Cyberzaun, Machinarium

There was a pile of jewelry and artworks. Jinx pushed aside the things that didn't interest her and found a thick letter under the package.

"The one from Demacia's Crown Guard... is it Little Spark?"

Chapter 171: Departure to Demacia (Part 1)

Pushing other things aside, Jinx excitedly opened the small package. The two girls were companions with different personalities but it was rare for them to talk to each other. One of their interests was to complain about their brothers and sisters.

Inside was a beautiful brooch that was shining with bright light. You didn't have to guess to know that it was secretly made by Lux. She looked very skilled and she must have practiced in private for a while.

The letter was just like usual, complaining about her rigid brother and the increasing number of demon hunters. As for the increasingly uncontrollable magical energy, Lux just brushed it off lightly, as if it didn't exist.

In fact, the problem is getting worse day by day. Just from the monthly intelligence Jinx receives from Demacia, it can be seen that the current situation is tense. Because of the combat armor installed on the border, Demacia and Noxus have fought back and forth many times.

The troops, which originally had a slight advantage, were targeted by Noxus. The reformists led by Swain carried out a large number of purges in the country, causing dissatisfaction among many nobles. They secretly instructed their subordinates to stir up trouble in the army. In order to divert conflicts, Swain sent a large number of diehard nobles to the front line, and attacked the camps and strongholds despite Demacia's huge firepower advantage.

Anyway, for Swain, it would be great if these people could create some value before they died. Not only would it eliminate troubles, it would also divert conflicts and open up some territory.

Under this desperate fighting style, it was soon Demacia's turn to suffer. The border was unstable and the king had to increase taxes and further conscription. The originally harmonious coexistence of nobles and civilians completely disappeared, and the hidden conflicts were brought to the surface. In order to ease the atmosphere, the king once again tightened the policy on magic - after all, attacking mages was politically correct in Demacia, and this useful method of diverting conflicts would not be wasted.

In this environment, Lux had no way to hide at home. As the daughter of the Crownguard family, she had to follow her brother to fulfill the obligations of a great noble - to show up in public, calm the people's panic, and show off Demacia's victory.

She often saw that when the army was marching, a few demon hunters would suddenly rush to the side of the road and drag and grab some poor person. The onlookers would also become excited, scolding the dirty wizards and applauding.

Lux could only hope to find a way to control magical energy, so she could only ask her powerful best friend for help. Loslien's bases were everywhere, and there was probably more information than Lux could collect alone.

"How can I help you, Sparkle?" Jinx said to herself, spinning the glowing brooch. "I want to help you, but I can't leave. Little Finger needs me. As for the magic book... where can I find something like that? I don't know how to use it."

"Should I go ask that pirate for help? Uh, forget it. I get angry just thinking about it. I might as well go to the Ionia branch and think of a solution."

With a long sigh, Jinx laid on the ground. "How can I help you? You should have been more clear."

"If you're worried about her, why don't we go to Demacia?" Enoch walked into the room at some point and sat next to Jinx in the light from the distance. The girl also looked up and found a comfortable place on Littlefinger's legs.

"Why are you here? I thought you were having a great time chatting with those people downstairs."

Gently brushing aside the girl's bangs, Enoch smiled and said, "What they need is not me, but Loslien's business channels. I'll ask Renata to chat with those businessmen. That woman likes similar occasions very much."

After a pause, Enoch stroked Jinx's face and said, "You are more important."

Jinx snorted with satisfaction. "Smooth talk... Do you have any way to help Sparkle? Use it quickly. I like her very much."

Enoch rolled his eyes in secret. He was not a mage, so what good suggestions could a layman come up with? At most, he could only collect some information and send it over.

But he couldn't tell Jinx that he couldn't do anything, otherwise the girl's first reaction would be to laugh at Littlefinger. Seeing each other suffer was always a reserved show between the two of them. So Enoch easily changed the subject.

"Do you want to go to Demacia?"

As expected, Jinx's attention was diverted. "What do you mean?"

"I remember that you gave Lux a written statement before, hiring Lux as Loslien's contact person in Demacia, so that she could leave Mithril City and escape to Zaun at any time...right?"

"Then it would be a very correct thing for us to go to Demacia to inspect the branch's work situation." Enoch gently pinched the tip of the girl's nose, "Let's get ready and set off in three days."

"What about work here? I... don't want to bother you."

"I've arranged it, don't worry"

In fact, there are no major events in Lothrien at this stage, but there are a lot of trivial matters. It has successfully absorbed the resources of Bilgewater in two years, and now it is time to reap the fruits of Demacia.

