"You are surrounded," yelled the leader. "Don't resist unnecessarily or harm the hostages, or I'll start firing!"
Gand wasn't willing to back down. "Go ahead and shoot; let's see whose gun is faster."
At that moment, the dawn guards discarded their sharp weapons, turned around, and drew handguns, aiming them at the King's guards.
Because Gand had ordered them to capture prisoners alive, they hadn't used guns until now, but with their lives on the line, if they didn't use guns, they might lose their lives.
Both sides were armed, and both had quite a number of men. If a gunfight broke out here, the villa would likely be destroyed.
Tan Rou negotiated with Gand. "Let's both compromise. Release my people, and we'll leave."
Gand refused. They were at a disadvantage now. The dawn guard had already suffered losses, and if they fought now, they would surely lose. But if they had hostages, the situation would be different; at least, the enemy wouldn't shoot at them.
