Hearing Sarah's question, Faen smiled, patted Sarah's ass, and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Of course not~ I can feel that this place is brimming with joy and hope!"
As a half-spiritual realm lifeform, Faen effortlessly noticed the massive changes in the current Bilgewater compared to before.
Aside from the changes he had already sensed during his previous visit, the current Faen could now feel an endless surge of courage and resolve welling up within the hearts of Bilgewater's people.
Although it seemed like this power only emerged for the sake of fighting, it was completely different from before.
In the past, the people of Bilgewater weren't fighting so much as they were making a desperate, forced struggle just to survive another day.
Especially during the Gangplank era, people barely had any room to choose. As the uncrowned king, Gangplank would forcibly conscript every single person in Bilgewater into the defense against the Harrowing. There was absolutely zero pay, and if you died, you died. Furthermore, through rampant nepotism, he would assign pirates from other factions, fishermen, sailors, and ordinary residents to the most dangerous front lines.
Slightly safer areas would be allocated to members of other large pirate crews, the Bounty Hunters Guild, and the Sea-Monster Hunters Guild. The ordinary folks and average sailors were always thrust into the deadliest zones.
Of course, he wouldn't do this right from the start. Gangplank would even symbolically fight at the very front for a short period of time. However, the moment the intensity of the battle reached a certain threshold, as the King of the Black Ship, Gangplank would instantly retreat without the slightest hesitation.
And even if the others wanted to flee, they had absolutely no chance to do so, because Gangplank's overseer squads would never let them off easily.
But regardless, under the crushing pressure of survival, the Harrowing became the absolute greatest tribulation the people of Bilgewater had to face.
This included the time when Sarah had just become the Queen of Bilgewater.
Many people wondered in their hearts whether Sarah truly had the qualifications to be the Queen here. Because to rule Bilgewater, one had to defeat the Harrowing, proving with their own capabilities that they possessed enough strength and ambition to reign over the city.
But now, Faen could clearly feel that the people weren't just watching to see how Sarah would defeat the Harrowing; they wanted to fight alongside Sarah to defeat the Harrowing. The reason was simple: in Sarah, they felt hope and a future.
They were no longer mere bystanders watching Sarah conquer the Harrowing. They wanted to proactively join in, fighting the Harrowing together with her.
In other words...
"I can feel that the people are willing to continue living, surviving, developing, and marching toward the future under your banner."
Faen swept his gaze over the surroundings, his eyes lingering particularly long on the reformed pirates who had submitted to Sarah.
"You've given them hope. This makes them join the war against the Harrowing not out of coercion, but by voluntarily rallying under your banner. Fighting for you, and fighting for themselves."
Faen smiled and said, "I can feel that although they fear death, they have already made up their minds in their hearts.
"And all of this is because they firmly believe that even if they die, you will still lead this city toward prosperity and strength. You will honor your promises, ensuring their children and families receive the compensation and respect they deserve."
Hearing Faen's words, a smile curled on the corners of Sarah's mouth. She nodded and said, "That goes without saying. After all, making every single one of them feel hope and a future is your wish too, isn't it?"
"Of course."
Hearing Sarah's words, Faen nodded with a smile.
In truth, this wasn't the first Harrowing Sarah had experienced either.
The Harrowing was a cyclical disaster, usually occurring once every 7 to 8 years. With Sarah currently in her twenties, she had already lived through two Harrowings.
In the original lore, Sarah faced a total of three Harrowings.
During the first Harrowing, Sarah was still young and didn't directly participate. During the second one—which was happening right now—Sarah had just become the new ruler of Bilgewater. Many people were waiting for Sarah to prove her capabilities, crush the Harrowing, and become the true Queen of Bilgewater.
In reality, the second Harrowing Sarah experienced, which was the current one, was exactly the plot of the game Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.
In the story, Yasuo, Ahri, Braum, and Illaoi all arrived in Bilgewater. After experiencing numerous events, they decided to join the battle against the Harrowing. Ultimately, the group worked together to crush the Harrowing, and afterward, everyone obtained what they sought and set off on their respective journeys home in twos and threes.
But now, due to Faen's arrival, the Ionian War—which would have affected the fate of all of Ionia—was snuffed out by Faen ahead of time. Although Faen hadn't specifically asked around, Yasuo's wind technique school still existed perfectly well. And because the war hadn't penetrated every corner of Ionia, they weren't heavily affected.
Furthermore, since Riven had already been claimed into Faen's harem ahead of time, there was obviously no incident where Riven begged Elder Souma to destroy her runic greatsword, resulting in him being killed by the shattered blade, followed by people discovering Yasuo was absent from his post and finding traces of wind magic on Elder Souma's wounds.
Having avoided the timeline where he was forced to bear the stigma of a false accusation, and without being thrown into the massive Ionian War, the current Yasuo was likely still a little genius cultivating his wind sword technique, loving and fighting with his brother Yone, and dashing around all over the place.
Although he was incredibly popular in the game, unfortunately, Faen had absolutely zero interest in Yasuo—after all, he was a guy.
As for Ahri, she was probably still wandering deep in the ancient forests, never having truly stepped into human society. But since she was a Vastayan, Faen had already asked Xayah to help look for her. Once she was found, Faen would definitely personally step in to help 'educate' her as soon as possible.
As for Braum, Faen wasn't entirely sure, since he hadn't set foot in the Freljord yet. However, in the lore, Braum arrived in Bilgewater riding his massive shield down a river entirely by pure luck. If that was the case, he would probably show up naturally after some time.
What actually made Faen somewhat curious was that the octopus lady, Illaoi, hadn't shown up.
Was it because Gangplank was dead? Or was there some other reason?
Faen was a bit curious, but he didn't take it too much to heart. After all... although she was female, the octopus lady absolutely didn't match Faen's aesthetic tastes in the slightest.