Inside the Zaun council building, Silco signed his name on a piece of paper and then handed it to Renata, who was standing next to him.
"Submit this to Parliament and request approval from the other members. I need to confirm unanimous approval by evening."
He said to Renata.
Renata reached out and took it, then turned and left without a word. She had completely gotten used to this secretarial job by now.
They clearly promised her an official position, but two years have passed and she's still working as a secretary to Silco. If it weren't for her involvement in finance and diplomacy, Renata would have really caused a scene.
Even drawing a pie in the sky isn't done like this, is it?
But Renata really didn't have any solutions.
Ultimately, working alongside Silco is a good thing for her, because Silco is the most powerful councilor in Zaun besides Janna, a position even Li Ke can't match.
After all, while Li Ke is called the top senator, he's really just a figurehead. It's not that Li Ke has no power; in fact, he has a lot of power because Silco works for him. However, Li Ke is just too laid-back.
After all, nobody knows where he's gone to play now.
"Has spending too much time with Jinx turned you into a little madwoman?" After Renata left, Silco rubbed his temples speechlessly, then chuckled.
They started causing trouble on the third day after leaving Zaun. The first thing they did was get Zaun to sponsor a... female pirate?
Silco had heard of Sarah's reputation; after all, some time ago, a group of Bilgewater people had proposed to him that they cooperate to eliminate Sarah, because many of the goods they traded with Zaun were intercepted by Sarah on their way there, saying that she was undermining the friendship between Zaun and Bilgewater.
But Silco ignored it, because it harmed Bilgewater's interests, not Zaun's. He'd pay whatever amount of cargo they sent to the island; what did it matter to Zaun if the cargo was stolen en route?
Moreover, Zaun doesn't need Bilgewater friendships at all right now. Silco is a cold-blooded and pragmatic person. After getting rid of Jinx, his weakness, anyone and anything can become a stepping stone for Zaun, including the Bilgewater people who helped him.
But now, he signed the agreement because it was the order of the Lord of Zaun.
If Li Ke can't even make a decision on this kind of thing when he's away from home, then it's not just Li Ke's face that's being lost, but also Zaun's face.
"It's the third day already," Silco shook his head and sighed, wondering when he would be able to see his daughter again after this trip.
In Bilgewater, Sarah received a reply on the morning of the third day after sending her own people. Zaun had agreed to sponsor her and had already sent a batch of weapons and resources.
In a corner of the Slaughter Docks, Sarah was leading a large group of people, their eyes shining as they watched the shipments of supplies being transported from the large ship. She boarded the ship and looked at the weapons she herself didn't know how to use, as well as the ship full of food, drinks, and money. She felt excited, which made her alluring face flush red, and she was clenching her teeth and trembling.
To be honest, Sarah had considered that Zaun might give her money, food, and even Shimmer liquor and potions.
But she truly hadn't expected Zaun to even provide weapons!
Weapons are far more valuable than money!
"He also said that Zaun isn't wealthy. Is this what you call not wealthy? This is only the first batch of supplies!"
Hearing Sarah's voice, Rafen excitedly grabbed a gun, aimed it at the sea, and pulled the trigger. The muzzle jerked, and a bullet swiftly struck the surface. Rafen tried pulling the trigger again—this one didn't need a bolt!
This weapon would be considered high-tech in Bilgewater, wouldn't it?
After all, most of the firearms on Bi Island still require gunpowder and bolts!
"Captain, there are two more cannons here!"
"What cannon?" Sarah asked immediately.
Two henchmen excitedly carried the cannon over. Sarah took one look and saw it was a Zaun cannon. It looked like an older model, as it was covered in dust. But even an older model should be better than the cannons used in Bilgewater. After all, Bilgewater cannons were just assembled from scrap metal and then stuffed with an iron ball and called cannons.
Explode?
Bilgewater didn't develop this kind of technology tree!
Therefore, Sarah excitedly walked up to the two cannons with her hands on her hips. The two cannons were black, with long barrels, about 1.5 meters long, and the cannon barrels were a few centimeters wide. Next to them were instruction manuals and a bunch of boxes containing cannonballs.
Sarah handed the instruction manual to Rafen, Rafen immediately began practicing after reading it.
