Cyberzaun, Machinarium

"How did you jump over here?" He looked at the narrow space in surprise. Is this distance enough for a girl to get through?

"Don't worry about that." Jinx grabbed the armrest on one side with her left hand, and gently stroked Enoch's neck with the other hand. She used her thumb to apply a little force to lift Enoch up and make him look at her.

"You don't seem happy?" Jinx's fingertips covered with smoke stroked her lower lip, and she moved closer as if she had discovered some secret.

"I didn't. Those weapons performed very well. I'm very happy. Why should I be unhappy?"

"Uh-huh, did you forget how you promised? Littlefinger wouldn't lie to Jinx, right?"

"You are hiding something from me. If you don't tell me, I won't leave." With a click, the cockpit lock was closed. Jinx unbuckled Enoch's seat belt and lay sideways in the boy's arms.

She put her long blue braid around Enoch's neck and tied the two together. "Now you can speak."

Chapter 60: Aftermath of the War

The cabin environment is really too cramped. After all, the idea of allowing two more people to sit in the cab was not considered at the beginning of the design.

All the doors of the cabin were closed. As the propellers turned slower and slower until they stopped, the soundproof cabin gradually returned to silence. For a moment, it seemed that only the overlapping breathing sounds could be heard.

"Listener, I'm fine, nothing happened, so can you let me go?" Enoch stared for a while and tried his best to look away.

Jinx simply tilted her head slightly, staring silently at Enoch, and noticing the boy's uncomfortable look, she put her left hand on his face, gently drawing his gaze back to herself once more.

"Don't you think I can't see it?" A hoarse yet sweet voice sounded in Enoch's ears, and the girl took her braids and started tickling Enoch out of boredom.

"You didn't look happy when Carl caused the explosion at the end. I was watching you. If you don't tell me, you can't go anywhere today. Anyway, everyone except you thinks I'm a lunatic, so it's normal to lock you up for a day."

"I'm just... a little sentimental sometimes. I made a lot of preparations beforehand, but when I ordered the entire legion to be blown up to the sky, I still felt a little... Never mind, just think of it as something I ate badly." Enoch gently put his arms around the girl's waist, feeling her relatively thin body. He suddenly understood why Jinx was often neurotic and insisted on lying in his arms.

Jinx smiled with satisfaction, stretched her hugged bodies, and motioned for Enoch to continue.

"I used to think of myself as a blacksmith, helping others fix this and that, and it had nothing to do with me who lived or died. But now, I have nothing to put in front of me, so I can pretend that it has nothing to do with me."

"Hah, my little finger." Jinx slipped from between Enoch's hands like a little fish and looked down at Enoch for a long time.

Gently, but unyieldingly, he held Enoch in his arms, turned his chin slightly, and gently leaned on Enoch's head.

"Relax your little finger, you're just... not that bad." Enoch was immersed in the aroma of chamomile, listening to the hoarse voice of the girl above him, "I especially like this about you, so from now on, give all your kindness to me, give it to Jinx for safekeeping, and I will give myself to you, the two of us, together, we can be a pair of happy bad guys, how about it, deal?"

Enoch tightened his embrace, feeling the softer and stronger smell. "Deal"

The two of them stayed together like that for a while, until Benso came and knocked on the window impatiently, and then they slowly separated.

"What's wrong?" Jinx asked first, still lying on Enoch.

"What's wrong? I waited for a long time downstairs, but didn't see anyone. When I came up, I found you two posing like this. I stood in front of the window for a while, but no one noticed me. You still asked me what was wrong?"

"We're just enjoying the morning of our holiday, it's no big deal" Jin Ke blew his bangs nonchalantly, then reluctantly opened all the hatches.

Carrying Jinx out of the cabin, Enoch took the opportunity to stretch his body, and his thighs were slightly numb.

"Good news or bad news?"

"It's hard to predict. There's nothing wrong with the weapons. Noxus has also begun to retreat. The Ionians are celebrating."

"That's good news then?"

Benso didn't confirm or deny it, but shrugged. "This group of Ionians has a leader. The group that rushed out under the bombing has returned, and brought back an arm. Judging from the sleeve, it belongs to a senior general. When cleaning up the battlefield later, some news about Zaun alchemical gas bombs was found."

"I'll take care of it." Jinx was in very good spirits and turned to leave.

"Wait." Enoch took out the respirator from the medical box on the helicopter and handed it to Jinx. "It's just one day. You have to come back at night no matter what, okay?"

Jinx didn't say anything, but she patted the respirator in the small bag on her back to indicate that it was ready. Then she hugged Enoch and rubbed him gently, then turned and walked towards the Ionian guerrillas.

Enoch whispered to Benso, "Let the mortar team follow and blow up any problems they find. At least we must withdraw all our people."

