Cyberzaun, Machinarium

"What? You actually... don't you think she's too young?"

"I have to remind you that she is an adult. Don't always treat others as children. Your brain is still trapped in prison. I suggest you take some time to think about it carefully." Enoch tried hard to knock away Wei's fist.

"Is that what I'm talking about? Don't fool me."

At this moment, a strong blue light suddenly burst out in the distance, illuminating the office in the distance with a blue color.

The huge magic circle on the Hextech flying gate in the distance flashed weakly twice, and finally slowly went out. A huge flame burned up from the bottom of the tower. The Hextech stones flew everywhere due to the impact of the explosion, destroying many of the surrounding guard posts.

Playing with the red tower reflected in the distance, Enoch turned to the two people who were in disbelief and said, "Now, the dinner party has begun. Let's start enjoying this rare moment together. From now on, I guess everyone will be very busy."

Chapter 92: The Beacon Fire

In fact, Hilco was more decisive than Enoch thought.

Originally, Enoch just thought that Hilco would use the explosives he gave him to blow up the Hextech flying door device. The design of the tower was very sophisticated. Normally, let alone an explosion, even a fire would require the entire system to be shut down for fault screening.

This time is enough for Zaun to create a time difference and have a good talk with Piltover with weapons. After all, Piltover cannot equip all its personnel with Hextech weapons, while Zaun has one rifle for every three people on average. The stored ammunition is enough for more than 500 rounds per person.

Enoch was even confident that he wouldn't even actually use the artillery and helicopters... the mortars would be enough to pry open the Piltover's defenses on the bridge.

He had imagined that Hilco would take such radical action, but he didn't expect that he would directly dismantle the Hexgate.

The Hextech blasting device modified by Enoch sneaked into Piltover through the underwater in the early morning, and was brought to the foot of the flying gate tower by a Zaun worker who was responsible for maintaining the grass nearby. In the dead of night, the energy resonance released by the Hextech gems caused the tower engine to malfunction, and the power that was originally expected to blow up several walls was rapidly expanded. To be honest, the fact that the Hextech flying gate was not blown up was a performance of excellent quality.

The upper city was in an uproar. Even on curfew nights, the panicked people of Piltover secretly stood on the steps at the door, looking towards the direction where the sound came from.

The law enforcement officer flew over, but saw that the fire was completely out of control. The high temperature and toxic gases made it impossible to participate in the rescue. There was even no place to find a congressman to report the damage.

Jayce, who is in charge of this aspect, is currently imprisoned in Zaun.

Scattered gunshots were heard in the lower city. Following Hilco's orders, Sevika and several of her most trusted men took the infantry fighting vehicles and rockets that were brought from the military factory that afternoon and directly attacked and occupied the mine that Piltover had built in Zaun.

In particular, there are two huge Hextech ore refineries. Their locations are considered remote even for Zaun, but the toxic gases and waste they emit are constantly eroding the land of Zaun.

This was the first time that Zaun and Piltover were so torn apart and in opposition. Almost everyone was anxiously waiting for dawn, praying that things would not get any worse.

At the dinner table, the two people from Piltover had bad expressions, especially Jayce. He looked as if something he had treasured for many years had been blown up by a group of ignorant hooligans.

Although it is true judging by the results.

The only one who was restless was Wei. She was from Zaun, and logically she should be happy that Piltover was in trouble. However, every time she thought of the lesson of Fandel, she felt a sense of panic. She knew clearly that there would be a lot of blood shed on both sides this time, and many people would lose their loved ones and friends, and she could do nothing.

Jinx had a great appetite. She used the knife to cut the steak heavily, making a harsh and sharp sound on the plate. Jayce on the side couldn't help it and stood up, slapping the table. "You guys caused an explosion in Upper Town, and people got injured or even died, but you're eating and drinking here?"

"That's normal. After all, while you were feasting in Piltover, people were dying in Zaun. You see, this is the most interesting part. You can't stand the fact that the two cities are just slightly reversed in position, but you have to understand that most people in Zaun live like this every day. What did we say? At most, we just complained a little. We wouldn't bang the table like you do."

Enoch put his hands on his chest and looked at the angry congressman expressionlessly. "I thought you had calmed down. Sometimes we make cruel plans. Don't forget what these numbers represent."

Standing up and taking the wine glass, Enoch saluted Jace and said, "Like I said, you have enough intelligence, action and decision-making ability. I sincerely invite you, my friend. We are now in a car going downhill and have just stepped on the accelerator, so we should be prepared in advance and step on the brakes at the right time."

"What do you mean? You just blew up that big chimney and now you're considering peace talks?" Wei asked Enoch strangely. Wei had been acting a little strange since the afternoon.

