Multiversal Recruitment

He crossed the bridge casually with his hands in his pockets. Enforcers spotted him, and seeing that he had no intention of stopping, they tried to detain him by aiming their weapons directly at him.

"Stop! Hands on your head and turn around!" one of them ordered through his mask.

"Whoa, whoa, why the aggression? I'm just a humble passerby who got lost, that's all," said Salazar with a slightly amused smile, completely unfazed by the weapons pointed at him.

The SSS had given him a superhuman body and reflexes. Even without Haki, he could dodge bullets with relative ease. If he had to compare his physicality to someone, it would be Toji Fushiguro—although maybe a bit weaker than him. That guy was a physical monster.

"I said hands on your head, now!" the enforcer repeated, louder this time, as if that would give more weight to the command. Salazar sighed and raised his hands.

"Alright, alright… I'm doing it," he obeyed with clear boredom. One of the enforcers cautiously approached while the other kept aiming from a distance.

As soon as one of them got within range, Salazar moved in a flash, kicking the man's wrist and sending his weapon flying into the air before the enforcer could even react.

The other one immediately fired, but Salazar dodged the shot and dashed at him at a speed the guard couldn't follow, taking him down with a heel kick right to the chin, knocking him out cold.

Pulling a gun from his inventory, he instantly aimed at the first enforcer, who was now stunned and staring down the barrel of a weapon while his partner lay on the ground.

Salazar wore a calm smile.

"Hands on your head. You have the right to remain silent," he said playfully, mimicking a cop. The enforcer, not knowing what to do, raised his hands.

---

He sighed in satisfaction.

"Life's easier when you have power," he chuckled while walking through the Undercity. The people here looked awful—really awful. His smile faded when he saw children, barely clothed, working or stealing at such a young age.

"This place is disgusting." He wasn't talking about Zaun itself, but the world in general—the corruption, the human rights violations. This place was one of the worst.

"I better not dwell on this for now. As much as I'd like to help, there's not much I can do in six days." He shook his head in resignation, glancing around and stopping in place.

"Now... where the hell am I supposed to find Jinx around here?" He scratched his head, looking around, clearly lost.

"Maybe there's some kind of tracking quirk or something?" he asked himself while opening his shop and skimming through it.

Just then, a flash of pink hair passed through his vision. Curious, he turned to see a woman with downcast eyes and pink hair supporting another woman in a high-ranking enforcer uniform with short blue hair.

"Vi?" he muttered on instinct. The tough-looking girl raised her head, her expression annoyed and angry, cupcake hard.

"Do I know you or something?" she asked rudely, clearly wanting to leave, though the desperation in the blue-haired girl's teary eyes—Caitlyn, no doubt—was obvious.

"Ah, no, I don't think so. I'm actually looking for your sister. Do you know where she is?" he asked with genuine curiosity, leaving both Vi and Caitlyn stunned. Caitlyn lifted her gaze to see the tall man in front of them, who seemed utterly indifferent.

Vi sat Caitlyn down and approached him fiercely, her glare sharp.

"Who are you, and how do you know my sister?" she asked, fists clenched, her tone threatening.

From Salazar's perspective, she actually looked kind of cute. He had a strange weakness for tough women. If he ever saw Sevika around here, he'd go nuts.

(Shame she's so tied to Zaun... She'd make a great administrator for the crew...) he sighed, lost in thought and gazing at the sky—something that only annoyed Vi more.

She tried to grab Salazar by the collar, but the key word was "tried"—before she could, her wrist was caught with ease.

Surprised, Salazar grinned. "Wow, that's some strength. Not bad at all for a regular human." Vi struggled to free her hand but failed, until Salazar finally pushed her back, making her stumble.

She got back up and glared at him with restrained fury, this time lunging at him with clear intent to punch.

"Classic Violeta—punch first, ask questions later," Salazar said casually, stepping back and dodging a punch aimed at his chin.

Vi threw several strong, boxing-style punches, relying mostly on her fists. Salazar dodged them all effortlessly and, in a blur, caught her wrist again, pulling her in against his chest, entwining their hands and stretching her arm to the side while resting his hand on her hip, putting them in a dance-like pose.

"You're a good dancer, Pinky. But it's not polite to ask a guy for a dance when your girlfriend's right there, y'know?" he teased, looking down—Vi was half a head shorter.

He didn't mean anything by it—he just found it funny to tease Vi in ways that made her seem more feminine, which she clearly hated.

Grinding her teeth, Vi broke free and stepped back, humiliated and furious that the man treated her like some toy for his amusement.

"Who the hell are you, and why do you know me?!" she finally tried appealing to reason. Salazar chuckled, hands back in his pockets.

"I'm nobody special. I just know you, that's all. But you still didn't answer my question—have you seen your sister recently?"

Vi stared at him, unsure of how to respond, but tried to calm herself, which wasn't exactly her strong suit.

"What do you want with my sister?"

