Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route-Chapter 163: A Letter from Ahri, Karma’s Doubts

"Wait." Irelia raised a hand and looked at Logan. "When I came here, I didn't know you were the Lord of Zaun."

"That's not quite right." Logan shook his head. "I'm Zaun's leader, but Zaun belongs to Zaunites—not to me. They respect me, so they call me the Lord of Zaun." As he spoke, he glanced at Wen and added, "And I'm the one who didn't make my identity clear. That has nothing to do with him."

Wen let out a sigh beside them and muttered a quiet thank-you.

It really was his mistake. He'd gotten so excited about "finding talent" that even though Logan had already said he wasn't Ionian, Wen still assumed he could recruit him.

Looking back now, Wen felt like he'd been completely out of his mind.

Someone with that kind of ability was obviously a big figure somewhere else.

Why would someone like that join Ionia's resistance?

Because they enjoyed suffering?

"Then why tell me now?" Irelia took a deep breath and asked.

Then she continued, firm and clear: "If you hadn't said it, I wouldn't have known, and I could've acted like I never came here at all. Mr. Logan, I don't want to get entangled with places outside Ionia. Things are chaotic enough already. I don't have the energy to deal with anything else."

"Logan, she's really polite," Jinx muttered from the side, feeling like Irelia's logic was backwards.

Shouldn't it be, "Even if you say it, I'll pretend I didn't hear you, and I'll pretend I never came"?

But clearly, this woman was too proper. Her meaning was: once you've said it and I've heard it, I can't pretend I don't know anymore.

If it were Jinx and she didn't want to hear something, she'd probably cover her ears—or, failing that, start throwing a fit and flip the table.

"Don't rush to refuse, Irelia. Zaun isn't what it used to be." Seeing how resistant she was, Logan smiled and said, "I came to Ionia for one specific matter. The traveling was just a bonus. Meeting you really was an accident."

"But accidents can bring surprises. I've got a deal I want to discuss."

"A deal?" Irelia shook her head. "We're poor. The resistance has nothing."

"I'm not asking you for money or food." Logan replied. "If anything, we can bring you money and food."

As he spoke, he patted Jinx on the shoulder.

"What?" Jinx looked at him.

"What materials do you need for your research again?"

Jinx froze for half a second—then her eyes lit up and she blurted, loud and excited, "Ore! I need all kinds of Ionian ore!"

She got it. Logan was helping her.

He'd mentioned it before—lately, Jinx had been experimenting with Ionian magical materials. So she needed to understand Ionia's local minerals. If even wood could carry magical traces, there was no way the local rocks didn't.

So Jinx needed data on all kinds of Ionian ore, to sort and combine it, and then pick the best candidates.

Maybe… she could find something even better than Hextech crystals. Even if it couldn't beat Hextech crystals outright, it might still push them further—improving stability and efficiency, something like that.

Either way, she already saw a mountain of money waving at her.

"You can't have ore. No." Irelia refused immediately, shaking her head. "Mining and logging damage Ionia's natural balance. They make the forest spirits go berserk. The Great Spirit won't allow that."

"We'll trade using a magical tool." Logan said. "I think it can help maintain Ionia's natural balance."

To Logan, all this talk about spirits losing control and the environment tipping into chaos came down to one thing: the boundary between the spirit realm and the material realm had been disturbed. The spirit world's magic overflowed past what the material world could stabilize, and the imbalance caused violent upheaval.

The things Akali had mentioned over the last two days also supported that theory.

In other words, Ionia's environment acted like a counterweight between the two realms. Spiritual plants and rare magical minerals produced magical essence, and that essence fed back into the Spirit of Ionia—helping it better regulate the material realm.

Fae'lor was the clearest example. The reason Syndra escaped her "seal" wasn't only because her power kept growing in secret—it was also because the first land the Noxians attacked was Fae'lor.

Nature was damaged, the Spirit of Ionia was affected, and the seal weakened—until Syndra rose from the earth.

So, in the end, it was a matter of replenishing magic.

And Hextech crystals contained enormous magical power. Logan believed Hextech crystals could improve the situation.

So Logan explained Hextech crystals to Irelia—how they worked, and why the exchange could be feasible. After listening, Irelia fell into deep thought.

If what Logan said was true, then Navori's land could be repaired. Relying on local replanting alone would take a long time before green forests returned and Navori recovered to what it used to be—especially with the Brotherhood interfering the whole way.

But Irelia still glanced at Wen.

Wen nodded.

Only then did Irelia say, "If what you're saying is true… then it's worth trying."

"We'll use your… magical crystals to trade for local ore. If the crystals really work, I'll have resistance members search for ore."

"Good." Logan nodded. "Then that's agreed. And besides that, there's another deal."

