At the other end of the dining room, two crewmen hastily pushed back their chairs and craned their necks in this direction, unsure of what to do. Milady was only a few steps away from him. If Dao Mingke threw a punch, it would land right on her temple. Judging by his build and the size of his fists, if that punch truly connected, she would almost certainly be knocked unconscious.
"Don't you know yourself?" Milady asked, tilting her head. She didn't let a single trace of fear or anxiety show. "Still half-asleep today?"
"Looks to me like you're the one who hit their head today." The muscles in Dao Mingke's cheeks twitched. "You want to know what I do? I'm afraid words alone won't get through to you. But when my mercenary boots are busy snapping your ribs, you'll definitely know what I do then."
Milady clapped her hands together. "Ah, that's right," she said with a smile. "I remember now. Supposedly, when we run into pirates or barbarians, we're supposed to rely on you all for protection, right?"
Before Dao Mingke could respond, she immediately added, "But with skills as pathetic as yours, if we really ran into danger, I doubt many of us would make it back to Haidu."
Milady had braced herself as she spoke. The moment the words left her mouth, she deftly retreated a step and ducked low, narrowly dodging the fist that whistled past her face. Dao Mingke's punch must have held an immense amount of force; the gust of wind it generated made the skin on her face and the tip of her nose sting. Even for the ever-composed Milady, a cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.
She wasn't a fool. She knew just how wide the gap in physical strength was between her and a professional combat mercenary like Dao Mingke.
After all, she had done her research on him long before today.
"Hey, don't!" The two crewmen at the far end of the dining room grew frantic. They both shot to their feet, calling out from a safe distance, "Why pick a fight with a girl?"
The older of the two shouted "You, cool it!" at Milady, before quickly whispering an order to the younger man, "Quick, go get the captain!"
"You're lucky you're a woman."
Dao Mingke took another step forward, though at least he didn't throw another punch. His yellowed eyes were locked on Milady. "Otherwise," he snarled, "that mouth of yours would never make it back to Haidu. I've never killed a member of the Sea Wave Concerto Family before... but I wouldn't mind giving it a try."
Milady finally caught her breath, her heart hammering against her sternum so hard it ached. But only a fraction of that feeling was fear. The rest was an emotion she couldn't quite define: it was like a young lion, currently fleeing in panic from a charging rhino, yet at the same time having a clear, exhilarating realization. 'So this is all my opponent is. I will conquer this savanna, step by step.'
"Kill me? If we're talking about fistfights and brawling, then I admit, I'm no match for you."
She was still smiling as she said, "But if we were to duel with mechanisms... even three of you wouldn't stand a chance. Then we'd see who kills who. You really hate me, don't you? So, how about it? I'm giving you a chance to duel me. Are you going to take it?"
Dao Mingke stared at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.
"A duel? You?"
Milady smiled and nodded. 'He won't refuse,' she thought. Even if he did, she was confident she could provoke him until he accepted. Besides, getting Dao Mingke to be reasonable was difficult, but getting him to use his fists was the easiest thing in the world.
"What's all the excitement that you had to call for me?"
As the languid voice drifted from the dining room entrance, both parties in the standoff turned their heads.
'How did the captain get here so fast?'
Milady had thought she had more time. 'It usually takes at least ten minutes to get here from the captain's quarters.' Maybe the captain had just been nearby. A tall, slender silhouette emerged from the backlit doorway. The figure ambled into the dining room with a loose, lazy gait. He threw himself into a chair at a table near the pair before asking, "So, what are you two up to?"
Ever since Milady had come aboard, she'd noticed that the captain of the Night Castle didn't seem like most captains.
It wasn't just that he was only twenty-five and already owned his own adventuring ship. And even though he looked like the type to sleep until noon, the crew seemed to regard him as their pillar of support.
But no matter how different a captain was, he surely wouldn't allow his crew to engage in a duel to the death during a voyage… She glanced at the unusually young captain, then walked up behind his shoulder and said with a deliberate smile, "I've invited this side of pork with nostrils to a duel. With mechanisms."