Marvel: Playing Iron Man, Falling In and Out of Love with Jinx

"Why does that ship look like it belongs to Noxians?"

Captain List used his monocular telescope to observe the massive vessel slowly approaching the Swordfish. Duke, meanwhile, activated the farsight feature of Edith.

In an instant, the full view of the distant ship entered Duke's sight.

Its sails were billowing with wind, and despite its deep draft, the ship's black iron hull, sharp and menacing ramming prow, and overall brutalist design screamed of Noxian craftsmanship, intimidating and unmistakably martial.

In terms of speed, it was clearly inferior to the Swordfish, normally. However, after the recent sea beast swarm attack, the Swordfish had been reduced from wave-splitting speed to a sluggish crawl.

It would take some time to regain their prior momentum.

This gave the Noxian vessel the opportunity to close in. As it drew nearer, Duke could make out the details with greater clarity.

Nobles, men and women dressed in ornate clothing, stood on the bow, pointing toward the Swordfish with animated expressions full of excitement and a trace of arrogance, as if encountering Duke's ship was some kind of blessing for them.

"What do you see, Duke?"

Noticing Duke's focused expression beneath his sleek black shades, Jayce guessed something was up. Duke pushed up the Edith lenses resting on the bridge of his nose and answered coolly:

"It's a Noxian ship, all right. But from the looks of it, it's not a pirate vessel or a Noxian warship. More likely it's a merchant vessel carrying cargo and a group of nobles touring abroad."

"Phew, that's a relief. I don't think I can handle another scare!"

"No scares, just snobbery."

Duke noticed the nobles' expressions, especially the superior, appraising glances, and gave a slight sneer. "They're probably approaching us to see if we're interested in trade or looking to make a deal."

"But we're a research vessel. We don't have goods to sell, or money to buy anything."

"That's you. Not me."

Duke shot a glance at Jayce. He was carrying high-value commodities worth over a hundred thousand Gold Sirens, precious goods and luxury items prepared specifically to grease the wheels once they reached Bilgewater.

Even in a city as chaotic as Bilgewater, nothing opens doors like a hefty purse.

Of course, those same goods were also Duke's hidden card for harvesting wealth value. He could absorb the energy, then trade the goods, two birds with one stone.

"You brought contraband?" Jayce raised an eyebrow. Then remembering Duke's void storage, he nodded. If he had that power, he'd do the same.

Only a fool passes up free money.

"They're getting closer!"

Captain List, still observing the approaching vessel, gave the call as the Noxian ship neared. At once, the Swordfish's crew began retrieving weapons from barrels and hidden corners of the deck.

Jayce looked around, stunned.

"Wha… what's going on?"

"Don't ask. If things go south, run to the cabin and don't look back. Leave the rest to me. You just focus on preparing the lab once we get to Bilgewater."

Duke clapped Jayce on the shoulder, pulled him behind, and stood at the ready as the Noxian ship entered full view.

The flag they flew was unmistakably Noxian. But what caught Duke's attention was the thirty men and women standing proudly on the bow, each wearing a uniform octopus-shaped brooch on their shoulders.

They wore the same expression: superiority. As if they were royalty looking down on commoners.

"Looks like a Piltover ship!"

"Yeah, only Piltover uses specialized engine-driven ships."

"I've heard Piltover's a city of progress."

"Bunch of greedy merchants. My family's done trade with them."

"Full of artisans and tinkerers. Always pumping out new gadgets."

"I went to one of their Progress Day festivals once. Their tech is amazing."

"Is that a cargo vessel?"

"Doesn't look like one."

"Why guess? Let's just ask them."

...

The young nobles aboard the Noxian ship were animatedly pointing and chatting among themselves about the Swordfish. While they sized up Duke's ship, Duke was sizing them up right back.

"Thirty people, all wearing matching octopus brooches... That's way too neat to be a coincidence."

Duke sucked in a sharp breath.

"Damn… If I'm right, these poor bastards…"

As Duke mulled it over, the Noxian ship gradually slowed. The gathered youths on board stepped aside in unison, their faces filled with reverence and fanaticism.

