Chapter 476: Lucian is "unemployed"
Slaughterhouse Docks, Bilgewater.
As the fishing boat Lucian was on slowly approached the coast, the brand new and prosperous cityscape of Bigang appeared before his eyes, and a hint of surprise could not help but appear on his stern face, which showed a deep hatred and bitterness.
“Haha.” The old captain who had kindly let him take a ride on his boat came up to him with a proud smile on his face. “Mr. Lucian, I told you long ago that you would be shocked by the changes in Bilgewater.”
“This… is beyond my expectations,” Lucian admitted frankly.
He had guessed long ago that Bilgewater would undergo great changes under the rule of the Leader.
After all, the reputation of the Wind Leader has now spread throughout the entire Rune Land.
As a ranger of the Holy Lance who is always traveling, Lucian has passed through the Twin Cities several times in the past two years.
He witnessed with his own eyes the tremendous changes that the Windwarker brought to Zaun and Piltover , and driven by curiosity, he fully understood the ideological theories of Goddess Janna.
He was well aware of the power and progress of the Windleader, and had long guessed that Bilgewater would prosper under the Windleader's management, just like Zaun.
But Lucian was still secretly surprised by the speed and magnitude of Bilgewater's changes.
Looking at the clean streets and prosperous cityscape, he thought he had come to Piltover.
"This is actually nothing strange." The old captain said, "We are smaller than Hong Kong, we have more money, and we have the support of Comrade Zuan. How can we not be fast in construction?"
“Lots of money…” Lucian recalled the past.
Indeed, Bilgewater has never lacked money. It is located between the sea trade routes of Shurima, the Twin Cities, Ionia, and Noxus, and has extremely rich fishery resources, as well as a complete arms and shipbuilding industry.
Under such conditions, one should not be poor.
But in the past, more than 90% of Hong Kong’s land was chaotic slums, and 95% of the people lived in extreme poverty.
Looking at the newly renovated Port of Bighorn in less than two years, Lucian could deeply appreciate what kind of disaster those insects had brought to this land.
"Planck's death was not unjust." He couldn't help but sigh.
Lucian originally had a little bit of affection for Gangplank.
But now it seems that Planck is not even a qualified feudal lord.
He couldn't even put an end to the situation of numerous pirates and gangsters in his own territory, and couldn't even provide a stable order under his rule. He could only join hands with those pirate leaders, big and small, to turn Porto into a poor, chaotic and lawless place.
Compared with later leaders, Planck deserves to be eliminated by history.
"But..." Having said that.
Leader is far superior to Planck in terms of construction and development, but what about safety?
Lucian has not forgotten his true mission. His mission is not to build a secular society, but to defend humanity against the Black Mist Undead.
And the reason why he had a little good impression of Planck in the past.
It is because this Pirate King can lead the people of Big Port well every year to resist the invasion of the undead during the Soul-Eating Night and protect the city from the black fog of Shadow Island.
I don’t know, how is the leader doing?
It should be much stronger, right?
Lucian was thinking this.
“Mr. Lucian,” the old captain said, looking ahead at the approaching dock. “In two days, it will be the Harrowing. Since you’ve been to Bilgewater before, I think you know what this means.”
“Yes…” Lucian nodded.
He unconsciously touched the Holy Stone pistol at his waist. Of course he knew what the Soul-Eating Night was.
At this time of year every year, the undead black fog of the Shadow Isles would roar and spread to the vast sea outside the Shadow Isles like a tropical cyclone that had finally taken shape.
Bilgewater, as the closest human settlement to the Shadow Isles, is unlucky enough to be attacked by the black fog on this day every year.
It is inappropriate to say that the Night of the Haunted Soul is like the Chinese New Year for Hong Kong people.
However, what the people of Hong Kong faced was not the Nian beast that could be scared away with firecrackers, but an army of undead that invaded with black fog.
These undead spirits are not easy to deal with. In the past, even with the protection of Gangplank and the Baru Cult, many people from Biegang still died in the black fog every year.
"Mr. Lucian." The old captain kindly reminded him, "After you get ashore, come with me to the immigration office at the dock to register."
"Then the Wind Leader will arrange for you to be in a shelter and ensure that you can safely pass through this soul-haunting night."
“Shelter?” Lucian was stunned. “The Wind Leader also built a shelter for everyone?”
"Yes." The old captain told him: "After the Leader took over the Port of Pirates, they converted several underground docks that were originally controlled by pirates into large temporary shelters."
"The shelter is protected by the elite warriors of the Wind Leader and the priests of Baru. It is absolutely safe."
“Hmm…” Lucian nodded secretly. This is indeed a good policy.
With Gangplank's former power, he could only barely resist the invasion of the undead, and was unable to protect all the people of Bigang.
Even leaving aside the issue of strength, just organizing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people and ensuring safety, order and no chaos... the difficulty involved is enough to overload the pig brains of those pirate leaders.
