"Teleportation?!"
Ivankov's large face lit up with joy. He and Ginny had struck gold—this device skyrocketed their escape odds.
"Exactly. A prototype. Lucky or not, my ship carries the parts for it. Slow airships or boats can't break through, but this? They can't stop it."
Oran held a model Hextech Warp Gate. In his dreams, he'd traversed countless realms, but in Piltover, Hextech was king.
Piltover's original Warp Gates used Hextech cores to accelerate airships, cutting travel time. Oran's innovation aimed for direct teleportation, like summoning heroes in games.
He'd gone to Bilgewater to pitch this tech, bringing the finished parts. Teleporting goods to warehouses beat manual unloading.
"Perfect! This means…"
Ivankov saw a bright future, but Oran doused his enthusiasm.
"Don't celebrate yet. Human teleportation works, but it needs two stable portals. We can't place the other end, so it's random teleportation. I can target a general area, but which island? Pure luck."
Oran shrugged,无奈. The tech wasn't built for emergency escapes, and without prep, it had limits.
"No big deal. Anywhere's better than here," Ginny said. Staying meant certain death. Excluding places like the Red Line or Marine Headquarters, survival odds were high.
"Second issue: time."
Unstable teleportation was manageable—Oran's tech avoided sending people into the sky or walls. With decent luck, landings were safe. But time was the real hurdle.
"Your ship has the parts. We can help assemble," Ivankov offered, flexing to show his strength.
"You think it's like building a toy? This was for cargo. Human teleportation needs tweaks, especially to the Hextech core's output. Only I can do that."
Oran dismantled the model, revealing a bottle-cap-sized blue crystal.
"This core powers the magic. The real one's much bigger."
He stowed the core and led them to the ship's warehouse, filled with massive crates of Warp Gate parts, the smallest taller than Ivankov.
"Ordinary folks can assemble the frame, but you two alone aren't enough."
Oran unveiled a giant gear, dwarfing Ivankov, who fell silent. Ginny stayed optimistic.
"So, you need time and manpower, right?"
"Exactly. Skilled workers—shipwrights, blacksmiths, carpenters. The island must have some. They just need to read blueprints."
Oran missed his crew, sent to a dockside inn last night, leaving him alone for the experiment.
"Keep your plan too. Two approaches boost our odds, but we need more hands. Nobody wants to die here—plenty will fight."
Oran grabbed gear, arming himself further, a habit born of firepower paranoia.
"True, but they're Celestial Dragons. Few dare resist," Ivankov said. Centuries of World Government rule cemented their dominance.
The Dragons dangled false hope—survive three weeks, gain freedom—to make prey run, amusing their hunt.
"That lie makes many give up, hiding instead of fighting."
"Their fate's not our concern. You planning to save everyone?" Oran asked. He wasn't selfless enough to risk himself for strangers.
He'd help those with shared goals, like Ivankov and Ginny, who offered intel and aimed to escape, forming a temporary alliance.
Those who surrendered, begging for mercy? Oran respected their choice by ignoring them, as long as they didn't hinder him.
Ivankov understood. Some slaves, like him and Ginny, defied fate; others were walking corpses, resigned.
With time ticking down, they couldn't waste effort on the hopeless.
"If I could save everyone, I would, but that's unrealistic. One escapee would be a win," Ivankov admitted.
"Your goal's too small. I'm not slinking away."
"What're you planning?"
"This world gave me a brutal welcome. I owe it a proper gift in return."
Oran's blue eyes darkened, unreadable.
"Gift?"
The term felt odd in this context. Ivankov chalked "this world" up to quirky speech, common among sea-dwellers like himself. But "gift"? Out of place.
Unbeknownst to him, "gift" would soon redefine itself in Ivankov's mind—not just joy, but potentially deadly.
New book phase needs follows, brothers!
2,000 words daily, two chapters (another today). Updates will stabilize later.
(Chapter End)