Akali leaving the Kinkou Order earlier than planned had indeed caught Li Lin off guard, though it aligned with his long-term vision. At the very least, having her enter the War Academy and participate in the League of Legends was far better than her original path of resisting Noxus. Years of rigorous training had already equipped Akali with the skills to inherit the mantle of the Fist of Shadow. All that remained was to refine her combat techniques, something she could achieve with the guidance of the Kinkou Order—or, with the quantum computing capabilities of Li Lin's AI, which ensured she wouldn't stray down a misguided path.
Akali was, thus far, the first official outsider to register as a member of the League of Legends. Others whom Li Lin was familiar with—Caitlyn, Zoe, Kai'Sa, Sona, Kassadin, Jayce, Viktor, and Heimerdinger—formed the League's initial cohort, though he had yet to inform them of this development.
Through the AI, Li Lin delivered a standard set of nanotech armor and teleported Akali to the War Academy. There, he gave her a brief tour of the twin cities she had never seen before, introducing her to new friends to ease her transition from her homeland. Although Caitlyn's occasional glares suggested otherwise, Li Lin could swear on his honor that he had no intention of stirring up any romantic entanglements!
After ensuring Akali was settled over the course of three days, Li Lin resumed his visits to regional leaders. His next destination was Bilgewater—a lawless city perched on the edge of the Serpent Isles, where pirate gangs, rather than governments, held sway. Compared to Zaun under the reign of the Chem-Barons, Bilgewater was far more chaotic.
Bilgewater sprawled across treacherous straits and steep cliffs. Even the locals, accustomed to its perils, couldn't ignore its dangers. The city was divided into two areas by the Butcher's Bridge: the bustling docks and the affluent upper town on one side, and the infamous slums on the other. Beneath the bridge lay the Butcher's Wharf, the lowest part of Bilgewater, where the stench of slaughtered sea creatures was potent enough to nauseate an unaccustomed foreigner, despite the ever-present sea breeze. The wharf was controlled by various gangs, chief among them the Jagged Hooks, led by Gangplank—the Dreadway pirate king.
With the help of the AI, Li Lin activated his optical stealth camouflage and quickly located Gangplank's ship, *The Dreadway*. The pirate king was preparing to set sail early that morning to plunder some "unfortunate souls."
Bilgewater's seafaring commerce had declined dramatically over the past two years. The technological advancements of the twin cities, spearheaded by Li Lin and Jayce, had rendered the pirates' weapons obsolete, leaving them at a severe disadvantage. Furthermore, the rise of Hex Gates reduced the need for maritime trade. As a result, many pirates were now forced to raid unlucky fishing boats rather than lucrative merchant vessels.
Invisible to the naked eye, Li Lin landed on *The Dreadway*. Not a single soul aboard noticed his presence. Moments later, Gangplank emerged from his cabin, grumbling under his breath, trailed by a group of uneasy henchmen.
"Damn it all! You useless fools can't even take down a Piltovan merchant ship?" Gangplank bellowed. He drew his flintlock pistol, firing a deafening shot into the air. The gunpowder's acrid stench lingered, and the ship's crew flinched in unison.
After holstering the pistol, Gangplank unsheathed his weathered Bilgewater cutlass, its blade stained with rust and blood. From somewhere on his person, he produced an orange and began peeling it with the knife.
"Boss, you can't blame us for this!" a scrawny man with tattoos of Buhru script stammered, his face twisted with unease. "Over the past couple of years, that Piltovan bastard—what's his name, Li something—suddenly rose to power. With that Hextech Gate thing they built, most merchants have stopped passing through Bilgewater entirely!"
"Yeah, boss!" another chimed in. "We even raided the Serpent Blade Temple across the sea in Zhyun Province recently—that's Shadow Order territory. They're already holding a grudge against us…"
"And then there was that time we tried imposing a tithe on Hextech Gate shipments. Those Piltovans refused to pay, and the councilman we were working with got taken down. We couldn't have seen that coming!"