“But, don’t bother.” Lucian declined the captain’s offer again: “You don’t have to take me to register. I don’t need asylum either.”
He looked down at the Holy Stone pistol on his waist, his eyes quietly becoming deep: "They are the ones who should take refuge."
"This..." The old captain's expression was subtle: "Are you here for excitement?"
Most people avoid the Soul-Eating Night, but some people do the opposite. Some foreign wizards who are interested in necromancy always come to Bigang on this day to "seek excitement".
“No…” Lucian was about to explain.
But the old captain said, "You may be disappointed. I suggest you go to the shelter just to be on the safe side."
"In fact, when the Haunting comes, you may not even see a single undead soul on the street."
“?” Lucian asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Wouldn't the undead madly pour into the Big Island on the Haunting Night and fill the streets? How could we not see them?
"Because the policy has changed this year." The old captain said: "Last year we were still the same as before, fighting with the undead in the city of Bigang..."
Last year’s Haunting took place almost two months before the final battle of Barue.
At that time, Bilgewater had already formed a huge naval fleet, preparing to rush to Ionia and fight a decisive battle with the Noxian invaders.
Everyone knows what happened next. Even the Noxian Imperial Navy and Vladimir's Undead Legion were blown to pieces by the terrifying firepower of this fleet.
The Shadow Island Undead invaded Port Beacon at this time...
In the end, the Japanese soldiers all ran away crying.
The only problem is that this battle was fought in the city of Begang.
Although they used "precision-guided" ammunition blessed by true faith, they inevitably bombed the city of Bigang into ruins in the end.
"It just happened to be the time when the old city of Bilgewater was being renovated, so we also did the demolition at the same time."
"But this year is different. This year the new city has been built." The old captain looked at the brand new city ahead and said, "This is our new home, which we built brick by brick. How can we let it become a battlefield?"
“……”Lucian remained silent.
He finally discovered the biggest change in Port Silence.
The people of Bilgewater now have a kind of flourishing self-confidence. Whether facing the living or the undead, they are no longer afraid or confused.
In the past, people in Porto could only hide in shabby rooms, shivering in the dim light of cheap whale dung vigil candles.
But now, they can all discuss with a smile how to pass the Soul-Eating Night without taking any damage.
“So what are you going to do?” Lucian asked curiously.
"What else can we do?" The old captain said with a smile, "We can go out to sea to fight the Japanese and intercept the black fog directly at sea!"
“You can do it?” Lucian asked in disbelief.
"Of course we can." The old captain answered confidently, "They are just a bunch of small fish and shrimps that escaped from Shadow Island. With our current firepower and organizational ability, we can easily deal with them."
"Just tens of thousands of undead, huh...if they dare to attack, they will never return!"
“This…” Lucian frowned.
He just thought he was more confident than the people of Hong Kong, but now looking back... this is not confidence at all, this is clearly arrogance!
After achieving a series of great achievements under the leadership of their leader , they have begun to become a little inflated.
"To be honest, if Shadow Isles had not been completely polluted by undead magic and turned into a mess, with no way to clean it up and transform it... we might have already counterattacked Shadow Isles and solved the problem once and for all."
The old captain kept boasting, and finally, Lucian couldn't help but interrupt him and said, "Captain."
“I think you, especially the leaders who manage Bilgewater, should be more cautious in dealing with the Shadow Island issue.”
Not only is it enough to kill the undead, but they are also counterattacking the Shadow Isles?
“The dark power hidden in the Shadow Isles is more terrifying than you can imagine,” Lucian said solemnly.
But I didn’t expect: “A hidden dark force?”
The old captain was stunned for a moment, then answered naturally: "I know, it's the 'Clown King'!"
Lucian: “?”
“It’s the Ruined King, Viego.” The old captain said, “Everyone in Bilgewater knows him.”
Lucian: “…”
He suddenly doubted his ears.
Even in the secret tradition of the Order of the Sentinels of Light, there are only very vague records of the existence of this Ruined King.
Even he could not accurately call out the name of the Ruined King, but he vaguely knew that there was such a person who had an inseparable relationship with the origin of the black fog in the Shadow Isles.
But now, an old fisherman in Bilgewater can actually accurately call out the name of the Ruined King, and even gave him a very unfriendly nickname.
“How… do you know all this?” Lucian couldn’t help but ask.
"It's in the literacy textbook. The chapter on the history of ancient Fukumitsu Island."
Lucian: “…”
The history textbook of the leader was compiled in detail under the personal guidance of Levi, the spoiler prophet.
What's more, among the team and alliance of the Wind Leader, there are Janna, Heimerdinger, Kennen, LeBlanc, Azir, Nasus, Renekton, and Xerath, a group of living ancestors who are thousands of years old or older.
History is like a diary to them. A casual recollection can reveal countless lost historical materials that make historians excited.
As a result, the value of this history textbook is naturally extraordinarily high.
Many ancient histories that have been forgotten by later generations are now recorded clearly.
