Cyberzaun, Machinarium

Chapter 78 You can choose to remove obstacles

"She doesn't want me anymore. No one likes me. I'm a nuisance." Jinx cried softly in Enoch's chest.

"It's okay. I understand you." Enoch looked at the crying girl in his arms, thinking about the girl's unprecedented wavering behavior around Wei.

He gently patted the girl's back until she gradually calmed down. To be honest, Enoch was beginning to get a little worried.

He originally thought that the girl needed him and would always rely on him, but looking at the current situation, Enoch has begun to consider whether he would be killed by the emotional Jinx if he and Wei had an unpleasant conflict.

If the situation really happened that the girl got carried away and started crying while holding her own corpse, Enoch thought it would be better to make some preparations in advance.

After thinking quietly for a while, Enoch, with a hint of cruelty, gently lifted up Jinx's tearful face while the girl was vulnerable and shaken.

"It's okay, Jinx, I heard what you said to your sister. I understand you and her." Enoch said softly, pulling out a dagger from behind and putting it in Jinx's hand. The guiding girl held it tightly.

With both hands wrapped around Jinx's slender fingers and his thumb faintly pressing on the dagger's hand guard, Enoch controlled Jinx to slowly push the dagger towards her throat.

"Your sister may have some misunderstandings about me. She doesn't like me very much, but you see, I don't want to make you sad... So let me help you. It only takes a simple action, and there will be no obstacles between you and your sister."

In the face of Jinx's surprise and panic, Enoch tightly grasped Jinx's hand that wanted to escape and placed the dagger across his neck. The illogical words completely disturbed the girl's limited rationality.

"No! I don't want it! Please, I can't..." Jinx begged, trying hard to take back her hands, but she was firmly grasped by Enoch's prosthetic limbs and could not move.

The girl began to tremble in panic, her legs could no longer support her, and she fell to the ground, but her hands were still grabbed and lifted up, and placed next to Enoch's neck - that was a place that Jinx absolutely could not hurt now.

"No, Little Finger, don't do this, I can't hurt you... Let go, don't do this, please, I don't want to hurt you." Jinx wailed and wanted to escape, but she couldn't leave at all. Jinx began to look at the boy who was cut because of her trembling with some despair. Blood oozed out along the blade little by little, slowly sliding across the blade, guarding her hands, and then dyeing the girl's hands red.

"No." Jinx used all her strength and finally pulled her hands along with the dagger away from Enoch's hands. Her body fell to the ground with the movement. She stared at the dagger and the blood on her palms in a trance for a few seconds, then threw the dagger aside quickly as if she had been electrocuted, and then crawled towards Enoch using her hands and feet.

Looking at the wound on Enoch's neck and the blood on his collar, Jinx carefully lay on Enoch's shoulder, tremblingly pulled open his collar, and anxiously checked the injuries she had caused, fearing that she would hurt him again.

"I'm fine, Jinx, you've done a good job, you've been trying not to hurt me, I'm very grateful to you." Enoch said softly, slowly grabbing Jinx's hands. Seeing the girl's frightened look, Enoch gently held Jinx in his arms.

"Everything is over, can we go home together?" Touching the girl's forehead, Enoch picked up the girl and walked towards his factory.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I screwed up again." Jinx lay in Enoch's arms, feeling a little depressed, still upset about her behavior. "I'd rather hurt myself than hurt you again, I swear."

"Thank you," Enoch lamented his own bad behavior, and with mixed feelings, he hugged the girl tighter. He took a few deep breaths, and made up his mind to slowly warn Jinx and himself, "You didn't do anything wrong. It's just that they don't care what we say. In this case, we will act together from now on. We want everyone to pay attention to our every word, and no one will look down on us anymore."

"I'll do whatever you say." Jinx responded sullenly, "Can I help you with your wound?"

"It's just a superficial wound, but I'd be happy for you to help me deal with it." Chuckling, Enoch quickened his pace towards home.

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

"Bang, bang!" Wei woke up suddenly, only to find himself tied up tightly with a net bag covering his head, unable to see anything around him.

“Baobao? Caitlin? Are you all here? Damn it, who did this? Let me go now, or I’ll teach you a lesson!!”

Wei tried to move her body, struggling to untie the restraints, but she had no strength at all. She had been either fleeing or fighting for the past two days, and she was able to hold on for so long because of her amazing will. Feeling exhausted, Wei licked her cracked lips and tried hard to stand up little by little.

Perhaps Wei's shouting alarmed the guards outside, and the closed door was opened with a swish. Someone pulled him up vaguely, tied him to the pipe on the side again, and then pulled off the mask on his head with a swish.

"For a dead person, you look pretty sharp"

"Ike?" Wei called out in surprise.

In contrast to her, Ike looked Wei up and down coldly. "Where did you come from? Who are you working for now? Is it Hilco?"

