After finishing their drinks, the three of them split up. Graves went off to get more ammo and check out the situation on the streets. Twisted Fate headed into the port to find a ship and, while he was at it, ask around about Miss Fortune.
Ren, meanwhile, stayed in the room to meditate and cultivate his strength, restoring his energy.
In the space of an afternoon, Ren managed to master [Lightning Bolt], [Heal], and [Haymaker]. His power level on his status panel officially changed from Elite to Transcendent.
That evening, the three of them reconvened to share intel.
First, the brawling outside: the entirety of Bilgewater had been thrown into a chaotic mess. With Gangplank dead, everyone—from the old, established powers to every piece of stinking fish and rotten shrimp—had crawled out of the woodwork. The whole city was a bloody free-for-all over territory, with violence breaking out in every corner at every moment.
Miss Fortune, for her part, had already carved out a huge chunk of Gangplank's former territory and had taken over the Nine-Headed Rattlesnake tavern as her base of operations in the city. She was hosting a party there tonight, and a lot of gangs who didn't like it were planning to cause trouble. It was going to be a lively evening.
Twisted Fate had also found a ship setting sail for Mudtown the next day. Mudtown was on the shipping route to Piltover, so it would be easy to find a boat heading there.
"Looks like Sarah's road to becoming the new Pirate Queen is just getting started," Ren mused.
"What's the new Pirate Queen got to do with that dame? Er, no way… She was the one who blew Gangplank up?"
As they stared at him in shock, Ren explained Sarah's entire plan, casually mentioning how the two of them had been used as pawns. As it turned out, they didn't care.
"I took the job to steal the dagger of my own free will," Twisted Fate said with a shrug. "She had a need, and I accepted the commission for a generous reward. That's just business. A shame the dagger broke. I suppose the mission was a failure."
"Damn right," Graves added. "She gave me what I wanted: told me where to find him. Let me actually corner him. For that alone, I'm grateful to her."
As night fell, the rioting in the city grew even more frantic. Ren and the others had to deal with more than a few lowlifes on their way to the Nine-Headed Rattlesnake, where they found a massive conflict already in full swing.
The crowd laying siege to Sarah's crew was a motley one, but Ren could see three groups that were more organized than the rest. They were clearly the ones spearheading the attack. Even in the chaos, Ren's enhanced vision allowed him to spot Sarah. She didn't look the least bit flustered. Her eyes were bright, and she even had a faint smile on her lips.
"So what's the plan?" Graves asked.
"If we want the upper hand in our negotiations, this is the perfect opportunity. Let's wreck 'em!" Ren said, pointing to the gang members on the outer edge of the siege, and charged forward without another word.
He left a trail of chaos in his wake. Jabs, roundhouse kicks, and elbow strikes flew freely. He didn't bother drawing his weapons, nor did he care about the enemies attacking him. As long as it wasn't a vital spot, he let them hit him, using their attacks to build his Grit.
"Haha, now this is my kind of party! Daddy's here to fuck you all up, you little bastards!" Graves roared, charging in right behind him. Every time his shotgun fired, someone died. If anyone managed to get close, he'd just club them to the ground with the barrel.
Twisted Fate, in contrast, immediately backed away, peppering the enemy from a distance with a constant stream of cards.
A clear zone quickly formed around Ren and Graves, and the gangs' coordinated assault faltered.
Raven moved to Sarah's side, asking if he should signal their ambushing forces to attack. "Not yet. Let's see what they can do~"
The gang members at the front of the tavern stopped their advance. While slowly retreating and exchanging fire with Sarah's crew, the men at the rear received new orders and turned their blades, swarming toward Ren, who was deepest in their ranks.
Seeing this, Graves moved to cover Ren, drawing the attention of the enemies around him, while Twisted Fate retreated even further, vanishing from sight.
Ren, however, was in the zone. He ignored the enemies closing in on him, fixed his eyes on one of the three leaders, and charged.
[Destiny]
Just as the three leaders were casually watching the battle, Twisted Fate appeared behind one of them. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a fan of red cards flying, blowing the leader and his retinue away. The battlefield fell silent for a stunned moment as everyone stared.
Ren didn't stop. He rushed up to another leader, who frantically ordered his elites to intercept him before turning to flee.
Looking at the beefy thugs in front of him and the fleeing leader behind them, Ren clenched his right fist, settled into a stance, and laughed maniacally. "You think you can run?!"
[Haymaker]
BOOM!
Ren threw a punch with all his might. A deafening explosion echoed as a fan-shaped shockwave tore through the space in front of him. Every enemy in his path was blown away, including the leader who had tried to escape.
But it wasn't over. Ren turned to face the final leader, raised his left hand as it crackled with electricity, and unleashed [Lightning Bolt].
A bolt of lightning crossed dozens of meters in an instant, striking the last leader.
Everyone stopped.
Staring at the charred corpse, then at the scattered, mangled flesh of those hit by the shockwave, the remaining gang members broke and fled in a mad panic.
Ren, likely drenched in more enemy blood than his own, walked slowly toward the still-shocked Sarah.
"Don't mention it. All in a day's work. Now, shall we talk?"
==========
A merchant ship sailed out of Bilgewater, heading for the open sea under the light of the morning sun.
That's right, even a pirate den like Bilgewater had merchant ships, backed by the various gangs in the city. They transported the bones, teeth, and organs of all kinds of sea monsters, and even magical essences, selling them all over the world.
