Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route-Chapter 169: Bilgewater in Peril

Zaun — Council Building.

Vi was standing by the entrance. Logically speaking, with how far she'd climbed in Zaun, a guard post wasn't something she should be doing anymore.

But she was there anyway.

Of course, Vi wasn't actually there to stand watch—she was there to keep Caitlyn company.

Tall and hard to miss in Zaun, Caitlyn wore the Zaun Enforcer uniform. The ash-red Zaunite colors suited her even better than Piltover's blue, and the bolder cut made her look downright sexy.

She smiled at Vi and pointed toward the door.

"Silco's in a meeting?" Vi raised a brow and lowered her voice.

She understood what Caitlyn meant—watch the volume.

Caitlyn shook her head and whispered, "It's just Silco and Renata. But Silco's in a really bad mood."

"When is he ever not?" Vi scoffed. "Ever since Jinx left Zaun, he's been walking around with that sour face like the whole world owes him money."

Ever since Logan took Jinx and left Zaun, Silco had been acting like he hit some kind of midlife crisis—except he was a man, so what the hell was that about?

Still, his temper really had gotten worse. Always brooding. Always gloomy. He'd even stopped bothering to put on any makeup—he looked exactly like some abandoned, stay-at-home dad.

It was honestly kind of funny.

Caitlyn only shook her head. She didn't join in the teasing, but she didn't stop Vi either.

Inside the office, Silco stared coldly at the documents in his hands. He pulled one sheet out and laid it flat on the desk. Renata picked it up, glanced down, and read.

A moment later, she spoke. "This girl's at least smart. She knows better than to demand people from us right now. She only asked for supplies—massive amounts of medical supplies."

Renata set the paper back down, folded one arm across her chest, and looked at Silco. "So what are you going to do?"

"What am I going to do?" Silco lifted his gaze and didn't answer—he asked instead. "What do you think?"

"We shouldn't get involved," Renata said after a brief thought. "But we've invested quite a bit in her. If she dies like this, we lose a fortune."

"As a businesswoman," Renata added coolly, "I don't allow failed investments."

"Especially not the kind that leave us with nothing."

"And from a politician's angle?" Silco asked.

Renata answered, "Two sides. If we step in and help her take Bilgewater, then in the future Bilgewater becomes Zaun's backyard. A lot of Zaun's dirty work can be done through Bilgewater, which is good for Zaun's growth."

"But on the other hand, any nation that openly interferes in another region's war won't be welcomed."

"Pros and cons." Renata's voice stayed even. "The biggest problem is: if we intervene and still lose, then the cost is worse than simply abandoning her."

Bilgewater had been tearing itself apart in internal warfare recently. The ones who lit that fuse were Sarah Fortune and Gangplank.

After receiving Zaun's funding, Sarah stopped holding back, expanded her power fast, and began crushing Gangplank's people on Bilgewater Isle—forcing the war into the open.

That dragged Gangplank back to the isle. And once he returned, the two sides went to war for real.

Sarah was clever and fearless, and she had the initiative—so at the start, she held the advantage.

One night, she even turned some of Gangplank's own men against him. She used them to divide his crew, then set his ship ablaze—making the entire isle understand that the Pirate King was yesterday's news.

The new ruler of the seas was Miss Fortune—Sarah Fortune.

Bilgewater's new master.

Gangplank escaped in the chaos. Sarah sent people after him, but in the night sea, he vanished.

Just as Sarah thought it was over—

A week later, Gangplank returned.

And with him came Buhru priests from the Serpent Isles.

Overnight, the isle's gangs flipped. The ones who'd been neutral, sitting back and watching, suddenly began backing Gangplank. A mob boss named Okao led the shift, dragging gang after gang into Gangplank's camp and forging his comeback.

Zaun only got the news in the last few days. The moment Silco heard, he asked Janna to carry the message to Logan.

