Legends of Runeterra

Chapter 1079 Finding the Status

Sarah looked behind him and saw the shadow of a huge ship gradually emerging through the rising fog.

The Moon Python resembled its former captain, aged and unruly. The faint glow of dozens of hanging lanterns outlined the towering masts across the expansive deck. The two reinforced mainmasts were coated in waterproof caulk, with carved scales coiled around them in the shape of giant pythons. The crusted salt between the wood crevices shone silver in the moonlight. Though the sails were furled, Sarah knew the silver canvas must have cost a fortune. Yalai had invested heavily in this ship. The battering ram-like prow sculpture depicted a fanged python, cast from the cannons left behind by his sworn enemies.

"Mother Hu, I always forget how big it is..."

"She's a monster," Raven said as their skiff entered the cold shadow of the brig.

"How did that stingy old Yalai come up with the money to build this thing?" Sarah said. "That cheapskate bastard wouldn't spend a gold kraken on something he could have spent a copper herring on. I hear he's always in debt to the sea and won't give a drop of rum or a copper to the lords and ladies down there."

"Then I should have turned back and stayed away from this ship," Raven said. "If there's any truth to that, this ship is doomed. A sea debt is a crime, and no captain worth his salt knows that."

"After I claimed the bounty on Jamon Kilo in White Harbor, I presented a Hexcarbine to the sea."

"I remember," Raven shook his head helplessly, "you promised to give me that gun."

"It's very well made. It's not as good as Fortune's big bangzi, but it's not bad either."

"You're still talking about my pain points. That's cruel."

"If you want to be an empress, you must first be cruel before you can understand mercy," Sarah said teasingly. Raven gradually steered the boat closer to the berth, linking it with several other small boats and anchoring it beneath the crawling nets along the side. The Moon Python's massive hull resembled a black cliff, and dark figures constantly moved back and forth between the lights atop it.

"She's such a big ship, and she's floating high now," Raven said, pointing to the mottled dark green waterline on the hull, and then connecting the boat to an empty knot.

"Her cargo hold is about to be emptied, and most of the crew will be sitting on the shore drinking themselves unconscious. I don't know what kind of rotten and bad wine Ya Lai left for them," said Sarah.

"Lucky for them." Raven unhooked the oars from their racks and secured them to the side of the boat. "Have you really thought this through?"

Sarah stood up, grabbed the crawl net, and looked up.

"I'm still a little unsure," she said, "but when faced with a choice between advancing and retreating, a strong woman once told me to always move forward, so let's go."

Holding on to the left and right, Sarah and Raven climbed onto the deck of the Moon Python.

They were greeted by a pair of stern-faced twins in leather trousers and fish-scale shirts. They were stationed at the side of the ship, and upon seeing them, they took Sarah's pistols and Raven's swordfish-mouth dagger. Both fierce women were muscular, their faces angry, but not drunken. It was clear that they would rather be on shore attending a rum party in Yalai's memory than being left behind, facing a group of captains and watching their ulterior motives and their playful actions.

One of the twins wore a helmet made from the skull of a swift crab, and armor pieced together from crab shells. The other had a face tattooed with staring eyes—he smiled as he studied the work of a renowned gunsmith. Sarah saw the jawbone of a scaly mass set in her gums.

Sarah followed them to the foredeck and noted where the confiscated weapons were stored. Among the three boxes, the one with the shell marks was on the right.

In front of the chest, on a jet-black mount, sat a massive bronze cannon. Its blackened muzzle was now sealed shut with wax, and Captain Yalai, with his sails wrapped around him, must be inside, marinated in rum, vinegar, and camphor, ready for his voyage to the sea.

"It's a shame to throw away such a beautiful woman," Sarah said. "I'm talking about the cannon."

"Yes," Raven agreed. "I've never seen a better thirty-pounder. But it's tradition, and traditions can't be messed with, right?"

"Right..." Sarah said, shifting her gaze to the cannon, where a broad-shouldered figure stood motionless. "If we break tradition, we'll have to rely on Mother Hu to help us."

He was clad in a robe covered in iridescent scales, his hood shaped like a fish's head, edged with razor-sharp teeth. He carried a hooked machete emblazoned with octopus tentacles, and Sarah knew immediately who he was.

"It is a rare honor for the captain to have a snake caller with him when he goes out to sea," she said.

"What the Golden Siren can do is always beautiful, don't you think?" Raven responded.

Beneath a jagged hood, the Serpentcaller priest wore a hollow coral mask, and over his eyes and forehead was a dried squid with two crudely cut eyeholes. The priest surveyed the assembled captains.

The vast decks were packed with Bilgewater's bandits, all dressed in their finest attire: long trench coats, polished leather boots, top hats... and even quaint armor—capable of dragging the wearer to the bottom of the sea if they accidentally fell in. Sarah saw countless gold and silver badges and medals, necklaces made of baru fish hooks, and amulets dedicated to the lords and ladies of the sea.

Some of the captains she knew—usually from fighting and drinking matches—and some she had only heard of.

Of course, everyone here knows her.

With her fiery red hair, pale skin, and confident demeanor, Sarah Doom is hard to miss anywhere. But on this ship, she's a wild rose amidst a sea of poisonous thorns.

"What a meeting, eh?" Raven said.

“Nothing unites people like death,” Sarah said.

Raven nodded and said, "Now I know what it's like to be a fat Ranger surrounded by a pack of hungry Tooth Sharks."

Sarah shook her head. "You got it backwards, man. I'm the tooth shark here."

Raven didn't reply, as Sarah strode toward the centerline and back again. She adjusted her pace to the movement of the deck. Just as every pistol has its own personality, every ship has its own way of catching wind and waves. With every step, she felt the ship's rolling and swaying at anchor, letting the weathered deck wood groan and creak under her feet.

"A rolling water boat that can navigate shallow waters," she said. "I didn't expect it to be so wide."

"I like the broad type." Raven said, subconsciously widening the distance between his feet.

"I heard something."