"First, add the Shimmer potion as an energy source, then insert the shells, up to three at a time, and then ignite them."
Rafen read the instruction manual while instructing someone to operate the cannon.
With Rafen's command to "ignite," and a loud "bang!", Sarah instinctively covered her ears as she watched the shell emerge from the smoke and trace a beautiful parabola in the air.
It flew a full kilometer before finally landing in the water.
"This power, this speed, this range, this is fucking amazing!" Rafen couldn't help but curse.
In naval battles in Bilgewater, cannons were often used for deterrence. This was because the Bilgewater cannons, which still used iron balls for attack, had a ridiculously low range and accuracy due to the weight of the iron balls. They often failed to hit enemy ships from hundreds of meters away.
But this cannon... it shoots incredibly far!
Just as Rafen was thinking this, a wave suddenly exploded on the distant sea, followed by flames rising from the surface.
The sea is on fire?!
At the Slaughter Docks, not only Sarah's people, but also a large number of Bilgewater people witnessed this scene, their mouths agape and their eyes wide, staring dumbfounded at the distant sea.
Miss Fortune was already very powerful. She was resourceful, brave, and courageous. In just two years, she built a force on Bi Island that was no less powerful than the other big shots.
However, Sarah has a weakness on the island of Bea: she is poor, so poor that many of her men are still using cold weapons.
But now it seems that Miss Fortune's only weakness has been improved?
Sarah was also dumbfounded. She never expected the shell to explode, let alone catch fire after the explosion!
If this had hit another ship, a ship that was all made of wood, this!!!
She didn't know that this was because of the addition of Shimmer is flammable and an extremely useful energy source.
As for the explosion, haha, this bomb was developed by Jinx when she was 15 years old. An explosion? Isn't that a normal occurrence?
It would be strange if it didn't explode!
What's even more interesting is that this cannon, which made Sarah feel like her understanding had been completely transformed, was actually something that Silco had pointed out to Sarah from a corner of the warehouse; it was a weapon that Zaun had already abandoned.
It's a weapon that Zaunite don't rarely use.
Looking at the two cannons, Sarah murmured:
"Li Ke, Jinx, just how powerful is Zaun now?"
"Can this kind of weapon really be given away?"
Turning her head, she beamed with confidence, a bright smile spreading across her face. "Bring all the weapons onto our ship!"
"Everyone can choose a weapon they like!"
After Sarah finished speaking, she looked towards Ionia.
Li Ke and Jinx left Bilgewater the day before yesterday, and Sarah didn't try to stop them. She was looking towards Ionia, smiling to herself as she thought:
"Now, I'm even more confident that I can attend your wedding."
Friends, let's meet again next year.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Sarah had become the most powerful and dangerous person on Bilgewater, based on the information passed down by word of mouth among the island's inhabitants.
Because those two cannons, which were kept on the ship and constantly guarded by Sarah's men, posed a great threat to the "big shots" on the island.
These two cannons are said to have a range of several kilometers. A dockworker claimed to have seen shells hit over a kilometer away, exploding and setting the sea ablaze. But could they really be a kilometer high?
Obviously not. Even if you set up Bilgewater's upper and lower walls, they would only be a few hundred meters high, which would be a miracle on an island. But now, the big shots felt that this miracle wasn't enough, because it had put them within Miss Fortune's attack range.
Nobody wants to be suddenly woken up by a loud bang while sleeping at night and then inexplicably fall asleep and die. Well, their sleep quality doesn't need to be that good.
Therefore, ever since news of Sarah acquiring a new batch of weapons spread, those who had previously sent assassins to kill Sarah on the island, along with those who had grudges against Sarah, wisely left Bilgewater and, like Gangplank, were "driven out" of Bilgewater.
Tonight, the sea breeze, carrying a chill and an unpleasant fishy smell, swept through Bilgewater, a smell that could be detected even from the Upper City.
In the silent Bilgewater, a shout of "Attack!" rang out from one location, and flames erupted in the Upper City, Gangplank's territory. Even though he had left Bilgewater, many of his businesses and men still remained there.
During this period, they were really honest, but being honest doesn't mean that a pretty lady wouldn't make a move on them.
Sarah felt no guilt whatsoever about killing Gangplank; in fact, she felt quite pleased with it.