"It's simple... I want her for myself," he said with a confident grin that Vi interpreted as vile and creepy.

(For my crew, obviously. But I can't tell her that.)

His communication skills were definitely a mess.

Vi's eyes widened in disbelief. She stared at the man, not knowing what to think. Was he some crazy stalker after her sister?

Caitlyn, who had stayed out of it until now, stood up and placed a hand on Vi's shoulder.

"We need to go. This guy's just looking for your sister. Let's leave," she said firmly, eyeing Salazar with no intention of wasting more time. She was too worried about her mother after the attack.

Vi hesitated. On one hand, she feared what this strange, powerful man might do to her sister. On the other hand, Caitlyn was injured and needed her help.

Eventually, she chose Caitlyn, helping her away and casting one last look at Salazar, silently promising to find him again.

Watching them walk away, Salazar sighed.

"And she didn't tell me anything about Jinx. What a waste of time," he muttered, continuing on his path—until a thought suddenly struck him.

"Of course… If I find Sevika, I'll find Jinx. She knows everything about the Undercity now that Silco's dead." He clenched a fist and slapped it into his palm, his face lighting up with realization before breaking into an arrogant grin as he walked.

"I'm a genius, hahaha!" he laughed to himself like a madman. Being a slave had clearly messed with his head.

---

[Time remaining: 121:45:37]

After a full day of exhaustive searching, he decided to take a break in Piltover, both for its comforts and out of sheer curiosity.

While sipping a milkshake, he watched from under a tree as the funeral of Councilor Kiramman—whose name he didn't remember—took place in the distance. Caitlyn stood front and center, crying over her mother's death.

"Is it super insensitive if I drink a milkshake at a funeral?" he asked aloud thoughtfully, not expecting a response—until he blocked a punch without even looking and turned around, bored.

"I'd say yeah, it's a bit insensitive, don't you think?" Vi said, pulling her fist away in irritation but making no further moves.

"What's more insensitive is you being here when the killer is your own sister," he countered with a smug grin, sipping his milkshake again.

"Sh-she's... not my sister anymore. Only Jinx is left now," she said, defeated, sounding resigned to the fact that a stranger knew everything about her life.

"Is that a statement or are you just trying to convince yourself—for your little mourning girlfriend over there?" he asked, pointing with his cup while Vi stood in silence, arms crossed beside him.

"That's what I thought. I guess you still care a little about little Powder," he said, finishing the drink and tossing the cup backward without looking.

Gazing at the dejected Vi, an idea occurred to him. He had nothing to lose by asking.

"By any chance... would you like to leave everything behind and start over?" he asked with a mysterious smile, locking eyes with her. Vi looked up, uncertain.

"What do you mean?"

"You know... If you could. Leave it all behind, go far away, forget all the bad memories, and start over as someone new." He explained more clearly. Vi considered the possibility, her expression thoughtful, then looked toward Caitlyn in mourning and sighed.

"I don't think I could," she said, and Salazar sighed in disappointment—but he expected that.

"I see. That's a shame." He turned to continue his search.

"Wait!" she called out, and Salazar turned to see a serious-looking Vi with clenched fists.

"You said you were looking for my sister. You said you wanted her for yourself... What does that mean?" she asked, confused.

"Nothing bad. I just want to make her the same offer I made you. She's more likely to accept," he replied, and Vi stared at him intently.

"If she does… where will you take her?"

"To a place where you'll probably never see her again. It'll be like she died."

That brutal honesty made Vi clench her fists and grit her teeth, unsure of what to do.

"W-will... she be okay?" The last bit of concern Vi had for the little Powder she once knew slipped out.

"If she stays, you know they'll hunt her down. Where I'm taking her, maybe they will too... but I can guarantee you one thing," he said, looking her in the eyes with a confident smile.

"If she comes with me, I'll protect her with my life."

Vi looked at him, surprised. She doubted him—but in the end, she sighed.

"If you're telling the truth… then maybe she should go with you. But… if she says yes, do you think… I could say goodbye?"

Despite her tough appearance, Vi looked more vulnerable than ever—a helpless girl who still deeply cared for her sister.

Salazar stayed silent for a moment, then sighed.

"I'll do what I can. But you know better than I do—Jinx, or Powder, is complicated." He spoke without his usual playful tone, now more serious, though still relaxed.

"Just… tell her that we're still sisters, despite everything. I'd like to see her and talk—without trying to kill each other. Like before..." Her eyes were full of nostalgia, not even looking at Salazar, who nodded.

Ready to leave, he turned one last time with a smug grin.

"Hope you dance better next time you try to hit me," he said, and Vi scoffed with a faint chuckle.

"I'll beat you to a pulp."

"You wish, Pinky."

---

Considering Salazar is a time traveler in the Arcane world, he doesn't bother trying to lay low or stay hidden—after all, no matter what he does, he'll leave eventually.

Hope you enjoyed the interaction with Vi and the explanation of why she can't be recruited right now.