"So," Silco said, tapping the desk with a curled knuckle, impatience creeping in, "you think we should help, or we shouldn't?"

Renata rolled her eyes. Her chest rose and fell beneath her suit as she answered, "From the politician's angle, I think we shouldn't. Even without Bilgewater as a proxy for the nasty stuff, Zaun's development won't slow down. That's just extra icing—not worth the risk."

"And besides," Renata added, "does my opinion matter? Hm?"

"It doesn't," Silco said casually, raising a hand. "I'm just asking."

Renata gave a cold snort. A furious curse jammed in her throat, but she swallowed it down and stood obediently at Silco's side.

When this bastard finally stepped down…

The seat he was in might not be out of reach.

When the roles switched, she'd teach Silco what "cruel" really meant.

But not yet.

So she asked politely, "Then what do you think?"

"What I think doesn't matter," Silco said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Am I the ruler of Zaun?"

"This is obviously up to Logan. If he says help, we help. If he says fight, we mobilize and call Piltover—then we go to Bilgewater today."

"Everything depends on what he wants," Silco said. "Not what we want."

Renata drew a slow breath and forced a smile. "Of course."

"You cursing me in your head?" Silco asked suddenly.

"I wouldn't dare."

"It's fine." Silco smiled, hands clasped beneath his chin. "We're Zaunites. When it's time to curse, we curse. That's nothing."

Renata shook her head. "I really wasn't. I respect you."

"You'd better." Silco's smile faded. "Renata, don't let me catch you with leverage. Zaun isn't your toy. It isn't a ladder for your ambitions. Remember that."

Renata went silent.

"Singed already left?" Silco asked.

"He's on the way," Renata replied. "Willa's squad is escorting him. Estimated arrival in Navori this afternoon. He can see Logan by evening."

Silco nodded.

Singed had worked for him for many years. Now Silco's wishes had all come true—so it was time for Singed's wish to come true too.

The image of that stoic doctor so excited he couldn't even speak… actually improved Silco's mood.

Then Silco remembered his daughter had been out playing for over a month now and hadn't sent back a single letter.

His face darkened again.

Renata watched that, lowered her head, backed toward the door, then turned and walked out.

Outside, she saw Caitlyn and Vi.

Renata wasn't surprised. She saw scenes like this every day. She only nodded to them and continued on her way.

Vi shrugged. After Renata was far enough away, she muttered to Caitlyn, "Jinx wasn't wrong. That woman's way too perfect for Silco. They're the same kind of people."

"Are they?" Caitlyn smiled. She brushed hair back behind her ear, eyes on Vi. "Then what about us?"

She stepped forward.

Caitlyn was far taller than Vi. She looked down at her—and a flash of pale cleavage swayed right in Vi's face.

"Uh…" Vi turned her head with visible effort and coughed. "Right. I just remembered I've got something to do. Caitlyn—I'll pick you up after your shift tonight."

And then Vi bolted.

Caitlyn tugged at her collar, watched Vi's retreating back, and shook her head.

"You talk a big game," she murmured, "but when it's time to actually do something, you panic."

"On that front, Vi… you really aren't as bold as Jinx."

She kicked a pebble away and spoke to herself.

BOOM!!!

A cannon shell blew a stone shack apart.

Sarah held twin pistols, braced behind cover. Down below, Rafen was staring at a strange device.

"Is it done yet? For fuck's sake, Rafen!" Sarah roared. "I told you to start studying it early, and you never listened!"

"And now it's my fault?!" Rafen yelled back.

His hands were smeared with ash and dust. He held a small booklet—eyes locked on the text as he read while fumbling with the device beside him.

It was a boxy machine with three Hextech gemstones set inside. The outer casing had dozens of small buttons—so many it looked insane. At the top center sat a pure crystal display.

"Who the hell knew the Buhru would back Gangplank?!" Rafen shouted, teeth clenched as he slammed a button. "The whole isle was saying Illaoi dumped him ages ago!"