Benso nodded and turned to "My suggestion, if you are afraid of something happening, don't let the girl go, or else give her some confidence. From the look on your face, I thought you wanted to blow up both Noxus and Ionia."

"Am I that obvious?"

Benso was too lazy to pay attention to him. It would take some time to clean up the remaining weapons on the position.

..............................

"Thank you for your help. To be honest, before the war started, most of us didn't think we would survive." The girl in the red traditional dress looked exceptionally mature. Perhaps the disaster in her homeland tempered her spirit.

Compared to her, the much older Jinx seems much more...heartless.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Zan. I have heard about your heroic deeds. Your deeds of running through the gunfire are shocking. Your damage to Swain will become a banner of Ionia." Enoch stretched out his hand and shook the young girl in front of him. He respected her courage and perseverance.

"Just call me Irelia, that's what my friends call me. Thank you for your help." Irelia made a complicated hand gesture in front of her chest, "May all things bless you."

"You are a friend of Ionia. I heard you are leaving?"

"Yes, after all, I have been away from my hometown for a while. Maybe I will come here again." Enoch smiled casually, "We may not be able to help you too much, but before we leave, we will prepare some mortars for you. These things are very simple to operate, and I hope they can help you."

"Thank you very much, this is what my brothers and sisters need to resist, and I look forward to our next encounter. We are always welcome."

Irelia bowed gracefully and said, "We have a small memorial party tonight to mourn our deceased relatives and friends. I hope you can also attend."

“It’s a great honor”

The banquet at night was quieter and more solemn than expected. With the cold candlelight, there was only deep sorrow and whispers at the meeting. Irelia's traditional Ionian dance pushed the sad atmosphere to the extreme.

In this atmosphere, Enoch could only keep silent so as not to disturb the grieving people.

After the party was over, Enoch left first. He was going to sort out the video footage shot by Jinx and add subtitles to the Demacia commentary. This would be an excellent invitation for Benso and his team to develop rapidly in Demacia.

Just when he was busy, Jinx came in through the window carrying a lot of bags. Seeing that the girl was safe and sound, Enoch breathed a sigh of relief.

The girl skillfully jumped into Enoch's arms, took a deep breath and rubbed it, then said, "Guess what good thing I brought you?"

Chapter 61 Return to Zaun

"Look at this, ha, a specialty of Zaun."

The light bag was turned over, and all the contents were poured onto the small table. In addition to some pottery fragments with Singed's mark, a test tube emitting purple light stimulated Enoch.

It's obvious that this is Shimmer. Jinx is right, this is really a specialty of Zaun.

"Does anyone else know what this is?" Enoch picked up the glowing test tube and watched the bubbles float in it.

"No, the Noxians and the Ionian guerrillas who rushed in are all dead—the Noxians did it. They carried out a suicide attack."

"Are you sure there are no survivors?"

"It should be gone. The poison gas extracted from the ditch is not something these spoiled people can block. The path was still green when we left." Jinx shook her head in dissatisfaction, "Don't you trust me in what I do?"

Enoch opened the bottle of Weiguang's reagent and poured it on the ground beside him. "We went through so much trouble just for a business card of a good man who is eager to help others. I don't want any accidents to happen. I will ask Benso to check it out when he goes to clean up the battlefield later."

Jinx didn't look very happy, but she didn't say much. "What's next? Continue to fight Noxus?"

Watching the reagent seeping into the soil bit by bit, "No, we should go back to Zaun right now. There are more important things over there."

“Let’s go now”

………………

The waves on the return journey were much stronger than expected, but fortunately Noxus suffered a severe defeat and now the most important thing is to shrink the front line. There are not many warships on the coast of Ionia, so Enoch and others do not need to take a detour.

The journey was relatively smooth except that a group of foolish pirates tried to rob and were sent to the bottom of the sea by the helicopter piloted by Enoch.

It seems that the dogs in Bilgewater have a keen sense of smell. As soon as the war eased a little, they couldn't wait to come out to plunder again.

The 20-day journey was depressing, but setting foot on the port of Piltover again made Enoch and the others indescribably happy... As for the complicated procedures of the Piltover people, they just regarded it as a special welcome ceremony.

"Let me see yours..."

Before the customs officer could finish his words, he was suppressed by a bag of gold coins thrown by Jinx. Enoch chuckled with satisfaction as he watched the customs officer open a food transfer order in the name of Jack Quinn. The Piltover man did not exceed his expectations.

Sending his men to rest, Enoch walked alone towards the Fugen Bar in the dark alley.

Next, I need to have a good talk with Hilco. It is not appropriate to bring too many people, especially Jinx.

"I heard you made a fortune in Demacia. What? Do you want me to congratulate you?"

Hilco was still dressed in a red suit and vest, smoking a cigar, and looked unchanged.