"You are amazing." Enoch was too lazy to complain about Wei's adjectives. "What I mean is that fighting is a means to an end, but there are too many crazy people on my side. Who knows, someday, they will regard war as an end."

"At the same time, I'm not sure if you have such a person, but I think Mr. Congressman can help me."

"No, I won't help you." Jace ignored the glass of wine in front of him. "You started the conflict, and now you're pretending to be a good guy?"

"Don't make me sick anymore. I will restore peace between the two cities, but I won't join forces with you. Now, no matter what you think, I'm leaving." Jace looked at Enoch and the girl who was twirling a knife with ill intentions beside him. "No matter what you want to do to me, I'm going back to Piltover."

"Please, Mr. Congressman, considering the current tense situation on both sides, please send you two back to the upper city."

"What? No, I have to stay with you," Vi refused. Jinx had finally started to accept her a little, and she didn't want to go anywhere now.

"Yes, Vandel's daughter appears in Zaun at this time. Guess how long Hilco can let you live?" Enoch laughed at the girl's naivety. Strictly speaking, if Wei was the daughter of the overthrown former boss.

Jinx also said, "Yes, you have to spend more time with your girlfriend."

"But Baobao, I said I won't leave you again," Wei explained in a panic. She didn't want to irritate her sister anymore.

"It's Jinx time now." Lying on Enoch's back, the girl kissed his cheek in front of everyone: "Besides, Little Finger and I want to enjoy more private space."

The Piltover senator and the young lady law enforcer hurried towards the upper city. Jayce carefully checked his warhammer as he walked. Ever since he saw Enoch's prosthesis, Jayce was always a little uneasy about his warhammer, especially when it had been in that guy's hands for a long time.

Enoch took out the modified boxing gloves from his office and handed them to Wei who was saying goodbye to Jinx. Unfortunately, Jinx was in her rebellious phase and ignored Wei.

"I made some minor modifications and gave you some directional noise cannons. If you want to drive someone away, you can try this thing."

"Thank you." Wei took the gloves and tied them tightly. Seeing that Jinx didn't pay attention to this side, she asked quietly, "What do you want me to do up there?"

"I hope you can demonstrate your sense of justice and gain a good reputation in Piltover, that's all."

"I don't understand what you want to do." Wei flexed the fingers of her glove and put it on Enoch's shoulder. "Can I help you, like before, but I want you to swear that you will protect her well, okay?"

Enoch looked incredulous, "So you are so worried about me?"

Yes, Wei said in a positive tone, "Especially since you are still with her...do you have to play so fancy?"

"How interesting! How can you say that to me?" Enoch pointed to his hand hidden under the glove. "I noticed that your nails are very clean. I guess that's not because of carrying this thing."

"Haha." Wei sneered twice and offered his final parting blessing, "Go to hell."

Chapter 93: Moving Forward

Zaun was like an activated giant. It was no longer as slow and divided as before. Many repairmen from Zaun gathered in front of the bridge spontaneously. There were even some half-bloods from the two cities who stood on Zaun's side and watched.

To be honest, this was the first time that Zaun had been so united since the Mist. Enoch also saw many old neighbors from the Vandal period, but he didn't know where they had been all these years.

The infantry fighting vehicle drove onto the bridge and confronted the law enforcement officers hiding behind the bunker from a distance. Hilco brought a group of people to make the final announcement on the shore.

"I look forward to everyone uniting together when Zaun is threatened again. It's time for us to get the respect that belongs to us from Piltover. Let us use facts to tell these people that Zaun is no one's sewer. Zaun is the territory of the Zaun people. We don't need to look at anyone's face."

Hilco looked around. In addition to his old subordinates, there were many new faces. "Let me introduce you. This is Grask, an excellent chemical alchemist. She will help us deal with the problems related to alchemy potions."

Everyone nodded as a greeting. Hilco said nothing more, turning to look at the Piltover defense. "Finally, it's time to start taking back everything we lost."

The infantry fighting vehicles crushed the makeshift fortifications and rushed onto the bridge connecting the two cities with a large number of excited Zaun people.

Enoch looked at the messy team in front of him with a headache. This was why he had to exclude Noxus even if he had more advanced weapons. These people from Zaun could not be called an army at all. They couldn't even line up and charge behind the infantry fighting vehicles.

The amateurish behavior of holding on to the rifle and not letting go until rushing to the fortifications to reload the bullet would probably cause the professional army of Noxus to flee immediately, and they would only be able to bully places like Piltover where only the police are there to maintain law and order.