So three days later, Enoch took the girl on board the airship. This time it was a friendly visit and they kept a low profile for the time being. It was not suitable for them to drive the Behemoth battleship.

However, considering the current tense situation in Demacia, Enoch asked Miss Fortune to drive the Behemoth to Bilgewater in advance and stay at the "dock" base on standby at all times. If an accident really happened, she could also use the Hexgate at the Bilgewater port to transfer to Demacia at any time. At least in that area that was completely under the influence of Lothrian, it would not cause any commotion.

The airship from the Flying Gate Sutra instantly arrived at the outer port of Demacia. After a simple transfer of some goods, the aircraft rented by Enoch slowly headed towards the Silver City.

Jinx leaned on the observation railing of the VIP area, looking at the river and land beneath her feet with a complicated expression, until Little Finger hugged her from behind, she had some new reaction.

"You know what? I've wanted to ride this thing since I was a kid." Jinx leaned against the boy in a relaxed manner. "My sister... has said more than once that she would take me up there, so that we can have a good look at Piltover from the sky, and let those who looked down on us listen to us carefully... But now, I'm boarding an airship like a tourist for the first time."

"I'm glad to share this special moment in my life with you." Enoch didn't know what the girl meant by this, so he could only respond cautiously, "What do you think?"

"Thoughts? Nothing. This thing is not as good as a helicopter." Jinx raised her chin and gently gestured to the men and women in the square below. "Also, do we need to bring so many people to Demacia?"

Enoch didn't know how to answer for a moment. Should he say that this airship was rented?

Chapter 172: Departure to Demacia (Part 2)

In Enoch's impression, airships are synonymous with slow flying, low protection, and high safety accidents. The famous Kirov airship in particular left the biggest impression on him, that it was used as a candle by the Air Force.

So he has been studying the air fortress, and has not paid any attention to the airship, let alone the plan to buy a large ship. After all, it is not as fast as an airplane, nor does it have a large load capacity as a barge.

But now, Enoch felt that he had to find a manufacturer to order an airship, otherwise it would be embarrassing to make it seem that Losrian was so poor that he couldn't even afford an airship.

Seeing Jinx still looking curious, Enoch could only explain, "Our schedule is too tight, so I can only rent the upper deck of this airship. The people in the banquet hall should be other passengers."

Jinx didn't say anything, just simply nodded and continued to appreciate the scenery around her.

It seemed that she was really distracted, but usually she would not miss such a good opportunity to tease Littlefinger.

Enoch could only take the opportunity to comfort Jinx, "Are you still worried about your friend? Her last name is Crown Guard. As long as she doesn't commit treason, no one can touch her. Just like in Zaun, as long as you don't blow up the parliament, no law enforcers will come to investigate you."

“Really?” Jinx was a little unconvinced. “Then why do people always chase me when I go racing?”

That's because you were speeding on the main road in broad daylight. If the law enforcement officer doesn't chase you, you can expect to be complained by the citizens. Enoch secretly complained for a while, ignoring the girl's subconscious answer. How could such a smart guy suddenly become stupid?

Maybe I should change my mood, Enoch thought to himself, picked up Jinx, and walked towards the banquet hall amid the girl's exclamations.

………………

"What is this?" Jinx picked up a small piece of food from the plate with her fork and squinted at the mucus dripping from it.

"I don't know... so I ordered lamb chops." Enoch subtly avoided the fork in the girl's hand. "I warned you, don't think that it will taste good just because the name sounds good."

“I didn’t,” Jinx would never admit her mistake again. “I just pointed at him and he gave me a plate of snot.”

Enoch paused, put down his fork with despair, and rubbed his head with a headache. "We are eating, can't you be more careful with your words?"

"Who made him look like that?" The rejuvenated Jinx seemed a little interested. She glanced at the lamb chops that had been cut into small pieces in front of Little Finger and pulled them in front of her. "You don't look like you want to eat it? Then this thing is mine."

"I don't mind, but... could you please not put this stuff in front of me?" Enoch looked helplessly at the pool of green slime in front of him.

This thing looks evil. If someone handed it to him and said "drink it", Enoch would probably reflexively say "then what's the price"

This stuff belongs in a spooky apothecary shop, being slowly stirred by a hunchbacked old witch, not on an international airship.

"This is Varshazam, a specialty of Shurima. The locals call it a water bag in the desert." Before Enoch wanted to throw this thing out of the window, a refreshing voice from a boy came from the side.

Enoch did not react immediately because the banquet hall was a bit noisy. Not only were there some men and women dancing on the dance floor on one side, but the noisy conversations around them were also a bit distracting.

It was not until the person next to them called out Enoch's name that he and Jinx belatedly looked at the blond boy beside them. "Good afternoon, may I ask who you are..."

