The instant Taliyah’s words fell, everyone froze.
Only Zach’s face showed a faint smile.
Taliyah stared blankly at Zach, her eyes filled with disbelief.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not understand why Zach had known there would be water in this direction.
The sound of running water.
Out here in this endless desert, that sound was no different from music to their ears.
Water meant there would be plenty of prey nearby.
With that, the two most crucial things for desert survival, water and food, would both be secured.
If Taliyah and her people wanted, they could even follow the river upstream and search for the livable place where that clear spring originated.
Looking at the dazed Taliyah, Zach could not help laughing as he said, “Well?
I didn’t lie to you, did I?”
“Zach, why did you know…” Taliyah looked at Zach and asked curiously.
But the moment Taliyah finished speaking, she seemed to suddenly think of something.
Her eyes shone as she looked at Zach.
“I almost forgot.
You’re an Ascended warrior of Shurima, a god with Ascended power.
So of course you must know Shurima inside and out!”
“Uh…”
Zach rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“I know a little.
Just a little!”
In truth, Zach had never really thought about it from that angle before.
Back then, he had even been terrible with directions.
But later, as he gradually became familiar with the place he was in, the map of Shurima he had seen in his previous life also surfaced in his mind.
He remembered very clearly that there was a great river flowing out from Shurima’s imperial capital and crossing the entire Shuriman continent.
If there was anywhere that could let Taliyah and her people settle down, then the area near that great river might be the best choice.
“All right, go take a look ahead,” Zach said again.
Taliyah did not delay any longer.
With an extremely excited expression, she guided the stone platform and sped forward.
Soon, the sound of flowing water in everyone’s ears grew clearer and clearer.
Even the originally dry air began to turn moist.
Ahead of them, a sparkling river flowed quietly through the desert, leaving behind a path covered in green.
Breathing in the fresh, damp air beside the river, Taliyah and her people could not help looking at Zach with near-fanatic eyes.
They had struggled to survive in the deserts of Shurima for so long, but they had only ever seen riverbeds that had been dry for thousands of years.
But now, after following Zach’s directions for only a short while, a great river bursting with life stood before them.
And judging by the force of the river, it seemed as if it would never dry up, its surging waters flowing straight toward Ixtal.
After confirming that there was no danger nearby, these people, who had endured the wind and sun for far too long, rushed toward the river like mad.
Behind them, Taliyah looked at Zach and Kai’Sa standing side by side.
She said softly, “Zach, thank you.”
Zach’s gaze followed the river all the way west, and there was something unreadable in his eyes.
“Taliyah, you really shouldn’t thank me.
I only pointed the way.
I’m not the one who made this river flow here.
Someone else did that.”
“Hm?” Taliyah was slightly stunned.
She asked suspiciously, “Who?”
To make a great river flow through the Shuriman desert, and make it flow without ever stopping, Taliyah could not imagine who would have such an ability.
Even Kai’Sa looked at Zach.
She was just as curious about who could possess such power.
Zach withdrew his gaze and smiled at the two of them.
“In this desert, water must always be controlled by the ruler.”
“And the ruler of Shurima now, or rather, the ruler who has just returned…”
“You mean Azir?” Taliyah cried out.
“To be precise, the Sun Disc,” Zach added.
“It gave the Shuriman Empire the ability to create Ascended, and it also gave the Shuriman royal family the power to control water.”
“The Sun Disc?”
Taliyah froze for a moment.
She had only ever heard that name in legends.
However, she had also heard that with Azir’s resurrection, ancient Shurima’s City of the Sun and the Sun Disc had risen from beneath the yellow sand once more.
“Did the Sun Disc create this river?” Kai’Sa asked softly.
Zach nodded, then looked at Taliyah.
“Taliyah, you can take your people to Shurima’s capital and see for yourself.
Azir is not the tyrant you think he is.
Once your people reach Shurima, they may receive his protection.”
“No, that’s not true!”
Taliyah shook her head firmly.
“Ancient Shurima was a slave state.
If my people place themselves under Azir, they will definitely become his slaves!”
“Azir has already ordered the abolition of slavery.”
Zach was very sure about this.
Because he clearly remembered that the reason Azir and Xerath had fallen out, and the main reason the ancient Shuriman Empire had collapsed, was how they handled slavery.
At the final moment before the empire’s collapse, Azir had announced an imperial decree to his people, declaring that slavery would be abolished.
Now that Azir had returned after thousands of years, he would definitely put that imperial decree into action.
Taliyah looked at Zach, then at her people in the distance, who were immersed in the joy of finding water.
Her eyes were filled with deep conflict.
Of course she wanted to bring her people to a place where they could live and work in peace.
But would Azir really be as Zach said?
While Taliyah was struggling with her decision, Zach’s voice sounded again.
“Taliyah, Azir has only just returned.
If he wants to gather as many scattered descendants of Shurima as possible in the shortest amount of time, he has to show them that he is a wise ruler.”
“So after you go there, you will not only receive Azir’s protection, you will also be warmly welcomed.
After all, your ability could be a tremendous help to him.”
“Mm.”
Taliyah seemed to make a certain decision.
Her gaze followed the river into the distance, toward the direction it had come from.
“If we follow this great river all the way west, we should be able to reach Shurima’s capital, right?”
Zach nodded.
“Go west the whole way, and you will reach the place where the Sun Disc stands, the City of the Sun.”
“Zach.”
Taliyah looked at Zach, her eyes full of confusion.
“Why do you know all of this?
Why do I feel like you know everything?”
Zach scratched his head and said with a solemn, utterly confident face, “Because I like reading books, so I know a little about everything.”
In the end, after being persuaded by Zach, who knew a little about everything, Taliyah decided to lead her people west along the river and search for the legendary capital of ancient Shurima, the City of the Sun.
But before that, this group of people who had suffered countless hardships needed to rest properly here.
And as all of this was happening, far to the west of the great river, countless miles away, within an ancient and majestic city, an enormous golden disc was slowly rotating above the city.
The sunlight from the heavens shone directly onto the disc, coating it in a golden-red glow.
The disc absorbed the power of the sun, and streams of water filled with life force flowed out from within it, passing through the city below and flowing toward every corner of Shurima.
He becomes connected to Silco’s side, gains a Skin Master System, and uses League skin-based weapons, tech, armor, and abilities to change the fate of Zaun.
Instead of letting Arcane’s tragedies play out exactly the same way, Felix tries to protect the people around him, especially Powder/Jinx, and push Zaun toward open rebellion against Piltover.
The story starts with the Piltover-Zaun conflict, then expands into the wider Runeterra setting: Noxus’s invasion of Ionia, Demacia’s internal conflict, the Freljord, Shurima, the Void, and eventually the Ruination/Shadow Isles plotline.