"Go to hell." Wei looked at the little guy in front of him who had changed his appearance. It felt really good to see an old friend again, but what he said was not very pleasing.

"What are you doing here? Why are you looking for Jinx?" Ike was unmoved and was not going to let Vi go before asking for clarification. He knew exactly what Vi was capable of and was even confident in her. If he really let her out, maybe all the gang members combined would not be enough for her to defeat.

"Her name is Boom." Wei is very sensitive to this question now. "What are you doing? Have you forgotten me? It's me, Wei Olai."

"I have to confirm whether you are a friend or foe." Ekko was a little helpless. "Now a lot of things have changed. You suddenly popped up with a girl from Piltover... I don't know if I can trust you."

"I was arrested and imprisoned for the past few years. I just escaped yesterday. I looked for you all in Zaun, but it turned out that none of you were normal." Wei broke free from the rope from behind and took a few steps towards Ekko.

"I missed you guys." Wei hugged Ike tightly. The two who hadn't seen each other for many years suddenly became familiar with each other. "What happened?"

"A lot of things, after Fandel died, a lot of things changed."

Chapter 79 It's time to add fuel to the fire in Upper City

"Where have you been all these years? What happened to the people from Piltover who were with me? What happened to Baobao?" Wei looked at Ekko in front of her and asked quickly and anxiously. It was because she had encountered too many things in the past two days.

"Hey, calm down. I'll tell you." Ike waved his hand, motioning Wei to follow him. "The blue-haired girl with you is not doing well. She was injured. We sewed her up, but she has a low fever now. She may not be used to the environment in Bottom City. Anyway, she needs antibiotics."

"I don't have this kind of thing on hand right now. You have to take her to the upper city later. That's where you can find that kind of thing." Ike took Wei across the room to the courtyard, motioning Wei to visit the plants in front of them that would not appear in Zaun.

"I ran back home after you got caught. After the chaos in the alley, my parents didn't let me go there anymore. They helped me get a Piltover school uniform, and I would sneak in every now and then, read books when no one was paying attention, make small things, etc., until I found this place in Zaun."

Ike pointed at the winding tree in front of him, proud and proud. "See? Since it can grow in Zaun, then we have a way to make Zaun a better place. So many of us spontaneously gathered together to try to help some people who suffered because of the Alchemy Baron."

"Well done, little one." Wei patted Ike's shoulder. This was the best news she had heard in the past few days.

"It's not good enough. Hilco has infected nearly half of the people in the black alley with the glimmer. The situation in the lower mining areas is even more deadly. He doesn't care about the harm of the glimmer to the human body. When someone tries to resist him, 'Little Finger' Enoch's weapon can easily suppress the voices of opposition." Ike's tone was a little heavy as he gently teased the wildfire flying in the air with his fingertips.

"So, that Littlefinger guy is really working for Hilco, I thought he also killed you and Benso" Wei sighed "I should have stayed here and protected you."

"Don't think too much, or you'll drive yourself crazy. You've done nothing wrong to Black Alley." Seeing Wei's sad face, Ike could only think of ways to ease Wei's mood.

"I'm just worried about you. If I hadn't left one day, maybe we wouldn't have changed."

Listening to Wei's self-blaming words, Ike felt that he had to make her face reality. "Boom is gone, Wei. Now there is only Jinx, who is working as an executioner under Enoch. Anyone who dares to cause trouble in the factory area will have his house blown up in a few days."

"No, Boom Boom is just controlled by Enoch. She is still here. I can feel her, you know?" Wei retorted to Ike anxiously.

"Really? You think she was forced? No, those explosions were all voluntary on her part and she was happy to do them. I've met her and I know her..." Ike sighed and took Wei to a memorial mural.

“These people helped us achieve our current ideals, but some of them died along the way. They were killed by Jinx herself. It is rumored that Enoch will reward her for this.

I met her before, and we didn't communicate well. It was also after that that someone in the Underworld began to secretly look for my whereabouts. I can't believe that Bomb still exists like you do." Ike warned Wei, hoping to raise her vigilance. "Don't blame me for speaking harshly, but this is the fact."

"I understand. Thank you for your warning, but I still want to try it again, otherwise I won't be able to forgive myself."

Ike shrugged. "Whatever you want to do, but I suggest you find a way to bring that chick back to Uptown first." Ike pulled out a folded pardon from his pocket, which was stained with Caitlin's blood.

"Here, I don't know where you got it, but you might need it—that Piltover chick was holding it down after she passed out, and it took a lot of effort to get it out."

Wei took the pardon order and stared blankly at the pollution on it. "Thank you."

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

"Are you still angry?" Enoch lay on Jinx's legs, watching the girl carefully suture her wounds.