Even so, the casualties on both sides were alarmingly high, with the Zaun people suffering casualties at a faster rate - at least Piltover could understand orders, instead of fighting alone like Zaun and behaving like sleepwalking on the battlefield.

"I have a question. Have these people never had any training? I saw someone almost got crushed by our own infantry fighting vehicle." Enoch stared at the tense battle situation in front of him and looked at his collaborators on the side.

"I have the impression that this thing has been provided to you for a long time. Why can they still make such a bad situation?"

"Because most of the people are working together for the first time." Sevika picked up the cigarette and skillfully motioned to the man playing with the lighter next to her to light it for her.

"Then why do you have to rush over the bridge? Aren't you afraid that the other side will blow up the bridge?"

"I sent someone to check, the bridge is clean, the other side is trying to suppress us again, and then immediately start to restore several idle factories." Hilco laughed. He stopped Enoch who was about to go forward to organize the team.

"Wait, it's not time for you to go up yet. Let's see how the Piltover guys respond."

The infantry fighting vehicles, moving at a slow speed, quickly caught up with the people in front, and the machine guns and grenade launchers mounted on the roof kept firing to suppress the firepower of the distant port.

The makeshift defenses built on the bridge were finally pushed open and crushed by the artillery fire, chasing the law enforcement officers who were fleeing backwards.

Silence soon returned to the bridge. Piltover seemed to be preparing to retreat completely. This news boosted the morale of the Zaun side. Everyone shouted excitedly and prepared to move forward further.

The infantry fighting vehicles increased their horsepower this time and rushed to the front, completely disconnected from the follow-up teams in Zaun. They wanted to be the first to rush into Piltover.

Suddenly, several cannon shots blasted, and a large hole was torn in the side armor of the front and middle tanks, trapping the entire team on the bridge.

It was the sound of Piltover's coastal defense artillery. They moved the muzzle overnight, waiting to deal with Zaun's "secret weapon". After all, when this thing first appeared, the parliament discussed it many times.

Enoch was not surprised at all. In fact, it was very easy for Piltover to target this thing. To be honest, it was even more surprising that no Hextech weapons had been found on the battlefield until now.

Amid the roar, the side armor of the infantry fighting vehicle was lifted up, and the continuous offensive came to a sudden halt.

"Let the artillery dismantle those coastal defense guns, go quickly." Renee looked at everything in front of her in horror, and without thinking, she prepared to arrange more powerful firepower to cover the enemy.

"Do you know the coordinates?" Looking at the smoke and noisy sounds of weapons filling the bridge and the shore, Enoch had some doubts about the artillery.

Piltover had obviously prepared for a long time to accurately block these chariots on the bridge. They used the method of "cutting off the head and tail and attacking the middle" very shrewdly. But now Enoch could not find the location of the coastal defense artillery in this place unless it opened fire again.

Or they could arrange for artillery fire to wash the area, but this would inevitably destroy nearby buildings - that area was very close to Star Square, where most of the half-bloods from the two cities lived, and many Zaun people who were doing well also opened shops there.

"So do you have any good suggestions? We must push forward, no matter what the cost."

"Yeah, yeah," Enoch perfunctorily responded to Renee's yelling, "And then we also offend some of the half-bloods who might stand with us?"

Enoch waved behind him, and Jinx immediately came out from the side and stood next to Enoch.

The alchemist barons around seemed to have seen something bad. They moved quietly with abnormal expressions, all of them had distorted and strange looks.

Even someone like Iscariot, who always complained behind people's backs, didn't even dare to look up, staring at the floor tiles as if he had discovered something interesting.

"This is Jinx... I see you all know her, so I won't introduce her any further." Enoch paused, turned around and whispered to Jinx, "Go and fire all the smoke bombs onto the bridge and the other side. We need some cover for our stuff. Come back to me after you're done."

"Yes, boss." Jinx put her two fingers in a frivolous gesture and skipped out. Enoch also said goodbye to everyone, "Let's evacuate the people on the bridge first. You don't want to see your own crazy people in the thick fog and make stupid mistakes by accidentally injuring each other."

"And I'm going to help you solve this mess."

Except for a few people who didn't know the inside story, everyone else could only awkwardly smooth things over with each other after Enoch left. "It seems that madmen can be useful, right?"

Soon, all kinds of Jinx-style smoke were thrown onto the bridge. The pink and green smoke continued to rise, making it difficult to see what was happening. All one could hear was the creaking sound of metal friction coming from the bridge.

Some of the injured Zaun people were carried down, and the two sides once again regained a rare brief silence. Only a few sporadic gunshots were heard on both sides of the bridge. Those were the law enforcement officers shooting at the Zaun people aimlessly.

