Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route-Chapter 171: Zaunite Tech—Mind-Blowing!

"Orianna… Orianna!"

Singed's eyes went wide. The steadiness he usually carried was gone. He bent down and pulled Orianna into a tight hug, his big hand cradling the back of her head.

Orianna froze for a moment, then gently reached up and patted Singed's back.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry to me for?" Singed said, voice shaking with emotion. "Orianna, I'm the one who owes you an apology. I didn't take care of you. I let you suffer."

Logan didn't step forward to interrupt the reunion. Instead, he glanced at Karma beside him—and saw her studying Orianna, eyes bright, evaluating.

Noticing Logan's look, Karma turned her head toward him and gave a small nod.

She could sense the abnormality on Orianna, and it didn't quite match what Logan had described. This girl had truly died; her soul was saturated with the aura of Spirit Blossom—an unmistakable sign of a soul being reborn after death within that realm.

But what could Karma do?

Orianna had already walked out of Spirit Blossom. She had even been personally delivered here by the Spirit of Salvation.

"I'm leaving first. Irelia, there are things I want to say to you," Karma said, looking at Irelia.

"To me?" Irelia pointed at her own cheek, surprised.

Karma nodded. Irelia hesitated, then stepped forward until she stood before Karma.

"What about me?" Akali raised a hand, confused.

There were only three Ionians here. If Karma and Irelia left, what was she supposed to do?

"Your path—haven't you already decided it?" Karma replied, her words carrying a deeper meaning. After speaking, she glanced at Logan.

Logan followed her lead and said, "Akali, if you don't mind, how about you come with Jinx and me to Bilgewater?"

"Leave Ionia?" Akali blinked.

Back in the treehouse, when Logan had brought up the Bilgewater situation, the expressions on Irelia and Karma's faces had been unmistakably resistant. They rejected war and violence on principle.

Akali was different.

She had been a little excited.

She was a martial artist, and her discipline was Pruning the Tree. Maybe she wasn't bloodthirsty. Maybe it wouldn't be right to say she "liked" violence. But if you said she opposed it or hated it, that would definitely be wrong.

Karma didn't say anything else. She raised a hand and opened a passage, taking Irelia away from the shoreline.

Singed and Orianna finished their tearful exchange. Holding Orianna's hand, Singed came to Logan. The cold, dangerous look that usually haunted his eyes was now filled with warmth.

"Logan… thank you," Singed said, full of gratitude. "I… I honestly don't know what words could possibly express what I'm feeling right now."

"It's fine, Professor. I understand," Logan said. He put a hand on Singed's shoulder and gave it a light pat, smiling. "Professor—we're on the same side."

"Logan… thank you," Orianna said softly as she looked up at him.

Logan blinked at her.

Orianna blinked back—like she understood perfectly—then gave him a sweet smile.

She looked only a little older than Isha, but the difference was her mind. Orianna's emotional maturity was far beyond kids her age.

She still remembered what Logan had told her: don't talk about what happened in Spirit Blossom. That was a secret shared only between her, Logan, and Ahri.

"Professor, what are you doing next? Going straight back to Zaun?" Logan asked.

"Whatever you need me for," Singed answered seriously.

"You've heard about Bilgewater," Logan said. "I had Janna tell Silco that Zaun isn't going to join the chaos over there. But Jinx and I are still going—because Sarah isn't just my business partner. She's also going to be Jinx's bridesmaid at her wedding."

Singed understood immediately, but he still hesitated.

"The toxins I've been developing attack indiscriminately. A place like Bilgewater… all it would take is dumping the agent into their canals. In less than a week, that whole city would become a dead city." Singed paused, then added, "But… that isn't what you want."

"Professor, don't go so extreme," Logan said, deadpan.

"I understand." Singed smiled and nodded. "From now on, when it comes to bio-alchemical development, I'll focus more on inventions that help people… rather than inventions that kill them."

Then he asked, "But if you don't need that, what do you need from me?"

"Jinx wants to build a small airship. But if it's just her, it'll take too long," Logan said. "I know your main field is bio-alchemy and genetic work, but I'm sure helping Jinx won't be a problem for you."

Singed's specialty was alchemy, sure—but that didn't mean he was useless with machines. Maybe he wasn't on the same level as Jinx, Viktor, or Jayce, but across Zaun and Piltover, his mechanical skill still deserved to be called master-level.

Singed gave a low "Mm," then tugged Orianna's small hand and smiled. "Orianna can help too."

Logan looked at Orianna, curious. "Orianna, you know this stuff too?"

"Yes," Orianna said, lifting her chin. "If I hadn't gotten sick, I would've been a student at Piltover Academy."

Logan thought about it and realized it made sense. Like father, like daughter. Singed was a professor at Piltover Academy—Orianna growing up interested in science under his influence was completely natural.