Jinx looked a little annoyed. "I didn't. I was just attracted by a chick from uptown. Why should I be angry?"

Enoch raised his eyebrows slightly as he felt the girl's rougher movements than before. "That's good, but I have to remind you that I'm not your doll. I have feelings. Please treat me gently if possible."

“I’m sorry.” Jinx paused as she grew increasingly frustrated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just… I can’t go on. I can’t hurt you anymore.”

Enoch adjusted his position slightly on the girl's leg, took Jinx's hand holding the needle and thread, and placed it above the wound, "It's okay Jinx, I believe you, if you feel scared, just think of it as fulfilling my orders, okay?"

Looking at the girl's flashing eyes, Enoch spoke softly. This was a request and also a test. "Help me with my wounds, Jinx. This is an order."

"……Yes"

After finally treating the wound, Jinx threw what she was holding aside and huddled aside, sulking.

Enoch brushed the winding seams gently, stared at the girl in the mirror and thanked her; "You made it beautiful, thank you."

"But there might be a scar there." Jinx buried her head deeply behind her knees.

"It's just right. You can help me with the tattoo. How about using your name?" Enoch smiled. "I said I would prepare a gift for you, but it seems I have to break my promise. Go find your sister. Don't play outside too late. Don't forget to go home early tonight. I spent a lot of money to hire a chef who is willing to come to Zaun at this time."

Jinx looked up suddenly, looking particularly surprised, "But, I'm afraid she doesn't like you."

"What about you? Will you let her hurt me?" Enoch adjusted his collar and pretended not to care.

"No, dear Littlefinger." Jinx gave him a big hug. "I'm going to find her. I will be back tonight. I promise."

"Remember to wear the armor I designed for you... This is all I ask."

The girl saluted in a funny way. Enoch watched Jinx disappear out the door, then took out the weapons report from today's suppression of prisoners.

After carefully selecting a few pages and erasing the key information and special marks, Enoch put the documents back into the file bag and handed them to Steiner who had been waiting outside the factory.

"Find a suitable opportunity and send them to the upper city. Let those councillors 'accidentally' discover the secrets of the lower city. It's time to add fuel to the fire. I can't wait any longer."

After packing the documents, Steiner asked hesitantly before leaving, "Don't you need to inform Hilco?"

"No need." Enoch smiled, "It's not a big deal. I just added a little motivation. As for the rest of the work, our friends in the upper city will help our leader understand the situation."

Chapter 80 Mr. Tallis

"Have we been holding meetings too frequently these past two days? Didn't they say that the criminals in the lower city have been dealt with? What's the matter now?"

Councillor Surrey has been busy organizing people to deal with the affairs of Demacia and Ionia these days. He really has no interest in what is happening in Piltover, especially since it is obviously related to his new partner. He doesn't want to step into this mess.

No matter which side you stand on, you may lose the benefits that are about to be obtained. It is better to pretend that nothing happened and not offend both sides.

"I understand your concerns about the situation, but now something beyond our expectations has obviously happened. Perhaps we have ignored the development of the downtown for too long, so much so that I realized today that many times the unrest in the downtown was described as factory accidents." Councilman Mel tapped lightly on the goblet in front of him. The crisp sound made the already quiet meeting room silent.

"Members of the Senate, I would like to remind you that it took only one day for the Lower City to capture or kill all the escaped prisoners. Especially in a terrain like Zaun, we should pay more attention to the representatives of the Lower City. Obviously, their power is beyond our imagination."

"So you mean to have the law enforcement officers rush to the lower city and arrest all the industrialists who run factories? Zaun can rush to Piltover that night and burn down the houses." Councillor Giraman immediately objected. His daughter is still in the lower city. If chaos breaks out, it will be troublesome.

"What I mean is that we need to pay extra attention to the development of the lower city, not interfere with it. Thank you for reminding Councillor Gilaman," Mel said, holding up the two pieces of intelligence in his hand.

"I received news that the people in the lower city are more armed than we imagined. I have confirmed with the consultant that with the current level of armed law enforcement officers, we are helpless against the armed forces that appeared during this riot."

As he spoke, Mel motioned to the secretary to distribute copies of the document to each member of the parliament. "In order to illustrate the danger of this matter, I specially invited this year's Evolution Day figure to give us some explanations."

"Excuse me, Mr. Tallis."

After waiting outside the conference room for a long time, Jace took a deep breath, and slowly walked into the conference room with a pile of documents in his arms. After a simple salute, he handed the documents in his hand to each member of the congress, nodded and smiled, and said hello.

Jace did exactly what Melmidalda had asked for. He exchanged glances with Senator Mel before beginning to explain.