The display split open.

Two cute, bright-blue butterflies fluttered out—then vanished in a blink.

The screen closed again, and an image appeared on the crystal display.

Rafen's eyes went wide. "Holy shit—Zaun really gave us something incredible!"

Sarah popped up, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. Her pistols spat blue fire, blasting a spread of shots into the pirates rushing uphill.

"Agh!"

One burst. At least a dozen of Gangplank's men dropped.

Was that a lot?

Yeah.

Was it enough?

Not even close.

With Illaoi involved, the gangs who worshipped the Buhru and their traditions had joined Gangplank. Right now, Sarah's crew wasn't just fighting Gangplank—

They were fighting Bilgewater's underworld as a whole.

Sarah glanced down at the device, surprise bright in her eyes. "What the fuck is that thing?"

"That's Keog, that bastard," Rafen snapped. "He used to call you his queen, then the Buhru say one sentence and he runs straight to Gangplank."

"Kill him."

"Zaun said it's their newest weapon," Sarah said. "If it's a weapon, it has to do damage. Figure out how it works."

"Stop rushing me, I'm trying," Rafen barked, then forced himself to focus. He skimmed the instructions and started testing.

He pressed a few buttons and realized the two biggest controls weren't meant to be clicked—they could be held and moved. When he shifted them, the view on the screen changed.

After a few seconds, Rafen guessed the feed was coming from the butterflies that had just flown out.

So the controls were steering two tiny butterfly drones?

"This one's wrong. That one's wrong…" Rafen muttered, flipping through the booklet. "What the hell does this evil grin mean?"

He found the matching button.

Why couldn't Zaunites label things normally?

Why do they always have to be weird about it?

And what is this stupid grin supposed to mean?

Screw it. Press first, ask questions later.

Rafen smashed the "evil grin" button.

The device vibrated. A bright-blue smiling face flashed on the screen for an instant—then the image returned to normal.

Sarah frowned. "Nothing happened!"

Rafen stared too. It looked like nothing—

And then, on the screen, Keog's fat body suddenly crumpled and fell.

Rafen froze. He zoomed in and guided one butterfly closer to Keog.

On the back of Keog's greasy collar, at the base of his neck, there was a hole the size of a fingertip.

Just a hole.

No blood spraying—only terrifying heat. The skin around it was scorched red.

Rafen started shaking.

Before he could speak, voices erupted from Gangplank's side.

"Keog is dead!"

"Shit—those bastards shot him from the shadows!"

Sarah snapped her head toward Rafen.

His big face was pale with fear as he looked back at her.

"Boss… Zaun gave us something unreal," Rafen said, sucking in cold air. "I'm calling Silco my godfather from now on. He let us use something like this—he treats me better than my real dad!"

"This thing can snipe a target straight off the screen!"

Sarah's eyes lit up. She yanked her captain's hat down tighter, slid down the slope, and shoved Rafen aside as she dropped into the seat in front of the device.

"You talk. I'll do. Show me."

"Okay—first do this, then…"

And then, inside Gangplank's camp—

"Marvin, what the hell, you tripped over your own feet? …Marvin? Marvin, what's wrong?!"

"Konsan? Konsan?! Shit—Konsan's dead too! Who did this? Who the hell did this?!"

"Only a few deaths. Sarah got weapons from Zaun, that's probably wh—"

"The guy who was talking—Randel—he's dead too!"

Back on Sarah's side, her hands trembled as she operated the device.

She was smart. Under Rafen's rapid instructions, she learned fast.

Press one button, then press it again, pick your target on the screen—

And the target dropped.

The simplicity made Sarah feel cold inside.

If this thing could be mass-produced… then in this world, Zaun would be unstoppable.

Sarah killed another bastard who'd been screaming about capturing her and doing unspeakable things to her when the device suddenly began to beep.