Then she appeared.

A figure cloaked in black, embroidered with shimmering silver threads, stepped forward and pulled back her hood, revealing a face so alluring, so dangerously beautiful, it could bring nations to ruin.

"Shit!"

Duke swore under his breath.

He knew exactly what kind of trouble had just arrived, and cursed his luck.

It was bad enough that his earlier oversight, leaving Pride and Wally in his cabin, had attracted the sea beasts. But to run into this venomous monster right after? Just his luck.

There was only one word Duke had for the woman who had just appeared: venomous.

Even Camille, who had once strangled her own brother, was just a baby sister compared to this one.

Before him stood a woman who had used her beauty, ruthlessness, and manipulative brilliance to lure countless souls from Noxus to the Shadow Isles over centuries, to become food for something far worse.

She was, the Spider Queen: Elise.

An ancient Noxian noble who, in her search for a mythical dark relic, ventured to the Shadow Isles and ended up transformed by Vilemaw, the monstrous spider god, into the Queen of Spiders.

To maintain her youth and immortality, she had spent centuries seducing men and feeding them to the horror in the Shadow Isles.

Duke couldn't believe his luck: of all people, he had stumbled across Elise, Noxus's number one spider seductress and recruiter of death.

He glanced at the fanatics behind her, those nobles deceived and brainwashed by her lies, and felt a tinge of pity.

But pity doesn't mean rescue.

He wasn't some saint, and Elise had backing, the Black Rose, a secretive cabal founded by LeBlanc, the Deceiver herself.

In fact, many of Elise's sacrifices had been arranged through the Black Rose over the centuries.

Compared to Elise, the brutal pirate king Gangplank was a mere toddler, both in age and cruelty.

To deal with someone like her, you had to be on high alert.

"Excuse me," Elise said, her voice naturally refined and noble, yet strangely sweet, like venom laced in honey. One bite and you'd be helplessly ensnared.

"Is your vessel from Piltover, the City of Progress?"

"That's right."

Duke stepped forward, immediately seizing control of the conversation. Behind him, Jayce was already gazing at Elise with an entranced expression. Her beauty and voice weren't just superficial, they were magical, seductive.

Duke cleared his throat and shot Captain List a glance, signaling him to drag Jayce below deck. But to his dismay, even List was looking smitten.

Perfect. Useless pig teammates.

If Elise meant them harm, none of the ordinary crew had the magical resistance to withstand her charm. They'd be lambs to the slaughter.

Ahri's charm was innate, something she couldn't fully control.

But Elise?

She had honed her seductive magic over centuries until it became second nature. Every glance, every word was a trap.

In one of her many dark stories, a victim who'd broken free of her spell and tried to flee found himself helplessly walking into Vilemaw's jaws just because of a few words from Elise.

"So, might we travel together?" Elise leaned lazily against her ship's rail, her cloak parting just enough to reveal a curve that would stop any man's heart.

"Ahem…"

Duke coughed and approached Captain List, placing a hand on his shoulder. At the same time, he channeled a bit of his magic into him, hoping to snap him out of her spell.

He needed a partner in this little play. Elise was far too dangerous to take lightly. If she really joined them, a single mistake could send them all to her spider den, for dinner.

Even though Duke had the power to stand against her, especially at sea where he had the advantage, he couldn't risk the lives of his crew.

"We'd be delighted," Duke said smoothly, matching her tone. At the same time, he was working to awaken List for the role of 'good cop.'

Why not Jayce? That idiot would never play along.

Plus, Jayce hadn't been trained for this.

List, under the influence of Duke's magic, finally began to snap out of it. Realizing what had just happened, he broke into a cold sweat and looked at Duke in terror, mouth half open.

Duke patted his shoulder again in reassurance, then turned back to Elise and said politely:

"I'm afraid it might be… inconvenient, noble lady."

"We're all headed to Bilgewater, aren't we? What could be inconvenient about that?"

Elise smiled languidly, resting her chin on her hand. Her half-lidded gaze shimmered with temptation like moonlight on poisoned silk.

End of chapter...

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