It's just that the appearance hasn't changed.

With a clang, an empty reagent bottle was casually thrown onto the desk by Enoch. It rolled a few more times in the direction of the force and stopped only when it hit the whiskey glass on the desk.

"I think we have reached an agreement that we will stop using the Shimmer after dealing with Piltover. We can't use this thing to poison the people of Zaun." Enoch didn't answer. He pulled a chair over slightly rudely and sat down.

"It was you who made the request. Yes, I remember. But now is not the right time." Hilco put out his cigar in the ashtray and answered Enoch's question nonchalantly without even looking at the reagent bottle on the table.

"When are you going to attack Piltover? You already have weapons and equipment, and the damage of these things has been tested. Now, while Piltover has not received the news, we are fully prepared."

Banging the table hard, Hilco replied impatiently, "I said, now is not the time."

"When is the right time? Wait until you smuggle the glimmer to every country?" Enoch propped up his head; he was beginning to have a headache.

The office suddenly became silent. After a long while, Hilco finally spoke.

"I have made a plan, a perfect plan, and it will start soon. You don't need to know the exact time. Now, go back and do your job in the factory." Hilco picked up the whiskey glass. In the backlit environment, except for the still scarlet eyes, no other expression could be seen.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Hilco. I reserve my opinion on Weiguang. The human body is the most sophisticated machine. Blind transformation and destruction can only lead to madness. This is my experience." Enoch stood up with some disappointment. Hilco in front of him looked more and more like a businessman.

"We already have the power to deal with Piltover. What concerns are holding you back?"

"Watch your words, little finger. In view of your past dedication, I can forgive your disrespect this time, but from now on, I want you to be careful about your words and actions. There won't be a next time. Don't forget, it was me who brought you together to achieve your current position."

Enoch stopped walking out of the room and turned to look at the shadowy figure behind the desk, "Are you questioning me?"

"What I need is everyone's loyalty. This is the only requirement for me to grant you asylum. I hope you will not forget this." With scarlet eyes flashing, Hilco warned word by word.

Enoch sneered, "What did I do to make you humiliate me like this? Is it because I singled out someone who was smuggling Shimmer privately?"

"It's because you keep questioning my decisions, when I never doubted you." The wine glass slammed heavily on the table, and Hilco's tone suddenly became heavier.

"I want to remind you that you still have Fandel's cub with you. I am generous of you for not asking you to hand over that lunatic. There won't be a next time."

Enoch narrowed his eyes and gently moved his right hand. "Is this a threat?"

"This is a warning. I don't want to repeat it. Go down." With a click, the cigar was lit again, which also indicated the end of this conversation.

Seeing Enoch leave the office, Hilco breathed a sigh of relief. Hafen was mainly responsible for the smuggling. Even he himself was not sure where the thing on the table came from.

Several of his men now have their own thoughts. Some simply want to make money from business, some want to further add to the soles of the Piltover guys, and some like Enoch Sevika want to simply show off their muscles. He must show control first, otherwise no matter how many weapons he has, they will be resold.

Blowing out a puff of smoke, Hilco decided it was time to pay his men a visit.

........................

Returning to the factory area disappointed, Enoch stayed at his workbench, awkwardly disassembling his damaged left hand prosthesis.

Seeing the screwdriver scratch the side several times, Enoch could only pause for a moment and take a few deep breaths.

"Jinx? Where have you been?"

PS:

Thank you for the monthly ticket of No Moon Today

Thanks for the monthly ticket from Clean Gundam

Thanks to the monthly ticket of a certain righteous president

Thanks to Shingo Tamagawa for the monthly ticket

Thanks to Azathoth for his monthly ticket

Chapter 62 Tamara

"Excuse me, I heard a noise inside, is this Mr. Enoch?"

The door was pushed open, but instead of the blue-haired woman that Enoch expected, the woman in front of him had blonde hair that fell softly on her shoulders, and she was holding a few brown briefcases in her hands.

This is rare. There are few women with this hairstyle in downtown. Most people need to deal with large machines, and long hair may get stuck in their hair. So most people have short hair.

What's more, the woman in front of him had a pretty face, plump cheeks, and an upright posture. She didn't look like a Zaun who would be hungry most of the time.

"Who are you?" Enoch was on guard.

"My name is Tamara. May the haze not enter your house, Mr. Enoch. I am responsible for organizing the documents. These are the things that have been piled up while you were away." The woman smiled and put the paper bag in a corner of the desk, where there were several piles of documents, which seemed to have been accumulated for a long time.

But there was no dust, and Enoch thought Jinx had a change of heart and helped clean up. It seemed that the person in front of him who looked like a secretary had done it.

"How can I help you?" Tamara stood in front of the table and looked at Enoch's left hand prosthesis that was torn into pieces.