So, unfortunately, due to his extraordinary behavior, Viego "won" the last place in the ranking of all the kings of Runeterra and became a joke among history lovers.
Historians in Piltover commented that he was "unlike a king".
The people of Bilgewater simply called this guy "The Clown King".
After all, over the past thousand years, countless people in Bigang have died tragically under the wave of undead in the Haunting Night.
Now let these people of Bilgewater who lost their relatives and friends in the Soul-Eating Night know that the root of all this suffering actually came from the love of a foolish king for his wife thousands of years ago...
They certainly would not have any positive comments about this tyrant, but would only hate and contemptuously call him "The Clown King".
“This…” Lucian really didn’t expect this.
The legendary King of Ruined King has now become a household historical meme under the rule of the Leader.
He was so shocked that he could not speak, but the old captain's next words shocked him even more:
"During last year's Soul-Eating Night, President Levi specifically told us that the Ruined King is now sleeping in the Shadow Isles."
"If he is resurrected, the undead black fog of Shadow Island will completely lose control and spread, invading the entire world."
You know this too?
Lucian was stunned.
Then the old captain said, "But don't worry. There is no way the Ruined King will come back to life."
In the original world line, Viego was unsealed and resurrected by Thresh and Gangplank using the Baru treasures discovered in Bilgewater.
In this world, Gangplank, a key figure, has long been dead. Bilgewater has long been firmly controlled by the Wind Leader, and it is impossible for Thresh to infiltrate it.
Therefore, Viego would not be resurrected like in the original world line.
This heaven-defying thing that can even corrupt and control Karma the Apocalypse and the War Protoss has long been impossible to appear in this world.
Of course, the old captain didn't know these things.
But he knew one thing that Levi told them: "Among the undead on the Shadow Island, there is a reactionary who is deliberately trying to resurrect the Ruined King and subvert the human world ."
"As long as we kill it, no one will resurrect the Ruined King."
“This…” Lucian’s heart moved.
He quickly asked, "Who is this person?"
“Thresh.” The old captain calmly said the name that Lucian would never forget. “That guy always has a will-o’-the-wisp lantern in his hand, so he’s easy to spot.”
Lucian was silent for a while.
Then he grabbed the old captain's arm like a madman and asked, "Where is that Thresh? How do you know it has a lantern in its hand? Have you seen it?"
“This…” The old captain didn’t know why Lucian was so excited.
But he still responded cooperatively: "Of course I have seen it."
"President Levi told us its name and appearance so that we could find the leader of this anti-human force among the undead army of the Soul-Eating Night."
"Then where is he now?!" Lucian tightly grasped the holy stone pistol at his waist and asked impatiently.
"Where is he?" The old captain had a strange expression on his face. "Where else could he be? President Levi specifically asked to kill him. Can we let him go back alive and continue to mess with his schemes and intrigues?"
"That guy was blown to death during the Haunting Night last year."
As he spoke, the old captain patted his chest proudly and said, "At that time, in order to support the Ionian battlefield, I was a temporary sailor in the navy."
"It was me who fired the last shot that killed that little devil."
Lucian: “…”
Thresh, the Chain Warden, the enemy who killed his wife, the mortal enemy he had been chasing for years, but he just... died like that?
It was actually killed by a single shot from an unknown old fisherman?
this……
Lucian suddenly felt confused.
He had actually avenged his wife's death a year ago.
The undead black fog of the Shadow Isles has also been dealt with by the Leader to the point where it no longer poses any threat.
The two most important missions in his life were inexplicably completed. He, the Holy Lance Ranger, was "unemployed".
So what should he do? What is the meaning of his existence?
Lucian looked at the Holy Stone pistol in his hand that had lost its target and remained silent.
And just when he was thinking about whether to return to his hometown of Demacia, the place where he first met his wife, and spend the rest of his life alone...
The old captain sighed again: "It's really strange."
"We killed the old devil with one shot, but we didn't expect that after the lantern in his hand was shattered, a young girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere."
“The girl said she had been trapped in Thresh’s lantern, and we rescued her.”
“What?” Lucian raised his head sharply.
There is a living person locked in Thresh’s lantern?
"Who is she? What's her name? What does she look like?"
"I think her name is... Senna?" The old captain tried to recall. "She looks like she has Shuriman blood and is very beautiful. She also carries a strange magic cannon with her. No one will forget her after seeing her."
Lucian's pupils trembled and his body shook with excitement.
"Where? Where is she now?!"
"It's in Bilgewater," the old captain replied. "She said that she and her husband were separated a few years ago, and Bilgewater is the most likely place for her husband to appear."
"So Miss Senna stayed in Bilgewater. I heard that she later joined the Wind Leader and became the captain of the security defense team in Bilgewater..."
"Huh? Wait…where are you going?"
He hadn't finished speaking yet, and the boat hadn't even reached the shore.
But Lucian had already jumped out from the bow and couldn't wait to jump onto the dock dozens of meters away.
"Thank you, Captain!"