And in her stories, she clearly understood mechanical theory as well.

"Then I'll be counting on you and the Professor to help Jinx build the airship," Logan said. He bent down and offered his hand toward Orianna.

Orianna laughed, reached up with her small hand, and gave his palm a light slap.

After that, Logan and the enforcers—plus a very suspicious-looking Akali—returned to Bondweave Village with Janna's help.

Janna couldn't casually open a passage like Karma and instantly send everyone back, but with the wind at her command, the trip still wasn't slow.

When they got back to Bondweave Village, Logan brought Singed, Orianna, and several enforcers to the repair shop.

Jinx—who hadn't come along—was in the living room. While Logan and the others were at the shoreline, she'd already started building.

She had changed into work clothes, tied her hair back, and smeared grease across her cheeks and long arms and legs.

"Yo, Doc~" Jinx greeted when she saw Singed. Then she looked at Orianna and grinned. "So that's your daughter?"

"Orianna," Singed said, "call her 'Jinx.'"

Orianna nodded obediently and sweetly greeted Jinx.

Jinx laughed. Wiping sweat from her forehead with her forearm, she straightened up, one hand on her hip, smiling. "Alright, alright. I'm busy, though. Hey—Doc, you here to help me?"

"Mm." Singed stepped forward, looking at the materials scattered across the floor—things the villagers of Bondweave Village and the resistance members Irelia brought had gathered for Jinx.

He picked up Jinx's sketch and narrowed his eyes.

It was… very rough. And it was pretty obviously "borrowing" a lot from Hextech airship design.

"Not bad," Singed said. "But is the structure stable?"

"As long as it works, it works," Jinx replied casually.

She wrenched a part into place with a wrench, tightening down the nailed-together planks. Then she reached for another piece—

And a small hand held out a set of Type-3 screws right in front of her.

"Huh?" Jinx looked at Orianna, surprised. "You can read that?"

"Not completely," Orianna admitted. "But I can recognize screw types. This, and this—you're using the same type for both, right?"

"Heh. You're smart," Jinx said, nodding. "You and Isha would totally get along. When I get back to Zaun, I'll introduce you. She's my little sister, and she's a genius too."

Jinx took the screws Orianna offered and kept working.

Logan stepped forward. "Need me for anything?"

"Yes," Jinx said immediately. "Logan, there are a bunch of really heavy things outside. I can't carry them. You carry them."

Logan shrugged. "Then you're going to be disappointed. I'm not feeling great right now—I can't lift anything too heavy."

As he spoke, Logan looked toward Akali, who was acting like a background extra and deliberately trying to lower her presence.

"Akali, can I ask you to help?"

"…"

"What do I get?" Akali squinted.

"Dinner's on me," Logan said.

"Deal," Akali said, and walked straight out the door to carry the heavy stuff Jinx had mentioned, piled in a messy heap outside the treehouse.

Three days later, at the entrance of Bondweave Village, villagers crowded together, faces full of curiosity as they watched Logan and Jinx in the center of the gathering.

Sett stood beside his mother, eyes wide. The ears on his head twitched and twitched—almost making him look kind of cute.

"Jinx," Logan said, staring at the "airship," genuinely worried. "Are you sure this thing isn't going to fall apart mid-flight?"

Jinx slapped the airship hard with her pale hand. Logan flinched like it might collapse right then.

"Relax, Logan. Even if it falls apart, we've got hoverboards." Jinx spoke with absolute confidence. "We won't die."

In just three days—with Singed, Orianna, the villagers of Bondweave Village, and the trench enforcers all helping—Jinx had built it.

It wasn't big. And even though everyone called it an "airship," if Logan had to describe it… it was closer to a hot-air balloon.

And of course, the shape and look screamed Jinx.

The hull was a patchwork of thin gray-white metal plates and wooden boards, covered with painted animal doodles: a one-eyed rabbit, a snarling blue cat face with its mouth wide open, a pink-and-blue evil grin, and more.

Its power source was still a Hextech Gemstone.

Jinx had seemingly found a new energy source in Ionia, but she couldn't develop it without proper equipment. For stability, choosing a Hextech Gemstone was the obvious move.

Stable. Reliable. Powerful.

It was a generation-defining invention—something that would still be cutting-edge even a hundred years from now.

"Alright! Get in!" Jinx said, climbing into the airship first.

Since they were going to help Sarah in a fight, she had deliberately changed into her combat outfit: a tactical vest on top, fitted black pants on the bottom, and a delicate blue bracelet strapped around her right wrist.

Her whole vibe was clean and sharp—so much so that if you ignored her cute face, she almost looked like a cold, intimidating badass.

Then you looked at her face and her crazed, self-assured grin shattered that "cold" image immediately.