"Bang--"
On the long slope built from broken bridge debris, hundreds of meters away, Rafen pulled the trigger of his gun and accurately hit the man holding a flintlock pistol in the bunker.
"This guy dares to call himself a sharpshooter?" Rafen grinned, waving his hand. "Put on your gas masks and charge into Gangplank's bunker!"
"Yes!"
Sarah was also in the crowd, two pistols in her hands. She wore a coat and a captain's hat, and with a cold smile, she relayed her orders to her men:
"Clean up all of Gangplank's men!"
"Didn't he look down on the gorge in the lower town, calling it a doghouse? Well then, I'll make sure that when he comes back, he can only stay in the doghouse in the lower town!"
As Sarah gave the order, a group of people behind her, armed with weapons, climbed up to higher ground.
Ionia, the First Lands, is an eastern island continent filled with natural beauty and primal magic. Its inhabitants live in various provinces, adapting to their circumstances and valuing peace as Ionia nature.
But everything changed after Noxus brought the war to Ionia.
In the southern regions affected by the war, the locals changed their previous mindset out of anger, and violence gradually grew on this peaceful land, just like the environment on the island after the war.
Bond Village is a small village on Navori, and one of the few southern villages that did not disappear during the Noxian-Ionian War. The village is small, with only a hundred or so people living there, but although it is small, it is full of all sorts of people.
The Ionia who returned after the war, the Vastaya who were dispersed from their tribes and entered human society, and the Noxians were left behind in Ionia and unable to return to Noxus.
In the afternoon, sunlight streamed through the window of the wooden house, and a fluffy little head peeked out, looking at the woman standing outside.
He had beautiful dark pink hair, leaning towards red, but the sunlight made it appear less red. His pair of fleshy ears were very noticeable; they were animal ears, close to his hair, and he was staring at the woman with Big Eyes.
The woman standing outside had beautiful, smooth, gray-white hair that reached her waist. She wasn't very tall, about 1.6 meters, but had a great figure. She was wearing a linen dress and was looking tenderly at the small head peeking out of the window.
"Sett, come down quickly, it's time for you to deliver something to the repair shop owner."
"But Mom, I don't want to go!" Sett shouted.
At around ten years old, he was at an age where he disliked these social niceties, and besides, he didn't have a good impression of the Ionia.
Sett was young, but he knew very well that the people in this place were no good.
His peers would bully him simply because he looked different from them. His mother would also be ostracized by other women because, despite having large hands, she possessed stunning beauty, and many men would flirt with her. Then, those gossipy women would criticize his mother behind her back.
Sett disliked all of these things!
"Listen to me, Sett, I've told you before, you're going to university in Piltover. While the repair shop owner has knowledge in this area, you should learn as much as you can from her."
"Mommy... she... she's really in danger," Sett said, her little face puffed up with worry.
The repair shop in Bond Village opened some time ago. The owners are a young couple; the man is gentle and handsome, and the woman is beautiful and lovely, but Sett knows that's just an illusion!
Because it was the only repair shop in the village, and the proprietress was exceptionally skilled while the owner was gentle and courteous, the residents of Bond Village accepted the couple and allowed them to open a repair shop at the far end of the village, not in the center. It wasn't that the villagers were stingy, but rather that the sound of hammering would be too noisy.
It was precisely because the female shop owner was very skilled and knew a lot of strange and wonderful things that his mother would often send him to the repair shop, hoping that Sett could learn from her, lay a solid foundation in advance, and prepare for his future admission to Piltover University.
Can I take the college entrance exam?
I?
Sett felt distressed.
However, when Sett saw her mother lower her eyes and slightly bow her head, Sett immediately became anxious again. "Alright, alright, I'll go, I'll go!"
"Really!"
Sett called out to his mother, Sett his little head disappeared through the window, followed by the sound of footsteps echoing inside the house.
Then, Sett, who was a little over 1.5 meters tall, came to his mother's side, his little face full of frustration.
"Give me the things, I'll go get them."
"That's right. You need to be good, Sett. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Mom hopes you can live in Piltover in the future and have a good environment."
"I understand, oh well, I'll go then."
"But Mom, you really don't know." Sett didn't finish his sentence because he knew that even if he told her, his mother wouldn't believe him.
But the truth is, the female owner of that shop was really, really scary!