"Go on."

"I want to build a Hexgate terminal in Navori, so trade between our regions can move smoothly in the future. And of course, that would be a huge benefit for you as well." Logan looked at her as he spoke.

Hexgates could reach all over the world, but there was a problem: Hexgates, as things stood, only worked cleanly in one direction—because Piltover still hadn't managed to establish proper Hexgate terminals in other city-states.

That meant returning trips consumed a huge amount of Hextech crystals, and there was node drift—causing time discrepancies between departures and arrivals.

To Logan, that was a problem that needed fixing. If you wanted to be the world's trade capital, how could it always be Piltover sending airships out to everyone else?

So Ionia would become the Twin Cities' first external Hexgate terminal. Once the foundation was laid in Ionia, then Demacia, Shurima, Bilgewater—even Noxus—would follow.

By then, the entire world would be tied to the Twin Cities.

Demacians could go to Ionia whenever they wanted. Ionians could go to the Freljord whenever they wanted.

Someday, Runeterra could become one connected village—and that wasn't impossible.

"Then what do we have to give up?" Irelia asked, wary now as she looked at Logan.

Because she didn't understand.

Ionia was poor. What Logan was doing felt like handing out aid. But there was no such thing as free kindness in this world.

Especially kindness from a stranger.

So Irelia feared there was a trap. She had to be careful. One choice from her could affect the lives of thousands upon thousands across Ionia. One wrong decision, and she'd become Ionia's sinner.

"I understand." Logan looked at her cautious expression and found it almost funny.

That was exactly why he was sitting here.

If Silco or Renata were the ones negotiating, Irelia would get eaten alive—bones and all.

She was far too green. Everything she thought was written all over her face.

"In the early stage, the Twin Cities will cover all costs." Logan said. "We have a lot of money—an absurd amount. Ionia won't need to pay anything. And once the Hexgate terminal is built, with the Twin Cities pulling trade through it, Navori will become a trade city-state. Your local specialties will be shipped by airship and sold across the world. Ionia will profit massively and become wealthy."

Wen, and even Akali at the side, stared at Logan with open suspicion.

"You think I'm doing charity work?" Logan noticed their expressions—and he also saw the confusion and disbelief in Irelia's eyes.

He laughed. Jinx folded her arms and laughed too.

Naive locals.

Jinx had been raised by Silco. She didn't like business, but that didn't mean she didn't understand trade.

And Logan?

He was a modern man, had worked with Silco for a long time, and had watched Renata handle countless matters. He'd learned plenty.

So he said, "When you build a trade route, you don't worry about spending money. The only thing you fear is having money with nowhere to spend it. For Zaun and Piltover, money is just a number now. So no matter how much we spend, it won't hurt. Do you know? The Twin Cities have even considered building an ocean bridge straight to Shurima—opening a direct route between Shurima and Valoran."

"So, for the Twin Cities, what matters isn't how much we can squeeze out of you. And you'll understand that eventually, so I'll just say it plainly."

"Once this trade route is built, we'll make a lot of money. Every deal will include a fee we collect. But that isn't what we truly want."

"What the Twin Cities truly want is status." Logan finished and looked at Irelia seriously.

Even now, many nations still looked down on Zaun and Piltover, because the Twin Cities' position wasn't considered "proper."

Their history was older than Demacia's—but that history didn't belong to the Twin Cities. It belonged to Shurima.

Back then, the cities were called Va-Zaun—a small Shuriman port town. When historians wrote about Va-Zaun, the few lines they spared didn't speak of the Twin Cities. They spoke of Shurima.

But now, Zaun and Piltover no longer belonged to Shurima. They were new city-states.

Piltover had existed for centuries, but Zaun?

Zaun had only truly "formed" recently. And even after all the years of Silco's hard work, many nations across Valoran still recognized only Piltover, not Zaun—still treating Zaun as a subordinate city of Piltover.

It was infuriating.

Why had Silco insisted Piltover acknowledge Zaun's autonomy—its independence?

Because the first step for a city-state to develop its own culture, to truly rise, was to be acknowledged and affirmed by other city-states.

And that was what Logan was doing now.

Opening trade routes, establishing ties with Bilgewater and Ionia—those things raised Zaun's "status" in Runeterra.

It made money, and it got the real objective done.

Not bad at all.

"Think it over properly. There's no rush," Logan said with a smile when Irelia fell silent.

That evening, on the second floor of the workshop.

Jinx sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at Logan. "So are we leaving here?"

"Yeah. In a few days." Logan nodded while writing a letter. "I'll ask Janna to send word so Singed can come over. We'll head out early and scout first."

