Chapter 207 - Battle Prelude (1/2)
Waiting for something to happen was always a dry and dull affair. Except for the watchers tasked with scanning the surroundings, there was nothing else the pirates on the ship could do. Some lay on hammocks, dreaming away, some chatted with their mates, and some cleaned their weapons. There were those who even sought to kill time with prayer.
Harry was known as the ‘little king’ on the street where he lived. On a normal day, he would lead a band of kids to fight with another group from the next street. That said, this was the very first time he faced a real battle. At first, Anne thought that Harry would have completely freaked out since he was always one to bully the weak. To her surprise, she noticed that Harry wasn’t actually nervous, but instead felt excited about the upcoming conflict.
While everyone was waiting for their target to show up, Harry started bothering the quartermaster, begging him for a weapon to defend himself.
“Mr. Dufresne. I can fight too! Captain Zhang Heng said that once a battle commences, there would be no escape for all those on board.”
“What kind of weapon do you want?”
“A gun would be nice. I don’t think I can handle hand-to-hand combat since I’m the smallest here. I think I should be able to aim and shoot at our enemies from a distance.”
“Have you shot out of a gun before?”
“No. As the saying goes, there’s a first time for everyone. Even Captain Zhang Heng didn’t shoot too well when he first started using a firearm.”
“Actually, Captain Zhang Heng was quite the marksman when he fired a gun for the first time.”
Dufresne paused before continuing.
“I don’t think I will give you a gun. I don’t want you to shoot my people in the heat of battle accidentally.”
“Come on, man! Don’t be such a miser. I promise I will not shoot our people by accident.”
“I highly doubt that.”
Harry wanted to continue convincing Dufresne to give him a gun, but when he saw Anne coming from a distance, he immediately tried to make a run for it, as if he had just encountered his arch-nemesis. Before he could make any headway, Anne stopped him.
“Mr. Dufresne, did Harry give you trouble again?”
“No. Quite the opposite actually. Our young Mr. Harry here helped me a lot this morning. He counted our weapons stockpile with me.”
Harry’s sour face started to brightly shine when he heard Dufresne’s compliments.
“I see.”
Seeing Anne’s less than enthusiastic response, Harry was rendered speechless.
‘What kind of tone is that? Are you disappointed by the fact that you can’t find a good reason to beat me up?!’
Harry wished he could say that out loud, though, he would never dare speak to Anne like this. All he could do was to curse in his heart silently.
“Come with me,” Anne continued.
At that, Harry followed Anne, and they both headed towards the galley. It was a familiar place for Harry, considering he had been tasked with peeling potatoes for hours on end each day.