"I'm Ezreal, an adventurer, currently working as a cultural relic conservationist at the National Museum." The blond young man patted his chest proudly and held up his collar to make the badge on it more conspicuous. "Thank you for your support of the museum. Grandpa McGregor is very happy that there is sufficient funds to maintain the collection."

Enoch smiled politely. He didn't know the museum director at all. He just made a large-scale investment in various industries like casting a wide net in order to build a good social reputation at the beginning.

But when it comes to cultural relics protection, Enoch couldn't help but think of something. He took a look at the blond young man in the jacket and casually said, "I've heard of you. You applied for a large sum of money, but every time you did archaeological excavations, you never showed any results... Are you unlucky or are you not good at it?"

Ezreal froze visibly, and answered stubbornly, "Archaeology takes a lot of time and energy, and you have to eliminate all kinds of errors and traps. Just like scientific research, there will always be failures..."

"Have you ever succeeded?" Jinx asked curiously while chewing the small pieces of lamb chops that had been divided by her little finger.

The fact is that girls are as sharp as ever and can easily make people embarrassed

“Sorry, not yet. But there were a few times when we were very close to success, but failed due to interference from other considerable factors.” Ezreal recalled the accidents that happened when his hands slipped a few times. “But I can guarantee that the Protoss ruins discovered in Demacia this time will definitely make great progress.”

"Good luck." Enoch didn't care about this little episode. He nodded at him and didn't pay attention to his whereabouts. He turned back and shook the high-quality wine produced in Shurima, admiring the interesting look of Jinx wolfing down the wine.

"Rihashibudzaihu" Jinx raised her eyebrows and muttered to Enoch.

"Swallow it first, then talk. Why are you in such a hurry? I won't run away."

"I mean, you don't seem to care much?" Jinx picked up the wine glass from Little Finger's hand and asked curiously.

Enoch looked at the wine going away and smacked his lips with a bit of regret. "Apart from the twin goddesses, I have never heard of anything else in Demacia that has anything to do with the Protoss. The remains of these two have basically been converted into temples. Judging from the nature of Demacia, if other places really have anything to do with magic, they would have been flattened and sealed long ago... That guy's trip is probably in vain."

"It doesn't matter. It's none of our business anyway."

Enoch just stood there with his head resting and watching the girl stuffing food into her mouth, until Jinx stuffed a few snacks into his mouth a little embarrassedly, and then he smiled with satisfaction.

Littlefinger was being eaten hard by Jinx, but he didn't even think about the fact that if Jinx hadn't been playing tricks on him, he would have ordered a hearty lamb chop meal.

After the airship arrived at its destination, the two slowly packed up their luggage and set foot on the land of Demacia's capital, hand in hand.

As soon as they stepped onto the white stone floor, a characteristic of Demacia, and before they could take a close look at what had changed in the past three years, a little girl suddenly rushed past Enoch, scaring everyone. At the same time, the Hextech shield carried by Littlefinger was automatically activated in an instant, and then flickered weakly twice, and the overloaded shield shattered and disappeared like glass.

Enoch didn't even see the orange-haired girl's specific appearance. The nearby demon hunter suddenly jumped up as if he had been injected with chicken blood. "Haha, damn wizard, just surrender."

Chapter 173: Trouble with Entry

Looking at the sharp sword standing in front of him, Enoch's first reaction was to hold down Jinx's hand that was pulling out the gun.

As an outsider, there is no need to make the ground full of blood as soon as you arrive. That is not the way to be a guest.

After comforting the girl, Enoch waved his hand to deflect the sword pointed at him, and rebuked the demon hunters in an especially tough manner, "Stupid, look carefully, I am not a Demacian!"

Perhaps it was because Enoch was too confident, and the surrounding soldiers didn't know how to react for a moment. They just stared stupidly at the guest who had just got off the airship, not knowing whether to catch him or let him go.

Fortunately, the noise here was loud enough that the defense officer in the distance didn't even bother to put on his helmet and hurried over. He listened to the witcher in a tattered gray robe beside the crowd briefly introduce the situation, looked at the test bottle that was emitting light, and then pushed away the surrounding soldiers aggressively.

"I'm Sir Rees, the border defense manager. Wizards are not welcome here. I demand that you leave the country within a certain period of time and you are not allowed to resist." The man held his head high with a look of disdain, his mustache twitching as he spoke, looking a bit funny.

"First of all, I'm not a magician. Secondly, I have the right to diplomatic immunity." Enoch resisted the urge to punch him. Now half of the people in the port were watching the fun, so a secret visit didn't matter anymore.

