Ruho stared at Loki's extended hand. The god's blue eyes sparkled with amusement, his cheeky grin unwavering, patient as a spider waiting for a fly to land in its web.
Three legendary skills. Viewer donations. Real resources. Everything he needed to survive.
But it was Loki. The trickster. The god who'd been manipulating people for thousands of years.
Ruho took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm going to give you a rain check."
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees. Loki's smile didn't fade, but it froze in place, becoming something sharp and dangerous.
"A rain check," Loki repeated, his voice still smooth but with an edge underneath.
"Yeah," Ruho said, standing up from the couch and taking a step back from the offered hand.
"Look, your deal sounds great. Really really REALLY great. But I just met you thirty seconds ago, and as much as I hate to admit it, I've got history with Tyrix and Azirel. Brand loyalty matters, even if the brand is kind of shitty. So… maybe later. When I've had time to think about it. When I'm not desperate and making decisions out of panic."
For a moment, Loki's facade cracked. Just slightly. His hair shifted from its dark colors to a deep, angry red. Veins appeared on his face, subtle but visible, pulsing with restrained fury. His blue eyes flashed with something ancient and dangerous.
But he held his tongue. His smile stayed in place through sheer force of will.
"Of course," Loki said, his voice still cheerful but with frost underneath. "Of course. Take your time. Think it over. I'm a patient god. I've waited thousands of years for the right opportunities. I can wait a bit longer."
He stood up from the chair, his impossibly long hair gathering around him like a cloak. "But Ruho? When you do come crawling back—and you will, when Tyrix's amateur hour production leaves you bleeding out on this plateau—remember that rain checks expire. My generosity has limits."
And then he was gone. Not a fade-out, not a dramatic exit. Just instantaneously not there anymore, like someone had deleted him from reality.
Ruho let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. His hands were shaking. He'd just turned down a deal with Loki. A good deal. Maybe the only deal that could actually save his life.
But something in his gut had told him not to take it. Not yet. Not like this.
"RUHO!" Tyrix's voice exploded with joy. "You didn't take the deal! You actually didn't take it! I'm so PROUD of you! That was AMAZING! You stood up to LOKI! The actual LOKI! And you walked away!"
"I really wanted to take it," Ruho admitted, his voice quiet. "I almost did. Three legendary skills, Tyrix. Do you know how much that could help me?"
"Oh, I know," Tyrix said. "But you made the right call. Loki's deals always have hidden costs. Always. You would have regretted it within a week."
"Maybe," Ruho said. "Or maybe I just condemned myself to death because I was too scared to take a good opportunity."
"You didn't," Azirel said, his voice softer than usual. "You showed wisdom. Restraint. That's growth, Ruho. That's actual character development."
"Whatever," Ruho muttered, sitting back down on the couch. "I still have the same problems I had before. Pirates. Coast Guard. Probable death from multiple directions."
"About that," Tyrix said, his tone shifting to serious. "As appreciation for your loyalty—for not jumping ship to my competitor—I'm going to actually help you. Real help. Strategic help. Let's make a plan that doesn't end with you dead."
Ruho sat up straighter. "You're actually going to help? Like, genuine tactical advice?"
"Don't sound so surprised," Tyrix said. "I can be useful when I want to be. Now, let's think this through logically."
For the next twenty minutes, Tyrix laid out a plan. It was reckless. It was complicated. It relied on perfect timing and a lot of luck. But it was the first actual strategy Ruho had heard that didn't just end with "you'll probably die anyway."
The plan went like this:
Step One: When the scout arrives tomorrow, use the Patron skill to summon Lu Bu. Let the legendary warrior kill the scout quickly and quietly. Hide the body.
Step Two: The pirates get suspicious when their scout doesn't return. They debate sending another scout but decide against it—if the first one disappeared, the second might too. They wait.
Step Three: The next day, the pirates send another scout anyway because they need intel. But Ruho's Patron skill has a twenty-four hour cooldown per unique patron. He activated it yesterday night to kill the first scout, and it's currently morning, which means he can't use it again until tonight. So this second scout, Ruho has to kill himself. Somehow.
Step Four: Two missing scouts means the pirates send a full investigation team—at least two hundred men. They'll march to the plateau in force.
Step Five: That's good. Bait them in. Let them commit. While they're marching inland, it becomes nighttime, which means Ruho's cooldown is finished. Summon someone new. Someone like Oppenheimer, or any other historical figure known for explosive expertise. Have them create a bomb.
Step Six: Ruho runs away through the castle's back exit—there had to be one, right? Vexor would have built in an escape route. While he's fleeing, Oppenheimer's bomb detonates, killing the two hundred pirates on the plateau.
Step Seven: The remaining three hundred pirates see the explosion and panic. They either all rush to investigate, or some flee back to the ships. Either way, the camp is in chaos.
Step Eight: While they're distracted, Ruho sneaks to the beach and steals one of the pirate ships. Not to sail back to the mainland—that's where the other pirates will flee, which means that's where the Imperial Coast Guard will intercept first. Instead, sail to the other islands in the Quartet Archipelago. Hide the ship. Wait.
Step Nine: The Imperial Coast Guard arrives, sees the Holura ships fleeing toward the mainland, intercepts and destroys them. Meanwhile, they Buster Call the island where the drugs were stored—Ruho's plateau gets obliterated, but he's not there anymore.
Step Ten: Once the Coast Guard leaves, thinking they've eliminated the threat, Ruho takes his stolen ship and sails to the mainland. Different route, different timing. He slips through while they're not looking.
"It sounds good," Ruho said slowly, his mind racing through the steps. "Reckless as hell, but good. Lots of things could go wrong, but… it's a plan. An actual plan."
"Write it down," Tyrix suggested. "Keep track of the timing. The cooldowns. The variables. This only works if you execute it perfectly."
Ruho stood up, heading toward the study on the third floor where he'd seen paper and writing supplies. He needed to document this. Make notes. Create a timeline.
He was halfway across the living room when a voice spoke in his head. Not Tyrix. Not Azirel. Someone new.
"A plan for battle when you don't even know your enemy…" The voice was measured, thoughtful, with an accent Ruho couldn't place. "How… reckless."
Ruho froze mid-step. "Who said that?"
"You're strategizing based on assumptions," the voice continued. "You assume the pirates will react predictably. You assume they'll investigate missing scouts. You assume they'll panic at explosions. You assume they'll flee in the direction you want them to flee. But you know nothing about their actual tactics, their command structure, their contingency plans."
"Who the fuck is this?" Ruho demanded, looking around the empty room.
"You don't know if they send scouts alone or in pairs," the voice went on. "You don't know if they have magical communication. You don't know their response protocols for ambushes. You don't know if they'll split their forces or consolidate. You're making a plan in complete ignorance of your enemy's capabilities."
Ruho's hands clenched into fists. "Then help me! If you know so much about strategy, tell me what I'm missing!"
The voice paused.
Then, with what sounded like faint amusement:
"Perhaps I will."