"…"
The crew's incessant complaints only deepened Gangplank's scowl. As he bit into the freshly peeled orange, his piercing glare silenced the lot of them.
"Bunch of useless idiots," snarled Gangplank as he devoured the orange in his hand. "I have to do everything myself." With a casual wave, he extended his hand, and a nearby lackey, quick to catch on, handed him a map he carried at all times. Gangplank unfolded the map, glanced at it, and pointed to a bay east of the Immortal Bastion, the capital of Noxus.
"We're heading here—to raid a Noxian warship!"
The crew froze, stunned by the audacity of his plan.
"What a brilliant idea!" one of the lackeys exclaimed, the same one who had handed him the map. Slowly, the rest of the deckhands caught on and joined in with cheers, their enthusiasm sparking a fiery energy among the crew aboard the dreadway.
Gangplank soaked in the fervent atmosphere, nodding in satisfaction. "Then hoist the sails!" he bellowed. He strode toward the helm, climbing the stairs to the stern to personally take the wheel. But before he could settle into command, a sudden voice froze him in his tracks.
"Gangplank, the Scourge of the Seas."
"Damn it, who's there?!" Gangplank spun around, pistol at the ready, his angry expression quickly replaced by confusion. "And just who the hell are you?"
His crew, alarmed by the commotion, rushed to his side. Their eyes fell on a figure clad in battle armor standing about ten paces away from their captain. Before they could speak or act, a flash of near-invisible energy beams cut through the air, and every single crew member—except Gangplank—collapsed to the deck, lifeless.
The thuds of bodies hitting the ground stunned the pirate lord. He stood motionless, trying to process what had just transpired.
"You son of a—" Gangplank cursed, though his words were cut short as the armored figure suddenly blinked forward, closing the distance in an instant. Before Gangplank could react, a fist struck him hard enough to knock him unconscious.
But instead of killing him, the intruder seized the unconscious Gangplank and ascended into the air, flying directly toward Bilgewater. Their destination? The bounty board prominently displayed in the heart of the city.
---
Every time Gangplank returned from a raid or completed a plunder, he took pride in pinning another silver serpent coin to his bounty poster, a macabre tally of his infamy.
Today, however, the notorious bounty board drew attention for a different reason.
In the crowd stood Sarah Fortune, better known as Miss Fortune—a striking woman with crimson locks, clad in a cropped corset and leather pants tucked into high-heeled boots. Her signature tricorne perched jauntily atop her head. The deadliest bounty hunter in Bilgewater, she had recently captured the legendary Siren and gunned down its captain, a feat many thought impossible.
Miss Fortune was browsing the bounty board while a spirited crowd around her placed bets, trying to guess which unlucky soul would become her next target.
But before she could make her choice, a commotion from above captured everyone's attention.
A figure descended from the skies, clad in armor resembling designs from Piltover. Gasps and exclamations erupted from the crowd.
"That looks like a Piltover mech soldier!"
"No, you idiot! That's the work of the Future Pioneer—he's the one who runs Piltover now!"
"Shut it, all of you! Look at what he's holding!"
As the crowd's murmurs reached her ears, Sarah turned, her curiosity piqued. When her gaze landed on the armored figure, her emerald eyes widened briefly in surprise. But it wasn't the figure itself that stole her focus—it was the unconscious man the intruder carried.
Gangplank.
The man who had murdered her parents.
For a moment, raw fury flickered across her face, but Sarah quickly masked it, her expression hardening into wary suspicion. Her piercing gaze returned to the armored figure as he landed with a heavy thud and unceremoniously tossed Gangplank's body onto the ground.
"You—who are you?" Sarah demanded, her voice low and dangerous.
"Sarah Fortune," the figure replied coolly, using her real name—a secret she had kept hidden even in a city of whispers.
Sarah's eyes widened, her breath catching briefly. Whoever this person was, they knew too much.
Before she could respond, the armored man spoke again, his tone calm yet commanding.
"From this day forward, you will be crowned the Pirate Queen of Bilgewater."
(End of Chapter)