Logan was the second to climb aboard. He still thought it looked dangerous, but he was willing to trust Jinx.

But once the two of them were inside, one person still refused to get on.

Logan looked at her and laughed. "What's wrong? Get in."

Akali, expression cool as ever, shook her head.

No way.

A thing built in three days—sure, it looked okay from the outside, but Akali had helped build it. How could she not know what it was like inside?

This was basically a shack nailed together.

Who knew whether the nails and screws were even tightened properly?

Akali didn't understand engineering, but she didn't need to. She could still tell it was dangerous.

And besides, these people said it was going to fly up into the sky.

Forget whether it could even fly—if it did fly and then suddenly fell apart midair, wouldn't that be instant death?

"Don't worry," Logan said after thinking for a moment. "If you get on, you'll be the first Ionian to ever ride a flying machine. When you see Shen, you can call him outdated. You'll know more than he does."

Akali's eyes shifted.

Logan caught the tiny change and found it funny, but he kept a serious face and added, "Shen keeps talking about balance, saying you're not qualified, that you can't tell right from wrong in this world… but if he doesn't even understand as much as you do, then what right does he—"

"Stop talking. Start the ship!" Akali snapped.

Her body moved like a feather-light shadow. With one leap, she appeared beside Logan and Jinx.

Logan quietly exhaled in relief.

His weakened state still hadn't fully ended, but he could feel his strength returning—so it probably wouldn't be much longer.

Until it came back, Akali was the strongest person here.

In a one-on-one fight, Akali could even take Vander—though that didn't mean she was overwhelmingly stronger than him.

Combat strength wasn't a simple number. It wasn't comparing stats. It definitely wasn't like playing a card game.

When two people are close in power, a deathmatch can go either way. Just because A is slightly stronger than B, does that mean A will definitely kill B?

Of course not.

Mindset, courage, and intelligence are just as crucial.

Vander could charge straight into a Noxian battle formation and fight one against a hundred without it being a problem.

If you told Akali to do that, she absolutely couldn't.

Because Akali was flesh and blood. One arrow hitting her, one blade grazing her, and she'd be injured.

Vander wouldn't.

But in a duel?

Akali trained in killing arts. She struck weak points. Every move was meant to end the fight.

Across Valoran, there were very few people who could truly beat Akali in a one-on-one.

Even if you brought in a walking monster like Garen, his fighting technique wouldn't be better than hers.

Right now, inside this cramped space—barely large enough for the three of them, plus piles of equipment—it still didn't feel crowded.

Logan looked at Jinx.

Jinx lifted her long leg, planting her black boot hard on the control console. With both hands, she yanked down on the chains.

A rumbling roar answered her.

The airship's underside began to vibrate, and Akali instantly grabbed a handhold. Behind her mask, her beautiful eyes showed a trace of worry.

She wasn't afraid of heights.

But right now, she really was scared.

The villagers of Bondweave Village watched too.

Babb craned his neck—and then he saw it.

The airship lifted off the ground.

"Oh my god! That thing is actually flying!" Babb shouted.

"How is that even possible?"

"Th-this was made from our stuff?!"

Sett stared at the "monster" rising into the air, stunned.

The sound, the sight—everything sparked a sudden memory in his mind: Logan's voice in the classroom, pointing at his own head while smiling at the students.

What had Teacher Logan said back then? 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Oh—right:

"Strength doesn't only show up in muscles, kids. Sometimes… this matters too."

And now, Sett was seeing the "strength" Logan meant.

It flew.

That strange, broken-looking land-ship… really flew!

"WOOOOO!" Jinx's high, triumphant voice rang out over Bondweave Village.

She leaned out, waving wildly, nearly half her body outside the airship. The wind whipped her jacket, making it rattle and snap.

Logan rushed forward and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from falling.

"It's flying, Logan! See? I told you it'd be fine!" Jinx shouted.

"Who do you think I am? I'm Jinx!"

"I'm the greatest genius Zaun has ever had!"

The airship climbed higher and higher, reaching dozens of meters above the ground.

Jinx threw her head back and laughed, her voice overflowing with pride.

Below, the villagers stared up.

A few elders—around Babb's age—actually dropped to their knees, worshiping the airship in the sky.

They couldn't understand it at all.

To Ionian common sense, flight was something only spirits could do—something even the great hidden sects couldn't achieve.

Babb was the same. He stared up in shock as the black dot grew smaller and smaller, leaving Bondweave Village behind and heading toward the sea.

The sight shook most of the village to the core.

Zaunite technology was terrifyingly awe-inspiring.

But among the crowd, there were also people who didn't feel fear or worship.

They felt excitement.

Curiosity.

The children of Bondweave Village stared upward, eyes burning bright.

And somewhere deep in their hearts, a seed had taken root—one that had already begun to sprout.

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