Chapter 2 KV-

As the troops from Zaun slowly withdrew and the noise on the bridge slowly subsided, the people in charge of Piltover all had relieved expressions.

This was what happened with the fog last time. The law enforcers held off a wave of attacks, and then the peasants from the lower city retreated on their own.

"It seems that the guarding method is very good. Just as Councillor Jace expected, the things in the lower city can't stop the coastal defense artillery."

"Thanks to the congressman's decisiveness, it seems we can rest easy this time."

Seeing the two sides shooting at each other slowly and tacitly, several merchants close to the parliament decisively began to boast. After all, now that the Hexgate was severely damaged, if they wanted to ship their goods out they would have to rely on the parliamentarians who still had a huge fleet.

At this time, both sea vessels and airships are extremely popular. As for how to divide Zaun in the future? That is the business of several major families in Piltover, and it obviously has nothing to do with these merchants.

But it is still easy to follow the congressman and drink some soup.

"No." Jace looked at the quiet opposite side and had a bad feeling in his heart.

They had not stopped since they left Enoch's place last night, and had been heading up to the city. He and Caitlin were almost like playing an old-fashioned game of level-breaking, as the winding streets of Zaun held unexpected things.

There were vendors selling glimmers and weapons everywhere, and it was easier to buy than a bottle of wine. The news that the Alchemist Baron had released to attack Piltover made most of Zaun go crazy, focusing on the port. After several turns, they could not find a way through.

Finally, Vi led him through a long-abandoned sewer pipe to find the sewage outlet of Piltover. What shocked Jayce even more was that there were traces of human habitation in this place, and all that was left here were highly toxic chemical wastes.

When they arrived in Piltover, Jayce knocked on every door before he found the councillors who were busy counting the losses. Only then did they belatedly increase police force for defense.

Thinking of the artillery that had already been mass-produced in the factory he had seen in Zaun, Jayce had no choice but to bite the bullet and order his men to remain on alert, and at the same time, they must not gather together for traditional bunker-style defense.

"Mr. Congressman, are you too tired? Please write down the task of cleaning up Zaun and leave it to me. I will help you deal with these problems properly."

"Who are you?" Jace looked at the middle-aged man who suddenly volunteered curiously. Jace was sure that he had never seen this person before.

"My name is Vishla. My family is responsible for providing weapons to law enforcement officers. I believe that with my expertise and experience, I can easily eliminate all dangers."

"Zuan didn't lose at all. How did you get the confidence to go in and eliminate the danger? Are your weapons any more effective than what any Zaun thug has? Our strictly trained law enforcement officers were constantly suppressed and beaten."

Ignoring the businessman whose face was turning blue and red, Jace turned back to Mel and warned him, "Listen to me, I know exactly what I saw. Zaun has the ability to destroy our defenses, but I don't know why they haven't done it yet. But now I need Professor Heimerdinger's help."

Pushing away the champagne offered to him, Jayce shook his head and said, "Now is not the time to open the champagne. Our most important thing now is not to consider resuming business, nor how to divide Zaun."

Jayce whispered worriedly in Meier's ear, "If possible, I would consider Piltover's surrender and give Zaun equal treatment. This would avoid bloodshed and benefit both sides."

Meier shook his head imperceptibly. "It's too late. Most of the people gathered here have suffered heavy losses due to the attack on the Hextech Flygate and the destruction of the factory in the lower city. These people will not stop until they have sucked enough blood. Otherwise, why do you think they volunteered to enter Zaun, which they usually don't bother to look at? Aren't they just trying to get a head start?"

Jace shook his head dejectedly and returned to the laboratory far away from the front line, looking at his companions who were staying there.

"What's going on now?" Wei sat on the experimental table, watching Victor, who was as thin as a stick, tinkering with his invention. Her identity was very awkward now, and it was inconvenient for her to help either side.

"The fighting between the two sides cannot be stopped. I can't stop them, but Pilgewater may lose." Jace shook his head and sat back in his chair dejectedly.

Rubbing his head in pain, Jace felt a little regretful. "Maybe I should have agreed to Enoch's request in Zaun? But I... forget it. It's useless to think so much now."

"It's not your fault. Things don't always develop the way you want them to. Believe me, I've just been through it." Wei tried to comfort Jace. After she sent Caitlin home, she couldn't stand the looks from the Gilaman couple, so she had to run here to hide.

"What's the situation on the other side of the bridge?" Victor stopped his research for a rare moment and looked at Jace worriedly.

“Not too bad so far”

Jace had a bitter look on his face, but he had to cheer up. He was now going to design some new Hextech technologies with Victor, which would be used for subsequent rescue operations.