Ren had found a prime spot on the deck, setting himself up with a lounge chair and a parasol, and was relaxing leisurely. Nearby, Graves was drinking and swapping tall tales with other passengers, but if you watched him closely, you'd notice his right hand never strayed far from his gun, and his eyes were always subtly scanning the area around Ren.
As for Twisted Fate, that rascal had used "gathering information" as an excuse to go below deck and was now busy playing cards with someone.
This merchant ship was headed for Mudtown. From there, Ren's group could find a convoy and quickly reach Piltover. After so many years, Ren was finally going home.
His talk with Sarah last night had gone smoothly. Especially after he'd presented Gangplank's corpse to her and cremated it on the spot, she had been so pleased she'd pulled him into a round of drinks. She never once mentioned putting Ren under her command, acting as if she wasn't the one who'd had her men hold him at gunpoint just a few days ago.
Sarah had happily told everyone present how much Ren had helped her. Then, pretending to be drunk, she had clung to his arm to thank him. When she learned Ren was going back to Zaun to start a gang, she generously sponsored him with thirty thousand Golden Krakens and even had her men bring over a dozen crates of weapons, saying they should keep in touch and that there would be plenty of opportunities for them to cooperate in the future.
The weapons were all secondhand spoils of war, but Ren accepted them gladly. Who cared if they looked a little rough? As long as they worked.
As the merchant ship moved away from the port, the captain stood at the prow. He tossed a Golden Kraken into the sea and chanted something under his breath, words like "May the Bearded Lady protect us."
In the depths of the ocean, the gold coin slowly sank, landing in front of a humanoid creature holding a trident.
"Careless friends, losing things again. Good thing I was here to find it," the little creature, who was the size of a child with azure skin like a fish-man, said as he snatched the coin and swam up toward the merchant ship.
==========
In the dark, silent depths of the sea, a giant carrying an anchor walked along the ocean floor. He wore a suit of armor that resembled a diving suit.
Suddenly, the giant stopped. He looked up in a specific direction, and a dull, resonant voice somehow managed to travel through the water:
"Those who fail to pay the tithe… shall face their punishment!"
==========
In Ren's private cabin, the three men stared at the 'little fish-man' in stunned silence.
Just moments ago, the little guy had burst from the sea, trident in hand, and leaped onto the merchant ship, nearly landing on Ren. Graves had been about to blow his head off with his shotgun when the little creature spoke.
"Are you here to play with me?"
Ren recognized him: Fizz, the Tidal Trickster. He raised a hand to stop Graves and told him to get Twisted Fate and meet back in the room. Luckily, no one else was on deck. Ren invited Fizz back to his room to "play."
Jumping back to the present, in the room, Twisted Fate was asking Ren if this little thing could possibly be one of Bilgewater's great terrors, the 'Tidal Trickster' of legend.
Graves, meanwhile, crouched down, petting the little fish-man's head. "Good boy, good boy. Here, shake," he said, holding out his hand.
The little guy compliantly gave him his hand, which made Graves roar with laughter.
Fizz was thoroughly confused. Was this how humans showed friendship these days? After a moment of thought, he pried the large hand off his head.
He then climbed up Graves's body until he was perched on his shoulder. He used his little hand to pat Graves's head and held out his other little hand.
"Good boy, good boy. Here, shake."
"Shit—get off me, you blue-skinned fish! Get your hand away from me!"
The big oaf tried to push him off, but Fizz was nimble and thought they were playing. He started a game of hide-and-seek all over Graves's upper body.
After finally shaking the blue-skinned fish off, Graves just lay on the floor and didn't move. It was unclear if he was tired or just playing dead from the sheer embarrassment.
Fizz, now full of energy, bounced over to Ren and Twisted Fate and pestered them to play a game. "My friends! Let's play something fun!"
"Oh! Oh! Let's go play a prank on the other humans! We can punch holes in the ship and see who can make the biggest one!"
The two of them immediately grabbed Fizz. That's a prank?!
"And when the people jump into the water, we can see who can swim the fastest! I'll call my big shark to be the referee. He can follow behind the humans!"
Twisted Fate shot Ren a look that said, I was right. He really is that terrifying legend.
"You've probably played that game a lot, right? Let's play something new, something you've never played before," Ren coaxed. "Uh, we can play house, or hide-and-seek…" His eyes swept over to Twisted Fate. "Let's play cards. Have you ever played cards with humans before?"
That got Fizz's attention. He'd played 'house' and 'hide-and-seek' many times. The humans he played with were always so dedicated, such good actors. He couldn't have faked their panicked, terrified expressions himself.
But playing cards with humans? He'd never done that before. Fizz immediately agreed.
With the little fish-man placated, they woke Graves up. The four of them sat in a circle as Twisted Fate dealt the cards and explained the rules. Ren generously distributed the chips, giving each of them a bag of Golden Krakens.
Seeing the chips, Fizz produced the gold coin he'd found. "I almost forgot. My human friends are so forgetful. Good thing I was here. I found this, here you go."
Of the three confused men, Ren was the first to react. "You guys start without me," he said, and ran out of the room.
He sprinted to the prow of the ship and tossed a dozen gold coins into the sea.
"May the Bearded Lady protect us! May the Bearded Lady not be offended! Please bless us with a safe and smooth journey to our destination!"
==========
In the dark sea, the giant with the anchor was surging through the water, each stride covering hundreds of meters or more. His target was Ren's merchant ship.
"Unforgivable! Unpardonable! You will pay the price!"
Suddenly, the giant's body seized up, and he stopped moving.
He looked blankly in the direction of Ren's ship, frozen in place for a long moment. He tilted his head, scratched it with one massive hand, then turned and continued his aimless wandering through the deep.