms, slig through the tendoh his armpits. The glowing figure let out a strangled cry, his arms falling limp and useless.

  His Yarbh vanished as the pellet gun repced it. Jin Shu spun in a crouched position, aiming at the charging men.

  Ping! Ping! Bam! Bam!

  The pellets struck with devastating force, smming into their targets like the charge of a raging elephant. The two attackers were flung backward, crashing heavily onto the floor and skidding a few feet before ing to a stop. Groaning in pain, they clutched at their cave chests.

  Jin Shu wi the sight. “Yeah… definitely ’t use those for sparring,” he muttered, a tinge of worry creeping into his voice.

  Behind him, the creak of doors opening caught his attentiouro see several sailors stepping cautiously into the hallway, their faces pale as they took in the age. Among them, Biyu and Sun Li stood out, their expressions unreadable.

  Biyu approached swiftly, her brow furrowed. “What’s happening?”

  “Night raid,” Jin Shu replied curtly, his eyes flig back toward the doorway.

  “Huh?”

  He sighed, crifying, “We’re utack.” He gestured at the groaning attackers sprawled across the floor.

  “By who?” she pressed.

  Jin Shu shrugged lightly, his gaze locked on the open doorway. No more men had entered yet. It seemed the enemy might be regrouping.

  A sudden realization hit him. He turned sharply to the sailor. “Is there another entry point into this area?”

  The sailor hesitated, then pointed down the hallway. “There is. It leads to the cargo hold.”

  Jin Shu’s stomach sank as a terrible premonition washed over him. At that moment, the door at the far end of the hallway creaked open, and three men slipped through. One of them gave a sharp whistle.

  Jin Shu whipped back toward the detrance just as three more attackers emerged from that doorway as well.

  They were boxed in.

  “Biyu, get everyoo their rooms!” Jin Shu barked, his eyes locked ohree men advang from the deck. He raised his pellet gun, but the crowded hallway left him no clear shot at the group behind them.

  The attackers moved cautiously, holding makeshift wooden shields fashioned from pnks. Jin Shu fired three quick shots.

  Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

  The pellets smmed into the shields, splintering the wood and f the men back a step. But the shots ricocheted harmlessly, leaving the attackers unharmed.

  Jin Shu’s brow twitched in irritation. “Haa… I didn’t want to use this, but you’ve forced my hand,” he muttered. With a flick of his wrist, the pellet gun vanished, repced by his M17 pistol. Its familiar weight grounded him for a brief moment.

  There was no time for hesitatioeadied his aim, targeting their exposed limbs.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Three shots, and precise. The first hit an ahe sed a shoulder, and the third drove through the gap in a shield to strike a khe three attackers crumpled to the flroaning in pain.

  Jin Shu spun around, already seeking the hreat.

  The other three men, seeing their rades fall, abaheir shields and charged forward. Jin Shu raised his pistol but froze—there were still too many people in the hallway. Sailors crowded around, gawking at the chaos, while Biyu desperately tried to herd them into their rooms.

  “Get out of the way!” Jin Shu snapped, but the sailors were too paralyzed with fear to listen.

  A flicker of movement caught his eye. Sun Li stood at the far end of the hallway, directly ih of the charging men.

  Jin Shu cursed under his breath. If he sed back to the pellet gun, a stray enhanced pellet could kill one of the mortals. He didn’t have time to risk it.

  He surged forward, shoving past the frightened sailors. The crowd slowed his progress, and before he could reach her, the attackers were upon Sun Li.

  The lead man grabbed her, pulling her close as he pressed a curved bde to her throat.

  “Stop!” the attacker barked, his voice sharp and anding.

  Sun Li’s eyes were wide with terror, her breath caught in her chest. Jin Shu froze, his hands tightening around the pistol's grip as he locked eyes with the intruder.