He was writing because Janna couldn't recite all of this to Silco—the content was too long. Janna wouldn't be able to get through it without missing things.

And who said a god's memory had to be perfect?

Logan kept writing, explaining that Silco should coordinate with Piltover and prepare a geology team, when suddenly a voice sounded in his mind.

It was faint—so faint he couldn't even make out the words.

But Logan recognized the voice immediately.

Ahri.

She'd said before that the boundary between the two realms in Ionia was thin. With Logan here, she could sense him. So once Orianna's matter was handled, she'd find a way to inform him.

So… was Orianna's matter settled?

Logan glanced at Jinx and saw her lie down, hugging a pillow. Her pale legs clamped around it tightly as she closed her eyes—clearly planning to sleep.

Seeing that, Logan checked his energy points.

Two points left.

Forget bringing a gift. If he brought something only for Ahri and not for Kindred, that would be a bad move.

And besides, once Orianna arrived, keeping a point or two might be useful.

Otherwise… would he make Singed wait again?

Singed had already waited nearly two years.

With that thought, Logan opened the system.

Then he entered the Spirit Blossom Space.

"Welcome back, Summoner Logan."

Logan quickly selected the landing point—Stillwater Lake.

Kindred's territory.

The next instant, white light swallowed Logan's body, and he vanished from the Spirit Blossom Space.

"Landing successful."

At the same time, the Placidium—

Inside the temple sanctuary, a woman snapped her eyes open. Her emerald-green pupils flared with light as she rose to her feet in one sharp motion.

Then, inside her mind, countless voices of souls surged at once.

"Did the spirit realm… just get pried open for a moment?"

"I felt it too. It wasn't your imagination."

"How was that done? It wasn't simply entering the spirit realm—plenty of people can do that. This was more like what happens during the Spirit Blossom Festival."

"But the Spirit Blossom Festival only happens when the spirit tree blooms, doesn't it? And this should be a good thing, right?"

"Darha, you should carefully observe our memories." An elderly voice sounded.

Darha—this generation's Karma. And the elderly voice belonged to a Karma from a far older era, so distant it was hard to count.

But one thing was certain: that voice came from someone who lived in an age even older than Darha's grandfather's grandfather's grandfather.

"How can this be a good thing?" another voice snapped. "If the spirit realm can be pried open and entered at will, doesn't that mean the one who did it could also bring out the creatures of that world?"

"Bringing the dead back to life—how is that not good?"

"Idiot." A gentle voice answered. This Karma spoke softly to Darha. "If the dead can revive freely and cross into the material realm, it won't just be Ionia. The entire world will fall into complete chaos."

"Perhaps…" the elderly voice returned, slower now, heavier. "Darha, you should leave the sanctuary."

Karma froze. She lowered her gaze to her hands and whispered, "I can go out? I don't have to stay here meditating anymore?"

"Of course not."

The voice in Karma's mind sounded amused.

"You still have to meditate every day," it said. "Otherwise, how will you gain wisdom from us?"

Karma's excitement dimmed a little, but she still nodded.

"I understand."

"So what should I do?"

"Follow the voice of the Great Spirit, Darha. You'll understand what to do when the time comes. And besides—you already made the right choice once."

"You proved you were right, and we were wrong."

"And this time… we're willing to trust you."

Karma pressed her lips together. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

That Karma meant the doctrine Darha had once questioned and rejected—the idea that evil deeds would be punished eventually, so there was no need to intervene.

Young Darha was kind and righteous. She couldn't accept that. Because if no one intervened, then where would punishment come from for those who committed evil?

Noxus's invasion proved it. It shattered the long-followed doctrine of countless Karmas.

At first, they blamed her recklessness. The monks also believed she had caused a great disaster.

But time—and Karma's own words—persuaded them.

Power that is never used has no meaning. Harmony demands a heavy price. The world is changing. True wisdom is not the experience of elders—it is accepting what is in front of you.

And so, though they had never said it outright, they all believed this generation's Karma would change alongside Ionia itself.

"If that person is truly unforgivable—someone who will bring disaster to Ionia—then destroy him."

"If he can bring good change to Ionia, then help him."

"The Great Spirit will not abandon anyone who chooses to be good…"

The voices faded.

The green light in Karma's eyes dimmed.

She lifted a hand, and a fan flew into her grasp. Behind her, Ionia's twin dragons coiled like a halo at the back of her head.

Wearing a long dress, she stepped out of the Lasting Altar.

She looked toward Navori—one glance, and she saw the scene a thousand miles away.

Karma closed her eyes and raised her hand. A green bridge formed beneath her feet.

She lifted her foot and stepped onto it.

With only one step, Karma appeared on the far side of the sky.

This was not power a human could possess.

This was a god's power.

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