A pouty little face popped up on the display. The screen turned transparent, the image vanished, and the crystal display split open again.

The two butterflies fluttered back, landed inside the device, and the display closed.

Sarah looked at Rafen. "What does that mean?"

"Let me check." Rafen hurriedly bent over the booklet.

A moment later, he said seriously, "It means it's out of power. We need to replace the Hextech gemstones. And the butterflies need charging—about three hours."

"We only used it for less than twenty minutes!" Sarah snapped. "And why can't it just say 'out of power' instead of showing stupid faces?"

"How would I know?!" Rafen shouted back.

This wasn't a normal weapon manual. The thing was filled with weird smiley faces and animal icons. Did she have any idea how painful it was to read?

Sarah didn't.

But even while cursing, she felt more at ease.

Twenty minutes of use, three hours of recharge—terrible endurance. That meant it couldn't be used for long-range assassination at scale.

Otherwise, with a drone that small—fast enough to vanish in a blink—Zaun could sit safely at home and assassinate Noxians from across the sea.

Even so, the device still opened a new world for Sarah.

She stood, raised her guns, and called out loudly, "Alright. Times have changed—but we got on the Zaun ship."

"At the end of the day, we still win with the guns in our hands."

"Charge! Push them back—every last one of them!"

Sarah led from the front, climbing high and shouting over the battlefield.

——————

"In the end, what are those weird weapons?" a woman asked in a low voice inside a Bilgewater tavern.

She was tall, built like forged bronze, with muscles like cast metal. Her eyes burned bright red as she stared at a scruffy "old man" who looked like a beggar—missing an arm.

"How the fuck would I know?" Gangplank barked.

"Gangplank," the woman warned, "I came here to help you."

"When I begged you to help me, you didn't!" Gangplank snarled. "You mocked me. Now I didn't even ask you—I was going to take my throne back myself—and suddenly you show up to help anyway. Illaoi, you're fucking weird!"

Gangplank looked filthy, reeking of grime and salt. His clothes were torn, his body ragged, and missing an arm made him look like a ruined, washed-up old man.

But his eyes were sharp and bright—confident, fierce, and alive beneath the tangled hair.

Illaoi helping him wasn't something he'd earned.

No—he had tried to earn it once.

At the start, he really did go to Illaoi. He humbled himself until he might as well have dropped to his knees.

Illaoi ignored him.

Worse—she used her holy idol and punished him.

But after those endless dream-trials, Gangplank changed.

He became the pirate he used to be—bold, vicious, and fearless. The Gangplank who'd first set sail and feared nothing.

So no, he hadn't begged Illaoi this time.

But if she was willing to help, he wasn't about to refuse.

Illaoi's gaze cooled.

Gangplank snorted and said, "Those weird toys are Zaunite. That little bitch Sarah didn't know when to die—she got into bed with Zaun somewhere along the line and pulled money and weapons from them. Otherwise you think I'd have lost this badly?"

"I'll admit she's dangerous," he went on. "I regret not searching under the bed properly after I killed her mother—should've found her too and hanged her. But it's too late now, isn't it?"

"Now it's your Buhru people's turn." Gangplank leaned forward, voice sharpening. "With Zaun's weapons, the isle's gangs can't push up the hill."

"That's sending them to die."

Illaoi closed her eyes. When she opened them, she looked toward the Buhru priestess beside her.

"Bring the Serpent Callers to the shore."

"Truth Bearer, that isn't the proper—"

Illaoi lifted her cup, took a hard drink, and shouted, "Rules? This is the Blue Flame Isles. She brought Zaun's weapons—those are the rules now."

"Enough. My word is the rule."

The priestess flinched, glanced at Gangplank, and remembered that this man had endured the Serpent Mother's trial.

She stopped arguing and nodded. "Yes. I understand."

"You should've done that a long time ago," Gangplank said, taking a huge gulp of rum and laughing with rough satisfaction.

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