"According to Councillor Midarda's information, I calculated that the external armaments of these vehicles are at least 5mm thick. At this stage, the law enforcement officers' rifles cannot penetrate the armor. Considering that the vehicles can ignore attacks from Molotov cocktails, their tires should also have been specially treated. The possibility of common roadblocks being effective is relatively low. The overall shape of the vehicles does not rule out the possibility that they can cross shallow water."

"What's your conclusion, Mr. Tallis?" Councillor Kaywald looked at the difference between the two files. One of them had a clear Lothrian mark, while the other did not. This was an interesting discovery. It seemed that Councillor Midalda had more power than expected.

"My conclusion is that we may need to use coastal defense artillery to deal with these weapons. However, the main purpose of these vehicles is to transport personnel. I suggest that we first deploy them at the possible landing ports..."

"You mean we have to close some ports just because of the things in these photos? Increase customs guards? Do you know that Evolution Day is coming soon? We can't show any problems to our business partners during this period. We have to open all ports as usual." Councilman Polpok obviously objected, and in fact most of the councilors did the same.

After all, these things are just photos, and the applicable occasion is Zaun. Merchants like Hoskar are obviously taking chances.

Senator Heimerdinger carefully calculated the data on the document and analyzed the occasions where this thing was applicable. This vehicle was created to adapt to harsh terrain. Theoretically speaking, his imaginary enemy might not be Piltover.

After closing the document, Heimerdinger began to express his opinion. "We should not regard the other city as an enemy. Piltover is a city of great progress. We have the ability to protect ourselves while living in harmony with Zaun."

"I heard that Mr. Tallis has made some modifications to Hextech energy. Is there anything that is suitable for the current situation?" Congressman Sari looked at the bewildered young man in front of him as if he was looking at a piece of juicy fat meat. A Hextech flying gate alone has brought huge profits. Now he heard that there is new research. Maybe he can also get some business this time?

"Mr. Congressmen, I want to emphasize one thing. The reason I study Hextech is to better benefit mankind, not to fight against a certain group of people."

"Then let me ask you, after Zaun has these things, who can guarantee that your Hextech products are still safe?"

"My companions and I have stabilized the Hex in an inert state. If it is not properly activated and released, there will be no problem." Jace refuted the councilor's point of view. He was very confident in his design.

"What if Hextech is leaked? Who can continue to guarantee..."

"Okay, councillors, let's give our Evolution Day character a break and tell us what kind of preventive measures you have prepared?" Midalda stopped the noisy environment and signaled Jace to perform well.

"My suggestion is to increase the vigilance of the port and pay attention to the flow of materials in Zaun. To manufacture such a large thing, the material consumption is a huge number, and they can't hide it without making a sound. If necessary, temporarily close the Hexgate to prevent possible collateral damage and the transportation of raw materials, and reduce the production volume of the refinery. A smooth transition is needed at present."

"That's your most outstanding work, and you're willing to shut it down?" Senator Heimerdinger looked at Jace in surprise.

"Impossible. We just can't shut it down. Do you know how many VIPs come here just for this thing?"

Seeing that the councillors were arguing again, Midalda had to defend himself again: "Councillors, it seems that we are in a dilemma. Interfering with Zaun will cause dissatisfaction among the people of the lower city, but letting such important information go will also bring us great security risks. Perhaps to solve this problem we need more professional people to spend more energy to handle these matters properly."

"What exactly do you want to say?" Jiraman had to interrupt Midalda's roundabout words.

Midalda looked around. "Mr. Tallis has proven his expertise in these creations, and his willingness to sacrifice part of his career for the safety of Piltover. I believe there is no one better suited to analyze and plan responses than Mr. Tallis, so I propose that the parliament add a seat to allow this representative of the Tallis family to join our august group."

Chapter 81: Councillor Tallis

As expected, Councillor Mel's suggestion was rejected by the other people as soon as it was put forward.

It's not that the ancestral law is immutable, nor is it that the seven-member council can effectively resolve differences... To be honest, which meeting doesn't listen to whoever has the greater family power? The council members are more worried about the control of Hextech.

Justalis has always been an outstanding scientific researcher who has appeared as a funded recipient. The so-called Tallis family seems to be an exaggeration. After all, a hammer maker does not have any firm business partners.

As long as Jace is still a researcher, the councilors can control the development of Hextech through restrictions and new rules until it benefits their own families. But if Jace becomes a councilor, these things may not be so easy to handle.

"This is not in line with the rules, and I don't see the need for us to take such radical measures. There is no threat in the lower city. Judging from the current situation, the law enforcement officers are enough to handle these situations... However, it is recommended that Hextech be weaponized as soon as possible to prevent possible dangers in the future."

Jace immediately refused, the councillor's suggestion went against the original intention of his design. "Hextech was created for a better life, not weapons. My partners and I have designed advanced mining equipment, which can greatly reduce the labor injuries in the lower city. We can live in harmony."