"Diplomatic immunity? What is that? I've never heard of it." The witcher in the old robe sniffed, spat on the ground in a vulgar manner, and snorted a few times with disdain.

Enoch was too lazy to waste time talking to this guy. It seemed that Demacia had not had a good time in recent years, and all kinds of people were being stuffed into the security team.

The armored harbor master adjusted his oversized breastplate uncomfortably, making a clanking sound. "Yes... overseas posting exemption, but that is only a right for Demacia's friendly city-states, such as Shurima, Targon, Ionia, Zaun... oh, sorry."

The man wiped the sweat from his temples and said, "I mean that the United Kingdom of Pilt-Zaan is in a moderately unrest zone and does not enjoy this right for the time being."

"Wow, your standards are really interesting. Where else can you find a place more chaotic than Ionia?" Jinx curled her lips in disdain. "Even a slaughterhouse is safer than that damn place."

The people around burst into laughter. At least for now, only Ionia was in an all-out war. According to this standard, at least 2 people would die every day in the Twin Cities which were in moderate unrest.

Enoch also found the embarrassed harbor master interesting. The reason why these places became friendly cities of Demacia was simple: they were far enough away from Demacia, and they all disliked Noxus.

"Alright," Enoch pulled out a document from his briefcase and threw it into the man's hand, "I want my cargo unloaded from the ship as soon as possible, so go and do it."

The port officer flipped through the documents, suddenly became polite and humble, coughed lightly, and made a crooked knight's salute. "Yes, sir, I'm very sorry, I will help you arrange it right away."

"Thank you for your contribution," Enoch said politely, holding the girl in his arms and slowly walking through the crowd that had gathered to watch the show. He stepped into the carriage that had been waiting for a long time and left in the direction of Losrian's base.

"Bah, damn it!" The leading demon hunter cursed as he looked at the departing carriage. "I'm sure these guys are up to no good. We'll definitely find something if we follow them."

"I think you should just stop worrying about it, buddy." The port manager shook the documents in his hand at the downtrodden man, "Don't mind your own business."

The "coward" man said disdainfully, "Then it's that Lu An who scared you?"

"It's Zaun... But that's nothing. But that guy is the manager of Losrien. I heard he has connections with the military. Don't make trouble for him." As if to remind people of the danger, the port manager patted his armor seriously and said, "I bought this second-hand from the army. Look at the logo, it's exactly the same as the one on this paper."

"Be careful what you say, these guys are doing business with the king, don't mess with them"

"Hmph, you delicate noble lord," the witcher muttered but didn't say anything else. He returned to the small tent cursing.

The port officer looked at the containers that filled the airship's cargo hold with a headache. Where could he find a place to put so many things? Not to mention the need to conduct random searches. Should he trick those drunkards into helping with the loading?

However, a bag of gold helped him resolve his concerns. Looking at the golden little thing in front of him, the defense officer readily engraved a stamp on the customs declaration form of "daily necessities" and let these people pull it directly into the warehouse.

"These guys are much easier to cheat than they were a few years ago. I thought people here didn't like gold." Enoch combed the hair of the girl lying on his lap and sighed thoughtfully. "Look at the way these guys collect money, they look really skilled."

"It doesn't matter. It's a good thing for us anyway, right? Where are we going? Did you buy a manor here?"

Enoch nodded without answering. He was now paying more attention to the magic shield that had just been activated but failed suddenly. It was unknown what this thing had just reacted to, and then it was instantly affected by a huge energy wave. This energy exceeded the threshold of the shield, and now the Hextech shield was completely overloaded and scrapped.

It’s hard to imagine what Demacia is hiding, especially the orange-haired kid who just ran past Enoch. Could he be a natural magic user like Lux?

No, maybe it's a little more dangerous. Enoch doesn't think Lux can break the shield silently. She would have to use something eye-catching to do it.

Just as she was lost in thought, Enoch felt an itch on her waist. She lowered her head and found that the girl was staring at her with dissatisfaction.

"Sorry, I was distracted. We will rest in the manor tonight and visit the Crown Guard family early tomorrow morning. My champion has already invited us to a meeting in advance. You can think about what to give her."

"Your champion?" Jinx's focus was always accurate. "Is she the woman who fought against the power armor last time?"

"More than that." Enoch smiled proudly. "The knight competition sponsored by Loslien is held every two years. I already have two champions. The new champion is from the mountain troops."

"That's great... but you threw so much money here and even the doorman didn't recognize you." The girl smiled happily. "The famous little finger... do good things without leaving a name."

"Shut up!" Enoch got angry and started to touch the girl's waist and armpits, tickling her and causing her to burst into laughter.